Doctor Who: The Macra Terror (Revisited), Parts Three and Four

Part Three

"We are all happy to work..."

Three episodes in, and The Macra Terror feels like a totally different story with visuals, especially in an episodelike thiswhere the TARDIS crew (minus that snitch Ben) are put to highly dangerous slave labour in the mines, even if the Doctor does have it rather cushy by acting as "supervisor".

It's true, perhaps, that this is not the most visually arresting episode, consisting mainly of dangerous and back breaking sweatshop labour in the "pit". But it doesn't half help in following the plot.

There's some good drama, and good acting from Michael Craze, as Ben struggles against his conditioning, lots of the Doctor being mischievous, and a scary cliffhanger, but this is treading water somewhat.

Part Four

"We want something gay and cheerful!"

It's a pity, I suppose, how a story with such a great concept sags so noticeably in its third episode, as this final episode piles on the revelations and the drama. The revelation that the planet is literally controlled by parasites that look like an STD is full of all sorts of potential for political the political subtext of your choice. It's a nice touch that, even after being given their freedom, the colinists are still a cultural desert, a nightmare of forced jollity and cheery songs even without the giant crabs. No wonder this uniquely anarchic Doctor can't wait to be rid of the place.

Again, though, the visuals are great. Somehow I suspect the wiped original wouldn't have featured all those Macra in the control room, er, controlling things. Conversely, it's a pity we don't get to see Frazer Hines' actual attempt at the Highland Fling.

But there's Troughton, too. This is very much the early, anarchic, slightly sinister if not for the innocence, "I would like a hat like that" Second Doctor. He's great, but the actual footage would be priceless,

Doctor Who: The Macra Terror (Revisited), Parts One and Two

Part One

"Well, this is gay."

The animation begins with the rather relevant reprise from the end of The Moonbase, showing us how the TARDIS regulars are to be animated. It's all mostly pretty good, and the Doctor is very good. But Polly isn't quite right. The animation works, the visual storytelling is very good, but it has its limitations.

Still, it's great to have visuals and actually understand what's going on for the long stretches without dialogue. The storytelling is rather nice; we meet Medok first, suggesting something wrong with the colony, and there are hints from the beginning that things are quite right with all this creepy conformity.

The visuals here- so important in these early stories as Patrick Troughton evolves his performance into what it would become- shows that this is still the elfin, nimble, unpredictable and mischievous Doctor of the early stories- anarchistic, openly and cheerfully resistant to authority, and at times seeming not enormously trustworthy. The animation leans nicely into this.

Part Two

"They're in controooool!"

The opening titles have been nicely colourised for this animation, with animation of Troughton's face and the colour scheme being the same as Pertwee, belatedly showing me what should have been the obvious fact that Pertwee's era, despite the big changes, would eventually keep Troughton's opening titles for four years.

This episode is much talkier and hence less absolutely dependent on the visuals, with the Kafkaesque tyranny of the colony becoming more and more apparent as Ben is brainwashed and Medok sentenced to hard labour for life. The sequence with the Controller is animated superbly for effect, and I suspect the Macra look far much better here than they would have at the time.

I'm rather enjoying this, if mostly because I'm reminded what a brilliant, politically clever story this is.

Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks (Revisited), Episodes Five and Six

Episode Five

"Why do human beings kill human beings?"

The Daleks have revealed their plans, and we know them to be duplicating: you'd expect this to be a water-treading fifth episode. And yet, in spite of the Doctor spending the episode in a cell, and Michael Craze being off for a week, a hell of a lot happens in David Whittaker's intelligent and gripping script.

For a start, the only person to have see the Daleks duplicating is Lesterson, the one character whom no one will believe. The scene where Janley subtly gaslights him in front of Bragen is chillingly effective, his plans to wipe out the Daleks doomed. He's hoist by his own hubris. But he won't be alone. Hubris is everywhere on Vulcan.

Well, perhaps not in production terms. Animation can show us hordes of Daleks, none of them cardboard. But a Daleks reminder that no more than three of them ought to be seen at one time sort of gives away how many props there were. But Janley? She oozes hubris, believing the Daleks can be controlled. Bragen is even worse, riding the revolution to power and then seeking to massacre those who helped him. And then the unexpectedly returned Governor, couped and murdered by Dalek gun in a tense and superb scene which ends with a positively megalomaniacal Bragen in firm control.

Polly only half-convinces Valmar of the plot, but all this plotting ends up being supremely relevant, as we end with the famously surviving scene of revived



Episode Six

"Daleks conquer and destroy!"

Everything looks bleak at the start, as it seems that everybody is going to be exterminating. And, well, things just carry on being bleak as the Daleks happily massacre away, all the human skulduggery being for nothing and utterly exploited by the Daleks.

It’s a bit of a fudge that Bragen, the Doctor, Polly and Quinn aren’t just killed by the Dalek at the time, mine. Letting them past and then weakly announcing that “they will be exterminated” doesn’t quite fulfill the Daleks’ promise. But apart from this it’s an episode of slaughter.

Even at this late stage there’s still a bit of plotting- Valmar overhears Bragen telling a reluctant Janley that he and his friends are all to be killed, now expendable after assisting his coup. But it’s all suddenly meaningless, and Bragen is now king of nothing. And the Daleks just keep on killing- it's just that some killings, like that of Lesterson, are laced with more irony than most.

The Doctor finally defeats the Daleks by destroying the (ahem) power of the Daleks- but, interestingly, it's very much lampshaded that the Doctor could have done this in a far less anarchistic way than to destroy the entire colony's electricity supply. Does he intend to help them unite through adversity? Whatever, it's a surprising manipulative act. Then there's the shockingly deliberate decision to use Bragen's arriving guards as bait. This Doctor may be charming, he may on the whole be a goodie, but he certainly has his dark side. That's brave.


And so, as a whole, being able to fully follow what's going on, the story stands revealed as a triumph, and a far better script than I'd even suspected. It also helps that we don't get those bloody carboard cut-out Daleks...

Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks (Revisited), Episodes Three and Four

Episode Three

"A Dalek is bett... is not the same as a human."

Again, moving pictures make such a difference and mean, for once, that I can fully follow the plot both in ways I knew I wasn’t following before and in getting extra nuances. Who cares if the animation is a bit rubbish?

