The Leisure Hive - Episode 4

The final episode of this story is one that I was worried wouldn’t live up to my new expectations. The start of the JNT era is going better than I would have imagined when I started to watch these stories. The reprise is still good and I don’t know whether its changed slightly but it seems more harrowing as Brock’s mask has been pulled off. The revelation that Brock is a Fomasi comes with an explanation which works and that is the real Brock is still on Earth and the Fomasi that is pretending to be Brock is a traitor. This just seems to spur Pangol into action and this is definelty his episode because he becomes quite the dictator, not even waiting for Mena to die before installing his authority on Argolis. He is immediately the villain of the piece and this is proved by the fact that he is willing to shoot the Fomasi ship down even though he knows that it will start a war.

The whole episode is geared towards the new army of Pangol’s coming out of the generator. The effect of creating dozens of Pangols is something that we have to give credit to the Quantel 5000 machine. It’s another example of how the show has changed. Another thing that works in the stories favour is the incidental music. Whilst it’s a shame that Dudley Simpson’s music is no longer a part of the show its fair to say that his music wouldn’t have had the effect that Peter Howell’s did during the scene where the Pangol’s are marching out of the generator. The effects are the thing that stand out for me in this episode with the multiple Pangol’s is one such impressive one use but another is the shot of two Doctor’s appearing in the same shot. I am reminded of that shot in ‘Enemy of the World’ where Salamander and the Doctor appear on screen at the same time and thought how impressive that was and it was by 1968 standards and it shows how far the technology has come in 12 years.

Once the Doctor gets to be back to his old self he is running around like he usually does and whilst he doesn’t get going until quite late in the episode it means that it falls to Romana to be the one that again moving the action along. She has really been on fine form over the last four episodes and Lalla Ward has taken the role of Romana and made it her own.

If I had to find fault with the episode then it wouldn’t be the Fomasi costume which was actually quite good but it was the part where the Fomasi inform Mena that hadn’t taken off and that in fact it was the Fomasi Brock that was killed onboard. It does seem odd that they waited until Pangol was a baby and the danger had been averted that they decided to show themselves. This is something that doesn’t quite work for me but to be fair it’s the only thing that I could pick fault in. This has been another good solid episode and I think/hope that Meglos is going to be better than I had thought of in the past. But that’s in the future and this opening season story is a lot better than the previous one and one thing is for sure, the show is never going to be the same again.

The Leisure Hive - Episode 3

The sight of seeing a very old Tom Baker is something that might not seem such a shocking sight today but in the context of this episode, its quite a good way to end the previous episode and start todays episode. I think the fact that Mena wants the Doctor to rest shows that she is still someone that is going to be on the Doctor’s side but if Mena is the Doctor’s angel then Pangol is the devil on the Doctor’s shoulder as he reminds her that they are still on a murder charge and so are locked up. The neck braces that the Doctor and Romana are forced to wear look quite good and look very much of the time. With the Doctor looking old it means that he isn’t dashing around quite as much as he usually does but his inactivity doesn’t last long as he is gingerly dashing around.

There comes a moment when the Doctor mentions that Pangol looks quite young compared to the other argolans. This is something that has been on screen since the start of the story but its only know that it has become part of the story and towards the end of the episode its revealed that he is a child of the generator. That’s a wonderful line that sums up the new mentality of Doctor Who in the 80’s because it just sounds new and modern (even by 2014 standards) and I like it very much.

The Fomasi design is a curious one because on the one hand it sort of lets down all the visually good work that has taken place so far and on the other hand there is something retro about the design. It’s the sort of thing that would have looked quite good during the seventies Doctor Who stories but its unfair to judge a monster on the looks alone. I know I was a bit critical in ‘Nightmare of Eden’ but this is my review so I can be if I want. The cliffhanger for the episode involves the newly included Fomasi when it goes to Brock and pulls off his mask. I think it’s a great revelation and what makes it work is that the mask comes off quite smoothly which is more than could be said for when the Count took off his mask in ‘City of Death’.

It’s another solid episode to serial and the longer this continues the more likely I am to change my opinion of not just this series but of the John Nathan Turner regime. Now I know that I am only three episodes into his tenure but I think that watching the episodes in the manner that I am means that things might change and after witnessing how good the story flowed through this episode I am think this might happen.

