Doctor Who: Terminus

Part One

“Don’t patronise me, Turlough.”

I’m approaching this with an open mind, although I’m well aware of its reputation. I’ve only seen it once before, in the late ‘90s, and I can remember very little. The only bias I have going into this is that I was hugely impressed with Steve Gallagher’s Warrior’s Gate. Still, there’s the awkward fact that I’m watching this in the full knowledge that it’s not popular and whatever I end up thinking I’ll suspect myself of either conforming to received opinion or setting myself in rebellion against it. I don’t win either way- much better to enter a story completely blind! Anyway, here goes…

We open with more development of the Turlough / Black Guardian angle as Turlough sabotages the TARDIS. Mark Strickson is excellent in playing this rather shifty, cowardly, self-centred yet redeemable character in a way I haven’t appreciated before. Tegan is getting suspicious of this newcomer, and incidentally is still wearing the same outfit. I assume she gets to change them once a season? Still, it’s shaping up to be an interesting relationship.

Meanwhile, we get to see Nyssa’s room again. And also Turlough’s room, which used to be Adric’s room, and still has all his old stuff in it- a nice touch, reminding us that Turlough doesn’t share the painful memory the other TARDISeers have to deal with, and is still yet an outsider.

As a result of Turlough’s sabotage things start going wrong with the ship, leading to yet another “I’ll explain later” from the Doctor. And then the Ship merges with somewhere else- a nice different way of arriving somewhere with the TARDIS exterior not being seen at all throughout the story. It’s very effective seeing the four TARSISeers gradually disappearing into the mysterious vessel.

And then of course we end with loads of lepers appearing, one of whom is apparently Kathy Burke…

Part Two

“We’re all going to die!”

The computer operated by the Doctor in this episode looks uncannily like the sort of thing that would have been released as a board game and advertised on kids’ TV at the time. Now that the Marathon is reaching a time I can actually remember I’m getting all these random outbreaks of nostalgia triggered by the most bizarre things.

Things are still good so far, with an interesting backstory of plague and corporate greed, and the odd coincidence of Terminus being at the exact centre of the universe. Not to mention Kali and Olvir being officially the most ‘80s people ever. I mean- that hair!

Peter Benson as Bor is instantly recognisable as Henry Tudor to those, like me, who have seen the first episode of The Black Adder far more times than is healthy. And there are other characters in similarly great looking armour with names like Eirak, Valgard and Sigurd, known as the Vanir. Hmm. I’ll take this as an indication that Norse myths are being referenced here but I’ve no idea which ones. The Garm’s a giant, too, so the giants are superseded by the gods, or “Vanir”, but that’s both very tenuous and not relevant to this episode.

Nyssa gets infected, and promptly strips off into her underwear. And at the same time she acquires some unsightly buboes and lesions. Yep, that’s how you get the dads watching, I’m sure they’re all leprosy fetishists…

Part Three

“You’re weird, Turlough.”

At this point it starts to feel a bit slow and plodding, presumably the problem people have with it, but I can’t quite put my finger on why it feels so. We’re getting plenty of plot revelations, the characters are well written and played, there are some good concepts and it’s even well designed. But still, there’s something a little unengaging about it all for some reason.

The Vanir power struggle subplot begins, to be paid off next episode, Tegan and Turlough have a conversation about the ethics of killing, mandated by the story arc- they’ve both been sidelined a bit- and we get the big revelation; Terminus’s first engine blowing up started the Big Bang and the second one’s about to blow, taking the universe with it! I’m not sure I buy this- surely the civilisation that built this ship also built many more, each with the potential to do the same, so by the law of averages the universe should have ended by now? Still, in the context of the story, it works. Oh, and it’s technically all Turlough’s fault if it does.

Part Four

“You represent a pure investment of my time and energy!”

It’s quite unexpected to see that the Garm does actually cure Nyssa. Not only that, he can talk, too, and also save the universe by pushing a lever. He’s a giant (Norse mythology!) as are the Vanir (Norse mythology!) and presumably the same species as the ship’s dead pilot.

The cure may have worked on Nyssa, but it’s crude, unfocused and as likely to kill as to cure. Nyssa, on the other hand, would be able to turn it into a much better cure, much as she would be able to synthesise unlimited supplies of hydromel to free the Vanir from their dependence on the Company, just as the Garm has been freed by the Doctor.

“It’ll be good to see the TARDIS again.” says the Doctor. “And Tegan.” Adds Nyssa, “Well…” says the Doctor!!! It isn’t even the first time he’s said something like this- he doesn’t even like Tegan, and is only putting up with her to avoid an unpleasant scene. Blimey!

Nyssa stays behind where she’s needed, in a fitting and unexpectedly emotional departure.

I can’t put my finger on anything that was actually wrong with this, but it seemed somehow unengaging for large stretches. There’s a lot about it that’s good though, and its bad reputation hardly sees fair. I give it a solid 3/5.

Doctor Who: Mawdryn Undead

Part One

“Don’t you know anything?”

It’s great to get a genuinely strange opening to a story for the first time in ages. We have two public schoolboys- this somehow seems so very early 80s- TWOCing an old car. One of them, “Hippo” Ibbotson, is your standard Billy Bunter type, but the other, Turlough, is a devious character with a mysterious background. The car crashes, and Turlough accepts a Faustian pact from none other than the Black Guardian- he’s to be taken away from Earth if he agrees to kill the Doctor. Oh, and the Black Guardian is now wearing a bird on his head. Very fetching.

And if that’s not enough, the car turns out to belong to the Brigadier himself. Yay!

To the TARDIS, and while Nyssa is again wearing a different set of clothes, Tegan is still wearing what she’s had on since Arc of Infinity.

Aside from the welcome reappearances from Nicholas Courtney and Valentine Dyall (not that we saw much of him in The Armageddon Factor), it’s also good to see Angus MacKay again as the headmaster. Good to see they’re maintaining the Who tradition of using the word “transmat”, too.

A nice line from the Brig, who we are soon to discover has lost bits of his memory: “Take it from me, boy- a solid object can’t just dematerialise!”

Part Two

“Well, well. So you’ve done it again, Doctor.”

The TARDIS has gone, and the Doctor is stranded. Meanwhile, Nyssa and Tegan seem to be in the same place, yet the Doctor is nowhere to be seen. Or is he? Because both of them immediately seem to think that the weird decaying bloke they see in the TARDIS is the Doctor, in spite of his not looking or acting remotely like him.

Meanwhile, the Brig still can’t remember much. He recalls that Benton left the army in ’79 and is now selling second hand cars, and that Harry Sullivan has been seconded to NATO. He can’t remember who the Doctor is, though, and doesn’t seem to have heard of Liz, Jo, or Sarah. There’s one slight problem here, of course. Pyramids of Mars clearly states that Sarah (and thus the whole UNIT lot) comes from 1980, yet the Brig says he retired in 1976. There’s no way round that: continuity is broken! Ah well, it took twenty years to do it, which is not bad. The moral here, I think, is only refer to continuity if there’s a need to and if you know what you’re doing, or this kind of mistake is bound to occur. The way things have been going the last few stories, with the increased number of often gratuitous references to the past, it was pretty much inevitable that something like this would happen.

None of which means I’m not enjoying this story, mind. In spite of the continuity bombs the whole structure of it all, with the two separate time zones separated by the ship, feels very fresh and different. And there’s the odd bit of clever misdirection, such as Turlough’s apparent confiding in the headmaster until he turns out to be the Black Guardian. Plus, I love the bit where the Brig surprises Tegan by instantly getting her reference to the TARDIS.

Part Three

“If I reverse the polarity of the neutron flow…”

Oh dear, two Brigs aboard the ship! The Doctor’s even mentioned the Blinovitch Limitation Effect- that’s how serious it is.

I love the way the (moustache-sporting) Brig instantly takes charge in 1977.

In fact, Nicholas Courtney really is fantastic throughout. It’s a great episode mainly because there are two Brigs and it’s a joy seeing how both of them react. All this’d stuff with Mawdryn and co wanting to die is a bit morbid, though.

Part Four

“It would mean the end of me as a Time Lord!”

Bit of an ineffective cliffhanger, that. Especially as the Doctor has yet to explain what he’s talking about. And even when he has done, the nature of the threat itself is just a little too continuity-heavy, relying as it does on the Doctor’s remaining regenerations being forfeit. Can’t we just have the current Doctor being the Doctor, as things used to be in the fairly recent past?

