I love you Graham Williams

[Deleted]

I really, really do. His era is terrific, beautifully produced and stars some of the most charming actors ever to appear in the program.  Show some love for his era below.

[iank]

Absolutely. Season 15 is a slightly rocky start but still has some greats with Fang Rock and Sun Makers. To me Tom really started hitting his peak in 14 and that continues here, with the introduction of K9 spicing things up and I'm sorry but I prefer the Tom/Leela pairing to Sarah, who gets on my tits sometimes.
And seasons 16 and 17 are beautiful. Some of the best companions and guest characters ever, and such a lovely atmosphere of fun and warmth and adventure, with some big ideas thrown in to boot.
We'll never see the likes of it again.

[Deleted]

I totally agree. I was watching the first part of Rebos earlier and I just love the atmosphere and also the playful back and forth between the absolutely amazing Mary Tamm and Tom Baker. It looks splendid too. The Hinchcliffe era I felt was too po-faced at times. I like the lighter atmosphere of these stories. As for Season 15, Invasion of Time isn't very popular but I think it's great. It has nothing to do with Rodan being all cute, I swear

[Deleted]

Hincliffe just feels slow and not as much fun his era at times only gets really good with his towards the end very mixed bag era Graham is more consistently good and fun best producer since Barry Letts at that point I think

[billpatjontom]

Although I'm afraid I definitely prefer the more horror orientated Hinchcliffe seasons, I do still enjoy plenty from the Williams era too. I think there was more variable quality during these years than previously but it's still remarkable when you consider how he took over the show just as it came under pressure from the censorious brigade of the day. It might have been interesting to see just what he could have achieved with the luxury of more support and less restrictions from the BBC management. But it's to Williams' credit really that he did manage to achieve as much as he did, given that his hands were tied when it came to depicting anything the pathetically prudish Mary Whitehouse might have objected to. Not to mention all the difficulties caused by having to contend with an increasingly proprietorial leading man. And the BBC would never grant him the budget deserved for such a successful fixture in its flagship Saturday night viewing. Despite all these problems, thankfully the show under Williams continued to be extremely popular and that's an admirable testament to his achievement.

[rushy]

I like the Key to Time season, but 15 and 17 are both very mixed bags for me. 17 would be mediocre if it were not for Shada, which I absolutely adore.

[ClockworkOcean]

Despite being a huge Hinchcliffe fan, I also love the Williams era. It was a time of fun, accessible sci-fi adventures that integrated a strong sense of humour without sacrificing intelligence or substance. Season 15 was a smooth transition away from the Hinchcliffe era, The Key to Time was an admirably bold and mostly successful experiment, while Season 17 gave us what I consider to be the best main cast Doctor Who ever had.

The reasons behind Hinchcliffe's dismissal were a disgrace, but Williams doesn't deserve the blame for that. The fact that he was able to deliver so many fan favourite stories and take the show to its all-time peak of popularity despite being up against significant budget cuts and censorious BBC policies should be commended.

[cyberhat]

He proved you could do comedy in Doctor Who. You just have to be really f*cking good at it to pull it off.

Would have been even better if Tom wasn't such an arsehole making it.

[Deleted]

I think it's great. The obvious highlights are Fang Rock, City of Death and Shada, but I also have a big soft spot for The Stones of Blood and The Invasion of Time. Excellent Doctor, fab companions, more humour and some superb production values at times. The Creature from the Pit is really impressive visually.

I've warmed to the Hinchcliffe era. Not my favourite era by any means nor will ever be, but there's some good stuff here and there. The last two stories are stone cold classics.

[iank]

Personally I don't think it'll ever be matched again.

[rushy]

I'm mixed on it. I like season 16 a lot for its structure and wit, but season 17 is a fever dream to me (save for Shada, which I adore) and season 15 sure does exist.