(635) The Two Doctors - Part 3

The first three parter since Planet of Giants (1964) ends with what needed to be a better 45 minutes than the previous two for the whole return of Patrick Troughton thing to be worth it. It hadn’t struck me until now but Colin Baker and Patrick Troughton hadn’t actually met. The first encounter between the second and sixth Doctors is one of the highlights of this episode. It’s slightly frustrating that its taken until now for this to happen.

The second Doctor is going to be turned into an andragum. Quite why Robert Holmes has waited until now for this to happen is a bit of a mystery. I say this because it by far the most entertaining aspect of the episode. The Second Doctor and Shockeye start going in for food. They form a more entertaining double act than Oscar and Anita. Their walk to find food does lead to some lovely location filming. The filming ends up in Seville itself and there is quite a lot of it which makes up the little that we had in the previous episode.

The tension between the Sontarans and Chessene really starts to rise to the boil as they set to wipe the other lot out. Chessene is the one that strikes first as she drops some acid bombs on them and acts like it’s a normal activity. Stike makes it and lasts a while before he tries to make off in his ship and that explodes. Once the Sontarans are out of the way its means that the threat comes from Chessene and Dastari. I have to say that I think that the Sontarans were very underused in this serial and suffer from being treated as secondary monsters. Chessene is the one that is calling the shots and Jacqueline Pearce is very convincing as a baddie. It’s only during a scene between the two that its clear that some of Dastari’s morals start to come to the centre. There is a rather odd moment when Chessene puts her hands in some of the Doctor’s blood and seems to smother it on her face but the camera cuts away to Dastari’s reaction.  One of the grimmer moments in Doctor Who in my opinion.

This episode features a scene which is far worst that the apparent accede bath scene in Vengeance on Varos. It is where the Doctor pops a cyanide laden sponge on Shockeye’s mouth thus killing him. Even if the Doctor weren’t the one doing it then it would be a shocking moment in Doctor Who but it is the Doctor doing it and so just seems worst that what was shown in the previous serial.  

Sadly Oscar returns in this episode and when he gets stabbed by Shockeye I was really happy about this because it means that he is leaving on a permanent basis. Even just after he is stabbed he over acts in such a terrible way that I just hate the character even more. It is funny how Peri and Jamie leave Anita to tend to the recently deceased Oscar.

The deaths of Dastari and Chessene come in quick succession and I was disappointed with the death of Dastari as I would have liked for him to have made it and either die trying to save the Doctor or decide that he’s going to work for good now. Sadly this wasn’t the case but at least things ended at just the right point. The goodbye between the two Doctors, Jamie and Peri is rather amusing and seems to be just as good as the goodbye scene in The Five Doctors.

This episode has definelty the better of the three just because it’s been the most consistent. Unlike the previous episode, this one didn’t get started at the half way point. I don’t think that this story needed to be three episode and I still stand by my idea of making one of these episodes a standalone episode. That said I think that for a non-anniversary story, they just about got away with it although the question about why the story was set in Spain was never answered. Well there are just two more stories left of this season and this is the weakest of the season so far. Sadly this is the last time that Patrick Troughton would appear in Doctor Who as he passed away two years after this story transmitted. Troughton’s final performance summed up what was magical about his era on the show. Ok so most of the stories weren’t that great but there were some absolute crackers and even when the story didn’t work you could always rely on Troughton making at least worth watching.

(634) The Two Doctors - Part 2

The thing about this being a three parter is one that I didn’t go into much in the previous review. The show went from 26 x 25 minute episodes to 13 x 45 minute and this means that there is going to be an odd number of episodes. They got around this in the previous season by having a two parter so I think that they could have don’t just a single 45 minute episode. The problem at the moment is that the fast paced feel that the previous stories have had has pretty much gone in this serial.

The cliffhanger is solved by Peri saving herself from the person that grabbed her. That person is Jamie. It’s good that the pieces of the puzzle start to slot into place so early on and its means that Jamie isn’t doing nothing. The opening scene with the Sixth Doctor, Jamie and Peri helps add a bit more to the story. The interaction between Peri and the Doctor is on fine form again with their usual bickering on display.

I like how the Doctor says he might be wiped out in a few centuries and Peri doesn’t seem to understand the rush and then he puts his head in hands. A funny moment in an episode that doesn’t have a great deal of comedy.

Shockeye’s eating habits are quite interesting. At one point he eats a rat and Dastari’s reaction mirrored my own. The group of villains is something that I think works quite well because it doesn’t feel like the old adage about too many cooks.  The trio of Shockeye, Chessene and Dastari work well together but there isn’t a clear leader amongst them which is perhaps the only thing that needs improving. Chessene does edge it a little bit but not by much.

Like the previous episode, this episode takes about 20 minutes before it starts to get going. I could tell where the point happened and that was when the Second Doctor wakes up and talking to Dastari and the others. Patrick Troughton has a rather easy time in this episode. He spends most of it either lying down or sitting in a wheelchair.

Like the previous episode, there is a nice amount of Seville on display here. Ok so its not the city centre but its still nice to see a bit of sun on Doctor Who that doesn’t involve a quarry.

Oscar continues to be annoying. He assumes that the Doctor is working for Interpol even when Anita points out that the police box sign isn’t written in Spanish. Sadly Oscar is quite involved in this episode. I don’t mind Anita but Oscar is totally annoying.

There is a nice reminder about the Rutans. For me this is a nice bit of continuity for the Sontarans. The question of the Sontaran’s involvement in the story is still something that doesn’t quite. Stike is the lead Sontaran but I think that Clinton Greyn doesn’t come across as a convincing Sontaran. I know that Sontarans are referred to as potatoes but I think that the design of the current costumes does make them look like a baked potato.

The Doctor was involved in the previous cliffhanger so it perhaps makes sense that Peri is involved in the ending. She is about to be menaced by Shockeye which is terrifying in itself because he has spent the previous 45 minutes acting in a really fun way.

I think that this has again been an episode of two halves but even the more active part hasn’t been as good as I would have expected. There were moments where things seemed to be just plodding along. I think that the final episode is going to make up for this but at the moment this has to be the weakest story of the season so far. It just doesn’t live up to the hype that this story has created for itself.

