2. The Story Arcs, Gallifrey And The Start Of The Time War...
There were a lot of themes that ran through the Fourth Doctors era that set a prescient for what followed later, even in Nu Who today. Well start with story arcs. There had been some loose attempts before with The Daleks Master Planthough that was more of multi-episode story than arc, and the Earth bound / Master stories of the Third. Again, less of an arc, more a recurring theme. But the Fourth Doctor had not one, but two story arcs in its seven-year run. The first was the Nerva arc in Tom Bakers first series. In his second adventure, the Doctor, Sarah and Harry arrive on the Nerva in Ark In Space, a space station carrying cryogenically frozen humans as it orbits the Earth. Dealing with the Wirryn threat, the trio beam down to the Earth and immediately encounter the ruthless Sontaran Styre, experimenting on humans as they return to repopulate the Earth (The Sontaran Experiment). After a quick stop off to Skaro (Genesis Of The Daleks), they return to the Nerva, only to encounter Cybermen as the station finds itself drifting back through time. (Revenge Of The Cybermen). This arc formed the central point of Harrys adventures with the Doctor. (His other adventures all find him back on Earth) Bigger still was the Key To Time story arc that ran through the entirety of series 16. All six stories find the Doctor and new Timelady companion Romana (the first) on their quest to locate the six segments to the Key to Time that have been scattered throughout the time/space continuum, in order to restore balance to the universe. This kind of arc was only ever attempted again with series 23s Trail of A Timelordthis time with more mixed results. But its not just the arcs that made the Fourth Doctor the best of the best. In his era we were introduced to Gallifrey in all its glory, setting the scene for many stories still to come. And while it might be a bit retrospective, could the Timelords sending the Doctor back in time to kill Davros and stop the creation of the Daleks, not be construed as the first steps towards the almighty time war that followed?