(609) Frontios - Part 1

Back to four parters and the return of Christopher H Bidmead who was the script editor for about 10 minutes in Tom Baker’s final season and wrote Castrovalva. I have never really had much fondness for this story but if there has been one repeating pattern over the period that I have been doing this marathon is that there is the possibility that my opinion might change. I have to confess that the omens for this story are very good. The opening scene is quite good and ends with a body disappearing. The first scene that sees the Doctor, Turlough and Tegan (thankfully no Kamelion) is a strange one because it doesn’t have any drama to it. Even when things seem to be going wrong then the Doctor didn’t show it. The Doctor doesn’t want to land but this is a clear sign that they are about to do this. It’s the standard TV thing of doing the opposite of what people say or do.

The Doctor goes from telling Range that he couldn’t get involved to basically offering his assistance. All in the space of one scene. He does make his stance more clear when he says to Plantagenet that he is going to leave as soon as possible. Plantagenet is played (brilliantly) by Jeff Rawle. Plantagenet seems to be enjoying his dictatorship but there is a part of this performance which suggests that there is an internal struggle. He doesn’t trust the Doctor and this that the stuff his father did for the colony is very important. Lesley Dunlop appears in this story, she would go on to appear in May to December (1989-1994) and has appeared in Emmerdale since 2008. In this she plays Lorna who is quite a nice character and nice characters are few a far between.

The story of the colonists is a nice one explained by Range. It turns out that they didn’t start the problems but a mystery force is wreaking havoc. The planet is being bombarded by meteors and something that isn’t referred to is that there isn’t any wood around. It’s all metal and I think that the whole planet is rather grim which probably plays into what Bidmead is trying to do with this story. Ron Jones returns to the directing chair after his previous attempt in the form of Arc of Infinity and he directs this episode in a solid way and its pace works quite well.

The cliffhanger is rather good because if you were watching this for the first time in 1984 then you genuinely wouldn’t see it coming. The TARDIS has been destroyed and all that survives in a white handstand that was given more screentime than would have been the norm. I like it as a visual symbol and what it represents. It’s a sound opening episode and I am really surprised that I have liked this episode as much as I have. After being somewhat bored with The Awakening, its nice that something of note has happened.

(608) The Awakening - Part 2

This story really doesn’t have anything going for it. Being a science fiction show it is not that surprising when non-science fiction stuff and on occasion it does it rather well. Sadly when the story cant quite make up its mind then that is when problems tend to arise and boy do they appear in this episode. It does seem like this story is more concerned with Sir George’s actions rather the Malus. Now I know that the two are connected by I think that as there are only two episodes then there isn’t really the time to split the story.

I wish we had had more of the Malus because it was quite a good creature and I think that more time should have been put aside to explain what it was and why it was there because it did seem a bit rushed. The Malus appearing in the TARDIS towards the latter stages of the episode is quite good. There is a good bit of CSO to realise this and its one of the few successes in the entire story. I honestly don’t remember how it was defeated because I was so disconnected with what I was seeing on screen that I am at a loss to explain it. The ooze coming from the Malus’ mouth is quite grim, another death which is perhaps stronger than it needed to be. Also the Trooper’s death was perhaps more shocking considering that you don’t actually get to see it.

The Malus’s destruction in the church is quite dramatic but the thing about blowing up church models is that it will never look as good as the one in The Daemons which really did look impressive and that was 12 years before this story aired. Ok so I think that on reflection this is an average story. No, forget that it’s a terrible story and just think how bad it would have been had it been four episodes long.

What makes the past two episodes even more frustrating is that Resurrection of the Daleks aired in two parts when it could have been shown in its intended four episode format. I know that this option is available on the DVD but it just shows that clear problems with the script should have meant that this story was cancelled and the Daleks story was extended but that’s all in the past and The Awakening exists but I think that the two episode format (as it is) thankfully ends but out of the three that there have been during the Davison era, this is by far the worst and that’s saying something considering how little there was in The Kings Demons.

(607) The Awakening - Part 1

I’ve decided (suddenly) that I don’t like two parters. I think that it’s got something to do with the fact that its simply not long enough to tell a proper story. There are plenty of examples of four parters that should have been two (such as Warriors of the Deep) but there aren’t any two part stories that I thought would have benefited from being a four parter. Warning, there is going to be a bit of history in todays review.

The episode does start off with a nice sequence of horse running. The location filming is rather good in this episode and its nice when there is this amount of filming in nice surroundings. This was filmed in July 1983 and the parts of Dorset that is used look really nice and one of the few positives that I take from this is the location filming.

The Doctor is trying to take Tegan to visit her grandfather. Though of course this story would be very good if this were the case. Not only Tegan get to meet her grandfather but by the end of the episode she is about to be the Queen of the May. Her costume that she wears at this point is possibly the best thing that she has worn since her air hostess costume from season 18.

