Doctor Who: 10 Great Fourth Doctor Stories

Though he’s been eclipsed these days by Tennant, Baker remains wildly popular with fans. Here's his 10 best stories...

By Chris Swanson /

Well, at last here we are with a full-on top 10 list! Whereas with the First and Second Doctor we didn€™t have enough existing material for ten stories, and whereas with the Pertwee Doctor there just weren€™t enough stories made, with his Doctor we can do it properly! Tom Baker is, without a doubt, the most popular and well-known Doctor of the classic Who era, and rightly so. With his bizarre (but epic!), scarf, his penchant for Jelly Babies, his odd sense of humor and charisma, he really is a fascinating screen presence. Better yet, some of the best stories of the classic era were written during his time as the Doctor. Though he€™s been eclipsed these days by Tennant, Baker remains wildly popular with fans, especially here in the USA where his episodes were those most frequently shown. So let€™s go through and see which of those episodes are the very best!

10. The Horns of Nimon (Story 108, 1979/1980)

Ok, I€™ll be the first to admit that this is an odd choice. The whole thing is a retelling of the story of Theseus, only set in space, and the story doesn€™t really work very well. It isn€™t bad, but it isn€™t anything great. So why is this even on the list? Ah, well, therein lies a tale. First off, consider the character of the guard, aka: the guy who looks kind of like Colin Baker does these days. He is insanely over-the-top with his constant shouts of, €œWeakling scum!€ Every time he€™s on screen, he€™s a joy to watch. But even better, and the one who really makes the story, is Graham Crowden€™s Soldeed, shown in the above video. A bad guy and proud of it, he stalked through the story calling out, €œLord Nimon! Lord Niiiiii-mon!€ in a way that had me almost rolling with laughter. He really takes what is an otherwise €œmeh€ episode and pushes it into a whole new level, and he, along with the guard, are the two main reasons why this story, unexceptional though it is, is on here. It€™s just so damn entertaining!