Tales of the TARDIS

 Obviously I haven’t watched the omnibus versions of all these old Doctor Who stories I’ve seen countless times before, just the fabulous new scenes at the beginning and ends. So I’ll say only that the whole omnibus thing makes me nostalgic for the old days of BBC video. Also, The Mind Robber and The Time Meddler have never looked so good. And I’m pleased to see the extended cut was used for The Curse of Fenric.

Earthshock

“Oh, you got old.”

"You didn't."

Of course, we saw Tegan and the Fifth Doctor interact briefly in The Power of the Doctor and ditto for the Seventh Doctor and Ace. These pairings therefore make sense, and this and The Curse of Fenric are the obvious story choices for each respective pairing: bloody good, but also emotionally resonant for the characters. 

So what's going on? This first instalment has to do a bit of exposition on what a "Memory TARDIS" is- part of the TARDIS, although perhaps not a physical location as such. It feeds on memories, so a story has to be told. Wisely, it's all kept a bit vague, and at this point we simplyhandwave over how the Doctor looks visibly older than he was when we saw him succumb to Spectrox Toxaemia with all those heads whizzing around him.

We end with some nicely meta commentary as the two of them mourn Adric. "He loved you", insists Tegan, to which the Doctor responds "Yes, I realise that now." The characters are pretty much acknowledging that the episodic nature of the series back in those days didn't really allow for prolonged dwelling on the characters and their development- but it's not too late to remedy that. It's a lovely sentiment.

We also learn more about what Tegan went on to do, as with many former companions: campaign for environmental causes. Are you listening, Sunak?

The Mind Robber

"I think we're in Heaven."

"I hope not. I'm a very busy woman."

This one was absolutely necessary- the theft of Jamie and Zoe's memories by the Time Lords in The War Games was a truly monstrous crime. It's been left very late in the characters' lives, but at last that great wrong can be righted.

We learn that they've both led good lives- Jamie has fathered a massive family, while Zoe is now president. This one is just vibes, really, but it's lovely. And the chemistry between the actors is as wonderful as ever.

Vengeance on Varos

"The twenty-first century- it feels a lot like Varos."

Both Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant are great here but... is it me, or is the chemistry not quite there? Regardless, this one is perhaps not so successful as the others, for reasons that are not really its fault. The decision to have Peri get married to barbarian king Yrcanos was always an outrage, a shameful treatment of a character who had meant so much. RTD has no choice but to spin this as Peri having achieved great things as a "Warrior Queen", but this isn't enough to wash away the sins of his prdedecessors within that very, very dysfunctional Doctor Who office of 1986. Nothing could.

It's good to see the Sixth Doctor rather less garishly dressed, though. It's also heartwarming to see them both resolve to go travelling again, though. So a Memory TARDIS can travel through time and space, maybe...

The Three Doctors

"Did you love him?"

Katy Manning is, of course, the obvious choice here, but who to pair her with? The only real choices from the era would have been John Levene or Richard Franklin and... yeah. So Daniel Anthony as Clyde Langer is the perfect choice. We get a bit more closure on The Sarah Jane Adventures: Clyde is a successful comic book creator; Luke and Sanjay are astronauts; Rani is an activist, like Tegan and Ace.

There's real heart to this one. A recently bereaved Jo is mourning her Cliff, and in a mood not to allow Clyde to miss his own chance for love. RTD does this sort of character stuff very well indeed, and it works.

The Time Meddler

"I mean, can you imagine the Doctor wearing something like this?"

The above is the best joke in all six of these, with Steven commenting on what we know to be the Sixth Doctor's inimitable fashion sense.

And this one is absolutely the best of the lot. Peter Purves is superb but Maureen O'Brien is absolutely wonderful. A couple of years may have passed but she is still absolutely, utterly, brilliantly Vicki, and a real joy.

Both of them are grandparents. Steven is a king. Yet Vicki's departure in The Myth Makers, while not the Peri level of bad, was pretty appalling, a girl from the twenty-fifth century settling in the time just after the Trojan Wars, a time with few creature comforts and much violence and hardships. But RTD very much emphasises that she's had a happy life regardless, and O'Brien's performance convinces us.

I love the ending, a nice touch.

The Curse of Fenric

"Time streams are funny things. In some, I regenerate. In others, I don't."

The above quote, I suppose, is the best we're going to get in terms of explaining why all these Doctors look visibly older. Best not to ask too many questions, I feel.

This one follows on nicely from The Power of the Doctor, and both characters get closure, with the Seventh Doctor admitting that his manipulations would, yust veeery occasionally, you understand, go a little bit too far. I love the revelation that Ace used to see her nan- Kathleen Dudman- in the nursing home. And yes... the Doctor was always a father figure to her.

So off they go on one more journey. This one was wonderful.

So there we are. Just a few minutes per story, yes, but the sort of nice little character moments that Doctor Who coudn't really do when it consisted of twenty-five minute serialised episodes. It's surprising how much of a delight this all is, considering that it isn't much material. But this is whetting my appetite nicely. I trust RTD.

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: Fury from the Deep (Revisited) Episodes Four, Five and Six

 Episode Four

"Why can't we go anywhere normal, where there's no fighting?"

It's nice how the groundwork is already being laid for Victoria's departure- it's all very '60s, very reserved, but there's some top characterisation in Victor Pemberton's script. But what's different about the animated version is the visuals- the scene in which the Weed gets Van Lutyens is, I very much suspect, far more visually impressive than in the now long-wiped original.

The scenes in the pipe with the Doctor and Jamie more closely mirror the surviving clips, but the tension remains, and the narrative continues to be both masterful and bloody terrifying while balancing plot and character. This is how you do a six parter. The arrival of Megan Jones, the big boss, doesn't waste too much time with tiresome suspiction. And, right on cue, the ending raises the stakes.

Episode Five

"It's beginning to give me the willies..."

The Doctor, with Robson having seemingly broken down, is in charge and finally listened to, while Megan tells the distraught Robson to "pull yourself together". attitudes to mental health in 1968 were, shall we say, not quite the same as nowadays, much like management styles.

However, we soon move to kidnappings, helicopters and the sight of a Weed-infested oil rig that, I suspect, looks far more impressive than it did originally. Similarly impressive looking are the possessed characters, led by Robson, who are part-Weed in a way which surely can't have been done originally.

Episode Six

"You don't want to come with us, do you, Victoria?"

It's all wrapped up, rather quickly, as the Doctor conjures up a Macguffin. Yet is doesn't feel like a cop-out, with the sense of desperation persisting to the end and a real sense of a race against time. The use of Victoria's screams is, of course, very meta, but it's all played in such a way as not to refer to the fourth wall. And, animated, it all looks superb.

And yet a huge amount of screen time is left over for Victoria's departure. It's all very stiff-upper-lip, the emotions are repressed, but they're all there, in a slightly Terence Rattigan sort of way. It's nice to see the TARDISeers stay for an evening meal, though, with even Robson being comparatively friendly. So much so that we almost don't stop to question wny the Harrises would adopt a semi-permanent house guest, and extra mouth to feed, without even knowing Victoria that well. 

Overall, though, this is a perfectly crafted animation that confirms Fury from the Deep to be a superbly paced story, utterly terrifying, and with subtly excellent characterisation. It stands revealed as a fascinating artifact, full of anxiety about all this new-fangled North Sea oil, soon to be powering the nation's homes and workplaces and, perhaps, an anxiety about modernity itself.

Doctor Who: Fury from the Deep (Revisited) Episodes One, Two and Three

 I am, of course, quite blatantly blogging it because the lovely Mrs Llamastrangler (with the equally lovely Little Miss Llamastrangler) bought it for me as a Christmas present. So it’s a somewhat out-of-sequence reminder that this blog originally existed so that I (alongside a bunch of other people on Gallifrey Base) could marathon ALL of Doctor Who, which we (and I) did. If you look at the Doctor Who index on this blog, it’s all there. 

However, whenever missing episodes are discovered (hooray) or animated (necessarily much smaller but nevertheless heartfelt cheer), I’ll blog them as I see them. This is a particularly exciting example.

Episode One

"Aye, and it’s always England...”

It’s a facile comment for me to always make in such circumstances, perhaps, but seeing a story animated, and with subtitles, makes it easier to follow, by orders of magnitude, than any recon could possibly be. That makes a huge difference to how I’m following the plot.

There’s another difference, though- this time I’m not watching this story in its chronological place, so I’m not watching my fourth (out of five) base under siege stories, with Robson as the latest (and most unreasonable) unstable base commander. I’m less frustrated this time round that the TARDIS crew so quickly come under suspicion and get locked up immediately, probably because I’m less cynical about seeing this thing all the bloody time. 

Also, the opening scene on the beach is far more fun with moving pictures, a bit of light relief to start off a story without much light in it. And the plot moves rather quickly. Robson is, indeed, unreasonable, but he’s not too far removed from a type of work colleague we’ve all met who insists that his experience is far more valuable than any of the fancy theories of the university educated young. It’s odd to see this type of person in charge, of course.

