Horror of Fang Rock - Episode 4

The final episode of this story is perhaps the darkest that there has been in a Doctor Who episode. It takes less than 1 and a half minutes for Vincent to become the first death of this episode which features a lot of death. I actually made a note of when the deaths occur. Vincent dies at 01:45, Adelaide is put out of her misery at 06:28 and Skinsale is the last to fall at 16:50.

The whole thing about the Rutan is that it has crashed landed and used the lighthouse to start a rescue relay. We learn a lot about this solitary Rutan in a short amount of time and it turns out that they are having a war with the Sontarans (they were mentioned in the previous Sontaran stories). The Rutans seem like they are just as stubborn as the Sontarans so its easy to see why they are at war with each other.

Adelaide is annoying from the very moment she’s on screen as she faints. Leela’s reaction is perfect and matches what I was feeling. Her death is a highlight and that might be harsh but there was nothing likeable at all about her. It seems that Terrance Dicks has put the character in just for this moment because we all know how he likes the female roles to be fairly clichéd in needing rescued or being in peril.

The Doctor hanging out of the lighthouse to hide from the Rutan Reuben is a rather odd thing for the Doctor to do but on the plus side the CSO effect/shot is quite good.

The sit down scene between the Doctor and the Rutan is one of those scenes that I have seen countless times and its one of the best scenes in the entire serial. Whilst I haven’t been entirely won over with the effect of the Rutan, the effect to get it up the stairs is well done.

The Doctor’s plan is to try and scare off the Rutans, this is thought up at the midway point of the episode. This means that the story has very little time to waste and the Rutan is dealt with very quickly and the rescue ship is done with in quick time. Yesterday I was mentioning about how this could have been extended to maybe five episodes and they could have spent an episode just on the Rutan.

The Doctor’s gag about throwing the diamonds on the ground didn’t last long as it led to the death of Skinsale. You could argue that the Doctor caused his death. Skinsale is the last of the supporting cast and this means for the final five minutes or so the story features just the Doctor and Leela. Without any supporting characters the final scene sees Leela’s eye colour change. To be honest I never noticed her eye colour. It’s a shame that no time was taken to focus on the fact that everyone is dead. It’s one of the things that slightly bothers me about this story but that aside, I still think that it’s a great story and has some great performances. Looking at the list of stories coming in this season, I think that this is going to be the best story of the season. I think the next month is going to be a struggle.

Horror of Fang Rock - Episode 3

The 15th season’s start continues in a good way. I often wonder with four part stories whether they could work as a five or six parter and part of me thinks that this episode would work with an extra episode so that we get more of the Rutans. As it is there is very little padding that takes place at any point during this serial.

Adelaide becomes even more annoying because for most of the episode she just seems to be shrieking and sobbing and just being irritated. I think that if I were a fan of Upstairs Downstairs and Downton Abbey then this sort of person might not have such a grating effect on me but I just don’t like the woman. The only good thing that comes from her involvement in this episode is when Leela slaps her for screaming.

Reuben has been taken over by the green thing. I thought that Reuben was creepy before but now he is definelty creepy. The green blob that looks like it came out of someone’s nose isn’t the great effect although its involvement becomes greater in this episode because it kills Skinsale. Skinsale is the first of the current crop of supporting characters. Harker dies a few minutes later. I think that Dicks knew how annoying the character of Adelaide was and decided to hold off her death until the last episode.

It’s impressive that the action keeps moving in such a small location. There are only three sets (not including Reuben’s room) and so at times it felt like a stage play. The performances have all been solid (bar Annette Woollett’s). The Doctor has been largely sombre and Leela has been her usual self and they have both been on good form during this story. The directing has also been good because its never been boring and the tight spaces have helped create a nice bit of claustrophobia and the base under siege theme is helping make this story work. Considering that the monster hasn’t really been involved in things, its impressive that there is as much tension as there is.

The cliffhanger does seem to come out of the blue. I didn’t realise that the episode was at this stage until the theme tune played. The episode ends with the Doctor making a horrible realisation realising that he has locked the creature in the lighthouse with them. It’s his face that makes it such a good ending. The endings so far in this story haven’t been really actioned packed but have still managed to be exciting.

