After a long wait, Tom Baker story Terror of the Zygons is finally available on DVD, and so are all six Monster Collection sets. Monster Collection set contents: Davros - Genesis of the Daleks, The Stolen Earth & Journey's End Daleks - The Daleks & Asylum of the Daleks The Master - Terror of the Autons & The End of Time Cybermen - The Tomb of the Cybermen, Rise of the Cybermen & The Age of Steel Silurians - Doctor Who & the Silurians, The Hungry Earth & Cold Blood Sontarans - The Time Warrior, The Sontaran Stratagem & The Poison Sky
Buy Terror of the Zygons from Amazon here or from the BBC Shop here.
Buy the Monster Collection sets from Amazon here or from the BBC Shop here.
The Radio Times have confirmed the UK air dates for the mini-series The Doctor's Revisited, and have further confirmed that a featured story will be aired for each Doctor right after the short documentaries.
Schedule:
12th October: The Doctors Revisited: William Hartnell + The Aztecs 13th October: The Doctors Revisited: Patrick Troughton + The Tomb of the Cybermen 19th October: The Doctors Revisited: Jon Pertwee + Spearhead from Space 20th October: The Doctors Revisited: Tom Baker + The Pyramids of Mars 26th October: The Doctors Revisited: Peter Davison + Earthshock 27th October: The Doctors Revisited: Colin Baker + Vengeance on Varos 2nd November: The Doctors Revisited: Sylvester McCoy + Battlefield 3rd November: The Doctors Revisited: Paul McGann + Doctor Who: The Movie 9th November: The Doctors Revisited: Christopher Eccleston + Bad Wolf / Parting of the Ways 10th November: The Doctors Revisited: David Tennant + The Stolen Earth / Journey's End 16th November: The Doctors Revisited: Matt Smith + The Impossible Astronaught / Day of the Moon
The documentaries all start on Watch at 2PM and the episodes start at 2:30PM on the various dates.
Big Finish have uploaded this video to advertise their 50th anniversary special audio drama The Light at the End, starring Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann and various companions. The more expensive collector's edition release features Companion Chronicle The Revenants starring William Russell.
You can pre-order The Light at the End from BigFinish.com here or from Amazon UK here.
Big Finish have revealed the cover for the standard release of their 50th anniversary audio drama The Light at the End. The story will be written and directed by Nicholas Briggs and will star Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann.
Synopsis:
"November 23rd 1963 proves to be a significant day in the lives of all eight Doctors…
It's the day that Bob Dovie's life is ripped apart…
It's also a day that sets in motion a catastrophic chain of events
which forces the first eight incarnations of the Doctor to fight for
their very existence. As a mysterious, insidious chaos unfolds within
the TARDIS, the barriers of time break apart…
From suburban England through war-torn alien landscapes and into a
deadly, artificial dimension, all these Doctors and their companions
must struggle against the power of an unfathomable, alien technology.
From the very beginning, it is clear that the Master is somehow
involved. By the end, for the Doctors, there may only be darkness."
The Light at the End will be released in November and you can pre-order any of the three versions here.
It has been revealed that BBC America mini-series The Doctors Revisited will be airing on the UKTV subscription channel Watch as part of the celebrations for Doctor Who's 50th anniversary.
The mini-series will begin airing in the second week of October.
The cover for the 465th issue of Doctor Who Magazine has been revealed and here it is!
This issue features interviews with classic Doctors Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann about upcoming 50th anniversary audio The Light at the End written by Nicholas Briggs.
It will be available from 19th September 2013 at the RRP of £4.75.
Over the years, there have been almost 250 Doctor Who stories. Some are extremely popular, some are extremely unpopular and some are just ignored by most people. So, let's take a look at what I believe to be Doctor Who's most underrated!
