Inferno - Episode 7

It’s hard to believe that this is the last episode of the season. I only started the Pertwee era on January 24^th. This is because a normal 1960’s season of Doctor Who would be about 39-44 episodes long whereas this season is only 25. At this rate I should rush through these seasons in no time at all.

The story moves back to the first universe and its just as things are starting to get interesting as the drilling gets closer to penetration. You would think that with just 25 minutes to tell the story that they would move quicker than they did. The Doctor appears and he doesn’t get up but is put in bed. Even when he’s unconscious, the Doctor is able to be quite useful and that gets round the problem of making the Doctor useful but not making the jump from universe to universe seem like changing buses. He does have a great moment when he goes slightly mad and starts to wreck some of the instruments.

The way that Stahlman is killed and the drilling is stopped just in the nick of time is quite a tense few moments. I have been very impressed with Olaf Pooley from the very beginning and whilst his transformation happens very quickly in this episode, it doesn’t detract from what has been a consistently solid character. I think the moment when Stahlman starts gets some of the green slime and smothers it over his mouth is the sort of thing that wouldn’t be out of place in a hammer film. It was good how Greg and Petra ended up together as it was obvious in both universes that this was going to happen. I thought that Greg had grown on me and this might be down to the other Greg but I didn’t find him annoying. Petra has also been a good character and played brilliantly by Sheila Dunn. It’s not been the greatest character that’s ever been created but Dunn did better than some actresses would have done with the role.

The final scene is a strange one in the grand scheme of things. It’s Liz’s final scene (though at the time they wouldn’t have known it). The way in which the Doctor rather angrily speaks to the Brigadier and then appears after finding himself back in the rubbish top is quite amusing because of the sheepish way that the Doctor asks for the Brigadier for help.

As an episode I thought that it ended well. It didn’t rush itself and took its time and as a result it’s a satisfying ending and I liked it. After seven episodes it was good that I didn’t find myself disappointed with how things went. All the performances and the writing have helped this be the perfect final story to the perfect season. Before starting this season, I probably would have said that this was my favourite and I still love this story but I think that the Silurians story is the marginally stronger story. I still stand by the fact that this is my favourite season because there isn’t a dud story. I think that the season would have benefited from having shorter episodes as three seven episode stories is just too much but apart from that I think that Jon Pertwee’s first season as the Doctor is a success. It’s a shame that Caroline John didn’t get the goodbye scene that she deserved as she has been a great joy of this season. If you would bear with me whilst I go into stats mode, Caroline John has appeared in 25 episodes and has the third shortest involvement in Doctor Who ahead of Jackie Lane (19) and Adrienne Hill (8).

Inferno - Episode 6

As we approach the end of this story it seems that after a rather leisurely pace in the previous episode, we get back to a brisker pace as the Doctor tries to get back to his own universe. I like how no one is really stopping the Doctor from doing what he wants to do. They have all pretty much accepted that they are doomed and are happy to at least help the Doctor even if they don’t fully understand him.

The effect that is used when Petra, Liz and the Brigade Leader go outside is quite good and does a great job of convincing us that the world is start to go out of control. It gets even better towards the end of the episode as the Doctor is trying to take off and you can’t accuse them of trying to fob us off with unconvincing still images.

Whereas in the previous two episodes, it was at least half of the episode before we get to go back to the original universe but in this episode its five minutes. I love the scene between the Brigadier and Benton when Benton comes without Stahlman. By the end the way that the Brigadier was raising his voice seemed to be very similar to how the Brigade Leader has been acting in the previous episodes. After the slightly claustrophobic feel that the alternate universe was starting to do to me, it was good that we had a decent amount of time in the original universe.

I didn’t notice until this episode but Nicholas Courtney is truly fantastic as the Brigade Leader. He’s using his power (or what he thinks is power) to cover up the fact that he is freaking out just as much as everyone else. This comes to a head when Sutton stands up to him and when the Brigade Leader’s gun doesn’t go off there is a nice fight scene. Caroline John continues to show what she can do when she’s allowed to. The other Liz has mellowed a bit since we first saw her but she’s still quite a strong character and John should be praised for the way that she manages to distinguish the two versions of the same character without going over the top

The highlight of this episode came towards the end when the Brigade Leader is about to force the Doctor to take all of them with him back to his world. This when molten lava is heading towards the hut and it’s a great way to end the episode. I found this episode to be more entertaining than the previous one. It feels like they were actually building towards something which bearing in mind that it’s the last episode next is the least that we should be getting. Tomorrow’s going to be a weird episode for a few reasons which is something that I will go into tomorrow.

Inferno - Episode 5

The fifth episode continues with the world going to hell in a handcart. It’s still fun to see evil Liz and evil Brigade Leader and you can tell that they are really enjoy their current roles. I like how it’s only the Brigadier that remains to stand firm about what he thinks. Liz is a bit more willing to listen to whilst Petra and Greg are also on the side of the Doctor when they aren’t having their tender moments. After a while the plot moves a bit when the Doctor is trying to convince the others to help him get back to his universe. This would be a rather

The werewolf type faces are quite effective and the sight of several of them helps create the idea that they are an effective villain and even though they don’t appear until the latter stages of the episode, they do work well and add another problem to the list that the Doctor and others currently have. The sequence where Benton gets turned into one of those creatures. All but the final shot works really well and its only the final shot before it loses some of its credibility with John Levene pulling a weird face.