Horror of Fang Rock - Episode 2

I could perhaps be very critical of the model used to show the ship crashing on the rocks. First thing that stood out in this episode is the rather cold reaction that Leela gives when it’s revealed that they have crashed on the rocks is a bit odd. Her attitude is slightly odd, its almost like she is bored of what is going on. The crew of the wrecked ship is a mixture of annoying and charming. Lord Palmerdale and Adelaide are both equally irritating. It’s like they stumbled out of an episode of Upstairs Downstairs. The ship crashing is largely down to Palmerdale so after just a few minutes we are left in no doubt that he is suppose to be an unlikeable person. Colonel Skinsale (played by a returning Alan Rowe) and Harker are the more charming characters. Skinsale seems to spend most of the episode revelling in the fact that Palmerdale is about to lose a lot of money. There is an instant friction between them which makes it quite an interesting.

“We might all be dead” is delivered like there is a punchline and Tom Baker delivers the line with a smile on his face. It’s the only time that there is any humour in the episode. The Doctor doesn’t seem to stop moving in this episode. Tom Baker’s Doctor always has a lot of energy and he uses this quite a lot in the episode. Louise Jameson does a lot of moving around herself and the fact she isn’t dressed lady like in this story provides some humorous looks.

There is a glimpse of what crashed into the sea at the beginning of the previous episode and there is no easy way of saying it but it does look like something that came out of your nose. The fact that we only see a little bit of it is quite good as there gives a bit more mystery to see whats causing all of this. The deaths have stopped for now but it feels like a pause in the chaos which is probably the best thing. The episode ends with a  chilling cliffhanger. Reuben screams and yet the camera is focused on Skinsale. I think if it had ended with the camera seeing what happened to Reuben then it wouldn’t have been as good but I liked this ending. The fact that there have been some annoying elements introduced into this story doesn’t detract from what is still a thoroughly exciting story.

Horror of Fang Rock - Episode 1

Horror of Glam Rock is the first story of the fifteenth season and it’s the first with Graham Williams as producer after Philip Hinchcliffe is ‘relocated’ to another BBC show so it’s fair to say that the golden era of the show is over but at least Robert Holmes is still script editor and Horror of Fang Rock (and not Glam Rock as I have been tempted to write) is one of my favourites because it’s a base under siege story which is a type of adventure that I really love. The episode doesn’t get off to a great start with the effect used to simulate something crashing into the sea. We are introduced to the supporting characters and one of the many things that I love about this story is that it has a reduced number of people and one of them dies within ten minutes of the episode starting.

Vince is one of the supporting characters that we are suppose to like because he acts nicely towards the Doctor and Leela. Reuben is clearly there to be the exact opposite and untrustworthy. He suspects that the Doctor and Leela had something to do with Ben’s death. Death is done in quite a dark way because there is none of the humour that we have come to expect from the Doctor in recent stories.

The setting of a lighthouse might seem a bit odd to some and it wouldn’t be my first idea but the beauty of this is that it keeps people in a very tight location and yet give the chance to introduce other people when needed without it seeming contrived. The fact that it is a studio bound story is something that is forgotten until the episode ends and that is because of my love for this story means that I look past it and if it takes place inside a lighthouse your not going have much location footage.

The episode is directed rather well by Paddy Russell who uses what is available to her. I think that she manages to make the story move along at a reasonable pace which cant move too quickly because nothing can really happen until the ship crashes on the rocks at the end of the episode. It’s a great opening episode because it sets its stall out really well and gives us time to absorb the atmosphere and the setting and Terrance Dicks has written some characters that have been thought out really well and have paced it just right.

Pyramdis of Mars - Episode 4

The final shot of the previous episode wasn’t mentioned in my review and it’s a good shot of Sutekh with his flashing green eyes. It was a good cliffhanger and it’s a good start to the episode. The first scene between the Doctor and Sutekh is a great scene and its been worth waiting until this moment to see him. It’s not a short scene and instead sometime has been given to set Sutekh up as the villain that he was made out to be in the previous episodes. I was surprised that this scene was so long because I would have expected them to just get on with the action in the final episode. There is one shot of Sutekh which saw him stand up and a hand can be seen sliding out and going behind the chair. This is perhaps one of the most famous scenes in the story and even the show. I can only imagine that it was to prompt Gabriel Woolf to stand up. It’s a funny obvious goof and does slightly undermine the good work that was being done on screen.

What happens in the middle of this episode is that the story moves to Mars and there comes a sequence which seems to be borrowed from ‘Death to the Daleks’ where the scenes move through a series of puzzles and tests. This even gets acknowledged by Sarah at one point. There is a nice logic puzzle that the Doctor has to figure out when he has to try and figure which mummy is telling the truth and decide which button will free Sarah and which would kill her.

There is a fair amount of CSO that is used in this episode and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. One moment where it didn’t work was when Scarman was in the final room and the moving background seemed to blend in with his shirt. It’s been a while since I commented on CSO and so its nice to get back to familiar territory in this review and I think that it worked well on the whole.

