Antony and Cleopatra (1972)

 "I must from this enchanting queen break off..."

I've read Antony and Cleopatra, but this is my first time seeing a production on either stage or screen. The play is, of course, magnificent, as are all of Shakespeare's later tragedies. It is at once a love story and a tale of politics at its most raw and brutal, with legendary characters including the young Octavian Ceasar, played superbly by John Castle as an upright, disciplined young man, exemplifying all that Rome stands for and who very much feels like a younger version of the future Augustus.

This is also a play about two worlds- masculine, martial, relatively puritan Rome versus the feminine weakness and decadence of Egypt and the east... yes, that dodgy trope is old indeed. But one can't deny it's handled well here by the Warwickshire lad.

The film is nicely shot, by Charlton Heston himself, on location in Spain. Half the cast are Spaniards, yet to their credit you wouldn't notice. This may not be right up there with the greats of cinematic Shakespeare, but there's little to criticise... although, superb though Roger Delgado may be as the soothsayer (sadly, one of his last roles), one has to wince at the obvious brownface.

Hildegard Neil is very good as Cleopatra, but Heston is magnificent as Antony, a difficult role. Yet he handles the duality of the character with aplomb, believable both as the great Roman general and the besotted lover of Cleopatra. This is a truly excellent film, one of surprisingly few screen versions of the play.

The Terror of the Tongs (1961)

 "Like all occidentals, you find it impossible to accept the inevitable."

This is one of those occasional non-horror films Hammer did in their glory days, a tale of a tong rather than a vampire and something a bit different for Jimmy Sangster to write and Christopher Lee to star in.

You can see from the pic that there's an unfortunate amount of yellowface here, prominently so with Lee; it appears that, aside from Burt Kwouk (who inevitably appears), there are no Chinese actors available for speaking roles so the Chinese characters all have to be played by white actors with various degrees of yellowface. Some attempt to sound Chinese; the likes of Lee and Roger Delgado sound English as ever- or, in the case of Yvonne Monlaur, French.

It's a fairly standard revenge plot, although with surprisingly little action overall, with Geoffrey Toone suitably square-jawed as the heroic and very British Jackson Sale.

It is, of course, all told from the perspective of the colonising British, with lots of unfortunate othering of Chinese ways and Chinese culture; it's not just the yellowface that means I'm hardly not exactly going to be able to deny the casual, unthinking racism and racist tropes that permeate this film, many of which no doubt have failed to catch my attention. There's a character called Confucius, after all. But it was 1961, and the past is a foreign country. It's also interesting to see Hong Kong as a place where cultures meet, and what that means for organised crime.

Lee is decent enough- he phones in his performance somewhat, but he's good enough to get away with it. Roger Delgado is also excellent- charismatic and commanding. The plot is standard stuff but decent enough. The direction, though, is sadly flat and uninspired, with unimaginative camerawork and lighting. But the script and performances raise the film to the level of an entertaining curiosity, from a time when no one batted an eyelid at portraying cultures in this way.

Quatermass II- Episode 4: The Coming

"I'm not listening to reason..."

This is, of course, the episode that climaxes with the excellent Roger Delgado as journalist Conrad, infected  by the alien has, makes a desperate and probably fruitless phone call back to the news desk before he inevitably succumbs to its effects. And we end with a glimpse at the alien, which looks absolutely nothing like a kind of proto-Nestene. Absolutely not, guv.

Before that, though, we have both Quatermass theorising on somewhat dodgy grounds that the alien consciousness comes from a moon of Saturn. He seems on firmer ground in theorising that it may be a hive mind. He's brave though, Quatermass, stopping at nothing to investigate this plant and always getting away unharmed, whatever vile fate always seems to be incurred by those whose help he enlists. He's not an entirely sympathetic character, whether you consider him as written or with the harder edge as portrayed by John Robinson. He's certainly called a lot of people fools so far. I suspect he isn't, quite, the voice of the author.

