Frontier in Space - Episode 6

The final episode of ‘Frontier in Space’ is the final appearance of Roger Delgado who was killed in Turkey a few months after this episode was transmitted. It is also the 86^th episode that has been produced by Barry Letts which is the same number that Verity Lambert produced from 1963 to 1965. That will be the only stat that appears in this entry.

The episode has the feel that its building up to something and not in a good way. The mystery starts when the Master is talking to someone but unusually we don’t hear who he’s talking to. That mystery doesn’t last long as its soon revealed that the Daleks were the ones behind it all. This is the first time that we have seen them in 36 episodes and sadly they haven’t solved the problem of the voices which is a shame.

The Daleks don’t appear until seven minutes before the end and this is when the serial goes into overdrive and it’s a great way that they are introduced because they appear at the top of a hill and appear almost from out of the ground. The idea that the Master and the Daleks working together is a brilliant idea and sadly it doesn’t last long enough. They are only in it for about a minute and then they glide off.

Delgado’s final scene in the show is rather disappointing when you think of it but I suppose they didn’t know that this would be the last time we would see him so I suppose when you put it into context you have to be fair. Roger Delgado has been one of the highlights of the Pertwee and he is the best Master that there has ever been. He played the role with some wonder and brilliance that it’s the first time I have felt sad watching an episode of Doctor Who since the final episode of ‘The War Games’. This is the beginning of the end really for the third Doctor because without someone like the Master or Roger Delgado, where does the conflict come from. I will miss Roger Delgado.

As a story this has been one of the best six part adventures that I can remember. I think that the characters have all been really well done and the plot has moved along at a good pace and its been a very impressive adventure which shouldn’t really be a surprise considering that it was written by Malcolm Hulke who has a proven track record of writing superb stories with superb characters and I think that this is Paul Bernard’s best story and everything just clicked and its always a joy when things

Frontier in Space - Episode 5

It could be argued that the previous episode was a interlude in this story but it didn’t feel like one. If you think about it not much really happened because we were suppose to be more focused on what was going on between the Doctor, Jo and the Master, that it didn’t matter what was going on elsewhere because the performances were suppose to distract us. In this penultimate episode the action moves to Draconia where the Doctor, Jo and the Master meet the Emperor. It’s a scene which shows that the Doctor has been here before and this helps to convince the Emperor that the humans aren’t a threat really. It’s a nice scenes which is ended with the Ogrons attacking the Emperor’s chamber but the Doctor manages to convince the Emperor that they have been seeing things. This means that there is no way of the Master pretending that the two sides are fighting each other and he has to rely upon destroying the evidence.

It’s good that we get the President and General Williams back in the story where the Doctor and the Emperor’s son tries to convince them that they should go to the Ogrons world. I like how we get a bit of backstory about General Williams and learn that his attitude was down to a misunderstanding. This is an important moment and a major shift in attitude for the Williams character. It seems that as the Doctor is always drawn to Earth, the show is drawn to a quarry and this is case in this episode buts it’s a brief shot which sees the Master and Jo arrive at the Masters base on the Ogron world.

I think that it’s a great moment when Jo manages to get over the Master trying to hypnotise her like he did in their first adventure. It shows how far the character has developed since her first story and shows how she’s not the weak feeble individual that seemed to only be there because she had relatives in high places. Katy Manning has had a good run of episodes recently. I don’t think that anything special has happened but it just feels that the writing is allowing her character to be more than it use to be. Jon Pertwee’s performance is also very good and his best scene comes in the Emperor’s chamber where he gets to act just as noble as the Draconians.

It feels during this episode that we are building up to something which is a critiscm that I have had of stories over the last season and a half. The episode does that thing that six parters have which is to go off in a different tangent and Malcolm Hulke does that without realising it. It’s a better cliffhanger than the previous one part of me doesn’t want to watch the next episode because of the importance of it.

