History YMMV / DoctorWhoS21E6TheCavesOfAndrozani

* TrueArtIsAngsty: This is one of the most beloved ''Doctor Who'' stories of all time, and it's easily one of the darkest (arguably ''the'' darkest) from the entire classic series, if not the show as a whole.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: It's considered one of the great masterpieces of ''Doctor Who'', but just as with the praised "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E6Earthshock Earthshock]]", the writers of the time seem to have learned all the wrong lessons from this serial, taking most of its elements, but without the same success. The Sixth Doctor's era would be full of stories populated in depressing worlds, populated by cynical {{antihero}}es and monstrous villains, with Peri being just the DamselInDistress. And to make matters worse, the Sixth Doctor is a much more unsympathetic anti-hero than his predecessor (for most of his TV era), making the viewer question why spend time with these people.

* SugarWiki/DevelopmentHeaven: Creator/GraemeHarper's direction was nothing short of groundbreaking, getting up close and personal with actors and giving the serial a cinematic look and feel. Creator/PeterDavison has gone on record stating that he would've stayed on the show for longer had more of his stories been directed like this one.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Creator/EricSaward ''finally'' gave us an explanation for the Fifth Doctor's celery.

* ProtectionFromEditors: Creator/EricSaward respected Creator/RobertHolmes enough to give complete free rein on the script, so long as the Doctor died at the end. Saward's only contributions were the celery explanation and the Sixth Doctor's scene.

* SacredCow: Near-universally considered to be the greatest ''Doctor Who'' story of Peter Davison's tenure, and one greatest ''Who'' stories period, coming at or very near the top of almost every list in the latter category. (That said, the final seconds, which include Six's line "Change, m'dear.. and it seems not a moment too soon", [[{{Fanon}} might be exempted]] from a lot of fans' love for this story.)

* SacredCow: Near-universally considered to be the greatest ''Doctor Who'' story of Peter Davison's tenure, and one greatest of the classic series. It is found at or very near the top of almost every list of the best Doctor Who stories. (That said, the final seconds, which include Six's line "Change, m'dear.. and it seems not a moment too soon", [[{{Fanon}} might be exempted]] from a lot of fans' love for this story.)

** The Fifth Doctor's final moments, in which he is haunted by visions of his former companions.

* ToughActToFollow: The story was an unexpected critical success, and widely heralded as a fan favourite ever since its premiere. However, producers wanted to capitalize on the hype for the next actor who would play the Doctor, Creator/ColinBaker, by airing his first episode right after Creator/PeterDavison's last. This put him in a very unfavourable position, as he had no time for the Sixth Doctor's character to be scripted attentively, and what resulted... was for lack of a better word, a ''trainwreck''. With a hastily written story and little time for audiences to be let down from the initial excitement of ''Caves'', "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E7TheTwinDilemma The Twin Dilemma]]" hobbled onto the screen... and the reaction from audiences was not pretty, beginning the long, sad decline of the show over its last five years.

* SugarWiki/DevelopmentHeaven: Creator/GraemeHarper's direction was nothing short of groundbreaking, getting up close and personal with actors and giving the serial a cinematic look and feel.

* ProtectionFromEditors: Creator/EricSaward respected Creator/RobertHolmes enough to give complete free reign on the script, so long as the Doctor died at the end. Saward's only contributions were the celery explanation and the Sixth Doctor's scene.