Anyway, the colony certainly starts the episode enthused about the potential of the Daleks to do labour tasks in mines and so forth that, er, would surely require much better mobility and actual hands, but never mind.

Quinn is clearly innocent, and telling the truth when saying he sent for the examiner, but is locked up anyway. Bragen is the new Deputy Governor- and is immediately revealed to be colluding with Janley and the rebels in a plot to exploit their grievances to launch a coup d’etat. Blimey.

Meanwhile, Lesterson is puzzlingly impressed by what he thinks of as the Dalek’s robotic “positronic brain (so Whitaker read Asimov?) as it recites chemical formulas by rote, and is easily manipulated into getting it materials to build a machine which will absolutely predict meteor impacts as the Dalek claims and in no way manufacture an army of Dalek casings so the Daleks can massacre everybody.

Two more Daleks emerge but, hey, Lesterson is in control, while the Doctor flits about learning things- and we get our first “When I say run, run”. And Bragen knows the Doctor is an impostor- but the Doctor knows he killed the real Examiner. Stalemate?

This is a much better episode, with all the skulduggery, when you can easily follow the plot.



Episode Four

"We understand the human mind."

Lesterson begins by asserting his authority in temporarily switching off the Daleks’, er, power to show his dominance, probably the last chance he will have. This is his last big moment before his nervous breakdown, a good bit of characterisation.

But, not forgetting the new Doctor, we get our first “I would like a hat like that”, Troughton’s early catchphrase. He’s alarmed to see Daleks everywhere as servants... and then there were somehow four Daleks, not three. This concern about the mysterious extra Dalek is a superb way of building tension. One odd thing, though, is that the Daleks suddenly operate by static electricity again, for the first and only time since The Daleks. Meanwhile Polly, kidnapped by Janley last episode, is absent so Anneke can have a week off.

Lesterson is now easily manipulated both by the Daleks and the calmly fanatical Janley, a superbly nuanced female character. The rebels want to use the Daleks, and it’s Janley who persuades then that it will be fine and in no way will the Daleks just massacre them all. Meanwhile Bragen, temporarily in charge, exposes and imprisons the Doctor, giving him a chance to compare notes with Quinn.

The ending is superb, and so much better than the frustration of watching these highly visual scenes via telesnaps, as an agog Lesterson sees a Dalek army being manufactured. I particularly love how the bubbling little lumps of hate are removed from water and placed into casings. The whole sequence is amazing, all the more so for the fact that animation doesn’t do cardboard cut out Daleks.

This story, which I already rated very highly, is rising rapidly in my estimation.

Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks (Revisited), Episodes One and Two

Episode One

"Life depends on change and renewal."

Been a while since I blogged any non-current Doctor Who, hasn't it? I blogged the actual The Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear when Philip Morris found them, but otherwise I just blogged them all at the very beginning of this blog- which, indeed, didn't start as a blog at all but as a series of reviews, alongside a bunch of others, for The Great Nap Year Marathon of 2008 to 2010 on Outpost Gallifrey. This blog only existed at first so I could keep my own copies of the reviews... and then we all somehow finished marathoning all of Doctor Who, from 1963 to 2010. Only then did I start to turn this into a wider TV and film blog, having caught the habit- keeping up with current Doctor Who along the way, of course.

But I'm drawn back to The Power of the Daleks. My original review was of the Loose Cannon recon, and there are no episodes so frustrating as this one, where the Doctor is recast (I shouldn't yet say "regenerated") for the first time, and we see Patrick Troughton first attempting the role- or, that is, we don't.

So what of this animated version? Well, the animation itself is crude and basic, but it gives us something we lacked: moving pictures. It also helps enormously that we get a) much clearer sound and b) subtitles. It's such a relief to be able to watch one of the most pivotal episodes ever and be able to understand the narrative. Well, almost. It's pretty clear that the Doctor's movements as he wakes up, stands and has his dizzy little trippy experience are pretty much extrapolated from the telesnaps. Much of the movement we see see here is guesswork, inevitably.

It's good to have the brief recap at the start for context, reminding us of just how little the narrative was holding our hands- and in this first episode mercurial old David Whitaker reminds us of the necessity of change and renewal, throwing us a great big mercurial metaphor in the forms of those great big pools of..,. well  yes, remember who's writing this. One could even stretch a point and say that Polly and Ben being poisoned a bit by mercury fumes reflect difficulties in adapting to change. But it's a brave episode that doesn't patronise, lets Troughton be sinister and weird, and allows us to work out for ourselves whether we accept him as the Doctor. As Ben says of Polly and himself, where do they stand now? And where, indeed, do the viewers stand?

The plot of what's happening on Vulcan starts pretty sharpish, although not really foregrounded yet, but the Doctor havng the documents of the Examiner fall literally into his hand is a nice narrative shortcut tantamount to Psychic Paper, and the fiction between Quinn and Bragen shows us immediately that the colony may not be a happy place, Interesting, though, that they claim to have seen the TARDIS "overshoot" like any old spaceship.

It isn't long, though, until we briefly meet Lesterson and Janley, who is established sketchily as A Bit Political, and then our heroes are sneaking into the capsule. There we find THAT door opening sound, lots of incidental music which is not so much by Tristram Carey but simply reused from The Daleks and, well, Daleks...



Episode Two

"One Dalek?"

"Yes. All that is needed to wipe out this entire colony."

This episode foregrounds the Vulcan politics and the many mysteries (Who shot the real examiner? What's going on with the Examiner? Who really cut the communication cables to Earth as Quinn is an obvious red herring?) as we flesh out this colony where we hear of political discontent and, sinisterly "secret newspapers" suggesting this isn't exactly a free society. Everyone is brittle, suspicious and guarded around everyone else, whether the open mutual loathing of Quinn and Brazen or the political incompatibility of Lesterson's two assistants- Janley coming across as a proper Momentum cultist while Resno is your typical working class Tory. It feels as though a storm is about to start, ad establishing that mood is a brilliant piece of writing- and much clearer  with moving pictures.

We also, this time no longer in the foreground, examine this new Doctor and how he operates- acting the eccentric to seem harmless but always thinking, examining, trying to understand. And yes, when the Dalek recognises him at the end we can finally accept that this is the Doctor.

