Underworld - Episode 4

I tend to have a little tradition when watching these DVDs and that’s watch the special features when I get to the final episode. This helps to try and put any of the stories flaws and positives into context. I have been looking forward to this one as it shows a lot of the blue screen that the actors would have worked against. Watching the documentary its clear just how much blood, sweat and tears went into this story and it makes me appreciate what they do. The set used for the Oracle is the same as the one that we saw in episode one and its used much better for the oracle because it’s much darker and the colours used are also quite good. The effect used to represent the oracle is quite good because I suppose if they had gone for something physical then it would have looked rather ropey.

There was a lot more going on in this story but compared to the previous episodes is not as big a statement as it first seems. The main thing about this episode is getting two small gold canisters which is the quest that the Minyans had been looking for. This seemed like it wouldn’t take very long and wouldn’t create much tension but credit to Bob Baker and Dave Martin did a good job in making something interesting come out of this. There was a nice case of there being two versions of these canisters. One had the genetic bank for the Minyans whereas the others had a bomb in it. There was a bit of fun with the Doctor making his way back to the oracle to hand back the canisters and telling the guards that the ones he had were the bombs but they didn’t believe him. The Minyans get the proper canisters and that’s the end of that.

I don’t think that this story has been anywhere near as bad as I have previously thought and whilst there have been problems from start to finish, at least they tried and they pulled it off. Star Wars Episode IV was released just before this serial started to air and its fair to say that this basically rewrote the rules on sci-fi production values and other areas of the genre. When you compare the movie which had a budget of around $11 million compared to this serial which probably didn’t even have 1% of that spent on it then this story isn’t going to come across good. The story does have links to Greek mythology and Jason and the Argonauts and if only more of that had made it into the story then I would have liked this years ago.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this entry for episode one, this was the last Doctor Who story that I watched in its entirety. It was painful for me to watch as I just couldn’t get past the CSO. However I failed to appreciate the good things that were in this story and as a result over the course of four days I have revaluated this story and think that out of the five serials I have watched for this season, this is probably the third best. Out of Tom Baker stories so far (this being the 21^st), this is the 17^th best story but before I started this marathon I would have placed this at the very bottom. That shows that this isn’t the best but neither is it the worst.  Now I wait for Louise Jameson’s final story and the final story of the season.

Underworld - Episode 3

My attempt to read the target novel alongside is going well. I think that Terrance Dicks is doing a great in the book of making this story. It’s a shame that after reading a bit in the book that I reminded of the flaws in this story. Oddly enough though the CSO is not what is going off like a siren, it is the fact that there are weird long shots and it’s a very short episode so I feel like this review should be equally short.

The start of this episode is where the Doctor is trying to stop the gas from flowing and he collapse just as the gaps stops. This comes across better in the book. It feels a bit close for comfort in the book whereas it happens too quickly on TV and with the short running time, they could easily have spent a minute cranking up the tension. There is a map called ‘the tree’ and the Doctor refers to it as the tree at the end of the world which sounds more impressive in the book. On TV it looks a bit disappointing yet in my head the book made it sound like a map that could have come out of the Lord of the Rings films. Something that looks better than it sounded in the book is where the Doctor, Leela and Idas floating and they just ‘push’. The book makes it sound basic and on TV the CSO is used to quite good effect.

This episode runs to just over 21 minutes which I think is slightly longer than the previous episode and like the previous epoisode there was a fair amount of long shots. This is what frustrates me about this whole story. There is a good story trying to fight its way out. I cant quite figure out why they went with the idea of prolonged shots over expanding certain elements of the story. I know that I am perhaps comparing the TV version against a novelised version written two years after this aired and written by one of the greatest writers for Doctor Who but I cant help think that if they had asked Bob Baker and Dave Martin to pad it out that they could (and would) have come up with something.

The cliffhanger is the best one that there has been so far but that’s not really a compliment. I think that the story is slightly (and I mean slightly) better than I had given it credit for in the past. I think that the story is heavily flawed but there should be some credit to everyone involved for managing to salvage something from this story and at least having a go.

Underworld - Episode 2

I am still reading the target novel as I am going along and at the moment I have read seven chapters and the phrase “The Quest is the Quest” has been written eight time and two similar lines were written. I must admit that whilst reading this book I have developed a new enthusiasm for this story but I suspect that Terrance Dicks is doing what they couldn’t do on TV and this is the episode where if my memory serves me correctly is where the story goes downhill. It takes three minutes for the problems with this story to appear and the benefits of the book are evident because things that are said and done make sense. Sadly not one can really get over some of the production problem.

The idea that the new planet has a people and not just that but there is a people who are slaves and there are those that are basically bullies. There is a good story here but sadly its all forgotten because my attention is taken with the CSO. Some credit should go the actors because they all did fantastic in at least looking like they knew what they were doing and where they were going. That’s a tough job making it look convincing.

This has to be one of the shortest episodes of Doctor Who ever and I think its fair to say that there was a fair amount of padding. There are very long shots of gas pouring out of vents, for longer than we would normally see in a more packed episode. I think that even though it has a really short running time. I wish that Terrance Dicks would have written this story for TV because reading the book there is enough material that could easily have run to about five minutes.

The problem with CSO apart from the fact that there is fraying around the heads and bodies of those on screen, there is the issue of that the background looks fake. During normal location filming, there is a sense that the actors and the scenes are together whereas in this story when the actors are walking down the tunnel, there is no sense that it’s on uneven ground even though what we see shows that it’s not smooth.  As a result of the prolonged shots of the gas vent the cliffhanger is rather lacklustre but despite very little happening in the episode I actually found this episode to be perfectly fine and I am ‘enjoying’ this story more than I have ever done before in the past.

Underworld - Episode 1

When I first started this marathon, this story was one that I was dreading. It was a story that until 2010, I hadn’t watched all the way through. I would get till the second or third episode before giving up. This is the first story of 1978 and also the first story with Anthony Read as script editor. It is also Louise Jameson’s penultimate story as Leela.

I have decided to read the Target novel of this story and just reading the prologue has got me looking forward to it. The novelisation was written by Terrance Dicks in 1980 and so two years or so earlier, it fell to Bob Baker and Dave Martin to write this story. The opening scene is just as good as I read it in the novel. This is as about as far as I got in the book. I might make a comment about the book versus the TV versions during this story but I will have to wait and see. There is a nice speech that the Doctor gives about being the first people to see a planet formed. It’s delivered like a child about to see something for the first time after hearing about it for a long time.

The set used for the Minyon’s ship is quite good. It’s clearly designed to be the showpiece of the serial and its clear that this is where the budget went for the episode. I think that the guns they use aren’t quite as impressive as they are too cumbersome and has just a silly little screen to look through.

The Timelords are treated as gods by the minyons because the Timelords gave the minyons all the knowledge and then they were betrayed which leads to their rule on non-intervention. This is quite an interesting premise for the story. The Minyons that we meet are after another ship (which in the book is carrying more minyons). They are after P7E which is their ship. This is where the focus of the episode is and the build up is gradual but it’s a good thing because the tension builds up. The effect of the rocks building a planet around the ship is quite impressive. If only they hadn’t done it then the rest of the story wouldn’t be so CSO heavy. The final shot is of the new planet getting bigger and bigger. This episode has always been my favourite one of the four but that’s because the number of people in the episode is so small and also the CSO doesn’t really get in the way. That’s all going to change in the next episodes but I think that at very least, this story is going to be sort of like ‘The Sun Makers’ at that’s average. Not terrible but not great.

