The Hand of Fear - Episode 4

This is the final episode for Elisabeth Sladen as a companion. She asked that her departure didn’t feature a wedding (like Jo’s) or that her departure was the centre of the story as she didn’t consider Sarah to be the central character which is a rather selfless thing to do. The episode starts off (as it always does) with the reprise and I don’t know if it was the case in the cliffhanger but looking at Eldrad, the way she is standing seems to suggest she is already holding the dart and just waiting to turn around. Anyway that’s irrelevant really but the early moments of this episode are given over to Eldrad and trying to save her. The bit where Eldrad falls onto Sarah after some rocks come down is a slightly comedic moment and does seem out of place during this early part. There is bit of ‘Death to the Dalek’s in this episode where they are travelling through tunnels with booby traps involved. This doesn’t happen for long as the female Eldrad doesn’t last long as she gets squashed. Just when it looks like that all is over the story has another twist when Stephen Thorne appears as the male Eldrad. The problem that arises pretty much straight away is that Eldard sounds an awful lot like Omega. Thorne played Omega in ‘The Three Doctors’. I still think that Thorne is a great addition to the story but I think that he could have done something else to make him sound less like Omega. King Rokon is introduced just moments after the male Eldrad is at first I thought that this was going to ruin the good work done but it turns out that what we see of Rokon is actually a recording and so saves the situation. What isn’t saved is how Eldrad is defeated and its simply done by tricking him over into the abyss. Bit of a shame really.

The final scene between the Doctor and Sarah is a great scene. It starts off as a rant and Sarah thinks that she is going to make a point to the Doctor but it back fires when he gets a message from Gallifrey and the Doctor is forced to dump Sarah on earth. I really don’t want Sarah to go and even though I have seen this countless times, I still hope that she will stay and go to Gallifrey. When she leaves the TARDIS I know that it go down the same way. The very last moment between Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen is very emotional and just as emotional as when Patrick Troughton, Wendy Padbury and Frazer Hines said goodbye to each other at the end of ‘The War Games’. Telling each other not to forget the other and that travel broadens the mind are two bits which are sad and the Doctor caps it off with “until we meet again”.

It wouldn’t be Doctor Who if something wrong didn’t happen and moments after the Doctor leaves, Sarah realises that Sarah probably isn’t even in Croydon. This is something that would crop up when Sarah Jane meets the Tenth Doctor but I don’t quite know what better way there could be to have Sarah Jane walking out on the show. Whilst I might not have been sold on the idea of Sarah Jane going from feminist journalist to what a normal companion would be like (minus the screaming), but Elisabeth Sladen has been one of the greatest companions in the shows history

I think that ending the episode on a cliffhanger was perhaps the wrong way to end it as it doenst actually serve a purpose to the story and so that is the only thing that I would have changed. That said I get the feeling that the honeymoon period of Tom Baker’s time is over because I don’t think that the relationship between the Doctor and the companion will be the same

The Hand of Fear - Episode 3

It’s hard to believe that this is Elisabeth Sladen’s penultimate episode. After the previous serial, its good that Elisabeth Sladen is starting to get the story that she deserves. The main problem that I have felt that has been in four part adventures is that when it gets to the third episode it starts to go off the rail a bits whilst trying to get to the end of the story. The episode begins with things going off a bit and then nothing happens. It’s quite a clever way to get out of a cliffhanger and its done in a way that isn’t silly or convoluted. An unexplosion is a term used by the Doctor which is a great one.

The beginning of the episode see the nuclear base destroyed and the Doctor, Watson and Sarah hide behind a land rover. Even though the explosion doesn’t happen, its stretching things a bit beyond believability to think that hiding behind a car would provide any protection from a nuclear explosion. That’s a minor issue in the grand scheme of things really because its difficult to know exactly what the thinking was behind surviving this sort of thing in 1976 would be.

The reveal of Eldrad is quite fun as its put off for a few seconds after the camera pull into the shot. The idea that Eldrad starts off as a woman is quite a creative one because the instinct would have been to have Eldrad as a man from the start. The costume is quite effective. It shows what can be done even on what must be a relative budget and Judith Paris is a very good Eldrad and more than holds her own against Sladen and Baker.

The scene where Eldrad, Sarah and the Doctor are talking is a nice. It’s fairly good at explaining what is going to happen for the rest of the story. When they end up in the TARDIS its here that the idea of the temporal grace line is introduced. This is something that gets used occasionally for most of the Doctor’s time in the classic era and it seems like a convenient throw away line that only serves a purpose in this particular scene.

The cliffhanger again doesn’t feature the Doctor or Sarah but instead features Eldrad who gets the point of why her home world isn’t quite as good as she remembered. It’s a great ending and its another solid episode and I am really struggling to come up with any problems with this story. Ok so that there are things that could perhaps have been improved but they are minor things. Now there is just one episode left for Elisabeth Sladen and I hope that watching it in the way that I have been watching it doesn’t mean that Sarah Jane’s final episode is a disappointment.