#10.Shada
I suspect this fantastic Douglas Adams story about a lost Time Lord prison would have been just as popular as, say, City of Death had it not been cancelled. It's a brilliant story and has luckily been finished in more ways than one: a DVD release with linking narration by Tom Baker, an Eighth Doctor webcast and an extended audio version of the webcast. Shada is a great story and I highly recommend watching (or listening to) it in any of the three ways.
#9. Love & Monsters
The first of the Doctor-lite episodes, and the only one that everybody seems to hate. As I said in my review, I think it's an interesting story - FAR from brilliant, but it's very interesting to see what people who want to learn more about the Doctor get up to. I think LINDA was a great idea and I'd love to see the group again with new members, provided it didn't shut down after losing all it's members except Elton and, if you count paving stones, Ursula. The two major problems I have with Love & Monsters are, of course, the Abzorbaloff and the terrible joke at the end. I honestly enjoyed the first three quarters of the episode but the final quarter? Not so much.
#8. Boom Town
Another episode that gets a lot of hate. It's not amazing but it's got some classic scenes (It was a VERY icy patch and The Doctor and the Slitheen in the restaurant.) There's next to no farting in Boom Town (unlike the previous Slitheen episodes) which makes the Slitheen who stole Margaret Blaine's skin (Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen) seem much more menacing. Actually, I even felt sorry for her in the bathroom scene at the beginning!
#7. The Doctor's Daughter
I think the reason this generally gets overlooked is because Series 4 was generally of very high quality while this episode was just "okay". It was great to see Martha in the TARDIS again and it helps that The Doctor's daughter really is Peter Davison's daughter! The Hath are very likeable villains and the episode was an interesting idea overall.
#6. Meglos
Yeah, it's... About a... Talking cactus called Meglos. It's certainly not the best Tom Baker story but it's very underrated. It's alright and not as bad as everybody seems to think. Other than that, I don't have much to say about it.
#5. The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
Honestly, this is one of my all-time favourite stories and those with coulrophobia will probably be watching it from behind their sofas. I think the Psychic Circus was a fantastic idea and as bad as you may think it was, I really liked the Psychic Circus rap. It's full of wonderful characters such as Captain Cook, Mags (who really is an interesting specimen), Nord and the galaxy's biggest Psychic Circus fan - Whizz Kid. Stephen Wyatt did a brilliant job as did Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred. Criminally underrated!
#4. Voyage of the Damned
As most of us know, Christmas specials are usually nothing amazing. Voyage of the Damned isn't either, but it's certainly better than most with lines like "I'm The Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm 903 years old and I'm the man who's gonna save your lives and all six billion people on the planet below. You got a problem with that?" and "Human beings worship the great god Santa. A creature with fearsome claws." As much as I love Donna, I would have liked to see Astrid, Mr. Copper or even both as the Series 4 companions. I certainly recommend giving it a watch, because my name is Max. Actually it's not but I had to say that!
#3. Attack of the Cybermen
Another one of my all-time favourites. Most people seem to hate it but I just can't figure out why. Lytton returns and is helping the Cryons this time, the Cybermen are brilliant, it's an extremely violent episode (which is not a bad thing at all) and it's got a fantastic ending with The Doctor realising just how badly he misjudged Lytton. Seriously Paula Moore, you did a great job with this.
#2. Doctor Who: The Movie
My big question about the 1996 TV Movie starring Paul McGann is what the hell am I supposed to call it? Doctor Who? The TV Movie? Just The Movie? The Enemy Within? Well, the Revisitations 1 DVD box set refers to it as Doctor Who: The Movie so that's what I'm going to call it. Alright, this is another story that everybody seems to hate and I don't blame them for it to be honest - Eric Roberts as The Master, The Doctor claiming to be half human, it was way too Americanized, etc. While it's probably the most flawed TV stories in the show's history, I did find it rather enjoyable, mainly due to the excellent Paul McGann. Oh, and it was good to see jelly babies again and it had some funny moments but a couple of good things don't guarantee a good story!