 

The Sun Makers - Episode 4

This is the final episode to have Robert Holmes as script editor. This is a position he has held since the first episode of Robot. So Holmes is the last person from Tom Baker’s first episode to leave (apart from Baker himself). This is the 88^th episode that Holmes was script editor for (though not credited) and its his 44^th as a writer and he is second longest serving script editor and at present he’s the third longest serving writer behind Malcolm Hulke (47) and Terry Nation (52).

The episode starts off with Leela about to be steamed to death or staying in a sauna too long as its known nowadays. There was a tiny sense of urgency in getting her out of there but there wasn’t as much as they could have been. The focus is on dealing with the Collector. The Collector does seem to be more involved in the story and Hade’s comedic role becomes more noticeable. Hade exit from the story was quite shocking really because he is thrown off the roof and his death/murder is cheered.

The Collector and the Doctor is quite a good scene because there is a bit where the Collector seems to envy the Doctors’ full head of curly hair. It’s a subtle scene despite how well it’s performed by Baker and Woolf.  The way that the Doctor defeats the Collector is quite interesting. He doesn’t raise a hand or a weapon. The Collector just gets a bit stressed and is reduced to his natural state. Some might think that this was a bit of a cop out but it’s one of those rare instances where the Doctor’s actions don’t end a villains role. Although technically he did change something which led to the Collector’s hysterics.

It’s revealed that Leela was due to being killed in this episode. I think that this would have been a mistake because whilst she’s not my favourite companion ever, it would have been a waste to get rid of her in this manner. The way that she was effectively hidden out of our sight until she was required to throw a knife at the guard was a clever little thing to do. Louise Jameson has been good in this episode and I think that this has been a good story for her.

Cordo seems to have gone a bit giddy between episodes three and four. He was just acting like a child which is quite a transformation considering how glum he was in the opening moments of the first episode. Considering that this is suppose to take place over a couple of hours (a day maybe), he has become a lot more confident. It’s not something that I have a problem with but I just think four episodes is a short amount of time for such a change.

As an episode it was a good one, it did what it needed to do without feeling rushed or like there was padding to fill out the time. Whilst I might not have been wild about the satirical tone in the story I think that it’s worked reasonably well and the final two episodes are better than the first two. Ok I have been quite positive over the last three stories and I have been genuinely surprised about how my opinion has changed over four days when it’s been different for years. However I about to approach a story that will severely test that theory.

The Sun Makers - Episode 3

I didn’t really comment yesterday about the rather poor cliffhanger. A cart going towards the camera is a greater cliffhanger for the poor cameraman than the viewers. 8.9 million people watched this penultimate episode which completely baffles me. The cart is moving so slow its hard to believe that the guards didn’t catch up with it. Even with Leela incapacitated they would have to be standing still not to catch it. The episode doesn’t get any better when Mandrel is threatening to torture the Doctor. We are suppose to want the Doctor to support the rebels which is hard to at first though shortly after this he sees to mellow.

The rebels seem to have come around to working as a team in this episode. It’s impressive how I gone from not liking any of them to wanting them to win. If only Robert Holmes had thought about these characters earlier then I would have like this story more. There is a great scene between Hade and the Collector which is quite fun when Hade is expected to pay for something out of his own pocket. The Collector is quite a good character and is played very well by Henry Woolf. Richard Leech is a good supporting performer as Hade by Jonina Scott seems to have fallen back a bit after her great opening episode.

Leela has the better share of the story as she is about to steamed to death. Even though her movements are somewhat restricted, Jameson gives a strong performance and shows how well the character has developed. Tom Baker also gives a good performance, perhaps his best performance for a while. I don’t want to say that he’s been coasting but it’s hard to think the last time I saw a really great performance from the Doctor.

There is one slightly dodgy moment where we see a photo of the supposed city. It’s a shame that after the great job of setting it up in the opening episode that all we know get is a rather poor photo. They could have done with a model to make it look better. That said there is something quite nice about the design of the structure. Just wish it was in 3D.

I think that this is a better episode than the previous two. I don’t find people as annoying and I feel like it’s more Doctor Who than the other episodes. I still not wild about it but I think that at best it’s still the weakest story of the season so far.

The Sun Makers - Episode 2

Interesting stat welcomes me as I watch this episode on my DVD as it was announced that this episode was the 36^th most watched episode of the week. How? I am perhaps being harsh on this story but I just thing that Robert Holmes is indulging himself a bit here and its defeinetly not one of his finest stories. It’s not like ‘The Space Pirates’ or ‘The Krotons’ but it’s not a classic. I know that people might like the satirical slant in this but if I want satirism then I will watch ‘The Thick of It’ or ‘Spitting Image’.

We meet the Collector (played by Henry Woolf), the first thing we actually see is him face down looking at some figures. When he first speaks the voice is rather annoying but this might have been the intention. It was quite fun to watch the Collector and Hade interact, Hade continues to amuse me and it seems like in the first scene between him and the Doctor he has found his intellectual equal.

Mandrel gets even less likeable in this episode but it’s not because he tries to kill Leela but just because every time I look at him I just think of Ventress in Heartbeat and how nice he was in that. Even though this was made about 15 years before Heartbeat started, it’s the reverse of normal typecasting. What I would say about this group of unlikeable rebels is that it’s the sort of group that I could see Leela living with after she had left the Doctor. It would have made for a far better exit than the one she actually got. Leela does get a fair share of the action in this episode. It’s funny because its another episode where the Doctor and Leela don’t share a scene. Leela is very strong in this episode and the Doctor seems to have become a bit clownish in this episode. He starts off being tied up and his best bit comes when he’s talking to Mandrel and gets quite angry with him about Leela’s absence.

The first scene between Hade and the Doctor is quite fun as Hade is acting all nice and gives the Doctor the money he was trying to get at the beginning of the episode. I was wondering whether the Doctor would know whether he was being set up or not but it looked like in this episode that he was blissfully unaware. I suppose it keeps the story going a bit to have the Doctor not have worked out he was being played.

The location scenes are quite good considering that they are all corridors but the downside to them is that when K9 is blasting down them he makes one hell of a racket. Maybe some dubbing would have worked better in this instance. The other alternative is to just cut K9 out of the story altogether. Lets be honest, K9’s contribution to the story so far has been limited at best. If it weren’t for the racket he was making I wouldn’t have noticed him in the serial.

The episode doesn’t drag which is a surprise to me as I don’t think that there is anything that grabs me in the way that other stories in this season have. This is definelty a better episode than the first but not by much of a compliment.

 

The Sun Makers - Episode 1

The Sun Makers is the third story in a group of adventures that I was worried about when I started this period of the show. However after re-evaluating ‘The Invisible Enemy’ and ‘Image of the Fendahl’ then I am expecting the same to happen here. In the past I have found the plot to be rather boring because all it seemed to be about what Robert Holmes moaning about taxes. This story takes place on Pluto which when this episode was transmitted in 1977 was a planet but in 2006 it was demoted to a dwarf planet. This episode takes place three days after the show celebrated its 14^th birthday. Tom Baker makes his 85^th appearance as the Doctor, Louise Jameson is now on 27 episodes having overtaken Caroline John and will be just behind Ian Marter by the end of this story. Now that is the facts and interesting stuff over with. Oh, one more fact is that this is the 95^th Doctor Who story and Tom Baker’s 21^st as the Doctor which means he is tied with Patrick Troughton. There that’s it now.

