Revenge of the Cybermen - Episode 4

This is the final episode of Tom Baker’s first full season as the Doctor. The reprise that we got at the beginning of the episode is slightly different from the cliffhanger and that’s the shot of Kellman and Harry being taken out. It means that the beginning of the episode is much better than the cliffhanger and it’s a rare thing then that happens. I like the Doctor’s reaction when he learns that Harry was about to unbuckle the belt and makes the rocks fall. “Harry Sullivan is an imbecile” is a line that always makes me laugh. The bit where they are still travelling to the centre of voga doesn’t last that long and it makes way for the rest of the episode.

The fight sequence between Harry, the Doctor and Cybermen was a little disappointing but it was probably the best that they could do. I thought that Lester’s death was quite a good one. He had been a good character throughout the story and the fact that he gave his life to destroy two Cybermen was a noble death.

I’ve not commented on it before now but the Cyber Leader headpiece looks rather silly. It’s like they made no attempt to distinguish the leader from the rest of them. It’s only now that I realise that black and white television lent something good to the Cybermen which is lost now the show is in colour. What caps it off is one scene where the Cyber Leader is walking out of a room with his hands on his hips and rambling. Their demise is also a disappointment because its just them being blown up by the rocket from Voga.  It’s a shame that their only story of the 1970’s is such a let down. That was a weird thing to write. It was over 2,000 days since the Cybermen were last seen and I suspect that it will be the same amount of time before they turn again in ‘Earthshock’.

The idea that the Cybermat is used to kill a Cyberman mirroring the way that they were used in the first episode is quite a good idea. Sadly its only used a couple of times before its dropped and whilst it looks better than when the humans get bit, it means that the chest plate isn’t the only place that can get affected by gold. Even though they are metal, the ‘teeth’ on the cybermats are enough to do the job.

There is a scene where Harry is seen stood on the spot doing nothing. That pretty much sums up his involvement in this story and it’s a blessing that the next story will be his last because Ian Marter really has suffered during the course of this shortened series. Whereas Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen had been largely strong in this shortened season, Marter has been made redundant because the person chosen to be the Doctor is younger than they were anticipating when they cast Marter. Marter isn’t terrible and he’s nowhere near as bad as Jackie Lane but he’s not been one of the best companions.

As a story its not as bad as I remember. Like ‘Invasion of the Dinosaurs’, this story has some very sound moments but there are small things that due undermine this story and so the final story of Tom Baker’s first season is just about better than his first. I think that over the course of the past twenty episodes, it has been shown the show can survive without Jon Pertwee just as it had survived after Patrick Troughton left the show and after William Hartnell left. The next season will be the first that hasn’t had the Barry Letts touch to it and so I think that the show will go from strength to strength.

Revenge of the Cybermen - Episode 2

Just a few days before this episode aired, William Hartnell had passed away which the first loss that the show had suffered. Without Hartnell’s involvement in the show then its hard to believe that the show would be about to approach the 400^th episode. Since Tom Baker took over from Jon Pertwee, the show has found new feet and is going from strength to strength. The previous episode ended with Elisabeth Sladen doing a dance routine with the cybermat that wouldn’t look out of place on Strictly Come Dancing. Within moments Sarah has become infected and the action starts.

The idea that the Doctor can use the trans mat to get the poison out of Sarah is quite clever and there is a nice built of drama built up in trying to get it working after a part of it is missing. Then there is a nice standoff between Kellman and the Doctor with Kellman acting like the tough guy pretending he doesn’t know anything. If it weren’t for Kellman this this story wouldn’t be worth watching.

The story moves a bit more to Voga with Harry and Sarah now find themselves there. I think that its funny how Harry becomes obsessed with the gold that he finds. This is perhaps the most interesting thing that Ian Marter has been up to for several episodes. Another problem that I found with the vogans that capture Harry and Sarah is that they do look a bit like Godfrey from ‘Dads Army’.