(633) The Two Doctors - Part 1

Despite this not being an anniversary story, we are treated to a Multi-Doctor story. This is the only three part story of the season which would be six 25 minute episodes in the old format. I have never been a fan of the longer story so it was going to be interesting to see how this serial would work. This story was written by Robert Holmes and this is his first story since The Caves of Androzani. He becomes the most credited writer in Doctor Who history with this being his 57^th episode. Patrick Troughton returns in his 125^th episode and Frazer Hines returns in his 115^th episode. The Sontarans also make a return for the first time in 152 episodes (3,598 days).This story sees the show filmed in Spain. Quite why I don’t know why and there doesn’t seem to be any explanation given. That said what we do see of Spain is quite nice but its not of the same quality that we saw in the previous story.

I like how they went to the trouble to start the episode in black and white to give a nod to the fact that the Second Doctor and Jamie were in the black and white era of the show. The Second Doctor and Jamie seem to be one a mission and I will state here and now that I won’t be going into continuity problems that arise with their involvement and their activities in this serial. The Doctor and Peri don’t really interact with anyone in this episode. They spend a lot of time fishing, a lot of time trying not to be killed by the computer and then spend the latter part of the serial in a weird area with lots of pipes. The chemistry that Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines had in the 1960’s is very evident in this serial. The problem I think with having these two in a story together is that they have a danger of overshadowing the current line-up. Speaking of the current line-up, the bickering style that they have does seem rather out of place considering how well the Second Doctor and Jamie get on.

This story has some interesting supporting characters which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise considering that it is a Robert Holmes script. The character of Shockeye is mesmerising and well performed by John Stratton. He is obsessed with food and turns into quite the food critic when he arrives on earth. Jacqueline Pearce plays Chessene and she really is very good as one of the main threats in this serial. She carries a certain elegance throughout and never raises her voice yet there is much more to her character which shows itself during this serial. Laurence Payne plays Dastari. Payne previous appeared in The Gunfighters (1966) and The Leisure Hive (1980). However I think that this is a stronger performance than in those two. The former I will be honest don’t really remember but recognised him from the latter. Dastari is a clever person but like most clever people in Doctor Who, he just wants to use his intelligence for bad purposes.

The introduction of Oscar (James Saxon) & Anita is something of a common theme as all Robert Holmes stories feature a double act and this story slightly changes the format with a courting couple. I do find Oscar to be an annoyance and Anita is there purely to work alongside Oscar but doesn’t contribute anything to the story. Oscar uses cyanide to kill moths which seems like a horrible thing nowadays but at the time must have seemed perfectly fine and fine enough to include on prime-time Saturday evenings.

The incidental music is particularly impressive. Peter Howell’s highlight is the Sontaran music because it’s very striking.

Even though their ships had been identified as Sontaran ships, we have to wait a long time for them to appear. There is a shot of one’s hand but its 25 minutes before we actually see one and even then it’s a rather understated first appearance. Bearing in mind that it had been about seven years since they were last on screen it is somewhat disappointing that their first appearance happened in this way.

Sadly the quality of the costumes is not very good. It’s not terrible but I don’t think is as good as previous designs. The question as to why they are even in this story is something that doesn’t get answered in this episode. Considering that the Sontarans are strong enough to act on their own it does raise the question as to why they would be in league with Dastari.

The cliffhanger is ok but nothing spectacular. The problem is that the final 10-15 minutes does start to show the episode has run out steam which is very odd for a Robert Holmes story. The opening episode of this ‘special’ story is one of two halves but I think that there are a lot of positives than negatives. I don’t think that I am going to have to endure the next two episodes which is a relief. Still wonder why the story was set in Spain.

(626) The Twin Dilemma - Part 4

Today sees the final episode of the serial and of the season. It’s clear that I haven’t been overly positive about this serial. I was dreading this episode because I just thought that it would be another 25 minutes of boring stuff with a few good moments of Colin Baker scattered inbetween. So it is with great surprise that I report that this wasn’t the case. I think that there is a different vibe to this final episode It seems like the previous three were just padding. Quite why Anthony Steven was hiding all this material until part four is a mystery.

The twins aren’t as annoying in this story and perhaps I have been too hard on the people playing the characters. The writing doesn’t allow them to be anything other than irritating smartalecs. They don’t tend to feature as much in the episode due to the build up towards the Doctor and Mestor. The encounter between Mestor and the Doctor in this episode is good.

Edgeworth gives his life to enable the Doctor to defeat Mestor. He did it so the Doctor wouldn’t have to but he is at the end of his regeneration cycle (remember when they could only have 13 lives?). Azmael’s final scene is quite sad and part of me does wish that he would have survived or been able to regenerate.

The death of Mestor was quite gruesome and Peter Moffat doesn’t use that much which is perhaps the best thing he chose to do in this serial. I have commented on the grimness of deaths during the Peter Davison era and I was hoping that this would have changed but sadly this isn’t the case.

The very final scene with the Doctor and Peri and the twins is good but its slightly odd that the Doctor and Peri are hving their ‘discussion’ with the twins present. It ends with Colin Baker saying that he is the Doctor where Peri likes it or not and a slightly odd smile between the two of them. This episode manages to redeem this serial somewhat. It’s not a complete success and its not hard to see why this story was rated 200^th out of 200 in the 2009 Doctor Who Magazine survey. I think that more of an effort should have been made to try and make the previous three episodes stronger because I think that this story would have worked.

This is the final episode until The Trial of a Timelord that the episodes would be 25 minutes in length. The change in format I think will have a positive influence on the serial which is in desperate need of changing and more change than simply recasting the lead role.

 

(625) The Twin Dilemma - Part 3

I was hoping that the cliffhanger would change to get rid of the unfortunate shot of Peri upset at thinking that the Doctor was dead. The Doctor does turn up a few moments later although there is a slight continuity error during this moment. The Doctor seems shocked that Peri was sad when she thought that the Doctor had died. This is something that bothers me is that there is a lot of bickering. Just the thing that the story doesn’t need is what seems to be running through the episode. There is more bickering throughout the episode which is really starting to get on my nerves. To show how annoying this is let me state that I didn’t find the terrible twins.