This is the first story that K9 appears as a companion. I wish sometimes that K9 would suffer the same fate as Chameleon did where he appeared in his debut story and was then put away in a cupboard until his final story. It doesn’t take long for this episode to feel like it has a hint of the George Orwell novel 1984. There is talk about death taxes and every so often there is a ‘praise the company’ chant. Cordo is the first face we see in this episode and is basically in debt and will have to work himself to death by the end of his first scene. By the time that the Doctor and Leela arrive, he is about to kill himself. Its good that the Doctor and Leela try to talk him out of this as he becomes their friend and the way into to the story.

Gatherer Hade comes across as a comedic character. He is almost child like in certain moments which is perhaps a good idea when the story has such dark tones in it. I actually found him to be the highlight of the episode. The scene that Hade had with Marn outside the TARDIS was a nice scene and that pretty much sums up the episode. It was made up of some good scenes and these two characters are going to be in most of those good scenes.

There is another familiar face in this serial when William Simons plays Mandrel. He most recently appeared in ‘Heartbeat’ as Alf Ventress. Mandrel is leader of a rebel group who are called the others. They aren’t particularly pleasant people and quite why we are suppose to be supporting them against Gatherer Hade’s lot is a mystery.

The cliffhanger is rather unremarkable one because all that happens is the Doctor is stuck in a box and some gas is released. It’s not a terrible way to end the episode but I think that it certainly didn’t have much of a response with me is because the build up was rather poor. I cant quite make up my mind about whether I like the satirical tone of the serial. I don’t necessarily think that there is anything wrong with this in principal but it has be done in such a way that it doesn’t feel like a lecture. I get a feeling that after just one episode, this story is perhaps just going to be average which normally would be a good thing but considering my opinion has changed about other stories, this is turning out to be the weakest (not worst) story of the season.

Image of the Fendahl - Episode 4

I am watching this episode after just seeing Peter Capaldi’s first episode as the Doctor. First of all I thought that Deep Breathe was really good and I think that they made the right choice. The sight of a Dinosaur in London sort of does a great deal to make up for ‘Invasion of the Dinosaurs’. Now its back to business as I watch Tom Baker’s 84^th episode and the thing about these episodes is that I honestly couldn’t tell you what was going on. There is a lot of great things going on but I would be hard pressed to come up with an explanation. Image of the Fendahl is a case of style over substance.

The effect of transforming Thea into the gold lady was done quite well and also the effect of raising her up so she would be vertical was also a good effect. To be honest I think that this was a bit of a waste for Wanda Ventham because she’s a very good actress and she’s reduced to cameo status which is perhaps the worst thing that I can think of in this episode.

The performances from Tom Baker and Louise Jameson have been really good and the lack of K9 has definelty been a plus point. The writing has been good but its George Spenton-Foster who has really showed what can be done. If I was being picky then I could argue that the directing has been so good that it got in the way of me following what was actually going on because I was enjoying what I was looking at.

The idea that Max kills himself is quite a bold thing for a family show. It does fit in quite well with the dark theme of this story. We don’t see the death which perhaps makes it more grim than if we had seen it on screen.

The ending of the episode is rather odd because the priory explodes and we don’t have final scene with the surviving characters and before we know whats going on, the story moves back to the TARDIS where Leela’s hair is totally different. This has been a better story than I have thought in the past but it’s one that is slightly confusing and the fact that its been this baffling whilst entertaining shows how good a writer Chris Boucher was. The setting probably helped a lot but as I approach the next story I know that I am not too far away from one of my least favourite stories and I fear that this improving attitude to stories wont continue. As it is, Image of the Fendahl is a better story than ‘The Invisible Enemy’ but not as good as ‘Horror of Fang Rock’.

Image of the Fendahl - Episode 3

Despite the story being in the third part, I couldn’t actually tell you a great deal about it. The cliffhanger was quite good and it’s resolved in a good way. The Doctor and Leela are reunited very quickly in this episode and Leela starts off by saving the Doctor.

Max doesn’t seem entirely convincing in his current role as the baddie. He just comes across as a little bit wet. Wanda Ventham doesn’t really do very much in this episode so it falls to Adam and Dr Fendelman to be the supporting characters moving that part of the story. Mrs Tyler becomes more important to the story. She is the only bit of comedy in this story and she’s in her prime during this episode. With the Doctor preoccupied with other things, he can’t pretend that liquorice allsorts are jelly babies and do other funny things.

The running theme of these episodes has been that not a great deal has been happening but stuff has been going on to keep me entertained. This is going to be one of those short reviews because despite this being a well written and well directed episode (along with the other two), I cant really say a great deal about this episode.

This episode doesn’t really get going until the final few minutes of the episode when the Fendahl creature appears. It looks a lot better than the swarm/nucleus thing that we saw in the previous story. It’s a shame that it waited until the end of the episode for this to happen as I would have liked this more than Max attempting to do the whole baddie thing. This perhaps isn’t the strongest episode but it’s not a terrible episode by any means. It’s good that there has been some progression as far as activity is concerned and I still can’t get past the fact that I am enjoying this story far more than I thought.

 

Image of the Fendahl - Episode 2

There was a feature on one of these DVDs that looks at cliffhangers and this is one of those featured an its featured because it’s a bit of a confusing cliffhanger. I believed this and have thought since then that it was a slightly odd ending but I was wrong about the cliffhanger because it seems perfectly fine. I think its more down to the editing that it might not be the most straight forward of moments but I think that the DVD feature gives it a reputation that it doesn’t deserve. The episode manages to keep the Doctor and Leela apart for the entire episode which is good because it means that they have can have to different (yet equally good) plot strands.

This episode features another former soap star as Geoff Hinsliff who appears as Jack Tyler in this episode and would go on to play Don Brennan in Coronation Street from 1987 to 1997. He represents the cobbles whilst Derek Martin represents the dreary soap Eastenders. I cant make my mind up about Jack Tyler because there is something not quite right about him. He seems like he’s a nice character but Hinsliff plays the role in such a way that it comes across more like he’s hiding something and that is a bit off putting.

The episode continues its good work from the previous episode. The creepy vibe which does seem like it’s a Philip Hinchcliffe story but this is credit to Chris Boucher and George Spenton-Foster. Spenton-Foster’s directing is particularly special but it works for what Boucher has written. Things were going so well that I didn’t notice that Leela’s hair is weird and even better, I didn’t reliase that K9 wasn’t in the episode. Oh yeah I’m a K9 hater. Deal with it J

Fendelman comes across as a slightly mad individual. I suppose he’s one of those mad but brilliant scientists. The thing is that he’s just as barmy as the others now because Wanda Ventham’s Thea is behaving oddly but it is Max is the one that really has become influenced. I think that this is clever because Max really was in the background whilst Fendelman and Thea took centre stage.

