Doctor Who: Full Circle

Part One

“Well, of course I’m better than you. I’m an elite.”

Romana’s been summoned back to Gallifrey, which gives us an excuse for some references to Leela and Andred and the like. But Romana’s upset by this, and goes to her previously unseen room to be alone, the Doctor seemingly oblivious to how depressing the prospect must be. The Doctor’s attitude is that you can’t fight Time Lords and Romana will have to do as she’s told, and however much this may echo the end of The War Games it just feels wrong and out of character. Still, it’s in keeping with the Doctor’s subdued and sombre mood.

Gallifrey is not to be, though, as something odd happens to the TARDIS and, although they’re in the right coordinates and the scanner is showing images of Gallifrey, as soon as the Doctor and Romana leave the TARDIS they’re somewhere else, an alien planet much more blatantly like southern England than the usual quarry landscape. This is very good indeed, a uniquely mysterious situation as well as lots of character stuff. Oh, and the music is quite peculiar in the context of what’s gone before, but I like it. It sounds very much of it’s time now and unfortunately dated, but then things from twenty of thirty years ago always do. In another ten years’ time it’ll have receded too far into the past to be dated, much as the Sixties have, and instead become simply period.

The society and situation of this planet is sketched out with admirable economy in this episode, telling us everything we need to know while also holding back a lot of stuff to be revealed later on. We’re introduced to the Outlers, the Deciders, the concept of Mistfall, and the Starliner. Oh, and Adric, who from the start is quite badly portrayed by Matthew Waterhouse. Still, we get George Cole and James Bree (putting in a much less mannered performance than he did in The War Games) to make up for this.


Part Two

“How odd. I usually get on terribly well with children”

The Marshmen look quite good- yes, they’re obviously in rubber suits, but this is Doctor Who- but they look as though they’ve come from the Black Lagoon.

This episode keeps up the quality and increasingly makes it clear how well-plotted this is. Characterisation is good, too; I love the moment where Romana hands the knife back to an Outler- very Doctorish.

Revelations trickle out at an appropriate place; this is Alzarius, but the crew of the starliner supposedly come from Terradon. But there’s a great and terrible secret, known only to the First Decider.

K9 is once again beheaded (grr!) but Romana gets a fourth wall-busting line bemoaning his fate this season: “In fact, we always seem to be repairing him”.


Part Three

“These short trips don’t usually work.”

Nice cliffhanger- shame that this results in Romana being pretty much written out of the rest of the story, though.

We get some real bombshells this episode: the maintenance being carried out on the ship is completely unnecessarily as the ship has been ready to fly for centuries, but no one knows how to pilot it. It’s a nice reversal of a trope of the show to see the Doctor lambasting the Deciders for their duplicity and to see them implicitly accepting his criticisms. It’s becoming clear just how good this story is- when a third episode successfully manages to unfold more bits of the backstory at an appropriate pace you know you’ve got something unusually good.


Part Four

“We’ve come full circle.”

It’s unusual in Doctor Who for the final episode to be the best of a story, but for once this is the case. In a couple of nicely done early scenes we first see the Doctor holding back the Marshmen by exploiting their apparent religious reverence for K9’s head (pre-empting Return of the Jedi there?) and then we get an excellent scene between the Deciders in the library. There are Marshmen clamouring to get in and presumably kill everyone, yet Nefred prefers to spout management speak (“a holistic approach”) instead of doing anything, to Login’s disbelief.

The final big revelation, from Nefred’d dying words, is a corker; the ship’s crew are not descended from the original Terradonian crew at all, but from Marshmen (themselves descendents of spiders) who got in and killed them all, eventually evolving to their present form, reading the manuals and eventually coming to believe themselves to be from Terradon. Of course, even someone like myself with a pathetically arty education knows this isn’t how evolution really works, but there actually seems to be enough of the right kind of somehow sciencey dialogue to get away with it.