The two Brigs, inevitably, meet, this resolves the plot, and the Doctor “will explain later”. I’m guessing Steven Moffat is a particular fan of this era, as the Doctor has been saying he’ll explain later a lot recently.

Turlough’s on board, joking that he’s “not that easy to get rid of.” “So it seems.” says Tegan, exactly paralleling the Doctor’s reaction to her own rejoining in Arc of Infinity. TARDIS crew as dysfunctional as ever, then. Especially with the small point that the new companion seems top want to actually kill the Doctor…

That was a good ‘un. I’m starting to get a bit concerned about the excess of baggage from the show’s past, mind, as this could lead to the show becoming too backward-looking, but that’s not really a dig at this particular story, more a long term trend. This was good, using the time travel concept creatively, using the Brig well, and starting an intriguing new arc with Turlough and the Black Guardian. A good 4/5.

Doctor Who: Snakedance

Part One

“The Federator’s son is bored.”

This is the first time I’ve had to resort to video again, after a stream of DVDs, since Kinda. Is there some kind of anti-Christopher Bailey conspiracy going on?

The story begins with perhaps the most jaw-dropping moment yet to be seen in 1980s Doctor who: Nyssa has actually changed her clothes! Of course, the Doctor doesn’t notice, to Nyssa’s resigned irritation. Nice little subtle character moment, that. Nyssa has a lot more personality these days than she used to.

We can now add Tegan to the list of TARDISeers whose bedrooms we’ve seen! So let’s see: that’s Romana, Nyssa, Adric, the Doctor and now Tegan. Is that it, or will we eventually see even more? Stay tuned, for you may be surprised and delighted, unless of course the memory cheats.

Anyway, the Mara’s at it again inside Tegan’s subconscious. Meanwhile, on the planet of cheap ‘80s proto-IKEA décor, Lon, son of the unseen Federator, is lounging around being bored. He’s a brilliant character, perfectly radiating the self-indulgent ennui of unearned privilege and a total lack of responsibilities. I’m no fan of that wretched sitcom Martin Clunes is best known for, but he’s great here.

This scene also provides some much-needed exposition on the Mara’s destruction five hundred years ago, the role of the Federation in this and his predicted return, also briefly alluding to the snakedancers. All this is admirably imparted in ways which sketch out for us the personalities of Tanha, Lon and Ambril.

For all the competence of the script, though it’s a shame about the sets. It’s not the cheapness I mind- this is Doctor Who after all- but the lack of imagination. The design of everything on this supposedly alien planet, with what is apparently meant to be a less advanced level of technological development than our own, just looks contemporary.

The Doctor reveals himself to warn Tanha, Lon and Ambril of the Mara but, again, this Doctor is not accepted as his predecessors probably would have been. Instead his warning is seen not just as the rantings of a crank, but worse, those of a harmless one, no more than a minor irritation. We’ve never quite seen the Doctor receive this reaction before. As Lon says, “No, let them go. What’s the point?”

Part Two

“Are you just going to lie there being bored?”

“Yes, I rather suspect I am. After all, what else is there to do?”

The scene with the mask, and its “six faces of delusion”, is a nice touch, although it shows Ambril to be rather a poor archaeologist to have missed seeing something so obvious. But worryingly, although this is still a good episode, nothing new is really developed. It’s becoming apparent that this isn’t going to be as good as Kinda- the plotting and characterisation is as competently done as before, but thematically there’s nowhere near as much going on, and this robs the events of having much meaning.

Janet Fielding is brilliant as the Mara-possessed Tegan at the cliffhanger, and the combination of her and Martin Clunes is particularly great.

Part Three

“We wait.”

Again, not much new really happens here, although there’s nothing bad about the story exactly, and Christopher Bailey is too good a writer to let things become dull. We get to fill in a few more details about Dojjen and the snakedancers, we see a Punch and Judy show, and we learn the history of the Mara, much of which, I’m sure, consists rather heavily of a Buddhist subtext which I’m not getting.

This is a very odd story, with a mystical type thereat and no attempt to give a scientific explanation for the Mara. It isn’t a science fiction story at all. And never has the Doctor, who spends pretty much the entire episode in a cell awaiting rescue, seemed so powerless. And the main source of conflict in this story so far has been the refusal of others to believe the Doctor. This seems to indicate that scepticism should be seen as a bad thing, a potentially worrying message.

Part Four

“Am I forgiven?”

“Oh, yes of course. Aren’t you always?”

It all concludes logically enough, although the visions induced by the hallucinogenic snakebite are rather too reminiscent of the visions induced by Mary Morris’ character in Kinda. But I like the ceremony (“I offer you fear in a handful of dust”) and the snake effect is very well realised this time.

Overall, I’m slightly underwhelmed. After Kinda, at the moment my second favourite story, I was expecting something similarly brilliant. But while Snakedance was certainly a decent enough story, it seemed something of a retread of Kinda, with less apparent thematic depth. A high 3/5.

Doctor Who: Arc of Infinity

Part One

“I’m simply following orders.”

A season begins, and it’s the twentieth! It’s quite a landmark, and frankly quite mind-boggling to think I’ve actually got this far. From this point on the rest of the marathon looks like it’s going to be a doddle. Anyway, what exciting new adventures have we to look forward to now?

Er, some technician type people doing some dull repairs and stuff. A planet once full of either wonder or skulduggery now feels very mundane and domestic. Meanwhile, in the TARDIS, the Doctor has repaired the sound on the scanner. Wow.

To Amsterdam, where a couple of backpackers are about to sleep in a crypt. I think I’ll go out on a limb here and assume I’m not going to be the first person in this thread to mention An American Werewolf in London.


Wow, the Doctor and Nyssa are discussing the fact that the TARDIS used to be in a state of “temporal grace”, referring right back to The Hand of Fear! I never noticed the reference before. But even though my initial thought was “cool”, I immediately started wondering whether it was healthy for a show, in 1983, to be referencing a fairly throwaway line from 1976. This is a turning point, I feel; we’ve had plenty of continuity references before but this feels worryingly gratuitous, as though the show is gradually starting to aim itself at the fanbase and not the general public.
 
“Impulse laser?” No, you muppet, it’s an armadillo. This is one of those scenes which occasionally appear in episode one and make you fear for the rest of the story. As does the appearance of the High Council, with its obligatory regenerated Borusa. Somehow all the familiar trappings of Gallifrey are being used in a purely perfunctory way, which rather strips them of any impact they once had. And the Time Lords’ hostility towards the Doctor is just aggravating; you know full well they won’t actually kill him because this strange extra-dimensional figure needs to bond with him and this mysterious traitor is clearly working for him. And the whole thing achieves nothing but to allow Johnny Byrne to put this bit of the plot on pause for a bit. So far this is every bit as bad as his previous Keeper of Traken.

Fortunately we get Michael Gough, albeit pointlessly wasted in the role of Hedin, and the magnificent Colin “Archie” Baker as Maxil. So far he’s been the best thing in it.


Part Two

“I have my orders.”

“You don’t have to relish them so much.”

Crikey, the number of bedrooms we’re seeing in the TARDIS these days is ridiculous. This time it’s the Doctor’s room we see. Come to think of it, it’s episode two and we’re still seeing a lot of the TARDIS interior, something that seems to be happening a lot these days.

To Schipol Airport, and who should arrive off the latest flight but Tegan. She’s back! And wearing actual clothes! This raises the possibility that we may see her actually wearing different outfits in different stories. Can it be?
 
The Doctor gets a mild ticking off for failing to return Romana, but receives an otherwise disconcertingly friendly welcome from the High Council following his initial rough treatment. They all agree he hasn’t done anything wrong. And then promptly sentence him to death. Even though they’ve abolished capital punishment. It’s not the Doctor’s lucky day.

Tegan, meanwhile, has lost her job, but as soon as she realises her cousin has disappeared she throws herself into the investigation. That’s the Tegan I like to see. But, er, isn’t the fact that she of all people should turn up a bit of a massive coincidence? Other important characters are the Castellan, probably the most obvious red herring in the history of the world, and Hedin who, for equal and opposite reasons, must obviously be the baddie.

