Doctor Who: The Android Invasion

Part One

“Is that finger loaded?”

We begin with an apparently lobotomised chap staggering towards his apparent demise, Roboman style- that’ll be a Terry Nation script, then. It means we’re in store for a solid exploratory first episode, though, and this one is nice and mysterious. Plus we’ve got Robert Holmes polishing the script plus Tom and Lis have really hit their stride- the relationship between the Doctor and Sarah is great here, with all sorts of subtle touches.

Unfortunately there’s an unintentionally funny scene with Sarah hanging from an, er, “cliff”, which even the camera angle can’t save. Still, I’m sure they’ll never allow this sort of thing to happen again so I’ll let it pass.

We have the intriguing and Avengers-esque situation of an English village, seemingly deserted, with the occasional oddity such as all the coins being new. A promising beginning, and the scene where everyone suddenly springs to life in the pub is very effective. Meanwhile there’s a new UNIT HQ, but people aren’t friendly, and terrifyingly the TARDIS takes off with the key in it. I have a problem with reviewing all this though- I’ve seen this story a fair few times and so I have no idea how obvious it is that they’re not on Earth and all the NPCs, to nick a useful term from roleplaying, are androids. Pretty damn obvious, I suspect, but I can’t really say.

Robert Holmes has been having fun with his script polishing duties- the Doctor’s reply to Crayford’s “Keep your hands where I can see them!” is a cheerful “Those are the first friendly words I’ve heard since I got here.” Unfortunately, though, we find out early on that the Brig has been called to Geneva to be temporarily replaced with some generic Avengers style colonel.

Part Two

“I will now activate the hostility circuits.”

Lots of dialogue between Sarah and the Doctor at the start of the episode, which reveals the important plot point that Crayford is supposed to have died on a space flight, is whispered and barely audible. Roll on the DVD and subtitles.

We get to see Benton and Harry but, alas, they’re androids. Instead, we’ll have to rely for our nostalgia fix on Sarah twisting her ankle like companions of old. And on the memories of Terror of the Zygons invoked by Styggron’s use of the dartboard as a scanner. Why did he do that, then? He wasn’t expecting visitors to the pub!

Part Three

“A foolish experiment, Styggron.”

For some reason the Kraals are now going to destroy the replica village, which gives us our first countdown of this most countdown-heavy of all Terry Nation’s Who scripts. There’s something so perfect for the genre in the concept of Styggron tying the Doctor to the centre of a village square which is going to explode in nine minutes while telling him that “Resistance is inadvisable!” that somehow it doesn’t seem to matter that the plot stopped making sense a long time ago. That’s the thing about this wonderful season; even the bad stories are great.

The silly conversations between Styggron and Chelaki crack me up. I can only assume that it’s a fundamental axiom of Kraal societies that maverick scientists must be given free reign to pursue even the most random and potty experiments. No doubt it’s a world full of Jeff Goldblums where the disaster movie has never been invented.

Things now start to get even more wonderfully silly. Not only does Styggron get to call Crayford a “puny-minded weakling”, but Crayford has apparently resumed contact with Earth claiming to still be in his ship having been missing for two years, his excuse being that he survived by recycling his water. Er, yes. And no doubt he saved oxygen by holding his breath a lot. This is the point where it becomes necessary to stop worrying about the plot and open another bottle of wine.

I suspect Robert Holmes came to the same conclusion while script editing it, and decided to give up on the lost cause that was the plot in favour of having fun with the dialogue. We end with some classic stuff: “I feel disorientated.” “it’s the disorientation centre.” “That makes sense.”

Part Four

“So, provided we don’t burn up in re-entry and aren’t suffocated on the way down, we’ll probably be crushed to a pulp when we land.” 

“Exactly! You’ve put your finger on the one tiny flaw in our plan.”

Finally we get to see the real Earth. But there’s no time to dwell on this as it’s all action from this point on. There’s an awful lot of fun on who’s an android and who’s not, but the result of this is that Harry and Benton don’t get to do much in their last story which is a real shame.

As usual we get great dialogue, presumably by Holmes (“If you do see me again today then I want you to report it to me immediately”), while Nation provides the countdowns (Three in one story!) and the triumphant eyepatch moment, which of course requires a certain quota of alcohol to experience properly.

There’s no denying it- this story is absolutely terrible. And yet I loved watching it! This is the Plan 9 From Outer Space of Doctor Who. It doesn’t really deserve a 3/5, but it’s going to get one.

Doctor Who: Terror of the Zygons

Part One

“My family have served this country for seven centuries, but that seems not to count these days, does it?”

This was my first ever BBC video and the first ever “old” story I ever saw. I’ve seen this many, many times but never before in episodic format. And it’s good to see the short clip from Disney Time as well as the BBC globe.

This is great from the beginning, with an oil rig being destroyed to the sound of some fantastic incidental music. It’s great to see the Brig (in a kilt!) and Benton again. I can’t help thinking though- was there really enough time to install a space-time telegraph at the end of Robot?

The Doctor’s attitude is interesting- in this incarnation he feels much less attached to UNIT and 20^th century Earth, and has a bit of a go at the Brigadier for recalling him only to change his mind suddenly when reminded of the loss of life. This Doctor is fascinating- more individualistic and Bohemian than his predecessor, but with the same underlying principles. And there’s something very charismatic about his changes of mood. I love the oil speech.

It’s great to see Angus Lennie, of off of of The Great Escape, as the very Hammeresque pub landlord. And this is just so well directed by Douglas Camfield- the moor sets a real mood, and our first shot of the Zygons hands and eyes is great. Suddenly we have a story of tightly edited scenes and a very nice moment where the injured Harry cries “No… no…” as the Zygon advances on him, and we then cut to the Doctor on the phone calmly saying “No… no…”. This is top stuff.

Part Two

“Asleep? Impossible, I was on duty!"

The whole organic look of the Zygon ship is great- original and a triumph of both design and lighting. And there’s more great directing on show as we dissolve between the faces of Sarah and the Doctor as he hypnotises her to avoid asphyxiation. This is so well directed it almost distracts from the fact the Doctor seems to have acquired yet another superpower, one he’s never bothered to use before in similar circumstances for some reason.

We get lots of atmosphere with the fog and the great music, a bit of actual journalisting from Sarah, and generally enough excellence on show that I’ve decided to completely ignore the fact that the Skarasen looks crap.

Part Three

“Aliens! With wireless sets?”

The Doctor is saved by Harry! Yay! This man is great. And Sarah shows how great she is, too, in discovering the Duke’s secret passage to the Zygon ship, swiftly rescuing Harry and returning in time for tea. Unlike the Doctor, who attempts the same thing and promptly gets captured.

I love the Doctor’s line “Sounds like the Brigadier” as UNIT merrily lob bombs into the loch. It’s sad that this is the last ever “regular” UNIT story, but at least they’re going out on a high.

Part Four

“Was that bang big enough for you, Brigadier?”

There’s some great modelwork on show with the Zygon ship, especially the landing scene. And it’s good to get a reason for the fact that, as the Doctor points out, there are only about six Zygons. It seems their home planet was “destroyed in a recent catastrophe” and that Broton wants to terraform the Earth for the benefit of other Zygons who are to arrive in “many centuries”.

The prime minister is apparently a woman (Thatcher was already Tory leader at the time) so it seems Jeremy must have lost an election. 

The Doctor nearly loses his life by underestimating the power of organic crystallography- a common error, to be fair. I’ve almost lost count of the number of times I’ve done the same thing myself. Still, he manages eventually to escape, gleefully vandalise the Zygon ship, and release all the Zygons’ prisoners, although the bit with him operating the Zygons’, er, interestingly shaped controls certainly caused me to raise an eyebrow.

Fittingly for his last regular story, the Brig at last gets to shoot an alien baddie dead with an ordinary bullet. We finish with the Doctor claiming he’ll be able to make the short hop to London in the TARDIS an d offering a lift to both Sarah and Harry. Of course, it’s understood by everyone that the TARDIS will be doing nothing of the sort. Harry stays behind in an understated leaving scene, a little disappointing but probably in keeping with the stiff-upper-lip nature of the man, but Sarah, being fab, signs up for some further adventures in time and space.