The action moves to Jaconda where the stupidest looking creature for a long time Mestor is seen in the flesh. When he is punishing someone for stealing some food he does it in a rather stupid way. I just cant get past the weird way that it looks. The encounter between Mestor and Azmael is quite good because it shows that there isn’t much trust between the two. Azmael once ruled Jaconda which explains why he is trying to be treacherous against Mestor. Quite why its taken until half way through the third episode for this to happen.

The Doctor’s reaction when he discovers that Jaconda isn’t the lovely paradise he thought it would be is entertaining to watch. Colin Baker still does well in what is a rather poor written episode. This was the only story to be written by Anthony Steven and I have never seen anything else he’s done but I cant imagine that what he had done in the past was worst than this story. Peter Moffat has been an ok director for the show but he’s not allowed to do anything spectacular with the material that he’s been given.

When Lang is stuck in the gastropod’s slime it doesn’t seem to dawn on anyone that he should just take his feet out of the boots. This seems to just delay McNally’s involvement in the cliffhanger for just a couple of moments later.

The cliffhanger is ok because it’s like the opposite of the previous cliffhanger but we don’t have Peri’s unfortunate look. This is probably the best episode so far which isn’t a huge compliment. At least there is only one more episode left to endure.

(624) The Twin Dilemma - Part 2

I wondered whether the twins would improve in this episode. Sadly this like most things haven’t improved in this second episodes. The twins are just as annoying in this episode and I just a different version of this story existed where the twins don’t feature as much in it as they do or they could even have been recast. Again the stuff with the Doctor and Peri is the most entertaining aspect of this episode. Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant seem to have struck up a very different but just as entertaining as the one that Nicola Bryant had with Peter Davison.

The episode sees the Doctor and Peri finally join the main action but that’s not really saying much. The only advantage is that there are some fun scenes for the Doctor. Perhaps the most interesting scene is where Edgeworth is also known as Azmael meets the Doctor and we learn that he has met the Doctor before but in a previous incarnation. There is a bit where Lang is changing in the Doctor’s costume room and finds the exact same costume that Peri hid his gun charger pack. To be honest, this is the least of the stories problems although its one of the few things that didn’t involve the Doctor or Peri that actually registered with me.

The cliffhanger has the Doctor is trying to escape with Peri but the device used isn’t reliable and yet only Peri ends up the TARDIS just as she sees the place blow up and she starts sobbing. To be fair it’s a good cliffhanger but I have been so put off by what I have been watching that it just didn’t affect me in the way what people were expecting. Despite being given a dud story to start his tenure off in, Colin Baker is showing how good he is even though he’s not being allowed to. Halfway through the episode and the story is just as bad as I remember and I cant see this about to change at any point in the next two episodes.

Before I end this review, at the moment the story. The rating for this story so far is 7.10 which currently places this story in 122^nd place. As is stands An Unearthly Child is the best new Doctor story with 7.79 in 5h place, Spearhead From Space is second with 7.72 in 8^th place overall, Castrovalva has 7.58 and is 34^th with Robot getting 7.56 in 40^th place. Patrick Troughton’s first story got 7.24 and is currently in 110^th place.

(623) The Twin Dilemma - Part 1

So the final story of the 21^st season is the first story for Colin Baker as the Doctor. It will also be the final time before the 23^rd season that the episodes are just twenty five minutes in length. With the previous story being everything that is right about Doctor Who and shows what can be achieved. Colin Baker’s debut story is the exact opposite. Romulus and Remus are two boys that appear at the beginning of the episode and shows the first problem with this serial. Unfortunately Gavin Conrad (Romulus) and Andrew Conrad (Remus) are not very good in the roles. They are instantly upstaged by Dennis Chinnery (playing their father Sylvest) and Maurice Denham (Edgeworth).

It’s weird that the new Doctor and Peri don’t appear first. First thing that stands out about the new Doctor is that this isn’t going to be a soft and cuddly Doctor. I like how the Doctor really dislikes being called sweet by Peri. The scene in the costume room is rather good because it shows how unbalanced the Doctor has become. The Fifth Doctor’s costume does suit Colin Baker’s Doctor. The costume that he chooses for himself is ugly. There is no polite way of putting it other than by saying its ugly.

The relationship between the Doctor and Peri is very different to anything that has come before this. There is very little in the way of niceness in this episode. This is highlighted by the fact that the Doctor strangles Peri. Moments later the Doctor decides that he and Peri are hermits. Colin Baker is superb in this episode. He goes for it from the very moment. The only downside come with the cliffhanger because Hugo Lang (Kevin McNally) is pointing a gun at him and Baker’s reaction isn’t the greatest. However for this first episode, I am willing to look to one side on this. Nicola Bryant does very well in this episode keeping up with the manic pace of Baker. Peri hasn’t really had the best of starts since she joined the TARDIS but Peri must be made of stronger stuff.

The business between the Doctor and Peri is easily the best stuff in the episode and actually in the story. I found the scenes between Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant  to be entertaining and maintained my enjoyment. When they aren’t on screen however I find myself being totally bored with what was going on. Things got worse when Mestor appears but there will be more about that later on. As opening episode go, this has some good stuff and some bad stuff. Thankfully the good stuff is so good it makes me feel slightly better about the bad stuff. Sadly this wont be the case but at least I can be comforted with the idea that the madness that is going to continue in the remainder of the episodes.

(602) The Five Doctors

When the Three Doctors aired to celebrate the shows 10^th anniversary, it was done quite well and it had one simple premise with the three Doctors and a few of the regular companions. Fast forward 10 years and the show has progressed a lot since then. This episode got its world premiere on American TV and formed part of the BBC’s Children in Need night. There are a couple of problems before the story even starts and that Tom Baker isn’t in it because I imagine that as he only left two years before that enough time hadn’t passed by. Also William Hartnell had died eight years before so they decided to recast him with someone who looked like him.

