(685) Battlefield - Part 4

It’s with a certain amount of sadness that I watch today’s episode because it’s the last time that we see Nicholas Courtney in Doctor Who. It’s his 107^th episode and the original plan was to kill him off and I am glad that they didn’t because it would have totally killed the vibe of the story. This is the episode where the Doctor finally gives up the idea that he’s Merlin although he does do a cheeky in-joke note from himself.

Mordred uses the end my life line which is what the Doctor used in The Happiness Patrol. It seems to carry more wait when its directed towards the Doctor because we all know that he wouldn’t do it even if he had to. Morgaine’s willingness to see let Mordred be killed was a great thing for the character to do. It just made her seem more like a loathsome person but there is always something that reminds me that its Jean Marsh so I do find her loathsome at all.

There’s a great moment where Lethbridge-Stewart knocks the Doctor out to destroy the destroyer. It’s a nice little moment because it means he gets to be the military hero. The moment where the Doctor thinks that Lethbridge-Stewart is dead is a lovely moment before Lethbridge-Stewart reveals he is ok. There is something quite impressive about Lethbridge-Stewart being the one that destroys the destroyer.

The big finale scene comes with the Doctor stopping the nuclear bomb from being set off. It leads to a great scene which allows Sylvester McCoy and Jean Marsh to shine and fight over an umbrella. It’s another example as to why McCoy is an underrated Doctor. The Doctor talks Morgaine into stopping the nuclear bomb from being detonated. Morgaine reaction when she learns that Merlin is dead is superb and Marsh makes us feel sorry for her.

The final scene set at Lethbridge-Stewart’s house is a lovely one. Doris goes out ‘with the girls’ as she, Ace, Bambera and Shou Yuing go off in Bessie. It’s a men doing the house work and the women having fun thing which is quite amusing. This has been a rather entertaining episode and it’s memorable because of several outstanding performances. This is the first story for quite sometime that has gone up in my estimation. It’s still not a classic by any means but I think that it’s a stronger start to the twenty-sixth season that I thought.

On a separate note. The character of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart has been on our screens for close to thirty years. He is arguably one of the greatest character (apart from the Doctor of course) in the shows history. He has been an ally of the Doctor whilst keeping a militaristic point of view. It’s impossible to say that the character wouldn’t have lasted as long if it had been played by another actor but I don’t think that anyone else would have bought the charm to the role. It would have been nice to see Lethbridge-Stewart in New Who.

(684) Battlefield - Part 3

This is the episode where I think that it makes slightly more sense. I don’t quite know why but it felt more like a Doctor Who story than a Merlin story. It might have something to do with the fact there is less stuff about Merlin in it than normal. The beginning of this episode see the infamous moment with Sophie Aldred. It occurs when the glass cracks under the pressure of the water and as she is ‘ejected’ from the pod she is in fact being pulled out by members of the crew. It’s a rather worrying thought about what could have happened had Sylvester McCoy not told the crew to pull her out.

The sight of Ace coming out of the water with the sword is something that Aaronovitch must have thought of from the very beginning. It must have been quite hard to resist the temptation of having the Doctor appear with the sword. The first good thing that happens in this episode is how the snake thing is dealt with. I like that its Lethbridge-Stewart that saves the Doctor which isn’t the first time that’s happened. The first meeting of the two Brigadier’s is rather amusing though Bambera is the more active one. I suppose as she is the younger of the two, then it would make sense for her to be the one doing the shooting. Her comedy double act with Ancelyn is still quite amusing.

Morgaine does a wonderful job of being the strong threat that she is. I still think that Jean Marsh is fantastic. Firstly she stops a bullet and then grinds it into dust before killing Lavel and then resorting Elizabeth’s sight which is sending mixed signals in my opinion. If you want to come across as menacing then restoring someone’s sight isn’t the best thing to do. I think that the character Lavel was poorly served in this episode, she was quite good in the scenes with Lethbridge-Stewart so it seemed rather sad that she suffered such a disappointing death.

This episode marks the return of Bessie although I don’t think that this story really merited this. They even went to the trouble of changing the licence plate to WHO 7.