The first appearance of the Cybermen in 172 episodes is somewhat understated. It’s just a group of Cybermen in their ship. I always thought that the cliffhanger is when we first seem them. It had been 2,317 days for fans in 1975 since the Cybermen last appeared and it’s good to have them back. They pop up in the brief scene early in the episode but they really don’t get involved in the story until the cliffhanger which is perhaps what should have happened in the previous episode. I really don’t like the Cybermen being able to

There are some familiar faces that appear in this story. William Marlowe previously appeared in the 1971 story ‘The Mind of Evil’ (directed by Michael E Briant), here he plays Lester and its good that he goes from pointing a gun a Jon Pertwee’s Doctor to helping Tom Baker’s Doctor. The next familiar face is that of Kevin Stoney who last time we saw him in Doctor Who was working with the Cybermen oddly enough in the last Cyberman story. The character he plays this time is Tyrum who is the complete opposite.

Whilst I find the stuff on Voga rather tedious, I can’t deny that the cave scenes that were filmed on location were very good indeed. It does provide some entertainment and it’s good that they have finally broken out of the studio for the first time since the early stages of the last Dalek story. They used Wookey Hole to film these scenes and it was famously used in a sketch on ‘The League of Gentlemen” and considering Mark Gatiss is a huge Doctor Who fan (having written a few TV stories and a couple of Big Finish plays.

“The beacon is ours!” I think is a great way to end the episode. I think that the problems that I had with the previous episode are still evident in this episode and that’s a shame because the first appearance of the Cybermen in about seven years isn’t quite the epic event that it should have been. I think that this is the same problem that the Daleks had back in ‘Day of the Daleks’ when they returned after five years the problem was that the theory was that the name alone would help

Revenge of the Cybermen - Episode 1

This is the 20^th episode of Tom Baker’s first season and the final story of that season and the final story of the Arc trilogy. I know that the idea to set this story on the ark was a financial one but its done in a way which makes it seem like it was planned all along. I like the idea that it’s the same place but at a different point in time and the TARDIS will eventually get to them means that the viewer can rest assured that they can relax into the action and our heroes will make it out alive at the end of the story. Despite the familiarity of the setting, one thing that separates this story from ‘The Ark in Space’ is tone. It takes less than two minutes for the first dead body to appear. The group of people on the ark are very different to the ones that we encountered in ‘The Ark in Space’.

Kellman (Jeremy Wilkin) is immediately a great character as he is clearly at odds with the rest of the crew. It’s clear that he knows more than Lester and Warner because he is going to the trouble of removing evidence of signals from the mysterious Voga. Unlike Vira, Rogin & Noah in ‘The Ark in Space’, the characters of Lester and Warner have something about them. They are clearly very weary and untrusting of the Doctor, Harry and Sarah. They have clearly been through a lot and they are infinitely more interesting than Vira and Rogin.

Even though this has Cybermen in the title, the episode is lacking in the silver menace. They are mentioned once or twice. Oh well, its been nearly six months since I last saw them so I suppose I could wait another day. Gerry Davis is teasing us with their return (or Robert Holmes is) and its clearly designed to try and build up some tension and suspense in their return but what I would have wanted is for them to appear at the very end of the episode.

There is one shot of the Doctor, Harry and Sarah walking in the corridor and there is one actor playing a corpse and the rest are dummies. They are clearly dummies and it slightly ruins the illusion of a plague. Sadly this is the beginning of the issues with this story. The next issue are the vogans, the masks just look rather poor and in some cases it’s clear to see where the mask ends and the face begins. Another issue comes when the cybermats attack people. The CSO used to show them jumping is blatantly CSO and it’s just cringing to see people trying to fight them off. In fact the very last shot of the episode is of Sarah trying to fight off the cybermat. I’m sorry but despite the best efforts of Elisabeth Sladen’s acting, its just a rather damp ending to what has been a bit of a mixed episode. There were things that I liked about it but there are things that I am nt so keen on and its these things that I think will undermine the Cyberman’s return. Oh well I suppose that I may be wrong and the next three episodes will change my opinion. I doubt it but one can hope.