I quite liked the idea that there is a time delay which allows the Doctor and Sarah to get back to earth before Sutekh gets there. It means we get one final scene between the Doctor and Sutekh which was just as good as the first. This episode didn’t disappoint and it ended with the house going up in flames which is what was mentioned at the beginning of the story. This is the best story of the season so far and everything about it was great to watch and its not hard to see why this is one of the most popular stories in the classic era of Doctor Who. At this moment this story is the second best story that I have rated on with ‘The Ark in Space’ being in the number one spot.

Pyramids of Mars - Episode 3

As I start the second half of the story I am reminded of the stories that Michael Sheard has been in during Doctor Who. His first appearance came during ‘The Ark’ back in 1966 and then in ‘The Mind of Evil’. Whilst the characters were different the performances seemed the same as he spoke in that rather soft style and never seemed to get cross and he gives the best performance in this episode. It seems bad that the Doctor shouts at Laurence Scarman and I think that it seems bad because Laurence seems so nice and was doing what he did for the right reason. It almost seems wrong to be anything other than nice to Michael Sheard.

Sarah asks a question about whether Sutekh is powerful. Did she forget that little journey that the Doctor took her on in the previous episode? The scene where the Doctor and Sarah are searching for the gelignite and it’s a great scene which shows why Baker and Sladen are so good together.  

There is a lovely scene between Marcus and Laurence. It’s a well-acted scene between Bernard Achard and Michael Sheard. Laurence’s death happens off screen and I think that it’s a shame that they have killed off another likeable character. Oh well, at least it wont be too long before we see Sheard back in Doctor Who. I think that at least we still have Bernard Achard who gives a great performance as a possessed Marcus. We don’t see Sutekh until the very end so it remains for Marcus to be the villain of the peace during the episode.

The story moves towards meeting Sutekh and I thought that the stuff that happened in the final episode happens in this episode but obviously not so its going to be great to see how the action works in 25 minutes but it’s a shame that we will only have one episode with Sutekh properly in the story.

The Doctor does his first bit of dressing up since the Pertwee era when he dresses up as a mummy. Sadly the problem with this is that it means that we don’t get to see Tom Baker as it could easily have been someone else in the costume. That minor quibble aside, the one thing that stand out is just how good this episode is. There are some great performances and at no stage during the episode did I find myself bored by things which considering that not a great deal happens it shows how good the writing and directing is that good and I look forward to the final episode.

Pyramids of Mars - Episode 2

Marcus appears for the first time since his brief appearance in the first episode and he’s very different from that first scene. It looks like he hasn’t had a good night’s sleep for quite a while. I think that Marcus is quite an effective interim villain. There’s an interesting effect done when the gamekeeper is running through the woods and its suppose to look like he has bounced off it but it’s due to editing and it looks rather odd because it’s clear that it’s been cut which is a shame. What does work is the effect of Marcus being shot at and the smoke coming from him reverses back into him and he walks towards the window. This is simply done in reverse but it’s still a great effect.

I think that there is an issue with the mummies being used to chase people. The gamekeeper is running away and the mummies are walking at the slowest possible pace to catch up with him. I can’t quite believe that they would really be able to catch him. They try and make this believable by cutting back to the chase several minutes after it started and how the mummies didn’t trip over themselves is a mystery. He doesn’t get killed until the very end when he is squashed by two of them. I couldn’t quite make up my mind about Warlock’s death. Part of me thinks it was quite grim and the other part of me thinks that it was a bit silly and I think that Peter Copley over does it. I think that Michael Sheard gives a nice performance as Marcus’ brother though his best DW performance is yet to come.

The highlight of the episode comes when the Doctor takes the TARDIS back to 1980 (where Sarah is from) and shows her what it would look like if they left Sutekh to his plan. It’s a solemn moment and one of my favourite scenes in the entire story. It’s good that they explain why Sutekh is doing what he’s doing and its explained quickly which is the right thing at this stage of the story. The idea that Sutekh is trying to set up rockets to destroy a beacon on Mars that will free him might seem like it’s a bit convoluted but I think that on this occasion it is what makes the story feel that much more better.

The cliffhanger is quite good but I think that the final shot could have been a bit better. The camera hung onto Sarah’s shocked/scared face a bit too long. Apart from that the episode was a nice solid one. The story is still very strong and the more I watch it the more I am grateful that I have got past ‘Planet of Evil’.