Brilliant. Not only an easy 5/5, but the third best so far. Great story, great performances, awesomely well directed. This is Doctor Who at its very finest.

Doctor Who: Robot

Part One
 

“I think the nose is a definite improvement.”

New titles. They’re very impressive, not throwing out the baby from last season’s bathwater. Which is a good thing, because they’ll be around for quite a while.

New, new Doctor too. It’s nice that his first words relate back to The Time Warrior and Invasion of the Dinosaurs, reminding Sarah (and us) that this is the same character. New character too, with Ian Marter splendid as the immediately likeable Harry Sullivan.

Some very good directing with the robot POV shots,, and also good that the story’s threat is set up so early. There’s a lot of setting-up required for the new Doctor’ and some fun is had, but things stop short of self-indulgence.

One problem (or not) is that the plot requires the Brig to slip a lot of information to Sarah who is, however much a friend of the Doctor, a civilian and, more to the point, a journalist. The effect is that a closeness is implied which isn’t really justified elsewhere.

The establishing scenes with the Doctor- mirror, clothes, medical- are fun and, crucially, brief, nicely establishing this new Doctor’s very different personality without making this the plot itself. It’s notable that, although only last episode the TARDIS brought the Doctor “home” to Earth, having regenerated he’s now eager to get back into the TARDIS, a sign of things to come. Still, not only is this a fully-fledged UNIT story, and the first real one since Invasion of the Dinosaurs to boot, it’s the first time we hear the Brig’s full name: Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.

We’re introduced to the key concepts of the plot by the end of the episode- Thinktank, Kettlewell and his perfect mad scientist hair, the Robot- but the thought that lingers is just how great this new Doctor already is.

Part Two

“I can’t thank you enough for the visit. It’s been most amusing.”

The Doctor’s mannerisms, not that the hat and scarf have been added, already seem established in only his second episode. Far from being erratic or disoriented, he’s very much thrown straight into the fray, with plenty of eccentric mannerisms and witty asides but always with something penetrating to say about the situation. And he just oozes charisma.

The sinister behaviour of Miss Winters, sadistically letting Sarah think the robot is going to kill her, makes no bones about the fact she’s a baddie, and the fascistic scientific Reform Society is equally obviously up to no good. It’s fascinating to see the contrast of the Doctor’s actions while visiting Thinktank to Sarah’s last episode. This Doctor is flippant, Bohemian, full of bon mots, always playing things by ear, but never misses anything. He’s fantastic.

It soon becomes clear, though, that the fact these baddies are so obvious very effectively hides the fact that Kettlewell is secretly with them. This came as a genuine surprise to me.

It’s fascinating to see the new Doctor still driving around in Bessie. And gratifying to see Benton promoted, albeit in a way which wryly acknowledges the cut-price nature of UNIT staffing!

Part Three

“The US Cavalry never got treated like this!”

The robot has become a figure of sympathy by the start of this episode, driven to despair by the way it’s forced to go against its “prime directive” and kill people. This is all taken from Asimov, of course (to do otherwise in a story about a robot would just be perverse, and an insult to the great man) but the robot is also an interesting amalgam of Frankenstein’s monster and King Kong.

Britain being entrusted with the nuclear launch codes of every nuclear power is, to put it mildly, the most far fetched thing yet seen in all of Doctor Who. And yet we’re made to accept it by the clever tactic of smothering the exposition in witty banter between the Doctor and the Brig: “Well, naturally. The rest were all foreigners”.

We get the first scene with the Doctor playing for time by emptying his capacious pockets, and a fine scene it is too, shortly followed by the revelation of Kettlewell’s baddie status. The funniest scene in the entire story, though, has to be the sight of the Brig’s walkie-talkie. How very Trigger Happy TV.

There are some interesting developments of elements from the Pertwee years; the bunker is yet another relic of “the cold war days” while Sonic Screwdriver Mission Creep continues unabated- this time it’s a sonic lance, apparently. Would have come in handy during Monster of Peladon then…

Oh, and the CSO’d Action Man tank- you know, I think they actually get away with it!

Part Four

“You know, for once I’d like to meet an alien menace that wasn’t immune to bullets.”

Sarah and Harry are to be killed. But, for reasons which make no sense but are a rule of the genre, Miss Winters decrees that it is to be later and not now for some reason.

It’s fitting that the robot should kill Kettlewell in the most Frankenstein moment yet. And convenient that the countdown to Armageddon, once stopped, should start again right at the beginning on 300.

The robot’s suitably tragic in this episode to be believable (“Machines do not lie!”) but is enough of a well-known trope (King Kong and Frankenstein again) not to trouble us unduly and stop us enjoying the light-hearted fun.

I love Kettlewell’s lab- every bit as stereotypical as his hair, with all that bubbling liquid. It’s been a long wait for a proper mad scientist story so it’s good to see it done with gusto.

I had to chuckle as soon as the Brig was heard to exclaim “I think just for once we’re not going to need the Doctor”- the robot growing to giant size is funny precisely because it’s exactly what you expect to happen. And it’s when it picks up Sarah in the most King Kong moment yet that it occurs to me- there’s an awful lot of CSO in this story!

The threat is ended, perfectly, by a nice bit of teamwork between the new Doctor and Harry, who’s been great.

The final scene is fantastic. The Doctor offers Sarah a jelly baby at the end and she accepts, seeing his meaning straightaway. Much as I liked Jo, it’s nice having a companion who actually enjoys travelling in the TARDIS! And, excitingly, they’re joined by Harry. This TARDIS team looks very promising indeed. And it seems the TARDIS is where the future lies, as the Doctor seems determined to the point of childishness to cut his ties to UNIT, or at least the boring bits. Cue one of my favourite lines: “There’s no point being grown-up if you can’t be childish sometimes.”

Wow. That was great fun, and a perfect introduction to this exciting and great new Doctor,. It may have been light and fluffy, but I see no reason not to give it a 5/5.

Doctor Who: Planet of the Spiders

Part One
 

“Ah! Doing a bit of hairdressing on the side?”

We start with an unexpected sight- Mike Yates may no longer be part of UNIT, but he’s back. It’s also unusual, and refreshing, to see the Doctor and the Brig watching some kind of variety show, even if it’s not entirely recreational.

Yates has infiltrated himself into a hippyish group of Buddhists whose general appearance is absolutely as ‘70s as it’s possible to get. Clothes, hair, moustaches: all look like something from a contemporary parody of the decade, but there they are.

It’s great to see Cyril Shaps again, playing another nervous character, this time someone with psychic powers. We hear than the Brig has been involved with someone called Doris, and get to see some clips from Carnival of Monsters, something which is always to be welcomed. It’s also nice to get a letter from Jo telling us how she’s been getting on. She’s returned that blue crystal, though, for reasons which seem ominous.

We get an interesting speech from the lama, Cho-Je , about becoming a “new man" only to realise you’ve “never existed”. It’s almost as if something’s being foreshadowed in Buddhist terms. I wonder what?

Suddenly Cyril Shaps is dead- and it’s hard to escape the conclusion that it’s pretty much entirely the Doctor’s fault, collateral damage from his desire to satisfy his curiosity. Again, foreshadowing.

It’s a great big spider…

Part Two

“Of course we’re flying!”

Spiders which jump on your back, turn invisible yet exert control… a brilliant idea, and one I’m sure we won’t ever be seeing again in the future, such as, for example, in thirty-four years time.

This is actually the last full on UNIT episode of the Pertwee years, and although there’s no real marking of this fact it’s not a bad way to go. The Brig’s hair may be a bit long (I’m one to talk, mind…) but there’s some good stuff, especially a nice line from Benton about how “I’m expendable and you’re not.” And the Brig’s on the phone to a medical officer called “Sullivan”- who he?

