N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!
Classic Doctor Who‘s final season is one of the best, not just of the 80s, but of the show’s entire run.
“You’ve just created your own future.”
Sorin, The Curse of Fenric: Part Four
Season twenty-six is full of ambitious, multi-layered storytelling that mixes the old (the Brigadier, the Master, Arthurian legend) with the new (Light, Fenric and hæmovores, Cheetah People) and continues to sow the seeds of Virgin Publishing’s New Adventures. (I know I keep harping on about this, but it’s true!)
It sees the Doctor ramp up his manipulative streak a notch, putting Ace through the emotional ringer on more than one occasion. We learn that he is able to disarm with a single finger, are reminded that, much like the Master, he is capable of hypnosis and that he somehow has the magical ability to clean a muddy hand in seconds (see The Curse of Fenric, Part Four, for evidence).
Doctor Who‘s 26th season illustrates that, despite the seeming lack of interest shown it by the higher-ups at the Beeb in the late 80’s, it was still capable of greatness and that, with a bit of love and care from those responsible for commissioning it, it could easily have continued to tell cracking stories on television well into the 90’s.
"My favourite Seventh Doctor stories are Remembrance of the Daleks, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, Ghost Light and The Curse of Fenric