Frontier in Space - Episode 4

The story starts off with the rather intriguing cliffhanger of the Doctor and the Professor running out of oxygen and I suppose if I am being positive then I would say that it would be intriguing to see how the Doctor would be saved. The way that he was saved was probably not necessarily the way that most people would have expected. Imagine being saved by your nemesis. It must be a horrible feeling for the Doctor and the smugness that the Master must be feeling is clear to see. There is a moment when the Master is reading a list of bogus crimes that the Doctor is supposed to have committed and its funny because its clear that the Master has put some thought into his plan. There is a nice moment when the Master talks about the roles being reversed, this is because obviously the Doctor and Jo visited the Master in ‘The Sea Devils’. One of my favourite scenes in this episode comes when the Doctor goes for a spacewalk. Ok so you can see the strings in some shots but it’s a good attempt on a very miniscule budget. It would have looked in a movie but on the BBC it looked rather good.

For most of the episode it’s just the Doctor, Jo and the Master. It’s only briefly at the beginning and the last couple of minutes that there are other people and it’s one of the things that I liked about this episode because it showed how close these three had gotten over the last couple of years. It’s quite fitting that with this being Delgado’s last story that we should see and perhaps be quite sad about what we are going to miss.

The supporting characters don’t really have much impact in the episode. I suppose they aren’t totally redundant because it makes sense that we have to move from one setting to another and introduce elements for the next episode but really this episode belongs to Delgado, Manning and Pertwee and I cant help but think that Delgado just edges but that’s because he oozes charisma and even though he’s a baddie I still find mself almost wanting him to win and that probably isn’t what Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks were aiming at when they introduced the character of the Master but it is what it is.

The cliffhanger isn’t very good because all that we get is an ogron looking at a computer screen after the Master setting off a homing beacon. If I could change one thing about this episode then it would be this. I think that this episode continues the good work that the previous three episodes had achieved. With two more episodes to go, I still think that there is plenty of mileage left. This is a rare story where six episodes actually work. The writing was good and the directing was equally sound.

Frontier in Space - Episode 3

I do feel sorry for the president in this episode because she’s been forced into going into war but she is also trying to prevent a coup. It’s quite clear how well General Williams and the President work together. I really like General Williams and think that Michael Hawkins plays the character really well with a hint of borderline pantomime villain. My worry about the Doctor and Jo been accused of being something that they are not is already getting tiresome. During the mind probe session on the Doctor I found myself thinking of this fact and getting slightly depressed that there were going to be more moments like this.

The episode sees the story move to the Moon. On first looks, the set is quite good and I think that even though it’s a studio set it still look quite good. It’s a lunar version of Porridge except there’s little humour and no Ronnie Barker. I think that Jon Pertwee gets a better share of the story than Katy Manning but that’s more to do with the fact that the lunar scenes were the more interesting. The bonus for Jon Pertwee filming the scenes on the lunar set was that he got to wear a dressing gown.

The episode really picks up when Roger Delgado makes a welcome return. This is the last story that Roger Delgado appears as The Master. Like most times, he is pretending to be a commissioner and I let out a small cheer when he appeared. From the moment he gets involved in the story it picks up (Not that it was really dragging). I think that the costume he wears is quite interesting as it’s similar to what he wears but more importantly, it features a symbol which for years I thought little of it but it was only upon watching the extras on the DVD that I noticed it looked like the Daleks eye.

There is something good about the cliffhanger because on the one hand the Doctor and the Professor are going to run out of oxygen but then on the other hand its one of those where its obvious that the Doctor will survive so why put him in that situation. Apart from that minor quibble I think that this episode is still working well and we are getting more and more information and its not boring or moving things at a reasonable pace until the right time (probably episode five) before it picks up again.

Frontier in Space - Episode 2

After the interesting set up of the previous episode, this is where things start to get more intriguing. The guards that appear in this episode are quite amusing. It’s hard to find anything menacing about them so quite why the Doctor and Jo obey what they say is questionable. However the thing about the Doctor and Jo is that all they do in this episode is get moved from one cell to another. The supporting characters also just bicker about who is wrong and who is right. It’s clear that someone else is causing all this largely due to the noise that occurs and also because neither side seems like they want this war and so would be reluctant to start it. We all know who’s behind it all but at the time it must have been racing through people’s mind about who it could be.

