The Doctor calmly ponders which is worse:  
The Monster of Peladon or The Time Monster?

THE THIRD DOCTOR: JON PERTWEE

Tenure: Seasons 7-11 (1970-1974)

I must admit, rewriting the Doctor as an action-adventure hero was a ballsy move. Thank God Pertwee was more than up to the task. Why shoudn't he? after all the whole schtick was his idea. 

The Third Doctor era is sandwiched between the last gasp of black and white Who, and the ever-so-popular Tom Baker. In that respect its surprising Pertwee's time as the Doctor is remembered at all. And yet, his time broke new grounds for the show, and very important ones as well. First of all, it was done in colour for the first time. Secondly, the Doctor was now making house calls with UNIT. Thirdly, the Master rounded up the team of technicolor misfits making the programme, infusing it with sometimes inelegant, sometimes silly-as-hell and yet heartfelt social comments.

As Robert Sloman once said, the idea that big business is evil and wants to pollute/destroy the environment with an unhealthy dose of corruption is old hat now, yet in the early seventies that type of story was only coming to the fore. Beforehand, Doctor Who tackled this big issues in layers and layers of allegory. All it took was an aristcratic Venusian-karate expert dandy, his stiff-upper-lip military loony friend and his ditzy hot-pants clad assistant to make the point as plain as the nose of your face.

The years from 1970 to 1974 were gaudy, as only early seventies TV can be gaudy. And we love 'em for it. If you're watching something from, say, 1972, then by Jove it better looks, talks and acts like it's from 1972. The Third Doctor was fun, even if he did overstay his welcome a bit (...a bit).

Yes, some of it was embarrassing, some of it was a tad overlong (oh, those long-forgotten six parters) and some of it was just plain crazy. Yet if you were young in 1971, there's a good chance you were somewhat embarrassing, overlong and crazy too (time to look back at those old photo albums).

ASSESSMENT:  If you like the idea of the Doctor insulting everyone within a mile, you're going to love this. Overall the Third Doctor made his mark, and his style is as peculiar, personal and unique as his predecessors and successors. Some of it has indeed dated badly, but so has other stuff before and after. Plus, his main title sequence is the most exciting yet and has not been improved ever since. And no missing episodes this time around.

FAVOURITE STORIES:

• Doctor Who and the Silurians  (Shows everyone why bringing the Doctor back to Earth was a good idea. A complex script with complex issues making no excuses and taking no prisoners. From the people who brought to you Season Seven)
• The Claws of Axos  (Yeah, Doctor Who goes psychedelic in this acid-drenched tale of Greeks bearing gifts, complete with phallic and vaginal metaphors, bureaucratic hassles for the Doctor and the Master for good measure)
• Inferno (Ever wondered what would happen if your friends turned against you overnight. The Doctor finds out in the most brutal way possible all the while trying to prevent the end of the world. He doesn't, by the way)

LEAST FAVOURITE STORIES
  

• Invasion of the Dinosaurs  (Imagine if Steven Spielberg directed Jurassic Park as a home movie with his kids. My god, Mr. Letts, if you can't afford dinosaurs on Doctor Who, then please please please don't put dinosaurs in it. Think of the neighbours)
• The Daemons  (In music, it sometimes happen that your favorite album by someone is their least favorite work. This is the reverse, as everyone who worked on it found it smashing, but then they didn't have to watch it, did they. A case of a very good ideas falling flat on their backs)
• Day of the Daleks  (Yes, the Daleks return after a six-years absence. The premise is oversimplistic, and the supposedly "clever" twist is actually the first time travel cliché in the book. Fair, but disappointing)