Season 7 managed to stretch the boundaries of Who, in spite of storytelling limitations. It was a season about themes, and about deeper characters than had been previously seen. It was about a deal of convenience between an alien in exile and a paramilitary investigation team. It was about expanding the companion role, about grounding a fantasy show in a distinct reality and seeing where things would go from there.

There are few stronger story runs than Spearhead from Space, The Silurians, The Ambassadors of Death and Inferno. In fact, for me, only the run of stories from The Seeds of Doom through Horror of Fang Rock is better.

Spearhead from Space is the most straightforward of the season. However, its importance seems to be underestimated. Spearhead sets the tone for the new "Whoniverse" as well as establishing UNIT, the third Doctor and Liz Shaw. An early key scene is when the Brigadier and Liz arrive at the hospital to check on the Doctor and find themselves surrounded by reporters. Granted, in story terms, the real reason for the reporters is to establish Channing, but its bigger importance is to show UNIT and the Doctor operating in a "real world" setting, where the press would show up to cover stories about meteorites and possible aliens. What Spearhead also does is show that both Liz and the UNIT team can have screen time and carry the story without the Doctor's constant presence. Finally, Spearhead establishes the relationship between the Brigadier/UNIT and the Doctor. It's a precursor to Scully and Mulder from The X Files. There is mutual respect and similar goals, but with differences in approach. Also, the Brigadier acts as the voice of reason and scepticism for the Doctor's more fanciful deductions.

The larger thematic concerns appear in the final three serials of Season 7. They are about politics, about man's dark desires, and fear of the unknown. I'm going to focus on politics, because it rears its head in all four serials.

In The Silurians, Masters is more interested in making a politically expedient decision in regards to the Silurians than trying to find a long term solution. You can see it when Masters recommends that Wenley Moor be shut down, but will make sure that Lawrence will be blameless. Inferno highlights the political infighting and manoeuvring between Stahlman and Sir Keith Gold. Just as interesting is that in the "fascist" Earth, it is hinted that despite the fascist regime, the same bureaucratic infighting still takes place. The Ambassadors of Death shows political corruption as the status quo.

Speaking of politics, everyone's favourite Brigadier is quite the political animal in Season 7. Lethbridge-Stewart is continuously dealing with bureaucratic red tape and politicians who are unable or unwilling to see divergent viewpoints. He is also put in the position of dealing with the Doctor's reactions to bureaucracy, which does put a strain on their relationship. It's very fitting that Alistair doesn't tell the Doctor he plans to blow up the caves because he instinctively knows the Doctor wouldn't understand the politics involved in the decision.

Liz makes for an interesting Doctor parallel, because she is just as disinterested in politics as the Doctor is. Therefore, Liz understands the Doctor's point of view more readily than the other characters in each of the Season 7 serials. She knows that the Doctor is addressing the issues in terms of a bigger picture, explicitly shown in The Silurians, where she knows that the Doctor is correct in trying to contact the Silurians and make a long term peace beneficial for both races.

The other mission of Season 7 was to grab an older audience. So, while the Silurians and the Primords and Autons are there for the kids to have their big scary monsters, the human "monsters" (Carrington, Lawrence, Stahlman, Channing) are more complex in design, being self-obsessed, driven characters. The political wrangling serves this purpose as well. Even moments like the "free will" scene in Inferno and the plague scenes in The Silurians are geared for an older audience.

Season 7, despite being different from what was and what would be in Who, is another prime example of what makes great Who. Good stories with interesting characters. Take, for example, Section Leader Elizabeth Shaw. She starts off as a sold-on-the-company-line fascist who thinks the Doctor is a crank that should be shot, or at least locked up. But under the Doctor's influence, we see the Mighty Liz Shaw we all know and love come through to the point where she ends up shooting the Brigade Leader in order for the Doctor to escape because she feels it's morally right. Wonderful character development over a few episodes. The Brigade Leader goes from fascist thug to a snivelling coward who can't exist without a weapon. And there are many others including a new favourite villain in Reegan the thug from The Ambassadors of Death.

Season 7 is so strong in terms of all levels that it stains the rest of Pertwee's era. I have my own little theory. Although technically Derrick Sherwin was only the producer during Spearhead from Space, I have the feeling that both he and Terrance Dicks had already planned out the season by the time Barry Letts came aboard as producer. Letts didn't want to rock the boat, so he let the season happen as shown, then used Season 8 to stamp his own mark on Who. It's the only way to explain the shift in style and tone from Season 7 to Season 8.

I don't want to end this by saying something obvious like "Season 7 is brilliant." But what is most impressive about Season 7 is that is manages to be contemporary 33 years after its initial broadcast. That speaks volumes about the quality of these four serials.

And I managed to get through the entire review without mentioning Caroline John's legs...