The Tomb of the Cybermen - Episode 4

The final episode has to end the story on a high note after the previous three episodes have been very good. The previous episode ended with a close up of Klieg’s gun with the Doctor being warned to watch out. The episode basically has to do two things such as defeated Klieg and Kaftan and defeat the Cybermen. Due to the way that the story has been written this looks like it wont be an easy thing and that’s what so good about this episode.

Toberman as a Cybermen doesn’t look or act any different to before. It seems like his only purpose is to pick the Cyber Controller up and he’s been as much use to the story as he had been in the previous episodes and I feel like they could have done more with the character apart from just being the muscles of the story. The scene where Toberman picks up the dummy Cyber Controller and throws him onto the controls is rather poorly done. It’s clear that it’s a dummy when he’s in the air and its falls a bit to badly. I like the effect of the Cybermen going back into their tomb. It might have just been a simple reversing of the footage but it was effective.

There’s a nice comedic moment in this episode where the Doctor asks Jamie if he’s tied the knots tightly with Jamie being very confident before the Cyber Controller bursting out of the chamber. To be honest I think that Victoria and Jamie haven’t been quite as good as in previous episode but that’s more because they weren’t given much to do but that said what they are given to do they do it well.

Kaftan’s death was effective as she suffered a firey death. She bit the dust on the 10 minute mark and that means that Klieg is left and his death seems far more graphic without us actually seeing him die. I thought that the death of one of the Cybermen was quite graphic and it was the best death in the episode because when the Cyberman Controller dies it’s ok but not as good as the death before. Toberman’s death was a shame really but it was probably the right thing to do because if he was part Cybermen he probably wouldn’t want to be like that but it was actually quite a noble death.

I like how the ending with the Cyber Controller seemed to be one final twist before our heroes get out. It means we get one final death and the goodbye between the archaeologists and the regulars was quite sad. I do question why they left Toberman to just seemingly rot which does seem quite a weird ending to the story. That said I still think that this story is a very good one and it easily the best Patrick Troughton story that he has done so far.

The Tomb of the Cybermen - Episode 3

As we approach the second half of the story we finally get some things explained to us. Firstly why did the Cybermen go to the trouble of locking themselves in a tomb. Though they never explain the furniture in the main room. By locking themselves in the tomb, only the smartest would be able to get in. It’s quite a clever (if slightly convoluted) way of doing things. They want to use the cleverest of people to convert and this is basically the plot for the story. The first 10 minutes of the episode move quite quick as there is quite a daring rescue by Captain Hopper.

There’s a great scene between Klieg and Kaftan where Kaftan becomes a bit more of a villain as she does her Lady Macbeth moment when the pair are locked in the room with the dummy Cyberman.  It’s my one of favourite scenes in the entire episode. The second is the scene between the Doctor and Victoria when Victoria talks about her father and how she misses him and is worried about forgetting him. It’s the Doctor that tells her that she will remember him but in the back of her mind because of all the adventures that she will be about to embark on. There is a brief moment when the Doctor talks about his family. It’s the first time in a long since (possibly since the first episode of An Unearthly Child) that the Doctor talks about his life. It’s a great moment.

The build up to the cliffhanger is perhaps as strong as the cliffhanger itself. After the emotional and low key scene between the Doctor and Victoria, the drama gets cranked up with the Cybermats finally making their way to the main room and just as the Doctor and co think that they have given the cybermats a “full metal breakdown”, Klieg and Kaftan make an appearance. What’s so good about the ending is that it looks like the Doctor has been shot and there is a yell but the camera focuses in on the gun so there is a nice mystery about what has happened and leads to a good final episode.

This is the first time that the directing slips a bit. There’s one bit which doesn’t quite work and it’s when Toberman is fighting the Cyberman and the location where they filmed the tomb bit doesn’t blend in with the studio filming. This is made even worse when you can clearly see the strings that are about to lift Roy Stewart into the air, it seems like they are deliberately trying to draw our attention to it which is a shame. Apart from that brief moment I did think that Morris Barry directed another sound episode. As a story its still just as great as I remember it and I think that it’s the best opening story to a series in Doctor Who (so far). The writing is great, the claustrophobic setting is perfect and the supporting characters working well with the regulars are helping to make this a great Cybermen story.