Nevertheless, this is still first class telly.

Doctor Who: Frontier in Space

Part One

“Well, I’m never going in that thing again.”

 I’d always assumed I’d seen this story before at some point in the 90s, but watching this first episode I don’t think I have. So I genuinely don’t know what to expect.

 We start with some superb modelwork, and what I think is the first mention of hyperspace in Doctor Who. This looks set to be our first real space opera since The Space Pirates. And while we’ve seen glimpses of Earth’s future recently with Colony in Space and The Mutants, this is the first indication we get that there’s supposed to be a coherent future history, as the Doctor explain to Jo that these are the early days to the Earth Empire seen in The Mutants.

 This is good; the Draconians look great, the situation is intriguing, and we even get to see a Drashig again. I like the newscast, a tried and tested Hulkean method of doing a bit of world-building.

 Ogrons! Although of course the Doctor is quick to pooh pooh any idea that this necessarily means the Daleks are behind it all.


Part Two

“Jo! Will you stop pacing up and down like a perishing panda!”

 This seems to be a very long reprise. It’s good stuff though, further establishing the premise of the story and making wider hints about the nature of 26^th century Earth, which seems to be some kind of Putin-style “managed democracy”. We also get to see a lot of the South Bank of the Thames as it was then!

 The presentation of the Draconians is very well handled- they’re clearly based on Japanese samurai as far as their props and costumes are concerned, and are clearly allegories for Eastern civilisations as seen through western eyes. There’s a particularly good line from the Draconian prince, of humans: “They’re an inscrutable species.”, nicely undercutting a common stereotype.

 Of course, there’s the usual cold war allegory going on as well. Malcolm Hulke did write it, after all.


 Part Three

“Well, I mean, criticise the government and you’re for it, aren’t you?”

 I like the scene with the Doctor and the mind probe, very Doctorish, and this is still very good, but I’m starting to wish the story would start to move on from all these cells and interrogations. There are certainly lots of escapes and recaptures.

The Doctor is sent to a lunar penal colony, without a trial, and it soon becomes clear that it’s a dumping ground for political prisoners, a nicely dystopian touch. And then, of course, there’s the Master. In a position of authority, naturally.

 It’s a relief when the Professor actually believes the Doctor’s story after three episodes of no one doing so. And it’s good to see the story move on. All the same though, the fact that the Doctor and Jo seem to spend all their time in cells, and the slow pace of the story, are surprisingly unproblematic for me, mainly because Hulke’s script has so much good character stuff for the Doctor and Jo.

 Oh, and doesn’t the Doctor’s hair look bushy in his prison uniform?


 Part Four

“I seem to be quite the master criminal, don’t I?”

 Poor Professor- condemned to a year in solitary and then the story forgets about him!




 Firstly there’s a nice scene between the Doctor and the Master in which the Master, played even more brilliantly than usual by Roger Delgado, remarks on the reversal of roles since the Doctor visited him in his cell in The Sea Devils. We also get hints of the Master’s mysterious employers and a sense of the story broadening in scope.


But fundamentally this episode is about the development of Jo, and her relationship with the Doctor. We start with the Doctor briefly summarising the plot of The War Games to Jo, and then we move on to his recent exile, where he met Jo, “and that alone made the exile worthwhile.” By the standards of early ‘70s Who this is practically Bad Wolf Bay territory. I don’t think they’re lovers at any point, but there’s a relationship developing between them. They clearly care a lot about each other, and they’ve both changed as people by being together in a very New Series sort of way. The Doctor has softened notably since meeting Jo, while Jo has developed into a stronger and more confident person. But at the same time, it’s implied that Jo won’t be around for much longer- for the second time this story she tells the Doctor “I’m never going back in that TARDIS with you again.”

Of course, this is all hilariously undercut by a firing-on-all-cylinders Delgado; “In reminiscent mood are you, Doctor? Poor Miss Grant, you have my deepest sympathy.” And just to make things perfect, he’s reading War of the Worlds!

