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.

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.

The Sea Devils - Episode 6

The reprise of the cliffhanger starts off with the Doctor fighting the Sea Devils before being knocked out by one. This is where the episode should have ended but instead we got the strange cliffhanger that we did. Despite this slightly poor reprise it but the action moves along quickly enough for us to forget this.

The scene where Jo and Captain Hart are trying to escape through an escape hatch is made enjoyable because Walker is now acting like a scared child. It’s the mirror opposite of how he was acting in the previous episode. He’s back to his old self before too long when he eating and drinking and wanting to blow the sea devils out of the water. Walker has been such a loathsome character and it feels like he had been in the show for the entire six episode run rather than just these two.

Captain Hart now feels like he’s on the Doctor’s side. He’s fighting the sea devils and is doing all the things that anyone on the Doctors side should be doing. There’s one moment where he’s using a bit machine gun and is aiming at the sea devils. I was thinking that it’s the sort of thing that Jon Pertwee should be doing.

There is a good action sequence with the Doctor chasing the Master via hover boat. This was one of two scenes that involved the pair of them. The second one was as the sea devils base explodes and the pair of them are floating on the water. The location scenes have been fun from start to finish and its as if the best was saved until last. The last few moments of the episode are of the Master going off in the hovercraft with the Doctor looking on. I thought that this was a disappointing way to end the episode but that’s not the worst thing in the world.

There are the usual things to like about this episode such as the scene where the Doctor and the Master work together with the Doctor trying to do something that will throw a spanner in the works. Another thing that appears is a nice stunt jump and then there is someone who is asked to guard the Master but quickly falls under the Masters hypnosis.

If I had one critiscm of this episode is that it doesn’t feel like the sea devils are the main priority. It seems like it’s more about the Doctor and the Master and the battle at the navy base. It doesn’t feel like a final episode which is always a bit of a worry for me because I would have thought that they would want to build up to something. That said I still think that as a six part adventure its easily the best one of the season so far. The location footage is what is most memorable about this story and also the Sea Devils makes this a memorable story. Sadly I’ve just noted what is coming next and its ‘The Mutants’ oh well the good times had to come to an end at some point.

The Sea Devils - Episode 5

As we approach the final third of the story. I must say that considering it’s a six part story and considering its part of a rather lacklustre season, I don’t think that the story is going to dragging and with the solid cliffhangers I feel like the series has got back on its feet. It doesn’t take long for us to find out what happened to the Doctor and its leads us to the Sea Devils base.

Walker the Parliamentary Private Secretary is introduced into this episode and instantly comes across as your typical civil servant who gets in the way and looks like he is going to ruin everything. It comes at time when Captain Hart has developed. There is nothing good about Walker and I think that this is what Malcolm Hulke was aiming for.

I don’t know why but the design of the sea devils don’t look quite as impressive as they did before. They also sound quite different to how you would expect them to sound. Apart from that its good that we get a good amount of screen time from them and one of their first scenes comes when the Doctor and the Master are trying to convince the sea devils which course of action is right. It’s rather frustrating then that when the Doctor seems to have got the Sea Devils to see sense than Walker orders the firing.

Jon Pertwee puts in a fantastic performance as the Doctor starts off by trying to broker a peace settlement with the Sea Devils and then by the end of the episode has given Walker a stern dressing down. Roger Delgado is also on fine form and spends the entire episode with the sea devils. There is one moment when he’s walking towards the camera delivery a speech and it’s a great moment because it make Delgado look like an important figure and it’s the first time since his debut that this has really been the case. Sadly, Katy Manning doesn’t really do very much in this episode and I think that she’s a victim of time because with the Doctor, the Master, Sea Devils and Walker, the episode doesn’t really allow for Jo Grant to show how good she is.

I’m still impressed with what the Navy were prepared to let the show use and shoot. The footage of the ships firing into the sea looks impressive and helps lend a real sense that this story is suppose to be taking place at sea. Even something as normal as a submarine rising from the sea looks impressive. The only thing that does let the episode down is the cliffhanger which I have to admit is somewhat disappointing because whilst it might be exciting that the Sea Devils have started to invade the navy base, the fact that the last shot is just one of them holding up their gun is somewhat anti-climatic compared to some of the cliffhangers we’ve had in this story. The episode itself is rather good as the some of the scenes are really good and a new character is introduced to help breathe some freshness into proceedings. With one more episode to go I think that this is definelty the best story of the ninth season.

