The Underwater Menace - Episode 4

Nothing in the world can stop him now…except for the lack of videos.  Before this episode I must say that I just cant find it in myself to dislike this adventure despite some of the problems that there are with it. This is one of those stories that I wish existed in full now that lost episodes have been found (though rumblings suggest this isn’t the case). I think that this episode would have looked quite good. Judging by the sounds that is on this part it seems that this final episode could have been quite the fitting end to the story. The final episode sees Zaroff’s plan of trying to raise Atlantis come to fruition and also the Doctors plan to try and flood the place.

The central performances are all pretty solid. Troughton is a good as he always is (hard to believe this is only his 10^th episode as the Doctor). Anneke Wills and Michael Craze come across as the old pros and at this moment in time they are the longest serving regulars in the TARDIS crew and it shows because they act like they have been doing this for a long time. There’s a lovely moment when Jamie calms Polly down who has just gone a bit hysterical. It’s a moment which I wouldn’t have thought would have happened in the previous story and it shows that the character had well and truly become part of the show.

Aside from the great performances, a major factor as to why I like these four episodes so much is that the story and dialogue has been really good. This was Geoffrey Orme’s only contribution to Doctor Who and it’s a shame really because he’s managed to take a situation like Atlantis and take some silly costumes and yet manage to give a great vibe is a testament to the writer.

The final scene is a rather good one as they seem to quite a happy family and it ends on a good note and a good cliffhanger and as an episode I have enjoyed it despite feeling that it was starting to run out of steam in the middle. But four episodes is the right length and it’s a solid story with good characters and also it shows that the Troughton era has put some new life into Doctor Who and the stuttering start at the beginning of the series is a distant memory.

The Underwater Menace - Episode 3

Ah at last! For the first time since The Tenth Planet Episode 3, I get to put a Doctor Who disc in my DVD player and instantly there’s a problem because it’s a lot of people in wetsuits. Though at least we get to see Patrick Troughton. We also get to see the surrounding that the new TARDIS crew find themselves in and its just nice to see Doctor Who. This episode starts off quite well as The Doctor is about to be beheaded within the first 5 minutes but the way that he gets out of it is quite clever and it allows Ben to do something clever and heroic.

I’ve just noticed that the actor playing Cyril in ‘The Celestial Toymaker’ makes a return here. Also King Thous is a familiar face as he appears in ‘Invasion of the Dinosaurs’. I also recognised Colin Jeavons who plays Damon in this story and played Tim Stamper in the BBC version of House of Cards.

Some of the problems with this story are noticeable in this episode. The fish people are a stupidly named group of people and look just as bad. Credit to the people playing the fish people because they have to give up their dignity to play this stupid role. Then there is the market scene where they are trying to kidnap Zaroff. The music is repetitive and annoying. Though it’s the most crowded scene I think there has been in Doctor Who. It’s hard to take the situation seriously when people are dressed so badly.  It’s one of the few good things about listening to it on CD.

There is a slightly boring scene where the fish people are…. Well I don’t know what they are doing becase its so boring. It lasts for too long and doesn’t really achieve anything. Another silly moment is when Polly becomes a bit dim when she falls for Zaroff’s acting.  One final bit comes at the end when Zaroff is firing a gun and its clear that nothing comes out of it but due to the acting it seems a bit silly really. Despite the things that are wrong with this episode, its hard to actually find anything bad to really say about it. It find myself feeling quite positive towards it. It’s a credit to the performances that I find myself not instantly giving up on it. I know that it’s back to the cd tomorrow and that there is one episode left but it’s shaping up to be a good story.

The Underwater Meance - Episode 2

I was disappointed slightly today as I thought that Episode 2 had been released on DVD already but apparently it won’t be released until 2014. So for the 13^th episode in a row I am having to listen to my CD. It’s clear that Zaroff’s idea of trying to raise Atlantis isn’t necessarily a bad idea but what the Doctor objects to is the harm it will cause. The plan is hard to fault until you realise that Zaroff is barking mad and wants to show off to the rest of the world. Still hard to believe that its 1970 though. I suppose a normal person wouldn’t be focused on that and instead but instead of the two story strands going on.

