(630) Vengeance on Varos - Part 2

After three episodes, I am still liking the 45 minute format. It means that the cliffhangers have much more of an impact and instead of three cliffhangers (where maybe just one works), we can appreciate the efforts of just one. The previous cliffhanger was impressive and still maintains that at the start of the episode. If the previous episode was lite on humour then this episode is a black hole of humour.

There are a few moments that happen in this episode that help add to the argument that the show had become too violent. The Acid bath scene is perhaps one of the strongest points. A myth that always existed about this is that the Doctor puts the workers in the bath whereas in fact he surprises one to fall in and he then pulls the other guy in. This could be put down as unfortunate but the quip that the Doctor delivers about being forgiven for not joining them is perhaps the thing that is perhaps misjudged. This episode features a scene where the Doctor is about be hung. Never before had something so n horrific been featured in a Doctor Who. There is a story that there had been an accident on this set and if the ropes had been around Colin Baker and Jason Connery’s heads then they most likely would have died. Thankfully this didn’t happen but the Doctor and Jondar do fall to the ground and for a moment it must seem like the unthinkable had happened. Luckily this was a trick by the Governor. There are two people that appear to be wrestling at the beginning and seem perfectly natural to the surroundings but later on they are revealed to be cannibals which is again something that I didn’t think would feature in a Doctor Who. There are some vines that are quite poisonous which the Doctor uses to kill Quillam, the Chief Officer along with other soldiers. It’s a moment which isn’t the way that the Doctor should behave.

There is a nice conflict that the Governor seems to be going through in this episode. Martin Jarvis performs well throughout and its good when he gets the chance to spoil Sil’s party and as a viewer it’s clear that he is enjoying this moment. Martin Jarvis has been very good in his performances for the show over the 20 years since his debut and he ends his time on the show in style.

The interaction between Arak and Etta continues to be the closes that the story comes to humour. Stephen Yardley (Arak). I still like how Arak is the one that clearly wants something different and Etta would be willing to turn her husband into the authorities.

Peri’s bad luck in this show continues where she undergoes a transformation. I am surprised at how long it takes for her to become like a bird and how quick she went back to normal. But I suppose with time constraints of TV dramas that this had to happen this way.

There have been some interesting supporting performances in these two episodes which I think deserve a quick mention. Geraldine Alexander (Areta) has done well with what has been a rather thankless task. Her ‘highlight’ comes when she joins Peri in the transformation and looks worse than Peri (the downside of not being a companion). Nicolas Chagrin (Quillam) has his mask removed and its quite grotesque. Doctor Who has a trend in this period for shocking disfigurements. The Chief Officer (Forbes Collins) has been in the background for most of the previous episode but in this episode he becomes much more relevant and his ability to backstab the governor really allows him to become quite horrible. Speaking of horrible, I still think that Nabil Shaban steals the story. It’s clear why he returned in the following series. Once he seems to have gained power, its clear that he wasn’t going to have it for long. Finally, Owen Teal plays Maldak. Here is rather ordinary but would go on to give a very memorable performance in Torchwood in the episode Countrycide (2006).

The episode ends with the Governor talking to his citizens and telling them that things are changing and the final shot is of Arak and Etta wondering what they are going to do. Without the torturing they are lost and I think that is a great way to end the episode.

Philip Martin has written a very strong story. Ok so that there were some moments which were not suitable as far as the morals of the Doctor are concerned but I can’t say that I was ever bored during the entire two episode run. Martin returns to the show the following year but it won’t be as good.  Ron Jones hasn’t been a director that I have rated highly. His previous offerings included Black Orchid (1982), Time-Flight (1982), Arc of Infinity (1983) and Frontios (1984). This is by a clear mile the best directed story that he has done. He has managed to translate the grimness of the story well and used low lighting to create a nice atmosphere.

So far it is two good stories out of two. I think that Attack is a better story but the standard hasn’t dropped too much during the course of this two parter. The next story is another story that has always been a popular one in my books and I am impressed that after the less than stellar start to the Colin Baker era, that we have now potentially got three solid stories in a row.