The ‘episode’ starts off with a brief clip from The Dalek Invasion of Earth with the William Hartnell speech that he gives to Susan. It is almost as if they are highlighting the fact that the person that is playing the First Doctor isn’t the real one. In fact Richard Hurndall is the first of the Doctor to be picked up. Richard Hurndall does a fairly good job in what must have been an impossible postion to be put in. He was never going to convince us that he was trying to do William Hartnell but he does enough to make me appreciate that they tried to get around a problem in the best intended way possible.

The scoop effect is rather poor and looks a bit lazy really. Hurdnall’s happens when he is walking in a garden. The one with the second Doctor and the Brigadier is better. I think the one used for the special edition is much better but that’s with the advancement of about 25 years’ worth of technology.

The return of the Brigadier seems a lot better than in Mawdryn Undead. I like how he gets to spend most of his time with Patrick Troughton’s Doctor. The Brigadier is perhaps more associated with the third Doctor, I like how they work together on screen and I am reminded of such stories as The Invasion and The Web of Fear. The brief appearance of Jamie and Zoe is quite nice even if Zoe is wearing a bubble dress. Their appearance is rumbled when the Doctor reminds us that Jamie and Zoe had their minds erased which is true.

This episode sees the return David Saville to Doctor Who after playing Carstairs in The War Games. It was more of a cameo and I do wonder whether they realised this when they put him in but it was fun for the fans to watch. The “You’ve had this place redecorated….Dont like it!” seems to have become a bit of a running joke because it pops up in the 50^th Anniversary special.

Jon Pertwee is doing his action bit from the moment that he appears on screen. He has missed a beat since he left the show 221 episodes ago. The opening scene between the third Doctor and the Master is quite good because the Doctor is still very distrusting and even though Pertwee had some great chemistry with Roger Delgado’s Master. It seems that things don’t change even if the actor does.The Third Doctor gets to slide along a rope to get to the tower. There is no way that the other Doctors would do. Pertwee is just brilliant in this story and he gives it the same enthusiasm as he did when he was the main man. The brief reunion of the Third Doctor, Mike Yates and Liz Shaw is a good one that is used to keep the Doctor from progressing in the chamber. Sadly its ended with Liz doing a rather odd deliver of ‘stop him’.

Elisabeth Sladen returns to the show with K9. This is where people get confused because they assume that they were both together during Sarah Jane’s time on the show but it was only in the 1981 K9 special and this story that this happened. The reunion of the Third Doctor and Sarah Jane is slightly undermined by the Doctor trying to pull Sarah Jane up small incline. My back garden is steeper than the one in this scene.

There are clips from the transmitted story Shada used to at least have Tom Baker appear in the 20^th Anniversary. A plausible point is used to explain why the Fourth Doctor isn’t used in the story.

The Master’s first scene is quite good as the idea of the Doctor being requested by the Timelords is something that would have been expected and then the Master is left perplexed when he is asked to help the Doctor. After a while he does look like he wish he hadn’t bothered when he gets knocked by two Doctors. His plan to work with the Cybermen is quite clever and its clear that things aren’t going well in this partnership. He is going to use the Cybermen to his own ends but its clear that whilst he’s smarter than the Cybermen he still hasn’t got the nack of thinking his long term plans through. Sadly after a punch from the Brigadier, he is left to have a bit of a kip of the floor.

It doesn’t seem like Susan has really grown up in the 19 years since she left the Doctor. She manages to twist her ankle running along and it seems like we are back in 1964. She is then reduced to being stuck in the TARDIS with Turlough and this is a problem with this story and that there are too many companions and not enough for them to do.

The brief appearance of the Dalek is a bit of a shame really when you consider that the show wouldn’t have got to the 20^th year without the Daleks so they deserve a better role in this story. The first appearance of the Cybermen is very atmospheric. They get a better deal in this story. There is one shot when they are approaching the Fifth Doctor and the Master and Peter Moffatt did a great job with this. The Raston Robot is a brilliant creation and one that is used to superb effect. It’s a simple creature and one that doesn’t do a lot yet manages to create a lot of carnage. It’s attack on the Cybermen is one of the best scenes in this story. This sequence only last about a minute but is incredibly violent for a Doctor Who story.

I like the idea that the story takes place on Gallifrey as it seems right to use this setting for the 20^th Anniversary of the show. The Timelords are an interesting if yet flawed race and it seems quite obvious that they would do a treachery style story for Gallifrey. There is a scene which is funny to me. “No not the mind probe” is a line that Paul Jericho delivers quite well and yet everytime I hear it I find it amusing.

I like how the Doctors seem to be on their own individual storylines that over the course of the story start merging into one. The Fifth Doctor (you thought I had forgotten about him didn’t you!) seems to have been given the role of trying to figure out who the traitor to Gallifrey is. The traitor turns out to be the President. He has done this to get immortality. He has clearly gone mad because he’s gone from wearing white to black. This is the most important plot strand so its not surprising really that he gets to do this but it’s a shame that he stuck for an awfully long time waiting before he figures out that there is a spare room.

The three Doctors don’t meet until 20 minutes before the end which is perhaps the right way of doing things. Whilst the Doctors are working together, its nice to see the Brigadier, Sarah Jane Smith and Tegan. The big scene takes place in the tomb of Rassilon and whoever removes a ring gets immortality. If I have learnt one thing from TV, its that immortality isn’t a great as it sounds. The President gets his chance at immortality thanks to the first Doctor speaking up him even though the others said the opposite. He ends up being part of the tomb which must be a horrible way to live.

The final line about running away in an run down TARDIS away from his own people being “How it started” is a nice way to end this adventure. I am a little confused as to how I feel about this because on the one hand it was a nice story but on the other hand there are way too many characters in the piece and as a result it slightly makes the end result a little bit odd. I think that there are some good things in it and the running time is one of them. They could have done four 25 minute episodes but the feature length running time allows the story to progress at a nice pace and Terrance Dicks did a great job of writing a story and Peter Moffatt did an equally great job in directing.

To end this review I would just like to point out that there is just one season of Peter Davison’s era left. That has gone quick although there is one or two stories that I must endure before I get to arguably one of the finest stories in Doctor Who history, The Caves of Androzani.

