Okay, time for some discussion fodder. Let's take a few key moments from the Doctor's lives and ask if other Doctors would have handled them differently, and how, if so.
* connecting the two wires in Genesis
* confronting a cave man in the Cave of Skulls
* needing to break his companion's faith in him
* realizing he's proposed to Cameca
* realizing Adric's still on the freighter
* faced with the prospect of ging Mawdryn his remaining regenerations
And feel free to add any other moments.
Bonus question: pick three other Doctors for the first faceoff (pun not intended) with Omega.
connecting the two wires in Genesis
The 9th would have Rose do it.
confronting a cave man in the Cave of Skulls
The 6th would push him into a convenient tar pit and make a joke about it.
needing to break his companion's faith in him
The 8th would ramble on about shoes & the companion would realize he's a complete nutter.
realizing he's proposed to Cameca
The 2nd would exclaim, "Oh, my giddy aunt!"
realizing Adric's still on the freighter
The 7th would reveal it was all part of his plan to defeat the Silurians & Sea Devils by contaminating them with Adric's DNA.
faced with the prospect of giving Mawdryn his remaining regenerations
The 3rd would use Venusian karate on Mawdrin and reverse the polarity of the chronal energy with his sonic screwdriver.
pick three other Doctors for the first faceoff (pun not intended) with Omega.
6, 7 & 9.
The 6th would blind Omega with his coat, the 7th would drive Omega crazy with a needlessly complex & insane plan & the 9th would have stayed in the TARDIS and let the other two handle it.
connecting the two wires in Genesis
Doctor's who'd've done it:
The First (giggling to himself).
The Sixth (making atrocious puns).
The Ninth (foaming at the mouth and screaming 'WHY DON'T YOU JUST DIEEEEEEEEEE!').
The Second (making it look as if it was the accidental result of pure panic).
The Tenth ('No second chances. I'm that sort of man').
The Seventh (and then he'd've gone off to gloat about impotency to Davros).
Doctors who wouldn't have done it:
The Fifth. What a wimp.
The Eighth. (Well, the telemovie Eighth sure as hell wouldn't have. By the end of the century-and-a-half of EDAs it might be a different matter.)
Dunno about the Third...depends if he was in hermit/Buddhist mode, in which case he would have declined whilst waffling about daisies, or in Venusian Akido mode, in which case he would have banged those wires together with a cry of 'Haaiiii-YAH!'
confronting a cave man in the Cave of Skulls
NONE of the other Doctors would have DREAMED of smashing his head in with a rock. Hell - even the FIRST Doctor wouldn't have dreamed of it after a few more episodes. Some of 'em would have used the authority in their voices to get his Companions to abandon the man, some of 'em would compassionately agree with Barbara about risking everyone's lives for him, hopefully one or two of the brighter Doctors would have noticed that the man was actually perfectly fine and would be up and running about in five minutes' time.
needing to break his companion's faith in him
The First Doctor could have just been his usual charming early-episode self - you know, do a little light kidnapping-of-schoolteachers, attacking-of-innocent-cavepeople, sabotage-of-fluid-links...
The Second could just have agreed to help that week's Big Bad, and hey presto! The Companion - assuming the Companion in question is Jamie 'Just act stupid. Do you think you can manage that?' McCrimmon - will instantly BELIEVE that the Doc intends to sell his (Jamie's) body to the Daleks (or whatever).
The Third wouldn't have to do much - get caught in a compromising position with a dinosaur and his old pal the Brig'll have him in the, er, brig in no time.
The Fourth...NOTHING could break a Companion's faith in him! Look at Leela after he invaded his own planet and kicked her into the wilderness. Look at Sarah when he dumped her and scarpered on the most pathetic of excuses. Look at Adric when he decided to drown his TARDIS.
The Fifth Doctor...well...WHAT faith? None of his pals seemed to have the slightest faith in him in the first place.
The Sixth Doctor...ditto. Who wouldn't be haemovore-fodder if they depended on their faith in ANYONE with a coat like that?