There’s more continuity as Damon informs the Doctor that Leela is “well and happy” as the Doctor regrets he missed the wedding. Again, this is nice, but it’s a reference to something which was screened five years ago, it’s not relevant to the plot, and it’s hardly subtly done. Should the programme be doing this sort of thing?
Nyssa, being brave and generally heroic in a way which demonstrates how recent stories have started to give her some bare outlines of an actual personality, tries to rescue the Doctor. He doesn’t seem very keen though, and is apparently executed…


Part Three

“So it’s you.”

No he isn’t, shock horror, he’s just floating about in some other reality being gloated at by our mysterious villain. Elsewhere, Maxil and the Castellan continue to twirl their metaphorical moustaches while Tegan gets on with actually advancing the plot, finally uncovering the villain’s layer.

We also get a scene in which Ome- er, the mysterious bad guy strokes his “chin”. This is quite the silliest thing to appear in Doctor Who for quite some time. Unfortunately this is about the most entertaining thing to happen this episode, most of which consists of Omega just trying to delay the plot. It’s all very dull.

Still, the villain’s identity is at last revealed, and I’m pleased to see we get a full and detailed explanation from Hedin of how he survived the events of The Three Doctors: “No, he exists, Doctor!” It’s almost as though he was the Master…


Part Four

“If I am denied life, then all must perish!”

This is the episode where everyone realises they’ve spent money to film in Amsterdam, so they’d better make sure it shows up on screen. This leads to plenty of outdoor chase scenes, and an amusing moment where the Doctor’s plans are scuppered by a lack of coins for a payphone- that wouldn’t happen nowadays!

We’re also treated to the most eye-poppingly absurd technobabble to justify the location: “Amsterdam is located on the curve of the Arc, below sea level to maintain pressure for atmospheric conversion.” Why on Earth did anyone think it needed to be explained at all?

The Doctor uses a gun again, this time threatening Omega with it, and the story basically ends because Omega didn’t bother thinking through his plan properly because he’s basically a rubbish villain. Er, right.

“So, you’re stuck with me, aren’t you?” says Tegan, inviting herself back on board the TARDIS. “So it seems” replies the Doctor. It really comes across as though he’s never liked her very much. I’m beginning to suspect he doesn’t. I’ve never known such a dysfunctional TARDIS crew before.


Overall, well, rubbish. I have no hesitation whatsoever in awarding this 1/5. This is the first time I’ve felt a story was pure fanwank, with no substance whatsoever. The plot is gruel thin, the villain’s actions make no sense, and worst of all the trappings of Gallifrey are rendered dull by being treated as obligatory references to be ticked off to please the hardcore fans instead of fun concepts to be played with. Suddenly all the sense of wonder is gone. This sets a dangerous precedent- is this how the icons of the series are going to be treated from now on?

Doctor Who: Time-Flight

Part One

“Are you responsible for this box, sir?”

“Well, I try to be.”

Ah, a Concorde, that technological marvel! That dates this story immediately- this is set back in the days before the future became considered passé. Although the décor inside, and especially the glimpse of newspaper, date this story in quite another way. But oops- where’s it gone?

Inside the TARDIS we have a perfunctory discussion about going back in time to save Adric, but within what feels like thirty seconds all of this is over and they’re all off to the Great Exhibition. This is most awkward, and although it’s probably true to say there can’t be more than a certain amount of character stuff in a format where you’re never more than 25 minutes from a cliffhanger or story climax (something which doesn’t apply to the “new series”, where although the stories are shorter the episodes have time to breathe), it could have been better handled than this. I’m noticing more and more how much poorer the treatment of the current large TARDIS crew compares to the original lot. It’s not as though Ian or Babs got all that much character stuff either, just the amount that was required by the constraints of the genre, but it worked. For this crew, it doesn’t.

The TARDIS lands on a runway- please don’t let this be another Faceless Ones! It’s interesting to look for Tegan’s reaction here to finally being at Heathrow- will she stay or will she go, to paraphrase Joe Strummer at around this time? 

Thankfully, lots of tiresome scenes of the TARDISeers falling under suspicion from the authorities are curtailed by mentions of the good old Brig and some chap called Sir John Sudbury from “C19”, with some UNIT bloke at the end of the phone going so far as to insist the Doctor be briefed on the missing plane. On the other hand, it’s all a bit too continuity heavy. Perhaps they could streamline all this into, I don’t know, perhaps the Doctor carrying some paper that’s, I dunno, psychic?

So a second Concorde takes off, with the TARDIS, on its side, on board. And our heroes plus pilots end up in some illusory other world which turns out to be the Jurassic. We get a surprisingly highbrow reference to Berkeleyan philosophy for such a silly story (“That is why this tree / doth continue to be…”) and there’s some bloke in weird make up speaking an odd language in a funny voice. It seems he’s played by someone called Leon Ny Taiy. I wonder who he is?

Part Two

“Magic? Arabia?”

Sop, there are some squidgy, semi-corporeal things that control people and do other things required by the plot, except that some annoying professor bloke is able to resist its control. He thinks he’s in Siberia. Ho hum. Still, as time goes on he’ll become gradually less annoying until he morphs into an almost exact clone of Dr Tyler off The Three Doctors. Oh, and the Plasmatons are a bit like Gell Guards, I suppose.

Nyssa and Tegan have to pass through the obligatory illusory version of Adric, on account of he just snuffed it, and then they get a Melkur and a Terileptil, just to remind them of some of the more mildly disappointing of their recent adventures.

We get a decent retro-looking Ray Harryhausen monster conjured up by Kalid, but rather suddenly he’s defeated. And then turns out to have been the Master in disguise all along. Naturally, he had to disguise himself as a bizarre Aladdin style conjurer and speak in some weird made-up language, even when no one else was around, because, er, um, er…

Part Three

“The Xeraphin is calling us.”

We begin what will become a tradition of full frontal refusal to explain how the Master escaped from his last sticky situation with the obligatory “So you escaped from Castrovalva”. Then the plot starts all over again, this time with the baddie being the Master instead of some weird conjurer type. At least our villain, stranded here, now has a motive.

Two pilots muck about in the TARDIS for a bit, while the Doctor discovers the entire Xeraphin race is locked up in some column thing. The Prof sacrifices himself (yay!) and then we get a battle of wills between two random Xeraphins. Don’t get me wrong, it all makes a sort of sense, but it’s all a bit random, innit?

Part Four

“I’ll explain later.”

I don’t at all like the Doctor’s brief admission that the Master has finally defeated him, it’s unDoctorishly defeatist. I realise this Doctor is supposed to be less charismatic and less assertive- fair enough- but more and more I’m seeing something beyond the character of Davison’s excellent Doctor- a lack of respect for the character from the scripts. The Doctor should always be the hero- this is his show, after all.

It all ends with a bargain between the Doctor and the Master, manipulated by the Doctor to strand the Master on Xeraphas- it’s all strangely reminiscent of the conclusion to The Mind of Evil. It’s a nice touch, and at the same time a bit embarrassing, to see Tegan actually acting as an air hostess.

The story does tend to stretch credulity somewhat, even given the necessary conventions of the genre, with how easily the Concorde pilots adapt to the fantastic events they’ve witnessed, with their insistence on joking about it even when faced with scepticism from their superiors really pushing it.

Tegan gets wistful while wandering the terminal (Terminal 3 was new then, right?) but it’s a huge shock when the Doctor and Nyssa just take of without her without warning.

This is an odd story. For the first time in ages it’s obviously been written and performed as though purely a kids’ show- see the bloke playing the captain of the second Concorde- not a bad performance but one clearly tailored for a kids’ show. It’s a throwaway load of nonsense, of course, more like T-Bag or Emu’s Pink Windmill than Doctor Who, but actually on those terms it’s sort of ok. 2/5.

As for Season 19, at 3.429/5 it rather surprisingly ties exactly with its predecessor. But neither season has exactly scored well. This comes as a genuine surprise to me- I thought I actually liked this season quite a lot!

Doctor Who: Earthshock

Part One

“Too many people have died for you to play the fool.”

We open with some unusually hardboiled potholers wearing skiing goggles round their necks, soon revealed to be military types investigating the disappearance of some other, presumably less hardboiled, potholer types. It’s all very hardboiled. Did I mention this story starts off very hardboiled? Because we’ll be seeing an awful lot of hardboiledness.