There’s a great moment where the two Deciders are about to press the button for the ship to take off but Garif can’t resist the temptation to procrastinate: “But you will agree, it does require some thought.”
Meanwhile, the Doctor and Romana now realise they’re trapped in E-Space, unless they can find a Charged Vacuum Emboitment™. And unbeknown to them, they have a stowaway…


Absolutely brilliant, which comes as something of a relief after the first two stories of the season. 5/5, in fact. At last we have a script that doesn’t feel like a script from the previous regime with all the humour taken out but instead does something new, and in that context the new seriousness starts to make a lot of sense. This is the sort of “proper” sci-fi that Doctor Who doesn’t actually do that often (it’s the first story since The Mutants that I can imagine being adapted as a “straight” sci-fi short story) and so it feels very fresh and new. And Andrew Smith seems quite a find, coming up with a great central premise and handling structure and characterisation very well indeed, albeit possibly with help from Bidmead. Perhaps the show might want to consider more scripts by fans in, say, 25 years time?

Doctor Who: Horror of Fang Rock

Part One

“I’m not a Teshnician!”

An odd setting, this, In theory the lighthouse and surrounding rocks being all we see should make things claustrophobic and scary, especially as everything seems quite dimly lit. But I just had the impression of limited space and it being more obvious than usual that the story was studio bound.

In theory everything should work- we have a small guest cast in Reuben, Vince and Ben, three nicely differentiated characters. We have a mysterious thing that’s landed from the skies and which kills Ben, and we have some good Leela moments, especially the unselfconscious way she undresses in front of Vince. But in spite of everything from the script to the sets to the performances being perfectly good (Tom’s on particularly good, moody form- that’ll be Paddy Russell then!), the threat seems undefined somehow, making it difficult to engage with the story.

Part Two

“Gentlemen, I’ve got news for you. This lighthouse is under attack and by morning we might all be dead.”

A ship founders on the rocks and three new characters are injected into the story- Lord Palmerdale and Skinsale both provide intrigue as to what secrets each holds, while Adelaide Lessing is basically there as a comic contrast for Leela. Lord Palmerdale is desperate to get to London as money is at stake and it was his haste that caused the ship to founder, with lives being lost- we know at this point that he has zero chance of survival! The blackmail subtext between him and Skinsale provides us with something to happen this episode, as the threat from the alien is more talked about than seen at this stage.

It’s this episode that makes it clear that this is going to be a base under siege, but at least the character dynamic is different from the usual template. Again, though, although nothing seems exactly wrong there’s little definition to the threat.

Part Three

“That is what I thought. But of course, I am only a savage.”

The alien can’t become a direct threat until the very end of the episode because of how the story is structured, give or take the odd individual killing. But Terrance Dicks deals with this well by concluding the feud subplot between Palmerdale and Skinsale (“Some men make me nervous when I’m with them- Salibury, Bonar Law… but your employer has the opposite effect. It’s when he’s out of my sight.”) until Palmerdale is inevitably killed. There’s also a heartstopping moment as Vince is found morally wanting by taking Palmerdale’s bribe, thereby ensuring, by the logic of Doctor Who storytelling, that he can’t possibly survive.

There’s good Leela stuff here- I love the bit where she slaps Adelaide, surely one of the top Leela moments ever. But there’s also a good bit where she dismisses Adelaide’s astrological superstitions- “I, too, used to believe in magic. But the Doctor has taught me about science. It is better to believe in science.”

Part Four

“I don’t like your face either.”

Another good Leela bit at the start as she rolls her eyes at Adelaide fainting. And now that we’re at the final episode we can learn the nature of the threat- it’s a Rutan, a bright green spherical blob from the icy planet of Ruta 3, whose people once controlled “a whole arm of Mutter’s Spiral” (the Milky Way?) but are now losing their interminable war with the Sontarans.

Leela’s shown to be bright here, a quick learner who knows what a laser is, and I’m glad to see this- she may be a “savage” but she was presented as intelligent in Face of Evil and that needs to continue.

I notice the face of the dead Palmerdale is not visible, making it rather obvious that the actor hasn’t been contracted for this episode! Otherwise, though, it’s a good ending which arises logically, leaving everyone dead apart from Leela and the Doctor.

Oh, and Leela’s eyes change colour as she looks back at a bright light. I’m sure that’s exactly what would happen…

Difficult to rate, this. It was well made, cleverly plotted, with well-written characters, good performances and witty dialogue. And yet I never really felt much sense of threat somehow, and I can’t work out whether it’s the script or the direction that’s to blame. 3/5.

Doctor Who: The Time Warrior

Part One

“Brigadier, a straight line may be the shortest distance between two points, but it is by no means the most interesting.”