Performances wise, its hard to fault anyone. I think that Caroline John and Nicholas Courtney are enjoying themselves and Jon Pertwee continues to work really hard considering he’s involved in pretty much every important or mildly important scene. Even John Levene’s performance cant be faulted even though the transformation face didn’t work as well as it could have done.

The only time we get to see the normal world is when we get back to find that Sir Keith Gold has won in having the drilling stopped (all but temporarily). It ends with the car going off the road and this is suppose to imply that this is what happened to Sir Keith in the alternate universe. That’s pretty much it and it’s weird to think that this is the second episode running where we get very little from the original universe.

I don’t know why but I just didn’t find this episode as good as the previous two. Not sure whether it has something to do with the fact that nothing really happens in this 22 minute episode and so as a result it feels a bit more like padding. With just two more episodes left to enjoy of this season I think its fair to say that I am still enjoying this story and feel that things are going to get even more tense as things really start to go to hell.

Inferno - Episode 4

The fourth episode of this story starts off in the other world. After spending two episodes being stuck in the normal universe, it was good that we get a nice amount of time in the other world. The alternate Liz seems to be the first one to think that the Doctor isn’t a saboteur. The beauty of being in this universe is that we know what could happen in the original world before they do. By the end of the episode, the drill-head has reached penetration

It’s nearly 15 minutes before we return to the normal world. Even though it only goes on for three minutes its long enough for us to know what’s happening and that is Sir Keith Gold is about to go to London to meet the minister in charge to have the facility shut down.  That’s all we get from the nice Brigadier and Liz, we spend so much time away from them that when they do appear it feels strange and also it makes them look slightly less interesting. I cant believe I’ve written that but its true. When I watch evil Liz and evil Brigade Leader, I find myself being slightly less interested when we see a blonde Liz and an non-eye patch Brigadier.

Jon Pertwee is really good in this episode as he in pretty much every shot of the episode. The story would have fallen apart without him really but one of the reasons why this story works is because of how hard Jon Pertwee is working. It’s hard to believe that we are almost at the end of the first season of Jon Pertwee as the Doctor and he has adapted to the role quicker than Patrick Troughton did. Caroline John is brilliant in this episode, she’s better when she’s evil Liz and as a result she gets loads to do and is the best she’s been so far this season.

Something else that works well in this alternative universe is the involvement of Greg and Perta. Whilst Stahlman looks sleeker than normal Stahlman, its Petra and Greg that work better because they seem to be the voice of reason. Sutton is more annoyed about being used as a civil servant and when warned that accidents could happen she seems to let slip that she fancies him and hides it by saying it would be a waste. I feel like I am warming to the pair of them. I think that Sheila Dunn is not given enough praise during this story and she does well with what is a rather average character, I even found Greg to be quite good and Derek Newark does an equally good job in putting some life into the story.

As this story moves along, I find myself thinking that seven episodes is quite a good length for this story. They resisted the temptation of flitting between the two universes and instead give us a nice portion of time in the other universe. I think that this is another cracking episode that is paced well, well directed and there are some fine performances from everyone.

Inferno - Episode 3

This is the episode where things really get interesting. This is the episode where the Doctor goes to the parallel universe and encounters a fascist Brigadier and Liz Shaw. There is a brief moment where the nice Brigadier and Liz try to convince Stahlman to turn the power back on. This bit lasts for a few moments before we get to go into the parallel universe. The way that this is achieved looks like a glitter ball with a unusual sound effect.  Apart from this brief moment this episode is purely about what goes on elsewhere.

I like how there’s a nice few moments when the Doctor wakes up before things start to go wrong when he is shot at. There is a wonderful action sequence with the Doctor and several soldiers which reminds me of how different the Pertwee era is to what we’ve had before. It does feel during this episode that the story has finally found its legs and started running. I don’t mind admitting that I made a mistake in yesterday’s review when I said that it had the recording breaking stunt fall. It was actually this episode.

Liz Shaw’s entrance in this parallel version is great. She’s got a wonderful black wig and uniform which means that she’s more impressive than the nice Liz that we’ve had since the first episode of the season. Nicholas Courtney’s first appearance is also memorable. The shot of him spinning around and all that we see is the eye patch. His job title changes in this episode where he is now Brigade Leader. Even Benton is quite fun in this episode though he does share one trait with the original Benton and that is he’s a bit gullible and falls for a simple trick by the Doctor.

We learn that the drilling is it a far more advance stage than in the first universe. This will be repeated several times during the course of the story and its handy to know but at this stage of the story its not really that important. Nicholas Courtney gets to deliver one of the best lines in Doctor Who when after the Doctor tells the Brigade Leader that he doesn’t exist in this universe, the Brigade Leader replies with “Then you wont feel the bullets when we shoot you.”.

This is by far the best episode of the season. From the very beginning of the episode I found myself enjoying everything about it. I can now start to see why I enjoy this story so much. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves playing different versions of their characters. I think that this story is Nicholas Courtney’s as his Brigade Leader is so far removed from the Brigadier that its hard to imagine that its suppose to be the same character. The story really has begun and I am looking forward to the next four episodes.

Inferno - Episode 2

The second episode of the story continues the pace of the first one and there is a bit of action from the very beginning. The stuff with Slocum was quite good and the idea that no one should touch him otherwise they would be killed. This episode features what was at the time the biggest stunt fall. One of the things that I liked about this episode is the stuff that happened outside because it felt like it gave some depth to the setting. Whereas in ‘The Silurians’ we just got some corridors and a few rooms, we never got location filming to the extent that we get in this story.