The now obligatory early TARDIS scene gets the now obligatory token reference to the previous story out of the way, and gets on with a bit of conflict between Adric and the Doctor, whose relationship has been interestingly dysfunctional since the Doctor’s regeneration. It’s as if Adric now no longer sees the much younger-looking Doctor as a father figure but as a rival for the position of alpha male. This may seem absurd if you’re not Adric, of course, as he’s just an awkward teenager with increasing tendencies towards acting like an arse, but it might explain his behaviour. It’s either that or a lax grip on the regulars’ characterisation by the script editor.

Oh, and all this happens in Adric’s room. Are we going to see the full set by the end of the season?

Adric wants to go back to E-Space and, for some reason, Terradon, although it was explained in Full Circle that it’s got nothing to do with him. Suddenly the Doctor’s casual dismissal of Romana’s ethical queries about taking Adric away from his own universe in Warrior’s Gate is coming home to roost. Perhaps that’s why he throws such a strop, leaving Tegan and Nyssa to play the role of grown-ups this week.

Anyway, the TARDIS lands, it’s 2526, they’re underground and they see some dinosaur fossils. Lovely. Foreshadowing, anyone? We get nasty black robots, killing, and general hardboiledness. It’s all rather effectively done, with the device of having Walters above ground with the scanner working well to increase the tension. It’s all very Alien and very generic early 80s action movie, but this is a very well constructed opener. It’s all a bit hardboiled, though.

We end, in what is possibly the most spoiled cliffhanger of all time, with some Cybermen. They’re back!

Part Two

“You know, I find this situation so bizarre. There’s no purpose for it.”

I think this is where we get our first “Brave heart, Tegan”. But mostly, it’s where we get our first glimpse of the Cybermen as redesigned for the 80s, with David Banks, “excellent”, fist shaking and non-monotonous voices. They’re somehow less symbolic of the body horror intrinsic to the Cybermen then the 60s models were, in spite of the nice touch of the visible organic chins behind the glass jaws, but to balance this they’re chunkier and more physically threatening. The visible chins are simultaneously a problem though, because as soon as the Cybermens’ already worrying increased vulnerability to gold becomes apparent, the glass jaws lend themselves rather too easily to crap and obvious metaphors like what I’m using now.

Oh, and we get our first “I know that object.” Brilliant!”

It’s been a while since we had a parade of clips from earlier stories so the fanwank here is excellent, although the Cybermen seem to have junked their copy of Tomb of the Cybermen. There’s a problem here though- Revenge of the Cybermen was quite unequivocally set on a beacon built in the “late 29^th, early 30^th” century, and this is equivocally 2526. Now, lack of obsessive detail to continuity among the production team would of course be unthinkable, so we must seek an alternative explanation. Have these Cybermen travelled from the future?

The story ends with some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the Doctor and Adric have made up (er, yay!) and the bad news is the appearance of the horribly miscast Beryl Reid. No disrespect to her, but this is the first time the alleged JN-T syndrome of horribly miscast guest “stars” seems to rear its head. Till, I’ll keep an open mind as the era continues.

Part Three

“I’m just a mouth on legs!”

The Cyberleader declares that the Doctor “must suffer for our past defeats”. Good to know they’re as emotionless as ever. And the bit with the Cybermen sealed inside plastic bags actually shocked me almost as much as it amused me with its blatant disregard for good health and safety procedure. Did no one think of the kids watching? Could that even be screened today?

Amusingly, the freighter’s crew are all a bunch of cynical jobsworths, which in no way dissuades me from my view that Eric Saward may possibly have seen Alien at some point. Oh, and the fact that Ringway turns out to be a traitor leads me to believe he may well have seen some previous Cybermen stories. There’s a lot that’s traditional about this story now that I stop to think of it, with the Cybermens’ appearances being rationed until they appear in force halfway through the story. And we also have a first wave, admittedly just of black robots, who are defeated early on only for a much bigger wave to turn up later on. It’d all be very '60s, if not for the fact that it’s very '80s.

Part Four

“Now I’ll never know if I was right.”

The Cybermens’ dastardly scene is revealed; they plan to put a bomb on the freighter and ram it into Earth, thus disrupting a galactic conference at which their enemies are plotting against them. The fiends! The episode’s very exciting, with lots of tension right up to the end, although we get to pause slightly for the Doctor’s rather good speech on emotions. This almost makes up for the fact that most of the human characters have been referring to the Cybermen as robots, which shouldn’t have happened; the Cybermen haven’t been seen for ages, so the script should be making it very clear to the casual viewer that this is exactly what they’re not.

Oh, and the boy Adric snuffs it. The script has quite a lot of fun with the old dramatic irony beforehand, though; Adric shakes the Doctor’s hand as he leaves and says goodbye, while assuring Tegan that he’ll see her soon. He’s starting to remind me of the character Dead Meat from that excellent film Hot Shots.

The freighter goes back in time 65 million years to the time of the K/T boundary, where it’s neatly revealed that the freighter crashing into Earth will become part of the existing historical pattern, in scenes a little too similar to Saward’s own The Visitation. And then it all starts happening thick and fast. There are Cybermen in the TARDIS. The Doctor shoots one repeatedly with a gun- he’s always doing that sort of thing. And Adric’s use of the gold in his badge to kill a Cyberman is simultaneously great for adding to the heroism of his final sacrifice and awful for the credibility of the Cybermen. But that’s for the future.

Adric’s death manages to actually be quite affecting and not at all bathetic, which I wasn’t expecting. And the silent credits are a nice touch.

Part Five (DVD only)

Indisputably the finest episode of Doctor Who, nay, television drama, ever to exist. Utterly sublime in its superiority. But sadly I’m not going to count it towards the story’s overall score as such things are Just Simply Not Done. It’s definitely canon, mind. So there.

This is very fast-paced, very well-structured, and with a sense for the natural beats of the storytelling that so elude Christopher H. Bidmead and that RTD does so well- it’s generally very well-written. But at the same time, it’s also very, very hard-boiled- did I mention that? Because the guest characters are all required to act in this hard-boiled manner, there’s no real depth to them. It’s all dated since the 80s in the same way the work of Frank Miller has- it’s still enjoyable, but no longer seems as big or clever as it did, and it often makes me laugh at inappropriate moments because of its unintentional boys’ own silliness. Still, a good ‘un. 4/5.

Doctor Who: Black Orchid

Part One

“Medium pace? Slow?”

“Fast.”

“Top hole!”

Another script by Terence Dudley, and I’ve no idea what to expect. Will it be another good ‘un, like Four to Doomsday? Or more drivel in the style of K-9 and Company? One thing’s for certain: he certainly watched Brideshead Revisited on ITV last year. It’s the 1920s, and the BBC does this period even more splendidly than it did the 17^th century in the last story. Everything about this story looks sumptuous. It’s just that its roots are showing rather obviously, what with its being set largely in an aristocratic country house in the ‘20s.

I had to laugh at the TARDIS landing a mere second after it would have been seen by the porter on the platform. Still, it’s a charming setting from the off. So much so that apparently even Tegan has now decided she’s not in such a hurry to get back to Heathrow after all, and wants to stick around a bit. All well and good, but it feels rather sudden.

There’s dialogue about the Great Fire of London which our heroes started at the end of the last story, which tends to deepen the sense of paradox even further- apparently the fire would have happened anyway. Eh? Even if the Terileptils had been left to get on with things? Perhaps we can retcon this to be a fixed point in time, but the only way the fire would have happened anyway is if the Terileptils’ plan was inevitably doomed, which rather does away with any sense of threat.

Anyway, back on topic. Our heroes are unexpectedly picked up by Lord Cranleigh’s chauffeur, and driven away in a rather fab looking car. The Doctor is expected, and is charged with a task of the utmost seriousness; Cranleigh himself is out for a duck, and his team is in the midst of a batting collapse. Can the Doctor save the day?

It’s an odd premise, and above all an odd idea for a Doctor Who story. This is often stated to be the first “pure historical” since The Highlanders, and obviously that’s true in the literal sense. But it doesn’t really belong in the same category as all those stories from all those years ago, being neither a comedy nor a serious rumination on history. I suppose it could be said to be a pastiche, doing for Brideshead Revisited what The Smugglers did for Doctor Syn, but this is no swashbuckler. No, this is a real oddity- not necessarily a bad thing, and this season has shown a commendable variety in types of story. 