We get another mention of the Doctor’s hermit guru from halfway up that mountain, again foreshadowing later events. But basically this is a chase, involving land, sea, air, Bessie and the Doctor’s fantastic flying new car. And I like it- it’s fun, it’s appropriate as a celebration, so who cares if the plot is not advanced one iota, especially as Lupton just teleports away at the end?

Oh, and towards the end, we get our final comedy tramp of the Pertwee era. Not that there were really all that many of them in the end.

Part Three

“You are cleverer than the Two-Legs on Metebelis 3!”

Now there are loads of spiders, and after last week’s high jinks the plot is heating up. We get to hear enough of Lupton’s history to establish that he’s a nutter. I love the scene where both he and the spider attack each others’ minds in turn.

It’s a shock when Sarah is suddenly transported to Metebelis 3, the fabled planet which has been gradually seeded, Bad Wolf style, throughout the last couple of years. Things have changed since the Doctor was last here in The Green Death- it’s now inhabited by human colonists with Mummerset accents who are under the tyrannical rule of the mysterious spiders. Sarah’s quite extraordinarily brave at being suddenly transported to another planet and a bit of extreme peril- she’s quite clearly great by this point.

Interesting to have the Doctor explain to Yates something that’s always bugged me a bit- how come the TARDIS always lands at the right place on a given planet?

Part Four

“Oh dear. This is getting monotonous.”

The above quote most definitely does not sum up my feelings on this story- I think it’s great so far!

We get some nicely and economically sketched details of society on Metebelis 3. It may be a fairly generic Doctor Who trope, a society oppressed by monstrous rulers, but it’s only a minor subplot here. Incidentally, the Metebelis 3 colonists look every bit as uber-70s as the Buddhist group on Earth.

Tommy has a good look at the crystal and goes all Flowers For Algernon, a subtle hint of what’s happened to the spiders on Metebelis 3- they’re Earth spiders made larger and cleverer by the crystals, a big plot bombshell- and just how significant the crystal will turn out to be.

Sarah risks her life for the Doctor by going to get the machine for him, while the Doctor suddenly looks very old whilst lying there. Still, once cured he briefly reverts to some of the old Season Eight style rudeness by loudly waking his hosts at the crack of dawn.

The Doctor gets straight to work. This is good stuff!

Part Five

“Much as I admire your stoic acceptance of the inevitable, I’d appreciate it if you’d shut up for a moment.”

This is a very long reprise indeed, but the effect is that both Sarah and the Doctor end up in the “web”, waiting to be eaten. The Doctor escapes, but his confrontation with the Great One- all the more effective for being unseen- is deeply effective as the Doctor himself is clearly very frightened indeed. The story’s themes are starting to come together nicely; the Great One says to the Doctor “You are proud, little man.”

There’s a nice bit with our heroes about to leave Metebelis 3, as the Doctor briefly panics that he’s lost the key only for Sarah to calmly reveal that she has it. There’s also a nice touch with Tommy; Sarah suggests he might be “normal”, and he replies “I sincerely hope not.”

And then the crux of the whole story arrives as the Doctor and Sarah finally meet the mysterious K’anpo. (Incidentally, for future reference, the Doctor speaks fluent Tibetan.) It becomes clear that the Doctor is the cause of everything that’s going wrong, just because he found that crystal on Metebelis 3: “Found?” “Well, perhaps ‘stole’ might be a better word.”

Part Six

“Not all spiders sit on the back.”

Not only is the reprise very long, it also has scenes fitted around it which weren’t there last episode, which is sort of cheating. But it’s exciting stuff from beginning to end, one of the finest individual episodes yet. K’anpo reveals who he really is- the old Time Lord hermit who tutored the Doctor all those years ago. It seems he’s “regenerated” (the first use of the word- it gave me a thrill!) and that Cho-Je doesn’t technically exist at all but is some kind of avatar, some kind of “projection” of his next life. I’m sure there are Buddhist allusions here that I’m not getting, but it’s cool nonetheless.

The Doctor must face his fear and atone for what he’s done. There a real sense of inevitable doom as he sets off for Metebelis 3. Meanwhile, K’anpo is hurt after being attacked, and “regenerates” into Cho-Je. Cool!

The Great One is huge, and looks very impressive indeed. She’s overreached herself though, and the crystal is too much for her, just as K’anpo thought it would be. All the spiders are killed, but the Doctor’s been fatally affected by the radiation…

UNIT HQ. Three months later, and the TARDIS has finally brought the Doctor “home”- it’s fitting that this Doctor, having got over his exile, is now ready to admit just how attached he’s become to this one place and time. K’anpo gives the process a push and the Doctor’s face change. It may not be that visually impressive, but in context it’s a huge dramatic moment. Wow.

Well, that was great. I’m sure most of the Buddhist stuff went over my head, but it was a perfect framework for this Doctor’s swansong in a story which was truly about him as a character. 5/5.

The season as a whole scores 4.2/5, giving it fourth place so far. It’s been a season of four 5/5s and one 1/5, a strange combination!

Doctor Who: Invasion of the Dinosaurs

Part One

“Age?”

“You’d never believe me.”

An episode in black and white for what I think is the last time. It’s tempting to say something about how it enhance the atmosphere of this particularly atmospheric episode, but of course that’s wishful thinking. These episodes should be seen as they were meant to be seen.

London is deserted, something we tend to think of as a standard Doctor Who trope, although this is only the second time it’s happened, the first being The Web of Fear. But the situation is handled very well, with a real mood being created. The bird noises on the soundtrack are particularly effective.

The pterodactyl scene is one that’s probably best seen in black and white, I must admit. But this is very good- Malcolm Hulke seems to have a particular talent for creating situations where no one believes the Doctor without being annoying, mainly because the suspicion arises naturally and believably out of the situation.

And then we get to see the dinosaurs. Yeeees…. they never fail to remind me of a certain TV advert I remember from my youth. Type “Chewits advert 1986” into a popular video site and you’ll see what I mean…

Part Two

“…And pink for your actual pterodactyl.”

The appearance of the 12^th century man is a little incongruous in the context of the whole story, but at least it serves a purpose for the plot. And after last episode’s establishment of the mood the plot can start- the sudden and welcome appearance of the Brig immediately puts a stop to the business about no one believing the Doctor before it becomes tiresome. 

Just how many sugars does the Doctor take in his tea?

UNIT are back to their best from the start here- it seems the lessons of The Three Doctors have been well and truly learned. And in a pleasing piece of continuity Yates has had a “spot of leave” after his ordeals during The Green Death. 

There’s a first class guest cast here- a suitably sinister John Bennett as General Finch- an obvious baddie, but clearly supposed to be- and Peter Miles and Martin Jarvis in charge of the main moustache-twirling duties. 

This is impressive stuff. There’s some very good writing on show here, from the Doctor’s continuous interruptions (introducing Noel Johnson- General Smythe- as Charles Grover) to the shock revelation that Yates is a traitor.

Part Three

“Well, sometimes that girl baffles me.”

This is, sadly, the last ever story by Malcolm Hulke, and well up to his usual excellent standard. And after seeing so many it’s easy to spot recurring features- the serious tone, the good treatment of UNIT, the believable motivation for every character, and the sceptical treatment of the Doctor- in fact the first episode of this story reminds me very much of the first part of The War Games. But the characterisation in this episode is always good, from Yates’ stricken conscience as he insists the Doctor not be harmed to Sarah’s journalistic background coming into good use as she researches the scientist Whittaker.

Interesting line, “Back in the cold war days”, the first indication we’ve had for a very long time of these stories being set in the near future. Charles Grover is a great character, believably written by Hulke and extremely well portrayed by Noel Coleman, in a very different performance from his role as General Smythe so long ago.

That’s a fantastic cliffhanger, something no one could possibly see coming.

Part Four

“If she fails to respond to the re-education, we shall have to destroy her.”

This is the second time I’ve seen this story, and I’ll admit I’m a little less blown away than I was the first time, with the padding a lot more obvious. But still, this is great. The Doctor’s new car is fab, for a start, although its existence seems to contradict the impression we’ve recently been getting that the Doctor is loosening his ties to Earth with the end of his exile.