During the course of this episode Stahlman gets more and more agitated and becomes infected during this episode. In the case of Slocum, he gets infected by actually touching the slime whereas Stahlman gets infected by touching the container that is heat resistant. This is either a plot error or this means that the slime is more potent than initially suggested. After Slocum had bitten the dust it was time to get more people infected and this happened and it led to some good moments but the people that were infected weren’t really created with connecting with the audience. It felt like to me just a way of passing the time.

I love the line that Jon Pertwee says about wondering whether the slime would be screaming. It’s a rather philosophical idea. Despite the story not really moving on much during the course of these two episodes, I think that Jon Pertwee does brilliantly with what he’s given and that’s having a verbal battle with Stahlman. Unlike the previous episode, it doesn’t take fifteen minutes for Liz to make an appearance. She is quite good in this episode. Which makes a change from what we have seen of her during the course of the season.

Petra and Greg Sutton were two characters that were introduced in the previous episode but I neglected to mention them. Petra is a more interesting character out of the two because of her position. Greg doesn’t really have much point being there really and even as the story progresses, his purpose still confuses me but more of that later. For me the best character in the entire episode is Stahlman. Olaf Pooley was a brilliant piece of casting and is just as good as John Abineri was in the previous story. In fact I would go so far as to say that he is slightly better. At least the character had some development in this episode.

It’s a better episode than the first but it does feel like there is a fair amount of padding before the main part of the story gets going. I think that its still a good story and I know that the best is still to come but there are things that are worth enjoying at the moment.

Inferno - Episode 1

Inferno is my favourite story of the Seventh series. It’s hard to believe that this is the fourth story of the season and yet it’s the last. This is the shortest season of Doctor Who so far and its another story where it starts off with a different way of introducing the title. The title card is imposed over the image of a volcanic eruption. This story takes place in a drilling facility. Not quite sure what UNIT is there really but I suppose that as UNIT are part of the season, they need to be part of the story even if their involvement isn’t really necessary. I mean a murder isn’t something that would warrant UNIT’s involvement. A police unit yes but not UNIT.

This is where we are introduced to Sir Keith Gold played by Christopher Benjamin. It’s hard to look at him and not think of Henry Gordon Jago. It’s clear very quickly that Sir Keith is designed to be one of the good guys and one that the viewers that can be trusted and one that will be an aid to the Doctor and Liz not a hindrance. Another supporting character that we meet is Professor Stahlman. Professor Stahlman is someone who is unlikeable from the very moment that we meet him. He’s the leader of the project and feels like there is a conspiracy to stop him from project from reaching its goal. This is going to be a good source of tension in the story. Slocum is the first victim and it happens in record time. We’re just over the four minute mark before he gets infected. It’s quite a quick transformation as by the end of the episode, he’s turned into what looks like a werewolf. There are moments where he comes across as quite aggressive and would be more than a match for the Doctor.

In my regular Liz rant, its fifteen minutes before Caroline John gets to appear on screen. It’s perhaps no surprise that Caroline John decided to leave the show at the end of the story because she came to the conclusion that she wasn’t going to be used very well and its clear that behind the scenes they must have wanted someone who was more of a screamer than Liz. When Liz does appear she is quite good and it just makes me more annoyed when

The Doctor is trying to get off earth even when he just has the console and during this episode he goes for a test run and during this it doesn’t go very well. It’s the first time really since the opening story that the Doctor has tried to be so open about leaving earth. It’s almost like there was a feeling that this might be the final season and it could have been the case that at the end of the story the Doctor would go off into the cosmos but obviously that didn’t happen. What does happen is that there is an awful lot of talk about drilling and a tiny bit about a nice guy that commits a murder. That’s it really as far as a narrative goes. I thought that this was a very good opening episode. It introduces all the various elements rather well and I think that the seven episode running time is just the right length. As we embark on the final story of the season, I find myself feeling a little bit sad knowing that we will soon be out of my favourite era of the show.

The Ambassadors of Death - Episode 7

As we reach the final episode, its where the story needs to reach a satisfying conclusion but the thing is that it doesn't feel like there is an epic finale that a normal story would have. We get a nice speech from General Carrington about why he's done what he has done. It becomes clear that its all due to fear because of a previous mission he was on. As reasons go its a rather good one and doesn't feel like its been bolted at the last minute. When Carrington is arrested its hard for me to feel angry at him, I just find myself feeling sorry for him. He did what he did because he genuinely thought it was the right thing to do not because he wanted to start a war or take over the country. John Abineri has been consistently strong from start to finish and of the supporting cast members, he has been my favourite.

There is another great shot of the ambassadors forcing their way into a secure building.

The episode is building up to a live television programme where Carrington is going to show the world what is under the helmet. Of course for narrative reasons it can't be done straight away and this allows them to stretch things out a bit longer. Also as with these things just when the live transmission begins, it comes just as the brigadier and his soldiers battle their way in. It's great how its all done in the nick of time and in the episode it happens at just the right time.

This is an episode where the Doctor and Liz get to work together and Liz gets to do something constructive. I know that I've gone on about how badly Liz has been treated since she joined the show but its a point worth making and it does annoy me. The Brigadier gets to be a action hero when he escapes from the Military Police and its a great little moment and then he gets to have a scrap when he and some soldiers arrive at where the Doctor and Liz are being kept. It's the most active that the Brigadier has been for several episodes. This is very much his episode as the Doctor and Liz are like supporting characters.