The cliffhanger is so very, very good anyway, with the Doctor's protestations of how dangerous the Daleks are constantly undercut by "I-AM-YOUR-SER-VANT". But the constant shots from the Dalek's POV make this so much more unnerving. So far this is televsion of the very first rank.

Doctor Who: The Faceless Ones

Part One


"It's a flying beastie!"


Once again, I'm really appreciating the luxury of actual footage, and DVD quality no less. And one of the first things we see is a 60s copper with one of those old comedy chinstraps! It's little things like this that make me miss footage so much. A good start from this Malcolm Hulke chap- I wonder if we'll ever hear from him again?

Our heroes get separated within seconds- is this a record? I notice that it's Jamie the Doctor finds first, and he's only mildly concerned about finding the others- favouritism? As many said in the Macra Terror thread, Jamie has now become his fully-fledged permanent self, and the on-screen rapport between Troughton and Hines is now at full strength fabness.

This is very well-directed, which along with the script makes it all seem very reminiscent of The Avengers, not a type of story I remember seeing before- this is most pleasing as recent stories, though good, have not been as innovative as they used to be.

The Doctor and Jamie don't seem all that enthusiastic to help Polly find Ben, and they seem to lose Polly rather easily! And Ben doesn't seem to be in this episode much at all, especially towards the end. A very unusual episode- the only real sci-fi element until the cliffhanger arrives is the ray gun.


Part Two


"We have ways of dealing with such people!"


Back to the recon, then, which is good for one thing at least- the captions along the bottom ain't half good at getting you to learn the names of all the guest characters! Things slow down an awful lot with this episode- the eye chart stuff is blatant filler, and you begin to notice how little is happening. It's not too much of a problem, at least not yet, as you're still curious about what's going on. But things need to start happening soon. And this may be competently written but after The Macra Terror it all looks a bit formulaic.

It's Pauline Collins! Er, that's an interesting Liverpool accent. Very Z-Cars... Of course, I barely recognised her as the photo's very fuzzy. These old Loose Cannon recons are noticeably much less good than the recent ones, although the fact that mine is a 50,000th generation copy probably isn't helping!

Ah, Ben finds Polly and looks around for a phone. Not the kind of scene you see much of in drama today...



Part Three


"All right, stay here. After all, they can only murder me. Ta ra!"


The Doctor's being menaced by a sinister surveillance camera. Makes you think, that- back in 1967 surveillance cameras were the stuff of Orwellian nightmares!

I'm loving the relationship between Jamie and the clearly-intended-as-a-possible-companion Samantha. And Jamie gets pulled up on why he always does what the Doctor says, which seems to be a developing theme.

Er, where have Ben and Polly gone?

Part Four


"It'll cost you 28 quid. Pounds, to you."

"Ach, but that's a fortune! I've never seen that much money in my life!"


I've only just noticed, eight episodes into the new title sequence, that the music has changed as well! Duh. It's also becoming very noticeable that this is a very old recon- perhaps there's a more recent one? The photos are not clear at all and there's no footage from the surviving episodes used for recaps, the first time I've seen this.

The deathtrap set here for the Doctor, Jamie and Samantha is in no way evocative of a certain 60s film, and I have no doubt that no one above me in this thread can possibly have quoted the line "No, Mr Bond, I expect you to die!"

Ooh, a mention for Ben and Polly!

Once again we get some obvious padding out of the episode to fill up the time as Meadows is found not to be on duty. The episode ends intriguingly though- it's a crying shame we can't see Jamie's 18th century reaction to being on a plane!

Part Five


"Polly, then Ben, now Jamie..."

A swanky space station in Earth orbit may not be particularly futuristic now but, of course, in 1967, six years before Skylab, this stuff was all in the zeitgeist. Plus we get miniaturised people! In filing cabinets!

At last, the all important exposition scene... what? An explosion, er, destroys the identities of the Chameleons? oh dear. Still, nicely surprising when the Inspector turns out to be a duplicate- and the Director, no less!

Good old Doctor- cheerfully going on to the chameleon plane without any sort of plan! Nurse Pinto's really quite incredibly brave too. They completely fluff their bluffing, mind- Pinto still refers to the "chameleon" who's ostensibly switched bodies from Meadows to the Doctor as "Meadows" and we're to expect Blade won't smell a rat!

Oh, and it's just dawned on me- the Inspector / Director is none other than good old Bernard Kay!


Part Six


"We are the most intelligent race in the universe!"


Interesting line spoken by Blade about both Pinto and the Doctor: "I checked at the medical centre. You're both human!" So, it's not as though the Doctor has, say, an alien physiology or anything! Still, he does have tendencies towards vandalism, which he demonstrates rather splendidly with the Chameleons' machine. I love the Trout!

Samantha leaves rather abruptly after all the proto-companioneering, but at least she and Jamie get to snog each other, according to my recon at least. And we actually get to see Ben and Polly again. Yay! I was genuinely fearing they were about to be Dodo'd. It's a bit of a coincidence that this is the exact date they left, of course, but we get a wonderfully evocative pair of lines between Polly and the Doctor that should be much better known: "The thing is, Doctor... it's my world." "Yes, yes, you're very lucky... I never got back to mine."


Well... I didn't think much of that really. It was competently structured, perhaps, and what we could see of it looked good, but things just happened so bloody slowly. This is the first time in the marathon I have to trot out the old cliché about a six parter being two episodes too long. But it's not just that- it all just felt so formulaic, and felt oddly humourless. Where was the sparkle in the dialogue? Still, I liked Samantha, and the Doctor / Jamie double act (and, I'm sure, shipping!) properly starts here. 2/5

Doctor Who: The Macra Terror

Part One


"Would you call these ladies off? I'm frightened of what they might do to me."


It's times like the start of this story that I wish I was coming to these stories completely fresh, without the accumulated little bits of knowledge you pick up by osmosis from being a fan. Then I'd probably be saying things like "How shocking! They've changed the title sequence! And it's got the Doctor's face in it. This is clearly part of Lloyd's face agenda. Bring back the swirly things!" but alas, I can't.