Pyramids of Mars - Episode 1

After the previous story didn’t set the world alight in my opinion so I was reliefed to know that this story was coming up. It’s one of the classics of Doctor Who’s classic era and one of Tom Baker’s fines stories. The story is credited to Stephen Harris but actually it was written by Robert Holmes and Lewis Greifer and it seems like another story where Holmes has had to re-write a large part of the story which perhaps shows why the story is as strong as it was. The story sees the Doctor and Sarah still trying to get back to London to meet the Brigadier. It feels like a story arc like what was used in the previous season and its mentioned in this episode just to remind the viewer. The first thing that struck me about this episode is the impressive opening scene. The footage shots of Egypt help create the impression that the first time that we meet Marcus Scarman is in Egypt and not in a studio in London.

The opening scene with the Doctor and Sarah is quite a strange one because it reminds us of Victoria who travelled with the Doctor during the 1967/68 season. It’s a nice if somewhat unexpected reference and I wonder why they chose Victoria of all the companions that the Doctor has travelled with. It’s strange seeing the Doctor as sombre as he was in that scene because he has always been like a six year old after they have had too much sugar. To see him gloomy isn’t a good one but thankfully that doesn’t last too long.

Namin is the first ‘baddie’ that we are introduced to and its fair to say that he has a temper on him. His argument with Doctor Warlock is quite heated and fun to watch. Warlock represents a time of history when he jolly well thinks that he’s in the right because he’s British and that’s just the way it is. Warlock doesn’t last 10 minutes before he is shot by Namin. That shot comes a few minutes after Collins the butler/housekeeper is killed by an unseen force. I quite like Collins (played by Bilton) because he was a genuinely nice character and played well.

The short period where Namin is chasing the Doctor, Sarah and Warlock is quite a great scene largely because it was filmed on location and directed in a certain way but also because of the music. It was very atmospheric and that’s why it’s one of the best scenes in the episode.

I think that the mummies in this episode are very impressive. Ok so they less manoeuvrability that the Daleks but they are visually impressive and the fact they don’t have a face is something that has always made more sinister than perhaps some people would think but I think that they are one of the big selling points of this story.

The build up to the cliffhanger was superb and it was all down to the organ music. It peaks just as the black figure comes out of the time vortex. The effect of him walking on the carpet and smoke coming from under his feet is very good and its equalled by when the figure puts its hand on Namin and smoke comes from under his hands. After being somewhat underwhelmed by the cliffhangers and episodes from the previous story, its good that it feels like the show is getting back to what it does best and that’s action drama. I thought that the action was really strong in this episode with the performances at their best and I am looking forward to the rest of this story.

Invasion of the Dinosaurs - Episode 6

Day 365 sees the final episode of this story that isn’t as clear cut as many people would suggest in terms of quality. Yes the episode doesn’t start off in the best way due to the fact that there is the darn T-Rex. The Doctor is doing his best to look scared against something that would win 2^nd prize at a kids making competition. It’s made worse by the fight between the T-Rex and whatever it was fighting. The fight was very poor and had no entertaining value to it whatsoever. Whereas we didn’t get very much dinosaur action in the previous episode, we got more than our fair share here.

I like how the Brigadier comes in to save the Doctor just as General Finch is about to collar him. The Brigadier really does show his loyalty to the Doctor in this story and also Benton does as towards the end of the episode, he gets to have a scrap with General Finch and I love how he apologises to Finch, totally Benton. Yates pulling a gun on the Doctor, Benton and the Brigadier is one of the most unexpected turns in the show. Even when he’s telling them on the plan he has a look of someone who believes he’s doing the right thing.

Normally I wouldn’t talk too much about actors that are recurring but not what I would class as supporting actors. Bryson is a character that has a great look on his face when asked to make a cup of tea. His usefulness is made even greater when he distracts Yates. I think it’s a shame that Yates gets sidelined again after this moment. When the episode ends there is a brief mention about what is going to happen to him but that’s it.

The only aspect of this episode that is somewhat frustrating is the bit with Sarah Jane trying to convince Adam and the others. If Sarah Jane could escape without causing harm to the others why wouldn’t they let her do what she did in the previous episode? Thankfully Adam is the one that sees sense and leads the revolt against Grover. When they do realise it does lead to a good final scene with Whittaker and Grover. Grover goes to a lot of trouble to convince the Adam and Ruth that all is well but it does seem like a last ditch attempt and its doesn’t feel like it has much heart in its execution which is why it doesn’t last long. The effect where the Doctor is trying to reverse the time effects is done rather well and it is one of the better effects that are used in this story.

