N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!

In many ways, The Two Doctors marked the beginning of the end for classic Doctor Who.

This isn’t down to its qualities as a story, which aren’t bad (even if it does contain some of the more violent excesses of its era) nor is it a reflection on the quality of the stories that followed in this and subsequent seasons; it’s more because it was during the broadcast of The Two Doctors that the BBC announced that production of Doctor Who‘s planned 23rd season would be suspended. Whatever the reasons behind it — be they financial, artistic, personal dislike from the higher-ups — it was a decision from which Doctor Who would never really recover.

“Officially, I’m here quite unofficially.”

The (Second) Doctor, The Two Doctors: Part One

The Two Doctors also highlights Robert Holmes’s devil-may-care approach to continuity with the Doctor on a mission for the Time Lords, travelling with Jamie and able to pick up Victoria as and when he likes. Whether Holmes intended this story simply to slot into a gap in the fifth season and simply forgot, didn’t know or didn’t care that the Doctor’s whereabouts were unknown to the Time Lords, that he couldn’t pilot the TARDIS or have a remote control for it is almost immaterial. It’s almost more fun to speculate along the lines of the Season 6B theory. We don’t know need to have every continuity detail explained to us on screen, to have every continuity plot hole plugged. The show is called Doctor Who, after all, and mystery is inherent in it. (This is a theme I fear I shall return to.)

“Just a load of tourists eating paella and chips.”

Peri, The Two Doctors: Part Three

Strangely though, The Two Doctors features precious little doctor-to-doctor action, with Baker and Troughton barely exchanging a glance for much of the story and sharing only a few scenes in the story’s final episode.

Whether this was born out of a desire to make this less a celebratory story and simply have an adventure where the Doctor crosses paths with himself is hard to say.

Elsewhere, as with Amsterdam and Arc of Infinity, the Spanish countryside and the streets of Sevilla make for more interesting backdrop than corridors but other than that appear to add little to the story. And, for the second Robert Holmes story in a row, Peri is pursued a little too closely for comfortable viewing, even if Shockeye lusts after her flesh for a different reason, such is his desire to taste human meat!

“Ridiculous thing to happen. Dissatisfied customers usually just don’t leave a tip.”

Oscar, The Two Doctors: Part Three

The killing of Oscar is oft-cited as one of The Two Doctors‘ less forgivable moments. It’s certainly brutal and caused my son to exclaim ‘Why is this season so violent?’. It’s a good question, one that’s only partly satisfied by knowing Eric Saward’s wish to tell darker stories and Colin Baker’s reciprocal desire to play a more alien Doctor. Oscar’s death fits in with the story’s generally unpalatable tone — it’s a story in which the pecking order of the food chain is questioned, after all — and his line about dissatisfied customers usually being content not to leave a tip is a beaut, but it’s not the only scene that sits uneasily.

In a way even more shocking is the Doctor’s cyanide-fused suffocation of Shockeye, which like Vengeance on Varos‘s acid bath scene, comes complete with James Bond-style pun. (There are two, in fact, because the Doctor follows up his initial ‘Your just deserts’ with a ‘he’s been mothballed’ explanation of Shockeye’s demise to Peri and the others.)

Notwithstanding the many things in its favour — seeing the Second Doctor and Jamie, a returning monster (Sontarans) and an interesting new one (Androgums), a caustic wit and Dastari’s groovy sunglasses to name but a few — overall it’s hard not to shake the impression that The Two Doctors isn’t as good as it should be. All of the ingredients are there for it to be something special, but it doesn’t quite come off.