The Hand of Fear - Episode 2

After the great opening episode, I did wonder whether the remaining episodes wouldn’t be as good as I was hoping for. The effect of the hand moving that we see at the beginning of the episode is still a great effect. Even the shot later on where it appears to move on its own (via CSO) is a good effect.

Professor Watson is the leader of the nuclear base and I think that its fun that that all the employees wear a big photo of themselves. They are all smiling whereas they themselves haven’t got anything to smile about. The security of this place is a lot better than most places but it seems that once inside the base its pretty easy to get around unless spotted by someone. The sets in the nuclear base are still impressive, they are slightly undermined by the great location scenes but I still think that the setting of the nuclear base works perfectly.

The death of Doctor Cater is a sad one because Rex Robinson is very good. His death was quite spectacular and it was done well because he was possessed and this started in the previous episode so at least it was done 10 seconds before he died. I thought that Glyn Houston was a good piece of casting as Professor Watson. I liked how Watson went from being untrusting of the Doctor to pretty much giving him free reign of the base.

The phone call that Professor Watson makes to his wife and child is heart-breaking because he thinks that it’s the end. He’s even lying to his wife and its made slightly embarrassing when the moment he puts the phone down the crisis is over. Despite the episode taking place in just the nuclear base, its surprising that the story moves along as much as it does. Ok there are many sets the story uses but it is essentially the same location and its credit to Bob Baker and Dave Martin (along with Lennie Mayne) for making the story work.

Sarah is hypnotised for the third time in two stories which must be annoying for Elisabeth Sladen. After the good work she did in the previous episode it seems like she’s taken a step backwards in this episode.

The ending is a bit odd because it doesn’t feature the Doctor or Sarah in a proper way. The last shot is of Watson. That said I thought that the episode was another solid one and despite being hypnotised again, this is turning out to be a fitting end to Sarah Jane’s involvement in the show. Halfway through and it feels like it’s a million times better than ‘The Masque of Mandragora’ which isn’t exactly saying a great deal but it’s the truth.

The Hand of Fear - Episode 1

The next four days aren’t going to be very happy ones because this story marks the end of Elisabeth Sladen’s time on the show. Today’s episode is her 71^st episode and by the end will be on 74 and tied with Jacqueline Hill in all time appearances. Although by the time she makes her final appearance in show I think she will have overtaken both Katy Manning and William Russell.

As opening scenes go, the one for this episode is rather good and gives the story an epic feel to it. It almost felt like an annoyance that the focus of the story was shifting back to earth. When it does go to earth it’s a rare thing of them filming in a quarry which is suppose to be a quarry and not an alien landscape. The shot of the rock exploding and it all falling on the camera is one of the most impressive shots that I have seen in Doctor Who (that didn’t require CGI). The fact that Sarah is caught in the falling rocks should have been a big indication that Elisabeth Sladen’s involvement in the show was about to come to an end. I’ve heard that Sladen wanted to go out with a bang and that’s about as close as she would get.

Eldrad Must Lie is the line the Sarah Jane utters and this is where Sarah’s hypnotism really begins. Her new menace is either undermined or enhanced by the Andy Pandy vibe of her costume. Personally I think that it slightly undermines it but not to an extent that ruins the story. It’s largely due to Elisabeth Sladen that it works to the extent that it does. It’s mainly down to the stare that Sladen uses for most of the episode, she is cold and is far from the Sarah that we all know and love. Not since the early days of her time on the show has Elisabeth Sladen been allowed to do something different with the character. Tom Baker is almost the companion in this episode as his performance falls below Sladen’s and that is perhaps as it should be in this story.

When the story moves to the nuclear base it just increases how epic this story feels. The idea that they were filming in a proper nuclear base just seems made by today’s standards because there would be so much red tape and security checks that it wouldn’t be worth doing it now so to be able to get away with it in 1976 is something that adds a great deal of excitement to the serial. Ok so some most of the scenes in this setting are filmed in a studio but just the sight of what we get in this episode and what we will get in future episodes.

The effect of the hand growing back its fingers and moving around is a great one and makes for a great cliffhanger. After being slightly bored with the previous story, I am happy to say that I have had my faith restored in the show and this opening episode does everything that a companions final episode should be and I think that the final three episodes will be a fitting send off to one of the most loved companions in Doctor Who history.

The Monster of Peladon - Episode 6

Today is the final episode of the penultimate story of Jon Pertwee’s reign as the Doctor. It is his 122^nd episode as the timelord which means he overtakes Patrick Troughton into second place. This is Elisabeth Sladen’s 20^th episode which means she overtakes Jackie Lane (19) and this is the 150^th episode to be have Terrance Dicks as a Script Editor. With the facts over with that means that I can talk about this episode which after being a bit of a rollercoaster in terms on consistency needs to end on a good note.