New title sequence- wow! This is the business. So much better than anything else we’ve seen.

Good to see Bob Holmes is back after not contributing to last season, although technically this is part of the last production block. And it’s good to see a story set in Earth’s fairly distant past, even if it is a fairly generic Middle Ages- in context it really feels like ages since we’ve seen anything similar.

We get a classic Homesian Double Act ™ with the great Irongron / Bloodaxe combo. They’re both well played and fun characters, and the scene with them discovering and investigating the “fallen star” nicely fleshes them out. Bloodaxe’s horse is a bit of an awkward sod, I notice.

We get a brilliant spaceship and a brilliant alien costume, and Linx is a great character from the start. I love the way he claims the planet for the Sontarans to general indifference.

We switch, after an almost Troughtonesque length of time, to a scene featuring the Doctor and the Brig, whose moustache has never looked so plastic. And of course it’s a rather interesting experience to see the debut of You-Know-Who for the first time since my pre-Marathon viewing of the on-screen debut of The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Just when it can’t get any better Dot Cotton appears. And the cliffhanger’s rather good too- the Sontaran face mask is brilliant.

Interestingly, by the way, the TARDIS arrives where it’s supposed to- “for once”.

Part Two

“Young girl? I should’ve thought he was a bit old for that sort of thing.”

Sarah Jane’s refusal to believe she’s travelled back in time starts out funny but gets a little annoying after a while. First impressions are not great. Fortunately, this doesn’t last beyond the early part of this episode- before long she’s taking charge and telling Sir Edward what to do. Good stuff.

I love the concept of Linx using alien technology to give a mediaeval warlord advanced weapons. Still, Irongron seems to learn how to use a remote control awfully quickly.

We hear for the first time that Linx’s race, the Sontarans, are in an interminable war with the Rutans. And then, almost thrown away, the Doctor casually mentions the name of his home planet for the first time: Gallifrey. It’s incredibly low-key for such an important moment.

Part Three

“Is this Doctor a long shanked rascal with a mighty nose?”

We get an awfully long reprise. Still, this is all good stuff from the reliable pen of Robert Holmes, and the cast certainly seem to be enjoying themselves. There’s a nice chat between the Doctor and Sarah Jane in which they discuss time travel and their situation, a nice and necessary character moment. Amusingly, the Doctor refers to the Time Lords as “galactic ticket inspectors”. Holmes starts very early indeed in his bringing-the-Time-Lords-down-to-earth agenda.

The Doctor’s plan is great, as is the dialogue, consistently. This is great fun, and the perfect start to the season. Who says it was RTD who invented the “light and fluffy” series opener?

Part Four

“Not so much of that oatmeal, girl. It’s pikemen we’re feeding, not horses.”

Er, potatoes? In mediaeval England? And mentions of pikemen are a bit anachronistic, come to think of it. Plus the Doctor sounds nothing like Linx when he’s supposed to be doing an impression of him. And he spends an awfully long time in front of a firing squad getting shot at without getting killed. Still, minor quibbles. This is great.

A fantastic start to the season. A fun, light-hearted tale that may not be big or clever (and it’s certainly set in a very vague Middle Ages indeed!), but if it's meant to give the impression that Bob Holmes can just casually toss off a bloody fantastic story without seeming to try much at this point then it certainly does the trick. 5/5.

Doctor Who: The Moonbase

Part One


"We've got a bit of a flap up here."



The fact that our heroes have landed on the Moon is most cool, although it's surprising we've had to wait so long for such a seemingly obvious setting. I enjoy Jamie's reaction: "That picture cannae be the Moon. The Moon's way up in the sky." Unfortunately Jamie then proceeds to not be in this episode much. Or the next.

This is a decent enough introductory episode, although it's a little too reminiscent of The Tenth Planet even at this early stage. The guest characters are a bit dull in the main and their multi-national nature seems a bit tokenistic, not to mention Eurocentric. Still, it's amusing to see that Bob, in 2070, clearly gets his glasses from the National Health.

Things end on an upswing though, with Ralph being zapped by a mysterious metallic arm (all right, I'm sure even the original viewers would have known perfectly well what it was!) and that music...



Part Two


"There are some corners of the universe which have bred the most terrible things. things which act against everything that we believe in. They must be fought."



