Well said Solo. In a word, it's a bit...pantomime. Not that that's a meaningful description for most Statesiders, I guess.
Tell me, do you like Quatermass?
Yeah, we don't quite get "pantomime," but I think I get what you're referring to. It's not just that, though. The show's "different" in terms of how the Doctor and his companions operate and deal with threats. There's plenty of action, and violence, but the Doctor is hardly an action hero. It's a rare occurrence when he actually picks up a weapon. That changes somewhat in the later years, but certainly early-on, the Doctor is far more of a manipulator than he is a warrior. He gets himself out of scrapes using guile, luck, and knowledge, rather than blasting his way out.
Even on Star Trek TOS, you'd get Kirk in a bout of fisticuffs or the "Set phasers to full" line or "Arm photon torpedoes" or whathaveyou. None of which is to say that Doctor Who is lacking in violence. Far from it. Death follows the Doctor everywhere (and if there's a Time Lord equivalent of an "Ambulance Chaser", I'm sure he's hot on The Doctor's heels as well...), but it's just...I dunno...less about the Doctor SOLVING problems through violence. The violence may be part of the equation, but it isn't central to the solution.
No, yerright, he's just dire.
It's not him solely, though. The 6th Doctor era, to me, showcases the worst elements of John Nathan-Turner's influence on the show. It also doesn't help that the writers never really got past the whole bickering schtick. I gather that there was some sort of original plan to have the Doctor start off as this obnoxious, brash, annoying figure who mellowed over time and became more somber. You only START to get a glimpse of that with the whole Trial of a Time Lord story arc, and then...he's gone.
I also gather that Baker himself never wanted the technicolor nightmare coat he had, and had proposed black velvet instead. One of the DVD specials did a modified version of his outfit from The Twin Dilemma and came up with this:
Which I think looks terrific. If the writers and JNT had been more on the ball, I think we would've gotten a better 6th Doctor.
I will, however, say that while he could be annoying, the 6th Doctor era still had some good stories to it. Even at its worst, the show is still quite entertaining.
--EDIT--
As for Quatermass, I haven't been able to find DVD copies of the old show itself. The closest I've come is the Quatermass and the Pit Hammer film from the late 60s. I liked that, though. I gather there's a new Quatermass series, as well?
Much of Commonwealth TV is quite different from U.S. TV. Police procedurals, for example, are often a lot less action-oriented. There's almost NEVER a scene where the cops go into a dangerous felon's apartment and draw firearms. I was watching a Touch of Frost episode the other night (an early one) where a guy in an interrogation room physically assaults Frost, bolts from the room, and then spends the next three minutes running around knocking down policemen (including one bringing tea or coffee in on a tray), until he's finally mobbed by about 15 cops in the stairwell. And nobody drew a gun (yes, I know, because there aren't any to draw).
On a show like Law & Order, that plot point would've been followed by an Internal Affairs investigation into the shooting-death-in-custody of the guy, who would've made it maybe...oh, 15 seconds before being plugged. Same goes for shows like Da Vinci's Inquest (Canadian police procedural). It's all just got a very different feel to it. I really enjoy it, though. Not to say I don't enjoy U.S. shows, mind you, just that I appreciate the difference at times.