The way that the threat from the cliffhanger is dealt with is quite a tense moment. I know that the Doctor will save the situation but its still a good moment. The part where the Doctor is trying to carry on despite what Eckersley is doing is a good moment for the Doctor because obviously I know that he has one more story left in him. On a side note, don’t you think that Eckersley looks a bit like Tom Baker. Maybe he’s a version of ‘The Watcher’ that went rogue.

The Queen suffers from not having much to do in this episode apart from sitting in her chair. She does get a bit of excitement when Eckersley uses her as a hostage when he’s trying to flee at the end but apart from that the problems with the character restrict what she can do. Throughout the six episodes, Nina Thomas has done her best and at all times has given the character a dignity that helped sell the idea that she was playing the King’s daughter.

The Ice Warriors are thwarted at the half way point so the last half of the episode sees Eckersley as the main threat. This is the episode where Eckersley becomes a more convincing baddie than he seemed in the previous episode. The fact he is killed by Aggedor is perhaps the best way that he could have departed the show. Had he died via some rocks falling or tripping over something then it would have ruined it somewhat but as it is the death was spot on.

The final scene where the Queen says goodbye to the Doctor and Sarah Jane was a nice departure scene as part of me wanted the Doctor to become the Queen’s Chancellor but instead does a nice thing of suggesting Gebbek which was a good way for the story of Peladon to end. There is a moment at the very end when the Doctor has one last look at Peladon before closing the TARDIS door which seemed to be a slight nod to the fact that the end has been prepared for. The episode did what it needed to do and did it well and my opinion of this serial has changed. Ok so a couple of episodes aren’t quite as good but overall the story is a good one and now we are about to enter the final stage of the Pertwee era. The serial works well because the characters were good, the Ice Warriors were effectively used and the writing and directing were both fine. A good story overall.

The Monster of Peladon - Episode 5

The penultimate episode of this story starts off with the knowledge that the laser thing was going to kill the Doctor but that isn’t the case (obviously). As the show has been on the air for 11 years at this point, it seems weird that they would expect the viewer to believe that the Doctor would be killed. Normally this would rankle with me but on this occasion. But the only benefit that I can see is that for a large portion of the story, everyone in the story thinks that he has died. The best reaction comes from Elisabeth Sladen who as Sarah Jane won’t believe that the Doctor has died and utters a line that will come back in the next story. Here she says part of it when she says “While there’s life there’s….”. It seems like this is foreshadowing the next story but this is the production team laying down the ground work just like they did in ‘Planet of the Daleks’ to get us use to the idea that Jo might leave (which she did).

It’s good that Ortron has changed from his usual lack of trust in the earlier stages of the serial. I noticed this just before he was killed by the Ice Warrior. This is the second episode in a row that I have spotted something just before they meet an unfortunate end.  I thought that Frank Gatliff has been quite good in these episodes and I was just getting use to him being on the good side of things.

The way that Eckersley treachery is revealed is done in a good way. It’s explained why he has done this and it’s down to a rather unoriginal idea of being the ruler of Earth and the richest man on Earth. I don’t know why but I just don’t buy Eckersley as a baddie. I don’t know whether it’s the reason he’s a baddie or just the actor, but I think that the Ice Warriors are the more effective villains in the story.

I like the bit towards the end when the Queen is acting defiantly (if somewhat futilely) against Azaxyr. I think that Nina Thomas has a thankless role and she does the best that she can but everytime she has a great scene I just remember how the character gets lost in the action and due to the fact that the role is a Queen and so cant really get involved

Whilst I don’t think that this is a terrible episode, it doesn’t quite have the feel to it. I think that it is building up to something which is more than could be said in some stories recently. I think that my impression of the Ice Warriors has improved since I started watching this story and this story as a whole is better than I had previously given it credit for.

The Monster of Peladon - Episode 4

This is the episode where traditionally in a six part adventure, the narrative changes slightly and there is a renewed freshness to the story. This is also the case here as the Ice Warriors enter the story after briefly appearing in the previous episode’s cliffhanger. We get proper Ice Warrior involvement in this episode with Azaxyr playing the role of detective in the early stages of this episode when he tries to figure out what is going on. He doesn’t waste time in laying down the law to the Queen when he basically says that the miners should go back to work or the Federation will come in and do it for them. I have commented how the Ice Warriors were basically watered down after ‘The Seeds of Death’ and this was based mainly on ‘Curse of the Peladon’ and also this story but watching this episode, it’s clear that this isn’t really the case because the Ice Warriors and Azaxyr in particular are anything but good.