The Eighth...I think he's too soft to say those nasty Seventh-Doctor-type things to break a Companion. Though as KAM says, rambling about shoes (or blowing up Gallifrey or something) might inadvertantly do the trick.
The Ninth: swanning off. Certainly broke MY faith. Not to mention heart.
The Tenth: sleeping. Poor darling couldn't spend a few hours in well-earned snoozing without Rose throwing a hysterical fit about him not being the real Doctor.
faced with the prospect of ging Mawdryn his remaining regenerations
I honestly don't think a single one of 'em would have been stupid enough to pull a Davison, trying to sacrifice himself EIGHT TIMES OVER in order that a couple of (unclose) pals shouldn't have the joy and happiness of spending their lives on a luxury spaceship.
On the other hand, Troughton died for an equally pointless reason (yeah, cos sending people back to World War One etc was doing them SUCH a favour!), Pertwee and Colin Baker both deliberately suicided, Eccleston gave up his life for SPOILER, and McGann's just a softie, so - come to think of it - on an off-day most of 'em might well be capable of noble self-sacrifice. Just hopefully not on such a grand scale. And not without exploring other options first. Like trying to find a cure in the TARDIS lab.
The seventh Doctor would have gone further in time and raise the baby Davros to be good. Only it backfires and the grown-up Davros unleashes an even worse breed of Daleks.
Agree that no other Doctor would have attaked the caveman (the 8th Doctor even talked the first out of it). The fourth Doctor would have called for K9. The seventh wouldn't teach them fire but might teach them chess.
Although the ninth Doctor is the most, shall we say...sexual of the Doctors, I have a very hard time imagining him and Cameca even on the same screen.
Adric on the freighter: the first two Doctors couldn't control the TARDIS well enough to snatch him. The third, post-exile, would have tried.
I agree that nobody else would have given their remaining regenerations to Mawdryn. If the Blinovitch Limitation effect could have done it, they could have arranged for it if they'd only thought it up. They didn't know there were two Brigadiers around yet, but they could have popped off, got one of his current companion from a different time stream and let them touch each other. (Yeah, that could be worded better.)
Although the ninth Doctor is the most, shall we say...sexual of the Doctors, I have a very hard time imagining him and Cameca even on the same screen.
Yeah, a black-and-white Eccleston is a bizarre concept, but all the same I think he'd cope better than most Doctors with his engagement. He could flirt and kiss and dance in the sure and certain knowledge that ANY non-Companion who tries to...er...pollinate with him promptly meets a sticky end.
The Eighth Doctor would also be just fine. In fact, he might even decide to do the decent thing - deal with the High Priest of Sacrifice, marry Cameca, and hang around on Earth till she dies of old age. Or just tell her the truth and have the 'YOU come with ME' conversation.
The Third Doctor would react just like the First - taking shameless advantage of the poor woman's devotion in order to abandon her. (Just look at the way he used Liz in Spearhead.) Still, he'd play the part of the suitor pretty well - lots of kissing-of-hands and 'My-life-at-your-command's. And, after all, Cameca is his perfect woman - always happy to make him a cup of tea (OK, cocoa).
I suspect the Second Doctor would cry 'When I say run - RUN!' and scarper. Maybe Zoe could console the deserted bride by explaining to her the pointlessness of human emotion.
The Sixth Doctor would probably be thrilled by his engagement - any excuse to be the centre of attention. And he could always chuck Cameca off a pyramid if she started getting on his nerves...(alright, I'm being a BIT unfair here.)
I can imagine the Seventh Doctor getting into such a mess - his tipping-of-hat and magic tricks being misconstrued as romantic interest - but I'm not sure how he'd get out of it: whether he'd horrifically break Cameca's faith in him for her own good, or attempt to rearrange human history to prevent it happening in the first place.
The Fourth, Fifth and Tenth Doctors I find impossible to imagine in such a situation.