It’s good that Grover and Whittaker end up sending themselves back to where the dinosaurs were coming from (with a little help from the Doctor). It’s good that the Doctor didn’t have a direct involvement in this but Grover and Whitaker were hoisted by their own petard.

I think that whilst this story has a fantastic premise but it totally let down by the models. There are many ways that they could have got around the dodgy dinosaurs so this story is known as the one with the dodgy dinosaurs but if you put that to one side then what we have is a great story that has some very impressive performances especially from Richard Franklin and Malcolm Hulke and Paddy Russell deserve credit for coming up with this story and making it work as well as it did on screen.

Invasion of the Dinosaurs - Episode 5

Today is day 364 of my marathon and it starts off with General Finch telling the Brigadier that the Doctor is a monster maker and by the end of the reprise he is under arrest. The plan to discredit the Doctor doesn’t really seem to have had much thought apart from placing the Doctor in the right place at the right time. Even the Brigadier clues up to the fact that the Doctor might not be guilty. Sarah is still stuck with trying to deal with the natives. It doesn’t take her long to sus out what is going on. It takes her less than 10 minutes to escape right in front of Mark. She manages to make it out for most of the episode before being recaptured by General Finch. It’s hard to believe that she is as dim as she is in not suspecting that General Finch is basically leading her back to where she started the episode. To be fair to her she does realise her mistake just as Finch is holding a gun at her.

This is the episode where it becomes clear to the Doctor that Yates is working with General Finch and it’s a lovely moment. There is moment when it seems that the Doctor thinks that the Brigadier is involved and it ends with Benton willing being knocked out by the Doctor. Going back to Yates, after being revealed that he’s involved he then proceeds to do nothing. It does seem like a bit of a waste but apart from my annoyance with the dinosaur models, this is the only issue that I had with the episode.

There is a portion of this episode which seems to be a tad bit indulgent as it’s the Doctor being chased by the army and to be fair it does at least have a purpose to it and is less like a Bond film that the similar scene we get in ‘Planet of the Spiders’. It does mean we get a bit of Jon Pertwee doing a cockney accent which is far better than the one Dick Van Dyke attempted to do in Mary Poppins.

There is a nice shot of Butler smashing a mug and then it reforming and even though it’s a relatively normal effect it looks good on TV. I still like the relationship between Whittaker and Butler and think that there is a potential spin-off series that Big Finish could do wonders with.

Apart from the reprise, its 22 minutes before we see any naff dinosaur models and they saved the worst still the end because yet again the T-Rex is chosen to pose a threat to the Doctor but a five year old couldn’t find it scary. It’s a shame really because up until this point I had found the episode to be a lot of fun and built upon the good work that came from the previous episode. As I am about to watch the final episode I do so knowing that the story is building up to something and it will be a corker.

Invasion of the Dinosaurs - Episode 4

As I approach the second half of the story there is a desire to ensure that things keep moving. This is where traditionally the story shifts in direction and we are as a result introduced to new characters. In this cast we are introduced to Mark (Terence Wilton), Adam (Brian Badcoe) and most famously Ruth (played by Carmen Silvera). This episode is where we are introduced to the Whomobile which will show off itself in a future story but in this case just seems like a weird thing to introduce into this story but hey-ho.

The Doctor and Sarah are in very different surrounding in this episode with the Doctor going to find out where and who has been sabotaging his equipment. He manages to make it down to where Butler and Professor Whittaker who are playing games in trying to get the Doctor to leave. When the Doctor returns with the Brigadier there’s a depressing inevitability about what they are going to find and that is nothing.

Sarah Jane is still led to believe that she’s on a spaceship and she isn’t accepting what been told to her. There is a moment when Sarah is watching a video in the reminder room which I thought was similar to when the Doctor was watching a video in ‘Colony in Space’. It’s simple yet effective and it explains why Mark, Adam & Ruth have moved away and there is a nice CSO shot to show that this is a vast number of people involved. Although as the story will show this is as fake as the CSO.

General Finch, Butler, Professor Whittaker, Yates and Grover share the same scene for the first time in this story and it’s a great moment to see the people responsible. They come up with quite an ingenious plan by trying to discredit the Doctor and they do this very well to set up the cliffhanger because the last shot is of General Finch and the Brigadier basically catching the Doctor red handed. This hasn’t been an episode that has been about the dinosaurs which is why this is the best episode of the story. Yes there were some dinosaurs that appeared but I think that we have now got to the part of the story where the Dinosaurs have become a tool of the conspirators as opposed to being the main menace and now the good parts of this story are going to take centre stage and that’s a big relief really.