I noticed in this episode that Bert from ‘The Green Death’ has made a full recovery and found himself mining. Although by the time I noticed this his involvement is somewhat reduced after being stabbed. The problem with the headgear that the miners have to wear is that they all look the same, there is no distinguishing features so it takes a fair amount of effort to spot Rex Robinson or Roy Evans. The two people that aren’t suffering from this problem are Jon Pertwee and Elisabeth Sladen because both are really good in this episode with Pertwee just edging it and I base that largely on the early scene with Azaxyr and also that the fact the Doctor is the only one that Gebek trusts so his importance is increased. There is a moment when Sarah Jane considers leaving Peladon which doesnt seem like a Sarah Jane thing to do. I don’t know why but it just didn’t seem right and I think that its only purpose it to remind us that they cant just leave because it would be difficult to find it.

I think that the only thing that let this episode down is the cliffhanger which despite a good build up just didn’t have quite the punch that the final shot should have. That said this is the second episode running which has been good and my optimism has been restored somewhat and I look forward to the final two episodes which didn’t seem possible during episode two. I think that the inclusion of the Ice Warriors has done exactly the thing that was needed and it seems that writer Brian Hayles was breathing a huge sigh of relief when he could bring them in cause he was back on familiar territory.

The Monster of Peladon - Episode 3

The third episode of this story starts with the rather disappointing cliffhanger. I was worried that this was going to be another episode where I was counting down the minutes and seconds until the cliffhanger but I am happy to report that this most definelty wasn’t the case. Firstly there is the nice way that the Doctor is reunited with an old friend in Agador. I thought after the cliffhanger of the previous episode that it was a weird way to end the episode because the Doctor knows how to clam down Agador and the viewer knows that so where exactly was the threat?

There’s a nice bit where Sarah Jane’s feminist side comes out as she has a chat with the Queen. It seems like they haven’t totally forgotten about what they were trying to do with the character of Sarah Jane. The Queen is more interesting in this episode because simply put she’s given the chance to show she’s there for a reason instead of just making up the numbers. Ortron becomes more interesting in this episode, it’s clear that he seems to be thriving with making the Doctor look like a guilty man. I think that the Queen was more active in this episode than the previous one. The way that she tries to stand up to Ortron is one of the highlights for the character in this episode. Eckersley has been one of the characters that seems to be on the Doctor’s side however there are moments in this episode which seem to suggest that there is something else. Having seen this episode before I know what the truth is about the character but writer Brian Hayles has done a good job of hiding this and waiting until episode three before they started to develop this. Gebek continues to be a good character in this story and well played by Rex Robinson.

If I had to pick a fault with the episode then it would be that it’s weird that Alpha Centauri didn’t mention the fact that the Doctor pretended to be the earth delegate in the previous story. I would have thought this would provide even more ammunition for Ortron. Everything about this episode is better than the episode two. The cliffhanger pretty much sums this up when we get the Ice Warrior appear. It’s amazing what difference an episode makes because my confidence is back to where it was at the end of episode one. I don’t know whether it will stay where it is by the end of the story but one thing is for sure this was a much better episode.

 

The Monster of Peladon - Episode 2

I wrote when watching the previous episode that I was more confident about this story. Oh what a difference one episode makes. That’s because any confidence has all but gone, this is largely down to the fact that for a while at the beginning of the episode nothing seems to happen. There’s a bit of excitement with trying to get the Doctor out of the holed up cave but after that the Doctor does very little apart from running around. It’s nearly twelve minutes before the Queen appears and considering she’s suppose to be one of the most important supporting characters in the story it’s surprising that she’s effectively reduced to cameo status.

There’s a nice bit of mystery when Sarah Jane encounters a frosty window with a figure walking behind it. Sadly though that mystery isn’t mentioned again which is a surprise considering there is time for this to be looked at in this episode. I think that Elisabeth Sladen has a better time in this episode but that’s only because the only thing that Pertwee does is the escaping from the cave of doom at the beginning of the episode.

This is going to be a shorter review than normal for the simple reason that I really cant think of anything to say. The central performances were fine and Alpha Centauri was one of the few highlights in this episode. I’m not very keen on this episode because nothing of any worth really happens. There was nothing that grabbed my attention and apart from occasional moments, this was a pretty forgettable episode and I think the next four episodes are going to be a struggle to get through. I am struggling to come up with any positives.

The Monster of Peladon - Episode 1

I just realised something this morning. I am just two stories away from the end of the Pertwee era. I am just 12 episodes away from welcoming the Tom Baker. But that’s in the future and what we have is a blast from the past because the Doctor returns to Peladon for a sequel that I don’t think we really needed. It even starts off with the same model shot that was used in the first one. As you may know if you are a regular visitor to this blog, I am fond of the occasional stat. It has now been 143 episodes since the Cybermen last appeared in a story (not including that brief appearance in Carnival of Monsters). It’s been 27 episodes since the Master last appeared and it was 59 episodes since The Ice Warriors last appeared in ‘The Curse of Peladon’. Curse dealt with the issue of Peladon joining the Galactic Federation and this one still seems to be about the Galactic Federation. The story takes place 50 years after the events of Curse.