Ah, Peter Jeffreys. Splendid! The story starts off well, with a society which seems all happy and shiny on the surface but you know something's not right- after all, what could possibly be more horrifying or sinister than the holiday camp style scenes of forced jollity we see here? "You will have fun! That's an order!" Semi-repressed memories of hearing S Club 7 at university club nights and having to dance to it are surfacing here. Truly chilling. And the muzak is suitably horrible too. Although these early scenes are not too dissimilar in terms of basic structure to Ian Stuart Black's earlier The Savages.

I couldn't resist a slight raising of the eyebrow at the Doctor's saying "Well, this is gay!", but this is very good indeed, however obviously based on both Brave New World (the drugging and parasitism) and 1984 (the totalitarianism) the premise may be. The Doctor's anarchistic streak comes splendidly to the fore here as he instinctively releases Medok before he even knows what's going on. The revelations are unfolding nicely and gradually and the creepy, totalitarian atmosphere builds up. There's a touch of the real life contemporary Soviet Union in the "psychological treatment" of the dissident Medok. This is very good indeed. And at the end we even get a bit of not-very-good footage.


Part Two

"There is no such thing as Macra! Macra do not exist! There are no Macra!"


The Macra's eyes are clearly headlights, but I'm willing to overlook the rubbishness of the monster as everything else is bloody fantastic. Lots of nice touches illustrate just how repressive this society is- the Pilot has a "viewing machine", a kind of panopticon, which allows him to see exactly what everybody is doing. One thing that grates with me here is the way Medok gets the Doctor off the hook too easily, but generally this episode basically serves to ratchet up the totalitarianism. The Pilot says of Medok "He will co-operate and he will obey orders. He'll be just like the rest of us."

The deep sleep gas and "thinking tablets" raise the stakes brilliantly, and the Doctor's speech to Polly about thinking for herself is great. The only disturbing thing about this whole sequence is Jamie's statement that he'll take orders from no one "but the Doctor"!

The script's treatment of Ben and the lines he's given are actually quite clever. In real life many people, perhaps even most people, react as he does, accepting things at face value without questioning why.

Once again, the episode ends with some actual footage of our crap monster. It's interesting that Polly, such a strong character a few minutes earlier as she resisted the mind control, is now screaming her lungs out!


Part Three

"The voices are here to help us. They are our friends."


Our heroes have been caught, and sent to what is essentially the gulag. Fascinating that this was written at the height of the cold war.

We get lots of short snippets of off-air footage this episode, which show us very clearly all the facial acting from Troughton that we're missing. Troughton is great explaining how he worked out the formula, every inch the genius who likes to play the fool.

I'm not sure about "Officia" as a name! But apart from this we get another excellent episode. The plot's ticking along nicely- in fact very nicely for a third episode- the TARDISeers are all well used, and the cliffhanger is excellent.


Part Four


"The colony's in the hands of grotesque insects!"


Much as I'm loving the story- and, incidentally, the splendid new Loose Cannon recon which makes my hiatus almost worth it- I have to admit that it's probably improved by our not being able to see the full awfulness of the Macra in all their moving glory. Still, another great episode. The Doctor gets a nice line to Polly: "I'm sure there's no need to be afraid. Well, I think there's no need to be afraid."

Surely the colony cheerleaders are the most terrifying and spine-chilling thing we've seen in all of Doctor Who so far? My intense dislike of anything that smacks of forced jollity means I'm probably genetically designed to love this story, but even so, the song they perform is genuinely sinister.

There's a slight potential worry that occurs to me once we realise the full situation- the Macra, native to this planet, are acting as parasites on the human colonists. This threatens to raise the obvious colonial issues, but I think the story gets away with it- the Macra aren't shown as oppressed native peoples but rather as predators with the humans essentially caught in their web. Also, I suppose it helps that the overall tone of the story is far from reactionary.

Another great line from the Doctor; "Bad laws were meant to be broken!"




Overall, superb. Well plotted, great lines, all of the regulars being well-characterised and given plenty to do- no easy feat with this TARDIS crew- and some truly literate and thought-provoking sci-fi themes. 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.

Doctor Who: The Underwater Menace

Part One

"I've never seen him go for food like this before- it's usually hats."


Nice to see Jamie getting a proper introduction to the TARDIS, even if it's nothing special. I liked the Robert Burns timey wimey stuff, but a minute in it's clear that the dialogue is being pitched at a much younger audience- the audible thoughts of the characters are like something from Scooby Doo.

The TARDISeers seem surprised their captors speak English- a little awkward continuity-wise in the light of later stories. And unfortunately our heroes spend most of the story in captivity where they can't do a lot- this episode is rather dull, with even the moments of peril feeling half-hearted.

I didn't catch how the Doctor was aware of the presence of Professor Zaroff. But it's alarming how he signs his note "Dr W"- there's been a lot of alluding to the name "Doctor Who" of late, perhaps a bit too much to easily dismiss. Still, as Davros will later say, it will be difficult but it will be done.

So, German mad scientist stereotype, Atlantis under the sea, Polly having an operation to give her gills? Oh dear, this feels like a 1930s movie serial so far, and a particularly half-arsed one at that. I hope things improve...

Part Two

"Just a small question. Why do you want to blow up the world?"


Oh dear, Zaroff's plan is quite absurd. And on top of this Joseph Furst has no charisma in the role. Zaroff is a silly mad scientist stereotype and no more- he's already annoying me and it's only the start of part two.

I think the point at which I learn that survivors from shipwrecks are being converted to fish people is where I give up entirely on taking the story seriously. The thing is, it doesn't even entertain in a so-bad-it's-good way. In fact, the scene with the Doctor suddenly dropping the test tube to release some gas is pretty much the only good bit. We also get another disguise and some more recorder playing- this new Doctor is showing few signs of settling down yet.

Oh dear, the Doctor convinces Rana that Zaroff's a bid dodgy by means of what can only be described as a school science experiment...



Part Three

"Nothing in the world can stop me now!"


Of all the episodes in all the world to be the earliest existing Patrick Troughton episodes it had to be this one! I must admit that visually it's actually quite well done, and by this point I've almost started to enjoy the silliness- Lolem is the campest high priest ever. The long scene with the fish people swimming looks good, although unfortunately it's balanced by the ridiculous scene where the Fish People have to be persuaded to go on strike. let me get this straight: they control the food supply, which cannot be stockpiled, and the idea of going on strike has never before occurred to a single Fish Person?