Old Adders on that freighter...
Well, the First would obviously do a Katarina-style eulogy.
The Fourth and the Sixth would probably quote a bit of Shakespeare in Adric's memory with inappropriate gusto.
The Seventh would have gone all dark and broody over it.
The Eighth would have got amnesia due to the trauma.
I somehow doubt the Ninth would have got as desolate as he did every time Rose appeared to kick the bucket. But if Adric was very lucky he might have got a kiss on the forehead before the Doctor scarpered. (And if he wasn't, the Doc would have cheerfully informed him that 'I only take the best, I've got Rose'.)
I'm not sure about the Second, Third, and Tenth, but I AM pretty sure that not a single Doctor would have bothered breaking any Laws of Time to save him...
Yes but what would Peter Cushing have done?
Huh. Who cares what some EARTH SCIENTIST called DOCTOR WHO would have thought of losing a Companion, gaining a fiancee, or committing genocide? What does he know about anything? He can't even keep his relatives straight...
Re: Peter Cushing's Doctor
With regards to Adric, I get the feeling that a wooden stake's involved somewhere....
(Or would have Doug McClure just have socked him on the jaw, & dragged his unconcious body into the T.A.R.D.I.S...).
With regards to Adric, I get the feeling that a wooden stake's involved somewhere....
And why not? After all, even the Wet Vet managed to executie Kamelion, a Companion FAR less deserving of murder than Our Adders...
Well, the First would obviously do a Katarina-style eulogy
I take it all back. Having just heard that bit of Masterplan, there's no WAY that Hartnell, or indeed ANY sentient being in the history of the cosmos, would announce vis-a-vis The Pyjama'd One that 'I will always think of him as the son of the gods...'
I have to wonder how Doc-10, Last of the Time Lords, would have handled Scaroth, Last of the Jagorath. He'd have either found a timey-wimey way of reintegrating the Scaroths, or, if the events happened similarly to how they did in the original story, it would have been much more heart-wrenching.
That's a good question. Of course, saving Scaroth would be a MAJOR paradox.
Not if he was saved and removed from Earth AFTER he'd splintered himself and kick-started our primordial soup. But more likely he WOULD still have died and Ten WOULD have got all teary about it instead of cheerily saying that 'The universe is well rid of THEM.' This was, after all, the bloke who tried to help Dalek Caan.
the Alien Space Bats's bring back Hartnell, Troughton and Pertwee to 2014. They are the age they were on their first day of filming for the show, but have their memories up until their OTL deaths. The ASB's have also cured their health problems.
What happens next?
Alien Space Bats...
Wikipedia time again.
Or TV Tropes.
Okay, the BBC decide that it would be wrong to recast the lead and the show ends when Hartnell retires?
This board wouldn't exist then.
Emily enjoys shows that aren't Doctor Who?
The universe ends!
Bernard Cumberbunch is cast as the Doctor?
NitCentral invaded by millions of 14-year old fangirls gushing over him!
The vampires in State Of Decay sparkle?
See above.
Tegan doesn't go to Amsterdam in Arc Of Infinity?
Millions of fans thrilled! :-D
Bernard Cumberbunch is cast as the Doctor?
Callie would love that.
No, she'd kill you for calling BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH the name you did.
Speeling naems iz knot mi stron soot, sorree.
We all know KAM's real name is Kimberly Amber Morgan!
Lyke, fer shure, Jodi! ;-)
Emily enjoys shows that aren't Doctor Who?
If a Bizarro version of Emily was created, she's love all shows EXCEPT Doctor Who!
Bizarro:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizarro
What if the Doctor was turned into a woman in the middle of one of the Classic Series adventures?
Ian/Steven/Ben/Jamie/Yates/Benton/Harry/Adric/Turlough would suddenly get distracted.
Unless you hold to the "Yates is gay" idea.
Never mind Yates, practically NONE of them showed any signs of being distracted by women. Even Steven wasn't remotely interested in the female of the species, even after two long and lonely years with only a stuffed panda and some Mechanoids for company...