Crikey, it’s Carmen Silvera! The idea of the spaceship being a fake is great, and Sarah’s realisation that she can’t have been out for three months because she’s still got her scar is inspired. Meanwhile, the Web of Fear parallels continues as the Doctor skulks around in the underground, to be faced with a pterodactyl that’s obviously on wires. Oh dear…

The people on the ship are against “moral degradation, permissiveness, usury”… all my favourite things, in fact. This completely changes our impression of the villains- they’re not just environmentalist hippies but they have a scarily authoritarian social agenda too and want to establish a version of Franco’s Spain in the Jurassic. Or Cretaceous, or whenever.

You just have to groan as the Doctor walks into such an obvious trap…

Part Five

“So it was you, Mike.”

It’s a nicely underplayed moment, the Doctor’s realisation that Yates has betrayed his friends. It showcases just how brilliant Pertwee has been in this story, giving possibly his best performance since Season Seven. Could it be that his final series will see a sustained upturn? We’ll see…

Benton, on the other hand, is as loyal as ever, and the scene where he lets the Doctor overpower him gives us hope. The method the Doctor used seems awfully Star Trek, mind…

There’s more good stuff on the “space ship” as the bonhomie of the prospective “colonists” begins to look ever more sinister- they may regret having to do it but Sarah is clearly set to be the first dissident to be executed, and the very concept of the “reminder room” illustrates just how totalitarian this little society is.

Sarah escapes, only top be recaptured after making the same mistake with Finch as she did with Grover. For the first time we see the chief conspirators all together after we’ve been put fully in the picture about what’s going on. It’s strangely believable that such a scheme could come about, if we ignore the science being nonsense. A few reactionaries reinforce each other’s prejudices, they agree that something must be done, groupthink takes hold… it could happen. Except for the small point that the timey-wimey stuff is completely impossible, of course. Interestingly, this was made only a year or so before there are supposed to have been murmurings of a coup against the Wilson government. Probably mythical, of course, but presumably there was something in the zeitgeist.

Oh, look, a tyrannosaurus. That’s an original cliffhanger.

Part Six

“Don’t worry, Brigadier. I’m never wrong.”

Before we end the story we get to see a big fight between the two dinosaurs. Personally, I’m quite fond of the modelwork and, for what it is, it’s actually very good. And, aside from Sarah finding a too-convenient air vent through which to escape, so’s the episode.

The Doctor’s speech to Yates is brilliant, in terms of both script and performance. We get the fabled “There never was a golden age, Mike. It’s all an illusion.” but also, more to the point, the advice to “take the world you’ve got and make something of it.”

We get a nice ending, with the “passengers” getting to confront those who manipulated them and, most appropriately of all, Grover and Whittaker get transported back to their “golden age”.

That was absolutely brilliant. Great ideas, great characterisation, great performances. An easy 5/5. I’ll miss Malcolm Hulke.

Doctor Who: The Three Doctors

Part One

“I am he and he is me.”

“And we are all together, goo goo goo joob?”

An interesting footnote at the start, courtesy of the extraordinarily uber-70s Open University lecturer supreme that is Dr Tyler. “We may not be NASA, but we still get results” he says, implying no British space programme. We’ve come a long way since Ambassadors of Death. In fact, by now there seems to be little or no attempt to make it appear that these stories are set in the near future.

We’ve also come a long way since UNIT was something to be taken seriously, of course, and this is not a situation which can be sustained. The Brigadier has now been reduced to comic relief, passing the Doctor a silver rod to stir his tea with. And he gets lines which hardly help either the character or the format: “Make yourself at home. We’re only supposed to be a top security establishment. Liberty Hall, Dr Tyler. Liberty Hall!”

But of course all this doesn’t matter, as the format is about to be pretty much dispensed with anyway. And besides, it’s all such good fun. And it’s odd, because before the marathon I always had a particular dislike for this story. But seeing it in sequence it’s such fun. Never has a story risen in my estimation so much during this marathon.

Anyway, back to part one. It’s all very Pertwee- weird music, magnificently bizarre plot courtesy of the Bristol Boys- but then we get a foreshadowing of what’s to come as the Doctor says to Jo “When I tell you to run, run!” It may not be intentional, but it certainly got me into a frenzied state of anticipation.

Incidentally, where’s Yates? Still in hospital after being blown up in The Time Monster? Benton, meanwhile, finally gets to see the inside of the TARDIS. And it’s been redesigned for the second story in a row. Blimey.

It’s a bit odd to see the Doctor call upon the Time Lords for help for only the second time- the stakes don’t feel anywhere near as high as they did in The War Games. There’ve been eight fewer episodes by this point, for a start. And we see the Time Lords’ planet (we don’t know what it’s called yet, of course) for the first time in colour. Is it me, or is there a very ‘70s-looking brown and orange curtain on the wall to the right? It’s all getting very exciting indeed: one of the Time Lords is a judge from the Doctor’s trial, the Time Lords are in trouble, and they suddenly start talking about bringing back the Trout! Apparently, the first law of time is “Thou shalt not cross thine own time stream”, but nobody cares much about the law at times like this.

It’s the Trout! Yay! And suddenly, after years of assuming the Troughton seen here to have been a caricature of his previous performance, in the context of the marathon I now realise I was dead wrong. Before, I thought of the second Doctor as the character seen in Season Six, because those were the stories I’d seen. But this Doctor, with his whimsicality, his recorder, his intelligence hidden behind a clownish exterior, is the Doctor I remember from recently watching all his stories in order. He’s just right. Extraordinary.

It gets even better though. Soon the Time Lords are talking about “the earliest Doctor” (interesting- it’s explicitly stated he was the first) and there he is. And it’s great to see him.

“So you’re my replacements. A dandy and a clown.” Fantastic!

Part Two

“Because he told me to. And I’ve always had great respect for his advice.”

The Brigadier’s face when he first claps eyes on the Trout is truly a sight to behold. And while his flat refusal to believe what he’s told seems less of a shark-jumping moment in context, it’s still a low point for the character. And his reaction to the TARDIS is even worse. Still, he gets a good line about the Doctor being his own assistant.

A very interesting first; the first Doctor to offer jelly babies is Troughton… in a Pertwee story. I wasn’t expecting that!

We get to see Hartnell again. Fantastic, utterly wonderful in context. There’s a parallel here in my reaction to Troughton this time around; I used to find the Hartnell scenes embarrassing, even wrong, as Hartnell is so clearly ill and struggling with his lines. And yet, in context, it’s really great to see him again. And yes, he may be struggling a little, but there’s something triumphant there too. His scenes are magical.

Part Three

“I’m fairly sure that’s Cromer…”

For the second story in a row we’re introduced to some important Time Lord mythology- Omega, a “solar engineer” who created time travel for the Time Lords by blowing up a star and creating a singularity. Those Bristol Boys and their big, big ideas!

Trout says “Oh, my giddy aunt”! This is such a nostalgia fest. Who cares if the Brig is a buffoon and the cliffhanger is pointless? 

Part Four

“All things shall be destroyed! All things! All things! All things!

It’s genuinely shocking and effective that Omega has nothing under his helmet and only exists through sheer will. Somehow this is such a fantastic idea that it doesn’t even matter that Omega has never once, in his thousands of years in this world, looked into the mirror directly opposite his throne. Those Bristol Boys and their big ideas!

This is as fantastic as all the other episodes, aside from the fact that everyone who walks through the smoke arrives on Earth at once. Troughton’s great, acting Pertwee completely off the screen. The Brigadier says “Wonderful chap. Both of him.” And best of all, the Doctor’s exile is over.

Wow. I thought I was going to give this 1/5. I’ve always hated this story. And yet, this time it didn’t matter that much of it made no sense, that Ollis and Tyler have no reason to be there or that the treatment of UNIT and the Brig was unforgivable. Far more important was the fun of the big, big ideas and, best of all, the old Doctors. It really was great to see them again.

Doctor Who: The Time Monster

Part One

“Look, I know I’m exceedingly dim, but would you mind explaining?”

