new era in pop culture, its 1981 and everything is new and Doctor Who has a fresh new face in the shape of Peter Davison. During his time as the title character, he was labeled the youngest actor to portray the role. It was during his time the show started going downhill, audience members were plummeting and the quality of the show wasn’t as good as it once was.
The arrival of Davison in Doctor Who was, in my opinion, a brave move. Tom Baker left quite an imprint of the show and was at the time the longest running Doctor in the show’s history. Eventually, that title would go onto Sylvester McCoy who regenerated in the early 1990’s. Peter Davison’s Doctor was more darting about and saving the day without the use of a sonic screwdriver.
The Fifth Doctor had a love for cricket, which was accompanied by some choice clothing. Not many men could have a stick of celery and pass it off as a decorative vegetable. However, we didn’t know the reason behind the use of the celery until Davison’s swansong story 'The Caves of Androzani' (1984). For many of you who aren’t aware of the use of the infamous mysterious stick of celery, worry no longer! Because the Doctor used the celery so that he could detect poisonous gases in any environment he just manages to be in. The celery would then turn purple and he would eat the celery thus making him immune to the gases.
It was during his time as the Doctor had the Brigadier made two guest appearances, one of which involved the Doctor helping his beloved friend regain his memory. The second time the Brigadier returned was for the 20th Anniversary Special; 'The Five Doctors' (1983). Which is says on the tin! The Doctors with their companions are plunged into mystery, which leads them to the Death Zone on Gallifrey, reawakening Rassilon and discovering that the President of the Time Lord is a corrupt leader on a mission for power.
The show also featured the return of the evil Black Guardian who was on the mission to defeat the Doctor once and for all after the whole fiasco with the Key to Time. The Master (Anthony Ainley) made a series of returns to plague the Doctor, to hide the revelation of the Master making a comeback the makers of the show slightly altered Ainley’s name in the credits, so that it wouldn’t ruin the surprise in the following week’s episode.
The Fifth Incarnation of the benevolent Time Lord had a series of companions. Many of which fans who grew up through the 80s look back in admiration, many of which grew up with a bit of a schoolboy crush on Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) a loud-mouthed Australian air-stewardess, who wouldn’t take any nonsense from the Doctor or anyone who got on her wrong side. The other members of the TARDIS crew were Nyssa (Sarah Sutton), Adric (Matthew Waterhouse), Turlough (Mark Strickson), Peri Brown (Nicola Bryant) and the Chameleon, who lived deep down in the TARDIS.
The connection between the Doctor and Nyssa was personal and there was somewhat of a romance between the two, and it was upsetting when she left. However, it wasn’t as heartbreaking as the death of Adric, as he attempted to defeat the Cybermen, thus being the meteor that fell to Earth and wiped of the dinosaurs.
This story was heavily influenced by the politics of the time. It does have that sense of a Conservative government being the villain for that serial. Director Graeme Harper has openly admitted that he used Thatcher’s government as "The Caves of Androzani". Davison’s era came to a close in influence for the story’s antagonist and the stylization of telling the story. The events on Androzani though took its toll on the Fifth incarnation of the Doctor, which resulted in regeneration where we had a Doctor who had an amazing technicolor dream coat that was a complete eyesore for whoever had to look at it.