Steven was probably so desperate for the pleasures of the flesh by the end that that panda probably had adventures that other stuffed toys did not....
I was wondering...
What Doctor actor would be ideal to play a fictional stand-in for Jimmy Savile/Rolf Harris if the BBC/ITV ever dramatised the paedophilia scandal?
I'd say Tennant. He could make any little girl look terrified.
Tom Baker.
Never will words "would you like a jelly baby" sound scarier....
You two leave my Doctors out of it!
Though if any of 'em HAVE to play Savile, it should be Hartnell - they look identical. It says so in The War Machines so it must be true.
Even Steven wasn't remotely interested in the female of the species, even after two long and lonely years with only a stuffed panda and some Mechanoids for company...
I take it all back. He positively DROOLS over those Drahvins. It's only women who AREN'T imbecilic homicidal man-hating clones that he doesn't fancy.
I had a paedophilic babysitter as a child. He kept talking about how he liked little girl's feet.
Are you sure he wasn't a podophile?
If there's ever a foot fetish paedo/killer reported, I hope I'd feel confident in going to police.
what characters/actors/directors/writers/producers would be in the worst possible DW story?
Uwe Boll
Jerry Bruckheimer
Michael Bay
I meant figures from DW - say an episode with nothing but Colin Baker on screen and directed by the guy who did Horns of Nimon
With the Twins from The Twin Dilemma, & Tegan, as companions.
They face menaces like the giant rat from The Talons of Weng-Chiang and the Ogron god from Frontier in Space? ;-)
I was just thinking about the long hair on the boys and men in some old shows. put those Twin Dilemma twins in dresses and with that hair, soon people would be offering them dolls, perfume and Mummy's clothes to play dress up in.
Someone's obviously got a touch of male pattern baldness...
How about a Doctor-lite story featuring Mel teaming up with Romulus and Remus to defeat the Bandrils and the Scribble Monster, directed by the guy who directed Rentaghost?
It wouldn't even HAVE to be Doctor-Lite. Chucking in a GOOD Doctor would actually highlight the agony...
Maybe throw in the Kandyman for good measure, and have Mel go from being useless to an 1980s action girl on a whim, only to start behaving as usual by the end of the story ?
Oh, and random bashing of the Northern Irish, labelling them as "a nation of terrorists". Do it through painfully obvious allegory (the group all wear balaclavas and have comedy NI accents).
---
Michael Bay
---
Considering the number of times the Tardis console's blown up recently, I'm surprised I've not seen his name on the end credits.
For a really bad starting point, Uwe Boll, directing a story where the Doctor regenerates into identical twins, played by Jedward.
For the converse, I think it would have to start with David Tennant as the Doctor and Patrick Stewart in some role.
How about an... um... gassy... Doctor, ala Bargearse?
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/Bargearse
What if Pertwee had stayed another year and we'd have had a Hinchcliffe-Holmes version of the third Doctor?
Thanks. I really needed an image of Pertwee in Genesis.
What's wrong with Pertwee in Genesis?
Actually Pertwee might have made a more plausible 'Have I the right?' Doctor. After all, HE'D been learning to be a Buddhist. Whereas I STILL can't believe Tom didn't just jam those wretched wires together and have done.
Good point and all, but I just can't 'see' Pertwee in this story. I like him, and if I ever ranked my favourite I'm sure he'd be above the middle (probably not by a lot, but still), but Baker just owns this story.
I can picture Pertwee in Robot all too easily and fairly effortlessly in Ark (just not the 'homo sapiens' speech). No Doctor deserves Sontaran Experiment, though it's oddly easy to imagine Colin Baker in, and Revenge effectively *was* a Troughton story. But Genesis without Tom Baker just wouldn't be Genesis.
Isn't Genesis, the one where Tom effectively waterboards Davros by tampering with his life support machine?