The best scene comes when the Doctor storms in between Ancelyn and Mordred. I don’t think that I have seen Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor be like this before. He has got close but never like this. It’s a great moment for McCoy. Despite nearly being killed, Sophie Aldred does a good job in this episode despite being asked to stand inside a chalk circle. I could still see Shou Yuing as a companion and that’s mainly due to her interaction with Ace.

The Destroyer is a very impressive creation. The mask is one of the finest that I can remember seeing in the show. I liked that we didn’t see it properly until the end because at first all we see is the silhouette and so the build up to what it looks like is done well. The revelation is a good cliffhanger and I am slowly starting to like this story much more than I use to.

(683) Battlefield - Part 2

After appearing to not get that he was Merlin in the previous episode, he is acting like its true in an attempt to fool Mordred. Later on there is an inscription in the ground which the Doctor says he put there. This is more implication that he has a secret identity. I don’t know whether I completely buy the whole idea that the Doctor could be Merlin. This is probably what is going to stop me from totally embracing the story. But as was shown in Remembrance of the Daleks, Ben Aaronovitch can write a good story so there is going to be enough on screen to maintain my interest.

Something that stood out from this episode is that it doesn’t waste anytime in getting going. It starts quickly and doesn’t really stop until the very end of the episode. Another thing that stood out to me is the humour that I don’t remember noticing in the past. There is a nice bit of comedy coming from Bambera and Ancelyn. This seems like Aaronvitch’s nod to Robert Holmes because this is an amusing double act.

Lethbridge-Stewart starts the episode in the helicopter and makes the oh so hilarious joke asking the pilot whether Bambera is a good chap. Lethbridge-Stewart does start the episode appearing to be an old fossil which isn’t how the Brigadier should be portrayed. Ok so I don’t expect him to be like he was during the Pertwee era but he should have been written better than this. I didn’t mention in yesterdays entry that it had been 80 episodes since Nicholas Courtney had last appeared in Doctor Who. After the helicopter has crashed, Lethbridge-Stewart encounters Morgaine and that is about all that he does in the episode. Morgaine (Jean Marsh) gets to become involved in the story and one of the first things she does is to shoot down Lethbridge-Stewart’s helicopter. She might not appear to be a nice person but there is one scene where she has a go at Mordred for dishonouring people. I found it amusing where Jean Marsh and Nicholas Courtney face each other because of course they played brother and sister in The Daleks Master Plan.

The Doctor and Ace find themselves underground and the sets used are very impressive because the lighting is rather low. They walk into a room where Arthur from another dimension and Ace pulls the sword out (sigh). This leads a weird snake like thing following them around the room. This story is somewhat infamous because of one scene where there is an accident that happens at the end of the episode where Ace walks into a tank and it is filling up with water (more on the accident in the next episode) but as a cliffhanger its rather good because there is no clear way of Ace being rescued because the Doctor is knocked out. I have commented on how I don’t like it when the regulars are put in peril because they are always going to be ok in the next episode but I think that this is a rather good cliffhanger and if I were watching in 1989 then I would have definelty tuned in for the next episode.

This has been a strong episode with the best thing being that Jean Marsh and Nicholas Courtney get into the story and more screentime. There are still things that I like about this story but I still think that things won’t go well for much longer. That pessimism isn’t a great as it was at the end of the previous review but it’s still there. As for ratings, this story is currently the fourth best McCoy story.

 

(682) Battlefield - Part 1

Battlefield marks the beginning of the final season in the classic era. The beginning of the end so to speak. If you’re a regular reader of my blog then you will know that I love stats and the gap between the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth seasons is the shortest since the season fifteen and sixteen break. That’s 245 days if you’re interested. Back to the episode and this episode marks the final appearance of Nicholas Courtney in Doctor Who. No I am not counting the 1993 Dimension in Time special or the 2008 Sarah Jane Adventures story. The Brigadier was last seen in the twentieth anniversary special and has now left UNIT.

Battlefield is another story that I think has a bit of a bad reputation. I for one have had many problems with this story over the years. Only watching it because it’s the last Brigadier story. I think that one of the problems that I have is all the business with the Doctor being Merlin or the suggestion of such a thing. This episode also sees the final TARDIS scene in the classic era and it’s very dimly lit which is what makes the scene atmospheric. The Doctor is in less than a humorous mood at the beginning of this episode. This is confirmed with the line of “It has a graveyard stench is which he gives when he looks at the UNIT site. Sylvester McCoy has really become very good as delivering.