(629) Vengeance on Varos - Part 1

After enjoying Attack of the Cybermen, I knew that it wasn’t going to be two top stories in a row. Vengeance on Varos has a rather infamous reputation as the one that is used to attack the show’s track record on violence. The whole subject of violence on TV is dealt with in this story and it seems that this story was about 15 years ahead of its time. It certainly has a Big Brother theme to it. The story takes place on Varos and we are rather interestingly seeing the story effectively through the eyes of two people from Varos by the name of Etta and Arak. Stephen Yardley plays Arak and he seems the one that is rather disillusioned with life. Sheila Reid plays Etta and will return to play a relative of Clara’s in the new series but she is perhaps more famous for being in the ITV sitcom Benidorm. She is the one that is more obedient to the government and is willing to turn in her own husband and I think that is something that makes their relationship interesting. Another interesting thing is that they don’t interact with anyone else.

The next person we are introduced to is Jason Connery. Connery appears as Jondar and is the son of former James Bond star Sean Connery. The thing about the character is that we are supposed to like him because he seems to be unfairly treated. However there is something that doesn’t quite work for me and I can’t put my finger on it. There are other people that I think have a better time in this episode. Nabil Shaban plays Sil and steals this story. There is just something wonderful about the performance. Every time he is on screen, I find myself totally mesmerised with him. I think that apart from Shaban’s performance, the design of the creature is wonderful and shows that some thought and money went into it. However a good costume isn’t worth anything if the actor wearing the costume isn’t any good and we can be quite grateful that Shaban was cast because no one would have made this character as loathsome and unlikeable as he does. Martin Jarvis plays the Governor. The role of the Governor who has to seek the public’s vote as to whether he should stay in power. I don’t envy the Governor very much because he is pretty much pressured into things and has to undergo rather harsh treatment. Jarvis has previous appeared in The Web Planet (1965) and Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974) and I think that this is perhaps the most intense performance of the three.

The Doctor and Peri spend an awful long time in the TARDIS and are forced to land on Varos. Once they soon land on Varos then they get into a world of trouble and encounter Jondar. I think that the performances from Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant aren’t particularly on fire in this episode. If memory serves me correctly I think that the next episode is the one that will stand out for them but Baker has the better time in the latter stages of the episode.

Normally tunnels provide very little in the way of drama or entertainment but credit to Philip Martin for managing to make something of these rather primitive sets. They are used to try and put off the Doctor and others and they are quite entertaining. My particular favourite one is sand dunes one which forces the Doctor to believe he is unbelievably hot and this leads up to the cliffhanger. The final second is the close up of the Doctor unconscious and the TV monitor being turned off. This is a very dramatic ending and I don’t normally like cliffhangers that include the Doctor or the companion but when its done like this then I don’t really mind. This is another episode where humour is rather thin on the ground. The Arak and Etta stuff is perhaps the closes that we really get to humour and I think that if there was a problem with this story it is that it is too dark in my opinion. I like this story don’t get me wrong but I think that Attack of the Cybermen is a better in terms of finding the right balance.

(628) Attack of the Cybermen - Part 2

I was thinking before I started to watch today’s episode about the 45 minute format. I think that before 2005, I wasn’t keen on the longer format as I somehow felt that I wasn’t getting a better deal in terms of storytelling. Having had a decade (nearly) of 45 minute episodes, I can now appreciate the longer running time in the classic era. I don’t think that I appreciated certain moments leading up to the cliffhanger in the previous episode enough. The shot of Russell shooting a Cyberman close up is one of the more violent instances in this serial. The death of Russell is dealt with quite interesting because after the reprise, you don’t actually get to see Russell’s body and that is so Terry Molloy doesn’t have to get paid for a second episode which is perhaps smart financial sense.

The first couple of minutes are quite dramatic as everyone boards the TARDIS and the Doctor is threatening to blow up the TARDIS if the Cybermen don’t let Peri go. It is perhaps unfortunate they use BBC computer graphics to illustrate the countdown timer. That aside, it’s a good little moment and the episode is filled with these good little moments. The Doctor really doesn’t trust Lytton which starts quite early on in the episode and becomes almost a theme.