Yeah... it's hard to imagine Pertwee doing that. But, Pertwee's Doctor under Hinchcliffe-Holmes would have gone to strange new places.
Baker just owns this story
Yeah. There IS that.
Isn't Genesis, the one where Tom effectively waterboards Davros by tampering with his life support machine?
Yup.
It's astonishing the Doctor doesn't have to do this sort of thing more often, isn't it.
Personnaly, I would not have put that much effort in dealing with Davros and his pets. I would just have turned off his life support, blown up the lab and be done with the whole mess.
Or better yet, I would have gone farther back in time and prevented Davros from being born in the first place.
or turned Davros into a girl called Davrosia....
That works too.
I don't see why a woman wouldn't have invented the Daleks.
Because Kaled society might not have allowed her the opportunity to do so. We saw very few high ranking (or even low ranking) Kaled women in this story.
We saw very few high ranking (or even low ranking) Kaled women in this story.
True, but in times of war they SURELY wouldn't discriminate against a potentially war-winning Mad Scientist to the extent of chaining her to the kitchen sink...
What Kaled women!? I didn't see a single on in Genesis.
I see another post of Judi's got nuked. I was drafting a response to it, but there is little point in posting said response now.
I don't see why a woman wouldn't have invented the Daleks.
According to the audio 'Davros', Davros's girlfriend invented the Daleks and he just stole the idea from her.
I thought i was being humorous about suggesting characters being turned into Shirley Temple. Evidently, as in the War Games, The Great Emily Lord has lost her sense of humour.
According to the audio 'Davros', Davros's girlfriend invented the Daleks and he just stole the idea from her.
Ah yes, I've never been quite sure how that fits in with the I, Davros audios...I sense a relistening coming up...
I thought i was being humorous about suggesting characters being turned into Shirley Temple. Evidently, as in the War Games, The Great Emily Lord has lost her sense of humour.
Well, I thought you were talking about rape, paedophilia and sex-changes, all of which I've made it PERFECTLY CLEAR I've had enough of on this board.
Well, I thought you were talking about rape, paedophilia and sex-changes, all of which I've made it PERFECTLY CLEAR I've had enough of on this board.
That was the jist of my response to Judi's now deleted post. Said post, and others like it, were really starting to creep me out.
Judi, it sounds like you have some personal issues to deal with. However, a Doctor Who forum is not the place to do it.
There's nothing wrong with actually postulating what things would be like if characters were the opposite sex.
It's a reasonable intellectual exercise.
The only pervert in DW is the Ainley Master in Castrovalva.
There's nothing wrong with actually postulating what things would be like if characters were the opposite sex.
I agree. We have been speculating about the Doctor regenerating as a woman for ages, and we have seen it happen to the Master, so it is a perfectly acceptable subject.
Exactly. Thank you. imagine how differently things would have been in the Troughton era had it been Jasmine and Victoria or Jasmine and Zoe.
There's nothing wrong with actually postulating what things would be like if characters were the opposite sex.
Well, as long as it doesn't get too repetitive. But sex changes and men wearing dresses (and nappies) are popping up in loads of your posts in pretty irrelevant areas of the board.
And as it happens it's pretty disingenous to claim that that's ALL you were doing in your latest deleted post. It was pretty clear what you were implying when speculating on what vengeance the baddies would wreak on Turlough if he happened to turn into Shirley Temple. Something which is a million miles away from perfectly reasonable speculation about whether the Doctor would ever follow in the Corsair's and Master's footsteps.
And, no, I can't imagine things would have been particularly different or interesting in the Troughton era if Jamie had been female.
Les Lye and Lorne Greene. Best Canadians we never saw in Doctor Who.
I'd love to see Tom Baker's mind in the Fourth Doctor's body. See how the actor gets to grip with universe saving and having no idea which switch is which on the console. I think there was a famous Star Trek fanfiction like that?
I think there was a famous Star Trek fanfiction like that?
