I am the Doctor, Whether You Like it or Not - "The Twin Dilemma"

Episode Title: "I Am The Doctor, Whether You Like It Or Not" - The Twin Dilemma Review

THE GREAT REVERSAL: After three seasons of John defending Peter Davison against Jim's criticisms, the tables turn completely. Jim embraces Colin Baker.

JIM'S SHOCKING TAKE: "I don't usually line up with Doctor Who fans because I did not like Caves of Androzani and I liked this. I liked Baker. If it's not what the show needed at this moment in time, it's definitely what I needed. I needed a Doctor who was more awake and doing things... larger."

THE TWIN DILEMMA (March 22-30, 1984)
Writer: Anthony Steven (first and only Doctor Who story - oldest writer at 67!)
Director: Peter Moffatt (returning)

The Legend: Doctor Who Magazine 2009 poll - Caves of Androzani came in #1. The Twin Dilemma came in #200... DEAD LAST.

The Rift Begins: Saward wasn't happy with Baker's casting (thought he was miscast), didn't like JNT's stunt casting focus, and objected to JNT comparing Doctor Who to comedy show "Morecambe and Wise."

THE DAVISON SLAM:

The Shocking Lines:

• "I never really liked him anyway"

• "He had a sort of feckless charm"

• Definition of feckless: "Lacking initiative or strength of character; irresponsible"

The Culprits: Either JNT (getting back at Davison for leaving?), Saward (who did the heavy rewrite), or Steven - but those lines don't get through without approval.

Jim's Theory: "I can't see JNT being happy with Davison leaving after three years. This could be him being petty."

STORY BREAKDOWN:

Mathematical geniuses Romulus and Remus are abducted by mysterious Edgeworth and taken to Mestor on asteroid Titan Three. The newly regenerated, unstable Doctor picks a new outfit, declares himself "unregenerate," and plans to become a hermit with Peri. The twins' father alerts authorities. Police commander scrambles fighters to investigate the freighter - only survivor is pilot Hugo Lang who accuses the Doctor of the attack.

The twins are forced to do calculations for Edgeworth (revealed as Azmael, a Time Lord and the Doctor's old teacher). Mestor plans to move two planets into Jaconda's orbit as "larders" to replenish the wasting planet. The Doctor realizes the calculations are off - the worlds will crash into the sun, destroying everything but scattering Mestor's gastropod eggs throughout the universe.

Mestor demonstrates mind-possession on Azmael, threatening to take the Doctor's body. The Doctor destroys Mestor's slug body. Azmael dies exorcising Mestor's mind. Jacondans are freed. Lang stays to help with mop-up. The Doctor returns the twins to Earth.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS:

The Sixth Doctor - Every Previous Doctor Combined:

• Hartnell's there (not the lead initially, Peri has more agency)

• Troughton: "We must find this evil and destroy it!"

• Pertwee: Says "Eureka!"

• Tom Baker: The ego is BACK and turned up to 11

• Davison: The violence continues, referenced regeneration fears

New Affectation: Repeating words three times when incredulous or angry ("Sweet, sweet, sweet")

Hugo Lang - The Space Dirty Harry: Jim's Justice League addition! "You might reach that gun before I can kill you" - classic action hero dialogue. Stays on Jaconda at the end despite having "no one to go back to."

Kevin McNally plays Hugo (later Pirates of the Caribbean's Gibbs!)

Azmael: Time Lord, the Doctor's favorite teacher (sorry, Borusa!). Controls Jaconda, calls them "my people" (why does a Time Lord want to rule a planet?).

The Death Scene: John loved it - touched and warm between Azmael and the Doctor. "The finest teacher I ever had."

Mestor: Giant slug with mind-control powers and embolism ray ("little bubbles, not good"). Finds Peri "pleasing" so doesn't kill her immediately (second ugly being attracted to Peri after Sharaz Jek).

PRODUCTION DETAILS:

New Title Sequence: Sparkly! Logo curved! Colin's face transitions from serious to smiling!

The TARDIS: Has a chair! The Doctor calls the outside "hideous" - setup for attempting to fix chameleon circuit next story

Trans-Mat Love: Jim adores that this technology persists throughout Who history. The Doctor turns it into a time travel device ("just a few little adjustments")

Old Who Connections Everywhere:

• Braveheart Tegan reference

• Azmael knew Fourth Doctor

• Wine at the fountain (Big Finish goldmine!)

• Space police headquarters "straight out of Troughton's time"

The Video Games: The twins face each other with what look like handheld gaming consoles - repurposed 1970s electronic games! John searched everywhere to identify them.

Actor Notes:

• Maurice Denham returns in Pertwee BBC audio "The Paradise of Death" and appeared with Roger Delgado in "The Slide"

• Edwin Richfield (Mestor) was Captain Hart in "The Sea Devils"

• The twins' real father played a gunrunner in "Caves of Androzani"!

THE ENDING - "WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT":

The Lines:

• "Wait a bit before criticizing my new persona"

• "I am the Doctor, whether you like it or not"

The Delivery: Spoken directly to camera, directly to the audience. Then both smile - a wink? Softening the harshness?

Jim's Question: "Why put that in there? You don't just have something like that unless you already felt you were getting pushback."

The Speculation: Was it in original script or added during filming? Did it start as Doctor-to-Peri dialogue that got strengthened and shifted to Doctor-to-audience?

The Challenge: "People will be like 'All right, let me give it another try.' This has been the thing about doing review shows - stuff I thought was garbage as a kid is really good now, and vice versa.

The Meta Moment: Lots of meta at beginning and end - the story knows it's a transition.

NEXT TIME: Patreon Exclusive #152 - Music, Colin Baker's comic debut, Season 21 Retrospective (the good, bad, and ugly), spoiler card revealing something about Season 22, Memory TARDIS spin, and a longer-than-usual episode!

Then: Peter Davison Retrospective (Patreon) and 1970s Doctor Who retrospective (main feed hiatus episode)!

Colin Baker fans - write in! "We need to hear from more people who like Colin Baker's Doctor. Drop us a line or leave a voicemail!"

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