The cliffhanger is perfectly fine and it starts with a bit of humour as the Doctor comes across the skull. The Doctor offers it a jelly baby but I think eagle eye fans will know that it wasn’t a jelly baby that he offered but a liquorice allsort. The Doctor becomes possessed and ends up with his hand on the skull. It’s going to be interesting the remind myself how this gets resolved in the next episode but this is the second time in as many episodes that the Doctor has been possessed and it’s the same fate that seemed to follow Sarah Jane if memory serves me correctly.

The story manages to keep things going again whilst not actually doing anything. It’s a solid enough episode and I am still enjoying this story and I am surprised by this. Hopefully the second half of this serial wont disappoint and let it down.

Image of the Fendahl - Episode 1

Ok so I was quite surprised that I enjoyed ‘The Invisible Enemy’ as much as I did and I thought that I would be more likely to enjoy this story as a result. However its amazing what a night’s sleep can do and my enthusiasm for this story has waned ever so slightly. It’s perfectly possible that this would work in the same way as enemy but only time would tell. Chris Boucher has written this story following his double header at the beginning of Louise Jameson’s time on the show. George Spenton-Foster makes his debut as a director. The thing that this story has in its favour is that its an earth story and also is quite atmospheric which is very much like the Philip Hinchcliffe era.

Fun fact: This story features Benedict Cumberbatch’s mom (Wanda Ventham) and also Raquel’s dad (Denis Lill) from Only Fools and Horses.

Fun fact #2: This is the 20^th story for Tom Baker as the Doctor. He is just one behind Patrick Troughton (21), Four behind Jon Pertwee (24) and nine behind William Hartnell (29).

The first six minutes or so show me why I may have been wrong about this story. It’s very atmospheric, creepy and well performed. The story is set in some research house where a group of scientists are doing work and not understanding what they are doing (like most scientists in tv drama). Due to the fact that Denis Lill (Fendelman) and Wanda Ventham (Thea Ransome) are the more familiar faces, these are the two more interesting performances.

Louise Jameson is sporting a new costume (one for the dads clearly) and a new hairdo which just looks weird and I think is going to be a distraction during these stories. This is her 23^rd episode and whilst she’s been in the show a while it doesn’t feel like the character has settled into the show. I don’t know whether this is because the Doctor hasn’t warmed to her but there is just something that doesn’t quite work. It’s funny because if you listen to Louise Jameson on the Big Finish audios (especially with Tom Baker), she’s a lot better and that’s because the writing is better.

The Doctor and Leela spend a lot of time walking around the woods nearby and don’t interact with anyone else. This is a Boucher trait because if you think about it for a large chunk of his previous stories, the Doctor doesn’t interact with anyone. It didn’t take very long for K9 to be written out of the story because in the first scene with the Doctor and Leela, he is in pieces. Good.

I wont pretend to understand what was going on but in a way that doesn’t really matter because the whole episode moved along and was pitched in just the right way that I could just go along with it and enjoy it. I think that this episode doesn’t really want to get too bogged down in what’s going on but just create a lot of intrigue and mystery about the setting and the people who are messing with forces they don’t understand.

Now this episode features one of those cliffhanger in Doctor Who that doesn’t quite make sense. I’ll talk about it more in the next episode but as it is here, the Doctor is frozen to the spot with something coming towards it and Leela is about to meet the end of a shotgun. As cliffhanger’s go it has to be one of the best in this season so far and if I were watching this in 1977 then I would definelty be wanting to know what happens next Saturday as it is, I will have to wait just 24 hours (maybe a bit more due to work commitments) but at least the entertainment is there. Maybe I will like this as much as I enjoyed the previous story. Season fifteen is surprising me and I quite like that. I knew Horror of Fang Rock was going to be a good one but that’s three stories in a row where the quality has been high. Maybe Graham Williams is a better producer of the show than I had previously given him credit for.

The Invisible Enemy - Episode 4

Well I never thought that I would write this but I am quite sad about reaching the end of this release. However the episode doesn’t get off to the best of start with the reprise of the prawn. The prawn has a difficult moving and has to have help which makes it the worst villain and design in Doctor Who history (at this point in time). I am perhaps being a bit cruel on the prawn but when its standing still then it doesn’t look too bad but its when it does then it just looks crude. The idea of the nucleus is quite good and visually its striking but I think a bit more time could have been spent to make it more mobile than it was.

As it’s the final episode, the story has to try and reach a conclusion in 25 minutes and it does this quite well. The race is on to stop the prawn/nucleus and stop the eggs from hatching. This means that the story moves to Titan where the story started and I think that it feels like a nice bit of closure because they could have just discarded Titan and kept the action on the hospital asteroid but now we end the story in a decently lit group of sets and my eyes could rest.

I like how the Doctor doesn’t mind the nucleus existing but just has a problem with the grand plan that it has. The “everything has a right to exist” line is particularly good. It’s been a good performance from both Tom Baker and Louise Jameson. I think that the addition of K9 is one that the show would go on to regret. It worked during the course of this story but every so often it would have to stop and at one point it had to be dragged to the TARDIS and when it has to board the TARDIS, the camera cuts away to hide the fact it couldn’t climb up.

“I only hope he’s TARDIS trained” is one of those lines that just makes me grown with embarrassment because its such a rubbish joke but it ends the episode on a rather fun note. I am quite surprised at how much I have enjoyed this story. Yes the prawn does undermine the story but the idea in principle is sound and the comedy works rather well in this serial and as a result I am looking forward to the next story a lot more than I was at the beginning of this serial. Maybe ‘Image of the Fendahl’ might be a better story than I previously thought.

The Invisible Enemy - Episode 3

This is the episode where CSO really shows itself in a way that hasn’t been seen since the Barry Letts era. This is where we go deep into the Doctor’s mind which sounds like a great thing but knowing that this show is made on a BBC budget, the chances looked like it was going to be a massive disappointment. However its hard to really find fault with what we saw. The CSO sets are impressive and this is a creative use of CSO which wasn’t the case when Barry Letts was running the show. The whole thing of going into the Doctor’s body is quite a strange one because the set looks like a bit of the forest set used in ‘Planet of Evil’. Also there are spheres that appear that seem to have been borrowed from ‘The Prisoner’. Well the show filmed where it was shot so it makes sense that they use something that appeared in the show.

Sadly, every so often the action moved from the Doctor’s head to the hospital so it was like going from the dark to the light. Another problem is that we get back to K9. There is a bit where K9 is gliding along a corridor and is making a massive racket. It seems good that Leela has someone to interact with but its just a bit unfortunate that she has to do it with K9. The hate for K9 continues.

As far as the narrative is concerned it progresses quite well and in a way its kind of put into the background due to how good the CSO and the performances were.

There is a rather unfortunate bit where a part of a wall comes down and its clear that its going to fall. Another thing that is a little unfortunate is the part where K9 becomes possessed. If he’s a robot then how can he be possessed? These are perhaps two of the biggest things wrong with this episode which probably shows how good I found the episode.

The Doctor encounters the Nucleus of the swarm in this episode and it’s a bid odd really because it doesn’t really feel like most encounters that the Doctor has had with villains in previous stories. It’s not a terrible scene but I think that its just done a bit oddly. The cliffhanger is a bit disappointing because this is the first time that we see the nucleus. There is no getting around it, it’s a bit rubbish. During the bit where its talking to the Doctor it was hidden under a black cloak it was fine but seeing it as it is then it’s a bit of a let down but that aside I am still liking this more than I previous had done in the past. I think that the performances have been very good and the production values (with CSO included) are also very good.

