It’s March, so it’s the Third Doctor theme here on Red Rocket Rising, and time to discuss the sometimes frustrated exile and ask the Monty Python Romans question: What did the third Doctor ever do for the show? It’s 2019 now and Jon Pertwee’s main run as the Doctor was 1970-1974, ending 45 years ago!
Though I’m a big fan of the second Doctor, the Third Doctor had a big impact on me, probably as I remember the stories well from the time. But there’s more…
The Third Doctor
It’s well known this was a time of transition, reduced budgets, the emergence of UNIT and gadgets galore. And can I also mention reversing the polarity? Apart from all that, I’d like to again (as I did for Troughton’s Doctor) talk about the Doctor’s foes, his enemies.
The enemies of the Third Doctor
Let’s just list them, story by story:
| Spearhead from Space | Nestene Consciousness, Autons |
| The Silurians | Silurians |
| Ambassadors of Death | Various humans |
| Inferno | Primords and various parallel Earth figures |
| Terror of the Autons | Nestene Consciousness, Autons, The Master |
| The Mind of Evil | The Master |
| The Claws of Axos | Axons |
| Colony in Space | The Master |
| The Daemons | The Master, Azal, Bok |
| Day of the Daleks | Daleks, Ogrons |
| The Curse of Peladon | Arcturus and Hepesh |
| The Sea Devils | The Master, Sea Devils |
| The Mutants | The Marshall of Solos |
| The Time Monster | The Master |
| The Three Doctors | Omega |
| Carnival of Monsters | Kalik, Drashigs |
| Frontier in Space | The Master, Ogrons, Daleks |
| Planet of the Daleks | Daleks |
| The Green Death | BOSS |
| The Time Warrior | Sontarans |
| Invasion of the Dinosaurs | Various humans |
| Death to the Daleks | Daleks, Exxilon City |
| The Monster of Peladon | Ice Warriors |
| Planet of the Spiders | Great One, Eight legs |
Summary
So, no Cybermen (Big Finish rectified that) and it took the Daleks a while to appear. It’s very clear the Third Doctor‘s run was (for a time) dominated by the Master, and given how often he appeared, it’s also clear the BBC was very confident he would fit the show. I have to agree!
Spread across the seasons there are a lot of new alien races who have stayed the course. Autons, Sontarans and Silurians have all appeared in modern Doctor Who and note two of these appeared in opening stories for their seasons (Autons and Sontarans). We also got Axons, Omega and Ogrons, all of which are deep in the psyche of the Doctor Who fan.
Let’s also not forget the wonderful setting of Peladon. How often does the Doctor return to a world he has visited? Are we overdue a return to Peladon? [Yes, Big Finish has been, but surely one more trip? Alpha Centauri has popped up, after all!]
If we add Bessie and all the other gadgets, it’s clear the show was still bubbling with creativity and if it had been a possible consideration for cancellation at the end of the 1960s, we thank Jon Pertwee for making sure it didn’t happen for a very long time.
Do you agree? Let me know in the comments!
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