The Leisure Hive - Episode 2

This is one of the shortest episodes of Doctor Who ever as it runs at just under 21 minutes. That means that there is no room for padding or taking things slowly. Unlike the previous episode there isn’t any 90 second panning shot but also sadly the entire episode is studio bound. The thing that stands out in this episode are the performances and the characters. Hardin (Nigel Lambert) is a likeable person but it would be boring if he was just likeable. As it turns out he has a bit of a secret and its that he has been lieing to his close friend (Mena) about the results of his experiments and spends a great amount of time working with Romana to try and fix it. This is where the main action is as it leads to the cliffhanger. Mena is another likeable character and it is sad to see her age so quickly.

There are two quite surprising deaths. Klout is the first death that we see although we don’t see the murder. What we do see is him standing in cupboard. The only thing that slightly undermines it is that the face looks like a dummy or a protesthic mask. I can’t quite figure out why they didn’t go and use Ian Talbot. The second death was a lot better because the whole scene was quite good. It was very atmospheric when Stimson is walking around a dimly lit room before being struck down.

There is a line that the Doctor gives when he says “Arrest the scarf” which would have been annoying in the previous season but the humour has been so reigned back that the few moments where there is some light relief it’s very welcome. Tom Baker yet again gives the sort of performance that he would have done three or four years ago. Its weird that when there was a close up of his fingers at the beginning of the episode that look old and it dawned on me that he has been playing the role for such a long time.

The cliffhanger is quite a good one like the previous episode but unlike the previous episode this cliffhanger isn’t as dark. The sight of Tom Baker with a big beard and white hair is how he looks today (minus the beard) and what makes it shocking isn’t the reaction of Romana (which is good) but actually Mena’s because it is one of sadness and this is another example of how nice the character is. This was another solid episode and that’s two episodes in a row where I have found myself enjoying the episode and I didn’t think that this would be the case after the recent run of stories.

The Leisure Hive - Episode 1

Todays episode is the beginning of the end but as we all know, the moment has been prepared for. There is a new producer in the form of John Nathan Turner who has been on the show since ‘The Talons of Weng-Chiang’ in 1977 and was handpicked by Graham Williams. Barry Letts rejoined the show as Executive Producer who was there to watch over JNT. The opening panning shot last for 1 minute and 40 seconds. I can only assume that the episode was running short because there is no need for it. As much as its nice to see Brighton in 1980, I don’t think that starting the season with a arty style panning shot was perhaps the best idea.

This episode does feature the demise of K9. Sadly its only temporary. I don’t get why if the dog was so smart that it didn’t realise that it was approaching a substance that would cause it some damage. Then again it kind of proves my point about how stupid K9 is. At least that means that we wont have to see him for the rest of the serial.

There is a nice freshness to this season because whilst there is an 80’s feel to the whole thing, there is a renewed enthusiasm and that probably has something to do with JNT. Lovett Bickford has done a good job but I think could have cut the initial panning shot in half or completely. David Fisher’s last story wasn’t such a great one so its good that he has redeemed himself with this adventure.

I quite like the look of the argolans. I think the bits dropping off their heads is a bit of odd decision but apart from that they are pretty strong. Their story is quite a good one and I think that the whole planet looks impressive and there is a base under siege vibe running through the entire story.

Quantel 5000 is the technology that is used to achieve some of the effects and whilst by 2014 standards it might look ropey compared to the year before its fantastic. I am not so keen about the music. I miss Dudley Simpson’s music already. I think that the music change is a mistake and it will be one of the big problems for pretty much the rest of the classic run.

Morix’s death is surprisingly quick but it’s a death that has some relevance to it and it’s a shame because I think that Laurence Payne gave a solid performance and should have had more on screen time. The Doctor has a new costume which I quite like. After several years of the same costume, its good that he has a change. Tom Baker’s performance is quite subdued in this episode but thankfully the silliness that seemed to be the norm in the previous season has pretty much gone.

The cliffhanger is a rather good one because it shows the Doctor apparently being pulled apart. As opening episodes go, this is one of the best ones for quite sometime. Compared to the previous season’s opening episode, this is a million times better. The JNT era of the show has gotten off to a promising start.