Unfortunately this is where the silliness of the situation overcomes the seriousness of the previous episode. Thankfully there isn’t that much of it and what we do have instead is a perfectly fine episode which has some perfectly fine performances. It’s a shame still that we cant see it yet but with the news of a great deal of episodes found by the BBC there is hope that these episodes are found because I think that this episode would quite a enjoyable one to see. The central performances are quite good and it seems like they all have good stuff to do and the crowded TARDIS hasn’t affected anyone yet. Troughton has well and truly got the handle on the character and I’m surprised at how quickly it seems that this current TARDIS crew have become so good so quick.

As an episode its quite good but that’s because it manages to continue at the same pace as the previous episode instead of starting from a high point like in previous stories. I still struggle to review these sort of episodes because I have nothing to really look at apart from a couple of telesnaps and I am getting slightly bored of that. Thankfully we have an episode to look at tomorrow.

The Underwater Menace - Episode 1

As I listen to this episode there have been those rumours again that over 100 lost episodes of Doctor Who have been found and so there is a possibility that soon I could actually see this story but for now I will have to put up with the narration from Anneke Willis (as the announcer at the very beginning announces). This is the first episode for Jamie in the TARDIS and his initial reaction to what is going on is a nice relieve after the suspicions that we have had from Ben, Polly and Steven in the past. He doesn’t seem to be the Jamie we know yet but it’s like he’s been left to run free in a sweet shop and he’s a bit unsure of things. This is what happens when you take the boy out of 1749. It’s the most crowded that the TARDIS has been since The Chase when there was Ian, Barbara and Vicki. It’s a question as to whether they are used to right to see whether the TARDIS will be too crowded yet.

Apparently the regulars arrival was expected which was something that happened in ‘The Savages’. Yet this story is better than The Savages (just). The story starts off with them trying to figure out the time was quite fun because Polly bases her assumption on a Mexico Olympics souvenir so assuming that its after 1968. If a story is being set on Atlantis then you would expect it to be in the past not just three years after this story was transmitted.

Zaroff is a character that is one of the few good things about this story. From the moment he is involved in the story he is great. He even has a pet octopus. How much better could you get. Joseph Furst is one of those actors that can chew up the scenery yet still be a great presence on the screen as everyone is taking it serious. Zaroff wants to use his scientific knowledge to help raise Atlantis which is quite an ambitious plan even though he is crazy.

At the end of the episode Polly is about to meet a quite grim end. In those days you wouldn’t know whether a regular would make it and based on what happened to Katarina and Sara, anything is possible. It was an ok opening episode. It does seem that the crowded TARDIS isn’t going to be an issue at the moment because everyone seems to be having enough to do to keep them from looking like a spare part. Tomorrow’s episode is a DVD one yipeeeee. I’ve gotten use to just listening to a story and what this episode has over previous opening episodes is that starts off quietly and not with a bang. By the end of the episode it seems like it has picked up speed and it bodes well for the rest of the series.

 

The Smugglers - Episode 4

Ok lets just get through this as best as we can. It’s not been a particularly enjoyable experience having to sit through the past three episodes even though the opening episode has been the highlight.  Sadly the same things happen in this episode as they did in the previous two, there’s a lot of people in west country accents threatening each other.  There did seem a bit more in terms of plot but I would be lying if I said that I knew or even cared what the plot was. I think that there is a clear reason why historical stories have gone off the boil recently. Apart from The Aztecs there haven’t been many historical adventures which have really worked for me.

Lets look at the positives. I think that William Hartnell still delivers a strong performance even though he must have been really unwell at this stage. It’s a testiment to his professionalism that he manages to perform when he must have felt that the show wasn’t quite the same as when he started. No William Russell, No Jacqueline Hill and no Carole Ann Ford. Anneke Wills and Michael Craze continue to impress and I think that they will suit Patrick Troughton’s Doctor more than William Hartnell’s.

At the end of the episode, Polly asks the Doctor where they are going and the Doctor admits that he has no control over the ship which is the opposite of what he would have said just a few seasons ago. It’s surprising as we approach the final Hartnell story that just how much the show and the Doctor has changed since that opening episode back in November 1963. Sadly I must admit that this episode along with this whole story is a poor one. It’s not just that its only on audio but its more that there isn’t much of a story and the first story of the fourth season is of the same standard as the opening of the first story of the previous season. However the end is coming and the moment has been prepared for.

