Thinking about it some more … I think it is arguable that the Doctor is never the protagonist.
S/he always just reacts to stuff that happens. Usually evil aliens. It’s why it was in its day such a great kids programme that even adults liked - it was ALWAYS: how is our hero going to get out of this???
‘This’ always being some predicament the Doctor had been put in by the direction the protagonists had driven events in.
It’s the formula.
If you started with Pertwee, you’d meet Jo Grant and Sarah Jane Smith from the beginning — the two classic companions who reappear decades later in The Sarah Jane Adventures. So there’s that anyway.
Is Sara Jane played by the same actress?
YES YES YES
She played the same character for longer than anybody else, I think.
I miss Liz Sladen.
If Alexi Sayle has ever done standup comedy, I wish someone would air those.
Fixed! Sorry about that.
Tom Baker was my Doctor, and at the time I adored the programme, so I feel bad saying this, but …
Tom himself I don’t think was ever anything less than awesome. He is still the most convincing representation of an an anarchic, bombastic, brave, compassionate and petulantly childish alien time-travelling genius there’s been.
However, Doctor Who of the time was still 1970s British children’s TV, so he was up against shoddy production values (always), ropey scripts and supporting actors (sometimes), and casual racism (not often, but unfortunately not never). The Talons of Weng-Chiang is a pretty blatant example of the last (and also the first; it creates a fairly convincing depiction of Victorian London, then lets it down with the world’s worst ever giant rat).
That said, there are gems, and more than a few. If you’ve not seen it already, you have to see Genesis of the Daleks. It makes explicit what was previously implicit (the Daleks are basically Space Nazis) without making it cheesy; it introduces the first (and IMO greatest) Davros; and it explores the ethics of utilitarianism vs deontology as they pertain to genocide, which is pretty hardcore stuff for a kids’ tea-time show.
Another must-see is The City of Death, which may have the best script of any Doctor Who serial (courtesy of Douglas Adams), and some of the best supporting actors (Julian Glover as the baddie, and John Cleese in a cameo).
The last two stories, The Keeper of Traken and Logopolis, are very much worth watching, both for pretty strong weirdness (especially the latter) and for introducing Anthony Ainley’s incarnation of the Master, who I think trumps John Simm’s (though not Michelle Gomez’s).
And there are plenty of others. But be aware there’s some dross too.
Anyway, that rat:
But that’s true of 90%+ of drama. Something happens, and the lead character reacts. Stories are rarely about the lead doing something sua sponte: off the top of my head, the only one I can think of is Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Nonetheless, by convention the lead character is always referred to as the protagonist, and their primary opponent as the antagonist.
Literally, until she died, as the Sarah Jane adventures was the last thing she did on screen (AFAIK).
Not quite: she was just beaten by Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier (formerly Colonel) Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, first appearance 1968 (Doctor Who, “The Web of Fear”), last appearance 2008 (The Sarah Jane Adventures, “Enemy of the Bane”).
“Roll VT, Errol!”
I initially didn’t realise which comment you were replying to, and thought you were implying Nicholas Courtney voiced Roland Rat.
I actually went and checked.
*hangs head*
You can make a good argument that Anthony Ainley ruined the character of the Master. As played by the first incarnation, Roger Delgado was always at odds to the Doctor, but portrayed the Master as a scheming villain with his own objectives. During Ainley’s tour of duty the Master veered into one-dimensional, single-minded, all-consuming hatred of the Doctor. Since then, all the Master’s fiendish plans are only undertaken to vex or kill him. Even the Rani got tired of that crap.
Got to disagree… I enjoy Missy’s arc and thought they played her with some nuance.
Also, they should totally bring back both the Rani AND Romana!
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