2 Toms within the Hinchcliffe years: There's the gothic-alien but best friend Tom from Robot to Hand of Fear...
Then the slightly more Reckless yet Professorial Tom from Deadly Assassin to Talons...
You get a 3rd version in season 15 where he's by turns, snappy and volatile but then bored and disinterested.
Key to Time Tom is almost pure buffoonery, in some ways similar to Troughton but in others distilled Tom Baker.
Season 17 Tom is the real Bohemian Tom, at the height of all his superpowers, mad but with his early mojo back.
Then morose, morbid Tom in s18, who actually seems more akin to s12/13 Tom: Full Circle if you'll pardon the pun.
So which of the 6 Toms is your favourite?!
TTFN! K.
I find Season 18 Tom hardest to take. The sombre mood and the change of direction for the show is such a contrast to the previous year that it's hard to believe it's the same show at times.
ReplyDeleteNo question, Season 17 Tom is my favourite but after that, the first phase is next best.
Either way, Tom never ever phoned in a performance and treated every script seriously - that's why all his buffoonery and larking about is meticulously timed and sublime to watch.
I thought he was great throughout it all, but it was clear that he had become weary of the role by his last season. I believe that Douglas Adams as the script editor helped provide him with some of the best dialogue during that time period.
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