Whilst it was the Sylvester McCoy era that put the final nail in the coffin, Colin Baker's spell as the Sixth Doctor didn't exactly help matters. The ornery actor made for a grumpy, arch Time Lord that suffered no fools (or anybody else for that matter). Still, he might've found time for a bit of fun if the season 23 episode The Nightmare Fair. If it had actually been made, anyway. Graham Williams's two-part script was later adapted to both a novelisation in 1989 and a couple of audio plays as well. All versions involve The Doctor's old immortal adversary the Celestial Toymaker bringing the TARDIS to...Blackpool Pleasure Beach, not exactly one of the show's most glamorous locations. As if that wasn't kitschy enough, the Toymaker's ploy involved trapping The Doctor and companion Peri in a video game arcade. Their major obstacle? The characters from those arcade games coming to life and attacking them, like a reverse-TRON situation. It might have worked, but probably not with the sort of special effects budget old Who had.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
