Doctor Who: 5 Ways Big Finish Enhances The Sixth Doctor
1. He Is Given A Proper Ending
When 1987’s ‘Time and the Rani’ aired, the story opens with The Doctor regenerating from his sixth to seventh body. However, Colin Baker was not involved at all. All we saw on the show was that the TARDIS had been shot down and resulted in The Doctor regenerating. To actually film the scene, Sylvester McCoy donned a blonde wig and filmed the transition and we were never told how we went from ‘Trial of a Time Lord’ to this.
As a result, Colin Baker’s tenure came to an abrupt end with his final words in the series being “carrot juice, carrot juice, carrot juice”, as he departs in the TARDIS with Mel. But of course, with thanks to Big Finish, The Sixth Doctor has lived on since then traveling with Evelyn, Charley, Flip, a post ‘Mindwarp’ Peri, Constance, before reuniting with Mel for his last few adventures in this incarnation.
Big Finish, in 2015, gave us ‘The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure’, a four-part finale, set across The Sixth Doctor’s life featuring many of the aforementioned companions to have one final confrontation with The Valeyard. All incarnations of The Doctor end up with a more personal iconic villain, such as The Fourth Doctor and Sutekh, or The Eleventh Doctor and The Silence. Well, The Sixth Doctor’s was The Valeyard, 'an amalgamation of The Doctor's darker sides'. A villain who is truly gripping, even back on-screen.
So three stories build up The Valeyard’s plot to all come together in The Sixth Doctor’s final adventure. I shall not spoil the ending here, go and listen to it for yourself! But the finale is similar to an original idea intended for the final episode of ‘Trial of a Time Lord’. We finally know how and why The Sixth Doctor regenerates, and hear him start to regenerate into his seventh incarnation. Thus, The Sixth Doctor is given the emotional swan song he truly deserved, fitting with his character and time at Big Finish.
If you weren't a fan of The Sixth Doctor on-screen, I whole heartedly suggest you give him a try at Big Finish.
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