It’s also odd to see the sonic screwdriver in its first ever use- to unscrew some screws, with absolutely no indication that it does any more than that.

Episode Two

"It’s down there. In the darkness. In the pipeline. Waiting.”

In some ways the animation doesn’t really change things. Robson is perhaps a little more nuanced, but it’s the same story- and Victoria resolving the cliffhanger by screaming can’t just not be metatextual, certainly not in her last story.

But what’s very different is just how like a horror film this is when you have visuals. We can’t say, without the actual footage, whether it was directed that way, to unnerve and frighten us, but the terrifying surviving clip of Oak and Quill with Maggie is certainly like this. And so is the animation, simply suited by the pacing and the weird electronic music. In short, this is the episode where Fury from the Deep starts to get bloody terrifying. The scenes with Maggie, with quite a lot of screen time, have pretty much no other purpose. 

Episode Three 

"I don’t really like being scared out of my wits every second.”

This is an episode where the animation makes it much easier to follow the plot- it’s much easier what happens with Maggie and Robson at the end, for one thing. And all the stuff about Robson’s state of mind and the discontent among his senior staff is much easier to follow. Robson, again, somehow feels much more nuanced. We don’t see anyone other than a ranting, chippy sourpuss who seems frankly unprofessional- but we aren’t seeing him in a “normal” context.

The experiments in the TARDIS are, as I suspected last time round, much better with visuals. And following the plot much more firmly makes it clear how well written this is- a six larger with strong characterisation and that feels pacy, where every scene is justified for reason of either character or plot. And this episode, like the last one, is wonderfully effective at building up the scares.

X the Unknown (1956)

"It's on it's way for the biggest meal of its life."

Yes, Mr. Kneale. We realise you refused permission to use the character of Professor Quatermass in this film. What's that, Mr. Kneale? Oh, no. Heaven forbid. The character of Dr Adam Royston is in no way a thinly veiled carbon copy of the good Professor. And the odd similarity of the format to your own work is just coincidence. Small world, isn't it, Mr. Kneale?

Suspicious coincidences aside, this is a good and entertaining film, if a rather shirt one. Not bad for the first ever Hammet horror, or not, depending how you define these things; to me this is very much science fiction.

Oh, it's a little odd that none of the characters seem to notice that Royston is American, and the young Frazer Hines' Scottish accent is a bit rubbish at this stage although, to be fair, give it ten years and he'll get a lot of practice. Also, it's the '50s, so everything is radiation this and radiation that. 

This is a fairly inconsequential diversion, but, if you can stand the sight of Leo "Rumpole of the Bailey" McKern bring indecently young, it's a fun and entertaining film.

Doctor Who: The Web of Fear (Revisited)

 So, here we are; I revisited Enemy of the World after Philip Morris unveiled its fiver previously missing episodes last October; now it's time for the obvious next step. Should Episode Three turn up soon then this blog could get very confusing...

Part One


"Is it safe?"

"Oh, I shouldn't think so for a moment..."


A direct continuation from The Enemy of the World, so we do get to see the aftermath after all. The Doctor and Victoria clearly aren't hanging on, and some of the roundels are clearly cardboard cutouts, but never mind!

I'm glad at least this episode survives so we can see Camfield's direction in all its glory- the scene with the Yeti transforming is great. And it's fun to see an older Travers with a beard and great, cantankerous dialogue- Jack Watling seems to be having a lot more fun this time around! I'm not sure about the character Silverstein here though- we seem to be getting a little too close for comfort to some rather dodgy stereotypes.

Actually watching the stories in order brings home just how soon it is for a sequel to The Abominable Snowmen to turn up. And it's rather odd that, if the Yeti are considered good enough to bring back, they then have to be completely redesigned!

This is great stuff, in large part a typical "exploring" part one, but also structured rather cleverly. We get the scene with Travers in the museum to establish the Yeti threat, but the next time we see him some time has passed, the army is involved and the threat is already underway with the minimum of exposition. In between these scenes, the web around the TARDIS in space adds tension and reminds us of the larger threat of the Great Intelligence- although why it lets go isn't made quite clear. All this, and the most postmodern line since a prisoner was kept in a corridor in the last story: "Funny, isn't it? How we keep landing on your Earth?"

We have a deserted London and lots of soldiers... this all feels very Quatermass.

Yes, we've seen Part One before, but this is the copy recovered by Philip Morris, and it's a notably superior copy. It's still obvious, sadly, that Silverstein is portrayed as the grasping Jew, but the episode is as gripping and as addictive as ever. The prospect of five more episodes of Douglas Camfield's direction is utterly gripping.

It must be said, though: the better copy makes it even more obvious that the TARDIS roundels are just blown-up photographs.




Part Two


"A right old Fred Karno's army".


Back to the recons, Joint Venture this time. It's fun to see, or rather hear, Travers' reaction to seeing Jamie and Victoria looking just as they did forty years ago- and The Abominable Snowmen is retrospectively dated back to 1935. Interesting, as I don't recall anything particularly in the story to suggest it wasn't contemporary. Well, aside from occupying Chinese people, obviously...

The Doctor's not in this much, is he? this is the first obvious time Troughton gets a holiday. Still, he had an awful lot to do in the last story.

We get a very odd line from one of the soldiers: "He reckons they're abominable snowmen." So how come everyone is calling them Yeti?

Our first "new" footage, then. It's fantastic to see footage of the soldiers vs. the Yeti and their web guns. The characters are all distinct individuals and the performances make them seem very real in this high stress situation, the web looks fantastic too in all its foamy-bubblewrappiness. It's quite arresting how quickly it moves through the ground. The cliffhanger is interesting: oh, look, foam!

The Doctor's absence is really felt, so it is left to the other characters to carry the story. It is amusing to see the 1960's attempt at depicting a professional woman; Anne may be a brilliant scientist, but it is she who makes the tea.

Part Three


"Good to see you don't take things at face value."

A small glass pyramid! There's a blast from the past. As is the Doctor, who it seems we haven't seen for ages. he seems to be accompanied by some mysterious, moustachioed soldier type called Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart. we don't know where he came from, so he's probably a baddie.

Our heroes are by now entirely surrounded by fungus. at this point it becomes clear that we are indeed watching another base under siege.

Crikey, one of our heroes is a traitor, using the model Yeti- I bet it's that sinister Lethbridge-Stewart. But really, aside from the Doctor, Anne Travers and Victoria, it could be anyone. This is feeling even more Quatermass by the minute, and Pat Troughton makes a splendid Bernard. Good stuff.

This episode is not only still a recon, but a considerably worse recon than the version I watched above. It was clearly made in a hurry; there are NO captions- except one right at the very end! Things are very hard to follow,which is generally not the case for recons made my amateurs. Professionals, eh? Most revealingly, the reprises at both ends are not included, a sign of rushing.

It is of course frustrating that we are introduced to Lethbridge- Stewart in recon form. The character shines from the beginning, and is, from the start, a little more vulnerable than he would later become.


Part Four


"I have a craft that travels in time and space."


The Doctor's description of the great Intelligence to the Colonel (and us) is creepy, well-delivered stuff. Even more chilling is the realisation that the Yeti just came, took what it wanted (Travers) and went- it just doesn't see the army as a threat.

We get an extraordinary scene here in which the Doctor tells the Colonel about the TARDIS- and Lethbridge-Stewart believes him, showing not only an extraordinary amount of faith in the Doctor but also good judgement. But conversely, having sent a squad of troops to look for the Doctor's police box (!), he's entirely deflated and defeated once the others are all killed. This is a well-rounded and well played character, but not quite the one he would become.

I'm sure the long battle scene between the soldiers and the Yeti looked great, but I couldn't see it! but it was very long. And used the Cybermens' signature tune for some reason...

The cliffhanger is fantastic here. Unlike in The Abominable Snowmen, in this story the Yeti most certainly do pose a threat.

 At last we get to see Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart, complete with his Scottish regimental headgear. It's great to see him, and moving pictures. Everything looks amazing, from the bits of web on the camera (Camfield was a genius) to the sheer awesomeness of the Battle of Covent Garden. Best of all, though, is Troughton's performance; his little monologue about the Great Intelligence is truly awesome.

The Colonel is awesome too, open-minded and pragmatic, although yet again the signs of stress are visible in this story in ways which later stories will not show. This is certainly a better story than The Enemy of the World, in spite of its inferior script, and that is entirely down to Camfield. This episode simply looks amazing.



Part Five


"You'd better stay here. Evans. And don't go taking any chances."


I haven't mentioned Evans yet, but he's a nice character: at the same time comic relief and fulfilling a serious function. He reminds us how scary the situation is, shows us how brave everyone else is in contrast, and is himself quite tragic.

The Intelligence, issuing his ultimatum to the Doctor, is a very powerful adversary indeed, and the situation is about as hopeless as I can ever recall it being. This story is superb.