The Tomb of the Cybermen - Episode 2

One of the things that I like about this story is apart from the fact that it’s a Cyberman story and its one of my favourites. It’s that it exists entirely on DVD and so I feel that I am enjoying it more than when I have to stick on the CD. I said in the previous episode that I remember listening to this on my cassette tape version and it was just before it was discovered in Hong Kong and I remember listening to it and trying to imagine what it would look like and my young imagination couldn’t have come up with what I would see. The tight setting of the story is one of the things that works so well in this episode.

It’s this episode where we are treated to the first glimpse of the cybermats. Compared to the ones that we have seen recently on TV they are fairly simplistic and look like they would be hitting toy shop shelves pretty soon but I think that they are quite fun. Something that didn’t strike me when watching the previous episode and that is why have the Cybermen gone to the trouble of building a table and putting stools with it? The choice of furniture is not something that you would think Cybermen wouldn’t bother with. There is a line where Hopper says that its going to take 72 hours to repair the damage and its like a sign to the viewer that the story is going to happen over a short amount of time.

The idea that the Doctor is manipulating people continues in this episode where he helps Klieg raise the hatch to the tomb. I find Patrick Troughton’s performance in this episode to be comforting. It feels like he’s having enjoying himself and gives a very good performance. Both Frazer Hines and Deborah Watling give good performances but they are somewhat overshadowed by Kleig and the Doctor.

Viner is a hysterical worrier and some might say that there’s nothing wrong with this considering the situation but I to admit that I think that it gets slightly annoying. It wasn’t so much of a problem in the previous episode but here it seemed like a big issue. He is more hysterical than Victoria should be (or at least has been portrayed recently). Thankfully he meets a grisly ending towards the end of the episode. Captain Hopper seems like the only one with any proper sense. He might come across as a bit abrupt but he is a good on screen presence. George Roubicek plays the part well and I like how he seems to see everyone else as a problem. Hopper is another solid character. Kleig continues being the villain of the story and George Pastell is brilliant from start to finish. I also think that Shirley Cooklin is in second place as Kaftan though her star will rise by the end of the story.  As a double act they are quite the piece and with the lack of Cybermen involvement take centre stage and they do well with it. There’s a nice moment when Victoria realises that the world she finds herself in now is very different to the one that she knew before she boarded the TARDIS.  When she is being served some food she must have been assuming a plate of food but is instead given a OXO cube.

The tomb set is very impressive. It’s done in two parts with the shot of the tomb being the first and then the second is the studio set. It’s edited together rather well and it all feels like one big set.  The tomb part is the more spectacular as it’s surprising that they built something so big for this show when normally they would have done it

The lack of Cybermen must have been a problem for viewers in 1967 as apart from the dummy Cyberman at the beginning we don’t see anymore Cybermen until the 20 minute mark when the temperature is raised and they start climbing down the ladder. When they do get involved its quite an impressive moment as the Cyber Controller’s entrance is easily one of the best entrances that I can remember.

This is another cracking episode and it continues to build on the good work that was achieved in episode one. We get more Cybermen (even though its left until the end) and it feels like the story is building towards something instead padding until we get to the business end of the story. Good stuff.

The Tomb of the Cybermen - Episode 1

The Cybermen have been chosen to open the fifth season of Doctor Who and its their third story in less than a year which shows why the 1960’s were the golden era for the Cybermen. With the Daleks on a plane going towards America, the Cybermen take the crown of number one villain. This is also the first complete Patrick Troughton story that I will have watched which is quite remarkable considering that this is now the eighth story with Patrick Troughton as the Doctor. This was one of the first stories that I remember hearing as a Doctor Who fan. I remember listening to it on cassette tape as me, my mom and dad drove home from food shopping. So I have a fondness for this story that I don’t think will diminish over the next  four episodes.

