Williams era opinions

The Graham Williams era is generally a very divisive era of Who amongst fandom. Some enjoy it for its whimsical elements and overall warmth and charm, whilst others dislike it for undermining Who’s status as a serious sci-fi drama and instead leaning into the territory of farce, but what is the Hive’s take on it?

Its a so, so era for me.

There are things I like about it, but I wouldn't say its on a par with the Hinchcliff or Barry Letts or Verity Lambert, or later McCoy era's.

Things I like about it.

Companions

Leela even though she begun with Hinchcliff is really more of a Williams era companion, and is one of the best. Romana meanwhile is one of the best characters in the entire franchise. Both of her incarnations had a brilliant chemistry with Tom, yet were strong enough characters that they could have actually had a life outside the show.

Story arcs

This was the first time they tried it in DW and it didn't completely work. The last story in the Key to Time is awful, but overall it was a neat idea and most of the Key to Time series is wonderful.

Greater focus on aliens and other planets.

After the Pertwee era the show definitely needed to get back to exploring the galaxy again, and IMO the Williams era I'd say was second to only the Hartnell era in terms of taking the Doctor to different planets and time periods. I liked the fact that there wasn't as much a focus on humanity too by giving the Doctor a companion from another world.

Things I dislike

The humour

Most of the comedy is fine. The stories are still taken seriously, just with the odd witty line thrown in, like say City of Death, but at certain points the comedy can be intrusive. Destiny of the Daleks is the worst example of this. Had that been made under Hinchcliff there is no denying it would have been a better story. As it is, Tom completely undermines Davros as a threat.

Shoddy effects

Even by Classic Who standards. Other than a few blips like the Dinosaurs in the Pertwee era, or the Skarasan, I'd say the Williams era has the shoddiest effects of the 70s and possibly the entire series. As it coincided with Star Wars I think the makers of DW foolishly tried to compete, and the result was some really tacky monsters like the Nimon and poor looking sets.

Overall I'd say its a decent enough era. It certainly doesn't disgrace the show, and brings in some new brilliant concepts and characters, but overall not as good as the two era's that preceeded it, which might make it seem worse to some fans than it actually is.

Bare in mind that this era was also forced to be lighter because of Mary Whithouse. When you compare how Williams was able to pander to a political fanatic, and how Moffat bungled it in season 8, I admire Williams all the more. At least he still kept the show's integrity intact and tried to still make it a show for everyone.

I used to be quite a defender of the Williams era. Especially in light of what came after it.

I thoroughly lapped up the Key to Time adventures, Destiny of the Daleks, City of Death and even Horns of Nimon.

Sure I always thought The Invasion of Time was a disaster, but at least it seemed to offer more interesting characterization of the Doctor than anything in the following Davison era did.

And I was pretty staunch that the show should've carried on in this light. Cheap and cheerful adventures that were perfectly accessible to non-fans, with just enough levity and literate scripts to make them worthwhile. The Fourth Doctor and Romana the perfect dynamic and indeed one where no-one could accuse the show of being sexist or chauvinistic anymore. And by all means keep the Master and the other old monsters (aside from the Daleks) left in the past, and focus on new ideas. Avoid the stuff that made the show and its hero stagnate in the 1980's.

Over time however I've become a lot more critical of the era, and realize it wasn't sustainable, and infact was getting old and repetitive fast after the high water-mark of City of Death.

It's an era that often can provide you enough reminders of the early Tom Baker golden age that you can believe you're still experiencing it. But the truth is, it's often easy to get bored to distraction watching a lot of the stories of that era. It's a frustrating era that feels built on sand a lot of the time. Often feeling more like a series dominated by inconsequential dream sequences than substantial solid, dramatic experiences.

Very rarely does it feel like it's genuinely fought for its achievements. On those rare occasions it does (Horror of Fang Rock, Ribos Operation, City of Death) it's complete gold. But a lot of the time it just feels like the same comedy sketch stuck on a loop.  And unfortunately it is one where Tom Baker begins to outstay his welcome, become too indulged, losing his mystique and resembling some of a has-been toward the end.

And for all the pro-Williams camp (which I was part of) make out its critics to be joyless and humourless, the fact is sometimes the era was bloody depressing and miserable to sit through. Underworld and Armageddon Factor for instance probably made the show's golden age feel like it was an eternity ago at the time.