Now here’s the history bit. The village is involved in War Games led by Sir George who is quite obsessed with ensuring history is remembered. There is a particular date in history Battle of Roundway Down which tookplace on July 13^th 1643 during the English Civil War which saw Lord Wilmot win over the Parliamentarians under Sir William Waller in Wiltshire.

There is a moment which sees the Doctor in peril and saved by Will Chandler who by the looks of it could have been seen as a future companion. There is a nice bit where Will is looking at gravestones which seems like a nice bonding moment between the two. It’s clear that there is some potential for the character because it is intellectually the same as Leela although the limitations of having a character not know things and I think that after a short time it would have got a bit tiresome. The performances from the regulars aren’t really that good or bad. I think that the material doesn’t really allow them to do very much.

The episode ends with the crack in the wall in the church made even bigger and a face with green eyes appearing. It then engulfs the Doctor in smoke. This is a fairly good cliffhanger but its fair to say that this has been a largely unforgettable episode. I think that there was about five minutes of interesting stuff surrounded by 20 minutes of people running around, galloping on horses and more running around. This is perhaps the upside of there being two episodes is that at least it will be over tomorrow.

(606) Warriors of the Deep - Part 4

This is the fourth and final episode which does do what I hoped it would do at the end of the previous review and that is to save the story and boy does it do it in style. It’s hard for me to imagine just how bad the story started off and one reason why things picked up is that the Myrka doesn’t feature and that is a blessed relief because it means that my focus can move onto the important stuff. After spending an awfully long time getting ready, the Silurians are ready to put their plan into operation. The sad thing about what happens with the Silurians is that it is made less effective by the voice.

The Silurians want to use the base to launch a war so that the countries go to war with each other. Considering that they are suppose to be peace loving creature, its quite a change in character although they have been through quite a lot so maybe its not that surprising. I think as a design, the Silurians are a moderate success. I like the headlight that indicates which one of them were speaking but sadly the speech was something the just didn’t work. I think they could have turned it down a bit which would have helped. The Sea Devils didn’t need to come back because they lost any of the menace that they had during their debut story 12 years earlier.

The Doctor does try and find a peaceful way of ending things. When told he should kill the Silurians and sea devils he gets quite angry and it harks back to the days of Jon Pertwee which I thought was nice. It’s hard to be the Doctor in this episode because with time running out he is being nagged at by Tegan, Turlough and the others. The sadness that the Doctor shows on the last shot of the episode shows something that I don’t think I have seen during the Peter Davison era which is surprising considering that this is his 15^th story as Doctor. This is one of the strongest performances from Peter Davison for sometime. Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson haven’t been mentioned a great deal during this story but to be honest they haven’t really done anything of any note.

The gooey death that a Sea Devil goes through is quite grim and is in keeping with how deaths were done during this period of the show. What makes their death (along with the Silurians) is that they were warned to leave but refused to and so it could be argued that they only had themselves to blame so it’s a slightly confusing ending for them. It’s a shame that after over a decade away that things didn’t come together to make this story work. I know that there were circumstances that meant the show was never going to work as well as it should but the second half of this story helps salvage this and at the moment I have given this story a rating that places it above Four to Doomsday, The Kings Demons, Snakedance and Time-Flight. This is probably a fair position.

The show has quite a grim ending with all the Silurians, sea devils and the human dead. Only the regulars are alive which is the first time this has happened since Horror of Fang Rock. The opening story of the season doesn’t quite have the impact that maybe Arc of Infinity had and so its fair to say that the twenty-first season of Doctor Who has gotten off to an average start.

(605) Warriors of the Deep - Part 3

The first couple of minutes are excruciatingly bad. As you might have guessed its largely down to the Myrka. There are some laughable moments including a bit where about four of the seabase crew die in a rather OTT manner. Production problems include the door and the green paint that appears on Tegan. There is also the small matter of the Silurians costumes that have come untucked. It’s mentioned in the making of feature on the DVD that due to Margaret Thatcher calling a snap general election, JNT had a choice of either not making this story or making this story earlier than he would have liked. I think that on hindsight he should have postponed this because it would have given time for things to be made properly and the studio sets lit properly.

The entrance of the Sea Devils is quite good as its done in a slow way and not ruined by the incidental music. Also the black coloured Sea Devils against the White floors and walls work quite well. I still think that the Sea Devils should be the leader. This episode features one of the most ludicrous things ever (and I do mean ever) to be seen in a Doctor Who episode. For some reason, Ingrid Pitt decided to do a ninja kick on the Myrka rather than run away. It’s unclear as to whether she knew it would electrify her but it doesn’t get away from it. It’s a shame as well that her character had to die because she was the best thing in it.

