In the lead up to the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who on November 23, I shall be posting an article on each Doctor. Today, I have a look at the Fifth Doctor, played by Peter Davison.

After the departure of hugely popular Fourth Doctor Tom Baker, producer John Nathan-Turner was keen to make the Ffith Doctor vastly different from his predecessor. After Nathan-Turner's first choice as Fifth Doctor, Richard Griffiths (who later went on to star as Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter films), declined to accept the role, Nathan-Turner approached Peter Davison, with whom he had worked on in 'All Creatures Great and Small'. 29 year old Davison accepted, and became the youngest ever actor to be cast as the Doctor.

Due to the Fifth Doctor's young appearance, he had more difficulty in convincing people of his authority and knowledge, forcing him to use his fierce determination to show people that he meant business. On the other hand, though, his youthful looks had the bonus effects of causing villains to not take him seriously, allowing the Doctor to gain the upper hand and take his enemy/enemies by surprise.

The Fifth Doctor's era also saw the first death of a companion since Sara Kingdom way back in the mid 1960s. Adric, who had stowed away in the TARDIS when the Fourth Doctor was in control, died attempting to stop a space freighter from crashing into the Earth after a particularly nasty encounter with the Cybermen. His death affected the Doctor, and his other two companions at the time, Nyssa and Tegan, profoundly. Indeed, it was a contributing factor that led to Tegan eventually leaving the TARDIS crew. It's also shown that the Doctor never truly got over his young friend's death, with his last words before regenerating being the name of the ill-fated boy.

During the three years that the Fifth Doctor graced our screen, Doctor Who celebrated it's 20th Anniversary. The main celebration consisted of a movie-length special, which saw all five Doctors and some of their respective companions pitted against Lord President Borusa in the Death Zone on Gallifrey, with many popular enemies thrown into the mix as well. Actor Richard Hurndall portrayed the First Doctor, as the original actor, William Hartnell, had passed away some years previously. In adition, Fourth Doctor Tom Baker declined to appear in the special, so stock footage from the unmade serial, Shada, was used instead.A resounding success, the special ended with the (current) Doctor being appointed Lord President of Gallifrey, but the renegade Time Lord once again avoided his duties, escaping in the TARDIS.

The John Nathan-Turner era of the programme is notable for its increased reliance from enemies from the Doctor's past, be it Omega, the Master, the Daleks, or the Cybermen. Psychological horror also made a comeback in the form of a dream-invading monster, the Mara. However, probably the most infamous decision Nathan-Turner ever made as producer was the destruction of the sonic screwdriver early on in the Fifth Doctor's adventures. This move was justified by the fact that Nathan-Turner thought that the Doctor's tool had become an 'easy escape device', used whenever writers had written themselves into a hole. As such, the Fifth Doctor is often noted as having gone 'hands free' during his travels, able to save the universe with 'some kettle and some string'.

Acting on the advice of Second Doctor Patrick Troughton, Peter Davison played the Doctor for a solid three years, concluding his tenure with a story generally regarded as the best ever by Whovians - The Caves of Androzani. However, Davison later indicated that part of the reason he left was because of the quality of the scripts, and that had there been more of Androzani's quality, he would have stayed on longer. Whatever the reason, though, Davison's youthful Fifth Doctor brought another breath of fresh air to Doctor Who, showing a new vunerable and disadvantaged side to the Doctor. Without Peter Davison and his fantastic Fifth Doctor, Doctor Who simply wouldn't be where it is today.