Another disguise for the Doctor as our heroes suddenly set out to kidnap Zaroff. This story just feels made up as it goes along; there's little structure to the overall story at all. And I'm sure we were all t6otally surprised when Zaroff turned out to be feigning his heart attack.


Part Four

"How do I know he's a wanted man?"

"Well, blimey, look at him. He ain't normal, is he?"


The plot takes another right turn as the Doctor suddenly decides to flood Atlantis. This episode is a mad rush and I have trouble following large swathes of it: I'm not entirely clear on how it can be that most Atlanteans survive to rebuild their civilisation somewhere else (where/).

On a positive note, much of this sounds very expensive as the caverns are gradually flooded, but in a bad story for all three companions Polly's moment near the end where she just seems to give up is a particularly low point in her characterisation.

It's a very odd end for the Atlanteans: we get lines like "No! No more temples" and "A new Atlantis, without gods and without fish people". Apparently all it takes is a casual chat from two members of the ruling elite to entirely do away with the Atlantean religion.

It's nice to see Jamie's successful initiation into TARDISeering alluded to in the final scene, although he seems to have enjoyed his Atlantean jaunt more than I have...




Oh dear. What a mess. Plotless, devoid of decent characterisation for either the gust characters or the regulars and giving me no reason to care about the society itt's depicting, this is the low point so far for me. It says a lot that the best bit of the story is a scene of Fish People swimming about. 1/5.

Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks

Part One

"It's not only his face that's changed- he doesn't even act like him!"

Surely back in 1966 there had never been so much anticipation before the first episode of a new story. I'm certainly feeling it.

Of course, we start with a reprise of Hartnell changing into Troughton, all in glorious footage. Interesting that his clothes, although not his cloak or ring, change as well. Also adding to the tension is that Ben and Polly only enter the TARDIS asfterwards and are unsure of this stranger- and I like the way the captions on the Loose Cannon recon refer to him as such!

Point of continuity: why is it no longer cold inside the TARDIS as it was at the end of The Smugglers? We haven't dematerialised yet.

The early scenes with the new Doctor are most frustrating- if only we could see Troughton's performance- these are visually perhaps the most important few minutes ever of Doctor Who! still, the mirror's a nice touch, as is the Doctor's ring falling off.

The Doctor's been "renewed" ( I must be careful not to use a certain other word whose time has not yet come!), and apparently it's "part of the TARDIS". The post-regeneration stuff is fascinating, but interestingly in doesn't outstay its welcome- during all this the Doctor's set the TARDIS in flight.

Once more we miss what was no doubt a great visual gag as the Doctor avoids the deadly mercury swamps without looking up from his 500 year diary. And given the extra job this episode has to do the story's actual plot gets started commendably quickly, and the Doctor being able to pose as the Examiner means there's no need for any tiresome scenes of suspicion.

We finish with Daleks, and that door sound. The first six-parter for ages is off to a great start...


Part Two

"Of course, the real Doctor was always going on about the Daleks."


Nice way of establishing the Dalek threat- one Dalek is "all that is needed to wipe out this whole colony". And early impressions of this Doctor, in spite of the recorder playing, are of an easy-going yet manipulative and Machiavellian character who keeps things to his chest. It's fascinating the way the characterisation of this new Doctor is being slowly fed to us.

Up to this point it's been hard to tell the guest characters apart without footage but in this episode things become clear- there are two political factions with the "apolitical" Lesterson in the middle.

Marco Polo gets a reference! And Ben still doesn't quite believe this stranger is the Doctor. It's clever the way Ben's being used as the audience identification figure here- much of the audience would have felt real resentment for this newcomer.

The Dalek recognises the Doctor! And very cleverly drowns out his warnings by creepily repeating "I am your servant...". Top stuff so far.

Part Three

"A Dalek is bet... is not the same as a human."



The Doctor is powerless to argue that the Daleks are dangerous, in a scene which uses the knowledge the audience has of the Daleks to great effect. But by this point Troughton is undoubtedly the Doctor- quite an achievement in such a short time and after such a magnificent predecessor.

So, Quinn sent for the Examiner. And Bragen becomes deputy governor with Quinn out of the way- in no way a suspect then!

It's quite chilling to see, or rather hear, how the Daleks manipulate Lesterson. It's this story, far more than The Daleks' Master Plan, which justifies the reputation of the Sixties Daleks for cunning.

The New Doctor's character continues to develop; his anarchistic streak shows itself in an extraordinary series of vandalisms, and we get our first "When I say run, run". And the conclusion works well; both the Doctor and Bragen have found each other out, and there's a position of stalemate. By this point it's clear how extremely clever the plotting is.



Part Four

"We understand the human mind."



"We will get our power" chant the Daleks- the title of this story is clearly more relevant than those of most "Of the Daleks" stories! Lesterson is by now uneasy around the Daleks and starting to have second thoughts, a stage in the character's gradual evolution which is brilliantly acted right through the story.

I wouldn't have paid any particular notice to the Doctor saying "I would like a hat like that" to Bragen, but I've already seen the first two parts of The Highlanders- it's a phrase 'll be listening out for in future!

The Dalek hovering around as a servant is extremely sinister; the tension is beginning to be ratcheted up. Interesting how they're still powered by static electricity.

Polly's not in this episode- it's been a while since a companion last had a week's holiday!

This story's about manipulation and power, not only in terms of the Daleks manipulating the humans and needing power to fulfil their aims, but also the power game played out between the humans, who are constantly manipulating and double crossing each other. The plot's actually really complicated, but not too hard to follow- the sign of a good script.

This is the most chilling cliffhanger yet, as Lesterson watches the Dalek assembly line with blobs being put into cases- oh, for more than a couple of seconds of footage here!



Part Five

"We are not yet ready to teach the human beings the law of the Daleks!"



Surely the longest reprise so far, and finally Lesterson cracks up- this is a fine piece of acting. Meanwhile, the imprisoned Doctor is seemingly arsing about with a glass of water, to Quinn's obvious frustration. But interestingly, so far the Doctor's apparent eccentricities come across either as devices to give him time to think (the recorder) or ways of deliberately hiding the fact that he's in control of the situation. The new Doctor is every bit as sharp as his predecessor, if not more, and not really the cosmic hobo figure of myth.