(591) Mawdryn Undead - Part 4

The final part of this story is by far the best one because it’s where the problems of the story are sort of forgotten because the main action takes my attention. This is where Mawdryn’s plan comes to fruition. Things start off in quite a fun way because Mawdryn allows the Doctor to leave in the TARDIS, its clear that this is a plan by Mawdryn to show the Doctor that he has no other choice than to help. This leads to a great couple of minutes where the Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and 1983 Brigadier are involved in quite a grim turn of events where Nyssa and Tegan become quite old and then moments later become young with Nyssa turning into Lucy Benjamin who appeared in Eastenders.

After a few minutes they are back and the Doctor reluctantly decides to help them. This is where the episode starts to build up to the moment but another thing that seems to take up a fair amount of time is trying to stop the two brigadiers from meeting. I still don’t see why this would be a problem because the Doctor seems to do it without too much trouble. I seemed to be more interested in this than I realised because I was happy when 1977 Brigadier threw back Turlough to burst into the main chamber. The effect of the two Brigadier’s touching hands isn’t quite as good as I would have liked because they could have had both Brigadier’s faces on screen at the same time. They did it with the two Peter Davison’s back in Arc of Infinity so it makes sense that they could have done it in this story.

This story picked up in the second half with episode three being much better than parts one and two. I don’t think that at the time appreciated just how well the idea of time travel was used. I think that despite Peter Grimwade’s best efforts, the plot holes distract from what is a good idea. As the beginning of a story arc its ok but the main thing about it being that Turlough is still trying to kill the Doctor is something that is going to strangle the next two stories. I don’t mind the introduction of Turlough because there is something quite fun to watch in Mark Strickson but I think that more effort could have been put into introducing the character instead of a rather inplusable idea of the Black Guardian killing the Doctor. Oh well as a Peter Grimwade story, its his best story but compared to Timeflight that’s not really a compliment.

(590) Mawdryn Undead - Part 3

The third episode of this story is a strange one because the story does progress in terms of narrative but it still has the same problems as the previous two. Firstly there is still the problem that I cant buy the fact that Nyssa and Tegan believe that Mawdryn is the Doctor. Thankfully there are still things in this episode (like the previous two) that made the episode worth watching. The Doctor’s suspicion is made more obvious in this episode which is a relief and shows some sense in the Doctor for the first time. I still think that the Doctor and his Brigadier’s side of the story works much better than Nyssa and Tegan’s. They are very inactive in this episode which is a little bit frustrating.

The two Brigadiers moving around and just missing each other is something that is quite fun to see. It’s inevitable that they are going to meet and if you didn’t see it coming then you really aren’t trying. Even the Doctor puts a red flag up when he says what would happen if they met. Nicholas Courtney is playing the two brigadiers pretty much the same but its amazing what difference that the moustache makes to his performance.

Mawdryn is supposed to be this big figure in the story but doesn’t actually do anything to deserve that. He starts off ok trying to convince Nyssa and Tegan he is the Doctor and then when he leaves the TARDIS he spends an awfully long time dragging himself along the floor. It’s a shame that David Collings got lumbered with this role but its because of him that there is even something good to see.

There is one good thing that happens in this episode and the nonsense about Mawdryn being the Doctor because the Doctor comes bouncing into the TARDIS and this is when Nyssa and Tegan finally put two and two together. The Brigadier (1983) finds out a few moments later. Finally one problem gets dealt with. Just the big plot problem of Turlough trying to kill the Doctor. He makes no effort in trying to do this. I bet the Black Guardian wishes he had gone with someone else.

The episode ends with the Doctor revealing that Mawdryn’s plan would mean the end of him as a timelord. This is quite a good ending but its another episode which is a mixed bag. I don’t see things changing that much in the final episode. Well one thing is for sure, the festive spirit that I felt yesterday isn’t as strong.

(589) Mawdryn Undead - Part 2

With today being Christmas Day its fair to say that I am in the festive mood. I have just witnessed one of the best Doctor Who Christmas Specials for quite some time although people will probably have a go at it for being too scary or ridicule it because they had Steven Moffat. Yule have to wait until August 2^nd before I go into more detail with that. Back to today’s episode and despite my festive cheer, I still have some issues with this story and it’s annoying because it’s mixed in with some good stuff.

The reprise is ended with an explosion thus preventing Turlough from bashing in the Doctor’s head. I liked how this was dealt with which didn’t make either person look weak or silly. Sadly the problems soon appear because as I have commented before, Grimwade is a better director than a writer and so for some reason has a problem with making a story work because the story splinters into two times. The Doctor encounters the Brigadier in 1983 (more about the Brig in a moment) and Tegan and Nyssa end up in 1977 during the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. I say and Nyssa but in reality its just Tegan because yet again Nyssa is banished in the TARDIS and only get a few metres away from the TARDIS.

At one stage, Nyssa and Tegan discover a burnt body that they assume is the Doctor. Ignoring the fact that the burnt figure isn’t wearing the same clothes as the Doctor. Getting the viewer to assume that this is the Doctor is Peter Grimwade asking an awful lot of us and I am not really prepared to do this. As a result of this the whole section with Tegan, Nyssa and the burnt figure is not very good. Thankfully things are much better in 1983 (the year I was born, in fact five days after I was born). This side of the story is better because it is where the story is explained and its wear it feels like things are progressing. Also its got Nicholas Courtney who is always watchable. I love the flashback montage that is used and shows several stories that he has featured in. It does create a problem in terms of continuity but I think that in the reckless 1980’s these sort of things weren’t considered.

Considering that this is where Turlough is suppose to kill the Doctor, its surprising that Turlough doesn’t feature too much in the episode. I may remember it wrong but I think he doesn’t feature too much. He does get one quite memorable moment when he thinks he is confessing his story to the Headmaster but the Headmaster (played brilliantly by Angus Mackay) turns into the Black Guardian. Valentine Dyall is superb in every scene he is in because his voice is so low and gravelly that it just suits the role perfectly.