When the Brigadier realises that the Doctor is around, you can almost see the sparkle in his eye. It really doesn’t take long for him to get back into his uniform. There is a nice scene between him and Doris where she basically says that he cares more about playing soldier than the home they have. It’s weird seeing the Brigadier’s wife Doris. After years and years of her name been mentioned it’s nice to be able to put a face to the name.

It would be wrong of me not to mention the return of Jean Marsh who played Sara Kingdom in The Daleks Master Plan in 1965. We don’t see much of her sadly but I think she is such a good actress that even when she is just a face on a screen she can act just as good as everyone else. Angela Bruce has the unenviable task of playing the new Brigadier. Although she is sharing the role later on she is the one in charge and I think that she does a sound job in this episode. I like how she uses the word shame to clearly hide an expletive that couldn’t be used even when everyone is watching Corrie. Ling Tai plays Shou Yuing who for all intents a purposes seems to be a ready-made companion. She gets on well with Ace from the get go, has the same attitude and she has very good on screen presence.

The cliffhanger is quite good as it comes after an intriguing scene about the Doctor being thought of as Merlin.  Overall it’s a perfectly good opening episode. There is plenty to like but I get the feeling that things wont keep going well for long. Maybe that’s the pessimist in me but time will tell.

 

(671) Remembrance of the Daleks - Part 4

The episode really gets going from the very beginning with the Imperial Daleks leaving the shuttlecraft. I won’t go on about the fact that the size doesn’t look big enough to house everything that’s in it. After waiting for what has felt like an eternity we get some Dalek vs Dalek fighting. The first big scene between the two Dalek factions is fantastic and I love everything about it. One of the Imperial Daleks is destroyed in another huge explosion. That was until the Special Weapons Dalek appears and blow a Renegade Dalek up. I love the idea of a Special Weapons Dalek and this that this isn’t something that Terry Nation would have come up with.

There is a huge explosion at the base of the Renegade Daleks which is one of my favourite explosions in Doctor Who. I don’t know if you have a top 5 explosions in Doctor Who list but I sort of do and this one would go in at number one. I have gone on for most of these episodes about the explosions but it really does seem like a lot of effort when into making these explosions as big as possible after two and a half decades of rather limp bangs that its nice to have something to be wowed by.

The death of Ratcliffe does seem a bit of a shame really as he’s struck down by the girl. The death which is slightly more effective is that of Mike’s. His death seemed inevitable from the very beginning but he too is killed by the girl but it’s a far more violent and effective death. The girl is quite good in this episode and manages to rack up quite the body count. It is perhaps the wisest thing that she doesn’t die but stops being under the Dalek’s control.

The Doctor has his big scene with the Emperor/Davros in the basement. It’s quite unusual that the Doctor and Davros wouldn’t be in the same room but its because of Terry Molloy and Sylvester McCoy that this works as well as it does. McCoy shows us again why his Doctor is underrated as a Doctor in my humble opinion. Sophie Aldred really does go through all the emotions in this episode because she starts off quite loved up with Mike and then goes back to her normal self before being quite sad at the end.

Davros makes his return after last appearing in Revelation of the Daleks. In that story he had his hand blown off and so now all that appears is his head. Davros wants the hand of omega to transform Skaro’s sun into a source of power and over power Gallifrey. His appearance doesn’t come until the midway point of the episode. It’s short but sweet, he is tricked into using the hand of omega by the Doctor. Once he realises that the hand of omega is heading back to his ship he manages to live another day. It would be twenty years before Davros would appear in Doctor Who or mid-June in my marathon.

What the Doctor has done is effectively commit genocide and that is something that would have earned a trial two years before. It’s fair to say that this story doesn’t have the happiest of endings as pretty much everyone is dead and the final scene takes place during a funeral. No one can accuse the show at this time of being comedic.  

As a story, this has been rated as the best Dalek story ever and at the moment it’s the third best story ever and only the third story to ever get in the 8’s. Only Inside the Spaceship and The Deadly Assassin have managed this. It has been a wonderful adventure and its remarkable how my faith has been restored in the Seventh Doctor in just four episodes. This is the final appearance of the Daleks in the classic era. They have undeniably been a fantastic aspect of the show and a reason why the show is still going on in 2015. If the show hadn’t come back in 2005 then no monster could have asked for a better story than this one. It is perhaps the last good Dalek story but maybe time will tell.