The Invisible Enemy - Episode 2

So of course Leela wasn’t going to be gunned down at the beginning of this episode but the way that she survives is quite clever. The Doctor is fighting with whatever is in his mind and gives enough time to warn Leela. The action moves after a short time to a meteorite that has a massive red cross on it. Here the costumes get sillier and the words on the wall are just as silly. This episode becomes a recruitment drive as Lowe infects lots of people. It’s done in such a way that just seems rather basic and not very exciting or dramatic. The effect used is still quite good.

The sets go from dark colours at the beginning to really bright as the story moves to the asteroid hospital. The bright white walls along with the PVC costumes means that sunglasses should be provided with this DVD.

K9 makes his debut in this episode after the five minute mark. K9 is one of those creations that loved and hated by Doctor Who fans and I am personally with the latter. K9 is one of the most recognisable things about Doctor Who but for me I cant see the fascination. I think that K9 has a purpose in this story and the fact that it’s a studio based story means that he can move around quite well but beyond this story, he loses his appeal somewhat. K9 is the creation of Professor Marius (played by Frederick Jaeger). Marius is a likeable person as is someone that the Doctor and Leela can rely upon. Even though he is now a baddie, I just don’t see Michael Sheard’s Lowe character as a villain but it’s still a good performance.

The story seems to go in a slightly different direction as the Doctor and Leela get cloned, shrunk and then the episode ends with the pair going down what appears to be a plughole. It’s quite a good ending because whilst its not tense or dramatic, it is still quite entertaining so after two episodes I am still enjoying this story. There are things that don’t quite work but I think that (at the moment) I am perhaps being too hard on the show as I am judging it by 2014 standards. I don’t quite know why I am enjoying this story but I’m just going to go along with this.

The Invisible Enemy - Episode 1

As I got the DVD for this story off my shelf, I noticed that it was a 12 certificate. I wonder whether this fact will become evident later on. This story sees the debut of K9 but he doesn’t appear in this episode (thankfully). There is an interesting opening scene which sees three astronauts being hit by what looks like lightening. After making no reference to leaving an empty lighthouse, the action picks up with the Doctor and Leela in a familiar location. The old console room returns to the show which is a shame really because it seems like we’ve gone from a nice atmospheric console rom to a white over-lit room.

There are plenty of things that I will be saying aren’t very good in this story so I am going to start with the positives because there are more than you would thing. Firstly the models are all quite good. It’s clear that this is at the beginning of the season because it looks quality and also the effects used to show how the thing is transferred from one person to another.

The Doctor appears to be affected by the conscious and at first it doesn’t look like he’s been affected and Leela also looks like she has been affected but I think because she’s a bit dim she isn’t smart enough to be affected. It’s second time lucky a short time later when he is possessed. This story features the return of Michael Sheard who is always dependable and starts off as a nice guy but that doesn’t last long and I just don’t think that I can buy that he is a baddie.

Now for the bad things. I think that changing words so that they sound like real words but aren’t spelt the same is slightly annoying as it doenst do anything except make it look like people in the 1970’s thought that we would have all lost the ability to spell things in the future. Also the dodgy eye make up looks silly. That is pretty much all that I can say about this story in terms of positive or negative. I know that there will be plenty of opportunity to find fault in this story. There is going to be a run of about twelve episodes or so where I wont be very positive because I have never thought highly of these stories in the past. There is always the possibility that things could change but there is one story in particular that I highly doubt this. I will end on a positive and say that the cliffhanger is quite good. The Doctor appears to be about to shoot Leela when he is possessed so unless Leela turns around at the last minute, it would appear that she isn’t going to last long. Obviously we know that she will be fine but this is one of those rare instances where I don’t mind the fact that I know she will be alright cause she’s one of the lead stars.

Horror of Fang Rock - Episode 4

The final episode of this story is perhaps the darkest that there has been in a Doctor Who episode. It takes less than 1 and a half minutes for Vincent to become the first death of this episode which features a lot of death. I actually made a note of when the deaths occur. Vincent dies at 01:45, Adelaide is put out of her misery at 06:28 and Skinsale is the last to fall at 16:50.

The whole thing about the Rutan is that it has crashed landed and used the lighthouse to start a rescue relay. We learn a lot about this solitary Rutan in a short amount of time and it turns out that they are having a war with the Sontarans (they were mentioned in the previous Sontaran stories). The Rutans seem like they are just as stubborn as the Sontarans so its easy to see why they are at war with each other.

Adelaide is annoying from the very moment she’s on screen as she faints. Leela’s reaction is perfect and matches what I was feeling. Her death is a highlight and that might be harsh but there was nothing likeable at all about her. It seems that Terrance Dicks has put the character in just for this moment because we all know how he likes the female roles to be fairly clichéd in needing rescued or being in peril.

The Doctor hanging out of the lighthouse to hide from the Rutan Reuben is a rather odd thing for the Doctor to do but on the plus side the CSO effect/shot is quite good.

The sit down scene between the Doctor and the Rutan is one of those scenes that I have seen countless times and its one of the best scenes in the entire serial. Whilst I haven’t been entirely won over with the effect of the Rutan, the effect to get it up the stairs is well done.

The Doctor’s plan is to try and scare off the Rutans, this is thought up at the midway point of the episode. This means that the story has very little time to waste and the Rutan is dealt with very quickly and the rescue ship is done with in quick time. Yesterday I was mentioning about how this could have been extended to maybe five episodes and they could have spent an episode just on the Rutan.

The Doctor’s gag about throwing the diamonds on the ground didn’t last long as it led to the death of Skinsale. You could argue that the Doctor caused his death. Skinsale is the last of the supporting cast and this means for the final five minutes or so the story features just the Doctor and Leela. Without any supporting characters the final scene sees Leela’s eye colour change. To be honest I never noticed her eye colour. It’s a shame that no time was taken to focus on the fact that everyone is dead. It’s one of the things that slightly bothers me about this story but that aside, I still think that it’s a great story and has some great performances. Looking at the list of stories coming in this season, I think that this is going to be the best story of the season. I think the next month is going to be a struggle.

Horror of Fang Rock - Episode 3

The 15th season’s start continues in a good way. I often wonder with four part stories whether they could work as a five or six parter and part of me thinks that this episode would work with an extra episode so that we get more of the Rutans. As it is there is very little padding that takes place at any point during this serial.

Adelaide becomes even more annoying because for most of the episode she just seems to be shrieking and sobbing and just being irritated. I think that if I were a fan of Upstairs Downstairs and Downton Abbey then this sort of person might not have such a grating effect on me but I just don’t like the woman. The only good thing that comes from her involvement in this episode is when Leela slaps her for screaming.

Reuben has been taken over by the green thing. I thought that Reuben was creepy before but now he is definelty creepy. The green blob that looks like it came out of someone’s nose isn’t the great effect although its involvement becomes greater in this episode because it kills Skinsale. Skinsale is the first of the current crop of supporting characters. Harker dies a few minutes later. I think that Dicks knew how annoying the character of Adelaide was and decided to hold off her death until the last episode.

