Here's a place to discuss Jon Pertwee's portrayal of our favorite Time Lord.

The only story of his I've seen was the first, Spearhead From Space. Pretty neat and unexpected that upon waking up his first thought is to run and leave Earth to deal with the autons on its own. Pertwee was primarily a comic actor before then, so it's odd that his Doctor was so relativley humorless, but it somehow worked.

Curious as to which stories involved Jon Pertwee, and which ones are available to see on DVD?

Season VII (1970):
51. Spearhead from Space - 4 eps - Liz
52. Doctor Who and the Silurians - 7 eps - Liz
53. The Ambassadors of Death - 7 eps - Liz
54. Inferno - 7 eps - Liz

Season VIII (1971):
55. Terror of the Autons - 4 eps - Jo
56. Mind of Evil - 6 eps - Jo
57. Claws of Axos - 4 eps - Jo
58. Colony in Space - 6 eps - Jo
59. The Daemons - 5 eps - Jo

Season IX (1972):
60. Day of the Daleks - 4 eps - Jo
61. Curse of Peladon - 4 eps - Jo
62. The Sea Devils - 6 eps - Jo
63. The Mutants - 6 eps - Jo
64. The Time Monster - 6 eps - Jo

Season X (1973):
65. The Three Doctors - 4 eps - Jo
66. Carnival of Monsters - 4 eps - Jo
67. Frontier in Space - 6 eps - Jo
68. Planet of the Daleks - 6 eps - Jo
69. The Green Death - 6 eps - Jo

Season XI (1974):
70. The Time Warrior - 4 eps - Sarah Jane
71. Invasion of the Dinosaurs - 6 eps - Sarah Jane
72. Death to the Daleks - 4 eps - Sarah Jane
73. The Monster of Peladon - 6 eps - Sarah Jane
74. Planet of the Spiders - 6 eps - Sarah Jane

Pertwee's initial season is unlike any other. The show was in color for the first time, and with that added gloss, came a more adult approach to the show, including having a sidekick, Liz, who was a scientist herself. It was intelligent, and thought-provoking, and even epic at times. This is also the season in which UNIT first figures in, as the Doctor is actually exiled to contemporary Earth at this time.

By the time Pertwee returned for his second year, Liz was gone, and spunky Jo was there. Slightly clumsy and dense, she nonetheless had a remarkable rapport with the Doctor and stayed on for three full seasons. The show got somewhat less serious, and some of the tales were a bit lackluster, but all in all, a strong time for the show. The introduction of an arch-nemesis for the Doctor, in the guise of another Time Lord known as the Master, was a running theme, as was the Doctor's attempts to escape from Earth, which he finally does.

The final Pertwee year brings in Sarah Jane Smith, who is perhaps the best companion the series ever had. There was also a sense of the show winding down, as Pertwee made plans to leave the series.

Only five stories have yet to be released on DVD, but each one is worth seeing. I would suggest "Spearhead from Space" as a great jumping on point, as it reintroduces the basic concepts of the series, and has some neat parallels to the start of Eccleston's era. "Claws of Axos" is quite competent and allows one to see the Master in action, and "The Three Doctors" is fun, as it pairs Pertwee with his two predecessors in the role. "The Green Death" is really quite good, but as it concerns the departure of Jo from the series, is best enjoyed if one has experienced her adventures with the Doctor beforehand. "Carnival of Monsters" is a fabulous stand-alone story, that really gives a great taste of the chemistry between the Doctor and Jo.

Sadly, nothing is as of yet available from Pertwee's final season, so one has to look to the Tom Baker era to see Sarah Jane Smith in action.

Inferno is due to be released in the UK in May, and will probably see a North American release a few months later, quite possibly as one of the two September releases.

I agree about Carnival of Monsters. Great fun, and a future companion actor appears in a different role.

Pertwee is my favorite, though I'm not sure I could say entirely why.

And I understand why they brought in Jo instead of Liz - it was great to have someone who could talk mostly on the Doctor's level, but it made it tough to explain things to the audience to not having someone who needed it all explained!

Jon was my favorite doctor. Curse of Peladon is still one of my favorite stories and Inferno gave me nightmares for months. (I've always hated end of the world stories)

I liked scientific Liz and funky Jo, but not Sarah Jane so much.