#1. The Sun Makers
One of my top ten stories of all time. It's extremely overlooked. It's written by my favourite writer (Robert Holmes), it's funny, it's clever... It's just brilliant. The Doctor finally starts to like K9, episode 3 has a great cliffhanger and the scenes with The Doctor in the Correction Centre with Bisham were just brilliant. Hade was a great character too. I don't think it's everyone's thing but I certainly enjoyed it.
Honourable Mentions: The Gunfighters The Krotons Invasion of the Dinosaurs The Creature from the Pit Resurrection of the Daleks The Mark of the Rani Dragonfire Aliens of London / World War Three 42 The Lodger
This is all just my opinion so feel free to disagree... I'd love to know which stories you consider to be the most underrated!
"Your evil is my good. I am Sutekh the Destroyer. Where I tread
I leave nothing but dust & darkness. I find that good."
While the Doctor is waxing morose over his current involvement with UNIT, something forces the TARDIS out of its flight path & causes Sarah Jane to witness a jackal-faced apparition in the console room. Following its energy source, the Doctor & Sarah Jane find themselves in 1911 England at a former priory occupying the spot where UNIT HQ will one day reside. There they discover that Professor Marcus Scarman, while on an expedition in Egypt, accidentally stumbled upon the imprisoning tomb of Sutekh the Destroyer, the last of an ancient & incredibly powerful alien race known as the "Osirians", better known to humans as the ancient Egyptian gods. A crazed super-being who shunned his brother Horus' view that all species can co-exist together because he feared that one day his own apparent superiority might be challenged, Sutekh became the destroyer of all forms of life across the universes. His entombment by the Eye of Horus took the strength of 740 Osirians, including his own brother, and now all that stands between his evil machinations & long-sought-after freedom is The Doctor & Sarah Jane.
The third serial of series 13, broadcast in four weekly parts between October 25th & November 15th 1975, Pyramids of Mars is commonly held up as one of the best classic era stories & it's easy to see why with its rather excellent production quality, steady pace of a solid adventure story & a truly chilling villain. In a 2010 io9 article, the cliffhanger in episode 3 was rated among the greatest Doctor Who cliffhangers of all time (new series included).
Its increasingly more interesting to see earlier regenerations of the Doctor come up against villains who have strong genocidal tendencies considering what actions lie in the Doctor's own future. Its add a new depth to the NuWho series, especially the Steven Moffat era's central focus on the Doctor facing the consequences of the choices he has made in his lives. In The Dark Knight, we hear the statement "Either you die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Watching thru classic Who is watching the Doctor constantly & progressively more easily break the rules of time put in place by his own people, knowing that the day will come when the Doctor will cross the line far too easily with shocking results.
I loved Pyramids of Mars, and not just in that casual way one tends to love any aspect of a larger adoration. Sutekh the Destroyer was a deliciously evil one-off TV villain (he appeared later in a couple Magic Bullet Productions audio dramas) of the sort that the new series desperately needs to bring back into circulation, although a return of Sutekh himself seems unlikely. It would be, however, one epic confrontation.
Big Finish and the Doctor Who Facebook page have revealed a cover for a limited edition vinyl release of the 50th anniversary audio The Light at the End starring Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann.
Big Finish's sypnosis:
"November 23rd 1963 proves to be a significant day in the lives of all eight Doctors…
It's the day that Bob Dovie's life is ripped apart…
It's also a day that sets in motion a catastrophic chain of events
which forces the first eight incarnations of the Doctor to fight for
their very existence. As a mysterious, insidious chaos unfolds within
the TARDIS, the barriers of time break apart…
From suburban England through war-torn alien landscapes and into a
deadly, artificial dimension, all these Doctors and their companions
must struggle against the power of an unfathomable, alien technology.
From the very beginning, it is clear that the Master is somehow
involved. By the end, for the Doctors, there may only be darkness."