It’s impressive that the action keeps moving in such a small location. There are only three sets (not including Reuben’s room) and so at times it felt like a stage play. The performances have all been solid (bar Annette Woollett’s). The Doctor has been largely sombre and Leela has been her usual self and they have both been on good form during this story. The directing has also been good because its never been boring and the tight spaces have helped create a nice bit of claustrophobia and the base under siege theme is helping make this story work. Considering that the monster hasn’t really been involved in things, its impressive that there is as much tension as there is.

The cliffhanger does seem to come out of the blue. I didn’t realise that the episode was at this stage until the theme tune played. The episode ends with the Doctor making a horrible realisation realising that he has locked the creature in the lighthouse with them. It’s his face that makes it such a good ending. The endings so far in this story haven’t been really actioned packed but have still managed to be exciting.

Horror of Fang Rock - Episode 2

I could perhaps be very critical of the model used to show the ship crashing on the rocks. First thing that stood out in this episode is the rather cold reaction that Leela gives when it’s revealed that they have crashed on the rocks is a bit odd. Her attitude is slightly odd, its almost like she is bored of what is going on. The crew of the wrecked ship is a mixture of annoying and charming. Lord Palmerdale and Adelaide are both equally irritating. It’s like they stumbled out of an episode of Upstairs Downstairs. The ship crashing is largely down to Palmerdale so after just a few minutes we are left in no doubt that he is suppose to be an unlikeable person. Colonel Skinsale (played by a returning Alan Rowe) and Harker are the more charming characters. Skinsale seems to spend most of the episode revelling in the fact that Palmerdale is about to lose a lot of money. There is an instant friction between them which makes it quite an interesting.

“We might all be dead” is delivered like there is a punchline and Tom Baker delivers the line with a smile on his face. It’s the only time that there is any humour in the episode. The Doctor doesn’t seem to stop moving in this episode. Tom Baker’s Doctor always has a lot of energy and he uses this quite a lot in the episode. Louise Jameson does a lot of moving around herself and the fact she isn’t dressed lady like in this story provides some humorous looks.

There is a glimpse of what crashed into the sea at the beginning of the previous episode and there is no easy way of saying it but it does look like something that came out of your nose. The fact that we only see a little bit of it is quite good as there gives a bit more mystery to see whats causing all of this. The deaths have stopped for now but it feels like a pause in the chaos which is probably the best thing. The episode ends with a  chilling cliffhanger. Reuben screams and yet the camera is focused on Skinsale. I think if it had ended with the camera seeing what happened to Reuben then it wouldn’t have been as good but I liked this ending. The fact that there have been some annoying elements introduced into this story doesn’t detract from what is still a thoroughly exciting story.

Horror of Fang Rock - Episode 1

Horror of Glam Rock is the first story of the fifteenth season and it’s the first with Graham Williams as producer after Philip Hinchcliffe is ‘relocated’ to another BBC show so it’s fair to say that the golden era of the show is over but at least Robert Holmes is still script editor and Horror of Fang Rock (and not Glam Rock as I have been tempted to write) is one of my favourites because it’s a base under siege story which is a type of adventure that I really love. The episode doesn’t get off to a great start with the effect used to simulate something crashing into the sea. We are introduced to the supporting characters and one of the many things that I love about this story is that it has a reduced number of people and one of them dies within ten minutes of the episode starting.

Vince is one of the supporting characters that we are suppose to like because he acts nicely towards the Doctor and Leela. Reuben is clearly there to be the exact opposite and untrustworthy. He suspects that the Doctor and Leela had something to do with Ben’s death. Death is done in quite a dark way because there is none of the humour that we have come to expect from the Doctor in recent stories.

The setting of a lighthouse might seem a bit odd to some and it wouldn’t be my first idea but the beauty of this is that it keeps people in a very tight location and yet give the chance to introduce other people when needed without it seeming contrived. The fact that it is a studio bound story is something that is forgotten until the episode ends and that is because of my love for this story means that I look past it and if it takes place inside a lighthouse your not going have much location footage.

The episode is directed rather well by Paddy Russell who uses what is available to her. I think that she manages to make the story move along at a reasonable pace which cant move too quickly because nothing can really happen until the ship crashes on the rocks at the end of the episode. It’s a great opening episode because it sets its stall out really well and gives us time to absorb the atmosphere and the setting and Terrance Dicks has written some characters that have been thought out really well and have paced it just right.

The Talons of Weng-Chiang - Episode 6

This is the final episode of the story and also of the season. The cliffhanger works just as well as second time. It was perhaps the right thing to only have it shown briefly for a short amount of time because it is quite gruesome. The mask is quite an effective one but it must have been annoying for Michael Spice because that was the only time we got to see his eyes. The first meeting between Weng-Chiang and the Doctor is a good one. The way that the Doctor sits down thinking that he is talking to Leela when in fact it’s not is a funny moment. As this scene progresses it does feel very much like it could be on the stage.

I like the scene between Jago and Litefoot when they talk about being brave and this is where the friendship. Despite only being together for two episodes, both Trevor Baxter and Christopher Benjamin have been fantastic together and despite being from two very different walks of life, they have become firm friends and its easy to believe that these two would be friends and the Big Finish series of adventures has expanded on this.

I think that Greel got slightly devalued in this episode because Mr Sin suddenly becomes the better villain. Greel becomes almost a hysterical person for some reason. I still think that he has been a good villain but in this last episode something happened and Mr Sin suddenly became the better villain. Deep Roy suddenly leapt to life (forgive the pun) when he was shooting at things and people. It was perhaps inevitable that Sin was going to turn on Greel.

Greel’s death is a bit of an anti-climax as it came after Mr Sin had turned on him. Mr Sin’s demise was a little bit entertaining but only because Tom Baker was throwing the dummy version of him around like a dummy. Once both of them had been dealt with the story had reached its natural conclusion and there is a nice little scene to ends things and then the story is over. As a six parter this story has been just as fun as I remembered. I think that this story has used all six episodes well and it’s the perfect way to end the fourteenth season and one that has seen a lot of change and one of the best stories in Doctor Who.

 

 

The Talons of Weng-Chiang - Episode 5

Now that Weng-Chiang has his beloved cabinet. The story can move on and it does very much so in a good way. I like Weng-Chiang’s new digs in this episode. They are much better than the previous one. It’s clear that the budget was saved for this set. It wouldn’t look out of place in a Hollywood movie. Despite having the cabinet, he now doesn’t have the key to open it. He’s gone from having the key and not the cabinet to the other way around in quick time.

Mr Sin becomes more or a villain now that Li Hi-sen Chang. Speaking of him, he has got worse since the last episode. He is pretty near death and high on opium. It’s a sad exit for him and it’s a great little speech that he gives before he dies is rather sad and I am still confused about whether I was supposed to sympathise with him or not. At the end of the day, he didn’t outstay his welcome and is one of the reasons why this serial works as well as it does.

The writing and direction have worked really well and whilst watching this episode I am reminded of Robert Holmes’ earlier work and how poor those stories seemed in comparison. David Maloney has always been good and even when the story hasn’t been as good, he has managed to get the best out of the stories. On their own, Tom Baker and Louise Jameson have been very good but together they just don’t seem to have gelled as much as previous Doctor and companion combinations. I think the fact that Tom Baker wasn’t as keen about Louise Jameson as he was about Elisabeth Sladen shows.