As an episode its a very good one and does what it does very well and despite it not feeling like a normal final episode but its not been a normal story. It's been about trying to get some aliens who has been held hostage back to their own people before war starts. I still stand by my view of this adventure that compared to the other stories in the season its not as good as Inferno or The Silurians but in different ways it has its charms and as a seven part story it's much better than some of the six part stories that there have been recently. 

The Ambassadors of Death - Episode 6

The penultimate episode starts off with the Doctor encountering whatever it is that is coming towards Recovery 7. The effect of the Doctor leaving Recovery 7 was an impressive effect. Still not so keen on the CSO format that Barry Letts used at every opportunity but on this occasion it works quite well.

The Doctor encounters the astronauts and it’s a surprising moment when they are safe and sound and thinking that they are watching the TV. They think that at the space centre. It’s a great little scene and it at least shows us the astronauts that we have heard loads about for the previous five episodes. During this scene we get to see an alien creature and its basic but I quite like it. I think that he simple movements that it does with its arm slightly undermine it but apart from that it’s a well realised creature. This shot of the creature is achieved using CSO and unlike the first CSO shot, this one doesn’t work as well as at times its hard to see the figure. The lack of making out what it is might have been an unexpected side effect but CSO is something that will have work 50% of the time and wont the other 50%. The alien creature asks the Doctor why his ambassadors haven’t been returned. This is the first time in six episodes that the title (or part of it) has been mentioned in the story.  The look of the ambassadors that we see when we first see Liz is quite creepy and it’s a very good effect that they use. Even by 1970’s standards.

It doesn’t take long for the Doctor to gain the confidence of the alien creature and negotiates a way to be let back to earth. This is what I like about the Doctor and think that it shows that Pertwee’s Doctor is someone who will strive to find a peaceful resolution. It’s good when the Doctor and Liz are reunited after a few episodes and it’s a nice scene which is rather well played by Jon Pertwee and Caroline John. The use of Caroline John was minimal again in this episode and I was so involved in what was going on at the beginning of the episode, that I actually forgot that Liz was in this story.

I haven’t mentioned much about Reegan in these episode reviews so far and that’s quite bad of me as he’s been quite an effective baddie. He’s the one that has been doing all the hard labour while Carrington has just been walking in and out of rooms. It was Reegan that tried to stop the Doctor’s departure in Recovery 7 and it was Reegan that was the welcoming committee when he returned. Another character that I haven’t mentioned before is Cornish who whilst not being on the same level as Reegan, has been a consistently good character and someone that the viewer can trust to help the Doctor and not hinder him. General Carrington goes very trigger happy in this episode and talks about civic duty when talking about blowing up the alien threat. He then gets trigger happy when he’s about to kill the Doctor after thinking that Reegan had killed him. It was a nice cliffhanger and I think that this was the best episode of the serial so far. With one more episode to go I find myself thinking that longer running time stories can work providing the right people are involved to make it work.

The Ambassadors of Death - Episode 5

The cliffhanger was good in the last episode and it was dealt with in a good way as after being saved by the Brigadier it manages to escape by simply walking out. With Quinlan dead it seems that the only person who really poses any threat is General Carrington. The story has moved on a little bit and we finally get to see the Doctor go up into space for the first time since ‘The Space Pirates’. It’s felt like this has taken an age but when a story is seven episodes long things move at a slower pace.

The Doctor is about to launch and Carrington is trying desperately to stop the rocket from launching. They even go to the trouble of tampering with various valves and whilst this stops it for a moment its just a moment and then the Doctor manages to get into space but with another minor issue. Jon Pertwee’s Doctor is very much an action Doctor as the rest of his time will show. He’s enjoying himself and one of his best moments is the scene that the Doctor has with the Brigadier before he goes into the rocket. It’s like it’s a goodbye of sorts but we all know that its not the final time that they will be together and even in 1970 the viewers must have known this so its easy to see it as a lovely scene between two characters who’s relationship has been tested over the last several episodes.

Lennox manages to escape in what the flimsiest manner possible. He makes it as far as being put in a cell by Benton which is obviously a sign that his time on the show is limited. It’s a shame really as I like Cyrill Shaps. He was good way back in ‘The Tomb of the Cybermen’ and he’s always a dependable actor and I felt that he deserved slightly more time. The character was a good one as Lennox was someone who was quite successful in his area of expertise but had fallen on hard times. There was a little bit more that they could have done with the character but that is perhaps my only quibble with the episode.

The effect of the Doctor being effected by the G-Force is rather well done and even the model shot of the rocket was good though by today’s standards it’s not quite as good but it does the job of convincing us that he’s off to space. It’s a shame that the story starts to get going as we reach the cliffhanger. This is when the Doctor is finally about to encounter the astronauts (the real ones I mean). It’s been an odd episode with a few moments of good stuff happening but its been mixed in with an awful lot of nothing. I think that the stuff with Liz and Dr Lennox wasn’t as good today and Liz didn’t get as much to do as she did in the previous episode. That said I still think that it’s a good story but the problems that this story had at the script stage are becoming apparent because it seems like they know what to do with the Doctor and the astronauts but everything else in in a bit of a muddle. Still an enjoyable story.

The Ambassadors of Death - Episode 4

The fourth episode starts off with the weird process of the reprise and then the titles. Then we get to see the full shot of Liz going over. It’s quite an acrobatic stunt that Liz does (or at least Roy Scammell playing Liz). Liz Shaw gets to do a lot more in this episode as she has something to do and its not just a bolted on scene towards the end. It felt like she was in it more than the Doctor. Her scenes were mainly with the astronauts and with Dr Lennox (played by the wonderful Cyril Shaps).