The opening shot is of the TARDIS on Skaro and it feels like it’s the shot that should have finished at the end of The Evil of the Daleks. The TARDIS set has a weird echo as opposed to a normal studio feel in previous adventures. Not sure whether this was what they were planning for in the future or whether it was an emergency measure for this episode but it doesn’t seem right.

This story is another under siege story although the story does start on the outside with archaeologists desperately trying to get inside but it soon turns into that sort of story that I like. I like that we get a couple of scenes with the archaeologists and how they don’t seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet. There are three people of particular interest such as Eric Kleig (George Pastell), Kaftan (Shirley Cooklin) and Toberman (Roy Stewart) are the more entertaining and stronger characters. In this episode its Kleig who is the standout as he has a bit of a rivalry with the Doctor. Patrick Troughton is really good in this episode. Once the Doctor discovers that they are dealing with the Cybermen it almost seems like he is helping Kleig into trying to get into the Tomb. Deborah Watling goes 18 minutes before being put in peril.

I haven’t been a massive fan of Morris Barry’s direction in the past but the location scenes were really quite fun. He has managed to make scenes filmed in a quarry seem quite entertaining. When the story does get inside the Tomb main room, there is a nice claustrophobic feel to it. It’s all dark and that’s a nice contrast to the bright outside. Even though once they get in there are only three rooms, he manages to make it feel like its quite a big place and keep the rooms quite small. The writing isn’t particularly special but I suspect that the good stuff is kept for the remaining episode.

It seems like it’s a tradition that when a monster returns that they don’t appear until the final moment of the story. This is the case for this story because all we see is a Cyberman appears from out of nowhere. It doesn’t say anything or even move and so the camera just focuses in on its face. We will learn why in the next episode but its not quite the best ending to an opening episode ever. That said I have enjoyed this episode because it introduces the regulars and also the supporting cast. A good opening episode.

The Highlanders - Episode 4

Right lets get this final episode out of the way. It seems like an awfully long time ago since that promising opening episode. It’s probably fair to blame the lack of visual for my lack of interest but actually that would exonerate the writers which would be too good for them. The Highlanders is a terrible story though certainly not as bad as other stories I have mentioned previously. Thankfully the episodes in this story are only 25 minutes long because it meant that we are spared anymore torture of a rather tedious historical adventure.
There is nothing more that I could say about this story because there is nothing more than happens. This is the last pure historical adventure until 1982’s Black Orchid so at least there is sometime to go before we go back into this territory. I cant even comment about the regulars (minus Jamie) because I don’t really recall what happened. No one gets a good amount to do in this story and it seems like Patrick Troughton features very little in this but to be honest I don’t recall much and I am not willing to listen to it again.

The final few minutes were the only good things in the episode. The historical stuff had been dealt with and I couldn’t care less about that but it was how they were going to include Jamie on board the TARDIS. It falls to Polly to do the ‘hang on a minute’ thing which is a fair enough thing considering that Frazer Hines hasn’t exactly been used well in the four episodes and if you didn’t know better then you would be totally surprised and somewhat underwhelmed. I love that the only condition the Doctor has for letting Jamie join them is that he teaches him the bagpipes.

It’s interesting to note that at this moment in time, episode four of The Highlanders is ranked 143^rd out 144. Only The Web Planet – Escape to Danger scored a worst rating. Though the ratings have been on a downwards spiral, in terms of stories its currently 29^th out of 31 with The Web Planet and The Myth Makers getting a worst score. It’s a fair result because as much as I have found the last two episode really boring I cant say that I think that the story is worst story. There is enough goodwill from the fact we have a new Doctor that means I just don’t have it in me to be totally down on this story.

The Highlanders - Episode 3

The third episode starts is where any goodwill that I had for this story has well and truly gone because this is another episode where nothing really happens. It’s so lacking in anything resembling a plot that when the cliffhanger did come I was more surprised than engaged with the adventure. I really couldn’t tell you what happened in this episode because it was so lacking in life that it’s really hard to find anything to say. It must be said that it’s not 9 episodes without seeing an episode. There are some good things to like about this story/episode and it’s that the regulars are settling in well. I think that Patrick Troughton does come across as the Doctor. Even Anneke Wills and Michael Craze seem to do well in this episode but Anneke Wills has gone backwards after the impressive episode we got last time. Jamie is the biggest disappointment in this episode as he should really be more involved in the story than he is considering he’s about to join the TARDIS. Even the supporting cast don’t really seem to be doing much and despite a bit of interest about Ben being sold into slavery it seems like Gerry Davis is just counting down the minutes to the final episode.