Pertwee's era was the 'all action!' period for the show. The producers frequently got support from the (real) Army, Royal Navy and RAF for vehicles, extras and locations. Which could be great, especially when you compare it to later things like 'Battlefield' where supposedly large-scale conflicts are played out by maybe three extras and a couple of smoke pots. When the Third Doctor was in town, you could always rely on helicopter support. ;)

On the other hand, sometimes action took the place of story. I think it was 'Planet Of The Spiders' where pretty much an entire episode was a chase involving cars, helicopters, hovercraft, etc... that ended when the Doctor finally leapt onto the villain's vehicle only to discover that he'd mysteriously disappeared without a trace, rendering the entire chase pointless!

Absolute scariest Doctor series for me : The Green Death.

I was 7 when it first aired, and it freaked me right out. But I did get a toy Bessie out of it, and all my mum's cars since then have been christened Bessie.

I love the 3rd Doctor's era because I love UNIT. The Brigadier, Benton and Yates aren't really considered companions, but they get some great development - well, maybe not Benton, but. Yates is such a sweetheart, he deserved to go jaunting around the galaxy. And I just loved the power struggles between the Brigadier and the Doctor. You got the sense that the Brigadier really liked and respected the Doctor, he just had different priorities. And of course the 3rd Doctor was rather petulant and always held a grudge for that. Anyway, I just thought that UNIT enabled the Doctor to have as many as four "companions" - that is, recurring characters that were on his side.

I loved the early UNIT stories - the Brigadier was far more competent and menacing than what the writers turned him into later in the series.

I hear you, GrahamF. I grew up watching Dr. Who reruns on PBS in the '80s. Although the scariest for me was The Arc in Space (which gave me nightmares for weeks afterwards), The Green Death was a VERY close second.

We moved to England when I was 9, and having grown up with Star Trek, was not impressed with Tom Baker. Years later, a PBS station in Georgia played all the reruns from Jon Pertwee to Sylvester McCoy, and I was finally able to see the Doctor in a proper perspective. Pertwee, however, had to be my introduction, as I don't believe I would have responded to any of the others.

Pertwee repressed his usual comic abilities to play it straight and dramatic, but you could still see the mischeivous glint in his eyes. The Doctor was courageous, with a proper sense of noble outrage, UNIT provided a sense of family, and socially conscious writing began to appear in the scripts.

Still in love with Jo.

I really enjoyed Jon Pertwee as the third Doctor. He ties Peter Davidson as my second favorite (with the second Doctor being my favorite). I love his first and last set of stories. In fact I just watched Planet of the Spiders last week. I also liked the fact that his tenure was set for the most part on earth in the then persent. All though I read somewhere that he was not on the 1970's earth rather the 1980's or 1990's earth. Either way it was good to see those episodes take place on the earth.

I almost started a topic on Terror of the Autons, but decided instead to post my thoughts here instead. (I've never started a topic before, and since it's not yet on DVD, I thought it might not be a good idea). Though the 4th Doctor is my favorite, this is the episode that I'm most likely to pop into the VCR. I find it fascinating both for the introduction of two major characters, Jo and the Master, and for the return of the Autons.

I love it for the Master's suavity and attempts to put a good face on failures, as well as the displays of temper that show he's not so in control as he pretends. It also starts a classic pattern of his allying himself with alien invasion forces only to turn on them or be turned on by them in end.

There are a lot of good character moments. The Brigadier manages to score off the Doctor, who's been complaining about Jo being made his new assistant, by making it the Doctor's responsibility to fire her, knowing full well that the Doctor wouldn't do it. He also rides to the rescue of the Doctor. Jo is young and overenthusiastic, but does actually manage to do some things right, such as rescuing the Doctor from the caravan at the circus.

There are some classic costume and special effects weaknesses in the story: the masks the auton policemen and the Master wear are particularly dreadful and the demon doll is painfully executed. I also could never figure out how it was that the Doctor was the first person to go up to the radio tower after the scientists disappeared. However, the deadly daffodil was enough to give me nightmares when I was a child.

lacorelli - I understand your hesitance to start a topic on an episode. What are the chances that a decent portion of us have all seen it? I have seen Terror of the Autons, although I don't remember it was several years ago so I don't remember it well. I remember the villain of the series was the Nestene Consciousness. Do you know if there are any other episodes about the Nestenes other than this one and the new series pilot?



I always kind of wondered about that. He never seemed to be bad enough to take on the Doctor/invade the earth all by himself. He always needed his alien backup.

The Autons first appeared in Spearhead from Space, Pertwee's first story.

The Pertwee Era was my favorite period of Dr. Who. His 5 Seasons together with Tom Baker's 7 combine to form the Golden Age of Who. I liked having him on Earth at least half the time, it was kind of funny that the planet got invaded at least three times a year, but I care more about Earth than some silly-named planet with blue people.