Lesterson is ignored and treated as though he's mad, the Daleks are in control, and the Doctor's facade is gone. The sense of doom and foreboding is building nicely. An interesting line from the Dalek who kills the Governor as Bragen's order (the story's first death); "Why do human beings kill human beings?"

The cliffhanger is brilliant, possibly the best yet, so good in fact that we're treated to some actual footage, and arguably good enough even to make us overlook the blatantly obvious use of cardboard cutout Daleks"



Part Six


"Exterminate all humans!"

"Exterminate all humans!"

"Exterminate! Annihilate! Destroy! Daleks conquer and destroy! Daleks conquer and destroy! Daleks conquer and destroy! Daleks conquer and destroy! Daleks conquer and destroy! Daleks conquer and destroy!"


(Sorry, don't know what came over me.)


So, if there hasn't been enough skulduggery already, Bragen double crosses his fellow rebels. Blimey, this story ain't half complicated! And while this is happening hordes of Daleks are unleashed, and the killing starts. Lesterson's completelt lost it by now, insisting that the Daleks are going to replace the human race.

The Doctor's plan involves sacrificing the lives of Bragen's guards, so he's not only manipulative but ruthless with it when he has to be.

Lesterson's death scene is brilliant. From the spot-on intonation of "I am your servant" to the callous attitude of the Dalek. As soon as Lesterson says "But you wouldn't kill me- I gave you life" we know he's going to be shot, for such are the rules.

it's a little unclear whether the final moments of the Doctor's plan work partly by accident or in fact are planned all along- I suspect the latter. This new Doctor is actually quite a layered and interesting character.



Overall, a gripping and very clever script, easily a 5/5, and a great introduction to the new Doctor. The balance between introducing Pat Troughton and getting on with the story was perfectly judged.

Doctor Who: The Highlanders

Part One

"You'll pick it up!"


The new Doctor continues to fascinate and entertain. He leaves the TARDIS sporting his stovepipe hat, and it's not long before he's examining a highlander's hat, once again exclaiming "I would like a hat like this". Within seconds though he's dismissing its inscription as "romantic piffle" and throwing it to the ground. Unfortunately this leads to the TARDISeers being captured by two Jacobites, Alexander and Jamie. Still, it's not long until Alexander is killed- no doubt we'll not be seeing much more of Jamie either.

The Doctor's German accent is somewhat eyebrow-raising, not to mention the WOTAN-friendly alias of "Doctor Von Wer".

Polly's magnificently indomitable in this, although she's momentarily allowed to show a less likeable side when she snaps and calls Kirsty a "stupid peasant". Still, this is all good swashbuckling fun so far.


Part Two


"Why do we always get mixed up in this kind of stuff?"

"I'm glad we do. I'm just beginning to enjoy myself."


Is it me, or does the Doctor seem rather more unstable than he was in the last story? He plays the recorder in a filthy cell, and proceeds to be utterly magnificent as he contrives to lock Solicitor Grey in a cupboard and persuades his underling Perkins to lie down on a table blindfolded. This Doctor is bloody fantastic! And then there's the washerwoman disguise...

Still good Kidnapped-esque fun which just rattles along. As things stand we're looking at another 5/5 but we're only halfway yet...

Part Three

"You wouldn't want another headache, would you?"


By now I'm actually starting to notice the bagpipe music that opens each episodes. It could have been cliched, but it gets away with it. It's a nice touch. I'm also noticing that, with Ben and his highlander mates in a spot of bother, the Doctor springs into action, makes straight for the pub and orders a pint. I like this new Doctor! And he's still able to manipulate Perkins. Just a little implausible, perhaps, and arguably it's only the circumstances which save it from sailing too close to bullying, but it works.

Ben, the Laird and the others are in a position of real horror, in spite of the story's light tone; the practice of debt bondage on plantations in the West Indies is one of those less well known niches of history and it's nice to see it mentioned,.Although at least a mention of the existence of African slaves, with no seven year limit to their bondage, would have been nice.

The Doctor wanting to sleep rather than help Polly and Kirsty plot the escape of their friends is a brave touch, showing a willingness to make the Doctor looking unheroic for the sake of quirkiness.



Part Four

"Oh no, not after all that! I give up!"



Ben runs into the Doctor, in yet another disguise! Something of a coincidence, but as I often do I'll let it pass on the grounds that I'm having huge fun watching this story.

More great Doctor stuff throughout the episode: another "I would like a hat like that", more running rings around Grey, and forgetting" about Grey's contracts at the end. For all his apparent scatterbrainedness, this Doctor knows exactly what he's doing and never really seems to lose control of the situation, whilst at the same time no one but Ben and Polly is taking him seriously. This Doctor is fascinating.

The ending is highly satisfying- it's particularly apt that Perkins, who's spent the whole story being the butt of everyone's jokes including the Doctor's, should turn out all right in the end. And what could be an unbelievable scene- Ffinch arresting Grey but letting the others go, in spite of the fact that one (Jamie) is an obvious Jacobite- is rendered believable by his obvious fondness for Polly, who gives him a peck on the cheek. Aaah.

I'm glad to see Jamie aboard the TARDIS, although I hope he gets a proper introduction to the TARDIS interior next week. The gender balance inside the Ship is getting a bit wonky, mind!


I loved that! Huge fun throughout with not one slow or tiresome moment. There may have been nothing big or clever about it but as a swashbuckling adventure story it was perfection. 5/5. The historicals end with a bang, and I for one am very sorry to see them go.

Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet

Part One

"I don't like your tone, sir."

"And I don't like your face. Or your hair."


So, the "tenth" planet? But of course, Pluto was still canon back then...

We open with some stock footage, and some astoundingly advanced IT. The TARDIS doesn't land for a while, and instead we get some contemporary(ish) scientists and some naturalistic acting. However "traditional" an opening this may seem in hindsight, watching it in the marathon it's really quite jarringly new. There are some very effective nods to realism, not least of which is the girlie pics on one man's locker. The series has changed completely over the last season or so; this is a Troughton story in all but lead actor, and in hindsight the best arbitrary cut-off point is not the change in lead actor but the arrival of multi-episode story titles with The Savages.

More new and exciting sensory impressions: it's a very international group of humans, with a lot of American characters. The snow's clearly paper, but it's good enough. And then, finally, the TARDIS lands.

