Hinchcliff era still takes it for me. If for no other reason than its highs manage to eclipse even the McCoy eras. Genesis, Seeds, Pyramids of Mars, Robots of Death, The Deadly Assassin, are all among the greatest examples of televisual science fiction of all time.
It's funny though that you don't like the Hinchcliff era yet love the McCoy one, as I think they are a bit similar in some ways. I also feel the same way about Rob hating the McCoy era. Obviously each to his own, and I'm not trying to call you out as hypocrites LOL. Still it's worth considering they are probably the two most alike eras in all of DW. (Apart from Jodie and William Hartnell of course.
)
I've often wondered if you maybe took against the Hinchcliff era because it was so hyped? I can understand that. It does have awful fans who sneer at every other era. Also I think it gets let off for things that other eras get attacked for. Like the Doctor being cold and ruthless. To me Hinchcliff era Tom does way more brutal things and is similarly cavalier about them, yet poor old Colin always gets attacked for making the Doctor into a thug. Also I think some stories in the Hinchcliff era are overrated.
Talons of Weng Chiang for instance though by no means a bad story, really isn't as great as it is cracked up to be and has aged terrible in a lot of places.
Anyway similarities between the McCoy and Hinchcliff eras meanwhile are the following.
In both the Doctors an awkward, alien, Holmesian character with a really vicious, ruthless streak. Okay you could say that about them all LOL, but it's definitely more true of Tom and McCoy. Both went out of their way to highlight the Doctor being an alien more than any other, particularly in their colder and more ruthless nature, which was often contrasted with their human companions.
In both the rogues gallery are given a much needed rest. They aren't completely jettisoned however. You absolutely shouldn't ever get rid of such wonderful villains. Still all of them only show up once which is unlike every single other era, where at least one villain goes on to appear multiple times. Hartnell, it's the Daleks, Troughton the Cybermen, Pertwee, Davison, Colin it's the Master. In New Who it's fokking everybody.
Both eras are the only time the villains are used as sparingly as possible and you could argue that they seem more menacing because of it. In fact in the Daleks and the Masters cases you could argue that their two greatest stories are in both of those eras, Genesis/Remembrance Survival/Deadly Assassin. All 4 stories play up what makes the Daleks and the Master unique as their appearances are now big events, rather than just something writers can fall back on, which sadly in other eras sometimes led to them becoming generic comic book villains. In both Dalek stories, their hatred of other races is explored in greater detail, the threat they pose to the rest of the universe, the lengths the Doctor is forced to go stop them, how pitiless and ruthless they are to other life forms etc That all serves as the backbone of both stories. The Master meanwhile similarly in both stories is depicted as a manipulative, sly, crafty villain who is a real match for the Doctor, and who has a real, petty vicious hatred of the Doctor in contrast to a lot of his other enemies that just see him as a threat. Both even feature memorable hand to hand fights between the Doctor and the Master in a planet that is being ripped apart, which really highlights the hatred both have for each other.
Sadly however the Cybermen are short changed in both eras LOL. In fact ironically their appearances in both eras are actually their weakest in all of Classic Who. Still at the very least they aren't brought back again and again just for bit parts to be undermined like in New Who.
Both eras also draw from horror movies as inspiration. In McCoy's case we have The Fog inspiring Fenric, countless haunted house stories inspiring Ghostlight, whilst countless Hammer horror flicks inspire the Hinchcliff era. Supernatural creatures like Mummies, Vampires, Werewolves, Ghosts, etc serve as the inspiration for monsters in both eras more so than the traditional HG Wells, Dan Dare style aliens of other eras. Only difference is that in the McCoy era they flirt with them being actual supernatural beings, which obviously gives it its own identity.
Still the similarities are there. Also I might add both eras are exceptionally brutal in their violence. Hinchcliff era has got Condo's guts getting blown out, the Master burning goth, Davros torturing Sarah and Harry etc, the McCoy era has Light casually disembowling the maid and ripping her guts out, the Heamovores draining people's blood, the Master killing people by stabbing them to death rather than just a comic book style shrinking ray.
Also it's worth noting that Leela was very much the first Ace type of companion. An overtly physical one that would actually kick the shit out of and brutally murder villains. Sure Barbara and Zoe and even Jo had been willing to fight if need be, but Leela and Ace are real action heroines who LOVE fighting.
Also both remove the Doctor from the Time Lords more than any other era after the 60s. In Pertwee's time they are always there as they have exiled him, in the later 4th, 5th, and 6th Doctors eras they were always there, whilst in New Who, RTD in his attempt to write them out made them a bigger deal than ever before by killing them off and having the Doctor constantly whither on about them.
In both Hinchcliff and McCy's eras however they are really in the background. They don't appear at all in season 25 and 26, they are in one story of the Hinchcliff era meanwhile, yet they wisely don't kill them off and therefore can use them when they want to, like for the Deadly Assassin or the hand of Omega.
To me both represent what I think a good era of DW should be. IE scary, dark stories that are not afraid to push the boundaries, horror being just as important to its make up as sci fi, the past being respected, but not relied upon, an alien, eccentirc, at times quite funny and charming, at others scary and ruthless Doctor played by a total oddball character actor. A female companion with her own backstory, way of doing things and who though being close with the Doctor, clashes with him at times.
)
)