One of the earlier scenes in this story shows the strong relationship between the Doctor and Jo. There are a couple of cell scenes which show this well and if there is one advantage of these cell scenes is that it gives us more time for these two to talk to each other. When the mind probe is mentioned, I must admit that I am reminded on the moment in ‘The Five Doctors’ where it is mentioned in one of worst delivered lines in TV history.

As I mentioned before, the Draconians are a honourable yet stubborn race. They are rational beings and have their own point of view. I like how it’s the Doctor that gets to interact with them. The Doctor does have a knack of convincing the people he’s talking to that he’s making sense. The scenes at their embassy are memorable to me for no particuarl reason. My best guess is that it doesn’t really seem like they’ve been there very long because it’s just like a normal room that has some mildly intriguing furniture.

There is some erm…interesting location filming as the Doctor and Jo walk along what at the time must have seemed like futuristic buildings but sadly look like the sort of place that they would film Shameless or Benefits Street on. That said the action itself is quite good. The final bit of location filming where the Ogrons are attacking the president’s office (??). The Ogrons somehow manage to find the Doctor and Jo in their cell surprisingly quickly. I think that this shows that the story has moved on and is developing nicely.

Frontier in Space - Episode 1

Officially this is the first part of a six part adventure however really it’s the first part of a twelve part adventure because they pretty much feel like the same story. There is nothing really to separate the two adventures. The model shots that we have in the early minutes of this adventure are very impressive. The impressiveness continues with the sets of the space freight. Ok so some of it screams the 1970’s but even comparing it to today’s standards there is something quite good about the sets.

The Doctor is confused as an alien race initially called a Dragon and Jo thinks that she is seeing a Drashig. The space crew and Jo are affected by the weird noise yet the Doctor isn’t which is quite interesting. I know the Doctor is an alien but sometimes it would be good if he could be affected just like everyone else. The only time he’s incapacitated is when he’s shot at by the Ogrons.

The idea of having a female president is a bold one and one that I thinks shows how Doctor Who did create good female roles from time to time. Vera Fusek plays the role as someone who has a lot of pressure but wont jump to the wrong conclusion. General Williams is a bit of a swine from the very moment that we see him. He is the exact opposite to the president. Michael Hawkins is playing the role exactly as it should be played because with the president being so passive, these scenes need someone to be the voice of opposition.

The Draconians were Jon Pertwee’s favourite monster and its not hard to see why. Visually they are very striking and the mask is perhaps the best mask that has been used in Doctor Who. They come across in this episode as a race that are proud but can also be stubborn. When they appeared in the 2010 Big Finish play ‘Paper Cuts’, they were one of the best things in it and that shows how good they are. We don’t see their full potential in this episode but that’s normal as there are many more episodes for them to show their greatness. We see the Ograns appear in this episode and it should have been a clear indication that the Daleks might becoming back. Even with the line that the Doctor gives about different races using them to do their dirty work, I think that it’s a subtle nudge that the Daleks will be returning soon.

As an opening episode it sets things up quite well. We know what the conflict is and the two parties that are involved. This ThIng of the Doctor and Jo being confused and accused of things that aren’t true is something that I have remembered in the past as one of the things that I don’t like and I get a feeling that the same thing is going to happen over the course of the next five episodes.

The Time Monster - Episode 6

Like a bolt of lightning, the final episode of the ninth season is upon us. I said in the review of the previous episode that it didn’t feel like the story was building to anything and that’s still true. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t see the big finale that it was heading towards. The Master has been named King in this episode, its now less than he deserves. King Master and Queen Galleia are a formidable duo. In fact there is a shot of the pair of them on their thrones and it suits them even though Galleia is dressed properly but the Master is still in his black suit.