Instead of David Troughton, we have Nina Thomas who plays Queen Thalira. Thalira is the daughter of Troughton’s King Peladon and its clear that Thalira has inherited her fathers diplomatic style. According the information text, Tahlira was suppose to be King Peladon’s fiancé.  I think that Nina Thomas gives a more stronger performance than David Troughton did. Like in Curse, there is a Chancellor who seems at odds with the Queen. In the case of Curse there was Chancellor Torbis played by Henry Gilbert and in this story there is Chancellor Orton played by Frank Gatliff. I cant really pick between the two as to which one is the best because its essentially the same role and its performed in equally the same way. I had forgotten that Rex Robinson was in this story as Gebek. It’s always good to have Robinson in an whilst I don’t think that its as good a role as Dr Tyler. I still think that he’s good in this episode.

I haven’t really commented about the performances from Jon Pertwee and Elisabeth Sladen too much recently. I think that its clear that Jon Pertwee is in the process of divorcing himself from the show as there doesn’t seem the intensity that there was in the previous seasons. If you look back at the previous Peladon story then you would notice a massive difference. I am not saying that he is putting in a below par performance but its clear that there isn’t quite the swagger that there use to be. Elisabeth Sladen has settled into the role and whilst there seems to be some of the traits from her first story, its clear that the 100% feisty feminist part of her character has been reduced to about 40%.

The person from Vega clearly has something covering his eyes with holes drilled in to allow the actor (Gerald Taylor) to see. I really don’t know what they were thinking when they put the headpiece on the Peladon mine workers. It’s something that is very much of its time. That said there aren’t as many things wrong with this episode than I was expecting. I’m still not entirely won over with this story but the opening episode is promising and the cliffhanger is much better than the ones we got in the previous story and so I am a lot more confident about the remaining episodes of this story and also of this season.

The Three Doctors - Episode 4

The final episode of this anniversary story comes at the end of what feels like a rather short story. Bob Baker and Dave Martin have written the best story of their careers in Doctor Who so far and I think that Lennie Mayne has directed the story very well and managed to maintain the egos very well. The story has to deliver in this final episode and never has a final episode of a story mattered more than here.

William Hartnell makes his last appearance in a Doctor Who episode and he’s saved the best until last. I know that I have been rather harsh about the point of Hartnell’s involvement given that he’s very unwell but when you think about the early days of the show and how he dominated the screen at times, it’s a shame to see how he has been reduced to effectively a bit part. His final scene was short but sweet and he would pass away just over two years later. Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton are both on fine form during this episode and deserve to take equal billing. I had forgotten about how funny Patrick Troughton could be and that is one of things that I have enjoyed about this story. Jon Pertwee has also been good in this story showing how different his version of the Timelord has been from his predecessors.

Considering she fell down the pecking order slightly, Katy Manning still gives a very strong performance and does stand in the background and is very much involved in the story. Even John Levene is getting more of the story than he would normally have done. He seems to have fallen into the role of what Jamie would have done had he not been stuck on Emmerdale Farm. Levene doesn’t do the action stuff like what Frazer Hines use to do but still gets stuck in.

Omega continues to be quite impress and there is a good special effect that occurs during this episode when his mask/helmet is removed, it shows nothing and there is a nice use of CSO to show Omega raising his helmet with both Doctors still in shot. Omega becomes even more unbalanced and I always think that an effective unbalanced individual is always worth watching.

The scene where they all walk through the singularity point is a good scene because it feels like the end. The way that the Brigadier leaves them is perhaps the nicest end because they all think that the Doctors will stay with Omega forever. It might have been obvious to people that the Doctors weren’t going to be stuck with Omega for long and so it was going to be interesting to see how they would get free and it was perhaps rather a simple way but it was still good to watch and was effective enough to be done quickly and tie up that particular loose end just before the story ended.

This episode sees the Doctor given his freedom and for the first time since ‘The War Games’ he is allowed to travel in his TARDIS and go wherever he wants. This fact would have meant a bit more had the Doctor not done a few stories on other worlds. Ok they were at the beck and call of the Timelords but the fact that the Doctor has the freedom now isn’t the thing that comes to mind when this moment occurs. The episode ends the serial rather well and it feels like this episode has a lot packed into just twenty-five minutes. I never got bored and never found anyone annoying and I think that this episode was the best of the four. With the show now going to feature more other world adventures, it means that this is the beginning of the end for UNIT and the Brigadier, Benton and Yates aren’t going to feature in it as much as they use to and that’s a shame but the success of the show is made on continuous change. I think that ‘The Three Doctor’s is a wonderful celebration to the show and as the show enters its second decade, there is a lot to be proud of and a lot to look forward to. The show has never been in better shape.