What a very odd beginning. The dream sequence, that is, not the stock footage, obviously. Quite a good beginning too, and not a bad first episode. Of course, UNIT is by now far too cosy an organisation to be taken as seriously as it was earlier this season, and the comedy feminism has dated quite as much as Stuart Hyde’s entire appearance. There’s no way at this point I can avoid quoting the line “May God bless the good ship Women’s Lib and all who sail in her.” Mind you, Stuart’s studenty pseudo-Marxism has dated just as much: “That’s all right, Prof- you go and enjoy your nosh. Leave it to the toiling masses.”

There’s a worrying undertone of sameyness and watering down of the established format though- yet another example of the Master posing under an obvious assumed name, too much silliness (souped up Bessie) and the Brigadier continuing his metamorphosis into a figure of fun.



Part Two

“You know, it’s a long time since I came across a hypnotic subject who turned out to be as good as you are. It’s just like old times.”

The above line, with its postmodern references to the by now established clichés of the programme in its present format, is just one of many examples right through the story. And this is simultaneously a big part of what makes this story both genuinely fun to watch and deeply problematic- the show can only really afford to have that sort of fun with the fourth wall if the core elements are solid. And here they clearly aren’t- the plot is just a series of set pieces and the overall tone is that of a Hanna Barbera cartoon- the Master’s telephone trick on Benton is a case in point.



Part Three

“Get on with it, you seventeenth century poltroons!”

Atlantis, eh? Perhaps this time it’ll be a case of third time lucky. Certainly, one promising sign in that our 500 year old king seems to have the great Ozzy Osbourne as an advisor. And it’s most convenient for the viewer that the king should contrive to explain how he’s 537 years old at this exact point.

We’ve now reached the point where thinking about the plot is a very bad idea, and the Doctor’s tea leaves-powered wine bottle machine is too silly for words. But there’s more- apparently the Doctor and the Master used to make these at school to spoil each others’ time experiments. Such an evocative addition to the show’s mythology.

Just when things can’t get any sillier we get UNIT versus a mediaeval knight, UNIT versus some roundheads and UNIT versus a V2. This is technically an awful episode, as bad as things have ever got, and yet it still manages to entertain, mainly with the humorous dialogue- some intended, some probably not, and the infectious sense of fun.



Part Four

“I’m sorry about your coccyx too, Miss Grant.”


It’s a nice touch that, just before the bomb apparently hits Yates, the Brig calls him “Mike”. But Yates has survived, if not entirely unharmed, as witnessed by a standard Pertwee era comedy yokel. We get more funny lines here to counterpoint the general shoddiness of everything: “Is this a private fight or can anyone join in?”; “I’m Stuart Hyde- registered, card-carrying, paid-up coward.”

We get to see the inside of both the Master’s TARDIS and the Doctor’s, and they both seem to be using the same, rather groovy, never-before-seen desktop theme. I wonder what it’s called. I also notice Jon Pertwee doesn’t know how to pronounce “nanosecond”. Still, this Time Ram thing sounds a cool idea, and I like Jo’s bravery in wanting to accompany the Doctor in full knowledge of the dangers. Awful though it is, this story actually treats Jo’s character rather well.

We get an odd paradox with the Doctor’s TARDIS and the Master’s both ending up inside each other. That’s brilliant. And weird. No doubt we’ll never see anything like this again…

There’s plenty more silliness, of course, Benton as a baby, the Master once again dispensing with the fourth wall as he turns down the Doctor’s sound because he’s “a bore”…



Part Five

“How about ‘Curses! Foiled again’?”

At last, stuff is happening on Atlantis. And we get Ingrid Pitt! Ooh! I was surprised at the scenes of the Master flirting with Galleia, mind- it seems to amount to rather less than fan mythology would have us believe.



Part Six

“It was the daisyest daisy I’d ever seen.”

Oh dear, it’s the Minotaur, and the Doctor’s using his red cape! We get one very nice scene in this episode though- the Doctor reveals a hitherto unknown Zen Buddhist, Barry Letts-influenced side as he recounts a tale of a hermit who lived on a mountain when he was a “little boy”. The rest of it’s some very clichéd Doctor / Master stuff though, very Hanna Barbera indeed. And with the final reveal of a naked Benton we get the most Hanna Barbera ending yet seen.




Well, technically I suppose that was the worst story yet. The plot, the tone, the treatment of the format and the regulars- all were utterly risible, and clearly pitched at the level of a Saturday morning cartoon. And yet, awful as it is, it still manages to be fun to watch. So much so that I haven’t got the heart to give it less than 2/5.

Season Nine as a whole scores 3.6/5, slightly better than Season Eight but still below every other season so far.




Rankings

The Massacre 5/5
The War Games 5/5
Spearhead From Space 5/5
Fury from the Deep 5/5
The Evil of the Daleks 5/5
The Myth Makers 5/5
The Aztecs 5/5
The Tomb of the Cybermen 5/5
Marco Polo 5/5
The Crusade 5/5
Day of the Daleks 5/5
Inferno 5/5
The Highlanders 5/5
The Daleks’ Master Plan 5/5
The Time Meddler 5/5
The Invasion 5/5
The Power of the Daleks 5/5
The Mind Robber 5/5
The Web of Fear 5/5
The Rescue 5/5
The Reign of Terror 5/5
An Unearthly Child 5/5
Colony in Space 5/5
The Macra Terror 5/5
The Savages 5/5
Mission to the Unknown 5/5
The Ambassadors of Death 4/5
Doctor Who and the Silurians 4/5
The Curse of Peladon 4/5
The Gunfighters 4/5
The Claws of Axos 4/5
The Tenth Planet 4/5
The Moonbase 4/5
The Dalek Invasion of Earth 4/5
The Romans 4/5
Terror of the Autons 4/5
The Krotons 4/5
The Ice Warriors 4/5
The War Machines 4/5
The Smugglers 4/5
The Abominable Snowmen 4/5
The Sea Devils 4/5
Planet of Giants 4/5
The Daleks 3/5
The Seeds of Death 3/5
The Enemy of the World 3/5
Galaxy Four 3/5
The Space Museum 3/5
The Mutants 3/5
The Chase 3/5
The Space Pirates 3/5
The Sensorites 3/5
The Edge of Destruction 2/5
The Dæmons 2/5
The Time Monster 2/5
The Mind of Evil 2/5
The Faceless Ones 2/5
The Ark 2/5
The Wheel in Space 2/5
The Dominators 2/5
The Web Planet 1/5
The Keys of Marinus 1/5
The Celestial Toymaker 1/5
The Underwater Menace 1/5

Season 5: 4/5
Season 7: 4/5
Season 3: 3.9/5
Season 4: 3.889/5
Season 6: 3.857/5
Season 2: 3.778/5
Season 1: 3.625/5
Season 9: 3.6/5
Season 8: 3.4/5

Doctor Who: Day of the Daleks

Part One

"Yes, a most good-humoured wine. A touch sardonic, perhaps..."

A story by Louis Marks, whose one and only previous story was back in 1964! And as we'll see, while fully in tune with the programme as it is in 1972, in a number of ways this is written like a Hartnell story- and that's no bad thing.

Another bleeding peace conference looms, but at least this time the apparent presence of the paranormal means there's a reason for UNIT to be involved. And in spite of such allusions to the recent past there's something forward-looking about this season opener, not the least of which is a growing impatience with the series' now well- established Earthbound format.

The Doctor and Jo discussing the events of Colony in Space, and the Doctor's irritation with the Time Lords ("No one's going to turn me into an intergalactic puppet.") isn't just a nod to the events of last season- it's looking forward to an immediate future in which the Time Lords will use the Doctor to carry out missions on other planets in two of the next three stories. Plans are being laid. But it's not just that; already it feels as though the UNIT family is no longer a full time fixture.

There's more foreshadowing, of course, with the silly time accident with the Doctor and Jo, but this time looking forward to the events of this story. For now though, this is an excellent build-up; strange futuristic paramilitaries, alien gorilla people, and best of all, after four and a bit years and for the first time in colour, a Dalek. It's such a more powerful moment in the context of the marathon than it has been my many previous viewings.