There is a nice little scene where the Doctor talks about his blackest day and we get a lovely little story about an old person he encountered on Gallifrey. There is the strangest line that I have heard in Doctor Who for sometime when the line “The Daiesiest daisy I’ve ever scene.” Is uttered by the Doctor. There is another nice scene between the Master and Jo after Atlantis has started to crumble where the Master wishes he had finished him off a long time ago. It’s a thought echoed by many people. The scene ends with Jo doing what she did in ‘The Daemons’ and sacrifice herself to save the day. What follows it is a rather odd CSO shot where at one or two moments, Katy Manning actually disappears. This is what happens when too much faith is put in CSO.

The thing is that the first half of the story doesn’t really interest me and its only in the closing moments where the Doctor and Jo are talking to Kronos that is starts to pick up. I think that the way that the Master was able to escape was rather poor as everyone could have seen it coming and it doesn’t have quite the elegance that his exit in ‘The Sea Devils’ did.

I had forgotten about baby Benton, this meant that we got a rather nice amusing end to the story with the Brigadier finally out of the time bubble and storms into the lab expecting to see the Master but instead sees Jo in a different costume and a naked (not really) Benton. With everyone giggling away as the theme tune starts to play it seems like a pleasant way to end the season which has at best been patchy. If this story hadn’t moved to Atlantis then I could argue quite happily that this is a fine story and a fine way to end the ninth season however as I found the Atlantis material to be a bit dull I cant make that argument.

The Time Monster - Episode 5

We move into what is unofficially the second part of this six part adventure. The first thing to notice about this episode is the rather odd way that they resolve the cliffhanger. The Doctor is talking to Jo through the air. There are loads of voices in the Doctors subconscious (some of which are female). Jo flips a switch and all of a sudden the Doctor appears and all is normal. I say normal, as normal as can be considering what happens in this episode. It could be argued that the TARDIS scenes were a transition from the institute to Atlantis. This is I’m afraid where my interest starts to wander. The sets and costumes look rather wonderful but the problem is that things move at such a pedestrian pace that it doesn’t maintain my attention for very long.
The episode introduces the legendary Ingrid Pitt to the story. Pitt is perhaps most famous for appearing in several Hammer Films. Here she plays Queen Galleia and from the moment she appears on screen she comes across as the most important character in the story and it doesn’t take long for her importance to be seen. The look on the Master’s face when he sees the Doctor is priceless. Speaking of the master, one of the most intriguing things (and perhaps most memorable things) about this is episode is the relationship between him and Queen Galleia. In fact she seems to have come under his spell far better than King Dalios. If the Master ever got married then I would like to think that it would have been with her.

The performances from Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning were perfectly fine and it was intesting to see Jo in some different attire. She did seem to revel in her new surroundings and it was good that she was given something to do. I know I keep going on about whether a companion is given something to do but I think that when you compare companions from the classic era to the new era, its shocking to see sometimes how they are at times reduced to window dummies.

It’s not a particularly memorable or interesting episode but what it doesn’t have that is a good thing is Kronos. The thing is that like the previous story, there isn’t a feeling that we are building up to anything. It’s weird that this has happened two stories in a row but I suppose that’s the problem with these type of stories. I still think that this is a better story than ‘The Mutants’.

The Time Monster - Episode 4

The cliffhanger lost nothing in the reprise which shows how good it was. When we do finally get to see what happened to Yates it’s a rather good setting. We of course now that the TARDIS is indestructible so to see it at an angle is a wonderful sight. The story moves on a fair bit as we have pretty much done with the institute and the action moves into the TARDIS’. The interior of the TARDIS is silly. It cant be avoided but the roundels look just bathroom sink. It’s obvious why this interior never lasted beyond this adventure because it would have just looked even sillier in the 1980’s than it did in 1972. In the past that there has been a noticeable difference between the Doctor’s and the Master’s TARDIS’. In this case all that is different is the column in the middle of the console. That’s not enough of a difference in my opinion.

The idea of a TARDIS being inside another TARDIS is a fun idea and its done well in this episode. I like the interaction between the Doctor and the Master during these scenes and in particular when the Master turns off the sound and then when the Doctor reinstates it, turns his words into gibberish. It’s a nice bit of fun in what is otherwise a rather fun-free episode.