The Sea Devils - Episode 4

Going slightly off topic, today is the ninth anniversary since the show returned. It seems like not that long ago that there was the excitement of new Doctor Who for the first time since 1996. On March 26 2005, the Ninth Doctor first met Rose and the Autons returned and the shot was back. It’s good to see and think about the differences as I start to watch this fourth episode. After the strong cliffhanger from the previous episode, I was hoping that it wouldn’t be as long as the previous reprise or tidied up as quickly as the first cliffhanger was. The scene where the Doctor and Jo are going through the minefield is a very good one. The Doctor jumps on the barb wire to allow Jo to get through and then the sonic screwdriver is used as a mine detector. This is an enjoyable and exciting start to the episode and ended with a sea devil going back into the sea.

The Master/Trenchard dynamic has been quite fun to watch in these four episodes. I do find Trenchard to be an intriguing character because I think that he’s been naïve more than manipulated by the Master. It does seem like Trenchard has reached the end of his usefulness as he goes down fighting when he shoots the Sea Devils. We don’t see the moment that he’s killed which is perhaps the best thing. It’s a shame that he went out whilst being fooled. The Master ploughs on with his plan. The look on his face when the Sea Devils come into his cell is the one of confidence and its funny to see that because we know how it will go and even watching in 1972 it would have been obvious to see this.

Captain Hart starts off by being just as sceptical as he always been and this is the point when I wish the character would mature and start to believe the Doctor and go along with what he says. Thankfully he does start this in the latter stages of the episode when he lends a diving bell to the Doctor. The shots inside the diving bell were very good and help add to the realistic feel of these scenes. It’s quite good how the Navy were so willing to lend the BBC all this stuff to make this show. It’s hard to imagine that anyone even the BBC would get this level of co-operation from the Navy.

Jon Pertwee starts off quite action like by helping Jo get over the mine-field but does come across as a bit of a swine when he scolds Jo for wanting to eat the sandwiches and then proceeds to do just that. I think that this was a minor blip and redeems himself with a great end to the episode. Katy Manning doesn’t quite have the same good time as Pertwee but seems to fall into the standard companion trap of just being worried about the Doctor.

The cliffhanger is another good one as there is the question of where the Doctor is and what happened after the camera left the Doctor looking at the Sea Devil. This is the second episode in a row where I feel like this is the big story that I felt it was in the past. The writing has been very good and the direction from Michael E Briant is great to look at. From the location filming at the very beginning of the episode to the diving bell stuff at the bottom every shot was well done and everything seems to have worked well together.

The Sea Devils - Episode 3

The third episode has a rather long reprise. That not really a complaint but merely a fact. It’s a good thing to reprise and it picks up with a knife narrowly missing the Doctor’s head. That some mighty fine throwing that Roger Delgado managed (I obviously know he didn’t). It’s sad to see Trenchard act the way that he does in this episode. The fact he’s willing to believe the Master over the Doctor is to be expected but still its sad to see. The Master gives a good reason as to why he still stays in the prison when he’s got one over Trenchard.

There’s a nice bit of continuity when the Master refers to the files that he stole in ‘Colony in Space’. It’s due to these files that he reads about the Sea Devils and this is a way for him to continue his destruction of the world plan which has failed about half a dozen times since ‘Terror of the Autons’.

Jo gets to do some entertaining stuff in the early stages of this episode after escaping from some guards and running around the castle. Jo is well used in this episode and gets to free the Doctor after he’s chained up. The Doctor doesn’t have the best episode after the sword fight with the Doctor. The best moment after that comes when he has a scene with Trenchard and he talks about how anyone at UNIT would vouch for him. Considering how at times the Doctor has contempt for UNIT, its somewhat unfortunate that he only speaks about UNIT like this when it suits him.

I commented that I like the location filming that occurs in this story and that continues to be the case in this episode where the show goes to the beach. This leads to some good moments in this episode and some enjoyable ones in the next episode but even the stuff at the beginning with Jo is shot well and I think its some of the best location filming in the season. A part of the story moves to the submarine and there are some really good scenes in the sub which is surprising considering the person in charge is less than likeable and its just the one set that is used.

The cliffhanger is rather good with the Sea Devils coming out of the sea. I am happy that the cliffhangers are just as good as the episodes after being worried in recent episodes that the cliffhangers have been rather weak, its good that there seems to have been some though put into them. After three episodes, its clear that this story is the best of the season so far and whilst that might be damning with faint praise it’s the truth and I think that the second half is going to be just as good as the first half.