I'm liking the Colonel more and more. He and Jamie make a particularly good team. Incidentally, in a story broadcast while Syd Barrett was still in Pink Floyd, we get two characters called Arnold and Lane...

This may be black and white, but by Jove it's psychedelic, not something one would have guessed from the recon. It is arresting, too, to see the Intelligence speaking through Jack Watling having recently seen Richard E. Grant in the same role. The Web of Fear is a slightly different experience with Steven Moffat having used the Great Intelligence as the Big Bad for Season 33.

Nick Courtney is truly fabulous here; even my semi-fan wife singled him out for high praise. It's still a pity, though, that we know he's going to become a regular and can't be the mole, as is often pointed out. It's interesting to see Lethbridge-Stewart and Jamie getting on as well here as they will in The Invasion. 



Part Six



"Prepare for a great darkness to cloud your mind."



So Arnold is the traitor? I'd forgotten about him- I'd genuinely though there were no plausible suspects and so there must not have been a traitor after all. Although I'm sure it would have helped if I was genuinely able to suspect the Colonel, as the original viewers must have done!

There seems to be no hope as the Intelligence starts to drain the Doctor's mind. But we get a great ending as Jamie heroically saves the day only for it to be revealed that the Doctor would have drained the Intelligence's mind into his simply by switching the wires.

More visual treats, then, in the middle of the tension as we are treated to rare footage of the Doctor playing his recorder. More to the point, the presence of actual visuals makes this episode much, much easier to follow. Once again I'm left with the strong impressions that watching recons doesn't help you to follow what is actually going on as it seems to at the time.

The final showdown is tense and awesome, and it's equally awesome to see Troughton's facial expressions during his extraordinary performance.


Overall, simply magnificent, full of twists and turns as a six-parter should be, action-packed and generally very Quatermass and the Pit. An easy 5/5.

No arguing with my past self there. A triumph from beginning to end. Douglas Camfield is without a doubt the finest director ever to work on twentieth century Doctor Who. 

Doctor Who: The Enemy of the World (Revisited)

Many of my lovely readers may be unaware how this blog first started way back in June 2009, a long time ago when I was clean-shaven, single and free of grey hairs. a couple of lovely people on Outpost Gallifrey proposed that, as Doctor Who would be off our screens, barring the odd special, from mid-2008 until Spring 2010, it would be rather a good idea to fill the gap by "marathoning" the whole series from 1963 to 2010. A bunch of us agreed to do it together, writing our reviews of each story, watching them in order, and discussing our impressions. It was a fantastic experience in so many ways, from the new appreciation I gained of the series by watching it chronologically to the fantastic sense of camaraderie with my fellow Marathoneers.

In mid-2009, Outpost Gallifrey closed down, to be replaced by Gallifrey Base. In the event, the Marathon threads were transferred across very smoothly and the forum owner, Steve W. Hill, and his team of moderators were rather lovely about accommodating us. Nevertheless, this period made me worry about preserving my already considerably lengthty writings for posterity. Thus began the blog, in June 2009, firstly to archive all of my Doctor Who reviews going back to November 2008, and then to be updated with my reviews alongside the threads on Gallifrey Base. When the Marathon ended, in June 2010, I carried on with the blog, reviewing anything I fancied, and the blog soon became the beast that it is today.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, a lot of the 1960s Doctor Who stories, sadly, no longer existed in the BBC archive, and so my reviews were based on fan reconstructions which took the original soundtracks (all of which, thankfully, existed), spliced in any existing clips, and reconstructed the rest by means of still photographs, captions to explain what should be happening on screen, and various creative and innovative ways of making the end result more visually arresting. The third, fourth and fifth seasons were comprised mainly of such reconstructed missing stories, and it was hard going at times. The Enemy of the World was one such story.

The Marathon ended. Years passed. And then a man called Philip Morris came along. It seems that, although nothing is likely to happen quickly, it is set to be revealed that he and a few others have discovered many, most or all of these missing episodes by methodically scouring the globe. The only episodes to be announced and released are The Web of Fear (barring episode three, at least for now) and The Enemy of the World. I would suggest, should you wish to look into the background of the missing episodes "omnirumour", the best place to do so is at the Planet Mondas Forum, of which I am, er, a moderator. Small world, eh?

So I have two stories to revisit for now, with a lot more to come. So here is my revisitation of The Enemy of the World for your edification and delight. I have reproduced unedited my original review of the recon from 2008, in italics, and I shall reply after each episode with my 2014 comments on the episodes themselves.

So, without further ado...


Part One


"They're human beings, if that's what you mean. Indulging in their favourite pastime- trying to destroy each other!"


David Whitaker's back. Yay! And this one's directed by some bloke called Barry Letts. I wonder whether we'll ever hear from him again?

In contrast to the previous story we immediately start with the TARDISeers. And for the first time since, I believe, The Keys of Marinus, the TARDIS materialises silently. This is a very unusual setting for Doctor Who- for all that this is supposedly set in the future we're not exactly being bombarded with futuristic things. In fact, hovercrafts and helicopters give us a very contemporary feel, and signify that we're going to see six episodes of Doctor Who's take on the '60s spy craze.

There's a most enjoyable exchange between the Doctor and Astrid after he insists he's a Doctor "not of medical significance". On being asked whether he's a Doctor of law or philosophy he replies "Which law? Whose philosophy?". There's also a running gag becoming established in which the Doctor, asked to explain where he came from, makes an oblique reference to the previous story for the second time in a row. Witty dialogue is pretty much a hallmark of this story's first three parts and, although a very unusual type of story indeed, it's been great fun so far. Better still, we get Bill Kerr of off of of Hancock, and an unusually intriguing cliffhanger.

There's been an awful lot of weather control in Doctor Who lately, mind!


Footage. Actual footage. Oh my God. and footage of Troughton, no less, something which is always priceless. It's a joy to see him splashing about in the water with such abandon. Incidentally, Mrs Llamastrangler, for whom this is her first "classic" story, instantly recognised the similarities in terms of performance between Troughton and Matt Smith.

This episode looks expensive, pacey and exciting. Barry Letts directs this far more dynamically than one would expect from such later attempts as The Android Invasion. I was amused, seeing how Astrid's helicopter licence tells us the date (2018, fifty years in the future from their perspective, and the point at which my fixed rate mortgage ends from mine...) at how fandom used to debate when this story is set. One is left to wonder at how many other fan arguments could be solved by the intervention of actual footage. I was also amused at how very reminiscent of the late 1960s is Astrid's interior decor.

The most electrifying thing of all is, of course, our first glimpse of Troughton as Salamander in a physical performance so different to his portrayal of the Doctor.


Part Two


"Which side is good? Which side is bad? And why should I interfere?"


More amusing references to recent escapades as the Doctor thinks he's being told about a "disused Yeti". But the plot thickens a lot during this episode. There's a lot of plotting and counter-plotting going on but it doesn't seem over-complicated, a testament to the excellence of Whitaker's script. Fariah's instantly an intriguing character who has an interesting job. But as she's characterised too well to be a simple food taster we begin to suspect there are things she's not telling us. And finally we get to see the real Salamander- a superb performance from Troughton. Although the accent... er, yes.

Jamie is once again magnificent, carrying out the dangerous plan to get into Salamander's confidence. Once again he's shown to be far from the simpleton of myth- particularly, it must be said, in David Whitaker stories!


There's something sweetly naive about predictions made in the 1960s into how we would be living around now. A unified world government, no mobile phones, weather control, travel by rocket between Australia and Hungary within two hours, state control of certain industries... it's as though neo-liberalism never happened. Whom would I rather suffer, I ask myself- Salamander or Thatcher?

 Troughton manages to exude an extraordinary amount of menace towards Fedorin as Salamander, showing without a doubt what a wide-ranging and brilliant actor he was. This is another gripping episode, although I was amused to find that even recovered episodes feature stock footage, in this case of volcanoes erupting.





Part Three


"People spend all their time making nice things and then other people come along and break them."


An episode with actual footage and, sadly we can now see that this story just isn't very visually arresting, great though the script may be. We get a confession early on that this story is the season cheapie: "Why is Mr Denes being kept in the corridor here?" "It's easier to guard him here."

Still, the dialogue continues to sparkle. Griff, the chef, gets most of the best lines, of course (I'm going out for a walk. It'll probably rain.") but the standard of wit is good all round.

All the same, whilst all this exciting stuff is going on, and Jamie is showing an impressive understanding of the low arts of political skulduggery, the Doctor, almost Hartnell-like, is doing sod all except watching everything on a television much like the viewers were watching back home. In the first clear bit of foot dragging, this normally uber-interventionist Doctor is refusing to do anything at all before he has absolute proof.

The poisoning of Fedorin is great ("Suicide, of course..."). Oh, and Fariah clearly does have a secret...