The stuff with Maddox has been part of the story since the beginning but to be honest it hadn’t really gripped me. Today it seemed to although I am still a bit lost as to why its happening. Nilson seems to be quite a good villain. Solow was a fun person to watch but not a believable villain. One thing is for sure about Maddox (Martin Neil) is much less annoying when he wasn’t freaking out. The supporting cast on a whole were much better but I think that some of the annoying characters have gone to me their maker, they are an ex-supporting character.

The cliffhanger wasn’t particularly memorable but considering how good the This episode was the best one of the three which isn’t a hard thing to achieve but I think that the final episode might just save the day. It’s a big ask but I think that there is a possibility that this wont be the disaster that I was predicting at the beginning of episode one.

(604) Warriors of the Deep - Part 2

The previous episode ended with the Doctor being pushed over the railing and into the water and it wasn’t perhaps the best way to end the episode but it shows that cliffhangers can be improved when we see what happens next.

The diving sequence is quite impressive and not something that has been seen before in Doctor Who. In fact the first couple of minutes is quite interesting. I was genuinely thinking that this episode might change my opinion of this story because even after the first scene with the Sea Devils and the Silurians I thought things were picking up. Sadly things with the crew of the sea base start to take any fun that there was out of the story.

It was interesting to see that the Sea Devils would obey the Silurians. It would have been nice though to see a bit of conflict or tension leading up to them bowing to the Silurians. I still cant take the Silurians serious when they have huge smiles on their faces. It does slightly seriously ruin any chance they could have of coming across as a serious threat. The Sea Devils on the other hand are dressed in black and sound like they did in 1972 and so would have been the better choice.

Just after the midway point of the episode there is another mention of the Myrka. This is one of those instances where I wish I could go back in time and change the decision to include it in this story because its at this point of the story that the production problems start to appear on screen. When the Myrka breaks through the doors are really rubbish and look like plastic or rubber. The door ‘falls’ on Tegan and in the real world that door would have broken or shattered her leg into thousands of pieces yet she shows little to no real pain. The doors bend with tremendous ease and the problems are just starting but more of that in the next episode.

So far the story isn’t terrible but the things that are wrong are going to cause more problems. It’s a shame that Johnny Byrne’s story is being let down by some poor decision in the production. Any potential that this story had seems to disappeared in just this one episode. Well at least there are just two more episodes but its going to feel like twenty.

(603) Warriors of the Deep - Part 1

This is the first story of the 21^st season and it sees the return of the Silurians and the Sea Devils. After enjoying the 20^th Anniversary story, it was always going to be difficult to keep up the excitement. This is a story that has a lot of problems which I will come to later. Johnny Byrne is the writer of this story and I like Johnny as a writer because he wrote The Keeper of Traken and Arc of Infinity which are sound stories. The Silurians make their first appearance just under two minutes into the episode. It’s surprising that the Silurians are introduced so quickly. Normally when a familiar monster returns it doesn’t happen until the end. Sadly they don’t look as good as they did in Doctor Who and the Silurians. I like the light flashing on their head when they speak but the voice is rather poor.

The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough spend the first half of the episode trying not to be blown up but once they manage to avoid that they land in the under-sea base. The base itself is one that lends itself to feelings of its time in that there was the threat of war. This is a good idea and its one that Johnny Byrne has used well. Sadly the problem is that it has been filled with people who aren’t particularly believable as under sea personnel. The only person that has any value to them is the late Ingrid Pitt who makes the best of her role by pretending that she’s in some sort of 1970’s Hammer Horror film with that odd accent.

The Sea Devils’ make-over has been more successful because they appear to be a samurai-style costume but I like how they are kneeling on the floor. Whereas the Silurians appeared at the beginning, the Sea Devil’s don’t appear until the end which felt more like a Doctor Who story. It’s clear that the Silurians are the leaders of the story which I cant quite make my mind up  whether this is a good thing or not but I suppose time will tell on that one.

The thing about this episode is that large chunks of it are quite interesting but I feel like there are other things which don’t quite work such as the rather clunky 1980’s style computer graphics and also I think that such people as Maddox just make the sea base seem like its not that important. This might me being too harsh but when Ingrid Pitt isn’t on screen then I don’t really care about the rest of them.

The cliffhanger is rather impressive and one of the better ones for sometime. He is pushed over the railings and Turlough immediately thinks he has drowned. It’s quite a dramatic and unexpected way to end the episode considering it started off quite quiet for the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough. As opening episodes go its not the worst but its not the cracking opener it should be. It seems to me that this will be an average story at best. Maybe when the Silurians and Sea Devils get involved then my opinion of this story might improve but I still think that after The Five Doctors that anything was going to struggle to match it.