And I loved all the action (I started watching these reruns when I was 10). Not to mention Robert Delgado as the Master!

I'm disappointed that all the eps I want to buy on DVD (Terror of the Autons, the Sea Devils, the Time Warrior) are not available yet.



I'm right there with you, man. She was formative in my adolescence . . .

Actually, since I read that Sarah Jane Smith will be returning for an episode in Season Two (yes!), I've wondered if Jo couldn't show up on the new show as an environmental activist or something, since the character would probably still be around in the show's present day. Unfortunately, the actress has long since moved to Australia, so that's probably not going to happen. Also, the Doctor seemed quite hurt and betrayed when she left him for that guy, so I sense a reunion would be awkward.

I dunno, how long does he hold a grudge? It's been a long time.

No second chances. That's what kind of a man he is. :)

He did, but I remember in the episodes afterwards there were mentions of/communications with Jo and he didn't seem bitter, just like he missed her a little.

Besides, if he held a grudge against every companion who left him, he'd hardly have time to save the world(s). I can only think of two or three companions who I felt made the right choice to leave. Everyone else, I was screaming, "What do you mean, you're leaving? Are you nuts? Brilliant, funny men in time machines don't just drop by every day!" Jo included.

Pertwee's Doctor has become something of a lightning rod in the Who fandom and I'm not sure exactly why. One article I read in Paul Cornell's License Denied postulates that the DWB declared the Pertwee years to be less than stellar for years and a lot of fans bought into that theory. I don't.

Like all eras, there are good things and bad things. Things I like and things I don't. But overall, I like the Pertwee years.

That said, I do think the Pertwee years breaks down into two distinct periods. The first half where you have pretty much good stories with a few greats in there and one clunker at most. The second half of his era, you've got some OK stories, a few more clunkers and really only one or two out and out great stories.

As for the DVD releases, I'd heartily recommend Spearhead from Space. It's a great story. Same thing with Carnival of Monsters. The rest I recommend reservedly. Claws of Axos is great if only to see Delgado as the Master. (He's better in other stories). Green Death is worth a look if only that it's an iconic story from the era and one that doesn't live up to the hype on my mind (it's too long). Three Docs is worth it to see Troughton.

I rewatched the first episode of 'Death To The Daleks', and I think we have a contender for the Worst Musical Choice In The History Of Doctor Who! For some reason, the Daleks - the ultimate Doctor Who villains - are introduced with a plodding, pootling saxophone riff that sounds like it's trying to be wacky but the musician's heart just wasn't in it. Yeah, that inspires terror.

Although I remember that some other Pertwee stories went a bit 'experimental' with the score with equally inappropriate/annoying results, so maybe there are other contenders as well.

Pertwee was my favourite Doctor.

I didn't realise until recently that UKTV Gold has been showing Omnibus Editions of Who on Satuday/Sunday Mornings, Carnival of Monsters and The Three Doctors were on recently.
I thought the three Gray skinned aliens were a laugh in Carnival of Monsters and Troughton looked very interesting as the Doctor in The Three Doctors. Have to keep a good eye out for more of his episodes if they are avialable.

My first exposure to Doctor Who was Spearhead from Space and I have watched every episode since then at least once, so you could say I grew up with Doctor Who. On a fresh viewing in the last couple of years, I have decided that Pertwee is my favourite doctor.

As for Jo Grant, there is a strange reference to her very late in Doctor Who - it might even be a McCoy episode - where her face is seen on a locket. Obviously the feelings were strong and lasting!

I've thought it a nice idea that since (a) the current series is shot in Cardiff and several episodes set there and (b) Jo left the Doctor to marry a Welsh scientist then there should be some sort of reunion.

There was a pair of Pertwees this weekend on UK Gold ('The Time Warrior' and 'Invasion Of The Dinosaurs') and since I hadn't seen either of them since I was about seven years old, I obviously got to take in some nuances that I missed the first time round.

Specifically Pertwee's love of doing comedy voices. In 'Time Warrior' he did a sort of posh Midlands accent as a monk and a weird aristocratic thing when he was pretending to be the robot knight, and 'Dinosaurs' gave us working-class squaddie and the absolutely hilarious Cockney "You're the nark, incha? You're the one wot grassed us up!"