We have waited an age for the first meeting of Jago and Litefoot. It’s a great moment because Jago thinks that Litefoot is a servant and when he is corrected he changes his tune. The subsequent scene between the two of them working things out just makes me want to listen to the Big Finish series. They actually steal the show and the Doctor and Leela are the supporting characters.

The episode ends with Leela ripping off Weng-Chiang’s mask and reveals a disgusting melted face. We only see it for a second but it’s long enough to leave a lasting image. It’s been an interesting episode which might sound like damning with faint praise but it’s all really good and there isn’t a specific stand out moment which shows how solid and consistent the episode is. Looking forward to the final episode very much.

The Talons of Weng-Chiang - Episode 4

It’s a shame that the episode starts off with the unconvincing rat versus Louise Jameson’s impressive acting. The focus in this episode is on the cabinet and we know this because its referred to at every opportunity. If I were watching this for the first time in 1977 then I would be wondering just what the cabinet is going to do and there is a nice sense of mystery going on with this aspect of the story. However the only thing that does annoy/worry/concern me is that considering the cabinet is so important, its odd that the Doctor leaves just Litefoot to guard it which considering the resources of Weng-Chiang isn’t perhaps the wisest move. This is a decision that the Doctor would regret but not until the end.

I still think that Jago and Litefoot are superb after another episode where separately they show their awesomeness and its weird to think that they haven’t met yet and still go on to become as loved as they are. Christopher Benjamin is the comedian of the two but Trevor Baxter has a charm to him that cuts through the pomposity of the character’s poshness.

The new costume that Leela wears is quite nice and its better than the one she started the story in. It’s just a shame that she doesn’t stay in it for very long. After complimenting the fact that she does more that the Doctor in the previous episode, the balance is changed and she doesn’t seem to do very much whereas the Doctor does a great deal. The highlight of the episode comes when the Doctor and Leela go to the show. Li H-sen Chang picks the Doctor out and what seems like a normal trick takes a rather dramatic turn when Chang shoots at deck of cards and the Doctor moves the deck closer to his face.

I like the speech that Li H-sen Chang gives when it’s clear that he has reached the end of his life in this story which is a shame as I was starting to like him. The last shot of him is of him being nibbled by the giant rat that nearly got Leela. John Bennett started off with a strong character but he sort of went downhill the moment that Weng-Chiang came in. Bennett still gave it a good go and it was the best character that he has played in the show.

The cliffhanger is ok because it ends with Weng-Chiang leaving with the cabinet that he has apparently been spending years searching for. The story is reaching that moment when it changes direction and it does it rather well during this episode. I think that despite not really have as much location footage compared to the previous episode, I still thought that there was enough going on to make this an entertaining episode.

The Talons of Weng-Chiang - Episode 3

As I approach the half way mark of the story, I am getting to the stage where the adventure starts to take its change in direction in plot terms. Leela is shown to throw a knife at Mr Sin’s neck and then jumps out of a window within the first two minutes of the episode. The idea that a companion is seen (or at least implied) throwing a knife at someone even a villain is something that I am not sure whetehr I think should have been done. Even though Leela is a savage and doesn’t behave like Jo Grant or Ian Chesterton, its still something that perhaps didn’t need to be seen. Jamie was perhaps a bit more likely to be fighting back than most companions but even he didn’t do what Leela did. Leela is quite active in this episode and she is separated from the Doctor so that means that Professor Litefoot is the one that becomes his side-kick. Leela replaces a woman that has been hypnotised and is taken down to the sewers where Weng-Chiang is hiding.

In fact this is more Leela’s episode than the Doctor’s as it doesn’t feel like the Doctor is used very much in this story. The closest that the Doctor comes to being active is when he’s talking to Litefoot in his lounge. Chang does the hypnotism thing again and this means the rather poor effect is used. That and the rat aside, the effects used in this story are all quite good and the production values are all top notch like I mentioned in the previous entry. The location filming is fantastic in this episode. It’s hard to believe that this was filmed in 1977 and I could watch an entire six part run with just location filming.

Leela has muscles like a horse according to Weng-Chiang. I think that the mask does help a lot to make him seem like an effective villain. Like most actors forced to work in a restrictive costume, Michael Spice does a good job moving around. I also think that John Bennett continues to do a great job with what is a rather watered down role. I cant quite make my mind up whether I am suppose to sympathise with the way that he is being treated or whether I am still suppose to dislike him. That is a minor quibble in the grand scheme of things.

Unfortunately the episode is let down a little bit by the ending. Not only is the disappointing rat used again but Leela is made to do what the character shouldn’t be doing and that is screaming and wearing a costume that is even skimpier than her usual garment. It’s perhaps the characters poorest moment. Perhaps the only positive that can be taken from it is that Louise Jameson really makes it look like it’s a real rat as opposed to a cuddle rodent. It was clearly an early Roland Rat in Doctor Who!

Also on a final note, this is the 450^th episode of Doctor Who

 

The Talons of Weng-Chiang - Episode 2

Starting with the unconvincing rat isn’t perhaps the wisest thing to do. The only upside to it is that it leads the Doctor to work out that the rat is a guard. Luckily the lighting does help shield the dodgy rat. The effect used when Li H’Sen Chang is hypnotising Jago doesn’t quite work as its clear that its an effect and that he is looking at Jago. This is the episode where Chang is shown to not be the leading villain that he was perceived. Weng-Chiang is a masked individual and its revealed that he has been getting Chang to kidnap girls for something that enables Weng-Chiang to live. It’s a nice bit of intrigue that is given to us because we know something but not everything.

Watching Litefoot talking to the Doctor and Leela reminds me of just how good the Big Finish series is. Despite their being over thirty years between when this story was made and when the series began, it shows how Trevor Baxter and Christopher Benjamin haven’t missed a step in their audio adventures.

The scene with the Doctor and Jago is quite funny due to the Doctor performing magic tricks and Jago being less than impressed with him. These two are very funny together and Tom Baker and Christopher Benjamin work well together. For completely different reasons, Louise Jameson and Trevor Baxter are just as funny together because its two worlds colliding. Leela’s savage no manners style of eating against Professor Litefoot’s etiquette of eating with plates. It was rather amusing.

The part where the Doctor was chasing Weng-Chiang is rather good and does remind me a bit of the prolonged chase sequence in ‘Planet of the Spiders’. However in this case it was better because it wasn’t as long or as indulgent. Also its helped that the lighting is kept low again which means it adds something to the moment and that is what makes the episode work so well (just like in the previous episode) and that is the direction which coming from David Maloney isn’t much of a surprise.

The episode ends with Mr Sin walking towards Leela with a knife in his hand which is quite a powerful way to end an episode. I think that this is a stronger episode than the first because its done all the setting up and can just get on with it and it does it very well. I like how all the characters are really strong and the story allows them all to be wonderful. Two episodes in an I think that this serial is the perfect end to the season, a much stronger six parter adventure than ‘The Seeds of Doom’.

The Talons of Weng-Chiang - Episode 1

The final story of the fourteenth season ends on what is widely considered one of the true greats in Doctor Who history. This is the six part adventure that bought Henry Gordon Jago and Professor Litefoot to our lives and over thirty years later they would be have their own series with Big Finish. If you haven’t had the chance to listen to them then you should because they are rather fun. The opening minutes of this episode introduced Henry Gordon Jago and Li H’sen Chang and they are two very good characters. Christopher Benjamin is superb and John Bennett (previously in Invasion of the Dinosaurs) is very creepy. Mr Sin is also quite creepy and is played really well by Deep Roy. The way that he was used is one of the things that sets up this story rather well. Professor Litefoot is introduced quite late into the episode and his introduced is less flamboyant than Benjamin’s debut. I really cant wait until they get their first scene together because the fanboy in me is really looking forward to it.