The Doctor seems much mellower and much likeable in this story- arrogant, certainly, and prone to be somewhat patronising to Jo, but the nasty edge he has acquired of late seems gone. Perhaps it's the writing. This is a good, old-fashioned script with all the hallmarks of the best of mid-sixties Who; a clever plot, great ideas, good characterisation and fast pacing.

The Doctor with his wine and cheese is one of my few favourite moments of the Pertwee years so far. It's so perfect for this Doctor. I also like the "RHIP" scene between Jo, Benton and Yates, although it seems to be there to give Yates and Benton at least one scene where they do something that's not utterly functional to the plot. Nice though it is, it's a sign of the UNIT family starting to become decentred from the programme.

There's so much happening in this episode, and just to top it all, the Third World War's about to start. But the last five minutes ratchet things up even further. The Doctor's attacked, uses some Venusian karate on his attacker, finishes his wine (classy, although a little early in the day!) he and Jo are captured- and then we cut to three Dalek. And that noise pulsating just like it used to. I'm pleased they brought the sound back- i hadn't registered before the marathon that it was in this story. But never mind that- the Daleks are back! In colour! Shame about the voices...



Part Two

"Changing history is a very fanatical idea, you know."

Hang on, something's wrong. Something's very wrong. Yes! That's it! No cardboard cutout Daleks! How could they? Now Doctor Who is ruined for me forever. The voices really are a bit crap: "en-e-my of the Daleks". Still, the plot thickens. This is still good; an intriguing mystery plus excitement. I'm trying to see this from the point of view of someone who doesn't know what happens, probably not very well, but I remember being impressed when I first experienced the twists and turns when I first saw this story. Twenty years ago.

Interestingly, although Louis Marks certainly gets the Third Doctor right and certainly has a handle on the show's current style, there's a Hartnellesque quality to the way he writes the Doctor, which seems to make him more likeable. Other interesting things are the first mention of the Blinovitch Limitation Effect and the Controller's line "Now, you've told me the year...", so brilliantly useless for purposes of UNIT dating.

Part Three

"Doc-tor? Did you say 'Doc-tor'"?

The first bad thing I really have to say about this episode is something very odd- the "sting" to the cliffhanger is still there with the reprise for the second episode in a row. Very odd. And while it's great to hear the music from the Dalek city in Skaro again, why is it used for the tunnel by Auderley House?

There's a nice scene where the Daleks snap at the Controller by using the same line he used earlier with the Ogrons: "Wait! You have not been dismissed!" There's a clear pecking order here. Also interesting is the Dalek line "production targets must be maintained!" This story seems to have had an uncanny influence on senior management techniques in the public sector. This theme turns more serious with the exchange between the controller and the factory boss though, establishing very effectively, as much in this story does, the human reality of a totalitarian state.

There are some great Doctor scenes in this episode, not least his exchange with the Controller about the true nature of this society. The Controller is very well written, if no more than competently acted, and his arc works well.

Interesting that this time around the Daleks don't recognise the "new" Doctor. And so for the first time ever we get to see some pictures of the other two Doctors! Never before in Doctor Who has there been so much nostalgia.



Part Four

"You, sir, are a traitor!"

An odd line from the Daleks: "We have invaded Earth again." it's subtle, but nevertheless it's an actual reference to a story from seven years ago. Extraordinary.

More nice developments in this episode, not least of which is a satisfactory dénouement to the Controller's arc. His character illustrates something central about this story; the Daleks don't get much screen time and are often represented by proxies, but the story is about them, and the things they've always represented, so in a sense it doesn't matter.

"Vain to the point of arrogance, a trifle obstinate perhaps, but basically a good man." Sorry, but who's the Doctor talking about here again? Pot, kettle...

We manage to squeeze in a quick fight scene between UNIT and the Daleks before everything's wrapped up very nicely indeed. Not only is it a great twist that it was the guerrillas themselves who paradoxically caused everything in the first place, but Marks even manages to find a plausible way of quickly blowing up the Daleks at the end.



A magnificent story, a 5/5 and no ordinary one at that. Perhaps the most satisfyingly plotted story yet to be seen, with a nice use of time travel, an unusually fast pace for this era and nice handling of the regulars. All the same, I can't help notice that yet again a story manages to be excellent only by escaping the show's Earthbound format...

Doctor Who: The Dæmons

Part One


"I've had enough of your knavish tricks."



The story starts out looking as though it's going to be a lot of fun- a nice spooky opening with lots of wind and lightning, and the immediately entertaining Mith Hawthorne. The television stuff, with the announcer and Professor Hawthorne, is also good fun. The same can be said for most of this episode- the Master as a vicar is a particular joy.

There's lots of tension as the episode builds up to its climax, and the Master in his red cloak leading a Dennis Wheatley style black magic ritual is a delight. In fact this episode is generally great, apart from the Doctor's gratuitous rudeness to the regulars in the pub.



Part Two

"Jo! Did you fail Latin as well as science?"

Unfortunately it starts to fall apart here, with the first of four episodes in which not much happens. Especially after the exciting climax to last episode this is particularly frustrating. There's some obvious padding, perhaps the most blatant being the Doctor having a theory about what's happening but not wanting to tell anybody what it is yet.

Another unfortunate thing is that UNIT suddenly look very cosy indeed, and it's possible this may be the story in which they jump the shark. I realise that for the purposes of a continuing drama like Doctor Who, featuring a large organisation like UNIT, it can be useful to focus on a small number of characters. But the treatment of Yates and Benton here goes too far- why would a captain and a sergeant hang out together all the time? Why is Benton, a sergeant, seemingly one of the Brig's inner circle? Are there no other officers aside from Yates and the Brig? There's a strong "UNIT family" feel here, but the big problem with that is families are by definition quite small, and not at all synonymous with large and credible paramilitary organisations. In this story UNIT seems to consist of no more than the Brig, Yates, Benton, Sergeant Osgood and a couple of others. That's it.

Still, even if not much happens and UNIT are pratting about, at least parts of this effectively set a mood. The coven scenes are very Aleister Crowley, very The Devil Rides Out, and Delgado is perfect. The cliffhanger's good too, and Bok the gargoyle is particularly well-realised.



Part Three

"Close your eyes, my darling. Well, three of them at last!"

We get our first reference to the Venusian lullaby here, if not quite in its full final form. And at last the Doctor finally gets on with it and gives us the exposition we've been waiting a whole episode for. Apparently all of human achievement is essentially down to the Dæmons, and the human race can take no credit for it whatsoever.

The Doctor doesn't make himself very likeable by shouting at Jo for repeating his own earlier complaints about the Brig. in fact, I'm not sure I like the Doctor much this season. Except for when he was allowed to leave Earth in Colony in Space he's spent most of the season in a foul mood. As gar as I'm concerned the sooner his exile is over with the better. But reluctantly I can't put all my problems with this Doctor down to the character's frustrations about his exile. Pertwee's performance is notably less subtle than in Season Seven and he's beginning to overuse the same few mannerisms, especially the Neck Rub (tm).

I like the scenes between Osgood and the Doctor, but it's hard to miss the fact that this entire heat barrier subplot is only there to delay the arrival of the Brigadier into the plot proper.

Interesting cliffhanger, the Master in danger...



Part Four

"Elemental, my dear Benton."

Another "Reverse the polarity" from the Doctor here. And a bit of continuity awkwardness as Azal shouts "Remember Atlantis!" I'd rather not, thanks- The Underwater Menace is an experience I'd rather forget.

There's some good stuff this episode- Stephen Thorne's voice, the Doctor drawing the plan for his machine on the windscreen of his motorbike, and of course the Morris Dancers of Doom. I always knew Morris dancers were evil. And, of course, the Doctor manages to avoid being burned as a witch by, er, pretending to be a witch.



Part Five

"Fancy a dance, Brigadier?"

"Frankly, Captain Yates, I'd rather have a pint."

