Doctor Who - Letts, Hinchcliffe or ?

[63DW89A]

Hands down for me, WHO's finest era, 1963-2011, was Season 7 through Season 14. That's both the Letts-Dicks AND Hinchcliffe-Holmes eras. The absolute peak of that time was the "Sarah Jane" era in Seasons 11,12,13 &14.

My argument is that Barry Letts was key to the entire era, as it couldn't have happened without him. Barry chose Elisabeth Sladen & Tom Baker , trained Hinchcliffe, created the Master & the UNIT family, made great use of Robert Holmes, & saw that the viewers were 60% adult!

[JoeConcerts]

im loving steven moffat's work as producer at the moment, i think id put him as my favorite.

[RantingThespian]

Well, I can't really answer for the producers question, since I really don't know much about any except RTD and Moffat.

But I have 2 seasons for my favorite Who run. The first one you most likely know is the Key To Time season. The other that ties it is "Series 4" that I like to call "The Donna Years". There were better scripts for Tennant in his run, and better in the past, but "The Donna Years" just was so enjoyable for me.

[SparkyGerbil]

Thanks so much - I loved the Donna era, she was so much more suitable as a companion than Rose, very enjoyable.

The Key to Time, an excellent set of stories but the ending lacked a little bit of a punch but still very enjoyable:)

[TrocitosdemiCorazon]

En estas ocasiones es cuando mas lamento no saber hablar ingles. No me entero de nada. Un beso

[SparkyGerbil]

Gracias por tu amigo saludos - Yo sé algo de español:)

[farshnuke]

I love the 4th doctor and thus love that era but for me 7 is best and John Nathan Turner deserves a posthumous knighthood for keeping the show going as long as it did and don't forget it was John who created a series that fans loved so much they just carried on making it in book and audio form. I mean big finish may as well becalled the Nathan Turner continuation since apart from the 8th doctor all the Doctors are from John's era.

[SparkyGerbil]

Thanks so much - I must admit i was'nt always the greatest of JNT fan's but there is no denying his tenure was certainly the most turbulent & colourful in the show's history. For me some of his production decisions created other problems for the show. Also to use Who actors for his own production company in panto was a little dodgy.

Big Finish would have worked anway, because there was always a market, it never went away:)

[pichiriloromo2]

Excelente John 5*****.

Saludos.

[SparkyGerbil]

Thanks Pichi for your kindness:)

[PanopticonVault]

Much the same as yourself Sparky, my fave era was between Letts and Hinchcliffe.

Loved the UNIT family era,and the 4th Doctor,Sarah Jane,Leela K9 stories.

Plenty to enjoy within each era of course,but I think for me, things definitely reached a peak around seasons 13/14. :-)

[SparkyGerbil]

Thanks so much - Season 13 is sublime, it deserves every superlative it receives. Classic after classic.

As i stated in the video we would'nt have a show if it was'nt for Barry Letts, the viewing figures, late on in the Troughton era, were so poor, the BBC were going to cancel:)

[Grantwebb13]

I simply adore Pertwee's first two seasons. Every single episode is a classic. I only feel it hit momentum again with the Hinchcliffe era which was superb.

I love Pertwee's era, but for me I find some stories were not challenging enough, like the Mutants. Mind you, there were classics like The Sea Devils, The Three Doctors, The Green Death, The Time Warrior.

I've come to appreciate the Letts era much more now. :)

I look forward to the Moffat era because so far it looks spectacular.

[SparkyGerbil]

Thanks so much - Hindsight is a wonderful thing & we appreciate Barry Letts & his team so much more now.

I have talked before about the gothic quality of the Hinchcliffe stories, they were very Hammeresque in their tone, wonderful classics.

If SM gets anywhere near these guys, we are onto a winner:)

[michaelplaying]

Very nice video.

Friendly greetings,

Michael

[SparkyGerbil]

Thanks Michael for your kind words:)

[SparkyGerbil]

Thanks Pichi for your kindness:)

[Accordioncrasy]

Thanks to share,

(I confess we do not know these series in Hungary)

Istvan

[SparkyGerbil]

Thanks Istvan for your kindness:)

[codyw1]

Late Hinchcliffe to early JNT and then the latter McCoy years are my faves. All the classic series rules, though!

[SparkyGerbil]

Thanks so much - Definitely. Guys like Letts kept the show going, Sylv had a bit of a raw deal. Another couple of televised seasons & who knows:)

[no2hate]

I've only seen the show a couple times. Is Dr. Who also in the show Torchwood? peace2u! eric

[SparkyGerbil]

Thanks Eric - Yes, Torchwood is a spin off of Doctor Who:)

[phoenixthegreat953]

Personally JNT & Barry Letts were the best!! x

[phoenixthegreat953]

I believe that the best of Doctor Who was Davison's era & my doctor which is Christopher Eccleston!! x

[SparkyGerbil]

Thanks Charlotte - I'm definitely not rubbishing any era, each production team has added something to the cake:)

[goldi4jj]

hmm, i think it would be john nathan turner era. with peter davidson. noticed u have masque of mandragora in the background.

[SparkyGerbil]

Thanks Goldi - Peter was a great Doctor, sometimes let down by inappropriate production.

Grrr - foiled again, i may confuse you next time & put an a dvd of Porridge or something - lol:)

[RealArcalian]

As for just the producer on his own? Hnnhh....I'm tempted to say Graham Williams. But see all the provisos of my previous post.

[SparkyGerbil]

Thanks for your comments - Graham was ok, the Key to Time particularly memorable but i preferred the Unit family of Barry's tenure & the gothic nature of the Hinchcliffe & Holmes period.

I loved Sylv & Sophie but what ruined that for me was JNT's obsession with question marks & set uniform. Sylv has even said he disliked the question marks himself:)

[RealArcalian]

@SparkyGerbil Like I say, a good companion team can, for me,

override other concerns. Like Colin being brilliant

despite that coat, Sylv outshines the ? sweater.

[RealArcalian]

Producer....hmm....that's a tough one. Writers tend to be more important than producers; a good writer can get around bad production values, at least for me. A good Doctor/companion team dynamic can similiary shine through hit and miss writing or shoddy production (which explains my love of Sylv and Sophie, for example). It works the other way too; the TVM did, in terms of production, everything the new series has tried to do but better. Script is another question. (continued)

[DickFilms]

RTD for me. Coolio:P

[SparkyGerbil]

Thanks so much:)

[harrietamidala1691]

I also like the hinchcliffe era too. In fact, Season 13 is one of my all-time favorite Doctor Who seasons--it's one of the few seasons where I like every single story! I like a good portion of the Third Doctor Stories, but the Doctor that really captured my heart was the Fifth Doctor. Basically I liked the first third of JNT's era. I practically like every single Fifth Doctor story (even some of the poor ones--although Four to Doomsday and Terminus are out).

[SparkyGerbil]

Thanks so much - I loved some of the JNT era but some of the production values were a little lacking.

Barry deserves the credit for saving the show after the latter part of Troughton's era viewing figures.  The Beeb were going to cancel, so for that Barry was a saint:)

[theskarorevenger]

I think my favorite era had to be 1983 - 1989

[SparkyGerbil]

Thanks so much - JNT era, great stories:)

[hahazet]

i can not belive he passed away last year

i fav period is now it new bright and that is coz i was not around to see the old who on tv i got the dvds mind

r.i.p barry letts

[SparkyGerbil]

Thanks - We all have an idea of our fav times on the show, i loved the era i mentioned, mainly because i associate it with growing up:)

[hahazet]

@SparkyGerbil true