A Williams Twosome

[SiHart]

Graham Williams is one of the more controversial producers of Doctor Who, having to follow the still highly regarded Hinchcliffe years and having to deal with hyper-inflation of the Pound, the hyper inflation of Tom Baker's ego and taking on a series that was neutered aftre Mary Whitehouse's complaints about The Deadly Assassin.

And yet he still managed to produce some of the most entertaining Doctor Who there's ever been (IMO, of course )

But of his first two seasons, which do you prefer? Season 15 with its Rutans, Virus and Fendahl or the hunt for The Key to Time?

You decide... (and don't forget to say why!)

Si xx

[Rob McCow]

I'm backing Season 16 all the way. Both seasons are hobbled by a couple of duller stories, The Invisible Enemy, Underworld and The Invasion of Time in S15 and Power of Kroll and (to an extent) The Armageddon Factor in S16.

But in all honesty, I don't think that either Kroll or Armageddon are that bad. Kroll has got a fun old GIANT OCTOPUS while The Armageddon Factor, for all it's repetition, has the wonderful Martial and a dark atmosphere.

What it comes down to is that I would happily sit down to watch S16 in a single sitting over a weekend, but I doubt that I'd feel the same way about S15.

[Si Hunt]

I thought this was going to be about Ant's personal life!

Si.

[Terry Leptil]

Season 15 had some good stories. Horror of Fang Rock and Image of the Fendahl are gothic nods to the Hinchcliffe era while The Invisible Enemy is quite weak. The Sun Makers, Underworld (yes, I know) and The Invasion of Time are quite good.

Season 16 was better. I like the linked seasons (the other being The Trial of a Time Lord). All of the stories are good, my favourite being The Stones of Blood, although The Power of Kroll is the weakest.

Therefore, I have chosen Season 16: The Key to Time.

[Andrew Curnow]

I think I've got to go with the majority (so far anyway) and vote for season 16.

Season 15 has some great stories, although I've never seen Underworld, but season 16 just seems that bit more confident and more exciting. Kroll & Factor are a weak end to the season compared to the start, but the first four stories are just so strong and so good and so popular with me that it's too good a line-up for season 15 to beat.

[SiHart]

I went for season 16. I think it's one of the most imganinative and enjoyable seasons of the show there's ever been. There's some great ideas thrown into the mix and oodles of memorable characters (except in Kroll) making it a bit of a faviourite for me.

There's nothing really wrong with season 15, and indeed it's got really strong well liked stories, it's just that as a whole it doesn't matrch up to the greatness of the Key to Time series and there are stories like The Invisible Enemy and Underworld (and parts of Invasion of Time) that just sap your will top live while you're watching them.

Si xx

[Simon R]

I think Season 15 is the worst season in Who history. I like "Fendahl" and "Fang Rock" but the other three are just awful. It looks cheap and nasty and it's just all so boring and sci-fiey and full of technobabble and hard to connect with. There's some good ideas but none of it works for me and it's all blah.

Season 16 is a lot better made and more engaging although "Arseageddon ****er" and "Kroll" are pretty poor.

[Si Hunt]

Easy choice really - Season 15's bright moments ("Fendahl", "Fang Rock") are among the best ever, but it really hits the skids elsewhere, with some of the worst cack to be transmitted in the name of Doctor Who. I like "The Sunmakers", but "Underworld" and most of "The Invasion of Time" are appallingly cheap, shoddy and slapdash.

By contrast, even the once-maligned moments of Season 16 now sparkle. I'm thinking "The Androids of Tara" which is now one of my favourite Tom Baker stories, and "Ribos" is one of my favourites full-stop. Even "Armageddon Factor" isn't bad, it's just too long. "Kroll" is the only turd in this litter tray.

So overall, Season 16 probably wins out by about 5:3, a case of a great season with a few poor moments compared to a poor season for Season 15 with a few bright moments... though the edges blur and blend together.

Why haven't any of the Season 15 supporters commented though? Come on out, closetted "Underworld" fans!!

Si.

[Larry]

season 15 is the lesser of two evils simply because of Horror and Image, after the quality of seasons 12 to 14 i find it staggering how poor and low standards of quallity and production had fallen in season 15. The Invisible Enemy is embarrassingly bad in everything Invasion of Time is only slightly better. But despite it's rep I do like Underworld and The Sunmakers is far better then quite a good few stories in Toms era.

on the other hand I've never been a big fan of season 16 apart from tStones of Blood I find the whole thing is just very dull and very boring I will admit that apart from Power of Kroll the production and writting is far better but a whole season of linking stories just dosen't do it for me.

[Ian Lethbridge-Stewart]

Hmmm, a difficult question for me to think about!!! This is about the time that I would have been first watching the show - albeit I can't remember quite that far back. To be honest as much as I loved Tom Baker as the Doctor I do tend to think of 'the bit in the middle' as being the weaker seasons. I love Seasons 12 through to 14, and as many of you know, Season 18 is my favourite of the lot, but I find some of the stories in between a little difficult to love in quite the same way*. I agree with the majority in that I think Horror of fang Rock and Image of the Fendhal are the best in Season 15 - I really do think they stand out from the others - I hate to say it but I think this is because to me they are more like Hinchciffe stories (Sorry Williams' fans!!!).
Right, time to make a decision..................I've decided to decide later!!!!!

*Upon re-reading my post I think perhaps I ought to try and give a reason for this comment. I'm not sure I can put my finger on it exactly but I think the main reasons that I find some of these stories difficult to watch are:

a) The Look - although Doctor Who has always been run on a small budget, it hasn't always looked like it. Some of these stories do look very cheap - maybe it's the cuts in the budget (if there were any) or just inflation etc or maybe there wasn't as much effort put into the lighting or set design? The prawn in the invisible enemy is very embarrassing - I think maybe even the Kandyman is more convincing!!! - As for the caves in 'Underworld', I think the less said about those the better!!!!

b) Tom Baker - I just think he took the humour a little too far on occasions. I like Tom's funny moments, but on some occasions it does appear to be a bit of overkill - to be fair I think this applies more to Season 17 than the two seasons that we are talking about.

Right......I'm off to have a think about which season to choose