* CompleteMonster: [[CorruptPolitician Morgus]] is the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive leading businessman]] of a human colony and descendant of the original settlers, whose power comes from his control of spectrox, which when refined can extend human life. He gained the monopoly with Sharaz Jek, who built the androids needed to harvest the toxic raw spectrox, [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness then set Jek up to be killed in an eruption of boiling mud]]. The surviving Jek took revenge by using his android army to take control of the spectrox cave, but Morgus responded by financing a military expedition against him and then paying gunrunners to supply Jek with weapons in exchange for spectrox, [[WarForFunAndProfit deliberately prolonging the war]] so spectrox will remain scarce and he can charge higher prices. Morgus blows up one of his own mines just to increase the scarcity of the copper produced there, [[LackOfEmpathy with massive loss of life]], and closes down several factories, shipping the now unemployed workers to labor camps where he has just opened factories, turning them into [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil his slaves]]. When the Doctor and Peri are suspected of being gunrunners, he orders them executed without trial as scapegoats. Then, learning the Doctor is still alive, he assumes he's part of a government investigation and kills the president by pushing him down a lift shaft, then [[FalseFlagOperation spins it as an assassination attempt on himself]] and orders the lift maintenance man shot. Willing to murder any number of people for even the slightest [[ItsAllAboutMe personal gain]], even in a complete CrapsackWorld, Morgus manages to stand out as a monster.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Eric Saward ''finally'' gave us an explanation for the Fifth Doctor's celery.

* ProtectionFromEditors: Eric Saward respected Creator/RobertHolmes enough to give complete free reign on the script, so long as the Doctor died at the end. Saward's only contributions were the celery explanation and the Sixth Doctor's scene.

** The cliffhanger at the end of Episode Three, where the Doctor performs as crash-landing while shouting that "I'm not going to let you stop me now!"

* ToughActToFollow: The story was an unexpected critical success, and widely heralded as a fan favourite ever since its premiere. However, producers wanted to capitalize on the hype for the next actor who would play the Doctor, Creator/ColinBaker, by airing his first episode right after Davison's last. This put him in a very unfavourable position, as he had no time for the Sixth Doctor's character to be scripted attentively, and what resulted... was for lack of a better word, a ''trainwreck''. With a hastily written story and little time for audiences to be let down from the initial excitement of ''Caves'', "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E7TheTwinDilemma The Twin Dilemma]]" hobbled onto the screen... and the reaction from audiences was not pretty, beginning the long, sad decline of the show over its last five years.

* BestKnownForTheFanservice: The Fifth Doctor's moving death scene is somewhat undermined by the [[MaleGaze excellent view the audience get]] of Peri's trembling cleavage. Davison has joked about this turn of events at times.

* SacredCow: Near-universally considered to be the greatest ''Doctor Who'' episode of all time, unquestionably so of the classic series. If not actually ''the'' greatest, then certainly one of the greatest, and is found at or near the top of almost every list of the best. (That said, the final seconds, which include Six's line "Change, m'dear.. and it seems not a moment too soon", [[{{Fanon}} might be exempted]] from a lot of fans' love for this story.)

* FranchiseOriginalSin: It's considered one of the great masterpieces of ''Doctor Who'', but just as with the praised [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E6Earthshock Earthshock]]", the writers of the time seem to have learned all the wrong lessons from this serial, taking most of its elements, but without the same success. The Sixth Doctor's era would be full of stories populated in depressing worlds, populated by cynical {{antihero}}es and monstrous villains, with Peri being just the DamselInDistress. And to make matters worse, the Sixth Doctor is a much more unsympathetic anti-hero than his predecessor (for most of his TV era), making the viewer question why spend time with these people.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: ''The Caves of Androzani'' is considered one of the great masterpieces of ''Doctor Who'', but just as with the praised ''Earthshock'', the writers of the time seem to have learned all the wrong lessons from this serial, taking most of its elements, but without the same success. The Sixth Doctor's era would be full of stories populated in depressing worlds, populated by cynical antiheroes and monstrous villains, with Peri being just the DamselInDistress. And to make matters worse, the Sixth Doctor is a much more unsympathetic anti-hero than his predecessor (for most of his TV era), making the viewer question why spend time with these people.

* TakeThat: Some have interpreted this serial (like "The Two Doctors" later) as Creator/RobertHolmes making veiled criticisms of the current show. It's filled with the gun-wielding tough guys that script editor Eric Saward loved, but rather than being lionised against an impotent Doctor, the Doctor is the moral rock of the story and [[EvilVsEvil the gun-wielding badasses are all bastards]].