The ending is good but silly in one go. The burnt figure has regenerated to the point that he is almost better but I am distracted by the bowl of spaghetti that is sitting on top of his head. It’s a shame that this is yet another problem with the story and I think that the festive spirit is preventing me from being harsher on it. Don’t get me wrong, this story has problems with it that cant be defeneded but I would be lying if I said that I hated this story. Even in the misery of the new year I would be hard pressed to rate this poorly. With two more episodes I am willing to sit through the weak stuff to get two more episodes with not one but two Brigs.

Last of all, Merry Christmas and Merry Christmas to all of you at home!

(588) Mawdryn Undead - Part 1

T’was the night before Christmas and if you have been following this marathon then you will probably have noticed that this is the same gag that I made last year. This is my second (and final) Christmas doing the marathon and this time last year I was watching episode four of ‘The Invasion’ which is quite fitting because this story sees the return of Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart who last appeared 182 episodes ago in the final episode of ‘Terror of the Zygons’ which I watched back in June. This episode also sees the Black Guardian return. We last saw him in ‘The Armageddon Factor’ back in season 16.

Perhaps the big selling point about this story is that it features the character of Turlough. This is where the problems begin because this serial is the first in a trilogy of adventures and the whole idea is that the Black Guardian wants Turlough to kill the Doctor but if its such an important job then the explanation that the Guardian gives isn’t the most convincing. Another problem is that Turlough isn’t particularly likeable. From the moment he appears on screen he comes across as rather arrogant person who will tell one person something and then the complete opposite to someone else, all in the name of covering his backside. The third problem is how the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan treat Turlough like he’s been around for ages. There is no real questioning which goes on and that’s an odd thing in my opinion.

The first appearance of the Brigadier is a rather understated one. There is no real fanfare given to one the most popular characters in Doctor Who ever. He seems to have got quite bitter and harsh since he left UNIT. I say this because at no point during him time as a regular on the show did the Brigadier ever refer to someone as ‘disgusting’ which is what he does when talking to Ibbetson.

You may have noticed that I have got to this stage and not mentioned the actual story itself well there is a reason for that and that is because there isn’t a great deal that goes on. The Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan spend a lot of time in the TARDIS and then end up on a weird looking ship which doesn’t have anybody on it and that’s about it. The Doctor ends back on earth with his new friend and the episode ends with Turlough about to bash the Doctor’s head in.

This is a Peter Grimwade story and he is clearly a better director than writer and whilst this is at the moment a better offering than Time-Flight but he is still better at directing a story. The cliffhanger is a good one and I am enclined to say that this is a good opening episode. It’s far better and more entertaining than ‘Snakedance’ but time will only tell if the rest of the story works in the same way. At least Nyssa’s costume is better than the previous one.

(569) The Visitation - Part 4

The cliffhanger from the previous episode wasn’t the strongest one in the world so the episode didn’t start in a particularly good manner. In fact the thing is it takes about 10 minutes for things to really get going. Thankfully once it does then it really gets going. Going back to the beginning I must admit that the way the Doctor gets out of his situation was quite clever and I didn’t see it coming. Now once the story moves to London it seems to find its feet. This is the episode where Nyssa finally gets to active her sonic boom thing that she spent so long of the previous episode putting together.

The funniest sight in the entire episode and perhaps story is that of Adric kicking the android to stop it from getting inside the TARDIS. It’s just a ridiculous sight and it’s a funny moment just before the android is blown to pieces.

The companions are all working quite well together and Adric’s best moment (apart from kicking the android) is when he actually pilots the TARDIS. This is something that is a bit of a burning issue because really the Doctor should be the one piloting the TARDIS. Plus the old short hop thing is something that never really got done before Tom Baker’s final set of stories and yet its done with regularity during the Davison era.

When the story moves to London I thought that the sets were really good and the film look to it worked really well and I wish that the story had moved to London earlier because the quality is much better. This is where a fire starts which suggest that the Doctor started the Great Fire of London. I like the idea that the Doctor causes historical events. I seems like it was all meant to be and well thought out and not just added on as a last minute thing.

I really liked this story but felt that certain parts of it didn’t work quite as well as I thought it did in the past. The crowded TARDIS thing wasn’t as much of a problem as it has been so far this season but as a four part story I thought that it worked rather well and I liked the location filming and the writing has been rather good. Eric Saward gets a bit of stick from time to time but I thought that the historical aspect helped the story. Peter Moffatt directed this story with a nice sense of enthusiasm and even made the TARDIS scenes to be interesting which is quite an achievement bearing in mind how static they can be from time to time.

(568) The Visitation - Part 3

It was obvious that the Doctor and Mace weren’t going to be decapitated partly because they are two central characters to the story and secondly the scythe that is used is too big to do any damage to the Doctor’s head. Once that is over the story sees the Doctor and Mace spend a little while locked up and then they have a scene with the Terileptil which does serve one purpose and that it explains just what the plan is and its simply to wipe out humanity and it does a great thing of using a real historical event (in this case the plague) for the purposes of television. Now that this has been explained it feels like the story can actually build towards something.

Sadly Adric does suffer from not doing very much because he goes from the house to the TARDIS and spends a bit of time there talking to Nyssa and not doing very much before leaving and then getting captured. Nyssa is slightly more productive but she’s stuck in the TARDIS for the entire episode making the sonic boom thing which may or may not work. Tegan perhaps has the best time during this episode although that is perhaps stretching the term slightly. She is still under hypnosis and by the end of the episode she is about let out the rats. Despite not really doing very much when its laid out like this, its surprising then that it feels like the story moved along as a good pace.

The episode is significant for being the last time that the sonic screwdriver would be seen in the classic era. The sonic screwdriver was first seen in ‘Fury from the Deep’ back on March 16^th 1968 and it was written out in quite a good way when its destroyed by the Terileptil. I don’t agree with JNT that it was a easy way out for the Doctor because its not like he used it literally for ever situation. Anyway it wont be seen on this marathon until April 11^th according to my list of dates and episodes. This is the thing that stands out about this episode which might sound like there wasn’t anything in this episode but I enjoyed it very much and the death of the Sonic screwdriver is the thing that stands out about this episode.

