Which eras started better than they finished and vice versa?

The Hartnell era: finished better.
The Troughton era: started better.
The Pertwee era: started better.
The Baker era: finished better.
The Davison era: started better.
The Baker era: started better.
The McCoy era: roughly the same.

The Hartnell era: started better.
The Troughton era: roughly same.
The Pertwee era: started better.
The Baker era: started better.
The Davison era: started better.
The Baker era: ended better.
The McCoy era: ended better

The Hartnell era: started better.
The Troughton era: ended better.
The Pertwee era: started better.
The Baker era: ended better.
The Davison era: started better.
The Baker era: started better.
The McCoy era: ended better

Hartnell: Can I cheat and say the middle was the pinnacle?
Troughton: Started Better
Pertwee: Started Better
T Baker: Started Better
Davison: Ended Better
C Baker: Ended Better
McCoy: Ended Better

I'll leave out Pat and Bill as i dont have a proper sense of how they improved or deteriorated. I am looking at whole seasons rather than just the first and last stories. Apologies if i have misunderstood.

Jon Pertwee - Started better.
Tom Baker - Started better but i also really liked season 18. Serious raising of the bar after seasons 15 to 17.
Peter Davison - Ended better.
Colin Baker - Started better. TOATL is okay if you are in the mood but Season 22 beats it handsdown.
Sylvester McCoy - Ended better

The Hartnell era: Started better.
The Troughton era: Roughly the same.
The Pertwee era: Started better.
The T. Baker era: Started better.
The Davison era: Ended better (on virtue of Caves of Androzani)
The C. Baker era: Started better.
The McCoy era: Ended better.

What about eras when the middle was better than the start or the end?

The only one for which I think that may be true is Hartnell's.

Good question. I think that the McCoy era was sadly the only one that ended better. Its start was utter shit (sorry Maxil, but it was, utter shit.) The ending however was one of the best eras of the shows history.

Davison's era meanwhile probably stayed the same overall throughout. There were some awful clunkers in his last year, but also his greatest stories with Caves and Resurrection. These probably balance out his average second season.

Troughton meanwhile its a bit harder to say. Some of his best stories are in his first year, whilst some of his worst are in his last. (Though there are some classics in his last year, like The Invasion and The War Games.)

Still during his first year, Troughton is a bit more unsure in the role. He's a bit of a Hartnell light, where as obviously by his third season he's got the character down perfectly.

All of the other Doctors meanwhile I think had reached a fairly natural end by the their time in the role, except for Colin who could have done more, but his second season was hampered by executive meddling, behind the scenes drama, and poor creative decisions from Saward.

burrunjor wrote:All of the other Doctors meanwhile I think had reached a fairly natural end by the their time in the role, except for Colin who could have done more, but his second season was hampered by executive meddling, behind the scenes drama, and poor creative decisions from Saward.

And Levine. Don't forget Levine.