The Sea Devils - Episode 2

It’s quickly revealed that the mysterious figure is just Clark. His involvement is minimal because after he is knocked out (nicely) by the Doctor, he doesn’t appear much. It does make the cliffhanger seem like a throwaway one which is somewhat annoying. There are some quite well realised scenes in the early stages of this episode, largely involving the Sea Devils and the incidental music. Talking of the Sea Devils we get a proper scene with one of them and it doesn’t show them in a good light. I think that this is quite clever because it shows the Doctor as the lone voice of reason whilst everyone wants to bomb them in future episodes. It also continues the trait of Pertwee’s Doctor where he wants to find the peaceful solution even after being shot at.

Captain Hart continues to show displeasure at the Doctor’s actions. It would be fun to have had a scene with the Captain and the Brigadier. It would be worth it just to see the look on the Brigadier’s face with a ‘I know how you feel’ look. I think it’s perfectly normal to have this sort of scene in my head.

There’s an interesting bit when the Doctor refers to the events of Doctor Who and the Silurians but what makes it interesting is that the Doctor informs us that they should have been called Eocenes which is their correct name (apparently). It seems like it’s the sort of correction that a newspaper puts in when they’ve printed something wrong. It doesn’t really pop up later on in the story so it doesn’t really seem to have much point really.

It didn’t take long for the Master to get his plan going and he’s in pretty much the majority of the episode. In fact the final scene is the highlight when he’s fighting with the Doctor in a sword/gun fight. It ends with the very real possibility that the Doctor might die. I know I have complained in the past about this plot device because we know that it wont happen but it would be intriguing for 1972 audiences to wonder just how the Doctor was going to survive this one. It was a great cliffhanger to a rather strong episode. It progressed things enough so that it didn’t feel like padding but still feeling like we were going somewhere plot wise.

The Sea Devils - Episode 1

The Sea Devils is one of my favourite Jon Pertwee stories and it’s the first time in this season that I feel like I am about to watch a strong story that doesn’t have any faults to it. If I’m being picky then there is one thing missing from this story and that’s the lack of UNIT and the Brigadier. That said another name does return in this episode and it’s a blessed relief.

The opening scene is a great set up with where we see the hand of a sea devil (although at this point we wouldn’t know this at the time). It seems like it should be before the title sequence and then into the action. It’s written by Malcolm Hulke who’s got a great track record and its another reason why I have a certain amount of optimism for this six part adventure. Another reason is that there is an extraordinary amount of location footage and its good to get outside after spending four episodes stuck in a studio bound story.

It’s been eight episodes since we last saw Roger Delgado and whilst I wished that they would have bought him in sooner, it’s good to have him back now. At the end of ‘The Daemons’ he was taken away and it’s good that he didn’t find a way off screen to escape as when we see him in this episode, he is a prisoner. The first scene between the Master, the Doctor and Jo was a good one as it started with a weird friendly chat between Pertwee and Delgado. The scene is good because the Master is trying to pretend that everything is normal and by the end of the scene the Master is laughing showing that he’s back on form like he’d never been away.

It doesn’t take long for the truth about Trenchard being in the Doctor’s pocket. This means that it isn’t so much a prison but a holiday camp. The Master uses Trenchard’s sense of civic duty and makes him feel like things are for the greater good and it’s a shame that Trenchard doesn’t see the Master for what he is and he is a character that comes across like Godfrey in Dad’s Army. A nice character that I enjoy watching.

As the story is set at sea there isn’t any narrative reason to have UNIT in the story so instead we get the navy and we are introduced to Captain Hart. Hart starts off like a no nonsense captain that is furious when the Doctor turns up. Edwin Richfield plays the character exactly right at this moment as someone who isn’t use to the Doctor or what happens to him.

There is a scene where the Master is watching the Clangers and I cant watch this scene now without thinking of the scene in the 2007 episode ‘Sound of Drums’ where John Simm’s Master is watching the Teletubbies. It’s a scene that introduces a fort which is where the story moves to. The fact we don’t see the Sea Devils properly until very late in the episode is no a new plot device but its still good and the look of them IS quite distinctive.

The music is used to great effect in this episode. It instantly gives a creepy impression and is used in a way that adds to the story and it’s the most distinctive music since ‘Doctor Who and the Silurians’. Malcolm Clarke has done a good job with the music and its sadly a rare thing that I don’t comment on as often as I should.