There’s a lot of fun with the period, with words like “mater” and “ripping” being thrown around with abandon, Traken being “near Esher” and the party scenes are great fun, with Nyssa at last allowed to let her hair down a bit courtesy of Anne’s scheme. Plus Michael Cochrane’s great, and Tegan’s having fun, and is thus great again.

But after the initial fun of the party stops and the plot starts, it’s all quite slow, with the scenes of the Doctor lost in the priest hole dragging interminably.

Part Two

“Brazil?”

“Where the nuts come from…”

There’s some fun at the start, with Adric being a pig and Nyssa having fun, but sadly things become very tedious indeed as soon as the Doctor is accused of murder. I hate it when the device of our heroes being wrongly accused of things is used as a cheap dramatic hook- it’s lazy, and frustrating in a way which simply isn’t at all entertaining. The story never recovers from this, with the final revelation being that the story may look like Brideshead Revisited but it is in fact Jane Eyre with a touch of King Kong. But the lack of any significant clues early on in the story means the resolution comes out of left field. 

It’s also annoying to once more see pretty much most of the characters in the story being invited into the TARDIS for a short hop back to the house. This sort of thing is starting to become a real problem.

So overall, in spite of some charmingly amusing scenes at the beginning, in the end the story doesn’t really work dramatically. It looks great, but left me feeling rather annoyed with things. 2/5.

Doctor Who: The Visitation

Part One


“Poor old Adric- always in trouble!”

We’re plunged straight into the seventeenth century, which instantly feels very comfortable. It looks excellent, of course- one thing the BBC’s always been good at is historical drama. There’s rather a long prologue featuring some death rays and some doomed Restoration type people with great clothes and great hair.

We get another new writer in Eric Saward. It’s always hard in this Marathon to try and ignore everything from after the story you’re watching but in the case of someone who would become so controversial. Still, this time round his story feels very traditional Who, although really it shouldn’t- Doctor Who doesn’t actually do alien invasions of historical periods very often. In fact, the only previous straightforward example I can think of is The Time Warrior.

Anyway, The Visitation. Our initial TARDIS scene has, by now, obviously become part of the show’s format, with an obligatory reference to the previous story (how the authors of the Missing Adventures and PDAs must have hated this) and a bit of inter-crew conflict. Worryingly, it’s already starting to feel tired at this early stage. It’s not yet getting to the point where you suspect the TARDISeers don’t actually like each other thatr much, but that’s something the writers need to watch.

Tegan wants to leave, and is very upset that the Doctor’s three centuries out from her own time. There’s also dialogue indicating she’s now beginning to realise the Mara effectively raped her. None of this is written with any particular depth; such things are simply mentioned once to give the illusion of character but not developed in any way. This doesn’t really work. This dysfunctional TARDIS crew doesn’t compare at all well to the original from back when this Marathon started, and this seems down to the lack of a David Whitaker to oversee the development of the characters.

That’s a shame, as there’s a lot going on between the characters which could be developed interestingly. Tegan and Nyssa seem to have struck up a friendship, fior example, whereas Adric seems to have difficulty relating to both Tegan and the Doctor. None of this really goes anywhere.

The whole situation with Tegan wanting to get home is problematic; the TARDIS is not what it was in Hartnell’s day. Recently the Doctor’s been able to control it perfectly most of the time, it’s been stated that he’s getting better at “short hops”, and at this point the TARDIS is often shown to be completely accurate when the plot requires it. It’s just not plausible any more for the Doctor to be unable to get Tegan home. Still, the situation has one saving grace; Tegan’s still wearing the same clothes because she expects to start work at Heathrow. What excuses have the other three got then?

Our heroes leave the TARDIS and are attacked. This new Doctor seems to handle himself well ion a fight, showing some almost Pertweeish combat skills. And oddly, he’s still referring to humans as “Earthlings”. Adric drops his homing device in the struggle, a nice bit of continuity- presumably this is the same device from Full Circle.

Obviously, what we need most of all at this point is an extra companion for this story, as four is clearly too few. And we get Richard Mace, who is admittedly pretty cool, but there’s no depth to him whatsoever. Still, I admit he’s entertaining- I love his “I would risk anything for an hour’s good conversation”, followed by an awkward silence.

We finish with a “haunted house”. Much as I may mock, this is admittedly quite entertaining.



Part Two

“Why are Earth people so parochial?”

There’s an early bit of tiresomeness as the TARDISeers have to convince Mace that they’re from outer space, but there’s plenty to entertain us here. We get to see the alien, and Tegan, captured alongside Adric, deflects his questions about the Doctor by claiming that “He talks a lot about Guildford” in a nod to the work of a certain former script editor.

The most shocking thing in this episode, of course, is that the Doctor and Nyssa actually have bit of a falling out! It wouldn’t have surprised me with any other combination of TARDISeers, but those two…! Oh, and the Doctor’s a bit harsh on Richard Mace too.

The Terileptil looks good, if a little obviously latex, with his animatronic mouth and his scar. It’s nice that he’s a criminal who’s escaped from prison, and not just a bog standard alien invader.

I love the Doctor’s “Oh no, not again!” as he’s about to be beheaded…


Part Three

“I feel my mind slipping into a bottomless pit of gloom and despair.”

We get to see Nyssa’s room in the TARDIS! How very domestic things are getting these days. Sadly, an escaped Adric arrives and immediately proceeds to act like an utter twonk. These last couple of stories have ensured the character is not at all likeable.

By now it’s clear that, although enjoyable enough, this story is essentially a bunch of set pieces stitching together a rather basic plot, and even with the presence of Richard Mace it’s all rather humourless. At the same time, though, there’s nothing particularly bad about it either. There’s a real threat- especially with the revelation that other Terileptils are waiting in London- and some nice backstory with the Tinclavic mines. It’s just that the story never really catches fire. And the historical setting is somehow not evoked well by the script, probably because all the seventeenth century characters- even Mace- are little more than superficial plot functionaries.

Adric, meanwhile, continues to be an arse. This is the first story which gives me serious concerns about the handling of such a large TARDIS crew- none of the companions come out of this story at all well. There are too many characters to follow (yes, I know, not a problem in the 60s, but there are problems here) and there’s too much bickering. Still, with Tegan mind controlled that’s one less character for Saward to keep track of.

Ooh- the sonic screwdriver’s been destroyed! Hardly surprising given the changed tone of the show since JNT took over. I’ll miss it, though. It was a harmless piece of silliness that added to the fun of the show, and I never bought any of this guff about it being a magic wand to get the Doctor out of scrapes. Sometimes a good narrative shortcut like that can avoid putting some tiresome stuff on screen.


Part Four

“I like long walks!”

Nyssa manages to destroy the android, the TARDIS arrives in the house, and everyone (including Mace- there’s been a disturbing recent trend for every Tom, Dick and Harry to be invited aboard the TARDIS taxi service) is off to London for the climax.

It’s a nice touch that the Terileptils are all multi-coloured and all look so different. The Pudding Lane ending is nice too, although it sets up a bit of a paradox.


I’m not sure what to make of that. Everything worked, I can’t really pick holes in it, and aside from ongoing concerns about the characterisation of the regulars I can’t find much fault with it. The plot and structure worked very well. But all the same, it seemed to lack charm. Perhaps a bit more humour, local character would have been nice. The epitome of average, I suppose: 3/5.

Doctor Who: Kinda

Part One

“An apple a day keeps the, er…”

Were introduced to some impressive guest actors from the off; him off The Dam Busters, him off The Bill and her off The Liver Birds. The jungle, though not bad looking, admittedly has a slight hint of plastic to it, but it’s already clear that this story is going to be very good indeed.

We cut to the TARDIS where Adric and Nyssa are playing chess. What is it with foreshadowing and writers called Christopher? If that’s not enough, the Doctor responds to Adric’s querying of the wisdom of leaving the sonic screwdriver in some thingamajig with a casual “Why should we need it?” Nyssa, after her recent collapse, is to stay behind. That’ll be one less companion to work into the plot, then.

