44. The Dominators

The Dominators was the first proper episode I saw with Patrick Troughton. I mean I saw the 2nd Doctor in The Three Doctors before I saw any of his regular episodes. I think I may have actually have seen him in The Five Doctors before I saw him properly. But anyways, when my PBS station started showing the Second Doctor episodes, after jumping from 4th, to 3rd, to 5th (maybe) back to 1st then 2nd, I was well versed in Doctor Who.

At that point, the Tomb of the Cybermen was still missing so The Dominators was the first existing full episode. This story started Patrick's final series, season 6. So I had great anticipation and excitement to finally see a proper 2nd Doctor story. As the film rolled, it was several minutes before he finally appeared! There was all this set up for the guest actors, their silly drama, and the Dominators and their Quarks! The costumes were silly, as silly goes for the late 60's. The Dominators was quite menacing and the Quarks looked great but weren't functional.

So as an first proper 2nd Doctor story, it was very lackluster. The regular cast do shine through despite the poor script. But for a sleeper of a story, it does kick off an exciting season that culminates in one of the most exciting Doctor Who stories ever and that changes the Doctor's life forever.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dominators