Its good to see Benton, Stuart and Ruth forming their own little Scooby Doo gang. It doesn’t seem like a team that is going to win when you consider that Benton hasn’t had the greatest luck in any episodes that has been in (remember ‘The Mind of Evil’?). Then there is Stuart who seems like if a strong gust of wind blew his way that he would topple over rather easily. Then there is Ruth who seems to be very animated when talking about womens lib and how pathetic men seem to be but apart from that doesn’t really stand out. However despite these minor quibbles they are more than a match (for a little time) for the Master. This episode is memorable for Benton to be turned into a baby. This is would have been the moment that John Levine would have realised that his days were numbered in this show.

The performances from everyone were fine but Krasis is a bit of a wasted character as he doesn’t contribute anything to the story. The other problem that I have with this episode is that aprt from the story moving from moving the story to the TARDIS, very little actually happens and this is rather frustrating but it’s the perils of having a six part adventure which has a pretty thin premise to it. I’m afraid to say that the rather ropey bird costume makes a return at the end of the episode. Again it was only a brief appearance but its means that we are getting closer to seeing it a lot more in the final two episodes. The cliffhanger isn’t as effective as the previous one. But that’s more to do with the fact that the previous one was so solid. This one was a bit strange as with the Doctor gone it was left for Jo who was in another

The Time Monster - Episode 3

As I approach the half way mark of this story I can’t help but feel good about this marathon which is the opposite way that I felt during the previous story. Nice stat comes with this episode and its that this is the 100^th episode that Terrance Dicks has been responsible for as script editor. This is the 67^th episode for Nicholas Courtney and the 30^th to feature Roger Delgado.

Despite finding a lot of positives in this story, I am afraid to say that the appearance of Kronos is the first thing that has appeared in this story that troubles me. I know that Doctor Who has prided itself on the fact it pushes the boundaries of technology and effects but sometimes its hard to argue with the sight of someone flapping their arms/wings. Thankfully its kept to a minimum in this episode which is perhaps the saving grace of this character.

On the positive side there are things to like in this episode which take away the rather silly Kronos costume. The first is that the episode flows along rather well without much to speak of in the way of eye catching stuff. The Doctor has clearly been watching Blue Peter before this episode because he’s making something out of a wine bottle with cutlery and bits and pieces attached to it. There is a fun and slightly barmy portion of the episode where a knight and an army of roundheads are attack Yates and the UNIT soldiers. Only in a Doctor Who story could this occur and not seem out of place. I like this part of the episode because it maintained my attention for the entire course.

The performances are all really good with Roger Delgado being the best of the regular cast. It’s odd talking about Delgado as the regular cast but when you consider his episode count, its shouldn’t really be that much of a surprise. He feels like is having a whale of a time as he gets to show off to Krasis. Speaking of Krasis, I found him to be a silly yet entertaining presence in the episode. He’s not scared of his current surroundings but still finds them enthralling. Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning are on good form as usual with Manning getting to be a bit more productive than usual.

I have to say that the end of the episode was a wonderful ending because all the drama is etched on Nicholas Courtney’s face. I think that it was a clever idea not to show the action from Yates’ point of view for some reason. It makes the potential loss feel even greater and it’s one of the finest build ups to the end of an episode that I can recall for sometime. I am enjoying this story but I can’t say that I am loving it. I don’t really care about the Atlantis stuff but I am still interested in the story and look forward to the second half of the serial.

The Time Monster - Episode 2

After being enthralled with the opening episode and finding it a lot of fun I must admit that I don’t feel as much warmth to this episode. That’s not to say that it’s a terrible episode by any means but something’s changed between the end of the previous episode and todays episode. Not sure if I will ever know but that’s not really important. Let’s just be grateful that this isn’t ‘The Mutants’. The main point of interest seems to be the fact that Stuart has been turned into an old man. It’s not the greatest make up and I might be somewhat cruel as I am comparing it to the old man make up used on David Tennant in ‘Last of the Timelords’.