'Invasion of the Dinosaurs' oddly showed up how the old Doctors were exactly the same as yet very different from the new ones. At the end, Three was almost ridiculously enthusiastic about wanting to share with Sarah the experience of all this amazing stuff out there in the universe, just as Nine and Ten are with Rose - but with Three he's very definitely this paternal (or certainly avuncular) authority figure, whereas Nine and Ten are in many ways more like an anarchistic older brother.

And only Three would have come up with the Whomobile. ;)

Yeah, that was in "Timelash" (a Colin Baker episode). IIRC, the backstory was that the 3rd Doctor and Jo had visited the planet in some untold adventure, and that they had given the locket to someone before they left. I thought it was a pretty cool reference.

I like Pertwee quite a bit, he was dashing and clever, but I didn't like the episodes during his tenure that much, or that he was earth bound during that time.



The Green Death was the one exception, it is one of my favorite episodes in the entire series-frightening, interesting, about the environment, and the thought that Professor Jones was a great character-he would have made a hell of a companion.

This episode was on Saturday on my PBS station and I must admit, I wasn't prepared for seeing the Doctor dressed like some refugee from a bad Monty Python sketch.

I did like the farewell scene between the Doctor and Jo but could have done without the giant, mutant maggots.

Just saw where "Inferno" is going to be the next Pertwee dvd release. Over at tvshowsondvd.com

I just watched "Carnival of Monsters". Rather entertaining. I'm enjoying Jon Pertwee as the Doctor. I'll look out for "Green Death".

Until I read this thread I had no idea Sarah Jane started off with this Doctor. I just saw Spearhead from Space for the first time and was very impressed. I kept thinking that it had a certain cool Brit ambiance that I associate with The Avengers and that can't be a bad thing ever. Was deathly afraid when they showed his first companion that she'd be a humorless stone around his neck but by the end of the ep I liked her. I'm listening to her commentary of the dvd now. Seems nice.

Loved the car that inspired the Doctor to get Bessie. Was the doctor he stole the cape from going to the opera? I can't figure why anybody would where that in the 60's.

I found Pertwee entertaining and look forward to the arrival of Carnival of Monsters which I just ordered. I'm getting fans are split on whether the Green Death was good? I haven't ordered that yet.

Actually, I would say that fans tend to like The Green Death. The worst that most would say about it is that it's a bit too long (but that's a sin committed by most 6-parters) and that certain effects are pretty awful, even by '70s Doctor Who standards. But fans pretty much forgive all that for the last few minutes of the final episode (espeically that final shot), which are among the most beloved of the whole series...

Oh, I just remembered one thing that I loved about "The Five Doctors": that Sarah Jane got that brief reunion with "her" Doctor rather than the Tom Baker version. So lovely that Sladen and Pertwee got to act together once more.

Just watched the first two episodes of "The Three Doctors" on TV. Pretty good stuff! I mean, the special effects were really, really bad, but I remembered that much from other eps of the classic series that I saw when I was little. I like Pertwee, and Jo seems okay. Troughton is odd, but I like him, too.
I hope the Brigadier gets slightly less annoying in further episodes, but he seems okay. I guess he *was* having rather a rough day. Heh.

So, what the heck are the creatures that look something like large piles of sparkly garbage with a claw that shoots some sort of weapon? Or would the answer to that spoil the rest of the story (that they're hopefully playing next week)?

ETA: Something I loved: when Three says, "So, [whoever it was], aren't you going to remark that it's bigging on the inside than on the outside? Everyone else does!", referring to the TARDIS when someone at UNIT had come in. Hee! So meta, and yet so marvelous, IMHO. It really does happen all the time, doesn't it? And I've only really seen Nine.

Well, I just got done watching The Green Death, and on the whole I really liked it. I thought it was an interesting, layered, and very well done environmentalist statement. It's a little depressing at the same time, too, considering we're even worse off now than they were in 1973.

I love the Brigadier. He's authoritative and competent on his own, and I like how well he works with the Doctor. He avoids falling into the traps of many TV military types by refusing to play the blustering "I know how to do my job!" territorial BS, but he relies upon the Doctor's expertise and deferrs to his superior knowledge in a way that doesn't portray UNIT as a bunch of incopetent losers. Yay, teamwork!

I thought Professor Jones was a great character. I really liked how committed he is to his cause, without treating the working class ex-miners as The Enemy. He realizes that employment is their most pressing concern, and in fact, he's concerned with that as well. If I was living in Wales in the 1970s, I'd totally go sign up at the Nut Hutch (and that's not actually a double entendre).