The escape scene between the Doctor and Jo is brilliant, with Jo’s magnificent monologue fully showing the greatness both of Katy Manning and the character, at least when written as well as this. And, of course, the monologue works as a commentary on her own character, how far she’s come since Terror of the Autons, and hints at how she’s very soon not going to need the Doctor any more. It’s an excellent piece of writing.


Part Five

“An emperor who does not rule deposes himself.”

I’m watching this on the Australian version of the video release that I got from eBay a few years ago, and bizarrely it has the Delaware theme for this episode. I’m glad I’ll only be hearing it this once- it’s awful! Still, another good episode. I love the scenes with the Doctor and the Master trying to convince the Draconian Emperor, archly played by John Woodnutt. Interesting that it should be the Draconians, not the humans, who finally believe the Doctor.

The issue of the position of women in Draconian society is admirably summed up with great eloquence and gravitas: “I think it’s about time that Women’s Lib was brought to Draconia.” Surely one of the great dialogue triumphs of the age.

There are problems here: the Doctor is captured again by Earth police; the Ogron masks are a bit poor; and the Draconian prince manages to convince General Wotsisname rather too easily. But there’s also greatness. Delgado is fantastic. And it’s great, and hugely symbolic, to see that Jo can now resist the Master’s hypnotism.


Part Six

“No doubt you’re a qualified space engineer too, Doctor.”

“Naturally.”

More development for Jo, as she overcomes her fears of several monsters for which the costumes are readily available, and then cheerfully sets about escaping from yet another cell. Unfortunately, the Master may not be able to control her but he’s an, er, master of the art of manipulation.

It’s a satisfying ending, with the Daleks revealed as the Master’s mysterious employers, and turns out to be an appropriate ending for Delgado, whose impression of the Daleks (“stupid tin boxes”) is hilarious. The very final scene is very odd though- it’s not clear whether it’s a cliffhanger or not. And the Doctor seems to be requesting the help of the Time Lords a lot these days.

Overall, great- a brilliant script with great development of the regulars, the Draconians are fantastic, and Delgado bows out at the very top of his game. He’ll be missed. It loses a point for too much time spent in cells, but this isn’t enough to stop this story being very good indeed. 4/5.

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: The Sea Devils

Part One

“Crimea?”

“Gallipolli? El Alamein? Does it really matter?”

Not what I expected to be the first thing I’d comment on, but a car with no doors! That’s weird. Why?

Good episode though, concentrating on the regulars and giving them a nice bit of character development. And that’s great- let the plot start later. We realise this is going to be a fun episode as soon as the Doctor comments on the Master putting on weight. And the Doctor’s exasperation with the nice-but-dim Trenchard is just the sort of Pertwee rudeness I like- fun, light-hearted, and doesn’t cross a line. The Doctor’s character is consistently being better written this season.

I’m a bit of a Guardian reading wishy-washy liberal, me, but even I reckon the Master’s got himself a cushy little prison regime. The screws even call him "sir"! There’s a nice scene between the Master and the Doctor in which Delgado shines- he injects just enough irony into the Master’s request for the occasional chat with the Doctor. Pertwee nicely plays the Doctor’s inability to shake hands with the man with whom it now seems he was “practically at school together.

Of course, something fishy is going on. Nice that our first inkling of it is when the Master asks Trenchard for a second television set for his bedroom- “Colour, of course.” And one of the best things in this episode, and possibly in all of television, is the Master whistling along to the Clangers. Possibly the only thing better than this moment is the look on Delgado’s face when Trenchard explains that they’re “Only puppets, you know. For children.”

There’s nothing quite so Doctorish, and necessarily absent from the UNIT years, as the Doctor quickly getting himself accepted by the supporting cast, and it’s pleasantly nostalgic to see him do this with the navy here. Better still, we get some top namedropping action: “Captain Hart, Horatio Nelson was a personal friend of mine.”