The interaction between the Master and Doctor Percival. The thing that I like about it is that the Master really treats Percival with contempt. He even comments about not having someone as easy to control as Percival for quite sometime. After Stuart is aged horribly, he doesn’t get to do much apart from stay in bed and that means that Jo becomes nurse and has to stay by his side which is another disappointing episode for her.

I like the moment when Roger Delgado does a good job of miming to Nicholas Courtney’s voice. This is used to convince Benton to leave the lab unattended and I like how Benton actually gets to use his intelligence as he manages to pretend that he has left but just went around the building and came in from another window. Though he is somewhat undermined when he falls for a feeble trick from the Master.

The cliffhanger is rather good. It’s good because of the very last shot which is of Krasis looking very serious which works rather well and leaves a good image in my mind. Despite not a lot happening, I found this episode to fly by at a rate that I haven’t expected for quite some time. I still think that this might not be the best story of the season by any means but I still think it’s a better story than I have given it credit for.

 

The Time Monster - Episode 1

The Time Monster is the final story of the ninth season and it’s the return of an earth based story but more worringly, it’s another six part story and whilst I didn’t enjoy the previous six parter and still not sold on six parters I am still prepared to give this story the benefit of the doubt. It’s one of the last third Doctor stories that I ever saw and it’s the one that I haven’t been able to make my mind up really. I’m going to start with my stat bit. This is Katy Manning’s 46^th episode, she is now tied with Peter Purves and by the end of this story will be the joint 4^th longest serving companion. This is the first time that we have seen Nicholas Courtney since episode 4 of ‘Day of the Daleks’. This is also his 65^th episode which if he were what I would call a traditional companion would put him in fourth place. It’s good to have Courtney back

It takes just three minutes for Roger Delgado to return. He has well and truly into The Newton Institute. Delgado has now appeared in 28 episodes in just two seasons. Less than five minutes in he has hypnotised someone and seems to be making up for lost time. There is a bit where he is operating the machine whilst trying to avoid being noticed by Benton and the Brigadier. It seems rather silly really

Stuart and Ruth are two scientists that are working for the Doctor. It’s revealed quite later on in the episode that they are brother and sister. Ruth is someone who doesn’t like being talked down to by the Master and is quite the feminist which is a character trait that would have been fairly common in 1970’s drama. Stuart seems like a nice if slightly less feisty version of Ruth. He does get the best line in the episode where he says the line about the good ship womens lib (and all who sail in her). Apart from these two the supporting performances (apart from the Brigadier, Mike and Benton) were pretty average.

The acronym TOMTIT might have been fine in 1972 but I can’t say it without a snigger. It’s going to be a problem for the rest of this story. The actual principle of it is what makes it more than a snigger. Despite not being a big fan of this story, I feel quite good about the next five episodes. I don’t quite know why, it could be just because I found ‘The Mutants’ to be such a terrible experience that I am just happy to have gotten past it or it might be because the Master and the Brigadier are back so it feels like I’ve got a new enjoyment in this marathon and despite this being a rather normal opening episode, I am really looking forward to this final story.

Day of the Daleks - Episode 4

The final episode of this story comes at the right time because there is no way that this would have stretched to six episodes. I was thinking that considering this isn’t a Terry Nation story it’s a perfectly fine plot, Louis Marks has written a good story in the past in the form of ‘Planet of Giants’ and was given the job of bringing the Daleks into the groovy seventies. Sadly some aspects of this story are from the sixties.

The reprise is just as uneventful as the cliffhanger. The way that it’s (thankfully) ended is when the controller intervenes. Sometimes the controller is quite clever in the things that he does. The controller still thinks that he’s got a future with the Daleks though in the end he does redeem himself by letting the Doctor and Jo escape. Pretty soon he is shown as a failure and is exterminated. Clearly he didn’t go to extermination acting because it’s a rather lifeless (forgive the pun) performance and it’s a shame because I have found Aubrey Woods to be a interesting influence over the four episodes.
The fact that the war was started by one of the guerrillas going back in time and accidentally setting off the bomb which gets blamed on styles and so the guerrillas have accidentally created a paradox. I think that it’s a clever way of explaining how this started. They could have done a rather feeble way of explaining this but Louis Marks has done well with this aspect of the story.