For the first time I feel that some of the characters that we first meet are getting a little bit annoying. By that I mean General Carrington and I don’t know what’s happened but I just feel that the feeble attempts by Carrington to make it look like a foreign person was behind kidnapping the astronauts undermined the character. It’s feeble because I don’t think even Carrington thinks that it will work. It seems that he’s just saying it in the vain hope that it would work.

There is one thing about this story that doesn’t quite make sense. If they know that Taltalian isn’t 100% trustworthy then why are they letting him work in the lab again. All this actually achieves is that he captures Liz after she escapes. The use of Taltalian comes to an end during this episode when he is killed off when his briefcase is primed to go off before he knew it would. It seems that they could have done something far less convoluted to see off the character. However when you read the production notes on the DVD we should be grateful that this is one of the minor things that don’t quite work.

There are certainly some good things that I like about this episode. Firstly there is the scene where one of the astronauts walks towards the camera with the sun behind him is a lovely shot and its one of my favourites from this season. It’s helped by the music and the fact that we cant see his face and the sun makes a silhouette of the astronaut. Another good scene is when Liz manages to escape and goes for a slight wander before being captured by Taltalian.  

The cliffhanger was another good one with the astronauts’ hand very close above the Doctor’s head. This normally wouldn’t have been such a problem but moments before (well when the astronaut first arrived at the space facility), whatever it touches can kill instead of just stun. This is my favourite cliffhanger so far and it shows that the story is getting better with every episode. With just three episodes left it feels like there is plenty of mileage left in the story and there is plenty of time to tell it. My ‘least’ favourite story of the season still a good one and my opinion so far hasn’t changed.

The Ambassadors of Death - Episode 3

To say that this is a David Whittaker story is a slightly misleading idea. According to the DVD information text, he only wrote the drafts of the first three episodes. I have forgotten to mention that the first time that I saw ‘The Ambassadors of Death’ was when it was released on VHS in 2002 and the big selling point was that some of it was in Black and White but that some moments had been found it colour so I would be watching in monochrome and then all of a sudden colour would fill the screen. It was a slightly odd way of watching a story and would slightly ruin my enjoyment at times so when it came out on DVD in 2012 I was excited to know that it would be 100% in colour.

I like the idea that after spending ages trying to get the astronauts out of the capsule we learn that there is no one inside. It still doesn’t make up for the rather flimsy cliffhanger that we had at the end of the previous episode but thankfully the episode starts quickly and so that is sort of forgotten. It’s taken so long but at least we get to see more of the ‘astronauts’. It’s interesting that they seem to need radiation in order to survive. We get a bit more information about General Carrington. Liz refers to the fact that Carrington was on Mars Probe 6. General Carrington goes from being a rather impressive baddie in one scene to a nice as pie goodie in the next. When he takes the Doctor, Liz and the Brigadier to where the ‘astronauts’ were being kept, he acts all surprised when it turns out that they have disappeared. I  think that whilst it was a rather silly thing to do to have Carrington pretend to be good, narrative wise I can understand why they did it.

As performances go, everyone is working really well. Jon Pertwee is just steaming ahead in the role that is still relatively new to him. I think that Caroline John continues to be used ok but still not as well as she deserves. She really does well with the chase sequence at the end so at least she gets to do something to do other than stand in a scene looking like a spare part. Nicholas Courtney does well as the Brigadier and serves a purpose in the episode. The group of people that are working against the Doctor seem to be growing in numbers and the lengths that they will go to are getting more extreme. It even involves tricking Liz into going down to meet the Brigadier. This leads us to watching a fun chase sequence which after the previous two episodes, does have some incidental music.

The cliffhanger is the best that we have had so far as it has something dramatic about it. The chase sequence lasts for a minute or so but the final shot is of Liz Shaw being thrown over the barrier and into a river. It feels like the cliffhanger complimented the rest of the episode which is the first time that this has happened. I think the story is finally starting to find its feet and with four more episodes to run, it has plenty of time to tell its story. This is definitely the strongest episode of the serial so far and I can start to enjoy things more.

The Ambassadors of Death - Episode 2

After being not bowled over by the cliffhanger it seems to not really matter as I forget that and remember that I am not so impressed with the title sequence. I have to be thankful that it was only done for this one story but on the other hand, I still have five more episodes to endure. To be honest this is probably the worst thing about the entire serial. When the title sequence finished with the cliffhanger we were shown that the opening scene with the Doctor and Liz disappearing and reappearing did have some relevance as it was used to try and make a tape disappear.

The focus of the episode is about getting the astronauts back to earth and it’s done relatively quickly. Where the proper drama comes from is getting into the capsule. I love how it seems at first that things will be ok but then after a few moments at the capsule they discover that things are a bit more serious. When the capsule gets back they manage to make contact but for some reason they wont (or cant) open the door. This is quite a fun mystery to try and solve.

I do enjoy the location filming. Partly because it just makes the story feel more open and also it shows what a location looked like when it was filmed. The action sequence with the capsule being transported back to space command and being attacked by the helicopter was a fun scene but like the action scene in the first episode it lacked music and I again would have liked some incidental music.

Carrington is one of the first villains that we encounter (although we did see him in the previous episode), Carrington is a very good character and is utterly unlikeable. John Abineri is a very good piece of casting and even when he’s made to look foolish after becoming stuck to Bessie (that just sounds wrong), I still think that Carrington is a good character. Sir James Quinlan is a government type and instantly looks like someone who is in league with Carrington and Taltalian. It doesn’t take long for this truth to be revealed when after the Doctor and the Brigadier leave, Quinlan opens another door and after a brief moment of build up, its revealed that Taltalian managed to flee into the camp of the conspirators.  