When the action moves to the sewers that it when it gets interesting for me. It’s when it feels like the story is heading towards something. This is when however some of the problems with this story start to become present. The sight of a huge rat is something that wouldn’t look that effective via CGI by today’s standards so the rat that is used in this episode doesn’t look as good as it could. The only thing that stops it from being totally embarrassing is that the lighting is quite low and so you don’t see a great deal of it.

This early part of this story is designed to educate Leela and make her less of a savage than she was in previous stories and I always think that the Doctor was on a hiding to nothing with this. It’s good how there are a few moments where her instincts show why she is fine as she is. Attacking a bunch of guys just on her own shows that she is very different to any companion that came before her. Tom Baker seems to be in autopilot during this episode but even Tom Baker on autopilot is fun to watch and his Sherlock Holmes impression is very fun to look at.

One thing that stands out is the high production value of the costumes and the setting. The BBC has always done quite well and it really shows here. It almost gets in the way of the story telling. It’s not perhaps the start that I remember it having but I think that with five more episodes, this story can afford to take its time. So at the moment I cant be to gushing about this story but I am pretty confident that this will change in future episodes but a promising start.

The Robots of Death - Episode 4

I’m going to start on a totally random note and start with the target novels. I am working my way through them and was tempted to start on Robots of Death. It’s quite a fun thing to do where you read the novelisation of the TV story and see the difference between the two versions. I think that Robots of Death is one of those that will be better than the TV version but at the moment I am reading ‘The Deadly Assassin’. Now back to the main bit of business. The final episode is one that I hope isn’t going to disappoint me. It’s funny because I have seen all of these stories countless times and yet I am still unsure sometimes whether I am going to like the episode or not.

The reprise is still good and its resolved when Uvanov kills V4 in quite a violent way by stabbing it in the back of the head. The fact we don’t see it is perhaps worse than if we had seen him stab V4. This is another example of the tone being somewhat stronger than it would have been during the Letts’ era. There is a shot of the robots surrounding the Doctor and Uvanov and I thought that this was a great sinister moment and credit for this moment as well as other moments go to Michael E Briant who shows yet again why he is perhaps the most underated director in Doctor Who.

Taren Capel is the mad scientist who has changed the robots behaviour. He’s also known as Dask and the revelation that he’s wearing the robots costume and has similar face paint on is quite well done because its revealed quickly even though Dask hasn’t been in the story too much and yet when we see him back it seems like a perfectly normal thing. David Ballie’s performance has been really good and in fact all the performances from the surviving supporting cast members have been really good and the annoying ones bit the dust early which is the right way.

The Doctor uses helium gas to change Capel’s voice and this leads to Capel being killed by SV7. Killed by his own creation which seemed like the most sensible way for the story to be wrapped up. I thought that it was ended in a perfectly fine manner and the only thing that I take issue with is that the build up seemed to lack the sort of build up that I would have expected. That said I thought that this was a perfectly fine end to a really good story and I am really looking forward to the next story but I will talk about that a bit more in the next episode review.

The Robots of Death - Episode 3

After the cliffhanger was resovled, I thought that the sinking of the mining ship was going to take longer than it did. I think had the story being underrunning then this might have taken more than a few minutes. As it is, the story doesn’t really waste much time and hits the ground running. The conversation why Leela asks why they do what they do on the mining ship is a nice one because it shows the sadness that the crew face whilst they may not want to admit it. This is where the purpose of Leela starts to make sense because due to the primitive nature of her mind she can puncture the pomposity and absurdity of certain situations and ask the sort of questions that most people probably wouldn’t want to ask.

The shot of SV7 with black eyes that turn red is a very creepy shot and it’s a simple and yet effective shot. This is when Doctor Who is at its best, its when it manages to make the most simplest thing scary. It’s something that works with the weeping angels in the new series but in the classic era its not that regular occurrence. The question of who is making the robots go bad is given a nice bit of mystery when the person is seen on screen yet he is wearing a hood type thing so the closest we get is a close up of his face on a TV screen. The robots start to go a bit mad and go on to kill everyone but they aren’t very good at it and it almost seems like a half-hearted idea.

I like how the Doctor befriends D84. D84 is the ‘dumb’ one so it allows the Doctor to treat him childlike. The humour that D84 brings is perhaps the only bit of humour in the entire episode and story because there are several shots which are quite graphic such as blood appearing on a robots hand, the mangled head of a robot, a robot pulling its hand off after its stuck in the door. I could go on for ages but I wont. After being bereft of anything dark in the previous story,  

It takes 22 minutes for Uvanov to make an appearance. Due to the fact that the story was so good, I forgot that he was even in the story. He arrives just moments before the cliffhanger and the episode ends with one of the robots trying to strangle the Doctor. This is the second time in nine episodes that the Doctor has been strangled. This one is less graphic than when Goth did it in ‘The Deadly Assassin’. It’s still a good end to a good episode. I think that this is one of those rare instances where the story could have been extended, not by much (maybe an episode) but this is definelty the better of the two by Chris Boucher.

The Robots of Death - Episode 2

The cliffhanger deserves a mention as its quite a good one with the Doctor and some unnamed extra being buried by what are suppose to be bits or ore. The Doctor survives because he somehow has a snorkel with him and uses that is a bit more comedy that is starting to creep in. The Doctor and Leela spend this episode being accused of committing murder which considering they spent most of the previous episode not to speaking to anyone, its quite the turnaround for them.

Uvanov runs the risk sometimes of stealing the show because Russell Hunter does a great job of seeming to be totally bonkers. He is the rather clichéd boss who cares more about his bank balanace than he does about his crew which is fine but there is something about Hunter’s performance which makes him stand out. Unlike David Ballie’s performance which knowing what most people who have seen this story before, is very underrated and is deliberately so. This means that we don’t suspect him an when the big reveal comes it will be a great moment.

The finger of suspicion gets pointed at a lot of people and its done to clearly prolong the time before the culprit is revealed. Two more people meet a sticky end and Zilda is one of those which is actually one of the positives that I take from this episode. As annoying characters go, she is one of the most annoying and I was glad when she seemed to have been killed. When you have Pamela Salem and Louise Jameson on the show, you don’t really need any other female performers on the screen. Tom Baker has been somewhat……I don’t want to say ordinary because there is nothing ordinary about Tom Baker but it has been like he currently on autopilot. It’s not surprising really as this is his 64^th episode as the Doctor and Robots of Death is his 16^th story and he is very confident in the role and whilst sometimes the comedy is unnecessary, its hard to deny that he commands your attention.

The cliffhanger is ok with the miner about to meet an unfortunate end. This episode has worked rather well because it’s done a lot of distracting to keep the story going until Chris Boucher is ready to reveal who is actually behind all this and with two more episodes to go I think that this could be the second best story of the season which might not sound like a compliment but considering the number one story is ‘The Deadly Assassin’ then that’s not a bad thing.