The Wheel in Space - Episode 6

So the final episode of the story and the final episode of the series should be an exciting moment yet as the story hasn’t quite lived up to my expectations then I’m sad to say that this isn’t the case. The only excitement comes from the fact that we are pretty much back on DVD territory. In fact if you include the animated episodes from The Invasion, then the next time I will have to listen to a CD is not until Day 235 when The Space Pirates starts (January 6 to be exact).

The meteorites are the main threat in this story and its because of these that the cliffhanger worked as well as it did. On CD it didn’t quite work but when we see it then despite the fact that the meteorites look like big balls on string, it works due to the performances from Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury. After the initial reprise we are reminded about Gemma’s death and its just as sad as in the previous episode.

Jarvis has lost a lot of hysteria from the previous episodes and his death is a surprise but rather well done. After Gemma, he has been one of the more entertaining characters from this story so it seems a shame that they have killed both of these characters off.

Jamie and Zoe seemed to have buried the hatchet and Zoe has taken on board what was said to her in the previous episodes. It seems like her development has reached its conclusion. They work quite well together and its good to see as they are about to spend an entire season together. I think the way that Zoe gets into the TARDIS is quite interesting as she becomes a stowaway. No reason is given why Zoe cant join them. It must be said she’s the worst stowaway in history as she’s easily spotted by the Doctor. The Doctor tries to scare her by showing her a clip from ‘Evil of the Daleks’ (episode two I think!). This was used at the time because they were repeating ‘Evil of the Daleks’ on BBC1 the week after this aired. However watching it now knowing that tomorrow will be the start of season 6, this does seem somewhat of a out of sorts thing to do.

I have finally found something good to say about Patrick Troughton’s performance. The Doctor is quite active in this episode and his best moment comes when he comes up with a way that kills a Cyberman. He’s still hampered by a lack of action but at least he gets to do something Doctor-like.

The Cybermen ‘s convoluted plan continues and whereas it seems to have taken second place to the meteorite plot, this seems to have been switched around. For the life of me I don’t quite know why they don’t just storm in and take the wheel. It’s not like they’ve got a massive arsenal to fight against. They are also defeated too easily in my mind and this is why I think that this has been a poor use of the creatures. Given that they have free reign over the show now that the Daleks are gone, it seems a wasted opportunity in my mind.

I like how they deal with the video calls. Especially Troughton’s call when he speaks to Jamie, Zoe and the others and the direction he looks in matches the positions of Jamie and Zoe. This is the first time that I have appreciated Tristan DeVere Cole’s direction. The shot of the Cybermen walking towards the wheel is another great moment and credit should go to him.

I think that this was a good ending to an otherwise poor story. I think that they could easily have taken the Cybermen out of this story and it wouldn’t have made a bit of difference. Before watching this story a day at a time, I would have rated this story quite highly but watching it like I have done this time I cant help but fee disappointed. I think that the six episode format has worked (just) in this story and its only the Cybermen that have let the side down. I think that they have done wonders on Zoe’s character over the course of the story. Now we are about to enter the final season for Patrick Troughton as the Doctor, the final season in the 1960’s and also the final season in monochrome. I cant wait.

This fifth season has been largely quite good. I think that started off really well with ‘The Tomb of the Cybermen’ before stumbling with ‘The Abominable Snowmen’, then picking up against on a three story good run with ‘The Ice Warriors’, ‘The Enemy of the World’ and ‘The Web of Fear’ before stumbling against with ‘Fury from the Deep’. Whilst I cant say that this story is the worst, its not the best. In fact out of seven stories, it ranks in fourth place. Pretty much says that this story ends the season on a relatively good note.