Part Two

“I always find that violent exercise makes me hungry. Don’t you agree?”


By this point the music (I’m a fan!) is getting really noticeable. But it’s good to have something new and different in a season which brings more stuff back from the past than we’ve ever seen up to this point. This episode, with the Doctor briefly recounting the plot of Doctor Who and the Silurians (sorry, Doctor Who and the Eocenes!) to Jo, makes it clear that this story will be no exception.

There’s plenty of good stuff here though- the Doctor’s radio geekery, and especially the banter between him and Jo. They seem to be settling into a relationship nicely not based on him snapping at her like a total arse, as was the case last season. Thought has been given to sorting out the characterisation problems, which is good.

It seems everybody can resist the Master’s hypnotism these days, even petty officers! The doctor’s got captain Hart under control though- we’ve already reached the point where he can just demand some transport (how very Pertwee!) and not even deign to explain. Most entertaining. I’m finally warming to this doctor. I mean, dammit, that golf shot trick is cool, and the swordfighting is well classy.



Part Three

“How very kind of you.”

(Pause)
“How very unkind of you.”


Crikey, that’s a huge reprise. And that bit with the knife- you wouldn’t be able to show it nowadays. In other news, the soundtrack goes from weird to weirder (good!). It’s so very early seventies, sounding a bit like German prog of the time for some reason although I can’t think of any band in particular. Popol Vuh, perhaps?

Good to see Jo’s escapology skills put to use again, and also to hear what the Master’s actually been telling Trenchard all this time. Oh, and a Sea Devil comes out of the sea!


Part Four

“Well, I presume you’re a trained diver, in addition to your other accomplishments then, Doctor.”

“Naturally.”

Sonic Screwdriver mission creep continues unabated; now it seems it can both detect and explode landmines. It works in context for now, so I’ll let it slide, but perhaps long term this sort of thing is not too good an idea.

Another great Doctor / Jo scene, as he steals all her food: “For heaven’s sake, jo! What do you think this is? A picnic?” And the plot is thickening, with loads of Sea Devils emerging and, unexpectedly, Trenchard biting the dust. Pity- he was a nice bloke, but his Achilles heel was his unthinking patriotism, and in a Malcolm Hulke script a patriot stands no chance of survival. Well, except when they do. But you can sense the authorial disapproval, and here it’s clearly Trenchard’s tragic flaw.



Part Five

“Nothing too elaborate, my dear. Just a little eggs, bacon, toast, coffee…”

The story’s starting to drag a bit now. After all the fun with the Master at the start it’s become clear that we’re getting a rerun of Doctor Who and the Silurians without much of the depth. We’re still getting some good characterisation, acting and dialogue, but this stage of the story has been done before. We even get a stupid politician- not a civil servant mind, none of us are at all stupid, of course. And just how many sugars does this man take in his coffee?

The Sea Devil leader is strangely more reasonable in his discussions with the Doctor than even the Old Silurian ever was, perhaps too reasonable to be believable. And it’s interesting how the Doctor freely admits the Sea Devils would ultimately stand no chance in a war against the humans, thus depriving us viewers of a fair chunk of our sense of threat.

Interestingly, the role played by Walker with the humans directly parallels that played by the Master with the Sea Devils, but with the Doctor elsewhere he gets his wish from the start. The scenes in the naval base and with the Sea Devils thus counterpoint each other, with the humans coming off as morally worse.

The cliffhanger’s great, and iconic for a reason.



Part Six

“”Dear oh dear, Doctor. Will you never learn?”

Things get wrapped up nicely plotwise, and there’s some good character stuff too. It makes sense that Walker would be a coward, and Jo gets not only to use her escapology again but also to pilot a hovercraft- by now it’s starting to look like her character’s getting some proper sustained development, but perhaps I speak too soon!

