By the time of Jon’s departure, I was aware months in advance of his character’s impending regeneration, and can remember becoming sad as the great ‘Omming’ Spiders signalled the end. Then this regeneration, oh no, this Tom Baker would never do. I wanted Jon back. Now. Yet, from the ‘first generation’ of Doctor Who’s, Tom Baker became my all-time favourite. Deliciously odd, he really was the Doctor, combining everything from his previous regenerations and so much more. Many of the stories were great, the larger than life acting covering for the poorer than life sets and finally we were allowed glimpses of the inner Tardis with its many passages, courtyards and alternative control panels. Wow. The legend was secured.

But then along came K-9. A massive mistake, for it allowed the scriptwriters to become lazy. Faced with impossible situations that left you gripped to your seat, K-9 would quickly solve any dilemma and in the process signalled the demise not only of Tom Baker’s reign, but of the sheer imagination of the programme. Thank God, K-9 left when he did.

Lagopolis provided, to my mind, the most mature and intelligent regeneration to date. We knew it was over for our longest serving Doctor, but those episodes prepared not only the Doctor, but us viewers as well for the closure of that chapter. It was never quite the same after that. When Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker’s faces morphed into being in front of my eyes, I had never seen them before. But Peter Davison was already a well-known face from his ‘It shouldn’t happen to a Vet Days’.

The Doctor had gone from being a genuine alien to a mere actor. Then it happened again with Colin Baker, complete with poor scripts and poor scheduling. I actually started skipping episodes and, with the introduction of Bonny Langford and the return of the early stereotypical screaming female companion, my interest was definitely waning. By the time the BBC had decided to recommission the programme, Colin Baker was involved in other projects so we had our first faked regeneration scene. A regeneration scene that was to mark the beginning of the end for the series.

Deliberately increasingly sub standard scripts eroded the very essence of the programme to the point where it became more pantomime that science fiction, and with viewers deserting in their droves, the series was finally ‘rested’ for good.

Looking back at that those final years, and the genuine commitment of so many fans, one had to ask why, in an era when the US were producing fine science fiction shows, the BBC allowed it to come to this.

The 1996 one off special, was too US orientated, and failed to make the grade, though some of the Tardis interior concepts were an improvement. I had been awaiting that film for so long, but it didn’t leave me gasping for more.

Then came the second generation of Doctor Who with Chris Ecclestone and David Tennant. Better, so much better, yet some how not being quite good enough. The US, when successful, have developed a strategy with films like Finding Nemo, that make them delightful for the younger generation, yet engaging to a more mature audience.

Somehow the new Doctor Who Shows haven’t found that balance. Watching preview clips of alien space craft crashing into Big Ben then disappearing into the Thames could have taken the show to a new level, but then they damaged it by having a pig as a pilot and the Slitheen with their wind problems. Funny to eight years olds, perhaps, but somewhat silly and a let-down to the accompanying older audience.

In the main, the new shows have been about scaring children with monsters, without the classic cliff hangers (and even when there is a cliff hanger, the next week’s preview shows you everything actually will work out fine) or serious science fiction plot development and twist. There are signs, however, that this is beginning to happen in Season 4 and with Russell T Davies gone there is a new opportunity - and less running about unnecessarily.

I’m pleased a new generation of fans can witness this classic British television concept, but would invite the writers to revisit some of the earlier themes and combine the quality production of today with classic scripts from the past. City of Evil for example was imaginative, scary and clever. Maybe that’s what’s missing from the new show, perhaps it is good, worth watching, but simply not yet clever enough.

And yet, although David Tennant will be sorely missed, with the passing of Russell T Davies and the regeneration of the last of the Timelords, the adventure, is just about to get better, much quirkier, and much, much darker. Now, here at our last of the timelords Doctor Who store, you can collect all the best Doctor Who toys, DVDs and collectables. Enjoy!