Invasion of the Dinosaurs - Episode 3

The third episode starts with the rather disappointing cliffhanger which has become the form during this story so far. The T-Rex collapsing to the ground was rather silly and undermined the good scenario that the episode begins in. It’s hard to really be angry at Yates because he is conflicted. This is something that is done quite well in the early half of this story but in the latter half he sort of disappears but I think that Richard Franklin does a very good job of making us feel conflicted about whats going on.

General Finch is being the nice as pie general in this episode. He helps Sarah get a camera so that she can take pictures of the T-Rex. The part of the episode where Sarah is taking pictures is slow and works quite well even though half of it is using CSO and the T-Rex rising doesn’t quite work but before that it’s a good effort.

The moment when a bit of timber falls on Elisabeth Sladen’s head is a bit funny because it almost sounds like a comedy thud. It’s where the issues with the story are bought to the screen. For the rest of the story she has a slight graze to the head and had this happened a decade later then Sladen would have spent the rest of the story in bed but on this occasion she is still active and gets into a world of trouble. The Doctor realises that there is a conspiracy after what happened to Sarah and the fact that there were no readings on his machine. It’s about time that some time was meat put to this part of the story and we get that with the various members of the conspiracy doing their part to thwart the attempt to find out who is behind bringing the dinosaurs to London.

Despite having a comedic thump to the head, Sarah Jane gets frustrated at being left out of things and goes off to try and find out where a generator might be. She has been rather foolish in this episode by waking up the T-Rex and then going off to see Grover without telling the Doctor, Brigadier or Mike Yates.  She ends the episode being hypnotised and made to think that she’s been on spaceship. The cliffhanger belongs to Sarah Jane even though it ends with a shot of space and some stars and it’s the best end to an episode so far because it hasn’t involved a naff dinosaur model shot. This time there was shock and amazement in the ending. Even though there isn’t as much dinosaur activity as they seems have been in previous episodes and that’s why it’s the best episode so far. At the half way mark I think that there is still plenty of story to tell in the remaining episodes and apart from the dinosaurs, this is a very solid story.

Invasion of the Dinosaurs - Episode 2

The second episode of this six part adventure is where the story really gets going because the first episode did a good job of setting up the setting up the location of the story and the idea of an abandoned London is a good one and one that always works well as a setting. The T-Rex that we see at the beginning of the episode is still a problem as far as I am concerned.  This twinned with the CSO used to put the soldiers in front of the T-Rex is another problem.

I love the scene with the Doctor and Sarah when Sarah mentions a theory which sounds rather flimsy. This isn’t really an episode for Sarah Jane but the thing that does come out of it is that due to the fact she’s a journalist she isn’t trusted and is treated like a pariah and its only when the Doctor says that she’s his assistant that it seems like she’s becoming part of the UNIT family.

The effect used to get that historical man to disappear back to where he came from was one of the few effects that worked. It works when they make the dinosaurs disappear. The Stegosaurus is a better model effect that the T-Rex and the CSO of it appearing with the Doctor is better. The CSO has mixed results in this episode and I think it largely depends on the dinosaurs and who or what they put on in front of it.

I think the scene between Mike Yates and Sarah is a nice environmental discussion where Yates talks about the peace being rather nice and Sarah preferring traffic. I don’t think that she does believe it but is just being opposite for the sake of it. Yates is different due to the effects of what happened to him in ‘The Green Death’. It’s in this episode that its revealed that he is involved in the Dinosaurs plan. Part of the reason why the plot works so well is that it’s a new thing in Doctor Who for one of the good guys to be smilingly working against the Doctor and putting him danger.

The explanation that someone is causing the dinosaurs to appear and disappear is explored here and this introduces Michael Jarvis and Peter Miles. Jarvis had previous appeared in ‘The Web Planet’ and Miles previously appeared in ‘Doctor Who and the Silurians’. Jarvis plays Butler who is the nicer of the two and Miles played Professor Whittaker who seems like a similar version to Dr Lawrence in his previous story. Another of the people involved although we don’t know it yet (even though we do) is Sir Charles Grover (played by Noel Johnson). General Finch was introduced in the previous episode but its this episode where I think that his true colours are shown when he seems to be against the Doctor. John Bennett would return in a future Tom Baker story but here General Finch is at the moment the most obvious villain in the story.

The cliffhanger is ruined by the last shot being of the T-Rex looking at the camera. If it were a better model then it would be a far more effective way to end the episode. That said the main plot of the story is what makes this a better story that it could have been and why I get frustrated with this story because whilst it might b a good thing that the show is trying to do something different, sometimes its better to know your limits and there was no way that this was going to work.