This still feels very strange for Doctor Who, but it's actually quite refreshing to have a bit of a breather from the standard formula the show seems to have adopted of late. And this is damn good stuff so far, however visually dull it may occasionally be.

I suppose, up to a point, that we were right to suspect that this episode, back when it was all that existed, was not exactly the most visually arresting of the six, but watching the episodes in context it's far less noticeable that this episode is the cheap one.

Still, Griff remains one of my favourite character. And the Doctor's uncharacteristic refusal to get involves is no less grating; indeed, it is if anything more obvious that this is down to the limited number of costume changes for Troughton per episode.

Part Four


"Proof, proof, proof!"


Fariah seems to get from Hungary to Australia awfully quickly! And from this point on we get quite a lot of this. It's often hard to guess which "zone" a scene is supposed to be happening in, especially as the rooms and corridors (or, to be fair, the photographs of them) tend to look rather similar.

Benik's line "These people are terrorists!" has a rather arrestingly contemporary ring, one of the things which tend to mark the fact that in this episode the mood changes sharply and everything becomes very serious. This is nowhere more apparent than with Fariah's tragic yet noble death, but rather unsatisfyingly we are told nothing of her story beyond the vague fact she was being blackmailed.

The seriousness fades briefly as Salamander makes his very Thunderbirds exit to his secret underground base. This scene is most peculiar with sound only, with the sound effects making me imagine the most bizarre Gerry Anderson style contraption imaginable! There's a big new revelation; Salamander is persuading loads of people to live underground in the belief a radioactive war rages overhead so that they'll help him cause natural disasters. And nobody questions any of this except one bloke called Colin. Er, right. This is, to put it mildly, less than entirely convincing and the story never quite recovers from it.

Oh, and it's just occurred to me that the Doctor's relative inactivity is obviously because Troughton's playing two characters and can't have too big a workload. Duh! And Jamie and Victoria weren't in this episode at all, were they? This is the first blatant cast holiday of the Troughton era, more than a year in.

Fariah's death is much more effective with actual footage, if I may risk a truism. And it is now entirely clear which "zone" the action is happening in, obviously. But the big difference footage makes to this episode is, of course, the long and dialogue-free stretch in  which Salamander gets into Thunderbird 2 and reveals to us his secret lair, replete with some very 1960s computers.

And then there's the cigar. I didn't expect that.



Part Five


"You must be either a complete fool or very clever."


Just a couple of minutes in it's quite clear Bruce is wavering in his support for Salamander, otherwise why is this scene happening at all? This scene doesn't quite work for me, although the part where the Doctor hands over his gun is great. Since last episode the story's tone has become very grim, which sits oddly with the intrinsic jolly japery of the central storyline and plot structure. A bit more lightness of touch, as with the first three episodes, and I'd happily accept scenes like this. But as things are it doesn't quite ring true. The confrontation scene between Swann and Salamander doesn't quite work either.

The scene where the Doctor pretends to be Salamander in front of Jamie and Victoria is very well done but also odd- why does he need to pretend? It's not for Kent's sake- he's (still) trying to convince the Doctor, not the other way around!


I don't know if it's because we now have footage or not, but this time round I felt that the scene in which Bruce is persuaded that Salamander may not in fact be a great benefactor after all was entirely convincing. I had absolutely none of the qualms I had when watching the recon. Perhaps this is because I now have the actors' performances to go on. Perhaps it's for no particular reason.

Far more surprising, even shocking, is to read my original review of this episode and realise that I had entirely misunderstood what was happening at the end of the episode; it is obviously Bruce, and not Kent, whom the Doctor is trying to convince. If I can misunderstand something as obvious as this while experiencing a story as a recon then this gives rise to the question of how much else I may have misunderstood while experiencing a story as a recon. Perhaps I had overestimated how possible it is to experience a story without any footage and I haven't "seen" as much of 1960s Doctor Who as I thought I had.


Part Six


"And so you're going to kill me. How petty."


I admit this story has been dragging for me over the last couple of episodes, but I'm genuinely flabbergasted that Kent turns out to have been a baddie all along. just goes to prove the most effective whodunnits are the ones where you don't realise it's a whodunnit in the first place. And the scene where Salamander shoots him is actually quite violent in a very realistic way- I'm a lot more uncomfortable about the idea of kids watching it than I would be about something much more violent but with more of the fantasy element to it.

This feels a bit uneven- extraordinarily, the Doctor sends Jamie and Victoria off to the TARDIS early on, which highlights just how little they've been in the second half of this story. And the final scene with the Doctor and Salamander in the TARDIS is fundamentally a good idea but it all seems to be over very quickly. And surely Salamander should register at least some surprise that the TARDIS is bigger on the inside?

The plot holes are far more obvious this time around with a visual context. Astrid and Swann meeting as they do is an awfully big coincidence; Astrid forgets that a tunnel exists to the underground lair when the plot necessitates it; and there's no way that the Doctor could have got into Salamander's locked room. Still, in spite of all this, the episode is far more coherent and far more satisfactory to view than it was as a recon. Perhaps it's the simple fact that it is much easier to follow and it looks so good. And Troughton's performance is magnetic, as always.

It's a real shock to see the split screen at the end as we see both the Doctor and Salamander. The ending is still abrupt but, without the frustration of not being able to follow the story easily, this doesn't seem to matter as much.



Overall, a story of two halves- the first three episodes seem to be a fun and witty spoof on the action-packed spy genre that was all over 60s film and television from James Bond to The Avengers. But halfway through the witty dialogue disappears and the tone becomes very serious, which just feels wrong in a story which still seems plotted like a spoof. 3/5.

This time around I didn't notice the change of tone at all although, perhaps, the second half of the story is far more visual and thus easy to follow without frustration when one has the luxury of footage, which makes all the difference. Overall, the sets, the direction and the performances elevate the story, with added footage, to a 4/5. The two stand-out performances, without a doubt, come from Patrick Troughton and Patrick Troughton.

Doctor Who: The Two Doctors

Part One

“Look at the size of that thing, Doctor!”

“Yes, it is a big one…”

So, to all intents and purposes the last ever old-fashioned six-parter. Phew!

There’s something rather worrying about a multi-Doctor story coming up at this point- it’s hardly likely to be seen as a vote of confidence in their new Doctor by the production team to pair him up with such a fondly remembered predecessor at this early stage. Still, the opening scene is great; we begin with the Second Doctor, in monochrome, with the old TARDIS console. Of course, the line about Victoria being off somewhere studying graphology is deeply absurd (probably a deliberate mickey take on the part of Robert Holmes, I shouldn’t wonder) and all that nonsense about the Doctor and Jamie working for the Time Lords would have completely broken continuity if Mawdryn Undead hadn’t already smashed it into a thousand pieces. Best not to think about such things. And I’m having none of that “Season 6b” nonsense, as I get my razors from that nice Mr Occam.

Anyway, we get a space station and the immediately fantastic John Stratton as Shockeye the Androgum, a fantastic character of the type we expect from Holmes. If we gloss over the continuity headaches then these opening scenes are great, marred only by the visual gag of the Doctor picking up a cucumber he expected to be a knife. I’m not one for insisting the Doctor should never use weapons but there are limits. And it’s decidedly odd hearing decidedly post- The Deadly Assassin sentiments about Time Lords being uttered by Patrick Troughton!

It’s great to see Jacqueline Pearce as Chessene, a suitably Servalan-esque character whatever the difference in her circumstances. And then we get a bit of proto-CGI applied to some Sontaran ships!

Meanwhile, our current Doctor is fishing while Peri seems bored. But at least their relationship is back on track again after the aberration of Mark of the Rani; they now seem like friends again. I believe this is our first sight of the Doctor’s umbrella? Anyway, I, er, approve of the way Peri is dressed.

The Doctor’s dialogue about fishing, incidentally, seems very much to parallel Shockeye’s earlier dialogue about eating humans. There’ll be a lot more of this sort of thing from our vegetarian scribe. Also disturbing is that they’re still on about the Doctor’s not-so-recent regeneration. It’s time to let it lie; this is the Doctor, full stop. Except that we, er, unaccountably have a multi-Doctor story at this point.

The Doctor collapses (well, a bit) in something of a Five Doctors moment as something apparently happens to his past self. The Doctor and Peri thus head to the space station, now occupied only by corpses. The baddies, meanwhile, head for a hacienda, not in Manchester but in Andalusia- it’s only 1985, after all; they’re about three years too early for Acid House.

Oh, and this is where we famously get introduced to our first Sontaran in long-shot, a fairly appalling lapse from Peter Moffat, who seems oddly sub-par throughout the story. The Sontarans look crap, for a start, and Shockeye’s Androgum make-up is a bit basic.

Towards the end we’re introduced to the lovely Anita and Oscar, who gets a speech on how he loves to kill moths with cyanide. Yep, another parallel with earlier speeches by Shockeye and the Doctor from our vegetarian scribe, methinks.