The Three Doctors - Episode 3

A few stats again to start this entry. This is Jon Pertwee’s 79^th episode as the Doctor with William Hartnell appearing in his 132^nd and Patrick Troughton appearing in his 120^th. There now I can get on with the episode. The episode now moves from Earth to wherever they have landed now. It’s inevitable that the show moves to a quarry but for some reason it works quite well and the location filming (mainly around the entrance to Omega’s base) is done well and Lennie Mayne did well.

This is the episode where Omega is introduced. His introduction is fairly impressive and its quite quick before we find out that he is determined to get revenge. Omega is the one that invented Time Travel but paid the ultimate price which would explain why he’s gone a bit bat poo crazy. I commented that Pertwee didn’t really have much involvement in the previous episode but he more than makes up for it in this episode. The first several minutes are the Doctor talking to Omega and every so often it Jo and Tyler. The action then moves to Troughton’s Doctor along with the Brigadier and Benton. All the stuff with the Brigadier is funny and is continuing to have fun with it. Benton does feel like he’s just making up the numbers. Omega is well realised and that’s done due to Stephen Thorne’s performance. He was really good as Azal in ‘The Deamons’ and here he uses his height to be very imposing and everytime he’s on screen he is brilliant.

The bickering between Troughton and Pertwee’s Doctor is fun to watch and normally would be something of great annoyance but on this occasion it works really well. What works better is when they seem to be getting on. Hartnell’s involvement again comes at the end of the episode except with the Second and Third Doctors otherwise engaged, it means that Billy Hartnell has to interact with the Timelords and this marks a first for his Doctor.

The episode seems to go in a strangeness that I haven’t seen before in Doctor Who. The Third Doctor is battling inside Omega’s mind. The episode ends with the Doctor being held in some sort of wrestling move with Omega taunting him. It’s a strange ending so I can’t decide whether it’s a good cliffhanger or not. It’s certainly not boring and the story is maintaining my interest.

The Three Doctors - Episode 2

The second episode of this story continues this anniversary adventure and the thing that I didn’t mention about the previous episode is that it aired on December 30^th 1972 and so if you were being pedantic you could argue it wasn’t an anniversary episode whereas this episode actually aired on January 6^th 1973 so aired in the anniversary year.

The initial moments of the episode with Troughton’s Doctor and Benton felt like a blast from the past even though they didn’t have many (if any) scenes together the last time they were together back in ‘The Invasion’. The look on the Brigadier’s face when he first sees Troughton’s Doctor is priceless. You can always rely on Courtney to give us the best. I like how the Brigadier doesn’t care what the Doctor looks like as long as he’s there. Courtney was probably the best person in this episode as he had some of the best lines. Troughton came a close second but I think that Courtney is making the most of the situation.

Despite being the current Doctor, Jon Pertwee doesn’t feel like the most important of the three. Despite appearing already, its six minutes before Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning actually contribute to the story. Once the episode gets going, his presence is greater. The problem is that with this being a multi-doctor special it does feel like Pertwee is being kept busy until Troughton turns up. This is the first time that Pertwee has felt like anything but the main star. Troughton is on fine form again. From the moment he meets the Brigadier for the first time to the look on his face when the Brigadier tells UNIT personnel that he’s the Doctor’s assistant, Troughton doesn’t put a foot wrong.

Lethbridge Stewart gets to go inside the TARDIS for the first time ever. It’s another priceless shot. It’s better than Benton’s astonished face in the previous episode. I also like how he gets more agitated the longer he is in the TARDIS. Some people would get freaked out by being in that position but as the Brigadier is suppose to show no fear so he just does what most people in his position would do and that is shriek until he gets his/her own way.

Hartnell’s involvement was marginal but yet it was important. I am still in two minds about whether his involvement is the right thing for the best interests of the story. I suppose if your going to have him in the story then it should count and they should get the best out of the situation which is something that Bob Baker and Dave Martin do well.

The cliffhanger was bonkers. Bonkers in a good way mind but still bonkers. The sight of UNIT HQ going through the black hole is something that shows that 1970’s Doctor Who had some cracking moments which could rival new Who. This is a feel that this is an anniversary story because it still doesn’t feel like a standard Doctor Who story. That’s not a critiscm by the way but more of an observation. I am still enjoying this story very much indeed and think that the best is yet to come.