Invasion of the Dinosaurs - Episode 1

It could be argued that ‘Invasion of the Dinosaurs’ is a watershed moment in the Jon Pertwee era. It’s also a story that is used when people try and knock the show. To be fair it’s a show that has its problems but I could quite happily argue in its favour but there are aspects that don’t quite work. However the good points are shown straight away. The opening shots are of London with nobody around. It’s very reminisant of shots in ‘The Invasion’ and ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’.

I love the eerie feel that this stage of the episode gives. No people, no cars, nothing apart from birds singing. It’s just past the three minute mark before someone other than the Doctor and Sarah Jane appear. Great Britain always closes on a Sunday is a dated line because I work in retail and occasionally have to work on a Sunday. Everytime I do I think of that line.

The moment when the looter that the Doctor and Sarah encounter dies in a car accident is quite a grim moment. In fact you cant really say that this episode has much humour despite Jon Pertwee trying his best in several moments towards the end of the episode. It’s good that we have UNIT back as their appearances are becoming even more rare as the stories progress. Nicholas Courtney plays the Brigadier with a certain degree of weariness as he is under a certain amount of pressure trying to maintain law and order.

This is a Malcolm Hulke story and is his 42nd episode. Hulke is the most prolific writer in the shows history and has a very strong track record and the faults with this story shouldn’t be laid at his door. Neither should they be laid at the directors door. This is Paddy Russell’s second serial with her first being way back in 1966 with ‘The Massacre of St Bartholomew Eve’. Both have done well with this story and the thing that I will probably mention throughout these reviews is that when the dinosaurs aren’t on screen then the story works really well and considering that Dinosaurs are in the title, it’s a big problem with the story.

It’s 11 minutes before the problem with this episode become evident and its when the Dinosaurs of the title appear. It’s quite frankly the biggest problem that this serial faces. Everytime they appear it just ruins any hope that it will be better than I previously thought. Another problem is the noise that the UNIT guns make, its clear that there aren’t any bullets coming out yet we are suppose to believe that they are proper guns. As an opening episode it shows perfectly well just whats good and whats bad about this story. I think as a six parter it has plenty of things to keep us entertained and I am looking forward to the rest of this story to try and see what percentage of the story is good and what percentage is bad. Only time will tell.

The Massacre of St Bartholomews Eve - Bell of Doom

The final part of this less than exciting pure historical adventure. The way that the cliffhanger was resolved was quite good as when Steven returns to speak to Anne he seems to be suffering from the effects of being chased. Still don't fully understand where Anne is suppose to be coming from because its certainly not from anywhere if France. In between all the historical stuff the main (and only) interesting aspect of the episode is Stevens search for the Doctor and the key to the TARDIS.

William Hartnell appears as the Doctor and its a blessed relief. You don't appreciate something until its gone and even though Hartnell has been appearing as the Abbott he hasn't been the Doctor and it feels like he has been gone for too long. The moment that Hartnell returns we get a great scene between the Doctor, Steven and Anne. It seems like they were tempted to have Anne as a companion judging by the way that Steven is protective of Anne. Its the first scene since the first episode that seems to get a reaction out of me. I think that the story has been wandering aimlessly until this episode where things seem to be getting back on track. Sad that its taken until now for anything exciting to come to the screen (or speakers in this case). 

Its good how they chose the moment for the Doctor and Steven to leave was to be the moment the massacre starts. The audio track suggests that this would have looked effective on TV but sadly we have to miss out on that and it just becomes a prolonged section of dramatic music and a big crowd. There is a moment between the Doctor and Steven discuss the historical ending to the Massacre and it was a nice touch I thought. Steven unusually becomes hostile to the Doctor over the decision to leave Anne even though the Doctor tries to defend his decision and it leads to Steven demanding to leave. It's a great little scene played out superbly by Hartnell and Purves. Hartnell's reaction when Steven leaves is the moment where the Doctor gets very sombre about the people he has travelled with and the thought he might be on his own. It's another great moment from William Hartnell and the viewers in 1966 must have been sad to leave. But he's not gone for long and after a stranger appears in the TARDIS they set off and the TARDIS has a new face.

Jackie Lane debuts in this episode but with a cockney accent who runs into the TARDIS thinking that its a proper Police Box. It's a promising start as we learn that Dodo has no family to miss and its good how the Doctor instantly thinks that she looks like Susan and its implied that Dodo might have some relation to Anne. The combination of the Doctor, Steven and Dodo is a far cry from the very first combo but it still looks promising.