Jon Pertwee is having fun in the episode. He starts off by putting on a funny voice to fool Carrington and then gets to be heroic by bringing the stolen capsule back to space command. He also gets to look like the star man after getting to utter the cliffhanger line. I think that Liz has more involvement in this episode. Granted it wasn’t the most active that a companion has ever been in the series but I noticed her a lot more in this episode and that can only be a good thing.

“Right, cut it open” is a weird final line and it is another odd cliffhanger. Like the first cliffhanger it lacked any major drama and instead seems to the do the opposite of what a cliffhanger is suppose to do. I think that for 99% of the episode the episode works well and I am still enjoying this story but I worry that some of aspects of the story will start to grate on me as the story progresses but only time will tell I suppose.

The Ambassadors of Death - Episode 1

The Ambassadors of Death is one of the stranger stories of the seventh series. It’s the one out of the four stories that form the seventh series that I have seen the least and so it’s the one that I perhaps don’t rate as highly as the others. I’ve never been quite sure why and hopefully by watching this story an episode at a time I will find out. The first strange thing about this story is the beginning of the episode. We get a tiny bit of the opening theme tune before cutting to some action and then a bit more of the theme with the title of the story.

There’s a strange scene between the Doctor and Liz where they disappear and then re-appear. It goes on for about a minute and it doesn’t really seem to serve a purpose at this moment but thankfully it gives way for the Doctor to notice that the Brigadier is on TV and makes a comment about blowing up the Silurians at the end of the previous episode. Apart from this brief comment there seems to be no lingering negative feeling between the two and the Doctor carries on acting like nothing has happened which I suppose in 2014 would seem strange but in 1970 it would be part of the course. Its hard trying to compare the way that a show was constructed in the past to today considering we have different standards.

The thing that I like about the setting and current situation is that its been going on for a while. The Brigadier has been there for a certain period of time. Not too long after the events of ‘Doctor Who and the Silurians’ but long enough so its not like it’s a couple of days afterwards. The idea of space travel was something that was still in the minds of the audience as it was less than a year since Buzz Aldrin had landed on the moon and so travelling to outer space was something that seemed so real. I like the moment when the Doctor is trying to remember where he’s heard a noise before but can’t and this seems to imply that it’s due to the Timelords. Jon Pertwee is absolutely fantastic in this episode from the very beginning to the scene where he’s at space control, Pertwee just loves to show off how far more intelligent the Doctor is than everyone else.

The conspiracy is kicked off relatively early when it’s clear that someone else is replying to the alien messages. We actually get to encounter it although we don’t know what the people involved have to do with the space centre so it’s a nice mystery in the first episode. There’s a great action sequence featuring the UNIT soldiers and I am surprised that this is done so quickly. Another thing that’s quite surprising is that there is not incidental music to go over it. I think that a bit of a tune would have helped make this scene brilliant but as it is a perfectly fine scene and gives the Brigadier the chance to look heroic and show why he’s there.

The cliffhanger is rather good as it is both the Doctor and Liz being held at gunpoint by Taltalian. What’s good about it is that up until that point Taltalian has been a character that appears to be a good guy and this shows that he’s not such a good guy. It’s an intriguing episode that despite a rather fun action piece, didn’t really feel like it was going anywhere. It just seemed to be there to get the Doctor and Liz to space control.

Doctor Who and the Silurians - Episode 7

It doesn’t feel like a week since I started watching this story. Compared to other long running stories, this one hasn’t felt like a seven part story but this episode is where the threads are all tied up and we get to see the Silurian’s plan in motion. The start of the episode sees the Doctor being taken by Silurians. It was a great start to the episode and there was gunfire and lots of drama. Considering the characters that we had at the beginning of the story, it surprising how few of them made it to the end of the serial.

After spending several episodes doing very little, Liz gets to do something. It’s not very much but its probably the most active that she’s been for the entire story. Caroline John is very good as Liz but its frustrating that she’s been given so little to do. She’s too smart to be a companion and she’s paying the price for her intelligence. There is one thing that doesn’t quite make sense is how she didn’t spot the massive scorch mark on the wall outside the office that the Doctor was working in.

It’s a very action packed episode with an awful lot happening. The main scene is when the Silurians are trying to get the power turned back on so that they can effectively get rid of the Van Allen belt and make the Earth a very hot place indeed. It’s due to the Doctor saving the day that the Silurians are defeated and go back into hibernation. However there is another sting in the tale when the facility is about to explode except that they are trapped and I like how this gives the Doctor the opportunity to save the day for the second time in five minutes when he messes around with some wires and hey-presto, he manages it. The Doctor’s best scene comes when he discovers that the Brigadier has blown up the caves. The look of disgust on his face is what makes this work so well. It might sound silly but I don’t like the idea that the Brigadier has gone behind the Doctor’s back as anyone who does something that the Doctor disapproves of is normally a baddie but we are suppose to like the Brigadier. It’s a unusual way to end the episode as it doesn’t end it on a high positive note but a rather glum and downbeat one.

As an episode I found it to be the most entertaining as it had everything that you would want from a Doctor Who episode and my opinion of the story and the season so far hasn’t changed. This was a cracking story that even with a seven episode running time, managed to hold my attention and another reason why I love this story is that it has a great story, great characters and the pace of the story works well.