The Three Doctors - Episode 1

Today I start on the 10^th season of Doctor Who and the first story of that anniversary season is the first multi-Doctor story. It’s the first time for a long time that I have wanted work to be over as quickly as possible so I could start this part of the marathon. This is the first time since ‘The Tenth Planet’ that William Hartnell has appeared in a Doctor Who episode (last seen on September 26^th) and it’s the first time since ‘The War Games’ that Patrick Troughton has appeared in Doctor Who (January 23^rd). The story sees us return to the Gallifrey for the first significant scene since Patrick Troughton’s last story. This is by way of introducing Hartnell and Troughton.

As Troughton hadn’t really been gone that long, it seems quite easy for him to get back into the character and from the very moment that he appears in the story he is fantastic. He hasn’t missed a beat. The lack of Jamie means that the recorder becomes his companion and it’s a nice reminder to the early days of Troughton’s time. In an anniversary story, its only right that there are little nods to the past. Sadly William Hartnell’s involvement in this story is perhaps a burning issue in this story. He was too ill to take part in the story to the extent that Troughton and Pertwee were. The scene where all three of them are talking to each other and Hartnell’s Doctor is yelling at the other two is a fun scene. That’s why I’m have mixed feeling with Hartnell’s involvement because he’s not in it enough to feel like a proper part of the story yet when he is in it he’s still magnificent.

There are two effects used here that don’t entirely work and that’s the psychedelic blob and a sort of white sphere. It’s used to take Mr Ollis, Doctor Tyler, Bessie. Another rather poorly realised thing are the Gellguards. They look stupid and they walk at a ridiculous speed and yet still manage to get past a group on UNIT soldiers. There is a good x-ray picture which is used to show Ollis’ face.  I love the line that the Brigadier gives about UNIT being a top secret organisation yet about five minutes later the Doctor and Jo drive past a UNIT signpost with the Brigadiers name on it. Not terribly top secret.

It’s a cracking opening episode and in some ways it doesn’t feel like a normal Doctor Who story. It feels like after the last few stories, that this is a sort of light hearted adventure that doesn’t really have the seriousness that a normal story would have. All the performances are fun and it feels like a fun adventure with more fun to come. I feel like I have a renewed enjoyment to watching Doctor Who and I would like to think that this is a new strong period of Doctor Who but I suppose only time will tell.

The Curse of Peladon - Episode 4

At the end of the previous episode, the Doctor was in a fight for his life and only because Arcturus has been killed. It’s amazing that this manages to stop the fight. Arcturus is revealed to be the one that is in collusion with Hepesh. This would seem to suggest that things would be wrapped up pretty quickly but Hepesh doesn’t hang around and instead seems to turn his plans into a cout de ta. There seems to be a massive improvement in the number of soldiers and this leads to a good fight sequence in the main chamber.

Hepesh has been good in this episode and its seems a shame that after some patchy moments, he comes good at the end of the story. It’s good how he does seem to show some compassion by not wanting the King to be hurt. It does seem quite fiting that he’s killed by Agador who he has been using as a pet for many years. His death scene is quite sad and that’s due to the good performance from Geoffrey Toone (Hepesh) and David Troughton. I know that I haven’t been particularly fond of King Peladon buts that nothing to do with Troughton’s acting but merely how the character has been written.

I like how they make several references to the Doctor and Jo still being representatives of Earth. The moment when they ask Jo to use her ship to communicate with others, the look on her face is quite priceless. The very last shot is of the Doctor and Jo leaving as they discover that they have been rumbled when the real earth delegate turns up. I think that the episode is a vast improvement and whilst the story over the four parts wasn’t the strongest, it was helped by the fact that things seemed to be moving quite quick. The performances from Hepesh, the Doctor and Jo help maintain my interest. It’s not a terrible story by any means but I think that it needed something else to help elevate it above its current standing in Doctor Who opinion.

The Curse of Peladon - Episode 3

As we approach the second part of the story I worry that this studio bound story doesn’t quite have the bite that I think that it should have. The previous episode had a lot of nothing in it and this episode needed to deliver. At the end of the previous episode the Doctor was accused of herecy and this forms the plot for this episode.  The romance between the King and Jo is given a bit more time in this episode as Jo uses this to try and stop the Doctor from being killed or put in the fight. The scene ends with Jo receiving a marriage proposal. The King is somewhat weak in this episode as his inability to take decisive action is becoming frustrating.

The Doctor has a good scene with Hepesh where he discusses why he’s gone to the trouble staging things and its good that Hepesh isn’t pretending anymore. Jon Pertwee’s best scene comes when he’s trying to calm Agador whom he encounters in the caves. The Doctor’s attempts are foiled when Jo comes barging in scaring it away. Jo makes up for it by the fact that she gets to be quite feisty from the very beginning and its good to see but it doesn’t happen enough for my liking.
I do like how there seems to be more finger pointing with Arcturus being suspicious of the Ice Warriors. It doesn’t seem to be given much time and its introduced too late into the story. Had it been done in episode two then I think that this would have made the story better but hey ho, better late than never.