A very revealing line from Miss Hawthorne: "All we can do is wait". It seems we've been hearing similar sentiments from several characters right through the story, which is very revealing. Even in the final episode not an awful lot happens and then suddenly Jo offers to sacrifice herself and the story's over. Still, the Brigadier does get to say a certain line.

The Doctor's speech to Azal is quite political: man "can blow up the world and he probably will", and "can poison the water and the very air he breathes".

It's good to see some closure to the season as the Master is captured.



Well, overall I've not got much to say about this one. I found it slow, dull and frankly a bit of a struggle. 2/5, the second story of the season with that score. The season as a whole averages 3.4/5, making it my least favourite season so far. Still, as far as I remember the next season should be much better. We'll see...

Doctor Who: The Claws of Axos

Don't worry- I like this a lot more than The Mind of Evil!


Part One


"Oo arr? Oo arr? oo arr? Oo arr.."


This is reminding me a lot of the opening to Spearhead. But it looks impressive- those tentacles, the organic ship.

A couple of interesting guest characters; Chinn is the first really imbecilic civil servant we've seen- we're not all really like that, honest! Interesting once again to hear the Brigadier state that the Doctor is his personal responsibility. Then there's Bill Filer, who I assume is from the US branch of UNIT. Oddly enough I seemed to remember his accent being unconvincing, but this time it sounded fine to my British ears.

I'm enjoying this a lot- Pigbin Josh has something to do with it, but also the Doctor's abrasiveness is less alienating when directed against a true imbecile, Chinn, and his arseheaded nationalistic witterings. I can certainly see the value of that kind of character as set against this Doctor. Other nice sci-fi touches; science that's taken an organic path. This is so good I don't even mind the blatant CSO and "freak weather conditions"! a promising start from a new writing team.



Part Two


"Who leads the investigation?"

"Why, you do, of course."


The conversation between Chinn and the minister is good fun, and also signals to us that we shouldn't get too frustrated about Chinn's inane splutterings; he's there to provide comic relief, not to be a true obstacle. Which is a relief, because he's even more of a pillock here than he was last episode.

So, the Time Lords were not mentioned at all for six years and now the Axons know of them? The currency seems to be devaluing before our eyes...

Once more there are some nice touches- both UNIT and the Master are trying to achieve the same goal for very different reasons. In fact, Chinn is unwittingly doing good whilst UNIT are unwittingly sealing the world's fate. That's clever. I feel sorry for Winser though- the Doctor spends the whole episode being rude to him and then he dies!


Part Three


"Oh, I suppose you can take the usual precautions against nuclear blasts. Sticky tape on the windows and that sort of thing."



So, apparently "Axonite is simply bait for human greed." Actual subtext? Nah, probably not. Still, there's nothing wrong with not being very deep if it works as entertainment, and this does. I like Chinn's videophone, incidentally. There have been a lot of those lately. Almost enough to make you believe we're a few years in the future. Except everything on screen screams that we're not.

Bill Filer's saying urgent stuff while in a coma. We've been seeing a fair bit of that recently too...

We finally get our first sight of the TARDIS interior in colour. It's clearly the same set, and getting very tatty. And we get the first indication that the exterior is no longer a contemporary piece of street furniture as Hardiman calls it an "obsolete police box". The Master's just as scathing about the up-to-dateness of the interior too! these scenes are advancing what seems to be the season's Doctor / Master arc, mind, with the Master getting the measure of the Doctor's TARDIS. It's an interesting season to see in sequence.

Delgado is magnificent in this episode. I love both the delivery and the facial expressions at the exchange with Hardiman towards the end: "Are you trying to tell me you can absorb the total output of this complex in a police box?" "Yes."



Part Four


"Goodbye, Jo. I shall miss you."


I certainly raised an eyebrow at the Doctor slapping Jo!

A nice sense of crisis is achieved here- Hardiman going down with his ship is a nice touch. And I note that Chinn, who we haven't seen for a while, has now been relegated entirely to comic relief.

Previously I've not liked the ending to this story because the Doctor's apparent betrayal felt wrong. But this is a case of a story rising in my estimation because of the marathon; here his apparent betrayal feels exactly right. Whether intended or not, it comes across as a satisfying climax to the Doctor having been such an arse recently. There's a suspicion in the back of our mind that the increasingly nasty Doctor of recent weeks might actually be serious. Yet again Jo looks sympathetic as she refuses to believe in the Doctor's treachery.

Of course, not only was the Doctor not intending to leave his friends in the lurch (although escape from Earth, naturally, was part of the plan), he was selflessly risking eternity in a time loop. So he does care about others above himself, however much he might whinge.

In other news, we see the exterior to the Master's TARDIS- is this its undisguised form, a brown cupboard?



Overall, good fun. Not the greatest story ever told, but at least we get a script that tells us to enjoy ourselves, which makes the silliness of the setup work. And the Doctor's a lot more likeable here, partly because of the climax making it clear that he's just a big teddy bear underneath, but also because his rudeness is better targeted most of the time.

Doctor Who: The Mind of Evil

Part One


"He drowned. In the middle of a perfectly dry room."


Back to black and white, only this time we can imagine all the garish colours that we're missing. Interesting opening, though: "Smile, Jo. You're on camera." It's 1971, and a CCTV camera, even outside a prison, is seen as a sinister Orwellian presence. How times have changed. The Doctor's changing too; he may not be too pleased about it, but this time he's carrying a pass.

Hmmm. It's ambiguous, but the Doctor could have implied he supports capital punishment in this episode. He certainly doesn't like mind control as part of criminal justice though, or indeed as part of anything. In attitudes to mind control, and up to a point computers, this Doctor is not so unlike his predecessor. He's quite extraordinarily rude to Kettering here, interrupting everything he says and pooh-poohing everything. Kettering's not too sympathetic himself though-, as some of his dialogue implies: He will take his place as a useful, if lowly, member of society". The science is a bit dodgy too- what are these "negative" and "evil" brain impulses, and who defines them as such?

I'm not sure about UNIT's role here- in what way does providing security for a peace conference relate to dealing with "the odd, the unexplained"?

For the second time, the Doctor almost implies he's lived for thousands of years! Definitely a real continuity problem here. Perhaps when he said he was 450 years old in Tomb, which can't be more than a few years ago in the Doctor's timeline, he was speaking "in Earth terms"? He starts getting well mardy at the end. Which makes him look bad. And jo sticks up for him. Which helps us to like her, even though the Doctor's acting like a tit.

Keller installed the machine "over a year ago". We all know who he is, so either this is a whole year after Terror of the Autons or You-Know-Who's been around for longer than we thought.



Part Two


"Depends on how you look at it. An idiot or a saint..."


It's quite jarring to see the Doctor actually scared. Although it's comfortably familiar to see Benton spying in his civvies. He's not as good at it as he was in The Invasion though- sign of the times.

There's some good plot structuring going on here- the Chin Lee and Keller Machine subplots are beginning to intertwine at just the right moment and we're being fed plot developments at just the right pace. We also get introduced to the Master at just the right moment- his disguise is obvious but I think it's supposed to be.

The Doctor speaks to Fu Peng in Hokkien, and for the first time ever in Doctor Who we get subtitles! And the Doctor's apparently quite chummy with Mao. Such classy mates he has.

I'm fairly sure that's Jaws from the Bond films...



Part Three

"Don't point that thing at me, my man! It might go off!"

Blimey- the Doctor speaks Cantonese as well! jo gets to show her talents as well though- she does a pretty good job of escaping, if not for long.

At last the Master and the Doctor meet. And the Masters still making the same mistake as last time: "It can't harm me- I created it."

Part Four


"I do have remarkable powers of recovery, don't I?"


I like that- the Master's greatest fear is apparently the Doctor laughing at him.

Interesting to hear the Doctor say that an aspirin "could kill him"! I seem to recall him taking aspirin at least once, back when he was William Hartnell. He don't half look sweaty, incidentally.

I like the Doctor and Jo's escape. but this episode has problems. Why is the missile so incredibly lightly guarded? And I think this may well be one Keller machine cliffhanger too many.