The vinyl release is a 4-disc set in deluxe premium packaging which includes a stunning array of professional photos of the cast.
Features:
Discs 1, 2 and 3 – The Light at the End
Disc 4 – The Making of The Light at the End (approx 40-minute documentary exclusive to this release)
All discs on heavy 180g vinyl
Limited and numbered to 500
Includes an exclusive 30cm x 30cm lenticular image.
Four-way gatefold sleeve
Rigid slipcase
This audio will be released in November.
Pre-order the limited edition vinyl release here for £99.99.
Pre-order the limited collector's edition release here for £25 download or £40 CD.
Pre-order the standard edition release here for £12.99 download or £14.99 CD.
The Doctor & Sarah Jane, emerging from the time vortex 30,000 years too late on their way to London from Loch Ness (the scene for the previous serial, The Terror of the Zygons, also the last serial to feature the eponymous aliens, set to appear in the upcoming 50th anniversary), answer a distress call that take them to the planet Zeta Minor, the planet farthest out in the known universe.
There they encounter a creature of pure energy that has attacked a Morestran geological expedition attempting to remove samples from a pit serving as a link to the creature's own universe, a universe comprised entirely of antimatter. The TARDIS duo also find themselves at odds with a Morestran military crew that arrived at the same time to investigate the distress call, as well as fighting the only survivor of the expedition, a Professor Sorenson, who becomes infected by the antimatter & morphs into a deformed monster that can drain the life from others.
This Fourth Doctor serial, the second of the 13th series, was deliberately conceived as a Doctor Who-brew of Forbidden Planet and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde. It was originally broadcast in four 25-minute weekly parts between September 27th & October 18th, 1975.
I'd rate Planet of Evil as a 7 out of 10, based on a completely arbitrary & utterly meaningless scale & criteria, 88% (another random) of which I forgot milliseconds before I made it up. It elegantly exhibits the "Three E's": Engaging. Exciting. And Egads, Cheap SFX!! I love the Red Outline Creatures that end up wandering the ship & the Jetsons-like roundness of the Morestran's blue & white military uniforms. Tom Baker & Elisabeth Sladen are both in solid form & its not-so-surprisingly obvious why their era is often considered the epitome of the classic series & most probably Doctor Who as a whole. In other words, speaking with no authority in or even knowledge of what to call the particular area of study required to mathematically make such a claim, there's a pretty good chance Planet of Evil is more satisfying than what you're watching now. Unless you're watching Game of Thrones. In that case, you should go ahead & finish whatever season you're on first. Trust me. Then Planet of Evil, then eight other random serials.
The Fourth Doctor & K9 match wits on the chessboard with one scarf to warm them all.
Outside of the TARDIS, the Fourth Doctor's insanely & wonderfully long multi-colored scarf is probably the most recognizable icon of Doctor Who, especially from the classic era.
Are you the creative sort wanting to make by hand your very own Fourth Doctor scarf, or maybe just the broke sort willing to do what it takes? Doctor Who Scarf is a fantastic online resource that provides history of the each of the Fourth Doctor's scarves along with patterns, knitting specifications & yarn suggestions. It's a valuable starting place for those looking to take matters into their own hands.
The Zygons have, as of August 2013, only had one appearance in Doctor Who and that was in the Fourth Doctor story Terror of the Zygons although they are set to re-appear in the 50th Anniversary Special in November. They have also appeared in the Big Finish audios The Zygon Who Fell to Earth and Death in Blackpool.
They are metamorphic humanoids from a planet called Zygor, have a fear of fire and they are fan-favourite monsters despite their lack of TV appearances. According to a Tenth Doctor novel called Sting of the Zygons, young Zygons are called hatchlings and while they were mute, they were faster than adult Zygons.
In The Pandorica Opens, River Song mentioned that Zygons were part of The Alliance but they were, unfortunately, not seen on screen.