The Smugglers - Episode 3

Ok so after a good start, the story has dipped somewhat in terms of quality. Here’s hoping that the story gets back on track. It does have a promising start as Ben and Polly are accused of being a smuggler and its clear that they are being framed. The Doctor starts the episode pretending to read cards. Sadly despite this good start it goes back to being a generic historical story with fairly generic characters. It’s another episode where I run out of interesting things to say as I don’t have anything to say about it except that it seems like there is something resembling a plot is working its way into it. Something that I didn’t notice before really in the previous two episodes is Anneke Wills’ narration. I have been so use to Peter Purves’ narration and think that whilst I think that Purves’ narration is better, there is something about the way that Anneke Wills delivers the links is rather charming and I could listen to more of it and I do when I listen to the Companion Chronicle adventures that she has done in the past.

The Squire is finally becoming a good villain and I’m sure he’s the same bloke who appears in The Mutants (1972) and I’m also sure he played a villain in that one. He’s a good piece of casting but sadly the rest of the characters are pretty much your typical characters from this period. The fact that this isn’t on video is really hampering my enjoyment as I think that one of the few saving graces of ‘The Gunfighters’ is that you can see what they are doing and so at least its fun to look at. Here there isn’t any of that which is a shame. It’s a better episode the number 2 buts that only because it starts quite well before calming down a lot. Don’t think that the final episode is going to be much to impress me.

The Smugglers - Episode 2

The next part of this story starts off with the reprise of a mediocre cliffhanger.

The first scene with Ben and Polly was a mixture of amusing, Polly starts off by being scarred of rats and then uses the logic that as they are in a time when magic is seen as a sign of being a witch. Ben and Polly spend the episode trying to find the Doctor and after spending a long time looking for him they decide to go back to the TARDIS. Ian and Barbara wouldn’t have done this and its not a great moment for Ben and Polly.

William Hartnell seems to have fallen back in the habit of sitting down and not doing a great deal. It’s a shame really after several episodes of being mobile. I don’t really remember much involvement from Hartnell in this story. It’s Anneke Wills and Michael Craze who are the more active and it does seem like were back with what Peter Purves was doing for most of his time on the show. Luckily I am liking Anneke Wills and Michael Craze and think that they are doing well in the show even though its been said that Hartnell wasn’t so keen on Wills and Craze being on the show due to them being too young but not sure whether that’s true.

I have given up on this story really because there isn’t much going on. There are a bunch of smugglers trying to cover up a murder and that’s it really. There aren’t any interesting character any it seems like the good start that the first episode had managed to come up with has been ruined because it’s not a great idea and I’m struggling to come up with anything to say about this so its going to be another short entry, hopefully the next episode will be much better because it needs something to try and restore my faith in this story because apart from the combination of Ben and Polly there isn’t much to write about in this story.

The Smugglers - Episode 1

The Smugglers is the first story in the fourth series. It’s the beginning of the end as far as William Hartnell is concerned. The story picks up after the events of the War Machines and its good how the Doctor is angry when he discovers Ben and Polly in the TARDIS. The mood quickly changes when the TARDIS lands and he finds himself amused when Ben and Polly think that they are still in 1966. It drags on a bit but it’s the inevitable routine when someone joins the show. It’s quite funny how Polly is taken as a boy due to the way that she is dressed. The first 10 minutes or so are taken up with quite dull interaction. The Warden gets his injury dealt with and the regulars are on their way. The problem with this story is that not only does it not exist on video but that it’s a historical story that doesn’t actually have a dramatic moment to build up to. In effect it’s a different type of historical to what we have had in the past.

The central performances are all quite good. It’s nice to see a bit of the old cranky Doctor at the beginning of the episode and it shows how he’s mellowed when he’s chuckling to himself. It’s good to see how two people who are from the swinging sixties cope with being wrenched out of their period in time. Anneke Wills and Michael Craze do well in their first proper story and seem to interact well with each other and with the people that they encounter even if the locals are a bit clichéd.

There seems to be a nice moment (I use the word nice in the loosest sense) where there is quite a physical altercation where one person gets killed. It’s a shame that its not on video because I think that this story would work better on video. Sadly the story is just a bunch of people in West Country accents and its like a cheap prelude to Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s a perfectly fine opening episode and it’s a much better opening season episode that what we got with Galaxy 4. Sadly this is one of those stories that I’ve never been a big fan of and think that nothing will really make me change my mind.