We cut back to our pith helmeted colonists and straight from the Doctor to Hindle- appropriate as their character traits as recently displayed- paranoia versus possibly foolhardy carelessness- could not be more of a contrast. There are lots of nice digs made by the script at the colonists’ mindset (Sanders casually notes that taking “primitives” hostage is “standard procedure”) but already it’s clear this is just background detail, not what the story’s going to be about.

Yet again, the Doctor and Adric are not getting on, another sign that the Doctor’s inability to display the authority and gravitas he’s become used to commanding is affecting his relationships with his companions. In fact, pairs of characters and their relations with each other are something of a feature of this story- Hindle’s paranoia causes Sanders to trust the Doctor and Adric pretty much to spite him, whilst Todd and the Doctor appear to establish quite a rapport, even flirting by the end of the story.

Tegan, meanwhile, falls asleep, and has a strange dream. The environment seems to be pretty much a sensory deprivation tank (probably as bad, if not worse, than the Mara’s messing with her head), and the only objects Tegan can see are chess-playing figures who deny her existence and some other bloke from The Bill.

Back in the land of the pith helmets, Todd offers the Doctor an apple in spite of the fact that, as Hindle says, it’s “forbidden”. Oh, and we’re told this planet is “Paradise”. Do you think there might be some sort of subtext here?

Good lord, it’s Adrian Mills! Anyone who hasn’t seen him on That’s Life (I have fond memories of being allowed to stay up and watch it on Sunday nights- ah, nostalgia…) can have no idea how weird it is to see him in Kinda. On a slightly OT note, after looking up some footage of him on a certain video site, I came across a reference to him apparently being the inspiration for Alan Partridge!

Part Two

“No, the trees have no mercy.”

“Ah yes, I was forgetting that.”

This Doctor is so obviously unthreatening to the crew of the dome that everyone assumes he’s harmless, except for the one madman. Who is now, of course, in charge, which changes the situation entirely- a brilliant cliffhanger.

We get to meet some Kinda who can talk: Panna, the blind wise woman, and her cute friend; and hear on the “Not-We” from their perspective. They give a box to Sanders, he opens it, and we cut to the next scene. There’s mystery as well as thematic depth and very well written character conflict here, and it all adds up to something very special indeed. The icing on the cake, though, and the focus of everything, is the character of Hindle, who is crucial to making the whole thing work, and Simon Rouse plays him perfectly. He gets all the best lines (And Doctor, be sensible”) and plausibly retreats into childhood as he becomes less and less able to cope with the world around him. He’s a dangerous child, though, wanting to sterilise a fifty mile radius with “fire and acid, acid and fire”.

Todd is delightful in other ways, wanting to escape because it’s “what one does”, and Nerys Hughes shows what a bloody good actress she is. The Doctor, meanwhile, is in an extraordinarily passive position, but it works.

Adric apparently betrays the Doctor yet again, but this time it’s an obvious ruse, and not a very good one at that. He only escapes punishment at Hindle’s hands because of Sanders’ return. But Sanders has looked into the box, and he’s not quite the same…

Tegan agrees to “be” the Mara, a kind of rape, and Janet Fielding is great as the Mara in Tegan’s body, which is more than can be said for Adrian Mills shortly after. Still, it odd that, in a story so supposedly Tegan-centric, she seems to get so little screen time.

Part Three

“It isn’t a game, it’s real! With measuring and everything.”

The Doctor opens the box… and aside from a short, psychedelic trip, not a lot happens, aside from confirmation that handle has no sense of humour. Still, he and Todd escape (odd how for once the Doctor spending a whole episode in a cell seems to present no problem whatsoever, just because this story is so damn good) and go in search of the figures from the dream. It doesn’t take them long to find the tribe, and a Trickster figure who seems to be some kind of parallel for the Doctor. But Aris, controlled by the Mara, turns the tribe against them, and they are quickly led to Panna before things get too nasty. The Doctor, a man who speaks, must obviously be an “idiot”!

We end with another trippy scene, full of images of hourglasses, metronomes and digital clocks approaching midnight…

Part Four

“You can’t mend people, can you?”

It’s revealed that Hindle and Sanders have been making a model capital city for “S14” indoors, because “Outside is for grown ups”. And Sanders’ cardboard people are indeed very good. Meanwhile, in true cargo cult fashion, the Kinda have made a version of the colonists’ body armour out of sticks for the Mara possessed Aris. But now it’s time for the endgame.

The Doctor and Todd return, to be greeted with a “Boo!” by Hindle from his “secret den”. But his childlike innocence turns to real menace when this doesn’t have the desired effect. It’s noticeable that it’s Todd, and not the Doctor, who persuades him to look inside the box.

The story then winds up, and there is a giant papier-mâché snake upon which I shall not dwell, for the same reasons I didn’t dwell on the giant rat in Talons. Nothing can spoil this story, not even Adric being a total git to Tegan for no reason halfway through this episode.

Well, most of the Buddhist stuff went right over my head, but I love this story. It’s a clear 5/5, and goes straight in at number two in my all-time list, displacing The Massacre and second only to City of Death.

Doctor Who: Four to Doomsday

Part One

“How can Earthlings have penetrated us?”

Oh dear, Terence Dudley. I didn’t enjoy his K-9 and Company script very much. But incredibly he’s managed to produce a real gem with this story.

We begin with a spaceship drifting through space like an Imperial Star Destroyer. It’s enough to make one nostalgic for Season Seventeen. Then we move into the TARDIS for a scene which, with three companions, feels almost domestic in its familiarity. Suddenly this TARDIS crew feels fully established, with Adric flying the Ship (he’s being shown a lot more trust by this new Doctor) and Tegan wanting to get back to Heathrow.

The Doctor leaves the TARDIS to explore, in a charming scene with the strange Monopticon- something which would have seemed far more sinister at the time than it does in today’s CCTV infested age. Instantly the new Doctor feels fully-established, and it’s clear he’s going to be great. Already he’s the Doctor. 

Unfortunately, the scenes with the three companions inside the TARDIS are a complete contrast to this. Tegan has a right whinge, really annoying me for the first time, while Adric takes his utter gittery to heights undreamed of as he announces that “That’s the trouble with women. Mindless, impatient and bossy.” This raises even Nyssa’s heckles; there’s a definite sense that this is the story during which she slowly comes to the settled conclusion that Adric is an utter pillock.

The Doctor dangles a spare key around in a moment that feels very low key post “New Series”. The TARDISeers disembark, watched by Monarch, played magnificently by Stratford Johns. He’s a great villain, with eminently quotable dialogue, right from the start. And there are plenty of opportunities for banter between him and the Doctor from the very start. Instantly this story feels fun in a way no story since The Horns of Nimon (or Shada) really has.

It’s 1982, and at last we get the first reference to punk rock in Doctor Who! Apparently the Doctor thinks that wearing safety pins is “barbaric”. Grr! Tegan, on the other hand, seems to prefer the Spandau Ballet look. How very contemporary. 

Meanwhile, further 80s pursuits abound as Adric plays Manic Miner in the TARDIS, bored with Nyssa’s company. Eventually he tires of such pleasures and appears before Monarch, to be heralded as “the boy who got his sums wrong.” Monarch’s dialogue in this scene is all somehow rendered hilarious by Johns’s performance.

After a pleasant chat Monarch dismisses everyone and sods off to have a look at the TARDIS. He is most put out at its refusal to yield to his instruments. Meanwhile our heroes meet the ships motley crew of “Earthlings”. It feels wrong for the Doctor to be describing them as such. And when Adric asks for someone to “pass the sodium chloride please”, clarified by the Doctor as salt, I’m reminded of the educational element of the early Hartnells, and in fact the whole script seems to have a Hartnellesque feel. Of course, it also reminds me of the unfunny Doctor Who “spoof” in the finale of Extras.

Part Two

“Ah, the flesh time!”

It’s odd to have a story which is carried along by intrigue rather than actual peril, but this is gripping all the same. We’re fed bits of information gradually, mainly through Bigon, and he’s an interesting character- rational, sceptical, much tried and rather depressed. We also get this Doctor’s first historical namedrop (Drake) and this era’s first big historical error, that the Mayans existed eight thousand years ago.

There’s more Hartnellesque educativeness with Bigon’s gratuitous mention of photosynthesis, and lots of bizarrely Blue Peter-esque cultural displays. But it all works rather well, however strange and unusual in style it may be for a Doctor Who story at this point.