I've read two Star Trek stories where Kirk Spock and McCoy change places with Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley, one from the point of view of the actors and the converse from the point of view of the Starfleet officers. I agree that something similar dane in Doctor Who would be interesting, but the only likely way it would happen now would be with Capaldi.
Any Hollywood movie you'd like to see a Doctor Who story?
Silence of the Lambs with the Master as Buffalo Bill and Peri as that Senator's daughter BB kidnaps?
Scorby/Boycie as the Doctor?
http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2019/03/boycie-badgered-the-bbc-to-transfer-him-to-doctor-who/
I've read two Star Trek stories where Kirk Spock and McCoy change places with Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley, one from the point of view of the actors and the converse from the point of view of the Starfleet officers.
I read one of those stories once. It was decades ago, though, so I don't remember much about it,
quote:(Facebook Doctor Who discussion):
General: What if the (ordinal number) Doctor had been played by someone else?
General: What if (non-Doctor character name) had been played by someone else?
General: What if none of the episodes were lost?
What if Sydney Newman had stuck to the "no bug-eyed monsters" rule and not allowed the first Dalek story?
What if Terry Nation had gotten a Dalek TV series made in the USA?
What if William Hartnell had been written out in "The Celestial Toymaker"?
What if William Hartnell had not had arteriosclerosis?
What if they'd gone with a William Hartnell "clone" for the second actor to play the Doctor?
What if the program had been cancelled when William Hartnell left?
What if they'd made a third Peter Cushing "Doctor Who" movie?
What if Patrick Troughton had been killed when the Gravitron fell over during filming of "The Moonbase"?
What if Wendy Padbury had opted to stay with the program when Patrick Troughton and Fraser Hines left?
What if the program had been cancelled when Patrick Troughton left the series?
What if Roger Delgado had lived to do the "finale" that Barry Letts had planned for the character of the Master?
What if William Hartnell had been healthy enough to make a full appearance in "The Three Doctors"?
What if Elisabeth Sladen had drowned while filming "Revenge of the Cybermen"?
What if Elisabeth Sladen had returned to the series in 1980?
What if Tom Baker's relationship with Lalla Ward had been more harmonious?
What if K-9 and Company had led to a series?
What if Tom Baker had agreed to appear in "The Five Doctors"?
What if Tom Baker had gotten Doctor Who Meets Scratchman made as a theatrical release?
What if "Shada" hadn't been cancelled by strike action?
What if Louise Jameson had returned for the transition from Tom Baker to Peter Davison?
What if "The Two Doctors" had been filmed in New Orleans as JNT wanted?
What if Laurence Olivier had agreed to appear in "Revelation of the Daleks"?
What if the series had been cancelled after "Revelation of the Daleks", instead of being put on hiatus?
What if the series hadn't been put on hiatus after "Revelation of the Daleks"?
What if the character of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart had been killed off in "Battlefield"?
What if Sophie Aldred had died while filming "Battlefield"?
What if the series hadn't been cancelled after "Survival"?
What if Virgin Publishing didn't lose the Doctor Who license (or they never got it in the first place)?
What if they went with other ideas for reviving the series between 1989-1996?
What if the 1996 TV movie had led to a series?
What if Big Finish never existed?
What it "Scream of the Shalka" led to a revival, rather than what we got OTL?
What if Russell T. Davies hadn't succeeded in bringing the program back in 2005?
What if Christopher Eccleston had stayed for more than one series?
What if Christopher Eccleston had agreed to return for "Day of the Doctor"?
What if Terry Nation had gotten a Dalek TV series made in the USA?
Plunger replace with gun hand.
Daleks start speaking like Capone.
Every episode has a Dalek/car chase.
Daleks with a Brooklyn accent:
"Extoimenate!" "Extoimenate!"
quote:The situation:
You're walking along, minding your own business, when you see the TARDIS parked on the footpath. The Doctor offers you a position in the TARDIS crew. He's in a hurry, so there's no time to pack, fetch stuff from home, or even leave a message to tell people where you've disappeared to. If you haven't decided in five minutes, he'll leave without you.
