10 Reasons To Revisit The Colin Baker Era Of Doctor Who
Here's why you should rewatch Colin's underrated Doctor Who run.
It's certainly safe to say that the mid-1980s was a very strange time for Doctor Who.
Due to many behind-the-scenes reasons, its budget, format, and schedule were altered in an attempt to revitalise the show, which, by this point, had seen a large dip in popularity. Through no fault of his own, Sixth Doctor Colin Baker found himself at odds with meddling BBC executives who were not keen on the show.
As a result, Colin's era is one of the most controversial runs of any Doctor in the show's 59-year history. The stories of his era were much darker than any of his predecessors', and so was the Doctor himself, who was frequently stubborn and mean towards his companions. Doctor Who was even cancelled after Colin's first season, before being brought back after 18 months off the air.
That said, for fans capable of looking past the often nonsensical storylines (and the behaviour of the Doctor), Colin's era does contain several gems, and is well worth a rewatch and reappraisal - and here are ten of the reasons why.
10. He Has The CRAZIEST Doctor Costume
It's only fitting that the quirkiest and most offbeat incarnation of our favourite Time Lord has an equally strange outfit.
Love it or hate it, it's impossible to deny that Colin's costume is one of the most iconic and imaginative in Doctor Who history. That coat boasts a total of 76 different colour tones overall, and presumably due to how bold and vibrant it is, the man himself actually hated it at the time.
Originally, Colin Baker had envisioned that his Doctor would wear similar clothes to what Christopher Eccleston would go on to sport in his tenure, in order to show off the Sixth Doctor's darker side - but the show's producer, John Nathan-Turner wanted to take things in another direction.
Nathan-Turner asked for the costume and the coat to be something totally tasteless, which designer Pat Godfrey certainly provided! It's certainly bold and eye-catching, but never seems out-of-place throughout Baker's onscreen tenure. Even in stories that have been deemed some of the worst in Doctor Who's history, Colin and his amazing technicolour coat are on hand to provide some much needed visual appeal.