Doctor Who and the Silurians - Episode 6

The penultimate episode is where the virus starts to take hold of most people. The virus is pretty much the main focus of the story as we get to see how effective this virus is. The Silurians are a more effective villain than there had been in the last dozen stories of the Troughton era. It’s not as clear cut as a normal villain because there the possibility of the villains being tamed and the only Silurian that was likely too be peaceful has been killed which instantly cranks up the drama and know that there is another thing that the Doctor has to try and solve. It only dawned on me whilst watching this episode that I don’t worry that Pertwee’s Doctor cant deal with it. I’m not so sure whether Troughton’s Doctor or Hartnell’s Doctor would have been able to deal with it even though it’s the same character. Pertwee is having a great time being the scientist, trying to figure things out and it’s a shame that Liz Shaw is reduced to being bossed about by the Brigadier. She’s a bleedin’ scientist not a receptionist and this just feels like she’s been badly used.

Miss Dawson seems to have disappeared with only a brief line explaining where she’s gone. To be honest I cant say that I am sad to see her go because if Dr Quinn had served his purpose several episodes ago, then Miss Dawson has definitely done the same. Miss Dawson isn’t the only supporting character to be written out in this episode. We say goodbye firstly to Masters who after doing very little in the previous episodes that appeared in, made up for that in this one. Masters has left the facility and this is where trouble really starts to go as everyone he encounters becomes ill. He manages to last quite a while before he succumbs to the virus and has a very impressive death scene. Dr Lawrence takes a turn for the worst during this episode and it’s the end for him as he also gets a good death scene when he lunges for the Brigadier and seems to suffer a heart attack. As much as he was reduced to a high pitched shrieker in the latter part of his involvement in the story, I found the character to be quite fun to watch and it’s a shame that it will be several stories before we see Peter Miles again.

The cliffhanger is rather good as the Doctor is prevented from writing out the formula that will stop the virus from spreading any further. It’s agonising how close they are from sorting things out but with another episode left to run its needed to add one last bit of drama to the adventure. I think that its still working quite well and compared to most six parters that I have had to endure recently, this story shows that it is possible to make longer stories work and nothing has changed in my opinion of this story and with one episode left, I cant see that opinion changing.

Doctor Who and the Silurians - Episode 5

The cliffhanger from the previous episode wasn’t as exciting as others but what we got at the beginning of this episode is an interesting plot idea where the elder Silurian seems to be more hospitable than the senior one. The drama in the early stages of this episode is centred around the Brigadier and the UNIT soldiers are trapped in the caves. I personally wasn’t so bothered really as the main interest was coming from the Doctor’s conversations with the elder Silurians and the power struggle that seems to be coming between the elder and younger Silurian.

We learn finally why the Silurians are underground and why they have remained asleep until now. It’s a simple reason of getting confused about the moon and a problem with a timer. Despite this minor example of them being a bit silly, they have a plan (or some of them do) to try and rid humans and this is done in a good way of contaminating Major Baker with a poison and letting him come into contact with everyone else. The elder Silurian gives the Doctor the antidote and this forms the structure of the last two episodes.

Dr Lawrence continues to be the best of the supporting characters as his lack of caring over whats happening to the Doctor and the Brigadier. His mood doesn’t improve when Masters tells his that he’s going to recommend closing the facility thus ending Lawrence’s career. Speaking of Masters, he again does very little in this episode except at the end when he starts to look ill and that’s it. Miss Dawson has become the female equivalent of Major Baker. The difference is that there is a plausible reason why she is the way she is. Major Baker on the other hand does nothing but spout drivel and his only contribution is to be infected. Apart from the Doctor, Liz and the Brigadier do very little again but the Brigadier probably edged in the activity stakes as Nicholas Courtney was doing his very best running out of oxygen acting.

The cliffhanger is good because its simple yet it works because it simply ends with Jon Pertwee just says “The First One”. I think that it means that things are about to get interesting and the plan that the Silurians have got is working and there doesn’t seem like a way that they can be stopped. As an episode I think that once the business with the UNIT soldiers being trapped is dealt with then it gets better but I still found it an enjoyable episode which moved the story along significantly. The final two episodes are going to be just as good as the previous five.

Doctor Who and the Silurians - Episode 4

I like how when the Doctor encounters the Silurians he isn’t scared and doesn’t try to fight it but instead he reasons with it. This is a good thing about the Doctor, even when everyone would be happy to wipe them out, he is trying his best to prevent a war. When Baker goes into the caves and gets trapped I must say that I don’t have much sympathy. I’ve gone from finding him interesting to being a pain in the rear-end.

We get to encounter the Silurians properly for the first time and its quite surprising that its taken until the fourth episode but at least its finally happened. Visually, they look really good and I think it’s the best that they will look in any of their other stories. It’s nothing special but its just a great look and the sound of them is something that works because it doesn’t sound human but doesn’t sound too dissimilar.

Liz gets to do something constructive in this episode and actually gets to go down in the caves. According to the information text on the DVD, they wanted Caroline John to be in a mini skirt when she went down in the caves. This is sadly a sign of the time that this story was made in that this would have been a perfectly acceptable thing to do and it’s good that Jon Pertwee insisted that she wear the appropriate clothing.