The revelations continue, all relevant to the story, culminating in the hoplite surviving being stabbed to the heart and Bigon’s revelation that he’s not flesh and blood but in fact an android in the Android Invasion style. Again, no real threat to our heroes, but a magnificent cliffhanger once again.

Part Three

 

“Love?”

“The exchange of two fantasies, your majesty.”

Monarch “explains” the situation to Nyssa and Adric and, before our very eyes, Adric proceeds to leap headlong over a carnivorous fish of the genus Carcharhinus. At least in State of Decay his apparent betrayal was an apparent ruse; here, he is simply being an utter git. And possibly worse than anything is his cheap shot at Nyssa over the Master and her father, which just might be a bit of a sensitive subject.

Sadly, for the first time, Tegan starts to become annoying, panicking and trying to get to the TARDIS for no reason. Only the character’s third story and already she’s being written badly. Still, there are positive aspects to this; the Doctor’s failure to convince her reminds us that this Doctor has far less charisma or gravitas than his predecessor, something he finds frustrating, and this is already becoming a character point. Best of all, of course, is that Tegan hits Adric in the face and knocks him unconscious. I suddenly like her again.

The cliffhanger to this episode, with the Doctor about to be beheaded, is incredibly the first time any of the TASRDISeers are placed in any danger whatsoever. And yet the story has been intriguing, gripping and above all fun.

Part Four

“You may keep the pencil.”

There’s an allusion to the previous era as the Doctor is asked to turn out his pockets, a scene which symbolises that there are things which have changed (a cricket ball rather than a yo yo) but also things which haven’t (the piece of string is something I can imagine Tom carrying). The following scene, in which the Doctor admonishes Adric for being such a complete and total utter git, also throws light on what has changed. Tom wouldn’t have had all this trouble keeping the brat in line. But this apparent weakness of the Doctor actually works well in developing his character; old, wise, but cursed with a young and unprepossessing appearance which leads others to underestimate him. I’m sure there’ll be many changes but Davison’s Doctor seems fully formed at this point. Oh, and Davison was several years younger than I am now when he filmed this, which is in no way scary.

The whole stuff with the cricket ball in space is fab (sod the physics of it, it’s great!) and we get a satisfying ending with Monarch hoist by his own frog poison. 

I’ve always been extremely fond of Four to Doomsday. I know most other fans don’t feel the same, but this is the story which roused my fandom from a semi-inert state when I recorded it from UK Gold in 1997. My mate and I would quote reams of Monarch’s dialogue for weeks. Next week came Kinda, and I was hooked again for good. I was worried this viewing would spoil it for me and it wouldn’t be as good as before, but I should have had more faith. I don’t care that the history is dodgy or the plot doesn’t really make sense- this is the most fun I’ve had with a Doctor Who story since The Horns of Nimon. 5/5.

Doctor Who: Castrovalva

Part One

“I was forgetting, Nyssa- bioelectronics is your strong point.”

I think this is our first ever pre-titles sequence, and very nice it is too. Unfortunately there follows a lot of dull scenes involving running, security guards, irritating incidental music and Adric being particularly annoying. Suddenly, with a new season and a new Doctor, he’s become a lot more annoying. And then the Master gets him but leaves him on the ground in a trance to be collected by the others, Considering what happens later I can’t see the point of that scene.

With everyone aboard, the new Doctor disappears into the depths of the Ship while Nyssa and Tegan chat. It’s notable that Nyssa doesn’t seem at all bothered by the traumatic recent events, calmly dispensing technobabble as though she hasn’t a care in the world. Meanwhile the Doctor, perhaps recalling The Horns of Nimon, slowly divests himself of his scarf by turning it into thread to guide him through the labyrinth. Ooh, how very symbolic for our new Doctor!

There’s a brief conversation with Adric where it becomes clear he’s confused and has to be reminded that Romana’s gone. I think this is the first time we ever hear the phrase “console room”. There follows what might well be Tegan’s first ever exclamation of “Rabbits!” and our second look at the TARDIS BBC micro, which looks as if it’s now a permanent feature. Still, just as people today have digital radios that look like old wooden radios from the 50s, no doubt the Doctor is just using technology that looks retro in style but is in fact incredibly advanced. Er, right?

Peter Davison does a rather good Hartnell impression and a rather less good Troughton one, although it’s good to see the recorder again. All entertaining enough, but surely we ought to be getting round to quickly establishing this new Doctor? He gets a lot of screen time this episode but we still have little or no impression of what he’s going to be like.

Nyssa and Tegan discuss recursion, which foreshadows, of course, what’s to come. Nevertheless it comes across as awkward, un-naturalistic dialogue, something I’m picking up as a general feature of Bidmead’s scripts.

The TARDIS is apparently even more huge than we’ve previously imagined, so much so that the Master manages to kidnap Adric while he’s lost in the corridors. Happily, this means we won’t be seeing much of him for a while. Meanwhile, Nyssa and Tegan lead the doctor to the “stark simplicity” of the Zero Room- more foreshadowing. The episode ends with Nyssa consulting the TARDIS Wikipedia…

Part Two

“We’re playing Russian Roulette with the TARDIS!”

At last we get a small sign of Nyssa reacting naturally to the terrible things that have happened to her as she expresses her revulsion at the Master and switches off the monitor. Not much, but it’s something.

It’s notable that throughout the whole story, not just those featuring Castrovalva itself, the Master is essentially in control of reality itself as far as the TARDISeers are concerned. His control, through Adric, of block transfer mathematics (for which read magic) allow him to literally reshape reality. The surprising thing, if anything, is that his ambitions are so limited, pretty much focused only on his rivalry with the Doctor. This tells us a lot about his obsession with the Doctor, something which has gone to such lengths that it can hardly be considered rational. And it’s also a little odd that we will never see him using this power again.

“I’ll have to explain how to vent the thermal buffer” states the now bespectacled Doctor. How appropriate that this line will eventually be echoed in a much later appearance by this Doctor! And then we have the expected Pertwee impression. There are some great ideas in this scene, mind- the architectural configuration of the TARDIS can be redesigned from the control room, and rooms can be deleted to provide extra “thrust”.

Finally we get to the countryside outside Castrovalva, which looks strangely similar to the South of England. Odd, that. It’s amusing to hear Nyssa advising Tegan that “There’s a whole room full of clothes if you want to change.” Tegan won’t be following this advice for some time but, on the other hand, pot, kettle…

Oh, and I see Eric Saward’s name appearing in the credits as script editor. That’s surprisingly early. Still, I suppose it makes sense given that this was the fourth story of the season to be made.

Part Three

“I’m beginning to feel quite my old self. Or my new self.”

I very much like the gradual introduction of Castrovalva, and the gradual way it’s revealed that they are in fact friendly and apparently harmless. It’s good to see Michael Sheard again too. We get a nice series of scenes introducing us to the setting, marred only by the fact the Portreeve is so obviously played by Anthony Ainley- “Neil Toynay”, indeed! I particularly like the early signs of friction between Shardovan and the Portreeve- yet more foreshadowing. And, of course, the way everyone is instantly intimidated by Tegan!

“I know so little about telebiogenesis” admits Nyssa. I sympathise- I can well remember Wednesdays at school. Maths, history and physics in the morning, then double telebiogenesis in the afternoon. It never was my favourite subject.

The sequence leading up to the cliffhanger is brilliant (“Yes, well that’s democracy for you!”) and the concept of recursive occlusion is brilliant. It even hits you at the end that the sets actually look like the Escher sketch, which is great design.

Incidentally, I wonder if anyone at the time ever did an etch-a-sketch of an Escher sketch? Sorry…

Part Four

“With my eyes, no. But in my philosophy…”

It’s a nice touch how Shardovan seems so sinister right up until the moment we realise his secret is that he shares the Doctor’s suspicions. Appropriately, he ends up as the hero. And I love the scene where the Doctor uses the mirror and some chalk to demonstrate to Mergrave and Ruther that their entire world is a lie. It really is a great concept- space folding in on itself, the same point in space having multiple locations, and the inhabitants of Castrovalva being part of it. The revelation of the forged history is also brilliant.

I had to raise an eyebrow at Shardovan’s line “Why are all these women here? Is this a holiday?” Along with the fact that all the women in Castrovalva seem to be performing some sort of domestic task whenever we see them it seems that feminism has yet to catch on here.

