Season 5 versus Season 6?

[T K Plant]

Apologies if this has already been covered in another thread, having watched The Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear along with the Special Edition of The Tomb of the Cybermen and The Ice Warriors has made me re-evaluate the existing stories of Season 6.

I found the stories and production of Enemy and Web as well as Tomb and The Ice Warriors to be far superior to the mixed bag of the following season.

I would cite The Invasion and The Seeds of Death as high points, but believe The Dominators and The Krotons to be poorer stories with The Mind Robber and The War Games somewhere in the middle.

From what I have read and watched I understand Season 6 suffered from budgetary problems and stories being pulled at short notice.

I was wondering what others thought and which of the two seasons people preferred? 

[Robert Lia]

Season 6 was always regarded as the weaker of the three Patrick Troughton seasons, they had story's abandoned for one reason or another at a record pace/ The Seeds of Death, The Invasion and The War Games received additional episodes as a result of this and there are other story issues as well with this series

[richardwoods]

Season 5 for sure, initially from the rose tinted spectacles of childhood, recently supported by the recent recoveries standing up still so well. Season 6 highlight definitely The Invasion.

[Sue Butcher]

With half of Season Five still missing it's difficult to compare them. I'd guess that in overall entertainment value Five is better Six, but because Five stuck to a formula it might get a bit tedious if we could watch it all the way through from Tomb to Wheel In Space. As for Six, I think it has the better team of regulars and more variety than Five. The only one I didn't enjoy was Dominators, the rest were good fun even if some were slightly too long. War Games and Seeds Of Death are my favourites Troughtons, and I'm waiting to see if Web will knock them from first and second place!

[John Wall]

Season Six had lots of problems - but there are some good moments. However, with the exception of seven episodes, two of which have been animated, it exists.

[mattplace]

Dec 31, 2013 23:08:34 GMT Sue Butcher said:

With half of Season Five still missing it's difficult to compare them. I'd guess that in overall entertainment value Five is better Six, but because Five stuck to a formula it might get a bit tedious if we could watch it all the way through from Tomb to Wheel In Space. As for Six, I think it has the better team of regulars and more variety than Five. The only one I didn't enjoy was Dominators, the rest were good fun even if some were slightly too long. War Games and Seeds Of Death are my favourites Troughtons, and I'm waiting to see if Web will knock them from first and second place!

I'm of the opposite opinion, I think The Doctor,Jamie and Victoria are the best "Tardis Team" in the history of the show(mainly as the awesome Steven Taylor got lumbered with Vicki, Dodo and the short lived Katarina.. I think 1st Doc, Steven and Sara Kingdom were a great team too but they needed more time.and less time destructor...
4th Doc Sarah and Harry are also in my top teams)

I have always found Zoe to be grating, maybe she was planned that way by being "as smart as the Doctor", but for me season 5 dominates season 6 in every way.

[hankloebster]

"The War Games" is almost my favorite Doctor Who story of all time.


"The Invasion" irritates me. It's about 4 hours too long.


I'm one of the lucky ones. I've been pacing myself in terms of what to watch & when to watch. The result? I have not yet seen either "The Seeds of Death" or "The Dominators". "The Krotons" & "The Mind Robber" are good, though.

[Darren Jones]

Jan 1, 2014 0:25:11 GMT mattplace said:

I'm of the opposite opinion, I think The Doctor,Jamie and Victoria are the best "Tardis Team" in the history of the show(mainly as the awesome Steven Taylor got lumbered with Vicki, Dodo and the short lived Katarina.. I think 1st Doc, Steven and Sara Kingdom were a great team too but they needed more time.and less time destructor...
4th Doc Sarah and Harry are also in my top teams)

I have always found Zoe to be grating, maybe she was planned that way by being "as smart as the Doctor", but for me season 5 dominates season 6 in every way.

Sorry to disagree with you mate, But I think the best TARDIS team was the original of Ian, Barbara & Susan (OK, maybe not Susan so much). As for keeping on-topic, S6 did have some poor stories but also some great ones. It is a pity that most of Troughton's reign as the Doctor has been lost (Hear's hoping for a revovery!). But it is funny how the memory cheats or believes what it has been told/read. Prior to last year *checks clock* TEotW was classed as weak; not fitting in with the 'MONSTER' season - but now, it is a 'classic', far better than what everyone thought via audio.

If it was purely down to existing eps watched (i.e. available) season 6 is good; but it would be interesting for S5 to see if the eps matched the memory.