Interesting: it's implied Hobson is at least vaguely aware of the events of The Tenth Planet. It may not be much, but it's a step towards continuity between the future Earth stories.

The best thing about this episode by far is the Doctor's speech, which I've used as my quote. This is the final affirmation of the Doctor as hero- from this point onwards just going back to the Ship when there's trouble afoot should not normally be an option.

Ooh, Glasgow, 1888, Lister- another namedrop! It feels like ages since the last one. Although, are we talking Joseph or Dave? There's yet more nostalgia from the noise made by the computers, straight from The Tenth Planet.

I have to ask though... why are some members of the crew wearing shower caps? And surely the "hurricane" in the Pacific should be a cyclone?

The Doctor is great here, especially in the scenes where he's collecting "specimens", although a lot of this may be down to the fact that Troughton's performance is actually visible as well as audible. The new Cybermen are also great, although much less obviously human.

Oh, and Polly makes some coffee while the Doctor "thinks of something". What an ending, though!

Part Three


"How did you get in?"

"It was very simple. Only stupid Earth brains like yours would have been fooled."


Oh pants. This is the only Troughton story with speaking Cybermen where I can't turn on the subtitles, which is a bit of a problem. Still, I love the way Loose Cannon make their mouths move. And that music is just great. They may not look quite as cool and their voices may be a bit crap, but I like these new Cybermen. And although the voices are crap the emotionless delivery can be quite chilling: "They're not dead?" "No, they are not dead. They are altered".

Jamie only narrowly (and conveniently) escapes Cyber-conversion. I love the way conversion is taking such a central role here. Although I'm not exactly sure why the Cybermen want to destroy the surface of the Earth. Saying that there are "dangers" to be "eliminated" is not exactly an explanation! But still...

Oh, any the Cybermen get some rather eyebrow-raising lines. I mean "Clever, clever, clever"?

This episode is rather good though and certainly the best yet, as the missing episodes often are, annoyingly enough. Polly's plan with the nail varnish is great. As is the disturbing fact that the Cybermen don't care that the converted human slaves will die within 12 hours because they will have served their purpose.

The blatantly educational conversation about plastics between Polly and Ben takes me back to the early Hartnells. They both seem to have a rather impressive grasp of GCSE chemistry type things.

The way Polly, Ben and Jamie defeat the Cybermen through cleverness is great, but by this point it's clear that the plot is rather too close to that of The Tenth Planet for comfort: our heroes have defeated an initial wave of Cybermen only to be besieged by more. I can overlook the reuse of the same plot just this once, but I hope we don't see this "base under siege" formula again any time soon... what, what?

Part Four


"Everything's got a weak point. It's just a question of waiting till it shows up. That's all."


The tension has clearly been building up to this episode and it pays off splendidly with a sense of inevitable doom. But from the start Troughton's quiet stoicism is the perfect counterpoint- this is the Second Doctor I remember from before the marathon, unprepossessing, somewhat in the background, but quietly thinking his way out of the situation and being the centre of attention even though he's not doing very much.

The music is very eerie and effective by this point, and combined with the powerfully effective sight of Cybermen being still and silent on the lunar surface this must have had the kids cacking themselves.

This episode is therefore mostly great, with only two things which jar somewhat: Polly makes some coffee again while Ben and Jamie do all the man's work and is generally a bit wet throughout; and some dodgy science- "Once they get into the Sun's gravity belt, they can't change course." Er, yes...

The tension keeps on ratcheting up in a nicely paced way as the episode goes on, and our heroes are looking increasingly doomed. One dialogue exchange packs quite a punch: "You'll never get inside the base." "We are in it already". Unfortunately another line is rather less effective: "I shall count to ten. If you still stupidly remain silent, we shall fire." But the tension is great, and the resolution highly satisfying.

Once again the TARDISeers quickly slip away at the end, and take a look at the Doctor's time scanner which, unless it's a reworked version of the Time / Space Visualiser from The Space Museum, the Doctor has rather oddly never mentioned before.


Overall, a fantastic story, pacey and full of suspense. If I'd watched it in isolation a 5/5 may not have been out of the question, but in the context of the marathon it suffers from being too similar to The Tenth Planet for comfort. So 4/5.