Now I realize that the era was falling to bits, and something needed to change fast to restore some kind of stakes to the show. Even if the change we ended up with was pretty disastrous too in the long run, and ended up actively overwriting some of the few bits of wisdom that Williams actually exercised when in charge (i.e. bringing back the Master and all the other moribund continuity).

Tanmann wrote:I used to be quite a defender of the Williams era. Especially in light of what came after it.

I thoroughly lapped up the Key to Time adventures, Destiny of the Daleks, City of Death and even Horns of Nimon.

Sure I always thought The Invasion of Time was a disaster, but at least it seemed to offer more interesting characterization of the Doctor than anything in the following Davison era did.

And I was pretty staunch that the show should've carried on in this light. Cheap and cheerful adventures with just enough levity and literate scripts to make them worthwhile. The Fourth Doctor and Romana the perfect dynamic and indeed one where no-one could accuse the show of being sexist or chauvinistic anymore. And by all means keep the Master and the other old monsters (aside from the Daleks) left in the past, and focus on new ideas. Avoid the stuff that made the show and its hero stagnate in the 1980's.

Over time however I've become a lot more critical of the era, and realize it wasn't sustainable, and infact was getting old and repetitive fast after the high water-mark of City of Death.

It's an era that often can provide you enough reminders of the early Tom Baker golden age that you can believe you're still experiencing it. But the truth is, it's often easy to get bored to distraction watching a lot of the stories of that era. It's a frustrating era that feels built on sand a lot of the time. Often feeling more like a series dominated by inconsequential dream sequences than substantial solid, dramatic experiences.

Very rarely does it feel like it's genuinely fought for its achievements. On those rare occasions it does (Horror of Fang Rock, Ribos Operation, City of Death) it's complete gold. But a lot of the time it just feels like the same comedy sketch stuck on a loop.  And unfortunately it is one where Tom Baker begins to outstay his welcome, become too indulged, losing his mystique and resembling some of a has-been toward the end.

And for all the pro-Williams camp (which I was part of) make out its critics to be joyless and humourless, the fact is sometimes the era was bloody depressing and miserable to sit through. Underworld and Armageddon Factor for instance probably made the show's golden age feel like it was an eternity ago at the time.

Now I realize that the era was falling to bits, and something needed to change fast to restore some kind of stakes to the show. Even if the change we ended up with was pretty disastrous too in the long run.

Your sentiments are very similar to my own on reflection- I used to staunchly defend the era, and while I recognise how good it is at its peak, I’ve gone off much of it recently (same with specific aspects of the JNT era due to our previous discussions about it, although I still hold parts of it and particular seasons of it in very high regard). There is a certain cheapness and sameness to a lot of it which does undermine it on repeat viewings, and I understand the sentiment that some fans have claiming that it lacked key dramatic tension or narrative investment when compared to the eras that went before. It’s an era with towering high points and an irrefutable charm, though I suppose that charm dwindles when exposed to it for too often.

Bernard Marx wrote:Your sentiments are very similar to my own on reflection- I used to staunchly defend the era, and while I recognise how good it is at its peak, I’ve gone off much of it recently (same with specific aspects of the JNT era due to our previous discussions about it, although I still hold parts of it and particular seasons of it in very high regard). There is a certain cheapness and sameness to a lot of it which does undermine it on repeat viewings, and I understand the sentiment that some fans have claiming that it lacked key dramatic tension or narrative investment when compared to the eras that went before. It’s an era with towering high points and an irrefutable charm, though I suppose that charm dwindles when exposed to it for too often.

I think a lot of my change of opinion really started to happen when the Moffat era fell apart with Death in Heaven.

It caused a massive earthquake for me. Up to that point I probably had got behind Moffat's approach as a kind of return to that Williams era principal of letting witty humor, spontaneity and whimsy be the show's best creative guide and seeing what richness flourishes from it. And in a way for me it vindicated Williams at last.

But then when the Moffat approach fell apart it almost seemed to retroactively render the New Series hollow and empty. And as I retreated further back from the devastation, I came to realize that the last forte of the show, as it were had to be pretty solid. And really that solid forte was probably really the Hinchcliffe era rather than the Williams era.

The effect of Death in Heaven also forced me to return to what actually it was that made the show matter to me as a kid, long before fandom or the media started convincing me and everyone that it had to be just a bit of fun and frivolity at all costs.