Melkur was a name given to creatures attracted to the planet Traken and the word literally means "a fly trapped in honey". They have appeared twice - once in The Keeper of Traken and again in Time-Flight.
There were lots of Melkurs on Traken and while most of them decayed without causing much harm, one of them turned out to be the Master's TARDIS, which proved troublesome for the Doctor and his companions and led to the events of the Fourth Doctor's regeneration.
Magnus Greel made his first and only televised appearance in the popular Fourth Doctor story The Talons of Weng-Chiang. Despite not looking like it, he is actually a time travelling human from the 51st century who decided to go and live in 19th century China where he became a god called Weng-Chiang. He later moved to 19th century London which is where the Doctor met him.
Big Finish have revealed the covers of two Doctor Who audio adventures that they will be releasing next year.
The first one is part of the Companion Chronicles range and is the third and final part of a trilogy of 50th anniversary releases. It will be called Luna Romana and will star Lalla Ward and Juliet Landau who will both be playing Romana. It will be released in January 2014 and you can pre-order it here for £9.99 download or £12.99 CD.
The second, which is part of the fairly recent Fourth Doctor Adventures range is called White Ghosts and it will star Tom Baker as The Doctor and Louise Jameson as Leela. It will be released in February 2014 and you can pre-order it for £8.99 download or £10.99 CD here.
The Watcher watching the Fourth Doctor, Adric & Nyssa.
Doctor Who, in it's 50 year history, has certainly had its share of strange & mysterious characters. One of those characters has always stood out in my mind, if only for its seeming lack of explanation: The Watcher, who first appeared during the events leading up to the Fourth Doctor's regeneration, also known as the serial Logopolis.
Sporting a featureless face & white, almost mummy-like clothing, The Watcher is first seen observing events that led to companion Tegan Jovanka first entering the TARDIS. He seemed to have the ability to travel thru time & space on his own accord, although he did pilot the TARDIS twice: once to transports Nyssa away from the impending destruction of her home planet Traken & again, apparently at the Fourth Doctor's request, taking Adric, Nyssa & Tegan to safety away from Logopolis. It was during the latter trip that The Watcher had a private conversation with Adric even though he was never seen to speak on-screen. The novelization of Logopolis suggests The Watcher communicated by telepathy & indicates that when Adric tried to remember the sound of the Watcher's voice, he could only think of the Doctor speaking. In the Logopolis serial, the Watcher also had a conversation with the Fourth Doctor the details of which were never revealed, but it is thought the Doctor was made aware of his forthcoming regeneration as indicated by his final line "It's the end...but the moment has been prepared for", after which the Watcher merges with the dying Fourth Doctor & they regenerate into the next incarnation. In Castrovalva, the first serial to feature the newly-regenerated Fifth Doctor, Adric shows unexpected knowledge of regeneration, possibly revealing the nature of his conversation with the Watcher.
In the audio-drama "Winter", a 2007 Big Finish audio-drama which takes place mostly in the Fifth Doctor's mind in the final moments before his regeneration in the serial The Caves of Androzani, the Doctor once again encounters the Watcher in his mindscape.
One of the most interesting pieces of information regarding the Watcher comes from The Time Traveller's Companion, a supplement for the Doctor Who - Adventures in Time & Space role-playing game, where it is implied that the Valeyard is a rogue Watcher created during the Twelfth Doctor regeneration into the Thirteenth. This Watcher, who is presumed to possess the darkest aspects of every Doctor's nature, apparently refused to merge with the Time Lord & escaped.
So who was the Watcher, exactly? Is it a physical manifestation of the regeneration process? Do all Time Lord have their own Watcher? In Divided Loyalties, a novel in the Past Doctor Adventures series, the Watcher of the Doctor's friend Rallon merges with The Celestial Toymaker (who had possessed Rallon's body) after Rallon's death to keep the Toymaker in check, causing the Toymaker's personality to change as though he had regenerated. This does seem to propose that the Watcher is not unique to the Doctor, although the crossover continuity of TV & novel (and audio-drama) canon has always been debated amongst Whovians.