Michael Kilgarriff is the Cyber Controller and at a risk of being mean, he is quite a large Cyber Controller. Kilgarrif has previously played the K1 robot in Robot (1974) and I think that it was perhaps unfortunate that he does appear to be a bit on the large size.

There is a bit of a backstory given to why the Cybermen adopted Telos as their home world. The problem with this period in the show is that continuity started to creep too much into the show but on this occasion it works quite well because it all seems to tie in together. The touchy subject of what happened in The Tenth Planet is raised between the Doctor, Peri, Lytton and Griffiths. Oddly enough the year that this particular story takes place in is a year in advance of when this story was transmitted.

The sight of the Cybermen in the console room of the TARDIS without the Doctor is a very strange one but it’s one that I like. Peri has a change of costume in this episode, even the Cybermen understand that Nicola Bryant wasn’t particularly well dressed for Telos. When the story moves to Telos properly, the thing that stands out about the set for the tombs is that it is just as grim as the quarry.

If there is one aspect of this serial that doesn’t quite work then it is the introduction of the Cryons. Visually they are something that are very 1980’s. Their story is interesting in the build-up but when they appear then it’s a little bit disappointing. It’s the eyes which just a silly and also the moustache that appears to be on their faces which looked equally silly. Sarah Greene (Varne) and Faith Brown (Flast) are two of the Cryons who were quite famous in the 1980’s. Greene having appeared in Blue Peter (1980-1983) and Going Live for several years. Brown is someone that I am not as familiar with but apparently she was a big name.

Bates and Stratton’s foolhardy plan to take one the Cybermen’s ships does seem to have a better chance of success when they team up with Lytton and Griffiths. There is a nice progression of the character of Lytton during this episode. When the Cyberman squeeze Lytton’s hands so that blood comes out of them is one of the reasons why the too much violence line was pointed at the show during this time. It was too excessive in my opinion and slightly disconnected me from the story for a brief moment. The deaths of Bates, Stratton and Griffiths are grim but happen quite quickly. Unlike Lytton’s death which takes place over several minutes after he is being converted by the Cybermen. Lytton had been working for the Cryons and so that makes his conversion quite sad.  The Doctor’s reaction after he has been killed is a nice moment.

The Death of the Cyber Controller and that whole scene is another dramatic moment but it shows the Doctor attacking and is another example of how different Baker’s Doctor is going to be very different to Peter Davison’s Doctor.

The Doctor believes that the Timelords have manipulated matters to get the Doctor on Telos. The Doctor and Flast come up with a plan to use powerful explosives against the Cybermen. The scene when a Cyberman is attacked by the explosives and its quite good. Flast’s death is quite grim as she is forced outside the chamber and she basically burns to death.

The episode ends with the Doctor attacking himself for misjudging Lytton but I think that he acted like most people would have done. Ok so Lytton turned out to be a good guy but if you base you impression on the last encounter then the Doctor probably did act the right way. Maybe if Lytton had acted different in their first encounter then things would have worked out differently.

It feels like this is the first story that Colin Baker’s Doctor should have started off with. It was one of the best Cyberman stories even better than Earthshock. At the moment the story is in fourth position and I think that is a fair position for it to be in. There were some moments that I think were perhaps misjudged but apart from that I thought this is one of the prime examples of why Colin Baker was underrated as a Doctor.

(627) Attack of the Cybermen - Part 1

Today is the first episode of the 22^nd season. Something I forgot to mention with episode 3 of The Twin Dilemma and that was it was the 100^th episode for John Nathan Turner as producer meaning he is only the second producer in Doctor Who history to his the 100 mark. This is the first of the new 45 minute episodes and also the first story to feature on a Saturday since Logopolis back in 1981. This is an Eric Saward script but it is credited to Paula Moore although there is a lot of confusion about this because it seems that continuity advisor Ian Levine suggested some idea. Moore only acted as the author of this to avoid any problems with the Writers’ Guild. What is more certain is the involvement of the director. After his success on Resurrection of the Daleks, Matthew Robinson was asked to come back for this. He wasn’t the original director intended but I think that Robinson was the right person to direct this serial because he is someone that like Graeme Harper, can inject some energy into the action.