Ben and Polly have landed in 1986, only 20 years after their own time- surely this is close enough to be dangerous? They could easily get themselves in a position to do a Biff Tannen once they get back to 1966... Speaking of Biff Tannen, this seems to be scripted and shot very much like a Hollywood sci-fi movie, with the unstable commander, maverick scientist and general style.

Ooh! Our first taste of the Cyber theme, and it makes the hairs stand up on the back of me neck! These Cybermen look great. Oh, and I love what they've done with the closing titles.

Part Two

"Have you no heart?"

"No. That is one of the weaknesses that we have removed."


Hmm, how shall I put it? These disguises the Cybermen have adopted are... not entirely convincing, are they? Although their entrance is great; Derek Martinus having an outbreak of superbness plus a great look equals perfection. I can't emphasise enough how great these Cybermen are. Even their voices are fab, and we're talking Roy Skelton here.

Yes, of course... Mondas is an ancient name for Earth! I'm sure we'd all heard that before, hadn't we? It's very nice of this Cyberman to provide us with all this exposition; apparently him and his mates have been to "the edge of space". Who'd have thought it? Still, this is a great scene, and there's an interesting line in the light of more recent stories: after Polly accuses the Cybermen of being just robots their leader retorts: "Our brains are just like yours except that certain weaknesses have been removed"- pretty close to the new series. Well, apart from the human hands, that is...

This story manages to be extremely tense with the lurking physical presence of the Cybermen giving enough of a sense of threat that they don't have to actually do much. One Cybermen bending Ben's gun is enough to establish how hard they are. And their calmness, and casual dismissal of the horrible fate of the astronauts, are chilling. Of course, it's best not to analyse the backstory too hard even at this early stage, but this is great.

I like the guilt Ben feels after killing a Cybermen, emphasising their humanity. Naturally, the flip side of this is the presence of the threat of Cyber-conversion in a way it never would be again in the classic series- or, indeed, the remaining episodes of this story. The ongoing debate over feelings between Polly and the lead Cybermen is brilliant. I like the chattiness of these early Cybermen!

The cliffhanger is loads of Cyberships. Bet we'll never see that one again...

Part Three

"I don't understand it. He just seems to be worn out."


Almost the first thing we see is the Doctor, clearly played by a stand-in, collapsing, and Hartnell isn't even in his penultimate episode. It seems his health was indeed bad by this point. It's also clear that has absence only became clear at a relatively late stage; Ben obviously has most of the Doctor's lines. Polly gets a line which is... interesting, mind: "Well I could make some coffee or something."

Interestingly, the small group of Cybermen has now been defeated, yet tension is still ever-present: the real core of this story is human conflict, with the Cybermen mainly acting as catalysts, leaving the excellent Robert Beattie's General Cutler to be the real threat. In fact, he's the central character of this story, and this is perhaps the finest performance from a guest artist so far. Mind you, when the Cybermen arrive things are inevitably going to ratchet up even more.

What a cliffhanger!

Part Four (Ooh!)


"This body of mine is wearing a bit thin."


Hmmm... this BBC recon is all right, but it's not as good as Loose Cannon. But at least the Doctor's back for his final bow. And once the Cybermen kill Cutler the emphasis shifts: they can stop being rubbish and start being the threat. It must be said, though, fantastic though these Cybermen may look, sound and move, their plan's a bit rubbish. Still, we know we're in trouble when one turns up in Geneva. Incidentally, I like the way they have names.

Ben's very clever here, in fact the hero of the episode. His plan with the radiation is quite inspired. And when he tells Krang (what a pretty name!) that they'll wait for Mondas to start frying, the metal man starts getting a bit, well... emotional.

Hartnell hasn't really done a lot all episode, but you've felt his presence, and his final scenes are so very powerful. I'll miss him. I've just watched all his stories and, well, he was my Doctor.


Overall, great, and I don't care about the blatant plot holes. This story reminds me of RTD: yes, the plot may be a bit dodgy in places, but the emotional beats are in the right places and there's loads of pace. And this story gave us so much iconic stuff, not all of it obvious.

Doctor Who: The Smugglers

Part One

"Ben, I'm scared. What's happened to us?"


It's back to normal for the story title- or is it? Is there an actual telesnap or did Loose Cannon slot the titles in themselves? Incidentally, great recon.

So the Doctor finally admits it: "I have no control over where I land!" these early scenes with Ben and Polly are great though- there's a heavily self-referential, here-we-go-again tone to it which is rather fun. The Doctor seems to be secretly enjoying the reactions of the young stowaways in spite of his surface curmudgeonliness. Although he seems to pretend to be annoyed when he says "I really thought I was going to be alone again" I strongly suspect, after The Massacre, he's relieved not to be.

I love Ben and Polly's attitude to time travel. Yes, there's initial disbelief, but it's played for laughs, and at last we have some companions who actually seem to be enjoying themselves! They've only been aboard a few minutes and already they're my favourite companions since Ian and Barbara.

It probably says more about my lack of familiarity with the pirate genre than anything else, but this reminds me of the pirate comics in Watchmen.


Part Two

"My dear sir, I'm sure you could see through any flattery of mine."


Blimey, that was a short reprise!

Polly is fantastic. She's locked up in a seventeenth century cell, presumably facing eventual death by hanging, and yet she says "I don't know. I find it pretty exciting!" Although it's not particularly plausible that all the guest cast seem to think this rather attractive young lady is a "lad"!

This is good stuff. Ben and Polly continue to be great in escaping from the cell, and it seems everyone is in on the smuggling, even Paul Whitsun-Jones!

Part Three

"In these dark days, honesty surely pays!"


The Doctor's escape with the cards is top stuff, I suspect one of the last few great Hartnell moments we have left. Of course, this leads to Pike killing Jamaica for his failure, and his death is suitably grisly to be graced with some actual footage.

Just as the plot strand of the TARDISeers being under suspicion was threatening to outstay its welcome, it comes to a natural end here, our heroes siding with the authorities in the shape of Blake, the Revenue Man. Interestingly, the Doctor chooses to stay behind because "I'm under a moral obligation!" Polly, being great, agrees heartily.