Part Two

 

“I think your Doctor’s worse than mine.”

Is it me, or have things been a bit slow so far? This is still shaping up to be a good ‘un, with great dialogue and characterisation in spite of some rather worrying flaws which I’ll get back to in a bit, but so far this has been oddly lacking in pace for a Holmes script. Things pick up now, though. It seems the “creature” that attacked Peri is in fact Jamie, and the Doctor becomes convinced that his earlier self has been killed and a time paradox has been created. The dialogue which follows would be embarrassing in the hands of a lesser writer, but we have Holmes instead; the Doctor’s soliloquy on the end of the universe is quite brilliant.

But the Troughton Doctor isn’t dead. He still has disappointingly little to do in this episode other than sit around, though. Meanwhile, Shockeye bites the head off a rat. Lovely. I could mention Ozzy Osborne here but I won’t.

The Doctor- er, the current Doctor- gleans the location of his earlier self with help from the bells of Seville Cathedral but still spares some time to give Jamie some advice about bathing (“You should try it more often”).

Interestingly, Holmes being a writer who first turned up quite late in the Troughton era, here we have the later, “Oh my giddy aunt!” version of the character, rather than the more manipulative character of the earlier stories who turned up again in The Three Doctors. Still, Troughton plays the part as though he’s never been away.

The scene where Shockeye discusses Earth cuisine, Spanish and Chinese recipe books to hand, is where the vegetarian and animal rights subtext stops being “sub” and really starts to intrude into the story. Subtle thematic nods (such as the aforementioned parallel speeches in the last episode) are fine, but by this point we’re really being bashed over the head with it. It doesn’t ruin the episodes (it’s got all of Holmes’ trademark wit and characterisation) but it does mar them somewhat.

Oh, and I love the bit where Peri, asked to provide a diversion for Chessene and co, protests that she doesn’t speak Spanish and the Doctor simply says “That’s all right. Neither do they.”

Part Three

“The nouvelle cuisine has not yet penetrated this establishment.”

I suspect another reason the story as a whole doesn’t quite reach Holmes’ usual standards is that he’s simply been given too many ingredients to deal with; two Doctors, Sontarans, and a Spanish setting (originally supposed to be New Orleans). Still, the final episode pretty much delivers. Early on our two Doctors first meet, but not for long; the Troughton Doctor is to be turned into an Androgum. Meanwhile, the Dastari / Chessene faction and the Sontarans have decided to betray and kill each other.

The whole episode centres around Shockeye and the Troughton Doctor, now an Androgum, heading to a restaurant while everyone else attempts to find them. Troughton as an Androgum is great fun, but it seems an odd decision to deprive us of seeing him playing the Doctor for such a large chunk of time. On the other hand, we do get the line about shepherd’s pie.

The setting moves to Seville (nice to see it) and unfortunately there’s another bit of performance from Colin Baker which doesn’t do it for me- “There’s more than one way to cook a cat”. Still, everything about the Doctor and Shockeye eating in the restaurant, with Oscar as waiter, is great. I love the description of all the courses they’ve consumed- along with their twelve bottles of wine. Unfortunately, Shockeye then kills Oscar, with the Doctor present. I know the Doctor’s not himself, but this is just wrong. He may not be the “current” Doctor but the character should never be put in this position. It’s been obvious Oscar was going to die all along, of course; as soon as his moth-killing activities became known it became clear that Holmes wasn’t going to let him survive.

We get more didactism as Shockeye tortures Jamie, claiming that he’s merely “tenderising the meat” and that “Primitive creatures don’t feel pain as we would.” It’s all far more blatant than I remembered. And it’s paralleled with the Doctor using Oscar’s cyanide to kill Shockeye. So, of our three characters to have made speeches in the first episode which defy Holmes’ vegetarian principles, two are punished by being killed- Shockeye by Oscar's cyandide for his moths and Oscar by Shockeye's knife, so each is killed in the way the other would kill an animal. Poetic justice, no doubt, if you're Robert Holmes. Only the Doctor, the hero of the show, is allowed to survive, albeit wounded by Shockeye's knife. And he’s going veggie to boot.

Oh, and the Second Doctor has a remote control for his TARDIS, does he? Slight problems reconciling that with The War Games, methinks…

Well, that was overly didactic, had too much on the shopping list to be included in the script, wasn’t particularly well directed, and although it was great to be seeing Troughton again this really isn’t the sort of thing to do with a new Doctor who hasn’t quite established himself yet. Still, it’s Holmes, meaning there’s wit and characterisation to see us through. The performances are largely good too; 4/5. It’s just that by Holmes’ standard that’s a sub-par score.

.

Doctor Who: The War Games

Part One


"It is rather worrying not being able to remember things."



I saw this via the original video release, so the picture quality started out as absolutely the worst yet and it's going to get much worse. Still, this is a cracker of an opening episode. All the supporting characters are great, not just the likes of Carstairs and Lady Jennifer but even relatively minor characters such as the put-upon Major Barrington are nicely sketched out.

For the most part this could almost be a pure historical, but there are two indications of something bigger going on- why is the mysterious General Smythe able to hypnotise people with those specs of his, and what's that screen behind the portrait of King George V? No one can quite remember how long they've been here either, which is another hint of something much bigger about to be gradually revealed. Things are going to get epic, but not before a magnificent cliffhanger...




Part Two



"Did I hear you say that someone had escaped?"



...Which is rather predictably resolved. I don't care, though- I'm loving this. And the true state of affairs is gradually revealing itself- General Smythe has a TARDIS type thing materialise in his room, and it's doors sound as if they were made on Skaro! And of course there's the shock reveal of the Roman Zone behind the mist at the end.

But all that's by the by, cos this episode contains my absolute favourite Troughton moment, his impersonation of a VIP from the ministry. Troughton plays it quite wonderfully. It's all filler, of course, but it's top entertainment all the same. And, of course, not only does the Doctor's penchant for disguise (of a sort) hark back to Troughton's early stories, but he's masquerading as an "examiner" in his last story, just like his first. Brilliant. And it's nice to see the Doctor's recorder being used as a telescope too.


Part Three



"Everything seems to be difficult for you to explain!"


Once again, mostly filler, but this episode is great! So many great moments- Carstairs shows great bravery and character in believing the Doctor, and he reminds me very much of the Brigadier. And Jamie makes an allusion to The Space Pirates which I never picked up in previous versions of this story: "Aye, with a tuning fork?" We also get our second ever "Doctor John Smith" and our first proper look at the Sonic Screwdriver. One slight problem, mind- Jamie's from 1745? 1746, more like.

Best of all though is the German general with the monocle and the duelling scar (stereotype much?) and his screen behind the portrait of Kaiser Bill. Or possibly the Doctor's escape from the Germans, which harks back to The Highlanders: "Oh, we've got lots of tricks like that. Let me show you. Catch, Jamie!" This is a great send-off for my new favourite Doctor.

And then we get to see the real baddies, and their fab looking base, and their groovy 3D glasses. And the War Chief. Whose thoughts we hear, for the first time ever in Doctor Who: "Time travellers? I wonder..."




Part Four



"But who else would have space / time machines like the TARDIS?"



Interesting how the American Confederate general is the same bloke as the German general, complete with duelling scar- an early sign that the baddies' plan is being done on the cheap! Also interesting that Jamie keeps saying "How long are we going to be kept here?" rather a lot.

The character of Harper is played by Rudolph Walker, a black actor, and the script makes clear that the character was written as a black man as one of the Confederate soldiers calls him "boy", a racist epithet in parts of America. Not much is made of this, but it's pleasing that the first character shown to be free-willed enough to shake off the mind control is a black character from the 1860s American South. He's also shown as a senior and respected figure in the resistance. We've come a long way since Toberman.

The Doctor deprocesses Carstairs- fitting that the final story of this Doctor, who's shown himself to detest mind control above all things, should see him pitted against the biggest mind control threat yet.

And the Doctor and the War Chief clearly recognise each other! We know at this point that Big Things are going to happen...




Part Five



"Better leave him on simmer."



Zoe gets interrogated in a room of more than sufficient grooviness to be worthy of Austin Powers, and by my favourite silly character in all of Doctor Who- the Security Chief. I don't know why James Bree decided to play him in such a peculiar fashion, but for some reason it not only works but is in fact genius.

Also great is the way the Doctor runs rings around the Chief Scientist. But best of all is the wonderfully arch bickering between the War Chief and the Security Chief. Loads more episodes of this to go- wonderful. And I mean that!



Part Six



"Send. The prisoner. To me. FOR. QUESTIONING!"



I'm loving the sound effects for this story, as well as the occasionally Stockhausen-esque soundtrack.

More of the same this episode, but the Chief Scientist gets a line which is arguably a bit significant: "Are you suggesting he's bringing in his own people- the Time Lords?" Watching all of this in sequence means that line really sent a shiver up my spine...




Part Seven



"Now, I am tired of this eternal bickering!"



