The Doctor never dies, he only regenerates. With the conclusion of his life cycle a good few decades away, he'll probably live on televisually for another 50 years. There is a kind of death that occurs on these occasions, however - that of the lead actor, whose career continues but whose time in the TARDIS has resolutely come to an end. Unequalled in its combination of excitement and innovation was the exit of Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor. This upstanding, decent sort of bloke had a cracker of a final story in The Caves of Androzani by Robert Holmes. Torn between scheming politicians, the military, an insane android-building gimp and gun runners (and at one point nearly torn to pieces by mechanical men), the cricket-loving Time Lord also contended with a disease picked up from raw, web-like spectrox in an alien cave network. Soldiering through a planet of bullets and giant bats, he secured the antidote for the condition blighting him and companion Peri (Nicola Bryant). But as Androzani Minor collapsed he dropped half, and only had enough to save her neck. He entered into bodily renewal not knowing if he'd ever wake up again... Director Graeme Harper employed an array of faces from the incarnation's past, who urged the Doctor to cling to life in a whirling mass of hallucinations. These included Adric, whose death Davison obviously felt responsible for. Anthony Ainley's Master appeared to try and shove the blonde Gallifreyan over the brink and the Fifth was lost in a cacophony of sound and light. He did survive in the mighty, multicoloured shape of Colin Baker, but the series would never quite be the same again. What did you think of this list? Are there any other great Doctor Who deaths that should have been included? Join the conversation in the comments section below.
I am a journalist and comedian who enjoys American movies of the 70s, Amicus horror compendiums, Doctor Who, Twin Peaks, Naomi Watts and sitting down. My short fiction has been published as part of the Iris Wildthyme range from Obverse Books.
