So onto Season 18 we go and the first "Doctor Who" story
produced by John Nathan-Turner... The Leisure Hive. The
moment the first episode starts we can see where this
season is heading straight away, the opening titles have
changed and so has the theme arrangement. (JNT clearly hadn't
heard of the old saying... if it ain't broke, don't fix it.)
The Fourth Doctor gets a new TARDIS, a new Burgundy costume
(that looks way too big for him), plus a new scarf and a
questionable question mark collared shirt. (It seems JNT had
a 'thing' for question marks in the 1980's.) JNT also decided
to sideline K9 for this story and fill our screens with bright
colours and camp costumes instead. Most of which say, "Hello
everyone, welcome to the 1980's!"
Opening on Brighton beach - between its two famous piers - a
scene only there because JNT didn't want K9 in this story, so
the seawater provided the in-universe reason for K9 being out
of action. (One of the cables guiding K9 on the beach is clearly
visible in the opening scene as he trundles across the shingle
too.) John Leeson was back voicing K9 this season too, even
though he probably didn't get paid much for his one scene in
this story!
JNT had decided to get more sci-fi focused for this season,
not being too fond of the Douglas Adams brand of humour in
Season 17... so instead of flippancy we get scenes full of
technobabble. But overall, I think this tone worked better.
The Fourth Doctor had become a bit too silly at times. Along
with JNT's new ideas, the production values seem to have
improved this season too. The visuals are good, the costumes
and make-up are effective... and in some places, quite
impressive. Especially the Doctor as an old man.
The story itself doesn't have a lot of action, being more
about the political tensions on Argolis. A planet that was
once devastated by war, but has now become a popular holiday
destination. So the Doctor and Romana walk into a conspiracy
involving sabotage, scientific experimentations and a machine
capable of manipulating the aging process, as the power-mad
Pangol (Played by David Haig, who has probably been in every
British TV series you can think of over the years.) wants to
become the leader of a new Argolis and restore the planet to
its former strength.
The obligatory 'monsters' in this story are the Foamasi, an
alien reptile-like species, who are the 'other side'... and are
not simply monsters who want to destroy everyone. The story is
more about political intrigue, revenge, and the dangers of
scientific experimentation, as opposed to the usual 'monsters
are the bad guys' trope. I'm sure The Leisure Hive could work as
a sci-fi story about two opposing sides in a conflict without a
monster of the week. But it's Doctor Who, so there had to be
some sort of non-humanoid alien in a scary-ish costume lurking
in the shadows.
Behind the scenes, Tom and Lalla were unhappy with a lot of
things; the costumes, the scripts, the new music... and each
other. (They weren't talking.) The Producer was unhappy with
them being unhappy, while the new script editor - Christopher H
Bidmead - found Tom Baker "difficult to work with". (Welcome
aboard Chris!) I suppose it was no surprise that Tom and Lalla
would leave the show this year.
The background info says ITV scheduled "Buck Rogers in the 25th
Century" directly against "Doctor Who" during Season 18, and
some use that as an excuse for the show's declining ratings
during this season. Which in fairness is probably true, as The
Leisure Hive isn't that bad a story at all. Another reality is,
a ten year old watching Spearhead was Space when it was
broadcast in 1970 would now be twenty years old! So the kids of
the Pertwee / Tom Baker era were now getting older and moving
on... be it to Buck Rogers, or life in general.
There's a lot to like about The Leisure Hive. Overall, I'd give
this 8/10
The background info says ITV scheduled "Buck Rogers in the 25th
Century" directly against "Doctor Who" during Season 18, and
some use that as an excuse for the show's declining ratings
during this season. Which in fairness is probably true, as The
Leisure Hive isn't that bad a story at all. Another reality is,
a ten year old watching Spearhead was Space when it was
broadcast in 1970 would now be twenty years old! So the kids of
the Pertwee / Tom Baker era were now getting older and moving
on... be it to Buck Rogers, or life in general.
There's a lot to like about The Leisure Hive. Overall, I'd give--
this 8/10
On 16/10/2026 20:33, Blueshirt wrote:
The background info says ITV scheduled "Buck Rogers in the 25th
Century" directly against "Doctor Who" during Season 18, and
some use that as an excuse for the show's declining ratings
during this season. Which in fairness is probably true, as The
And then John Nathan-Turner knowing that "Buck Rogers in the 25th
Century" had already been cancelled half way into Season 2 comes up with
the brilliant idea of putting Doctor Who up against "Samphire and Steel"
and "Coronation Street" which was averaging 24 million viewers at the
time, 3 or 4 times as much as Doctor Who was getting.
Leisure Hive isn't that bad a story at all. Another reality is,
a ten year old watching Spearhead was Space when it was
broadcast in 1970 would now be twenty years old! So the kids of
the Pertwee / Tom Baker era were now getting older and moving
on... be it to Buck Rogers, or life in general.
The idea would have been to get new kids to watch it including the kids
of the original kids, but JN-T decided to make the show unrecognisable
and turn it into a domestic soap-opera with too many companions.
There's a lot to like about The Leisure Hive. Overall, I'd give
this 8/10
----
The True Doctor https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCngrZwoS0n21IRcXpKO79Lw
"To be woke is to be uninformed which is exactly the opposite of what it >stands for." --William Shatner
Blueshirt wrote:
The idea would have been to get new kids to watch it
but JN-T decided to make the show unrecognisable and turn
it into a domestic soap-opera with too many companions.
Tegan...
Sarah-Jane Smith -> Leela -> Romana v1.0 -> Romana v2.0 -> Adric
Tegan...
Spot the odd ones out!
Blueshirt wrote:
Sarah-Jane Smith -> Leela -> Romana v1.0 -> Romana v2.0
Adric -> Tegan...
Spot the odd ones out!
There's just one. It's Tegan.
The True Doctor wrote:
Blueshirt wrote:
The idea would have been to get new kids to watch it
but JN-T decided to make the show unrecognisable and turn
it into a domestic soap-opera with too many companions.
Not even decent companions!
Imagine, JNT's idea of taking the show forward was to bring
in Adric and Tegan! <rolls eyes>
Sarah-Jane Smith -> Leela -> Romana v1.0 -> Romana v2.0 -> Adric
Tegan...
Spot the odd ones out!
Doctor Who took a nose dive after Season 18 and even a blind
person can see why...
Blueshirt wrote:
Imagine, JNT's idea of taking the show forward was to
bring in Adric and Tegan! <rolls eyes>
Sarah-Jane Smith -> Leela -> Romana v1.0 -> Romana v2.0
Adric -> Tegan...
And if that wasn't bad enough he brings in Turlough. People
wanted to watch science fiction not contrived interpersonal
conflict.
Doctor Who took a nose dive after Season 18 and even a
blind person can see why...
So the degenerate brings the ratings down even further by
having Colin Baker try to kill Peri and has the show put on
hiatus.
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