The Three Doctors [TV/1972.12.30 ~ 1973.1.20]

★★★☆☆

  The very first multi-Doctor story proves to be a serial that's far from a classic, but regardless a pretty fun romp. Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton are having a fine time, bickering with each other like siblings and teaming up in the most spectacular fashion at the same time. It's a shame that William Hartnell was going through severe health problems and therefore had to shoot his entire scenes inside a glass box; as good as it is to see him in any shape or form, it would've been wonderful to have him actually chuckling his way around the Third Doctor's TARDIS and Omega's lair. I'd say the narrative itself doesn't stray too far from the typical Doctor Who adventure of the time, but I suppose the selling point was always in the 'multi-Doctor' bit... and to the serial's credit, Troughton and Pertwee are more than enough to carry a four-parter with very little going on besides their exploits. 

  On a different note, it's always fascinating to watch depictions of Time Lord society pre-The Deadly Assassin. It's not as if there are many examples to choose from (even if you decide to include the Meddling Monk's serials), but the distincitly early-1970s science fiction trops mesh with the scant information on Time Lord hierarchy to create something almost off-putting but nonetheless fascinating. Here, we have the inclusion of Time Lord founder Omega — and he's played gloriously by Stephen Thorne. This almost Shakespearean, booming presence increases the fun factor tenfold, and shows the viewers new glimpses of who Time Lords actually are and what they're capable of doing. Wonderful stuff.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ  

  Out of the two major decadal anniversary stories of the classic series, I'd have to say The Five Doctors takes the superior place in my heart. That doesn't mean The Three Doctors is bad in any respect, however; I daresay with a few script rewrites, and an effort to smooth out some of the rough patches (pacing, perhaps), this could've been just as good. I would like to point out once again that it's worth watching this serial purely for the Second/Third Doctors' interactions. They're sublime, they are.