(670) Remembrance of the Daleks - Part 3

The penultimate episode of this story and this is one of those episode just gets better as the story progresses. The way that Ace was saved was perhaps not the strongest but after the previous episode’s start it was always going to be less dramatic. The effects used in the machine that the Doctor used on the Daleks doesn’t look very good and is the only thing that lets this early scene down. The action starts up quite quickly in this episode when the Doctor being strangled by a claw was a great moment and one that made me jump when I first saw it.

The Daleks conflict is given more credibility I think when we get a little explanation from the Doctor (to Ace) about why the hand of omega is so important. There is a bit of development from the Imperial side when we get to visit the Imperial Dalek’s spaceship we get to see the Emperor Dalek which was first seen in Evil of the Daleks although I use the word seen in its loosest sense. The set doesn’t seem quite big. I don’t know how they move around which is probably why I don’t think we do. I want to the Imperials to win just because of their colour scheme. I know that’s not the best reason but I like it a lot.

The girl from episode one makes another appearance in this episode appearing in the graveyard and again does a lot without doing very much. I am surprised with how effective a little girl can be. I do think that credibility is stretched a bit when it’s revealed that the little girl has been in the battle computer and Ratcliffe hadn’t noticed.  The fight between the two factions hasn’t happened really so far and they have kept out of each other’s way without firing a shot. Quite how this has happened I don’t know but it has. I love how Ratcliffe starts to learn the truth about his actions. He thinks that he is going to be in charge and he is sound bought down to earth with a bump.

The sight of Daleks gliding (or wobbling in some cases) through the streets of London is something that has surprisingly been lacking in previous Dalek stories and so it’s quite an effective sight, but there is one bit where a Dalek is coming to the camera and it looks like the top half is going to come off which is a bit unfortunate.  

Mike’s truth is revealed towards the end of the episode. I think that they had waited until the right moment to use this in the story. Ace’s reaction is what makes this work quite well as she had had a crush on him from the very beginning.

The cliffhanger is another great one with a proper size shuttlecraft landing in the playground. It wasn’t a dodgy CGI effect or model but an actual 100% real prop and that is what makes the arrival so good. The Doctor’s reaction is quite funny and it seems like this episode ended way too quickly. It’s been another superb episode and it is perhaps one of the best Dalek stories for quite sometime. In fact I would so far as to say that it might be the best one since Genesis of the Daleks.

(669) Remembrance of the Daleks - Part 2

I said yesterday that this story has a special place in my heart and todays episode is the one that started it all for me. I have a fuzzy memory of my early years but around the time that this story was on TV I was living in Doncaster and for reasons that I will never know, we ended up watching episode two of Remembrance of the Daleks at school. I loved it and because the school I attended was similar to the one in the story, I immediately went out into the playground and pretended there were Daleks everywhere.

Never in all the time that I have been doing this marathon have I enjoyed watching a cliffhanger replay so much. It still works superbly and how its solved is quite good because Ace recovers enough to attack the head teacher. The subsequent explosion of the basement door is another of the superb explosions.

The scene where the Doctor and Ace destroy the Dalek from the basement is a great scene as its short and intense. We go from a busy scene like that to a lovely quite slow scene with the Doctor and the new person running the café played Joseph Marcell. Marcell would go on to play the butler in the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. The discussion between them takes on a rather racial and philosophical tone which isn’t something that you would expect from Doctor Who.

Gilmore is a very good blueprint of the Brigadier. He’s reluctant to believe the Doctor because he doesn’t understand what’s going on and is willing to let military intelligence to do all the talking. This approach doesn’t come across as annoying because its balanced with Rachel and Alison who are more ready to believe (but just as confused).

The Doctor encounters the Hand of Omega and there is another nice scene where the Doctor goes to the undertaker and he is talking to a guy on the phone (the governor) who talks about the Doctor being “an old guy with white hair” a reference to William Hartnell. The effect of the Hand of Omega moving is very good and does still up a bit.

Michael Sheard is very good in this episode although he meets a rather sad ending when he gets into a scrap with Mike and is seemingly killed by the Daleks and his final resting place is in the cemetery. Peter Halliday is another old face that returns playing a blind vicar. It’s a brief role but one that is quite nice and I am reminded of all the previous appearances that he has made in the show.

