Doctor Who: 3 Great Sixth Doctor TV Stories

Colin Baker remains the only actor to ever be fired from the role of the Doctor.

By Chris Swanson /

Colin Baker remains the only actor to ever be fired from the role of the Doctor. This happened after only eighteen months as the character, a time which saw the ratings plummet, and saw the show coming under increasing attack for excessive violence. Then there€™s that godawful eyesore of a costume. As a result of these factors, there€™s very, very few televised Sixth Doctor stories, and most of the ones that exist€aren€™t great. Though I do have to admit that I love the scene in €œThe Twin Dilemma€ where he€™s strangling Peri. I think we€™ve all felt that desire. As a result of this very brief time in the TARDIS, and the overall low quality of stories during Baker€™s time as the Doctor, there isn€™t much that I can put onto this list. You get three from the TV era, and that€™s all. But the three you get are, at least, quite entertaining! Let€™s take a look at them.

3. Mark of the Rani (Story 139, 1985)

I do have a fondness for any stories that introduce other renegade Time Lords to the series. In this case we get not only the reappearance of the Master, but we are also introduced to the Rani, an evil Time Lady scientist who thinks that experimental ethics are something that happen to other people and who gets the honor of kicking the Master right in the happy parts. Filmed on location at a British village that€™s forever stuck in the early Industrial age, the story features better-than-usual production values, a nice bit of history (it€™s where I learned the word €œLuddite€), a couple great plot twists and, well, the Rani, who is sadly under-utilized in the old series and has yet to turn up in the new one. True, this story does contain some silliness with a tree, but if you can get past that, it is great fun.