Logopolis

Premise: The Fourth Doctor is warned of his own demise but must save the universe from the Master. It all begins with a trip to Earth…

Notes: Bringing an end to Tom Bakers unprecedented seven year run as the Doctor, Logopolis is the final time the Doctor is credited as 'Doctor Who' in the original series. This story also sees the brief return of the TARDIS prop used prior to The Leisure Hive being used in the scene which required two police boxes. It also introduced Tegan Jovanka, played by Janet Fielding, and saw Nyssa, played by Sarah Sutton, join the TARDIS crew after being introduced in the last story. In the build-up to the regeneration, archive footage is utilised, showing previous friends and foes of the Fourth Doctor. An electronic effect is used to blur Tom Baker's face in the end credits of part four.

Verdict: A story epic in scale with a somewhat funeral atmosphere to mark an end to Tom Baker's time as the Doctor. While the pacing's a bit off and the concealment of the Master is rather pointless the story still manages to keep the engagement going throughout with more emotion than normal all leading up to a nicely done farewell 8/10

The Keeper of Traken

Premise: The TARDIS is penetrated by the ancient Keeper of Traken who senses that a terrible evil is threatening his world. He requests the Doctor’s help.

Notes: Geoffrey Beevers makes his only appearance as the Master in this story, although he was instead credited as Melkur to conceal the surprise of the characters return. From the end of this story until the end of the series's original run, Anthony Ainley took over the role and the name of his character in this story, Tremas, is an anagram of of the word Master. In this story the Master's decaying form was achieved by makeup as apposed to a mask which was used for The Deadly Assassin. However, the cloak remained the same.

Verdict: A thankful departure from the so-called hard science of this season gives us a bit more of a fantasy tale set against an idyllic backdrop and featuring some great characters in what is ultimately a bit of a tragedy. Just a shame the ending's rushed 9/10

City of Death

Premise: As the Doctor shows Romana around Paris they become aware of a time distortion and a mysterious woman, the Countess Scarlioni, who is showing a great deal of interest in the Mona Lisa...

Notes: This was another story was written under the pseudonym David Agnew, with the outline being presented by David Fisher and then heavily changed by script editor Douglas Adams with some input from producer Graham Williams. Featuring the first location footage on the series to be filmed overseas, this story featured iconic Paris landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. Well known comedic actors John Cleese and Eleanor Bron featured in a scene in part four after being persuaded by Douglas Adams after he found out they would be in the BBC Television Centre on the day it was to be filmed. Thanks to a strike at ITV, this story received the highest ratings in the shows history with the fourth part gaining 16.1 million viewers.

Verdict: While heavily criticised at the time for it's comedic tone, it is this factor which makes it one of the highlights of the entire series. It is great fun to watch with all the cast on top form and the Paris backdrop only adds to it. But while the resolution works well from a comedic stand point, it's a bit of an anti-climax from a dramatic stand point 9/10

Destiny of the Daleks

Premise: The TARDIS lands on the apparently abandoned planet of Skaro where the Doctor and the newly regenerated Romana discover that the Daleks have returned to their homeworld.

Notes: Michael Wisher, the actor who played Davros in the previous story, was unavailable to reprise the role so David Gooderson was cast instead. Tim Barlow, the actor who played Tyssan, was deaf at the time of the filming. Mary Tamm, who played the first Romana, did not wish to return to the series so Lalla Ward was cast to replace her after previously playing Princess Astra last season.

Verdict: The beginning of a long fall for the Daleks. Davros is stale, the comedic regeneration scene is unnecessary, the Dalek's themselves are portrayed as too machine like and I'm not even going to start on the Movellans. Tom Baker and Lalla Ward are it's saving grace and Tim Barlow wasn't bad at all considering he was deaf at the time. If Davros had stayed dead then the episode might not have been half bad 6/10

The Invasion of Time

Premise: The Doctor travels to Gallifrey where he asserts his right to claim the presidency of the Time Lords. With no choice but to agree, the Time Lords inaugurate the Doctor.

Notes: Originally, David Weir was to provide the six part story to end the season but as his scripts came in it was felt that the story was too ambitious for the budget (requiring a stadium full of cat people) so it was dropped. This sequel to The Deadly Assassin was quickly written as a replacement by producer Graham Williams and script editor Anthony Read under the pseudonym David Agnew. Louise Jameson had already announced her departure from the series and had wished that her character would be killed off saving the Doctor. However, she instead ended up being written out by falling in love with Andred and staying on Gallifrey, despite the two barely interacting at all over the course of the story.

Verdict: Proof that not all scripts written at the last minute turn out to be master pieces. This story displays some of the worst production values ever seen in the series along with a mess of a final part. The TARDIS's brick walled corridors are just plain jarring 6/10

The Invisible Enemy

Premise: The Doctor is consumed by a virus so Professor Marius clones the Doctor and Leela, miniaturises them and injects them into the Doctor's body so that they can fight the infection.

Notes: This story is remembered for being the first to feature the Doctor's robot companion, K-9. Originally intended to be a one off character, new producer decided to make him into a companion late in the production, partly because he thought it would be a great success with the children and also to make up for the expense spent on creating the prop. The TARDIS console room last seen in Pyramids in Mars was bought back (with slight alterations) after the one used the previous scene had warped in storage.

Verdict: An enjoyable romp with some impressive visuals unfortunately overshadowed by some less impressive ones. With some ridiculous ideas executed well and some fun sci-fi storytelling which only Doctor Who can get away with, it's just generally a fun story 7/10

Horror of Fang Rock

Premise: The TARDIS lands on the small island of Fang Rock just off the coast of England where a glowing green light is spotted landing in the sea… and a lighthouse keeper disappears.

Notes: Writer Terrance Dicks originally submitted a vampire story called The Witch Lords but the BBC decided that this would be inappropriate due to a new adaptation of Dracula being scheduled to show at around the same time. This vampire story would later the revisited and turned into the 1980 serial, State of Decay. Dicks then wrote this story as a replacement. Louise Jameson stopped using brown contact lenses in this story as they were causing her considerable discomfort. This was explained in story by the light from the lighthouse causing temporary blindness and turning her brown eyes blue.

Verdict: A realistically claustrophobic location coupled with a tense atmosphere makes for a rather spooky tale which makes an asset of its restrictions. With the monster relatively unseen until the final episode and the small glimpses we do get racking up the tension, it's no surprise this story is one of the strongest ever told 10/10