There is a great scene where Ace is turning on a TV and whilst waiting for it to warm up. While she’s waiting for it to warm up there is a “No Coloureds” sign in the window which is an extraordinary thing to appear in Doctor Who because race had never really be a subject matter in the show before and this is another sign that the show is trying to come across as current by acknowledging these sort of issues.

There is a little joke when the TV warms up and the TV announcer introduces a new show called “Do” which is supposed to be Doctor Who but obviously doesn’t. I think that this is a joke that the story gets away with because there isn’t time to really think about it because the next scene does a great job in getting my attention.

Ace has decided to go back to the school to pick up her tapedeck (long before Ipods and MP3 players were invented) and this introduces a whole world of trouble for her. There is one shot where a Dalek appears round a corner and appears at the bottom of the stairs. Another great shot is the one where Ace batters a Dalek with a baseball bat. It is followed by her jumping through windows. It’s nice that Ace gets the cliffhanger this time as she is being approached by three Daleks who shout ‘Exterminate’ but don’t do it. It’s been another outstanding episode with some great performances and some wonderful directing. Bring on the next episode.

Before I finish for today, I never mentioned the colour scheme of the Daleks. I love the gold and white scheme and wished that it would be used from now on. Compared to the grey and black of the Dalek we saw in the previous episode, the new livery looks like breath of fresh air.

(668) Remembrance of the Daleks - Part 1

Remembrance of the Daleks has a special place in my heart as it was the very first Doctor Who story that I saw. Today’s episode wasn’t the first that I saw but more of that in episode two. I bought this story along with The Chase in a special boxset about 22 years ago. After surviving the twenty-fourth season, its nice to start with such a strong story and I think that it will be the number one story of the season when I finish watching the final episode. The episode starts off with a pre-title sequence much like Time and the Rani but this one is much better as it has several brief clips of important speeches. The story takes place at Coal Hill School which isn’t such a weird thing nowadays but in 1988 it was a big thing in the shows 25^th anniversary year.

The first big scene comes in a junkyard at Totters Lane which is of course where the whole story started. Gilmore blows something up thinking that he’s sorted but the Doctor knows what is inside and this is the beginning of the Doctor always being one step ahead of everyone else which some might see as frustrating but I like it. It’s returning a bit of mystery to the role. Anyway the Doctor blows up the Daleks and bemoans to Ace that it’s the wrong Dalek.

This story sees the introduction of Group Captain Gilmore, Rachel Jenson and Allison who appear in the Big Finish series Counter Measures. As its 1963 and several years before UNIT where formed, this is the best way to get around having a military involvement that doesn’t feature the Brigadier. Sadly there is the inevitable ‘shoot first and ask questions later’.

Ratcliffe comes across as someone with alterative motives from the moment he appears on screen. Those moments become more obvious when its clear he is working for the Daleks or a battle computer. How did he get into the situation is the first question that comes to mind with this character but one thing is common in this story and that is people seem to be working for other people and have secrets.

This is the first proper story for the Doctor and Ace and a duo. It is surprising still how well Sophie Aldred has settled into the role. It’s like she has been in the role for years not five episodes. McCoy seems settled in the role now and knows what he wants to do with it. This is the beginning of the mysterious Doctor and McCoy thrives in this style. Michael Sheard makes his last appearance in Doctor Who. His first was in 1966. He plays the headmaster who is being controlled by an unseen force. It seems a shame that he has to play this sort of role because Sheard is a rather dependable actor and knowing what happens to him I just want him to be left alone by the Daleks.

Whilst the Doctor and Ace go around the school there is a great build up. There is something about this school and the studio sets that work very well. The effects used in the transmitter that is in the basement where the Daleks appear is very cutting edge for 1988 and by 2015 standards it still holds up. The basement set is a very good and its lit perfectly.

The cliffhanger is one of the most iconic in Doctor Who. It’s the first time that a Dalek is seen floating in the air. Even today it is still impressive and one of the strongest cliffhangers for many years. I don’t think that there has been such a strong ending to an episode since The Caves of Androzani. I think that I am really going to enjoy the next three days because I don’t think that there is anything that is going to change my opinion.