It is obvious to Doctor Who fans who have watched most or all of the Fourth Doctor's stories that Tom Baker overstayed his welcome. Even the most enthusiastic Tom Baker fan would probably confess that he become too relaxed or comfortable with the role, and that his whimsical personality he initially used to win over the show's fan base eventually turned into melodramatic clowning or even overbearing lunacy. For whatever reason though, he refused to leave, and he wound up staying on the show for a whopping seven seasons, the most by any actor. Hence, there is a certain amount of resentment and confusion amongst the Doctor Who fan base over Baker for refusing to get out when the going was good; by prolonging his departure, he did no good, and really only made the show worse.
When Baker did finally leave, Peter Davison was seen as something of a savior, not necessarily because of anything he did, but because he was just not Tom Baker. From the public's perspective, any actor would do, as long as he didn't have curly brown hair, a Cheshire-cat smile, and didn't offer jelly-babies to everyone he met. The public wanted something new and refreshing, and Peter Davison gave it to them. The Fifth Doctor's tenure is widely regarded as a bit of a revival for Doctor Who, its last run of glory days before its ultimate demise in the late 80s.
When Baker did finally leave, Peter Davison was seen as something of a savior, not necessarily because of anything he did, but because he was just not Tom Baker. From the public's perspective, any actor would do, as long as he didn't have curly brown hair, a Cheshire-cat smile, and didn't offer jelly-babies to everyone he met. The public wanted something new and refreshing, and Peter Davison gave it to them. The Fifth Doctor's tenure is widely regarded as a bit of a revival for Doctor Who, its last run of glory days before its ultimate demise in the late 80s.
However, although it is certainly clear that Davison brought a fresh spin on the role of the Doctor, it is not as clear whether his overall tenure or the quality of his stories were better than Tom Baker's later years. Tom Baker's over-the-top silliness didn't help his stories, but what was probably most to blame for his poor run of form was increasing costs and a smaller budget. In his first few seasons with Sarah Jane, Doctor Who was well funded and backed. It was not until season 15, Baker's fourth season as the Doctor that the money began slipping away. This (coincidentally?) was also the same time the quality of the story-telling started to go down; The Invisible Enemy, Underworld, and The Invasion of Time all came out of season 15. As far as I am aware that money did not come back, during Davidson's tenure, or any other time to the level it was during Baker's first few seasons, which by the way, is regarded as the golden age of Doctor Who. Though Davison's stories are different and new the viewer should notice the same type of cracks in his stories that were in stories a few seasons back, despite the supposed "Fifth Doctor revival". This leads one to ask the quest, "Are Peter Davison's stories really superior than what preceded them?".
Objectively looking at this question, there are quite a few reasons why the answer looks to be "no". I have watched only Davison's first two seasons, but among those stories alone, there are quite a few that are less than impressive. The Doctor Who Magazine conducted somewhat recently a poll to determine the best stories of all time out of the 200 Doctor Who stories that had been broadcasted at the time (now there are more than 200, thank you Mr. Matt Smith). The poll ranked the stories from 200th to 1st, based on its popularity, significance, and entertainment value. Although the study was probably skewed towards the more recent doctors, and there is no way to tell how informed or educated the voters were, the results were telling concerning Davison's first two seasons. Among the bottom half of the table was Mawdryn Undead (102nd), Black Orchid (117th), Snakedance (120th), Terminus (169th), Four to Doomsday (173rd), Arc of Infinity (177th), King's Demons (181st) and Time-Flight (196th). Of Davison's first thirteen stories, eight of them are in the bottom half of the table, and of the remaining five, only one is in the top fifty (Earthshock comes in at 18th)! The average rank of Davison's first thirteen stories comes out to 124th. In comparison, of Tom Baker's last three seasons, 11 of 18 stories are in the bottom half, and their average rank comes to 121st.
