A Real Person reviews Season 22

This is an actual review written by an actual person, not some fake
ChapBot.

I'm going to take a more holistic approach, and I won't be rating
individual stories or getting too deep into them.

Season 22 often gets derided by fandom as the point where things "went
wrong" in 1980s, and many blame the creative decisions such as making
the show darker and grittier, and having the Doctor be more erratic and
self-centered.

To be sure, this didn't come out of the blue.  The show became
progressively darker leading up to it. In the previous season, the Peter
Davison's Doctor was becoming less patient and less of a nice-guy
schmuck.  And a very important foreshadowing was one of his last lines
before regenerating: "It feels different this time."

As a series of adventures, most of the stories were very strong,
especially the first two and the season closer.  In fact, I remember
reading academic articles which used both "Vengeance On Varos" and
"Revelation of the Daleks" as examples of good television scripts.

Many heavy, allegorical themes were dealt with.  Unfortunately, one of
the valid criticisms that can be leveled at it is that it was too much
of a slow and intense burn, and it didn't feel like it was leading up to
anything.  Even the companion complained about their journeys feeling
like aimless wanderings, to which the Doctor gave a bullying response.

Another criticism commonly leveled at this season was that it was too
continuity heavy.  It did feel excessive to bring the Master back and
not even explaining how he managed to survive the Planet of Fire, and
also retconning the 2nd Doctor era.  But apart from that, the contuity
with past Doctor Who actually worked pretty well and enhanced the
stories.

More problematic was how this season treated the historical setting in
The Mark of the Rani (implying the Luddite uprising was caused by the
Rani's interference) and H.G. Wells in Timelash (very unflattering
portrayal, and also implying he got his ideas from encountering the
Doctor).

Overall, despite its flaws, this season felt more consistent in tone
than many of the others did in the 1980's.  The strong opening and
closing stories, which were both crafted by the same writer, make it
comparable to some of the 21st Century Doctor Who series.