This was a much improved episode than the last two and its good because it mixes the stuff that happens in France and the introduction of a new companion helps elevate this story from mediocre historical to a good adventure. This third season of Doctor Who is a bit inconsistent and the revolving door of the TARDIS does seem to be having a negative impact on the series but it seems like the new direction of the series could see some fresh air introduced to the story. 

The Massacre of St Bartholomews Eve - Priest of Death

The penultimate episode and this episodes continues to turn into a history lesson. The early part seems to starter with Steven looking the Sea Beggar. When William Hartnell finally appears the episode starts to pick up. It's good to see Hartnell pretend to be someone else and for a moment it's fun try and figure out whether the Doctor is pretending to be the Abbott or whether its the Abbott. Sadly when the episode doesn't feature either William Hartnell or Peter Purves then then whole thing feels like a period drama and it is another story that would have benefited greatly by appearing on TV.

Its another episode where its getting harder and harder to write things to say. I'm not particularly interested in the story and the characters that I was once interested in has now faded and it's just a rather dull and lacklustre story. Instead of making more about Hartnell appearing to be someone else what we get is a tiny bit of this and too much history. I honestly think that if it were the other way round then the story would be much improved but sadly its not and we don't have a time machine so what we have is something that lacks an excitement vibe which does have a good cliffhanger and that is when Steven facing some excitement and being chased by the locals.

Hopefully the story will pick in the final episode but I personally doubt it. This doesn't have anything that gives me the impression that this is the case and I think that what we will get is 25 minutes of  more history with about 90 seconds of introducing Dodo so its not going to be a fun episode.

The Massacre of St Bartholomews Eve - The Sea Beggar

After the surprising ending to the previous episode it was going to be interested to see how this was going to be resolved. Sasly it wasn't resolved and sadly its several moments before we get Steven's reaction to seeing the Doctor. However to the others he is the Abbott and they think that he is working for the Abbott. 

Sadly (if somewhat inevitable), most of the good stuff that was in the previous episode seems to have left this story. There is a lot of history which would be better if we could see it but we can't and so i think that the story and this episode lose something. Yet again it seems that Peter Purves is leading the episode because the Doctor/Abbott has done a disappearing act. Though to be fair he was on holiday during this episode. When Purves is in the episode then I find myself enjoying it but when he's not then things start to fall apart.

Despite lacking in any excitement that I thought was present in the previous episode I must admit the its nowhere near as bad as 'The Myth Makers'. Even though that period of history is not as well known as some that I know but the characters are still quite strong and the performances are good enough to at least keep my attention. Even though one or two sound like they come from Yorkshire than Paris.

I'm struggling to write a lengthy review for this episode as to be honest my hearts not really in this episode. Had it been n DVD or VHS then it might be a different story but as it stands this stor is not as bad as 'The Myth Makers' but its a long way off 'The Reign of Terror' or 'The Aztecs'.

The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve - War of God

Well I knew that this moment was going to happen sooner or later. We are approaching Dodo land. But first before we get to that stage we have a moment to take a deep breathe which is what is needed after the last twelve episodes. This story is another historical adventure written by John Lucarotti and it's another story that doesnt exist at all on video which is going to be a big problem in enjoying this four part adventure. 

I cant say that this is a period of history that i know of which It's good to have just the Doctor and Steven. This is the smallest TARDIS crew that the show has ever had. Which can not benefit the story. The story starts off in a relatively good way, its nice and calm with nothing dramatic happening but its not long before the Doctor and Steven are separated but its of their own choosing and its a nice refreshing change and seems to show a change of style in the show which is needed after 102 episodes.

Despite not really understanding the period, I thought that the characters were quite well played. Annette Robinson was rather good as Anne Chaplet. We're introduced to her halfway through and she had some good scenes. The rest of the performances were quite good and it helps get you over the fact that the historical points of this story aren't well known. The central performances are good and it seems a bi more balanced than it has been for several episodes.

The cliffhanger for this episode is one of the best for quite some time. The final scene is where the talk about the wearabouts of someone and then they talk about getting her back and the twist in this is that the person barking out the orders is someone who looks like the Doctor. Now this could have been done way back in 'The Chase' but they did it better here because they worked the script around the fact that Hartnell would have to be in two places. It was a nice and unexpected way to end the episode.

This opening episode sets the story up nicely and for a historical story it manages to keep me interested even when I take the characters out of the equation. I think that Lucarotti has done a good job and Paddy Russell has made a good start with her debut episode.