I have struggled in recent days to find something substantial to write because without being able to see it it becomes hard to get really involved in the story but what makes it harder is that it’s a historical and its becoming more obvious that historicals are somewhat dull and its easy to see why they were fazed out. Episode three is arguably the worst episode of the Troughton era so far and of series four.

The Highlanders - Episode 2

The second part of this historical adventure is where it goes off the rails a bit. It’s a bit deceptive because when it starts it does so quite well. Unusually the episode starts with Polly and she gets a nice chunk of the action. I’ve commented on the fact that it seems the Doctor and Ben have been in the limelight and I’ve been worried that Polly is going to be the new Vicki or Susan. Jamie, Ben and the Doctor take a back seat in the early part and its good how after several episodes of being on the side-lines, she finally gets to be entertaining. It’s not just a small 5 minute bit of fluff but actually shows the character in a positive light. The Doctor seems to having a whale of a time with his hysterical German accent.  But apart from that he has a somewhat light episode.

This is the ninth episode in a row now that is missing from the archives. Thought I should provide a counter just in case you had lost count. As you can imagine I am waffling because it’s a bit hard to get excited when there isn’t much to get excited about.

Despite the positive start to the episode, it goes a bit dull in the last half. It’s quickly turned into a rather dull historical story which is a shame considering how much I enjoyed the first episode but whilst nothing of any note happens its far from being a disaster. It’s certainly not as bad as any of the Myth Maker episodes or even The Web Planet but that is more to do with the central characters and Jamie (not ready to call him a regular yet).

The Highlanders - Episode 1

The Highlanders is the first story to feature James Robert McCrimmon. A character that would stay with the show until the final episode in Patrick Troughton’s era. Sadly the Highlanders is a historical adventure and its not a part of history that I’m aware of. The initial scene where Jamie first meets the Doctor, Ben and Polly is quite an interesting one. When you think about the friendship between Jamie and the Doctor and to a lesser extent with Ben and Polly, this scene doesn’t seem quite right but its suitable to this early part of the episode. The story moves along at a good pace and the inevitable happens and the Doctor is confused as a Doctor which is the second time in a row that he’s been taken for someone else.

In his first episode, Frazer Hines has somewhat of a understated debut. Hines’ contract was for three more serials yet the emphasis on the story isn’t on Jamie. In his first scene he is almost unlikeable which shows what a turnaround the character achieves in future stories. I do think that Anneke Wills and Michael Craze start off quite well in this episode but then they seem to fade into the background. Unusually I found the supporting characters to be quite interesting which hasn’t happened often in a historical story. I think that as the history is done in somewhat of an interesting manner, it means that the characters and the story are used well.

I hate to admit it but this four part adventure might not be as bad as I first thought. I still have reservations about historical story bit I think that its this sort of story (in other words a non Dalek story) that will determine whether the show will work and its looking good. The fact that this is yet another full story that doesn’t exist on video is a sad thing to think of. By the end of this story, out of 10 episodes so far to feature Troughton as the Doctor, no episodes exist. Shocking really. Patrick Troughton has bedded down in the character and the comedic side to it has been somewhat watered down.

The Tenth Planet - Episode 4

Well the moment has been prepared for. This is the 134^th and final episode with William Hartnell as the Doctor. Sadly this is the final episode and it no longer exists so before we get the animated episode on DVD we get a mix of existing footage and telesnaps. After being away for the previous episode, William Hartnell returns for his final episode. There is a nice mention in his first scene where he talks about ‘this old body wearing a bit thin’. General Cutler is boarding on maniac. The desperation for getting his son down is quite fun to watch. He’s not interested in the Cybermen invading but is more concerned with his son’s rocket.  It’s a great little scene where Cutler is blaming the Doctor for his son’s death even though its not official. Sadly Cutler is killed and it’s a shame but I suspect that with everything going on he would have just been getting in the way.