The main point of the first episode takes centre stage in the latter half of this episode when Styles returns and its good to have Styles and the Brigadier back because it feels like there is a bit of meat to the story. Wilfred Carter has been very good as Styles and even when he’s being told to leave the house he’s still acting like an unreasonable civil servant.
The Daleks attack on Syles’ mansion is rather pitiful and very disappointing. Lets take this step by step. Firstly the fact that there are just three Daleks and a couple of Ograns is rather a flimsy group. If your that desperate to prevent someone changing history, wouldn’t you use more. Secondly, why come from the rear and lead the only means of escape free for everyone to leave at their own convenience? It’s a rather poor way to end the episode and it’s a shame really.

The way that the episode ends is nice because it’s a nice two shot with the Doctor and Styles who discuss about the importance of making sure the peace conference goes ahead. It’s a ending with a moral that stands true even today. As an episode its rather frustrating which is pretty much how I feel about this entire story because there are things about it. It was good to have the Daleks back but again the voices and the fact they don’t do very much means that their first story since 1967 is a rather underwhelming affair. The ninth season gets off to an awkward start.

Day of the Daleks - Episode 3

The penultimate episode of this story starts off with the really good cliffhanger. The Doctor manages to find himself in the 22^nd century by accident and its means that we don’t see Nicholas Courtney apart from the in the reprise. The fact that the Doctor moves to the 22^nd century is the natural progression of the story. The shot that is used to show what 22^nd Century earth looks like is rather disappointing compared to the special edition version we get. It’s basically a block of flats which is a horrible sight but doesn’t exactly scream 22^nd century. Anyway that’s the only exterior shot we get because pretty quickly the Doctor gets the scene with the controller.

The Daleks have been quite static up until now but at least we get some movement, mainly at the start but it’s better than nothing. I find it rather frustrating when they whinge about productivity being low. You would have thought by now that they would realise that they need to feed the slaves in order to get any results. Oh well it’ll come to them sooner or later.

There’s an odd that the controller doesn’t pay eye contact with one of the technicians. The controller’s behaviour is quite interesting in this episode as he continues to play the generous host when he first encounters the Doctor. This leads to the best scene of the episode is the food scene with the controller, the Doctor and Jo where the Doctor takes the controller to task much to Jo’s disappointment. I like how she’s defending the controller even though she hasn’t seen what the Doctor’s seen. It doesn’t take much for Jo to side with the Doctor and this leads to them escaping. It’s good that they have been reunited (even though its not been very long).

There’s another clever shot from Paul Bernard. It comes at the end of the Doctor/Jo/Controller scene when the Doctor’s talking and the camera pulls out before it being clear that we’re looking at a screen. It’s simple yet effective and I am surprised at how impressed I am with this effect. Then again compared to some aspects of this story it doesn’t take much. There’s a great moment where the Doctor and Jo are on a trike. It’s a typical Pertwee moment. I could imagine Jon Pertwee being impressed with the trike but Katy Manning must have been a little bit nervous.

The cliffhanger is ok but not as good as the previous. The Doctor being strapped to a table with images of William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton appearing on the screen. It’s a nice way to set up the final episode and as an episode I thought that there was nothing particular special but its not a terrible story. The only time that I get frustrated with things is when the Daleks talk any to be honest they haven’t actually done anything really which is odd.

Day of the Daleks - Episode 2

After not been terribly impressed with the opening episode of the Daleks’ overdue return, I was hoping that the story might make up for the mistakes of that episode. The episode starts with the Doctor being taken for Sir Reginald Styles. It’s good that we learn a bit more about what the guerrillas are doing and why they want to do it. I don’t think that they are particularly good really and they seem rather hapless. You would have thought that they would know what Styles looks like and make such an amateur error. Ok they might not have endless resources at their disposal but I just think that they would make a better attempt to try and discover what his appearance is. Speaking of Styles he only gets a brief mention in this episode when the Brigadier mentions that he has got the Chinese to attend the peace conference.