Objectively looking at this question, there are quite a few reasons why the answer looks to be "no". I have watched only Davison's first two seasons, but among those stories alone, there are quite a few that are less than impressive. The Doctor Who Magazine conducted somewhat recently a poll to determine the best stories of all time out of the 200 Doctor Who stories that had been broadcasted at the time (now there are more than 200, thank you Mr. Matt Smith). The poll ranked the stories from 200th to 1st, based on its popularity, significance, and entertainment value. Although the study was probably skewed towards the more recent doctors, and there is no way to tell how informed or educated the voters were, the results were telling concerning Davison's first two seasons. Among the bottom half of the table was Mawdryn Undead (102nd), Black Orchid (117th), Snakedance (120th), Terminus (169th), Four to Doomsday (173rd), Arc of Infinity (177th), King's Demons (181st) and Time-Flight (196th). Of Davison's first thirteen stories, eight of them are in the bottom half of the table, and of the remaining five, only one is in the top fifty (Earthshock comes in at 18th)! The average rank of Davison's first thirteen stories comes out to 124th. In comparison, of Tom Baker's last three seasons, 11 of 18 stories are in the bottom half, and their average rank comes to 121st.
So is the Fifth Doctor revival a myth? Although, it may seem that way, there are still some variables to consider. First of all, Peter Davison truly did bring a different perspective to the doctor that was refreshing; he was nothing like any of his predecessors. While he may have gotten an extra few pats on the back for being "just not Tom Baker", this doesn't mean he didn't do good things in and of himself. It is hard to analyze Davison's performance and tenure because he will always be recognized as the guy after Tom Baker, but when we do, we see that Davison did plenty of things right and should be given his due credit.
While I would say that the stories continued their run of poor form that started in Tom Baker's later years, I would also say that during this time the show changed in minor ways to alleviate the problem of lack of funding. Most noticeably, the show changes from being a plot-driven tv show to a character-driven show. Most of Doctor Who had been plot-driven, aka the focus is on the unfolding of the story and what is going to happen next. Unfortunately, to make this work well, you need a bigger budget. Plot-driven stories, especially if it is sci-fi or fantasy, rely on special effects, costumes, scenery, explosions, and other things that require money. Plot-driven shows don't work well with a limited budget, and this is what happened during Tom Baker's last few seasons. The poor quality of those stories speak for themselves.
While I would say that the stories continued their run of poor form that started in Tom Baker's later years, I would also say that during this time the show changed in minor ways to alleviate the problem of lack of funding. Most noticeably, the show changes from being a plot-driven tv show to a character-driven show. Most of Doctor Who had been plot-driven, aka the focus is on the unfolding of the story and what is going to happen next. Unfortunately, to make this work well, you need a bigger budget. Plot-driven stories, especially if it is sci-fi or fantasy, rely on special effects, costumes, scenery, explosions, and other things that require money. Plot-driven shows don't work well with a limited budget, and this is what happened during Tom Baker's last few seasons. The poor quality of those stories speak for themselves.
In a character-driven story, the point is to make the audience care and be concerned about the characters and their relationships. A plot-driven story leads the viewer to ask, "what is going to happen next?", while a character-driven story leads the viewer to ask, "what is going to happen to him/her/them?". Davison's stories still have plenty of action and special effects, but we don't notice the shoddily done costumes or the mountain sized plot holes as much, because we are too busy worrying about whether Nyssa is going to be okay. Will Tegan ever get home? How will Turlough and the Doctor's relationship develop after their rocky start? Will Adric ever learn from his mistakes and grow up? How will Nyssa cope with the death of her father? These are all important questions that get answered during the Fifth Doctor's tenure, and they help balance out the unimpressive stories. At no time during Baker's tenure are these types of concerns talked about. This is not to say we don't care about Leela or Sarah, but in general we are more interested in where the Doctor is going to land next rather than what the characters are thinking and feeling.
Although the supposed Fifth Doctor revival is probably less of a revival than some people are aware of, or would like to think, this does not mean that Davison and co. didn't get a lot of things right. You can't ignore limited funding, but you can change the style of your show to cope with it better, and that's exactly what the production team did. His stories may not have been the best in the history of the show, but the Fifth Doctor and his companions are genuinely well-written and interesting characters, some of the most interesting this show has seen. And that is something every Doctor Who fan can enjoy.
Although the supposed Fifth Doctor revival is probably less of a revival than some people are aware of, or would like to think, this does not mean that Davison and co. didn't get a lot of things right. You can't ignore limited funding, but you can change the style of your show to cope with it better, and that's exactly what the production team did. His stories may not have been the best in the history of the show, but the Fifth Doctor and his companions are genuinely well-written and interesting characters, some of the most interesting this show has seen. And that is something every Doctor Who fan can enjoy.