Who, or what, do you think the Watcher is & what relation does he/she hold to the regeneration process?
I was going to write an introduction as to who I am and why I love Doctor Who so much. As I thought about exactly what it is that I love about the show, my mind dove deeper into who is the Doctor? So, instead of telling who I am and what I am going to be writing about, I am going to take a philosophical look into the show.
Let's look into the history of the show. When you think of the Doctor what comes to mind? To me it is knowledge. He has always been portrayed as an incredibly intelligent being. That has always been the constant of his character. I have seen him, angry, witty, full of fear, full of courage, and even sad sometimes. It changes with each regeneration. However, what does not change is his knowledge of the universe.
What else stays the same in the show? He always finds someone to be around. Typically he has a companion with him. He has been called for help all around the universe. Humans, and aliens both need his assistance. We are all drawn to him. Why?
Before I answer that, what about the villains? They all end up fearing him in the end. They all try to defeat him, but in the end the Doctor ends up being the victor. Why is this?
Well, what do bad guys want the most? Power? To be feared by all? Most of the time things become powerful by becoming feared by all. How do they do this? Most of the time it is by deceiving others. Twisting the truth so that they have the higher knowledge of things. People are scared of what is unknown. So,in a way, the truth is the bad guys biggest enemy.
When you find knowledge you try to seek the truth of something. You want to know what is right about that certain thing. Truth is knowledge. This is key.
I said before that the Doctor has always been portrayed as being smart. He uses his wits to defeat the bad guys. The bad guys fear him in the end and everyone seeks his help.
Who is the Doctor? He is knowledge. Think about it. People travel with knowledge through time and space into the unknown.
Rebecca White likes to sit at home and watch Doctor Who with her husband Ethan and her dog Moomar. She has a cat, but she does not like watching Doctor Who with him. (He gets ideas from the Daleks.) Follow her on twitter @grumpywhovian and check out her blog grumpywhovian.wordpress.com.
Last night, the Radio Times reported that Tom Baker and Peter Davison would be giving advice to the Twelfth Doctor. Well, I've got some disappointing news for Fourth Doctor fans and some exciting news for Sixth Doctor fans...
I'm not 100% sure why the Radio Times originally reported that Tom would make an appearance on Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor but they've changed it to Colin now and I assume someone working there just got confused!
It may be a little disappointing if you were looking forward to seeing Tom but I'm certainly looking forward to Colin's appearance... And let's just hope they don't change it again!
P.S: Just remember that Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor airs tonight on BBC1 at 7PM GMT! :)
According to the Radio Times, the Fourth and Fifth Doctors (Tom Baker and Peter Davison) will make an appearance on tomorrow's Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor. Tom Baker will be sending his advice via video message and Peter Davison will be in the studio when it's live. Other people in the studio include Matt Smith and Bernard Cribbins. There will also be some kind of input from Katy Manning (Jo Grant), Anneke Wills (Polly Wright), Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka) and Bonnie Langford (Mel Bush.)
Wow, I'm really excited!
UPDATE #1: The BBC have confirmed that Colin Baker has also recorded a special video.
Since the Twelfth Doctor is to be announced tomorrow, I thought I'd look back at all of The Doctor's regenerations and share my thoughts on them... So, let's get started!
William Hartnell to Patrick Troughton (1966)
So, admittedly the first regeneration from the lost episode four of The Tenth Planet wasn't the most amazing regeneration (although considering it's from almost 50 years ago, I think it's really good!) but it was the first and for that reason, it's probably the most important.
It looks pretty damn good and I can't wait to watch the animated version on the upcoming DVD release of Hartnell's final story which from what I've seen, looks excellent!
Patrick Troughton to Jon Pertwee (1969)
In my personal opinion, Troughton's regeneration in the ten-part The War Games was the most interesting (well, except for McGann's maybe...)