The cliffhanger is perhaps not as strong as it could have been because there cant have been that much peril from Tegan opening a box but at this point in the story I can forgive writer Eric Saward for this brief weakness.   

(567) The Visitation - Part 2

The second episode doesn’t have John Savident in it (booo) but it does have a lot of other things which work very well. The cliffhanger of the previous episode was quite clever really because the Doctor had disappeared but when the episode starts it turns out that he went through a energy barrier which was designed to give the impression that the stairs led to nothing. The effect used to create this was quite good and even compared to todays standards it holds up.

This is the episode where the regulars get separated. After being inactive in the previous serial, its nice that Nyssa is given something to do and is tagged with the Doctor and as a result gets a lot more screen time. Tegan and Adric spend the episode together and its nice that they seem to be getting on with each other. There isn’t any bickering or back biting that would normally have happened between these two. They spend a fair amount of time locked up and they managed to escape which I found to be rather implausible but the objective really was to split up Tegan and Adric.

The Terileptil is introduced in this episode and I think that the headpiece is rather splendid, the rest of it looks like a bloke in a suit but the headpiece is quite effective and striking because it looks like the flesh has rotted and for 1980’s Doctor Who its one of the best headpieces that there has been. The only thing about the Terileptil that is a bit confusing is just what is its plan? Apart from that I thought that the Terileptil’s involvement in the story was well done and I think as a villain its quite good.

The cliffhanger is one that we have seen before and quite recently. It sees the Doctor (and Mace) about to be decapitated which is what happened during one of the cliffhangers in ‘Four to Doomsday’ so it seems like if it worked once then it could work again. I actually think that this one is more effective than the previous one because the darkness of the tone allows this cliffhanger to be more striking than in the rather bland surroundings of ‘Four to Doomsday’. So at the halfway point this story is moving far too quickly for my liking, I wish there were more episodes of this story left but I suppose that this is credit to Eric Saward and Peter Moffatt for producing this story and making it work as well as it has so far.

(566) The Visitation - Part 1

The Visitation is one of those stories that I have always had a soft spot for. It’s a story that seems quite fun although in recent years I have been watching this story with the amusing audio commentary on it. After being really impressed with the previous story I was hoping that the good form would continue. This era of the show was one story would link into the other and so once the opening scene was completed the TARDIS crew started they are referring to the events of Kinda. Now I think this is a good idea because it’s a bit like the very early days of Doctor Who where most William Hartnell stories would follow one another. There is more reference to Tegan trying to get back to Heathrow 1981 and the ‘goodbye’ scene between Tegan and Nyssa is very emotional and it’s a shame that its spoilt by the revelation that they have arrived at Heathrow, but just 300 years early.

The opening scene is quite fun just because it features John Savident who is perhaps best known for playing Butcher Fred Elliot in the ITV soap ‘Coronation Street’ from 1994 to 2006. Every time I see him in this I am expecting him to act like he did in Corrie. Sadly, Savident isn’t in the story for very long because as soon as the seen is over then that’s it. The scene also does a good job in setting up the main thing about this episode and that is the mystery of just what has invaded the house. We never see the person that kills several people and causes some damage.

The Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa and Adric eventually leave the TARDIS and the first thing that strikes me about their first scenes outside of the TARIDS is just how nice the location footage is. I know that its something I have gone on about in recent stories but I cant help it. After spending the last eight episodes stuck in a studio, it was nice to be outside. The inclusion of Michael Robbins as Richard Mace was a masterstroke and is central to the reason why I like this story so much. He is fantastic from start to finish and after enjoying the performances from Richard Todd and Simon Rouse in the previous story, its nice that the strong performances continue.

This is an interesting opening episode because it sets things up nicely and the whole thing moved along quite quickly. The only thing that stood out and not in the best way is the robot that does appear. It looks very 1980’s and there is worse to come when there is a shot of its hand which looks like a cricket glove that has some gems on it. Apart from that this episode is just as fun as I have thought of it in the past and its good to have Nyssa back in the story.

(541) State of Decay - Episode 4

This episode is the final episode to be transmitted in 1980. It starts with the reprise which still looks weird when Romana is backing away from Adric as he is about to be bitten. It must be said that there is a bit of Karma at play because later on Adric is prepared to sacrifice Romana to the Three Who Rule. I quite like Adric in this episode because he clearly trying to look out for his own interests but later on he tries to pretend that he was looking out for Romana. What makes this quite fun is the look on Romana’s face which clearly shows that she doesn’t believe him. Considering that this is the first time that all three regulars have appeared in the same scene.

The whole episode is building up towards the sacrifice and normally this would be either rushed or not really looked at but it takes up a nice amount of the episode and its dealt with in a good manner. I liked how the Doctor dealt with the situation and used the scout ship/tower as a weapon and used what energy it had left in shooting it up into the air and back down again. Tom Baker was on good form because he gives a good Henry IV speech and there were some classic fourth Doctor moments.

We finally get to see the great one twice. The first is a model mixed in with scanner graphic which works but had it been the model of the great one as it is then it wouldn’t have worked quite so well. The second is when its hand comes out of the ground. Visually it’s a strong image and one of the best shots in the entire serial. I think that overall this episode is the strongest in terms of directing out of the four. Peter Moffatt has done a great job in keeping the pace up and there are some great shots that he manages to achieve. Terrance Dicks has worked his magic again and has saved the best until last and tied things up nicely.

As the middle story it does a good job of being the middle story of being a trilogy it does what it needs to do but as a story in its own right its also very good. I think that its another good story in the JNT era and the next story is the final one for K9 and more importantly for Romana. The changing of the companion line up starts in the next story so there is still plenty to look forward to in this season.

(540) State of Decay - Episode 3

I watch these episodes at the moment on my Xbox and usually when I finish an episode I stop it straight away and come the next episode and it was whilst watching the closing credits Barry Letts’ name pops up and I forgot that during this time on the show we have the partnership of Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks in Doctor Who. Sadly this isn’t 1970 anymore and the heyday of Tom Baker’s tenure has gone so whilst it’s good to have a Doctor Who story with Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks credited it’s sad to think in a way that this isn’t their show anymore. The episode was watched by 4.4 million viewers which bearing in mind that just a year before episode three of ‘Nightmare of Eden’ which aired on December 8 got 9.6 million viewers it must have looked like they needed to hit the panic button but I can’t think why this episode got such low viewing figures. If I didn’t know I would have thought that the nightmare episode would have got 4.4 million viewers and this episode got 9.6 million.