[mattplace]

Jan 1, 2014 1:48:10 GMT Darren Jones said:

Jan 1, 2014 0:25:11 GMT mattplace said:

I'm of the opposite opinion, I think The Doctor,Jamie and Victoria are the best "Tardis Team" in the history of the show(mainly as the awesome Steven Taylor got lumbered with Vicki, Dodo and the short lived Katarina.. I think 1st Doc, Steven and Sara Kingdom were a great team too but they needed more time.and less time destructor...
4th Doc Sarah and Harry are also in my top teams)

I have always found Zoe to be grating, maybe she was planned that way by being "as smart as the Doctor", but for me season 5 dominates season 6 in every way.

Sorry to disagree with you mate, But I think the best TARDIS team was the original of Ian, Barbara & Susan (OK, maybe not Susan so much). As for keeping on-topic, S6 did have some poor stories but also some great ones. It is a pity that most of Troughton's reign as the Doctor has been lost (Hear's hoping for a revovery!). But it is funny how the memory cheats or believes what it has been told/read. Prior to last year *checks clock* TEotW was classed as weak; not fitting in with the 'MONSTER' season - but now, it is a 'classic', far better than what everyone thought via audio.

If it was purely down to existing eps watched (i.e. available) season 6 is good; but it would be interesting for S5 to see if the eps matched the memory.

No need to be sorry.. you are entitled to be wrong... Just a Joke..
As are being on topic i think the Crew of each season is a HUGE part of each season, Season 6 seems padded to the extreme, Season 5, i believe enough now exists to give a fair representation of that era, In my opinion Season 4 and 5 are a highpoint for Who that has rarely, if ever, been equalled (early T Baker seasons might be the exception).

[shellyharman67]

What lets 6 down is the over long stories due to disagreements with writers and such ! Would of been nice to get that third Yeti story tho

[Greg H]

Season 6 is good stuff, if it has it's occasional dodgy patches. Episode one of the mind robber is a real highlight of who in general; the krotons is great fun if a little generic; Invasion is a good solid cybermen story; there are some outstanding moments in 6 but it does somewhat pale next to season 5 which I have long regarded (from the evidence available) as one of the high points in the history of the show. There is just something quintessentially late 60s sci fi about it. Web of fear is probably the best thing the BBC made since Quatermass and the pit and A for Andromeda. Both are excellent but 5 is really outstanding Might go and listen to abominable snowmen again................

[Mike Biggs]

Long time lurker, first time poster here in NZ. I find it hard to pick between the two, but I think a lot of the stories in season 5 almost seem to have a bit more spark to them. But some of that could be down to finally seeing EOTW and WOF - novelty value perhaps?

As a small aside, I recently discovered a minor family connection to these seasons. I had bought the Special Edition of Tomb of the Cybermen, so passed my earlier copy to a Great Uncle who is a fan of the show. He was quite pleased to get it as Patrick Troughton is his favourite doctor and he went on to tell us that he worked on the sets during that time. I knew he’d gone to the UK in the 1960s and had worked at the BBC for a bit, but hadn’t known that!

[Simon Jailler]

Thanks for starting this thread TK. Season 5 is my all time favourite but why was n't season 6 just as good? I've always wondered what went wrong with the latter.

• The Dominators had so much promise (Quarks and the Dominators) but turned out rather dull (Using "Dulcians" and "Dulcis" should have tipped everyone off).
• I love The Krotons, it's a great script but the monsters look very last minute, probably assembled after a dash to the nearest Hoover store.
• The Invasion over runs by at least 2 episodes and the Cybermen (yet again) prove easy to defeat.
• Ditto The Seeds of Death but I still enjoy it, particularly the "Geniussssssss?" scene.
• The Mind Robber was just too clever to be realised at time of broadcast.
• The Space Pirates shows promise but I made the mistake of judging EOTW on just one episode so my judgement on SPs is reserved.
• I love the War Games. Perhaps it sapped all the Production Team's best efforts?

All the Season 6 stories have their flaws but I'm at a loss as to where the magic of Season 5 disappeared to.

[Deleted]

Jan 1, 2014 1:10:33 GMT hankloebster said:

"The War Games" is almost my favorite Doctor Who story of all time.


"The Invasion" irritates me. It's about 4 hours too long.

Quite right, The War Games is fantastic.

It's also refreshing to see that someone agrees with me about The Invasion, I'm surprised by how well liked it is.

[stevehoare61]

season 5. season 6 was inconsistent, messy and some of the stories were seriously overlong and padded out.