The Doctor and Jo have mixed fortunes in this episode. Jo gets transported to the 22^nd Century by accident and as if that wasn’t bad enough she gets transported in front of the controller. I like how the moment that Jo and the controller start talking, he is doing his very best to come across as her best friend trying to get information out of her. I now like the character and think that he’s a lot smarter than he was made to look in the previous episode. Sadly Jo doesn’t come across as particularly smart as she gives up lots of information about where she came from with next to no coercion. The Doctor is less active in this episode due to the fact that he spends most of it with a gun pointed at him.
At one point there are about five or six ograns which is a lot more than the number of Daleks we see in episode four. The Ograns are simple yet effective as they are quite imposing yet aren’t particularly smart.

Something I didn’t mention before was the location filming. Paul Bernard has done a good job in making the location footage look part of the story not just something to break up the studio filming. Another thing that Bernard did well was the shots where the controller is talking to the Daleks via the CSO screens. Basically he done well in making the image of the Daleks appear over the controller shot and for the controller to appear in exactly the right place. Those who are smarter than me might not be impressed with that but I think that it must be tougher than it seems to make that work.
The cliffhanger was a cracking one. A dalek appearing in a dimly lit tunnel is a fantastic image and it’s a great moment in the story. Sadly the voice of the Dalek diminishes any threat of menace that we had heard earlier but I think that its started to get going which is a relief after the rather underwhelming opening episode. My optimism has been elevated a lot more from this 25 minutes and I have high hopes of the next two episodes.

Day of the Daleks - Episode 1

This is the first episode of season nine, quite amazing to think that I am this far into it. This is the 60^th story of Doctor Who and coincidentally it has been decided to bring the Daleks back after Terry Nation’s attempt to take over America didn’t work when he realised that outside of Doctor Who they don’t really have much value.

The last time I saw an episode with them in was technically episode two of ‘The Evil of the Daleks’ but the last time they featured in a story was way back on October 31^st 2013, an amazing 135 days ago. Since they last appeared Victoria, Zoe and Liz have all been and gone, Jamie also left and Jo has arrived. The show is now in colour and the cosmic hobo has been replaced by a dashing dandy. A lot has changed in 135 days.

I’ve decided to watch the original version instead of the special edition version with good stuff put in, partly because this version (to the best of my knowledge) is the four part version.

The episode starts off with quite a mystery. Sir Reginald Styles is working and encounters someone in military gear and is about to shoot him before disappearing. The current setting of the story is that Styles is involved in some peace talks that may not go ahead unless he intervenes. This might sound similar to what was happening in ‘The Mind of Evil’ but at least they made the effort in trying to put a different spin of world peace.

It takes 13 minutes for the Daleks to appear and that’s quite quick compared to previous stories featuring them. It’s a nice but brief scene and that’s it until the very end. It’s almost like they wanted to get their first appearance out of the way so that they could carry on telling the story. The Doctor and Jo become 1970’s Ghost Hunters as they spend the night in Styles house. It’s rather uneventful and nothing happens until daylight. This seems like more of an attempt to just keep them busy until the guerrillas appear again. The Brigadier does more in this episode than he did in the five episodes of ‘The Daemons’.

The controller set does a good job of looking futuristic, the controller himself is rather good and looks very different to most humans. He is the latest is a long line of people who are working for the Daleks. His involvement doesn’t get much mention in this episode but its clear that there’s more than meets the eye and this will become evident in future episodes.

The Daleks’ voices are not the greatest. The advantage to watching the new version is that Nicholas Briggs is the voice and it’s a lot better. Sadly due to the fact that I am not listening to Briggs’ voice means that the ending isn’t quite as good as it could be. I have to admit that this episode is rather underwhelmed by this episode. Considering it’s the first Dalek story for five years (or 135 days), I would have expected there to be more of a deal made of this fact. The fact that they are given such a low key return is rather unsettling and I hope that I feel better as the episode progress.