We add Philip Madoc's splendid War Lord to Edward Brayshaw's splendid war Chief and James Bree's splendid security Chief. Now we get three baddies to bicker in an arch manner. Splendid!

Once more we get loads of filler, but if it's as fun as this, who cares if the Roman Zone is blatantly reusing the same footage? And it's fun to see the 1917 zone again, this time in a completely different context. I love the way Smythe wants to shoot the Doctor for no other reason than he's being a git! Although admittedly the Doctor being saved from the firing squad in exactly the same way as before is a bit much. But I'll forgive this story anything.

It seems to be implied that the Doctor can't speak French. This never happened when he was William Hartnell...




Part Eight



"Don't worry- I'm not going to hurt you!"



It's a really nice character moment for Jamie as he gets put in temporary charge of the resistance movement, and that's a real strength of this story- yes, it's ten episodes long and blatantly padded out, but even when nothing's happening we're being entertained, and all the regulars get loads of great character moments. I love the scenes with Jamie, Zoe and Arturo Villa, for instance.

The conversation with the Doctor and the War Chief is also a charged and powerful moment, all the more so for watching the series in sequence. The revelations come thick and fast: "You may have changed your appearance, but I know who you are"; "We are both Time Lords. We both chose to leave our race." This story changes everything about Doctor Who. It can never be the same programme again.

I love the Resistance montage too. And what a cliffhanger!



Part Nine



"What. A stupid. Fool. YOU. Are."


Crikey! the Doctor's a traitor! the Security Chief recorded the war Chief plotting with the Doctor, the sneaky devil! It's all kicking off!

This is a satisfying ending to the main story. The baddies may be rather easily defeated at the end, but we've known along that they clearly come from the Planet Of The Jobsworths. But more important is the imminent arrival of the Time Lords, something we're set up to dread in no uncertain terms...




Part Ten


"I was bored!"



Wow. I've seen this many times before, but in context this really knocks your socks off. So many first, so many lasts, so many revelations. And it manages this in spite of the fact that this is mainly comprised of running around, some of it featuring clips from some of this Doctor's greatest hits, The Web of Fear and Fury From the Deep.

The scariness of the Time Lords is built up early on, and the scene in which they inflict pain on the War Lord is uber-scary, as is the way they erase him and his mates from existence. Admittedly, they're a bit underwhelming in appearance, but we're left in no doubt that their powers are pretty much godlike. And there's much more; the Doctor leaving his home planet out of sheer boredom, the specially filmed clips of all the best monsters (plus the Quarks), the Dalek even appearing to that throbbing sound. But the last few minutes pack the biggest punch of all.

Jamie and Zoe having their memories wiped is horrible, easily as emotional as for Donna more recently. The goodbye scene is poignant, but most upsettingly even as Jamie tells the Doctor that "I won't forget you, you know", the Doctor knows he will. still, it's a little jarring to see the Doctor chuckling as Jamie runs to his certain death, if not now then very soon! Why isn't he on that ship with all his mates, anyway?

Finally, the Doctor is exiled to Earth and has his appearance changed. Blimey.



Well, that's a 5/5 and no mistake. I'll make no bones about the fact that I've always loved this story, and it doesn't get any worse even when you've seen it so many times I can almost guess the next line. And in context there are even newer things to enjoy. Brilliant, second only to The Massacre, and I won't hear a word said against it.



I liked this season as a whole a lot more than I thought I would. It's pretty much on a par with the rest, apart from Season 5, which is way out in front...

Doctor Who: The Space Pirates

Part One



"There's only one thing we can do- run!"



Some top incidental music here, Dudley Simpson's best score so far. And with the music and modelwork (also excellent) together, it's all looking a bit 2001. The recon is excellent too, with lots of CGI and clever repeated use of existing footage.

We get a lot of awkward exposition from the strangely Gerry Anderson-esque Space Corps though- lines like "The beacons, as you know, are constructed of Argonite" are the ultimate in As-You-Know-Bobbery. In fact this feels more like a Gerry Anderson programme than Doctor Who at this point, until we're reminded of what we're watching by the fact the space corps' doors sound as if they're from Skaro. Absurdly late, 15 minutes in, the TARDIS materialises- will we ever see such a late appearance by the TARDISeers in a first episode again?

All that aside, though, you can appreciated how tightly constructed the episode is by the end. And I like Caven's Ned Kelly outfit.


Part Two


"Is it all right if I blow my nose, or is that another offence?"


The Space Corps' scanner looks like an old telly from the 60s. Odd, that.

I love Milo Clancey, especially the stuff with the boiled egg. Robert Holmes has truly arrived! Although, er, that's an interesting accent. It's also interesting that Clancey, the independent individual oppressed by government red tape, is presented as a hero- not the last time that Holmes seems to show a glimpse of possible libertarian politics in his scripts!

As this episode actually exists we can see how well shot this all is. And also that the Doctor seems to be carrying a perfectly ordinary screwdriver, not a sonic one. Oh, and Madeleine Issigri, she of the interesting headgear, is clearly a baddie.

Part Three



"Why don't you do something useful? Why don't you make us all a pot of tea or something?"


The General suspects Clancy of being the pirates' ringleader for no reason whatsoever. With other writers I'd peg this as poor characterisation, but from ex-policeman Holmes it may be based on his real life impressions of police work!

The scene where Zoe's worked out the destination of the pieces of the beacon is rather fun, especially the Doctor's reaction. Reminiscent of Holmes' earlier The Krotons, in fact.



Part Four


"I like drawing pins!"



At last the TARDISeers start to become sort of engaged with the main plot. That'll be a typical late Troughton six parter then. This is possibly the best episode yet, what with Troughton's antics with the tuning fork. And Jamie, inevitably, opening the door by hurling it across the room. Of course, the Doctor was carrying it in his pockets, along with some drawing pins. The one-day-to-be-traditional trope of the Doctor having capacious pockets starts properly here, and it starts with Bob Holmes.

Milo Clancey's a bit of a prototype for Han Solo, isn't he? aside from the minor detail of being completely different, that is. He's definitely the real hero though- you really feel sorry for him when the TARDISeers make their nasty accusations!



Part Five



"I do all the dirty work- the space piracy, the capital larceny, the first degree homicide..."


Suddenly (well, the pace hasn't exactly been that quick so far, but...) things are beginning to drag a bit, what with the Doctor & co being locked up in the second cell this episode and the Space Corps' continuing incompetence.



Part Six



"Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"



The last missing episode! Ever! Hooray! Much rejoicing! Etc!

It's only just occurred to me this far in how uncannily similar to the Star Trek theme tune the incidental music is. I wonder if that was deliberate?

Interesting how the Space Corps never actually meet the TARDISeers. And annoying how it all ends with some Hanna Barbera canned laughter...




Overall, there's no denying it drags and gets especially repetitive towards the end. Holmes is not exactly the finished article here, and this is not exactly one of the best stories ever, but this is nowhere near as bad as its reputation. Some of the dialogue sparkles and this is unmistakably Bob Holmes in the way The Krotons wasn't. A solid 3/5- quite conceivably higher if it'd been a four parter.


Ten whole episodes to watch and review tomorrow, then that's the Mighty Trout done for me!

Doctor Who: The Seeds of Death

Part One


"Look at the size of this one, Doc!"


The last Troughton story on DVD. Blimey- we're getting very near the end. We start with one of those funky sequences based around the title that this era has been doing so well, and then we get eight full minutes (I checked) before the TARDISeers turn up- surely a record. Still, the characters are engaging, from the cold, efficient,, yet sexy and charismatic Miss Kelly to the sympathetic coward Fewsham. For the first time in a while all the guest characters are at least memorable, and there are some nice touches- I love the briefcase!

The way the identity of this story's returning foe is hidden from us is rather clever in terms of concept and its execution by Michael Briant. As usual in these circumstances it's suspense, not surprise, that's the real point, but it leads to an effective cliffhanger. These Ice Warriors are immediately sleeker (well, relatively!) and more deadly than they were before.

The scenes with Eldred are mainly plot filler, of course, but the world's backstory is being sketched out for us, and we get some interesting stuff- notably that mankind hasn't yet gone beyond the Moon, and it's arguably implied that this is after Zoe's time. There's a definite character to the futures of this era, from artificial food (here we get a "synthetic carbohydrates factory") to moonbases to rockets to an uber-planned utopian society which is vulnerable to elements from outside the plan. And here' of course, the Doctor's dislike of computers (big, centralised society-directing things) and championing of individualism comes forth. It's a fascinatingly dated idea of the future.



Part Two


"She's after your job, Julian!"



Eldred's refusal to allow his rocket to be used is pure padding ("It's nowhere near ready, woman!"), but it's quite an effective way of fleshing out some of the major characters so it gets away with it. There's a parallel with The Wheel in Space here in that the main plot won't really get started until next episode, but unlike in that story things may be slow but there's excitement and tension, and we're actually getting to know these people and their world.

