Review of the Third Doctor’s era

1970 – 1974
Spearhead from Space Doctor Who and the Silurians The Ambassadors of Death Inferno	Terror of the Autons The Mind of Evil The Claws of Axos Colony in Space The Dæmons	Day of the Daleks The Curse of Peladon The Sea Devils The Mutants The Time Monster
The Three Doctors Carnival of Monsters Frontier in Space Planet of the Daleks The Green Death	The Time Warrior Invasion of the Dinosaurs Death to the Daleks The Monster of Peladon Planet of the Spiders

The switch to Three brought in some big changes. Most noticeably, the episodes were now in color! However, there was also a distinct change in the personality of Three when compared to One and Two. First off, he was the first example of the Doctor as Action Hero. With his Venusian aikido (or Venusian karate, depending on the story), he was not averse to getting into hand-to-hand combat. He was also a fairly good with a blade, prompting one adversary to comment that he’d never seen “a finer swordsman.”

Another change was that for a significant portion of his tenure, Three was stuck on Earth – exiled here by the Time Lords, with his knowledge of the relevant technology blocked. Thus began his real, long-term relationship with UNIT. Usually he only helped because he decided the problem the Brigadier brought to him was interesting, but of course we never saw the instances that didn’t result in an adventure. And somehow, Earth always seemed to be under threat of invasion from someone.

It also seemed always to be under threat from the Master. It was the second of Three’s five seasons in which the Master (brilliantly played by Roger Delgado) was introduced. He was an integral part of this era, appearing in every story of Season 8, two more in Season 9 (The Sea Devils and The Time Monster), and a final time in Season 10 (Frontier in Space). Delgado’s untimely death that year, coupled with Katy Manning (Companion Jo Grant)’s decision to leave at the end of Series 10 really brought the “UNIT family” to an end, and were influential to Pertwee’s own decision to leave.

Whether fighting the Master on Earth (or on a random planet) or Daleks on a random planet (or on Earth), Three was always confident, authoritative, unwilling to suffer fools gladly, and appreciative of the finer things in life. Often characterized as a “dandy,” he loved fancy clothing (velvet jackets and silk-lined cloaks were de rigueur), fine wine and good food, and any machine that went fast (the extended chase scene at the end of episode 2 of Planet of the Spiders is just the most ridiculous example). He was definitely a gentleman in the classic sense of the word (complete with a certain amount of condescension toward his female Companions).

Three again had fewer Companions than his predecessor (three), unless you count members of UNIT, such as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Sergeant Benton, and Captain Yates. Here they are in order, with the stories in which they first and last appeared and how they left the Doctor:

• Dr. Elizabeth “Liz” Shaw
  Spearhead from Space to Inferno
  Returned to Cambridge to pursue her own work
• Josephine “Jo” Grant
  Terror of the Autons to The Green Death
  Got married, accompanied husband to the Amazon
• Sarah Jane Smith
  The Time Warrior into Four’s era

From spelunking or unrest in a mining community to interstellar intrigues or Earth-conquering über-plots, Three’s adventures bring us the gamut of quality for both storytelling and effects. Inferno is one of my all-time favorites, and I also like to show The Time Warrior to new viewers as part of their introduction to Three. Then you have the uneven Sea Devils or the just-plain-weird Claws of Axos.

But there’s always a lovely relationship – a truly caring friendship, even if there is a bit of a power differential – between the Doctor (the ultimate “chap” – a straight, white male of a certain age who is thus clearly in a position of authority) and his Companion-du-jour. The Doctor has really become attached to these silly humans. Nowhere do we see it as clearly as in the poignant not-quite-farewell with Jo, the quintessential Companion-of-Three. It is, in a sense, one of the first inklings of The Lonely God we see in Ten.

Summary
Three’s era saw the introduction of Silurians, Autons, Sontarans, and the Master (to name a few). Of course, there were also plenty of stinkers in the creature department (giant maggots? really?), but even in the face of such adversity, the cast handles the situation with aplomb. The show has become confident with its place in the world, and makes no apologies for its choices (even when, perhaps, it should). In the stage of its life equivalent to the (pre-spouse’n’kids) young professional, everything seems to click. No wonder there was concern when change again loomed on the horizon…