Do you go?
Is that a trick question?
Who needs five minutes?
Depends.
Now, if Nyssa is in that TARDIS, I'm so there!
"The situation...the Doctor offers you a position in the TARDIS crew...If you haven't decided in five minutes, he'll leave without you.
Do you go?"
I think a common concern might be...it depends on which Doctor.
How many of us would leave with the First? Or especially the Sixth? Or the War Doctor/
I don't think it's as easy an answer as it was before, since some have personality quirks and adventures that are worse (scarier and deadlier) than others.
How many of us would leave with the First? Or especially the Sixth? Or the War Doctor
Obviously I've given this considerable thought and decided that I could TOTALLY live with my conscience after smashing First/Sixth/War's head onto the console so they'd turn into someone I'd love a LOT more.
Weirdly enough, travelling with the Sixth Doctor appeals a lot to me. 
My first choice would be Jodie, because she's the oldest and has the most knowledge and experience. She's also, by far, the cutest.
My last choice would be Pertwee, because he didn't do that much off Earth travelling.
I'd also avoid the War Doctor, for obvious reasons.
Weirdly enough, travelling with the Sixth Doctor appeals a lot to me
'Weirdly' doesn't really BEGIN to plumb the depths of your depravity...
She's also, by far, the cutest.
Tennant's the cutest, but JODIE! comes a good second.
I'd also avoid the War Doctor, for obvious reasons.
Yeah, THAT BEARD...
Well I'd go with any of them.
With Doc1, I might not have any say in the matter.
Doc9, while one of my favourites to watch, might not be my first choice. He always seemed to have a slight misandry--or at least distrust of non-Rose people--under the surface.
Seven would probably force me to face my childhood traumas.
Eight and I would probably only have one full adventure together and it wouldn't be very good.
Ten might abandon me for years for a mirror.
My whole existence isn't a high enough concept for 11.
quote:In my own personal opinion I think Tom spent too long in the role and I think he should have left at the end of season 15. Its no secret he didn't get on with Graham Williams and so for this what if it's What if Tom left at the end of Invasion of time?
During the making of The Sunmakers Tom and Graham had another falling out and Tom decides to leave at the end of the season and so Invasion of Time will become a regeneration story. Plans are put in place for his replacement and Philip Madoc is approached for the role and he accepts, Graham knowing the Doctor will need a companion for the Key to Time season so asks Louise Jameson to remain for one more year but she declines, So Graham Williams decides to give the new Doctor a Time Lady and Romana will be introduced at the start of season 16 to help the Doctor recover from his regeneration and the quest for the Key to Time. The 4th Doctor will regenerate after firing the T-Mat gun and the Time Lord's look after him and send Leela back to her homeworld with the memory of her adventures with the Doctor erased in order to prevent anyone else trying to invade Gallifrey. Phillip Madoc wins great applaud as the Fifth Doctor and Mary Tamm elects to remain for season 17, However with a declining budget and negative reviews building Graham Williams offers to leave the show at the end of season 17. The BBC accepts his resignation and appoint JNT as the new Producer. Mary decides to leave during season 18 and JNT has Romana head back to Gallifrey, Phillip Madoc also elects to leave at the end of season 18 to give JNT a fresh start and so the Fifth Doctor regenerates at the end of Logopolis and Peter Davison is introduced as the sixth Doctor. Tom Baker enjoys a new lease of life doing a mixture of BBC shows and stage plays and his era is viewed as wildly successful by the fandom, Phillip Madoc's era is viewed as a mixed bag, it's clear he loved being the Doctor but his stories had poor direction and a shrinking budget, Tom and Lalla Ward would meet while doing a Sherlock Holmes adaptation and get married and remain married to this day and they often joke about what would have happened if they had met on Doctor Who. That's purely my own view, If Tom had left at the end of season 15 who would you have liked to have become the Fifth Doctor?