Hmmm, so guns now work on Sea Devils? I seem to recall they didn’t in the submarine a few episodes ago…

More good stuff for the Doctor, as he offers the Sea Devils a chance before he blows them up, and finally gets the chance to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow! And now that he’s not going to be in every story, it’s a good thing that the Master’s on the loose again.


Overall, by the end it became too much of a retread of Doctor Who and the Silurians without the depth, but still had plenty of good characterisation and humopur to redeem it. I’ll be generous: it just scrapes a 4/5.

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: Colony in Space

Part One


"That's an alien world out there, Jo. Think about it."

Time Lords! I feel as though I should be privileged for this rare glimpse, but it has to be said they're a bit, er, dull. This is important, though: it's the first time the Time Lords are using the Doctor for their own ends, and in allowing the Doctor to travel in the TARDIS, albeit by remote control, it's a blatant admission that the Earthbound format of the programme is too restricting and can't go on much longer.

The scene between the Doctor, Jo and the Brigadier is probably there only to satisfy the requirements of Nick Courtney's contract, but it's a nice character piece all the same. But the following scene is simply magical- I love it when people are introduced to the TARDIS for the first time, and Jo's reaction of wonder mixed with foreboding is great to see. This is the point from which this Doctor / companion pairing really clicks, and it's extremely satisfying to see this Doctor on his travels at last. It's a shame the TARDIS dematerialisation (it disappears suddenly rather than fade away) is crude and disappointing, and admittedly their destination is a not particularly exciting looking quarry. Interesting that a mere glance at the scanner tells the Doctor that he's heading for the planet Uxaerius. If he knows the planet's name, how come, as the rest of the story will show, he seems to have no prior knowledge of the place?

Oh, and the TARDIS doors have now become the latest thing to sound exactly like the doors to the Dalek city in Skaro! That's a sound effect with staying power and no mistake.

Jo's reaction to her new surroundings is nicely plausible- a mix of excitement and nerves. And the Doctor is notably in a much better mood when on his travels- he may be sure of himself, even arrogant at times, but he's never unnecessarily rude to anyone throughout this story.

It's admirable how in the last few minutes of this episode an entire society is sketched out very well; pioneer types, reminiscent of the American West, versus the threat of corporate exploitation.


Part Two


"What's good for IMC is good for Earth."


It's Bernard Kay! Between him and John Ringham it's quite the Hartnell era guest actors reunion. Caldwell is an interesting character- clearly working for corporate bad 'uns IMC but conscience-stricken to hear that two people have been killed. We get introduced to the IMC crew, establishing the rest of the story's main cast; the ruthlessly acquisitive Captain Dent and the sadistic Morgan. Alongside this is some more excellently done world building. At no time does the exposition feel unnatural. It's made very clear that IMC is a big, powerful and politically influential corporation that invariably gets its way and the little man has no chance. I like the scene where Dent shows Caldwell the size of his potential bonus- it's a nice character scene emphasising the conflict for the debt-stricken Caldwell between greed and conscience, but also establishes the enormous resources of IMC. Of course, all this tells us a lot about Malcolm Hulke's politics.

I like the little fight between the Doctor and the "Primitives". I do believe this is our first "Hai"?

Interesting line from Mary Ashe: "Don't worry, Jim'll fix it."


Part Three


"Ah, Caldwell. Working out your future bonuses?"


More good stuff this episode, let down only by the visual dullness of the setting. Although it must be said the amusing moustaches of several characters (especially Winton) do tend to distract from this. But whatever this story's faults, they're generally not the fault of the script.

This episode largely focuses on the character of Caldwell and his moral dilemma. He shows again, in helping Winton, that he's troubled by his conscience, but at this stage he's actualy no better than any of his IMC colleagues. He can make as many cheap and easy gestures to his conscience as he likes- they're nothing but small gestures, not affecting much in the larger scheme of things. He's still motivated chiefly by greed. It's only when he commits "professional suicide" by insisting Jo is removed from the bomb that he starts to redeem himself.

