By Owen Quinn; author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
copyright bbc
On March 1st 1981 at roughly just after 5.30 pm, a true era ended heralding a new and exciting one for Doctor Who. Tom Baker left the role of Doctor Who after seven years, regenerating into Peter Davison as the fifth Doctor.
The reason it is a magic moment for me is because I remember it vividly 32 years later in every detail. But more importantly it was a real family moment.
I was plonked on the floor in front of the television watching the final episode of Logopolis, the fourth Doctor’s final adventure. In an unholy alliance with the newly resurrected Master (Anthony Ainley), the Dpctor races to stop the universe being destroyed under a massive entropy wave. His companion Nyssa’s home world of Traken has already been destroyed and time is short. But the Master has other plans. He and the Doctor fight miles above the ground before the Doctor stops him, falling to his death in the process.
As his new companions of Nyssa, Adric and Tegan gather round his broken body, the fourth Doctor smiles at them and tells them the end has been prepared for before merging with the mysterious Watcher and regenerating into the fifth Doctor.
I remember it so well because as I said, I was on the floor, my mother was sitting in her armchair behind me and my Dad and his friend were talking at the table. Some of my siblings were there playing. It was the chatter of a normal mad household but when the fourth Doctor fell, there was silence. All eyes turned to the television, it was as if we were witnessing a monumental moment on history.
As the faces of old companions called to the Doctor from the past, and he disappeared in a white chrysalis, everyone in the room was mesmerised. And therein lay the magic. My father was not a sci-fi fan and neither was his friend. None of my siblings were either.
And yet, here we were all sitting in silence watching the fourth Doctor fade away as a family; just as the producers always intended. That’s what burned that into my memory for the rest of time and that is true magic.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 
Tom Baker’s regeneration finale was at the time a most compelling one for me, having started my Dr. Who fandom on Tom Baker’s era thanks to the Hinchcliffe era. I knew how personally hard it was for Tom to finally leave the role. But at the time he had clearly gone as far as he could go. At least until his long-awaited reprisal for Big Finish. It would have been interesting if Tom had left the classic series earlier than 7 years because of how that might have influenced his regeneration finale. Despite all his well-known difficulties during his time on the show, it was a fun 7 years for the 4th Doctor.
Thank you for this article and the Logopolis clip.
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