The first time that I saw the cliffhanger I was quite spooked by it. The dark danky setting of the fort twinned with the knowledge that a Sea Devil is about ponce. Sadly after watching it countless times the menace of it is somewhat lost and whilst it might not have the initial impact that it did have, it’s still a lot better than some of the cliffhangers that I’ve seen this season. It’s a good solid opening episode and I feel good about this story which is the first time for a while that I have felt that.

The Daemons - Episode 5

The final episode of season eight has to do a lot in this episode and that is to give a satisfactory end to not just this story but to the season. The story starts off again with Azal appearing in his full form for the first time. It’s a good cliffhanger but I don’t think that it’s resolved very well. I like the explanation that the Doctor gives the villagers about what’s going on and after a while it goes back to the science vs magic argument between the Doctor and Miss Hawthorne. It’s fairly good that they use Jo as the sacrifice. It might be what you could argue the companion is for but it gives Katy Manning something to do other than fall over a lot.

After being stuck on the outside of the action for most of the time, the brigadier finally gets through and into the action and it’s a massive relief as I wondered quite what the point was for Nicholas Courtney to be in the story until this episode. There was also a look of relief on Nicholas Courtney’s face as he got to do something constructive. The episode features one of the most iconic lines in Doctor Who and the most famous that Nicholas Courtney says. “Chap with the wings there, five rounds rapid”. Once he’s involved in the story he doesn’t hang around and is firing at the gargoyle with everything that

There is a nice twist when Azal offers to give power to the Doctor and not the Master who refuses instantly. This must really have annoyed the Master after all he has gone through but this is clearly another instance where the Master hasn’t thought things through. Hopefully he goes away and thinks about how to do plans. Maybe watch a bond film or something like that.

The way that Azal is defeated is quite clever really as its Jo’s heroic moment of wanting to sacrifice her life instead of the Doctor’s does the job and I think that whilst it might have been the best way of finishing of the story, I found that it meant that the companion helped defeat the baddie and that makes a change from the Doctor swooping in at the last moment.

Now way back in episode one it was shown to us that the Doctor could use Bessie via remote control and it becomes relevant and prevents the Master from escaping. At the end of the episode he is seen being driven off and I still half expected him to find a way of escaping so it was nice and refreshing and felt like it left the door open for his return at a later date. Roger Delgado has been a  brilliant addition to the show and maybe a bit of a break will do the character and the show some good but he has been fun to watch.

The last shot is of them all dancing round the maypole with Yates and the Brigadier off to the pub. It does feel like the end of the season and it’s a nice way to sign off this season which has been largely good. I think that apart from Colony in Space, the stories have good but to be honest I think that the use of Roger Delgado in the vast majority of the season has been a bit of a mistake but I think that Katy Manning has really developed well in this season and I look forward to her second season.

The Daemons - Episode 4

The penultimate episode of this season finale story and I’m still in two minds about this story but for different reasons than at the beginning of the story. I think that the problem is that like most six part stories, this is too long for the story. Admittedly its only one episode too long but its still too long. Azal’s first appearance is a rather odd shot of its feet/hooves, the next would be the back and side of its head. His involvement in the episode is brief yet important and after spending three episodes talking about him its good that there seems to be some on screen development in this area.

In the initial moments of the episode, the Master looks like the assistant as opposed to the main person. This is just as surprising as the cliffhanger from the previous episode. This weird look doesn’t last for long as the moment he leaves the crypt he’s back to his old self. The sight of the Doctor on a bike is something that still takes a bit of getting use to. As is the scene where is he shot at and falls off the bike. Pertwee’s Doctor is very much an action figure and he shows it again here and has a very good episode unlike Katy Manning who does really get much to do apart from running from one place to another and falling down a lot. Roger Delgado on the other hand continues to impress from start to finish and has his best scenes when he’s in the crypt talking to Azal. Despite my disapproval of how the Brigadier has been used in recent episodes having been kept outside the main action, I must say that I felt he was given slightly more to do but compared to Jo he looked like he had a million and one things to do.

The whole business of the Doctor being tied up and trying to convince the locals that he has powers and it means that we get to see Bessie moving seemingly on her own like she did in episode one. When he was looking for things to move he had help from Benton who deserves some praise as he feels frustrated that everyone seems to be doing something or cant be found and he’s having to endure Miss Hawthorne who has a wonderful smile on her face for the whole episode.