Rather than regenerating because he's dying, the Time Lords force him to regenerate and exile him to Earth simply for being himself! It's a fantastic regeneration and Patrick Troughton's Doctor is pretty funny even during his last moments!
I originally saw the scene in a video that showed all of the classic regenerations and was very confused so I just had to find the story on DVD... My only issue with this one is that we didn't get to see Jon Pertwee at the end.
Jon Pertwee to Tom Baker (1974)
I think that Pertwee's final scene in Planet of the Spiders is the most emotional regeneration (aswell as my favourite) with the fantastic "Tear, Sarah Jane? Now don't cry... While there's life, there's..." line.
It really does bring a tear to my eye and while the effect used for this one wasn't the best ever, the rest of it was basically perfect! The Brigadier's "Not again..." line is great and the five actors in this four minute scene are all absolutely amazing!
Tom Baker to Peter Davison (1981)
I don't think Tom Baker's regeneration was anything too special... It's not bad but it's not very good either although it has some good parts such as the "It's the end... But the moment has been prepared for!" line which has unfortunately been cut from this video.
I also think the Fourth Doctor should have had a better fate than a big fall and a better final story than Logopolis but oh well, what's done is done. It's okay overall but it could have and should have been better but atleast we've got the Fourth Doctor Time Capsule now which kind of makes up for it.
Peter Davison to Colin Baker (1984)
Peter Davison's final moments were fantastic with The Doctor imagining loads of his companions telling him he musn't die and The Master telling him he must die... Then we get this weird but cool regeneration effect and get Colin Baker's brilliant "Change, my dear... And it seems not a moment to soon!" line.
It also helps that The Caves of Androzani, being rated the #1 story in Doctor Who Magazine's Mighty 200 back in 2009. Absolutely fantastic end for the Fifth Doctor era!
Colin Baker to Sylvester McCoy (1987)
Hang on, that's not Colin Baker! It's Sylvester McCoy in a blonde wig!
I think most fans can agree that this is the worst regeneration ever! Colin refused to film the regeneration scene after hearing he'd been fired so we got this mess and I don't know if I should laugh or cry at it. It just doesn't look good and while McCoy turned out to be a fantastic Doctor with some fantastic stories in Seasons 25 and 26, I really wish they hadn't fired Colin Baker like that.
A terrible first appearance for a great Doctor.
Sylvester McCoy to Paul McGann (1996)
I don't think McCoy's regeneration was bad but maybe that's just because of the awful regeneration in Time and the Rani? This is actually pretty creepy and the way McGann scares the guy watching Frankenstein just after regenerating is brilliant.
I just wish McCoy could have had a better death than being shot by a human (or killed by the medical doctors, whichever you think caused it.)
Overall, it's pretty good but not amazingly good.
Paul McGann to Christopher Eccleston
Well, we never got to see this happen but here's an excellent fan-made regeneration sequence!
Christopher Eccleston to David Tennant (2005)
While Christopher Eccleston left the show after just one series, his regeneration was the best in a while. It marked the first time the fire effect was used and it was brilliant at the time although I think it's getting a bit old now.
This was my first regeneration and it really confused me at first but I've rewatched it about 100 times now and it really is a special scene. It was fantastic. Absolutely fantastic!
David Tennant to Matt Smith (2010)
Another brilliant one! I think it's tied for most emotional, along with Pertwee's. While I do like the fire effect, I was hoping this would be the last use of it because variety is good but after Series 6 I think they're going to keep it for a while yet. David Tennant is my favourite Doctor and at first I wasn't really sure if Matt Smith would be any good but it turns out that he is fantastic and I can't wait to see how good his regeneration is.
Even if not all of the regenerations are great, I think all eleven of the Doctors we've had so far have been amazing and let's hope that the Twelfth Doctor is just as good!