The Doctor gets to have his trial by combat (I say that like he wants it) and it leads to a very good and well-choreographed fight. Sometimes its clear that its not Pertwee but Terry Walsh doing some of the movements but its still a good fight. It ends in rather a horrific way with the Doctor appearing to strangle the Kings Champion before letting go. Visually its slightly odd because its not filmed at TV centre so it has that different look to and its slightly disrupts the flow of continuity.

I thought that the cliffhanger was another good one and I felt that the episode on the whole was better than the previous. There seemed to be a bit more going on in this episode and it flows better than it seemed to in part two. I really don’t know what to feel about this story and I think that the final episode will determine whether I consider this to be a good story or not.

The Curse of Peladon - Episode 2

The second episode starts off quite good with the cliffhanger of the Agador statue about to squash some of the delegates and then Hepesh pipes up about the curse and the thing about Hepesh is that he’s so willing to use Agador as a reason to end the meeting but its not going to happen. Hepesh is starting to grate on me as he just seems like a rather repetitive character that has a dodgy haircut. The King has fallen for Jo and after the initial opening moments, this scene seems like its from another programme when you look at it in the context of the rest of the episode. It’s easy to believe that the king and Jo would be drawn to each other.

The Ice Warriors start their character development in this episode as they go from being the one accused of things going wrong to be the accusers. In this story they aren’t the baddies but its still odd to think of them as anything but the bad guy. The Doctor thinks that the Ice Warriors are the guilty ones purely on past experiences.

The Doctor doesn’t really have much to do in this episode and the only thing of any worth that he gets to do is stop Arcturus from being killed after his life support is compromised. That’s its really and Jo has a slightly better time when she seems to be investigator and after being locked up manages to escape. It’s a times like this that I wish that Roger Delgado would pop up in some convoluted plot.
The problem is that this story just doesn’t seem to grab me in ways that I would have hoped. It’s not a terrible story by any means but it’s a who-dunnit that doesn’t have much mileage in it. It’s a shame that Brian Hayles has written the sort of story that he did during the Troughton era. There are a lot of talkie bits which are fine but I do find myself getting slightly bored with it and just wanting the Ice Warriors to be better than they are. The cliffhanger is rather good with the Doctor being accused of heresy. I think that it’s the best thing in what was a rather mediocre episode. I worry that any goodness that I felt towards this story is rapidly disappearing and any goodness towards this season. After six episodes it feels like the show is starting to go into auto-pilot.

The Curse of Peladon - Episode 1

As I start watching ‘The Curse of Peladon’, I’m going to start off with a couple of stats. The first is that this is the first time that we have had two four part stories back to back for the first time since The Underwater Menace and The Moonbase back in season four. It’s also the first appearance of the Ice Warriors since ‘The Seeds of Death’ 71 episodes ago. They don’t appear until the half way mark and I love how the moment they first appear it seems to imply that he’s up to no good with even the Doctor using the term “no good”. Sadly they are made friendlier than they were during the Troughton era and this is a shame and it’s the beginning of the softer side of the Ice Warriors.

The first thing we see is an excellent model of the castle of Peladon. It is just a cardboard cut out but it’s still a rather good model. We get some good scenes when the Doctor and Jo arrive as it looks like it’s a substantial sized set and with the thunder and lightning effects, we get a nice idea that we’re not going to get any location scenes. I like that this story has an isolated feel to it as it seems to hark back to the base under siege stories of the Troughton era and at the same time it’s a who-dunnit.

At the time this was transmitted (January/February 1972), the UK was debating whether to join the EEC and it seems like a very apt time to try and use this in a sci-fi setting. Peladon is about the join the Galactic Federation which is dividing opinion.

King Peladon is played by David Troughton who returns after last appearing in ‘The War Games’ and is also Patrick Troughton’s son. The character of the King is a tortured soul who is conflicted between wanting the best for his people not wanting to bring misfortune to Peladon. Hepesh instantly shows that he’s not someone that is to be trusted and this starts from the very beginning. He’s spouting all this nonsense about Agador. Alpha Centuri is a character that might look a bit silly but in 1972 it would have been fine so its fine in 2014. Arcturus doesn’t look much better as it’s a head in a jar with some green slim and disco lights around its head. The sound modulator used for its voice seems to be left over from ‘Day of the Daleks’.

The cliffhanger is a rather good one with a statue of Agador about to come crashing down on some of the delegates. As an opening episode it seems like this would have been a better season opener than Day of the Daleks but I have always thought that this was a better Peladon story than the sequel we get soon. I feel better about this season now we have had this opening episode. The opening episode introduces some good characters and a story that looks like its going to be a lot better than I have previously given it credit for in the past.