He does have one major flaw, though: His taste in women! I hate Jo with the fiery passion of a thousand burning catnuns. If I hear the words "I can't" come out of her mouth one more time, I will scream. What a useless whiner. I give their marriage three months, tops. Once they get to the Amazon, Prof. Jones will figure out what he's gotten himself into. After a solid week of claiming she "can't go on!" every five minutes, cowering from every large bug, and falling down on perfectly clear paths, Jo will finally knock half of their provisions into the river with her constant flailing clumsiness. He's going to trade her to the Yanomami for some of that Magical Fungus he's looking for.

I did feel sorry for the Doctor, though. For some unfathomable reason, he was pretty attached to Jo and their parting was really sad. The Doctor's companions tend to fall in love damn quickly, don't they? Still, the Doctor can't be sad for long, since his next companion's awesomeness is inversely proportioned to Jo's suckitude. Yay Sarah Jane!

I just watched the last two episodes of "Carnival of Monsters" that I had taped a couple weeks back. It was only every so slightly confusing to have missed the first half. But I've definitely decided that I really like Three. He's just so cool, and waaay more patient and understanding with Jo Grant than I'd be.

Anyway, he's probably my third favorite Doctor as of now, after Nine and Five. (I rather expect he'll be pushed down to fourth place when I finally get to see S2, though, and keep in mind, I haven't really seen any Four.)

Just to let everyone know, the Season 6 story Inferno has its official release date for North America on Tuesday. It's a good 'un, so check it out!

This gets my vote for the silliest-looking villain of all Whotime. Around my house, we used to refer to them as the Giant-Pile-of-Poo Monsters.

Pertwee's not my most or least favorite Doctor, but his costume. Hate. I have to remind myself not to dislike him because of those foppish ruffles and stupid cape.

We seem to be on a Green Death a thon here, I've been watching with commentaries today. It is a wonderful story, bittersweet parting.

Jon Pertwee is one of my favorite doctors. He seemed able to laugh at himself and the silly little humans around him but wasn't as cartoonish (despite the ruffles) as Tom Baker could be. I wish Liz had been a companion longer. I liked the chemistry between the Brig, Liz and the Doctor. I hope more of his episodes come out on DVD.

I must say, after having watched "The Monster of Peladon" in its entirety, I really respect Pertwee as an actor. I mean, some of the 'creatures' he had to act up against? Wow. I realize this is something you could say about a lot of the classic series (and also, don't get me wrong, I *love* what I've seen of the classic series).

But I'm really liking Three. He does that singing/chanting thing to hypnotize Agador, duels - with a sword! - and does magic tricks. Hee.

Poor Sarah Jane, though. She thinks the Doctor's died twice in the space of a few hours, and the Doctor kind of blows off her concern. Still, I like their relationship a lot, from what I've seen.

Okay, after the first half of "Planet of the Spiders," I'm impressed with Pertwee's Doctor's versatility! He can fly a little helicoptery thing, a hovercraft, and drive a hydrafoil. Awesome! I mean, I already knew he was good at martial arts and swordfighting, but hee.

Oh gods I’m in complete agreement with that I hate, hate, hate Jo, and yet she's in some of my favorite stories.

I just think "shut-up Jo" when she first appears and it makes it slightly better

I have been watching a few serials from the Third Doctor. The Pertwee era is a little bit before my time. The only thing I remember is seeing parts of the final episode of Planet of the Spiders when I was a kid. At the time, I didn't know that there had been any Doctors before Tom Baker, so seeing Pertwee was a surprise.

I think that Inferno was one of the best stories ever, and I thought The Time Warrior was great as well, especially since it was the first episode for both Sarah Jane Smith and the Sontarans.

The only Pertwee episodes I've seen have been Spearhead From Space and Day of The Daleks. He was a very dapper with the smoking jackets. I also prefered Liz to Jo upon watching the particular episode I've mentioned.

I think most people agree (I hope) that Liz left to soon and was much better than Jo, although judging how miserable he was when she left all that walking alone in the welsh countyside I dont think Three would agree.

I think that though Liz was a more competent and intelligent companion, that the Doctor needed Jo more. He started out so prickly and resentful of his imprisonment and he and Liz had a tendency to kind of bask in their intellectual superiority. Jo provided a human connection he needed. She also helped things run more smoothly for him, making sure he had all those tedious passes and his equipment, aside from being able to pick locks when necessary. Also, I think he needed some one to look after. He certainly softened up a bit once she was around.

I think that was due to the general 'cuddlification' of the series that happened once Baz'n'Tez got complete control. I'd say Jo was more of a symptom of the Doctor's mellowing then a cause.