Part Five


"A fortress? I suppose there couldn't possibly be a secret underground passage or something?"

Nice scene with the Doctor and Jo playing draughts, pointedly ignoring the Master. Particularly nice that Jo wins. It's also nice to get our first nostalgia sequence under the new Doctor, with brief flashes of stock photos of an Ice Lord, Cybermen, a Zarbi(!) and a Dalek. Almost enough for me to forgive yet another use of the Keller Machine.

We get our first real Moment Of Charm here, as the Doctor namedrops Raleigh to Jo and reminisces about how he "kept going on about this new vegetable he'd discovered".

A cliffhanger not involving the Keller Machine for once, and it's a good 'un for once- Mailer just shoots the Doctor. Sometimes the simple ones are the best.


Part Six


"Thank you, Brigadier. But do you think for once in your life you could arrive before the nick of time?"


Blimey, the Doctor is just so rude to the Brigadier after having his life saved. And he carries on being a pillock right through the scene: "Apart from losing the Master and the missile, you're doing very well, Brigadier." This really is a bit much. Part of this, admittedly, is Pertwee's acting choices- I suppose he could have delivered his lines in a less abrasive way. But ultimately he's playing the character as written. And the Doctor's actually not all that likeable at the moment. I know he's been exiled and we should cut him a bit of slack, but for the first time in the marathon the character of the Doctor is actually alienating me a bit.

We don't really get a very satisfactory ending aside from the generally well done Doctor / Master ongoing arc scenes. If the missile can be blown up, why recklessly transport it to the coast with a ridiculously tiny escort in the first place? And there's an extraordinary exchange following Barnham's rather unnecessary death where Jo regrettably says to the Doctor that "We should never have left him there". And instead of offering any sympathy the Doctor barks at her "How do you think I feel?"

The very last scene is nice, though. The contrast between the Doctor's exile and the Master's new-found freedom is very poignant, and it looks as though this arc will continue.





Overall- well, the first real clunker of the Pertwee years- 2/5. And worryingly the things I didn't like about it tend to sum up the way the programme's going at the moment. This was dull at times, and over-reliant on a single MacGuffin, but I've given 3/5s and 4/5 to other stories with those faults. Far more worrying, I think, was the tone. Like Terror of the Autons, this was fundamentally a fairly silly bit of fluff which only makes sense if you assume (as I think you're supposed to) that the Master is just essentially larking about and trying to get the Doctor's attention. But unlike Terror of the Autons, this isn't played for laughs. I like silliness, but silliness only works if the script gives you the occasional nod and a wink. And it doesn't here. Instead we get silly events but no signpost from the script that it's supposed to be fun.

Just as bad, UNIT are suddenly a tiny, very cosy organisation who are made to look useless. And I hope the Doctor gets himself into a better mood soon. Fortunately there are signs this could be a planned character arc. We'll see...

Doctor Who: Terror of the Autons

Part One



"Now look at it, you hamfisted bun vendor!"


A circus, and the clear sound of a TARDIS materialising- and it's not the Doctor! Oh to be watching these genuinely in context, with no appreciation of what's going to happen next. Because this is a milestone- the first story to actively exploit the fact the Time Lords have been introduced and show features a new character who's explicitly a Time Lord from the beginning. Plus Delgado is great, especially in this opening scene. Such charisma.

The Doctor sings "I don't want to set the world on fire" before he, er, does. And what on Earth has he done to his hair? The scene introducing Jo is fun and, much as I have reservations about the idea of a ditzy blonde replacing our capable scientist Liz, I like the actress and I like the character, if not necessarily what she represents. The lovely Katy Manning is great here.

We're also establishing a new tone- lighter and more kid-friendly. and this is for the best. Impressed as I was with last series, I imagine the kids would have enjoyed it rather less than I did. Still, at least Liz gets a mention; she's "gone back to Cambridge". There are some obvious other changes too- UNIT's new uniform, this new chap Captain Yates.

Another TARDIS sound sees a Time Lord appear before the Doctor dressed as a city gent- how very Robert Holmes to puncture their godlike aura from The War Games in their very next appearance! We're told the still unnamed Time Lord planet is 29,000 miles away, and given an introduction to the Master in a way which nicely establishes his rivalry with the Doctor. His trap for the Doctor establishes him immediately as a threat and the shrunken scientist, Goodge, gives him a quick effective set piece.

I like the way it's implied Yates has been around some time by getting him to give a brief synopsis of Spearhead from Space for Jo's benefit. Also nice is how the Doctor denies UNIT the technology from the Doctor's bomb. And how Farrell's office is the absolute epitome of the 70s. Shame these Autons look crap.



Part Two



"He sat down in this chair here and... just slipped away."


Before the marathon I'd always loosely thought of this story as "traditional" Who. But this time round those elements that seemed "traditional" seem very new and fresh in context. L think the core of it all is Holmes' script, with its irreverance and frequently dark humour. This is an episode that features Death By Chair and Death By Doll, both played at least partly for laughs, and this sort of thing is far more typical of what we'll come to see as "traditional" Who over the next few seasons and of Holmes' writing style than is usually acknowledged. The Doctor is often flippant or casual about characters' deaths in this story, which seems a little uncomfortable in context but, again, that's Robert Holmes. "Never cruel nor cowardly" is someone else's idea entirely, but at least for the moment he's script editor."

On less pontificatory matters, Roy Stewart is back. As, er, another strong and silent type, as even the Doctor points out. Also, we get a great couple of lines ("Gentlemen never talk about money." "Nonsense! Gentlemen never talk about anything else!"), our first example of CSO'd windows to make it look as though a car set is moving, and nasty Auton police. Holmes really seems to be having fun here, pushing it as far as it'll go.



Part Three



"You know, Jo, I sometimes think that military intelligence is a contradiction in terms."



The Brig saves the Doctor's life from what is, oddly, our first scene with actual Autons, and the Doctor proceeds to spend five minutes being extremely rude to the Brig before setting out to bugger right off in the TARDIS? Hmmm. yes, he fails, but it looks as though he may have been about to leave his friends in the lurch. Plus, he really is very, very rude here. There's a very revealing line: "What's wrong with being childish? I like being childish!" This isn't just, as is often claimed, Pertwee's performance (which seems fine to me), but the script. I wonder if, in context, this will end up as a character arc for the Doctor, chafing increasingly against his exile? It'll be interesting to see, because he really is so much of a mardyarse here (I'm a Leicestershire country boy. Please indulge me.) that it's almost like watching The Twin Dilemma at times. Characterisation-wise, that is!

Ironic that the Master is now also exiled. And interesting that the Doctor seems to belong to a London club where he hob nobs with Lord "Tubby" Rowland.

Incidentally, as a British civil servant there are certain aspects of this era that make me want to go "oi"!

Pertwee has a phone conversation with the Master, his first contact with him... interesting to watch this for the first time after seeing The Sound of Drums! Cue the gurning...



Part Four



"As a matter of fact, Jo, I'm rather looking forward to it."



Once again the Brig's plan seems sensible- bomb the baddfies now to avoid civilian casualties later- and the Doctor throws a hissy fit. But once again, I get the impression we're supposed to think that.

Jo says "Hello Greyhound. This is Trap One." I wonder if that phrase will assume any later significance?

The Doctor rather conveniently gets the Master to realise he's doing a Tobias Vaughn and switch sides. A shame- that's not a very satisfying way to end. And I can't help noticing how the Doctor pretty much allows Farrell to die!




In spite of certain misgivings about a nastiness in trhe Doctor's chatracter creeping in, I must admit I enjoyed that very much indeed, and even the bits I had to officially disapprove of I couldn't help but enjoy- that's the magnificent nauightiness of Robert Holmes. The Doctor is a complete arse in this, but you have to laugh. And I have to say, in spite of this story's reputation, although the baddies' plan didn't make too much sense, I'd say the plot did. If that makes sense. 4/5. But it's only my conscientious misgivings about where the Doctor's character is going that stop it from being higher. It'll be interesting to see where this "the Doctor as an arse" arc goes. Somewhere, I hope!