Geoffrey Palmer makes his first of three appearances in Doctor Who in this episode. He’s curiously called ‘Masters’ but is really just a talking suit from Westminister and seems to try and put off doing anything to help the situation, seemingly unwilling to believe anything of what anyone says. It’s a perfectly fine performance from Palmer and he seems quite good at being a sort of civil servant type. We get a bit more of Dr Lawrence who seems to get more and more irate. His mood doesn’t seem to get any better as the episode progresses which is becoming a funny part of the story. At least he features more in this episode than he did in the previous one. Peter Miles is a very reliable actor and he makes me understand the position that Lawrence is currently in and with the arrival of Masters, it feels like Lawrence has his back against the wall. Miss Dawson makes an appearance at the 20 minute mark and no explanation has been made as to where she was between her final moments with Quinn and when she does appear she’s discovered that Quinn is dead and immediately decides that the Silurians should be killed. I’m finding her rather much the same as Major Baker and that’s not a good thing. Quite why she survived and yet Quinn got killed is somewhat of a mystery.

I thought that this was a perfectly fine episode, nothing special but it just carried things along. We’ve got to the half way point of the story and there are still loads of interesting things to happen and with the introduction of Masters it feels like things are moving at a good enough pace and I find my interest at the same level as it was at the beginning of Episode one.

Doctor Who and the Silurians - Episode 3

At the end of the previous episode, Liz was the one in danger from the Silurian. Unlike the previous episode, this one doesn’t have a flimsy conclusion. Liz is still unconscious after the Doctor and others arrive and it takes several moments for her to recover. This seemed like she was destined to do very little in the episode and I don’t think that she was given much to do as everything in the episode took my attention.

This episode shows Dr Quinn’s involvement become a bit more dubious and he spends the early part of the episode trying to locate the rogue Silurian whilst getting around the UNIT soldiers. After getting the Silurian, Quinn then has to try and see off the Doctor’s unscheduled appearance at his cottage and has to try and pretend that the heating is due to a fault with the heater. It’s a fun scene because its clear that Quinn is squirming and the Doctor is loving this as he clearly suspects something. It’s a shame that he dies at the end of the episode which I think is a wasted opportunity as he had a lot more mileage in this story and after just three episodes I think that they made a mistake in killing of the character. Miss Dawson goes from being very close to Dr Quinn to someone who thinks that things have gone to far. The only thing that doesn’t make sense is where she goes after her final scene just before the Doctor discovers Dr Quinn.  Major Baker is a character that is growing more interesting with every episode. It does feel like they have been building up his character and its fun to see him clash with the Doctor.

I’ve not really commented on the trio of Jon Pertwee, Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John. It’s going to form part of the Pertwee era (except we replace Caroline John with Katy Manning in the next season) and it does feel like a family. Nicholas Courtney is the father in the group and is the voice of reason, Caroline John is a sort of sister figure and is willing to go with the Doctor up to a certain point but then feels the need to take a step back. Jon Pertwee is just having fun and flits from one scene to the other with the same sort of energy and enthusiasm that the show needs and its clear why ratings went up from around three million in the latter stages of the Troughton era to eight million for these episodes. It’s not just because of the performances buts the writing and directing. Both Malcolm Hulke and Timothy Combe have worked well to give us something that feels like we are progressing towards something and not just waiting until the business end of the story before things get interesting.

The cliffhanger was rather good but it was slightly strange in the sense that I didn’t get the feeling like the Doctor was in terrible danger. It doesn’t change the fact that it’s a good cliffhanger but it probably wont go down as one of the greats in Doctor Who. I thought that this was another solid episode which moved the story on just enough to keep the interest going a bit.

Doctor Who and the Silurians - Episode 2

At the end of the previous episode, it looked like the Doctor was in trouble but it was dealt with in rather a wet way. No sooner was he in trouble that he walks back into the Brigadier’s office. I was slightly disappointed by this as I felt that it trivialised the cliffhanger. I know that having regulars in a cliffhanger can be a slightly futile idea but I would have liked a better resolution to the cliffhanger.

There are more examples of Liz Shaw being sent to the side-lines as when the Doctor and the Brigadier go into the caves, she’s told not to come. After six episodes, I cant say that Caroline John’s been particularly well used so far and if my memory serves me correctly, I don’t think that the character of Liz will get anything better to do.

Dr Quinn’s true colours is shown in this episode and shows that his nice as pie persona was just an act as we find him in the cave talking to one of the Silurians. Miss Dawson doesn’t really do much in this episode as I think that it gives Quinn the opportunity to stand out as the stronger of the two.

The cave sets are very impressive I should have said something yesterday but now I am putting it right. They are lit brilliantly and I believe that even though I know it’s a studio set, that its very atmospheric and its good to know there are more scenes set in these caves. Another thing which is distinctive but probably a bit grating in a few episodes is the music. It sounds quite good but there is a repetitiveness that wouldn’t be so bad in a four part story but in seven it just gets annoying.

I like how the actual silurians are being held back for so long. There was a brief dark shot of one of them in the early part of the episode. We get to see a POV shot and the occasional hand shot so its done to stoke our interest and give us something new to get interested in.

One of my favourite parts of the episode comes when the story moves to the farm and when the farmer discovers the Silurian. It leads to the cliffhanger which involves Liz and the whole barn section is good because it feels like a natural evolution of the story and I found the cliffhanger to be a sensible and exciting way to end the episode.

This is a stronger episode than the first as we get a glimpse of the Silurians and certain characters develop and become more interesting as a result. After two episodes my interest is still around and I feel like the Pertwee era is continuing to get better and it seems odd that I Jon Pertwee has settled into the role and the stories match his Doctor quicker than Patrick Troughton’s opening episodes. It took an awfully long time before Patrick Troughton got a grip of the character but after just a couple of episodes I feel like Pertwee has already got to grips with the role and is just having fun.