No. I suddenly realized the show was about confrontational storytelling, dark ideas, not shying away from atrocity, and even a degree of masochism, where we had to suffer through the characters to understand the evil they were fighting against. And all of which added up to a resilience and a universe that was compelling because it was so dangerous.

And I began to realize that most of the Williams era was frustratingly lacking that, aside from maybe Horror of Fang Rock and The Ribos Operation. And in that it started to lack believability to me too. And that it was actually probably easy to forget during that era, that the show had once boasted such high stakes, and it became easy to see why fans lost interest and patience with it.

Especially after the looking glass had been shattered for me.

It remains my favourite era.

And yes, I do think you're joyless and cynical, Tanmann.

iank wrote:And yes, I do think you're joyless and cynical, Tanmann.

Fair enough.

I'm fine with most of S15. For the most part, the tone has't got too silly yet.  Fang Rock and Fendahl are particular highlights. The Invisible Enemy is still good. Apart from the introduction of the tin dog, it's no worse than some of the lesser stories of the Hinchliffe era. Similarly, The Sunmakers may not be Holmes' greatest story, but again it's still fine. I still class it as a good story.
Obviously Underworld is dreadfully dull and probably the weakest of the season, but it's not as though there haven't been dull stories before, so I don't see this as something endemic to the Williams era alone.
Which leaves us with The Invasion of Time, which I always find such a let down and a bigger sign of worse to come. I'll save a proper critique of the story, because this discussion is kind of prompting me to re-evaluate it, as it's been a long time. But were it not for Underworld being particularly boring, then I'd have no hesitation in nominating it worst of the season.

My rankings and scores for S15:

Image of the Fendhal - 8/10
Horror of Fang Rock - 8/10
The Sunmakers - 7/10
The Invisible Enemy - 7/10
The Invasion of Time - 5/10
Underworld - 4/10

Total season score: 65%

Whilst S15 was a sign of things to come, the rot really sets in when Douglas Adams' influence further undermines the overall tone of the program, and combined with Tom's ego starting to go off the rails, things start to err slightly more towards the asinine.
Even so, I can cope with most of the Season, except for The Pirate Planet, although it does have that beautiful fleck of gold in the turd, with Tom's: "WHAT'S IT FOR!!" moment, showing he could still produce great moments of drama when the script allowed for it.
For me, Stones of Blood' is by far the best of the season, capturing the essence of the Hinchcliffe era (for 2 episodes at least) one final time.
The rest of the season is not so much bad, as just average, with nothing else really standing out. I think Power of Kroll perhaps just about has enough going for it to scrape an above average score and second place. Leaving Androids of Tara to limp ahead of Armageddon Factor on the basis that at least it's not long. Shame that Holmes' only other script (Ribos) only really shines in Ep.1.

My rankings and scores for S16:

Stones of Blood - 7/10
Power of Kroll - 6/10
Androids of Tara - 5/10
Armageddon Factor - 5/10
The Ribos Operation - 4/10
The Pirate Planet - 3/10

Total season score: 55%

Season 17 is where things start to go seriously downhill. The level of clowning from in S17 (and 18) ia at its height, (cue: the inspiration for Tennant) and the introduction of Romana II brings a level of smug superiority between the two leads that had never been seen before. And it would take NuWho to escalate it to level beyond that as we see with Tennant and Piper.
To be fair to Doug Adams, his stories aren't worst of the Season, but the overall level of quality is another drop down from S16, as S16 was a drop from S15, and in turn S15 was a drop from S14.

My rankings and scores for S17:

Destiny of the Daleks - 6/10
Shada - 5/10
City of Death - 5/10
Horns of Nimon - 4/10
Creature from the Pit - 4/10
Nightmare of Eden - 3/10

Total season score: 38%

And I know it's not a Williams season, but just for good measure:

My rankings and scores for S18:

State of Decay - 6/10
Keeper of Traken - 5/10
The Leisure Hive - 5/10
Full Circle - 4/10
Meglos - 3/10
Warrior's Gate - 2/10
Logopolis - 1/10

Total season score: 37%

That's a shocking score for Warrior's Gate mate.

Cunnus Maximus wrote:That's a shocking score for Warrior's Gate mate.

Have to agree with you there.

I’m harsh. But it bores the arse off me.