The Cybermen make a welcome return and there’s a nice moment where the Doctor tries to negotiate with the Cybermen in trying to live on Earth in peace. They are more concerned with the rocket and the next portion of the episode is focusing on the rocket and disarming the warhead. Polly has suffered in the last couple of episodes and she has been reduced to being taken as a sort of hostage. Her purpose in this episode seems to be interacting with the Doctor. Ben helps Barclay to try and disarm the warhead and he comes up with a plan and uses his intelligence to try and defeat the Cyberman that is standing outside. The thing about this part of the episode is that despite showing that Ben is quite good at putting plans together, it feels like this area drags on a bit.

The episode benefits from the telesnaps and also the captions that run at the bottom of screen. It does its best but I don’t really pay much attention to the caption as the plot was quite entertaining.

William Hartnell’s final few scenes are quite sad to watch. It’s unclear how much acting is going on and its weird to think that this is the same William Hartnell who was the cranky grandfather figure that we met in that Junkyard. The regeneration is quite a mesmerising one it’s the build up to its that quite interesting. The way that the transition from William Hartnell to Patrick Troughton  was achieved was very good and works effectively even 47 years after it was done.

The way that the Cybermen are defeated is a bit odd. It’s got nothing to do with the Doctor’s involvement. Mondas’ destruction is solely of its own doing and its only by nothing being done on Earth that meant that Mondas was destroyed. The story is written so that the Doctor isn’t involved as much as he normally would be and its probably because Anneke Wills and Michael Craze that make you realise that the Doctor’s involvement is pretty small. It’s a weird episode to try and review because of what happens. It’s not a normal season finale or final episode of a story. It’s the end of the first era of the show. It’s a shame that the Hartnell era is over. It’s been quite an enjoyable ride since the very first episode way back with An Unearthly Child. As a story, it’s a great first story for the Cybermen and the whole under siege base format makes the story much more claustrophobic and enjoyable. A brilliant way to end the Hartnell era.

The Tenth Planet - Episode 3

The penultimate episode in William Hartnell’s final story doesn’t feature in it as he told the production team via telegraph that he was too ill to attend. I think that the story manages to work around this as he was in the background in the previous episode anyway.  This is the final episode in the William Hartnell era to exist on video because the final episode doesn’t exist except in animated form. The plot of the episode is split into two. The first being the Cybermen invasion which is briefly shown at the begin at the episode and the second being the General’s attempt to get his son back.

The Z-Bomb is something that is very much of its period. Nowadays it would be a generic bomb or missle. However its effect seems to be just as big and when the General wants permission to use it and doesn’t get it he uses a technicality to get around this. I like how the General has gone slightly mad in this episode. It’s countered by Barclay who has become more likeable as the story has gone on and becomes an allie of Ben and Polly. He helps them come up with a way of stopping the Z-Bomb from being launched and rather predictably it falls to Ben to do it.

It’s 15 minutes into the episode before the Cybermen are heard from again and when they do we get the same walking across the horizon as we did in episode one but there are more of them and its looks just as good.  There is an ambush so their walk outside is somewhat cut short. The snowy set is rather more impressive in this episode. The Cybermen are somewhat on the side-lines in this episode which isn’t something that I’ve noticed before. The second half of the episode deals with the countdown to the launch of the Z-Bomb. There is a nice bit of tension when we see whether what Ben has done is enough to stop it and the countdown gets very close to lift-off. It’s a nice little cliffhanger which creates enough of an excuse to see what happens in the final episode.

It’s a solid enough episode especially when you consider that it doesn’t feature the Doctor and the Cybermen are somewhat conspicuous by their absence.  The story and the characters are good enough to make you forget those that aren’t in the episode. It’s building up nicely to what will be a fine finale to the end of an era in Doctor Who.