The opening scene seems quite a long one compared to usual episodes and that’s not a critiscm because it’s a really well performed one with all the important characters (except Adric). Aukon is by far the best performer in the scene and the Doctor is a close second. It’s during this scene that the Doctor and Romana first hear Adric’s name. I still think that its impressive that Adric has been side-lined for so long. Really the Doctor and Romana should have seen this coming considering in a normal story with the pair they would have been separated at the earliest moment yet in episode three they have hardly been apart. Matthew Waterhouse has a pretty easy time of it in this episode as he doesn’t appear until the final few minutes of the episode. When he does appear his costume has improved dramatically and its just a shame that he doesn’t wear it past this story.

The episode features a scene where the Doctor is locked in a cell with his companion and he talks about a hermit on Gallifrey. This is very much a Terrance Dicks trait because it appeared in two Jon Pertwee stories (where he was script editor). I thought that it was a nice bit of continuity in a time when the show was looking towards the future its nice that they did this nostalgic moment.

This episode was one of those that was a collection of moments and that is why this episode is quite good because those moments are so good and another of those good moments include any scene with Zargo and Camilla because it has a Macbeth feel to it which when done right (as in this case) is a strong image to have on screen. The death of Tarak is very grim by Doctor Who standards and not because its gory or particularly violent (even though it is), its because its quite prolonged. Instead of a quick death which is over in a second or two, Tarak’s death takes considerably longer.

The last minute sees Camilla about to attack Adric and Romana leaving him to his fate which I thought was very strange and not really in the spirit of the show but then she got her comeuppance of sorts when she is facing Zargo and this is the cliffhanger which normally would make me groan with disappointment because people would know that she is going to appear in future stories but in the case of this particular cliffhanger it works well and I am looking forward to the final episode. At the moment this is falling just short of ‘Full Circle’ in terms of ratings but I wouldn’t be surprised if the final episode goes just ahead.

(538) State of Decay - Episode 2

The second episode of this story still sees Adric separated from the Doctor and Romana. I don’t know if this is deliberate but the unexpected bonus because it is making Adric a stronger companion. The episode starts off with something rather strange, the Doctor has blue blood. Now the last time that the Doctor bled was in ‘The Deadly Assassin’ his blood was red and this is apparently a Tom Baker idea which is silly really but something else which was quite strange was the fact that Aukon was entering a room and it was clearly daylight outside which does slightly confuse the whole vampire thing.

The Doctor and Romana spend the vast majority of the episode exploring the tower which has a control room which will become relevant in future episodes but I liked the interaction between the two which considering how much tension there was apparently during recording is a surprising fact. The reaction that the Doctor gives when he comes across a barrel with blood in it is the sort of reaction he would have given during the early days of his tenure.

As this is a Terrance Dicks, it is perhaps not surprising that the story has worked as well as it has. The characters are all well rounded and at no point have I found myself bored with the story and it shows that Terrance Dicks hasn’t lost any of his magic that he has shown in the past. Peter Moffatt has directed this story rather well but due to the fact that the story is written so well and the performances are so good, the directing doesn’t really stand out which is a shame really but my abiding memory of this story so far isn’t the directing.

The revelation that Aukon, Zargo & Camilla’s names are similar to names that the Doctor and Romana read in the previous episode along with the control room development is perhaps the big thing of this episode. I really like the bit at the end where we see the model shot in the Resting place where the floor is moving up and down like a massive heartbeat. The last shot is of a close up of Aukon’s eyes which is good cliffhanger but for perhaps different reasons to normal. On one hand it was perhaps drama light but bearing in mind what had just shown up on screen it was the right ending to the episode and apart from a few individual errors, this was another solid episode with some solid performances.

(538) State of Decay - Episode 1

The middle story of the trilogy on the face of it should be the strongest one because it was written by Terrance Dicks but after enjoying the previous story I have to admit that I am questioning whether this is still the case. It’s always nice when a familiar name returns to the show because its been a while since Terrance Dicks was involved in Doctor Who. His last offering ‘Horror of Fang Rock’ was a really solid story and that was about three years ago and the show has changed so the sort of story that Dicks wrote may not work in this new era. The signs are good pretty much from the beginning because there is the model shot of the tower which looks impressive and that is followed by the appearance of Zargo, Camilla and Aukon who are the three who rule and if you didn’t know what was coming then you could easily tell that something isn’t quite right about them.

It’s quite a while before Adric makes an appearance and he spends the entire episode pretty much on his own and only interacts with K9 and manages to outsmart him (which isn’t too difficult) but its quite good that he gets to investigate on his own and not be introduced to the Doctor and Romana show. His scene where he tries to steal some bread and ends up with some food and a coat that is by far better than what he usually wears. Whilst I am starting to change my opinion of Adric, the one thing that will never change is my opinion of his costume which does look like pyjamas.

As far as the Doctor and Romana are concerned. It takes them an awful long time to get involved in the story. Once they do its when the story gets interesting. I think that Kalmar is an interesting character and despite being the oldest, Arthur Hewlett doesn’t allow that to get in the way of coming across as a believable leader. His group are an odd mix of living primitive surroundings and yet having a BBC computer in the base. I think that in 1980, the use of a BBC computer would have seemed quite a cutting edge piece of kit but sadly it dates the story horribly.

If I had to pick a fault with this episode is that it doesn’t feature as much of Zargo, Camilla and Aukon. What there is of them is good but I think that they are so good (Aukon especially) that I wanted them more involved in the story. I know that this will be the case but I wanted them more in the story now. The cliffhanger is quite creepy and just days after Halloween and that is why it perhaps works better than if I were watching this in mid-March. It’s an interesting opening episode but I cant say that I have been wowed by it. There are elements that I have always liked which are on screen again and with the new appreciation of Adric means that the future episodes will be fun to watch.