The CSO shot of Azal didn’t start off particularly well but by the end it looked and it was a good cliffhanger and it ended was a pretty pedestrian episode. Apart from a few brief moments of action from Jon Pertwee, nothing of much interesting happened. It’s quite surprising that considering we are so close to the end that it doesn’t feel like the end is in sight and this also feels like a padding episode.

The Daemons - Episode 3

As we approach the second half of the story we are starting to get to where all the plot threads start to make much more sense and take on more importance. At the end of the previous episode, the gargoyle was about to attack the Doctor and Jo but this obviously doesn’t happen. It’s weird that after the gargoyle has been sent packing the Doctor reveals that the words he had said were a funny rhyme. It was a good way that they solved this particular cliffhanger because it was essentially a battle between the Doctor and the Master but they weren’t even in the same room.

There is a nice bit with the Doctor and Miss Hawthorne and its very much the believers vs the non-believers. It’s an argument that is good at first but does seem to get in the way of the story. The slideshow that the Doctor presents to the others does seem like a throwback to when Patrick Troughton’s Doctor would do a demonstration to highlight a plot point. Here the Doctor uses it to show that they are dealing with aliens which is a relief after all the black magic nonsense. The Daemons are using the earth as a science experiment and the Master is trying to use this to his advantage. Speaking of the Master I think that he really has fun in this story. In particular when he’s talking to some of the locals and reveals some of their private secrets to the whole room and this does a good job of getting them to convince them of his point of view.

There is a nice action sequence with the Doctor driving Bessie and Yates riding a motorcycle. It’s over rather quickly but does end up with Jo being flung from the vehicle and being the one that gets to spend time in bed. It made me chuckle when the Doctor gives her something to make her sleep and it seems like he’s doing us as well as Jo a favour. The performances from everyone has been consistently good and in this episode I think that both Jon Pertwee and Roger Delgado are the star turns. Nicholas Courtney appears in this episode but unfortunately is still outside of the action and apart from a brief scene with Jon Pertwee spends most of his time in the episode at the other end of a microphone. Shame really.

The cliffhanger is a rare thing indeed and it’s the Master in peril and its just brilliant to see someone else apart from the Doctor and Jo in the thick of the action. I think at this moment the Master is starting to realise that he doesn’t have quite the grip on things that he thought he had. You would have thought that by now he would have thought about his plan a bit more. The episode is the first one that I feel has some legs to it and it felt like every moment kept my attention and that’s the first time in this story that its really done this.

The Daemons - Episode 2

Episode 2 of The Daemons is the 300^th episode of Doctor Who. Quite hard to believe it’s been 300 days since I started this marathon. Every time I reach a milestone I am impressed that I haven’t chucked in the towel. I can’t deny that I haven’t thought about quitting over the last 300 days. When it was the 200^th episode, it was episode three of ‘Fury from the Deep’ and I don’t think that this was a great episode for the milestone whereas I can say without doubt that this is a better way of celebrating reaching 300. At the end of the previous episode, things started to go a bit wrong and the Doctor is out cold (literally) in this episode, he spends the vast majority of the episode asleep. Once he does wake up it’s like he’s just had a quick nap.

Benton and Yates become some amusing double act, it starts with them having two separate phone conversations. This then moves onto them taking the brigadier’s helicopter to Devil Hump and there is a great shot when they spot hoofs in a field which must show that what caused it is massive but sadly the closest we get to see is a shadow that forms on a police officer. There are some good effects used to hide the fact that we don’t see what it looks like and there is a nice POV shot where its moving along the floor of the crypt.

The brigadier tries to get into Devils Hump but has trouble as there is a barrier preventing anything from getting in or out. This does mean that his involvement in this episode is somewhat restricted and he cant really interact with the regulars apart from walkie talkie. Roger Delgado’s involvement doesn’t feel as big as it did in previous stories. Something that I did notice was the role and costume of a vicar does suit him. Katy Manning seems to get the lions share of the screen time in this episode which is quite surprising considering how little she was used in one episode of ‘Colony in Space’.

The cliffhanger is another good one as the gargoyle is in the dig with the Doctor and Jo and is blocking the exit. It’s not clear what exactly the gargoyle will do to them but that’s the magic of it. I think that as an episode it moves on enough and there is a nice mix of comedy and drama and all the performances are really good and I think that apart from the black magic stuff which I’m still not sure about is a good way to end the season.