Interesting admission from the Doctor: "I'm afraid the TARDIS is not suited to short range travel." We also get a very silly line from Eldred about how there's "only enough food and water for three days". Er, oxygen, anyone?



Part Three



"We've been invaded. Aliens have taken over!"



A rocket landing on the moon- how very 1969! And the cliffhanger ending to part three signifies the actual beginning of the plot- how very this era! but it's still chugging along nicely in spite of that. Mind you, isn't it convenient that the seed should be transported to, of all cities, London.

Otherwise it's more of the same: Miss Kelly is still efficient, kick-ass and oddly sexy, the Ice Warriors are still more of a threat than in their previous story, and the direction is still good. We get an interesting line from the computer about "primitive areas". It's political correctness gone mad...

Oh, and finally the Doctor gets to confront the baddies, after a rather fun chase scene and the rather magnificent "I'm a genius". And then gets knocked unconscious, no doubt for the whole of the coming episode. ho hum.

Part Four



"All these tunnels look the same!"


Foam? In a Patrick Troughton story? Well I never...!

Terry Scully continues to be excellent as ashamed coward Fewsham- his reaction when Slaar gloats he's just destroyed his own species is superbly done. Other great things are the Ice warrior wandering around London, seemingly impervious to all harm- these monsters really present a physical threat, something often forgotten.

We get a great cliffhanger, also a great Zoe moment...




Part Five


"You know, I find T-Mat travel rather disappointing."



Fewsham's arc can't help but be believable and genuinely affecting, no matter how entirely predictable it may be. He turns a corner when he saves Zoe, and we instantly knows he's going to a) redeem himself and b) die. Cos this is Doctor Who and them's the rules. But the moment, when it comes, with Fewsham being shot by Slaar after revealing vital information that will genuinely save the world, is suitably heroic.

40°? That's a bit warm, innit?

So, foam, a moonbase, weather control- this is Patrick Troughton's greatest hits! There's even a bit of traditional bad science as the Ice Warriors' Grand Marshal says that "If we overshoot the Moon, nothing will stop them going straight into an orbit around the Sun". Yeeees...



Part Six


"Oh, there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip."



The story ends satisfactorily with the Doctor getting a confrontation scene with Slaar and everything being nicely tied up. I can almost forgive the blatant re-editing of the cliffhanger. As is by now traditional our heroes slip off at the end as soon as the camera's off them. Interesting that there's still a Security Council of a United Nations at this point in the future, incidentally.




That was good fun overall, competently done if rather par for the course- 3/5. This is undoubtedly the story I'd pick as the most representative of the era to this point.


Incidentally, for the first time in the Marathon I've had to tamper with my pre-existing rankings by demoting The Dominators from 3/5 to 2/5- it was just too poor for the company it was keeping!

Doctor Who: The Krotons

Part One



"They're vandals. Look at that!"



Robert Holmes makes his debut with a rather uncharacteristic hard sci-fi script, and we get to see Philip Madoc for the first time. What with Terrance Dicks on board as well, it's beginning to feel as though since the new recording block started with The Invasion a new era has made its first steps into being. Very much as things felt around the time of The Savages, in fact.

Some things are very much as they have been, of course- a quarry, a model city, mind control as the main threat and this Doctor's bugbear. But this story feels very new, our first real conceptual sci-fi since the John Wiles era. The central concept established in this episode, of the mysterious Krotons selecting and then vapourising the brightest of the Gonds, is fascinating conceptually and opens up the story immediately. It's noticeable how smoothly and quickly the TARDISeers are integrated into the main plot with the minimum of tiresome questioning. I also love the way the Krotons control the Gonds' education and make damn sure they don't learn anything dangerous. An excellent start.



Part Two


"Well, Zoe is something of a genius, of course. It can be very irritating at times."


The picture quality of the unrestored video releases is generally bad, but for some reason this episode seems to be particularly awful. Still, although the picture quality may be poor and it may look cheap the big ideas and astute storycraft continue to impress. This is another great story for Zoe, with her being unable to resist the education machine, but the plot continues to zoom pacily ahead right the way through. This is great stuff...

...Although the design of the Krotons is, er, interesting. Also interesting is that they seem to have Sith Efrican accents.



Part Three


"All weak matter must be dispersed. That is procedure!"


The first cracks in the story appear here as last episode's cliffhanger gets a particularly crap resolution, one of the Krotons suddenly deciding that Jamie could be valuable. And come to think of it, Jamie doesn't seem to actually do much in this story. Still, compared to the superficially similar The Dominators this continues to impress. It's noticeable that all of the human characters, including Philip Madoc's Eelek, are intelligent and have believable motives. Well, apart from the rather wet Vana. Who's the only female character aside from Zoe.

More of the cleverness in the story's central concept emerges in this episode; the tests are just a trap so the Krotons can use the brainpower of "high brains" to temporarily reanimate them from their liquid state. They're an interesting type of life form, crystalline and technically immortal as they simply revert to liquid once they "exhaust", capable of being reanimated later.

Part Four


"We can only blow ourselves up!"


Sadly, after three excellent episodes the conclusion doesn't quite work, mainly because the Krotons are shortly due to "exhaust", thus depriving the story of most of its sense of threat. Why on Earth did Holmes choose to do this? Also eyebrow-raising is that we're supposed to oppose the democratically elected Eelek and support the restoration of what is basically absolute monarchy without the trimmings. But overall this is a disjointed and unsatisfying finale.



Overall, it's only the final episode that renders this story only a 4/5- although it never quite reaches the heights of the best stories, The Krotons benefits from great sci-fi concepts, some good character bits for the regulars even if the guest characters are a bit functional, and three episodes of tight, pacey plotting. a promising start from this Robert Holmes chap. I wonder if he'll turn up again?

Doctor Who: The Invasion

Part One



"England in Summer, I should say. Do you see the rainclouds?"


At last I'm seeing the famous Cosgrove Hall animations for the first time. Magnificent indeed, a triumph. Although, er, surely Zoe is wearing the wrong clothes?

I love the bit with the cow on the scanner! And watching the series in sequence, with all these recent fluid links issues, I'm glad to hear Jamie saying the TARDIS "keeps going wrong all the time."

This is an excellent first episode, the device of the hitchhiker-friendly bloke in the lorry really helping to portrat International Electromatics as Sinister Big Corporate Baddies and setting up some asmosphere before the story starts to pull back with next episode. it's quite a powerful moment when he's killed. Again, this is a bit Quatermass II.

Isobel's fantastic, scribbling on the walls indeed! And the Doctor's diatribe against the automatic answering device has such a contemporary resonance! The Doctor's dislike of computers harks back to The Ice Warriors and seems to stem from the same impulse as his hatred of mind control, odd though the link may seem today.




Part Two


"They may look like amateurs, but that man has the knack of being one jump ahead of everyone."


The Doctor and Jamie are being followed by two sinister men in a car! And the fact that one of them is played by John Levene and was named in the credits to last episode as "Benton" in no way reveals who they may be. Oh no.

Once again we get to meet the man I can now finally refer to as the Brig! It's been four years, and he's now part of what he's apparently happy to hear described as a "world secret police". Um, okay.

The Doctor and Jamie are known from "Planet 14". What's all this then? Of course, the different voice doesn't mean anyone has any doubt over what that thing in Vaughn's wall happens to be!

I love Zoe's "Algol" antics. So, apparently does Vaughn. More technological amusement comes as the Brig hands the Doctor an enormous mobile phone in the most dated scene for a while.

It's just struck me- this story sees the first credit for one Terrance Dicks!



Part Three


"Yes, Parker. Our clever Doctor has outwitted you. Oh, that wouldn't be too difficult, would it?""



Not that it's surprising or anything, but Kevin Stoney's great, isn't he? And Vaughn gets a most revealing line: "That's the secret of my success, you see- uniformity, duplication". Not only is he thematically linked with what we know full well to be this story's monster but both he and them are partly representative of the conformist side of corporate mass culture. Diametrically opposed to this we have the Doctor, what with his "I hate computers and refuse to be bullied by them."

It's great to see the Doctor's recorder again, this time being used as a telescope!

This Vaughn / Packer double act is shaping up to be great. Especially as it's a reason for Kevin Stoney to keep saying dastardly things in that great voice of his. And now he wants the TARDIS! Still great stuff.


Part Four


"Don't worry, Packer. You've blundered again. But fortunately it won't really matter."


Animation again, looking superb, and Klieg Vaughn's plan comes into focus- to use Professor Watkins' machine to betray his, er, anonymous allies, and to escape in the TARDIS if it fails. Yes, that'll work.
I love the stuff with the helicopter and canoe. It's almost as though the Doctor's due to turn into a lover of all things vehicular...

We get the big reveal at the end. But of course, we were pretty much told it was the Cybermen at the start of this episode. It's suspense, not surprise, that gives the cliffhanger its point and its impact.

