Doctor Who: Ten reasons why the Fourth Doctor is the most iconic

50 years ago, Tom Baker made his debut as the Fourth Doctor. We look at at the ten biggest reasons why his Doctor is still the most iconic of them all.

50 years ago, Tom Baker made his debut as the Fourth Doctor. We look at at the ten biggest reasons why his Doctor is still the most iconic of them all.
50 years ago, Tom Baker made his debut as the Fourth Doctor. We look at at the ten biggest reasons why his Doctor is still the most iconic of them all. | Michael Putland/GettyImages
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3. The stories

Talking about one of the best production teams in Doctor Who's long history naturally brings me to another key reason why Tom Baker's Doctor is so fondly remembered: his stories. While not every story was an instant classic, there were enough of them to make it difficult for fans to pick their favorites.

Tom Baker's debut season alone gave us two of the most popular Doctor Who serials ever: "The Ark in Space" and "Genesis of the Daleks". You'd often find these stories ranking high in polls for Classic Series fans at least, and for very good reason. Decades later, they're still fantastic to watch.

But as good as Season 12 was, Seasons 13 and 14 gave us even more amazing stories. Stories like "Terror of the Zygons", "Pyramids of Mars", "The Seeds of Doom", "The Deadly Assassin", "The Robots of Death", and "The Talons of Weng-Chiang". All created with the team of Holmes and Hinchcliffe.

Even when that team ended, we still continued to get great serials. "Horror of Fang Rock" is still a brilliant slice of atmospheric horror to this day. Douglas Adams later gave us several hilarious and clever stories such as "The Pirate Planet" and "City of Death".

And even when the stories weren't up to that high standard, they were often extremely entertaining to watch, at least. I've covered most of the reasons why already, but two reasons are particularly important. Starting with...