So, Dent has a 70s style tape recorder? In 2472? There's an explanation for this- retro design! Just as today's DAB digital radios are designed to look like old-fashioned wooden radios, all sort of apparent dodginess in old Doctor Who stories set in the future can be explained away.

Suddenly the story moves off at right angles as Jo is kidnapped by the "primitives". This new focus helps the story to justify its length- which it arguably does throughout.


Part Four


"Although the creature with you is of no value, I will let you both go."


Some obvious modelwork is in evidence as the Adjudicator lands. But, more importantly, the Adjudicator is the Master! At last- something actually relates to the first few minutes of the first episode! And it's an interesting new slant to the Master for him to be in a position of authority.

For this episode the focus shifts towards the "primitives" and their ancient civilisation. Not a lot happens plotwise (the Doctor and Jo get captured and escape) but we learn a lot about Uxaerian history and culture which will become important later, and it's never dull.

I love the Doctor's silly magic trick distraction- a rare chance to see another side of Jon Pertwee. Also good is the meeting between the Doctor and the Master. There's a state of stalemate between them; the Doctor can't expose the Master as an impostor without being exposed as someone who has no ID and so no official existence- yet another topical political issue turns up in this story.


Part Five


"Whoever that man is down on that planet, he isn't the Adjudicator."

In a nice bit of continuity, the Doctor still has the key to the Master's TARDIS that he nicked in Terror of the Autons. And so we finally see inside the Master's TARDIS for the first time. And it's exactly the same as the Doctor's except it's got some filing cabinets in it. Oh well. There's another possible first as well: I think this is the first time the Sonic Screwdriver is used for a purpose other than, er, screwdriving.


Part Six


"I am offering you a half share of the universe!"


Another possible first: the Master mentions the High Council of the Time Lords. He also states the Crab Nebula to have been caused by the testing of the Doomsday Weapon- a very effective way of illustrating its deadliness! And also a nice little lesson on the life cycle of a star for all the kids. Well, our Sun won't exactly "explode", but still...

For the first time the Master asks the Doctor to join him in his megalomaniacal playpen. This says all sorts of interesting things about the Master's motivations, and how central the Doctor is to them.

The Doomsday Weapon plot strand ends in what may be our first ever Deus Ex Machina ending, but I don't really mind as this has never been more than a sideshow. The colonists vs IMC main plot gets a much more satisfying ending- we're made to genuinely think the colonists are all dead until its revealed at the end that only Ashe sacrificed himself. And it's nice that Winton survives to become leader- the impetuous young man made good. Admittedly there's more than a whiff of dodgy science to the fact that suddenly the soil is no longer being poisoned by the radiation from the Doomsday Weapon, but I'll let that pass as it works dramatically. It's also nice that Caldwell, denied his promised wishes, is allowed to redeem himself by joining the colonists. And there's another nice touch in that the TARDIS returns mere seconds after leaving.




Overall... well. I haven't read any of the other posts yet, but I voted just before writing this, and by the look of the poll results I'm one of an elite few to rate this 5/5. I thought it was great, with rich themes and complex characters, and more than enough substance to justify six episodes. There's a potential criticism, mind; this story essentially centres around the conflict between the colonists and IMC over possession of the planet. But what of the indigenous Uxaerians, or "primitives", as they're called? Why should anyone other than them be allowed to colonise the planet without their position? still, I think the script treats them with enough respect to get away with it. But it's a valid criticism all the same. And it's a little ominous that the first story to get a 5/5 from me since Spearhead is the one which ignores the new format. Perhaps the new format is outstaying its welcome?



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
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 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
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 Chase 3/5
The Space Pirates 3/5
The Sensorites 3/5
The Edge of Destruction 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 Five: 4/5
Season Seven: 4/5
Season Three: 3.9/5
Season Four: 3.889/5
Season Six: 3.857/5
Season Two: 3.778/5
Season One: 3.625/5

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!