There is a really nice opening scene between to characters who don’t have much of an involvement in the story. It’s helped that the sewer scene is so badly lit because that in itself creates the atmosphere even before the performances begin. Some mysterious figure kills the two workers then sometime later kills Payne. Even though Cybermen is in the title, it’s good that they have at least held back on stating the obvious and have the Cybermen appear early on.

This episode sees the Doctor try and fix the Chameleon Circuit. The chameleon circuit working means that the traditional iconic Police Box design is replaced and it seems to be purely to act as a source of comedy. Also the fact that the TARDIS materialises in 76 Totters Lane is a huge continuity nod and seems like a little bit of a joke.

The opening scene with the Doctor and Peri does seem a bit more toned down than in The Twin Dilemma. It does seem that Colin Baker has got a handle on the role know and the loudness of his opening performance has been replace with a cocky but more likeable Doctor. Nicola Bryant has a better time than she has had in her two previous adventures but sadly her performance is overshadowed by the bright pink lycra costume that she wears.

Lytton’s return is welcomed and he seems to have turned to criminal activities as he is interested in £10 million worth of diamonds. As well as Lytton (in a rather dapper suit), the two police officers from Resurrection make an appearance although have more involvement than in the previous story where their actions consisted of shooting a stranger on the banks of the Thames.

This episode sees Terry Molloy out of the Davros costume. This was Matthew Robinson’s way of thanking Molloy for what he had to put up with in Resurrection of the Daleks. He plays Russell and I like the character because he is the one of the team that doesn’t trust or like Lytton. Another familiar face is Brian Glover who plays Griffiths. He is perhaps famous for appearing in such shows Kes (1969), Porridge (1974), Bottom (1991) and Alien 3 (1993). He doesn’t come across as the smartest person in the world but he is a likeable character. Maurice Colbourne is really fun in this serial and seems to be thriving not being with the Daleks. The insults that Lytton delivers to Griffiths are the few moments of comedy in this serial.

The Cybermen’s appearance happens where the 25 minute episode would normally end. It’s a good start for them and when Lytton wants to work with the Cybermen it comes as quite a bit of a mystery. It’s not quite clear what their involvement is but there is the sense that they are going to be using people for converting. Part of the action takes place on Telos which was briefly seen in the 1967 adventure Tomb of the Cybermen. It really does look like a grim place, the 1967 version seems like a quarry with a nice sun but this version is grim with a lack of warmth. The stuff that happens of Telos is seen through the eyes of Bates (Michael Attwell) and Stratton (Jonathan David) who are trying to escape but aren’t the smartest people ever. They are involved in another violent scene where they decapitate a Cyberman’s head but I suspect things are going to get more grim in the next episode.

It’s fun seeing the scene between Colin Baker and Terry Molloy because there will be another encounter between them but in the final story of the season except next time Molloy will be dressed as Davros.

As the Doctor doesn’t have his Sonic Screwdriver anymore, he seems to have created a sonic lance which doesn’t have quite the ring to it. The Doctor killing a Cybermen is quite violent for the show and it does show a different tone in terms of style from Colin Baker’s Doctor to Peter Davison’s.

The final scene leading up to the cliffhanger is rather actioned packed. The Doctor, Griffiths and Peri enter the TARDIS but Cybermen are already waiting for them. Peri is about to be attacked by Cybermen before screaming. This is quite a good cliffhanger and the whole episode in general is impressive. I can get past the violent moments that take place in the episode because everything around it was so enjoyable. The performances were superb, the directing was superb and even the writing was on the same level which even if you can get to the bottom of that confusing part is good. The new 45 minute format is working well so far and I look forward to final part.

(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.