The Fifth Doctor, portrayed by Peter Davison from late 1981-1984, has always been unfairly judged by a certain amount of fans. It's either the personality of the Fifth Doctor that tends to make people wary about his era, or people are unsure about his era just by the stories alone. Some fans didn't think that Peter Davison could ever be as good as Tom Baker, who had the role of Doctor for seven years. But sometimes it's the fact this Doctor was part of the John Nathan-Turner era as producer that turns people off from watching. Whatever the case, some of the criticisms can be downright harsh and it's time to set things straight. This article is going to look in depth at the Fifth Doctor, his era and what makes him special in his own way, and what makes him so underated compared to some of the other Doctors.
Young Looks
The youthful looks of the Fifth Doctor came in handy. The enemies underestimated him, and were mostly caught offguard. Looks, as observed here, can be very deceiving. He had the looks of youthful, athletic cricketer; not as some older, wisened Time Lord that had been travelling for quite some time. Some people did not warm up to that. People who grew up with Patrick Troughton as the Doctor, or Jon Pertwee, or even Tom Baker, and were quite used to the older looking Doctor, and wanted it to stay that way. But why not try a different approach... after all John Nathan-Turner did work with Peter Davison on All Creatures Great and Small. With his amusing and wonderful performance in that show, the producer must have felt strongly that Peter was perfect for the role of the Fifth Doctor. Someone with the young looks, and a love of cricket. With the young looks, he also had the young companions. A feisty stewardess named Tegan, who ended up being the one companion to stay on the TARDIS the longest, a Traken scientist named Nyssa, and an Alzarian named Adric. Adric had been with the Fourth Doctor and Nyssa was introduced in the Fourth Doctor story, Keeper of Traken, but did not join the crew until the following story, Logopolis, just like Tegan. The companions may have been issue with some fans, not just the Doctor. Tegan was written to be a tempermental and a bit abrasive, but with a good heart. Adric tended to complain more after Tegan and Nyssa joined. The TARDIS crew had become crowded, and without the amount of writers that were used to writing for three companions in the sixties, it was much more difficult. So eventually they got rid of Adric first. It was then the Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa. Despite what some think, the rapport with the Fifth Doctor and his companions, no matter how rocky they started, they always were close. Tempers would flare up, or one would lose patience, but by the time the companion would leave, the departure was certainly felt. The Fifth Doctor seemed to treasure his friendships, and one that seemed to disturb him the most was Tegan's departure. She had been with him for so long and suddenly was running away. To call out to her and say not to leave, not like this, certainly leaves a little tear to someone's eye as they see someone's friendship just disappear so quickly and emotionally.