The conversation between Kewper and the Squire makes me aware of how the dialogue is actually quite a good approximation of the period, with real thought being given to the phrasing. I'm very much reminded of Channel Four's recent The Devil's Whore.


Part Four

"Oh, we have an uneasy conscience, have we, Squire? Ye lily livered rogue!"


The plot threads are drawn together rather cleverly in this episode, but it's only afterwards I realised how cleverly plotted it was as I'd been enjoying the ride so much. The riddle itself is clever, as is the unfolding of the "curse". Of course, as with The Gunfighters, I'm sure there are all sorts of nods to genre conventions I'm not getting.

By the point of Cherub's death it's become really quite amusing that the only footage that seems to exist at all involves knives and blood. And I can't help being amused by what, I'm afraid, is my favourite exchange in the entire story: "Polly." "Yes?" "Put the kettle on." Followed by which, of course, there's the incident with Spaniard and Polly goes back to the TARDIS to await the end of the story. Cos she's a girl, you see...!

For the second story in a row, the Doctor slips quietly away at the end. Ben and Polly, bless them, seem to have thoroughly enjoyed their adventure- there's no whingeing at all, which makes a nice change.

Ooh, very cold in the TARDIS? What's all this then?


Overall, this was good fun. A good old-fashioned, tightly-plotted adventure story. Not particularly big or clever, no, but there's nothing wrong with that. 4/5.

Doctor Who: The War Machines

Part One

""Oh, I dig your fab gear."


A whole story full of actual footage! On DVD no less! Something to cherish, as it's something that won't be happening again until the story after next...

The way the title of the story is displayed is very nice indeed, and it's a sign that, although the change in lead actor is still to come, we've entered a new era. It seems incongruous at this point in the show's history to have a story set in contemporary London, not least because the setting demands a degree realism alien to Doctor Who as we've known it. Certainly, the opening shot is reminiscent of the TARDIS' departure from An Unearthly Child, whether intentionally or not, but from that point onwards this is unlike anything we've seen before.

The early scenes of the Doctor and Dodo leaving the TARDIS are dialogue free, which is most effective, and the "Out of Order" sign is a nice visual gag which can only work because this is the first true landing in contemporary Britain. If only Ian and Babs were here! Instead we've got Dodo. it's nice to see Steven get a mention, though.

Surely the biggest Billy-fluff yet: "I can... I can feel... it's got something sort of powerful... it... look at my skin. look at that! I've got that pricking sensation. That sensation again, the same... just as I had when I... fought the Daleks. Those Daleks were near." Not for the first time in recent episodes Hartnell's poor health seems to be showing on screen. A lot of his lines in this story sound as though they're not as scripted, although all other aspects of his performance are spot on as always.

It's such a pleasure to see the lovely Anneke Wills for the first time, so much so that I'm almost prepared to just accept how easily the Doctor and Dodo seem to get into the Post Office Tower without any awkward questions. In fact, no one questions the Doctor's right to be there at any point in the story. This is in a way welcome as it removes a potential source of childishness, but some explanation, if only a throwaway line, would have been nice.

The Doctor's hat and cloak are coolness incarnate, incidentally- no wonder he's able to get past the doormen and into Inferno although, sadly, an opportunity is missed: we don't get to see the Doctor strutting his funky stuff. Still, the scenes in the club are Sixtiesness itself, and it's most odd seeing loads of mods in Doctor Who. This half feels like an episode of The Likely Lads, particularly the one with Anneke Wills in it.

The scenes with Polly and Ben are rather nice- Polly is a very likeable character indeed, although the fact that Anneke Wills is gorgeous probably helps.

I would mention the final line of the episode- "Doctor Who is required. Bring him here."- but let's face it, it's rather innocuous, and I'm sure we all barely noticed it.


Part Two


"Yes, I wonder, Sir Charles, do you suppose...er... no, I don't suppose you would."


Oh dear, the baddies are insisting that their top priority is to "enlist Doctor Who" and generally saying "Doctor Who" all over the place. Still, to paraphrase General Melchett, if all else fails then a straightforward refusal to face facts in the face will see us through.

Polly and Ben are a very likeable pair of characters. Interesting that Polly basically asks Ben out. It's a shame really that, as Polly's about to be brainwashed for the rest of the story, we won't see them again properly together in until the end. Still, there'll be plenty of time to get to know them.

This episode introduces us to what will become a Doctor Who trope, the death of a tramp, but at this point it seems very jarring, an injection of social realism into a Doctor Who sci-fi story. The same episode gives us Dodo's hypnotism and a brief appearance from the Doctor's magic ring- something we haven't seen for a while. We don't realise at the time, but this is the last we'll be seeing of Dodo. I was hardly the character's biggest fan, but her departure is not exactly befitting.

Oh dear, the baddies are saying "Doctor Who" left, right and centre now. La la la la, I can't hear you. Isn't it rather irresponsible of the Doctor to send Ben on such a dangerous mission?


Part Three

"All human beings who break down will be eliminated."


Anneke Wills plays the brainwashed Polly very well indeed- the scenes in the warehouse are very effective. Although once Polly gets caught not snitching on Ben it's rather awkward that she's sent to WOTAN to be punished instead of just shot.

Sir Charles' phone call to the minister gives me a thought: he's Willie Whitelaw!

Soldiers? In contemporary England? In Doctor Who? Heavens above! I wonder if we'll ever see such a thing again? The cliffhanger's great, I don't care how little sense it makes.

Part Four

"The miserable old so and so!"


It's most odd seeing the Doctor assisting the authorities. We've never seen this sort of thing before, and I wouldn't like to see it too often (oh, the dramatic irony!) but at this point it comes across as very sixties in an Avengersy, Adam Adamanty sort of way. The Doctor in this story is the scientist as hero, saving the day by thinking and inventing things, not by action adventure. For that we now have Ben, and very good he is too. But where's Polly? it's a good while since we last saw her.

The Doctor suddenly slipping away from the authorities once the baddies are defeated- another Doctor Who trope makes its entrance here! Dodo gets a mention at the end, which is something, I suppose, but now of course we get the great Ben and Polly aboard the TARDIS. I've never seen The Smugglers before; more than at any point up to now I can't wait to see what happens next.


Overall, that was all good fun. Nothing too clever, perhaps, but there's nothing wrong with that. 4/5.