Part Five


"Is that all gibberish or do you really know what you're talking about?"


These new look chunky Cybermen should look great but there's something lacking. They look very tough but a little less human in their shape, a little too tough, a little less prone to remind you what they once were. Still, this continues to be great. I love Isobel's attitude to finding out the Earth is under attack from aliens, and the battle of wills between Vaughn and the Cyber Planner. In fact, I care not a jot that this episode is entirely filler as it's full of entertaining characters doing entertaining things.

It's true, though: the plot treads water pretty much through this whole episode. UNIT's need to prove to their superiors in Geneva that what the organisation was apparently set up for is finally happening, while Vaughn and the Cyber Planner do nothing but talk. But we get some of the best stuff yet in this episode, from the charmingly dated feminist bit ("Oh you... you man!") to the chilling revelation that Vaughn has been partly Cybernised. And arguably Vaughn's hubris officially pushes him over the point of no return with the line "Nothing has been overlooked."

More good stuff includes a bit more of this Benton chap- wonder if we'll ever see him again?- and the comedy sixties policemen with his chinstrap and silly moustache. Who gets killed, naturally. Although I couldn't help noticing that his death is essentially Isobel and Zoe's fault.



Part Six


"The invasion could come at any moment."


More good stuff this episode, plus some actual plot. It's a nice twist that Isobel's photos look like fakes- there goes the last vestige of plot relevance for last episode then! But who cares when it's this much fun? Professor Watkin's speech to Vaughn, and his bullet bouncing off Vaughn's chest, is another great scene. Kevin Stoney here is surely putting in the best performance for an actor playing a baddie we've had yet.

After getting two people killed, Isobel's making the tea to make amends! An interesting stance on sexual politics there...

The last few minutes with the transmissions starting and Cybermen emerging from the sewers are truly iconic and show just how great a director Douglas Camfield was.



Part Seven


"Well, don't look so worried. Fancy a cup of tea?"


By my calculations, if The Abominable Snowmen took place in 1935, The Web of Fear was forty years after that, and this is four years after that, it must be 1979, give or take a year or so either side. So this takes place before The Tenth Planet in 1986. This being the case, these Cybermen can't be from Mondas, which is at present heading towards Earth with an ETA of about seven years. So what's the story behind these "Planet 14" Cybermen? It's all very mysterious.

Meanwhile, in the actual episode, we get stuff happening in Russia, giving the story a globetrotting element, although of course we don't actually get to see any scenes happening there. But there's loads of good stuff pointing us toards the climax- his conversation with the Doctor sees Vaughn's hubris finally explode, just before the Cybermen casually swat him aside. And Zoe's calculating the rocket's trajectory is great.



Part Eight



"They destroyed my dream!"


Oddly enough for such a fantastic story with such a real sense of threat, not much of it comes from the actual physical presence of the Cybermen, whose fight here with Packer, killing him, is the first real physical threat they pose. And they don't say much either. Which is odd, because in a non-physical sense they pose a very real threat indeed with the threat of Cybernisation being a significant part of the danger until they switch to destroying all life on Earth with a bomb. I suppose it's the Cyber Planner and loads of stuff in the sky that provides the threat, with the individual Cybermen, who obey Vaughn until this episode, oddly irrelevant.

There's lots of energy and excitement now, and we constantly know action type stuff's about to happen because so much of this is on film. It's a great finale, and a great showpiece for UNIT. It's a shame the Doctor's not more involved though. And Jamie's hardly in this episode at all. It's a great ending though, as Isobel and Captain Turner see the TARDISeers leave. I think this is the first time we've seen this type of ending, in which the last thing we see is the reaction of some guest characters to the TARDIS vanishing.



Well, that was an action-packed and exciting bit of fun and no mistake. 5/5 again. Suddenly Doctor Who feels like a very different programme.

Doctor Who: The Mind Robber

Part One


"Who are you?"

You can tell it's DVD- the opening titles look so much cleaner than they did last story. The restoration team have done a magnificent job here, although arguably it's now more obvious just how much of the TARDIS wall consists of cardboard roundels. And, once we zoom in on it when things start to go wrong, just how tatty the console is.

This is only the second Troughton story, after Tomb, that I thought I knew quite well before the Marathon began. But as soon as the TARDIS starts going wrong my reaction is entirely different from watching in sequence- of course, the fluid links have been on the blink since The Wheel in Space. And this may explain why the TARDIS is suddenly vulnerable to outside forces- it's weakened in its current, mercury vapour emitting state. Oh, and Troughton speaks of a "power room". I don't remember hearing of this before.

Jamie's criticism of Zoe's Dulcian-inspired fashion sense is, of course, entirely correct, so she changes into a skintight sparkly catsuit. Mmmm...

Things start to get creepy as the Ship tries to persuade the TARDISeers to go outside. It's The Edge of Destruction again, except this time there may really be a malign outside force. But why is Zoe so keen to get back to her (unnamed) home city? She's only been on board the TARDIS five minutes.

Zoe slaps Jamie. And then things start getting really creepy with the white robots, the white TARDIS and the white Jamie and Zoe. The ending is excellent, surely the ultimate cliffhanger. And on top of that, er, a certain shot of Zoe towards the end...

That was excellent. It shows just what The Edge of Destruction could have been like if it'd been good...




Part Two


"This is like exploring a maze in the dark."


As strange as last episode was, it at least harked back to something the series had done before, whereas this episode is utterly strange and disorienting. Yet it remains gripping throughout because the familiar characters are a still point for all the surreal events to hang upon, and because it feels we can trust the story to eventually resolve itself. If last episode was The Edge of Destruction done right, I suppose we're now more into the territory of The Celestial Toymaker done right.

I like the way Jamie pauses in front of the redcoat and stands still to deliver his line before attacking.  But this is excellent, and really establishes a mood with elements from fairy tale and fiction which should be reassuring but instead are menacing. Bernard Horsfall is good as a certain character, who I won't name as I'm not supposed to know who he is yet.

Part Three



"Are you a woodcutter's son?"

"No, I'm the son of a piper."

"Oh, how very disappointing. Well, I think you ought to go. Goodbye."



I like these scenes of the Master, from behind, in his nifty little lair with the monitors. In fact the whole thing's extremely well designed, so much so that you don't mind the budget nature of much of it, or the clearly limited size of the sets.

And it doesn't just look good, it has substance. Great as the set pieces are, the story isn't just a string of them- the plot's always moving onwards underneath, which is a huge contrast from these pieces in The Celestial Toymaker.

Frazer Hines is back! Yay! But our heroes are lost in a labyrinth. And the string's run out. Yes, Doctor, that's right- split the party. If there's one thing all my years of playing D&D have taught me it's that's a really good idea.

Real thought has been put into the fantasy elements- in spite of the fantasy traqppings this is far from throwaway stuff for kids as could have been the case given the subject matter. Instead we get great concepts such as all of Gulliver's dialogue coming from swift's pen.

I love Rapunzel, and her wonderfully fourth wall-shattering dialogue.




Part Four



"Why, Sir, the Yahoos!"



The Medusa scene is well resolved, and subtly helps develop the audience's understanding of what's happening while it's at it. We see the White Robots again, and the TARDISeers are reunited. But there's one thing that's bothering me by now: is it me or has the Doctor changed during the last couple of stories? Some of the depth to the character- the Machiavellian streak, the ends-justifies-the-means attitude- hasn't been in evidence recently, and this story has really made me notice. I hope this isn't permanent, great though Troughton is.

With the Karkus the Doctor and Zoe reverse their roles- this time it's Zoe who knows it's fiction. And as for the bit where Zoe fights the Karkus in her sparkly catsuit- well, I've certainly seen worse scenes... Interesting that she's apparently from "the year 2000", or at least can remember it. That would place The Wheel in Space fairly early in the 21st century. I love the Karkus' dismissal: "We won't be needing you any longer. Run along." Much of the dialogue in this story is really quite witty, not something it seems to get credit for.

The revelations soon come thick and fast- our heroes risk becoming fictional characters (oh, how postmodern!) if they make a wrong step. And the Master wants the Doctor to replace him. Oh, and for the first time in a while, apparently, "resistance is useless."

I love the book cliffhanger!



Part Five



"Man would become a string of sausages!"



I'm loving this story. It's such a breath of fresh air to see something that's innovative and done well, especially after such a long string of base-under-sieges.

Yet again the Doctor shows his intense dislike of mind control as the fictionalised Zoe and Jamie lose their free will. His escape from the Master's clutches is great, but naturally it's Rapunzel who gets the best line; she agrees to the Doctor using her hair to climb down as "everybody else uses it, so I don't see why you shouldn't."

We get an epic ending as fictional characters duel against one another, and it's Zoe who saves the day by realising the computer is overloading. This is a great story for her.



Overall, that was great! Well structured, witty and bursting with ideas. Doctor Who has taken a real creative risk with this story and it's really paid off. An easy 5/5.