The Master is unveiled and we get a suitable conclusion, although sadly the Doctor once again addresses his rival as “Master”, something he should never ever do, at least by choice.

Now, that’s more like it. The story takes almost two whole episodes to get going, but the final two episodes are superb. Finally Bidmead is able to turn his brilliant concepts into effective drama. 3/5 overall, but the average mark reflects the fact (well, opinion!) that it’s a story of two halves. Peter Davison was fantastic, but now I’d like to see a story with him actually playing the Doctor!

Doctor Who: Logopolis

Part One

“I sometimes think I should run a tighter ship.”

We begin with what we assume to be the TARDIS, but it’s a real police box, in content. It’s surprisingly late for the show to be pulling this trick for the first time. But distracting from this somewhat is a “Take your litter home” sign placed right above a bin! We also get our first instance of the “not a real phone” situation. That worked quite well- perhaps it might be worth another go in, say, 24 years’ time?

Meanwhile the Doctor and Adric are wandering morosely around some part of the TARDIS we’ve never seen before, bedecked with gloomy tendrils of ivy which seem rather in keeping with the Doctor’s mood. The Doctor muses on the inevitability of entropy increasing on account of the Second Law of Thermodynamics… perhaps one of the more reactionary laws of physics? It is, of course, essentially what this entire season has been about, but it’s also a rather apposite metaphor for the Doctor’s fate. And, indeed, his mood.

We meet Tegan. And her Aunt Vanessa, who has a car with a choke, cos it’s 1981. Blimey, that reminds me of my early childhood, as Doctor Who is going to do rather often from now on. Anyway, Tegan wants to be an air hostess, and I’m sure she’ll get to London airport on time and definitely without anything bad happening. I like her- unlike Adric and, to get slightly ahead of ourselves, Nyssa, she has an actual personality.

The Doctor suddenly wants to repair the TARDIS’s “chameleon circuit” for some reason (it’s the first time it’s ever called that, right?), which apparently involves materialising around an actual police box and measuring it exactly so something called “block transfer computations” can be done on it. Fair enough, it seems to fit in with the story’s themes, but why is the Doctor suddenly doing this, exactly?

More continuity porn as we get another peek at Romana’s now deserted room and the Doctor refers to the fact the TARDIS has been stuck as a police box ever since it was in “a totter’s yard”. Apparently he should have waited for the “chameleon conversion” before leaving Gallifrey but “there were pressing reasons at the time”. Still, it seems he at least waited long enough for the TARDIS BBC micro to be installed.

One of the season’s more minor themes is referenced as the Doctor says that “The TARDIS and I are getting rather deter at these short hops.” But mainly it’s all doom and foreboding. Especially after the Doctor catches sight of the Watcher. Brrr.

Still, things soon perk up a bit as the TARDIS materialises around a police box which turns out to be another TARDIS. A bit of an homage to that rather fun and silly story The Time Monster then ensues as the Doctor and Adric walk from TARDIS to TARDIS, nicely balancing out the gloom and doom a bit.

There’s some more intentional but rather less successful comic relief thereafter as Tegan wanders into the TARDIS and asks to speak to the “pilot”. Er, why? Still, the cliffhanger’s a biggie: the Master’s at large. Which we, er, knew at the end of the last story anyway.

Oh, and it’s interesting that the Doctor only killed people by shrinking them in one story, Terror of the Autons, when he was Roger Delgado, but after The Deadly Assassin and now this it’s become a calling card.

Part Two

“I’ve just dipped into the future. We must be prepared for the worst.”

The Doctor has to jettison Romana’s room. How very symbolic. Now the Doctor’s even mardier than he was before, if that’s possible. Especially after her receives a message from Traken telling him that the Master’s escaped. How far we’ve come from the series’ origins- the Doctor is now receiving messages from the planet he just left. Apparently the Master knows exactly what the Doctor’s going to do because, bizarrely, “he’s a Time Lord- in many ways we have the same mind”. Er, is this an allusion to Gallifreyan telepathy or, as I suspect, is it just a lazy narrative shortcut?

Now the Doctor wants to “flush out” the Master by flooding the TARDIS. He’s now clearly gone beyond morose to suicidal. Poor Adric! Fortunately for the special effects budget, it doesn’t work. And the Doctor gets to have a proper chat with this Watcher fellow- a chat we’re not privy to, naturally. It doesn’t seem to cheer him up much.

We finally get to the much-heralded planet Logopolis, which in some bizarre fashion exactly resembles the video to David Bowie’s Ashes to Ashes. Tegan’s great during all this, demanding answers from the Doctor and actually intimidating him a bit. This elicits the only comic acting we see from Tom throughout this entire story, and for that I’ll be eternally grateful.

The Doctor, in another narrative shortcut, is expected on Logopolis, and indeed well known and trusted. They’re mathematicians who refuse to use computers (ah, traditional educational values!) and whose sums are capable of producing actual solid objects. More unexpected is the arrival of Nyssa, brought along by “a fiend of the Doctor.”

Part Three

“Our numbers were holding the universe together.”

The Watcher’s arrived on Logopolis. Ooh! Meanwhile, the Doctor’s in a spot of bother. Still, through a combination of Logopolitan ingenuity and the TARDIS mysteriously being much lighter than it was in Full Circle the problem is solved, but not before taking up half the episode so the plot can be rationed out more slowly. 

Still, this story may be overly serious by a long way and structured very oddly, but there’s no denying it’s crammed with great concepts. The conversation between the Monitor and Adric is great; the Logopolitans can’t use computers because their calculations affect the physical world and would therefore affect the computer. Only the living mind, for some reason, is immune. I’m not sure how all this works, but it’s great, a sort of Schrödinger’s cat as applied to mathematical calculation- a mind-blowing concept.

I’m still puzzled as to why the chameleon circuit needs fixing now, as you’d imagine the threat of the Master would be much more urgent. The bit with Tegan accusing the monitor of running a sweatshop is problematic too- it’s a nice character moment for her, but she doesn’t get anything like a satisfactory answer.

There’s something most effective and disturbing about the Master posing as Nyssa’s father- the fact he’s wearing Tremas’s body adds an extra level of cruelty and horror. But poor Nyssa’s day is going to get even worse…

The master has destroyed Logopolis, but knows not what he did, the plonker. Without Logopolis using its maths to open CVE’s into other universes to stave off the eventual heat death of the universe (there’s the ultimate in another theme of the season- procrastination!), our heroes are beset by the terrifying threat of entropy! Things are so bad that the Doctor and the Master are forced to work together. But not before the Doctor has a right whinge at his companions. He really is in a bit of a mood.

Part Four

“It’s the end. But the moment has been prepared for…”

A whirl of activity, as everyone heads to the real Pharos Project on Earth to do some sums and save the universe. Oh, the drama. The Doctor addresses the Master as “Master” here, which feels very wrong. I can’t remember him ever doing that before.

Entropy completely destroys Traken, which is truly horrible for Nyssa. It feels quite wrong to me how much the script underplays the horror of this- surely Nyssa should be traumatised?

We get a lot of tiresome running from guards, and then it’s time for the Master’s cringeworthy “Peoples of the universe…” broadcast, followed by the kind of villainous cackling that is the aural equivalent of moustache-twirling.. This is pure unintentional silliness, and in no way a threat worthy of this great era’s final moments. Fortunately, the build-up to the regeneration, the old clips, the revelation of the Watcher, and the effect of the regeneration itself, are all wonderful.

Well, that had loads of great concepts in it. But it seemed very oddly structured, in a way which was very aesthetically displeasing for me. Bidmead’s good on themes and concepts, but his grasp of character is no more than functional, and he seems to have little conception of the narrative beats needed to make a story exciting. And where was the action here? The ideas were good, but unfortunately a lot of the fundamental elements of Doctor Who scriptwriting are absent. So Tom’s era, perhaps the greatest of them all, finishes on an anti-climax. It just scrapes a 3/5 for the ideas and the development of the themes.

As for the season as a whole… an average of 3.429/5, which places it third from bottom. That’s a surprise, as the E-Space trilogy earned three 5/5s in a row from me, and there were a lot of good things about this season. But ultimately I think there was just too much that was po-faced, and not enough excitement or humour.