Doctor Who and the Silurians - Episode 4

I like how when the Doctor encounters the Silurians he isn’t scared and doesn’t try to fight it but instead he reasons with it. This is a good thing about the Doctor, even when everyone would be happy to wipe them out, he is trying his best to prevent a war. When Baker goes into the caves and gets trapped I must say that I don’t have much sympathy. I’ve gone from finding him interesting to being a pain in the rear-end.

We get to encounter the Silurians properly for the first time and its quite surprising that its taken until the fourth episode but at least its finally happened. Visually, they look really good and I think it’s the best that they will look in any of their other stories. It’s nothing special but its just a great look and the sound of them is something that works because it doesn’t sound human but doesn’t sound too dissimilar.

Liz gets to do something constructive in this episode and actually gets to go down in the caves. According to the information text on the DVD, they wanted Caroline John to be in a mini skirt when she went down in the caves. This is sadly a sign of the time that this story was made in that this would have been a perfectly acceptable thing to do and it’s good that Jon Pertwee insisted that she wear the appropriate clothing.

Geoffrey Palmer makes his first of three appearances in Doctor Who in this episode. He’s curiously called ‘Masters’ but is really just a talking suit from Westminister and seems to try and put off doing anything to help the situation, seemingly unwilling to believe anything of what anyone says. It’s a perfectly fine performance from Palmer and he seems quite good at being a sort of civil servant type. We get a bit more of Dr Lawrence who seems to get more and more irate. His mood doesn’t seem to get any better as the episode progresses which is becoming a funny part of the story. At least he features more in this episode than he did in the previous one. Peter Miles is a very reliable actor and he makes me understand the position that Lawrence is currently in and with the arrival of Masters, it feels like Lawrence has his back against the wall. Miss Dawson makes an appearance at the 20 minute mark and no explanation has been made as to where she was between her final moments with Quinn and when she does appear she’s discovered that Quinn is dead and immediately decides that the Silurians should be killed. I’m finding her rather much the same as Major Baker and that’s not a good thing. Quite why she survived and yet Quinn got killed is somewhat of a mystery.

I thought that this was a perfectly fine episode, nothing special but it just carried things along. We’ve got to the half way point of the story and there are still loads of interesting things to happen and with the introduction of Masters it feels like things are moving at a good enough pace and I find my interest at the same level as it was at the beginning of Episode one.

Doctor Who and the Silurians - Episode 3

At the end of the previous episode, Liz was the one in danger from the Silurian. Unlike the previous episode, this one doesn’t have a flimsy conclusion. Liz is still unconscious after the Doctor and others arrive and it takes several moments for her to recover. This seemed like she was destined to do very little in the episode and I don’t think that she was given much to do as everything in the episode took my attention.

This episode shows Dr Quinn’s involvement become a bit more dubious and he spends the early part of the episode trying to locate the rogue Silurian whilst getting around the UNIT soldiers. After getting the Silurian, Quinn then has to try and see off the Doctor’s unscheduled appearance at his cottage and has to try and pretend that the heating is due to a fault with the heater. It’s a fun scene because its clear that Quinn is squirming and the Doctor is loving this as he clearly suspects something. It’s a shame that he dies at the end of the episode which I think is a wasted opportunity as he had a lot more mileage in this story and after just three episodes I think that they made a mistake in killing of the character. Miss Dawson goes from being very close to Dr Quinn to someone who thinks that things have gone to far. The only thing that doesn’t make sense is where she goes after her final scene just before the Doctor discovers Dr Quinn.  Major Baker is a character that is growing more interesting with every episode. It does feel like they have been building up his character and its fun to see him clash with the Doctor.

I’ve not really commented on the trio of Jon Pertwee, Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John. It’s going to form part of the Pertwee era (except we replace Caroline John with Katy Manning in the next season) and it does feel like a family. Nicholas Courtney is the father in the group and is the voice of reason, Caroline John is a sort of sister figure and is willing to go with the Doctor up to a certain point but then feels the need to take a step back. Jon Pertwee is just having fun and flits from one scene to the other with the same sort of energy and enthusiasm that the show needs and its clear why ratings went up from around three million in the latter stages of the Troughton era to eight million for these episodes. It’s not just because of the performances buts the writing and directing. Both Malcolm Hulke and Timothy Combe have worked well to give us something that feels like we are progressing towards something and not just waiting until the business end of the story before things get interesting.

The cliffhanger was rather good but it was slightly strange in the sense that I didn’t get the feeling like the Doctor was in terrible danger. It doesn’t change the fact that it’s a good cliffhanger but it probably wont go down as one of the greats in Doctor Who. I thought that this was another solid episode which moved the story on just enough to keep the interest going a bit.

Doctor Who and the Silurians - Episode 2

At the end of the previous episode, it looked like the Doctor was in trouble but it was dealt with in rather a wet way. No sooner was he in trouble that he walks back into the Brigadier’s office. I was slightly disappointed by this as I felt that it trivialised the cliffhanger. I know that having regulars in a cliffhanger can be a slightly futile idea but I would have liked a better resolution to the cliffhanger.

There are more examples of Liz Shaw being sent to the side-lines as when the Doctor and the Brigadier go into the caves, she’s told not to come. After six episodes, I cant say that Caroline John’s been particularly well used so far and if my memory serves me correctly, I don’t think that the character of Liz will get anything better to do.

Dr Quinn’s true colours is shown in this episode and shows that his nice as pie persona was just an act as we find him in the cave talking to one of the Silurians. Miss Dawson doesn’t really do much in this episode as I think that it gives Quinn the opportunity to stand out as the stronger of the two.

The cave sets are very impressive I should have said something yesterday but now I am putting it right. They are lit brilliantly and I believe that even though I know it’s a studio set, that its very atmospheric and its good to know there are more scenes set in these caves. Another thing which is distinctive but probably a bit grating in a few episodes is the music. It sounds quite good but there is a repetitiveness that wouldn’t be so bad in a four part story but in seven it just gets annoying.

I like how the actual silurians are being held back for so long. There was a brief dark shot of one of them in the early part of the episode. We get to see a POV shot and the occasional hand shot so its done to stoke our interest and give us something new to get interested in.

One of my favourite parts of the episode comes when the story moves to the farm and when the farmer discovers the Silurian. It leads to the cliffhanger which involves Liz and the whole barn section is good because it feels like a natural evolution of the story and I found the cliffhanger to be a sensible and exciting way to end the episode.

This is a stronger episode than the first as we get a glimpse of the Silurians and certain characters develop and become more interesting as a result. After two episodes my interest is still around and I feel like the Pertwee era is continuing to get better and it seems odd that I Jon Pertwee has settled into the role and the stories match his Doctor quicker than Patrick Troughton’s opening episodes. It took an awfully long time before Patrick Troughton got a grip of the character but after just a couple of episodes I feel like Pertwee has already got to grips with the role and is just having fun.

Doctor Who and the Silurians - Episode 1

After doing a good job of introducing the world to Pertwee’s Doctor, we get what is really his first proper adventure. After the initial scene we get our first glimpse of Bessie, a prop that would feature largely with Pertwee’s Doctor but make an appearance with Tom Baker’s Doctor and Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor.

The idea that the Doctor is at the Brigadier’s beck and call is something that wouldn’t be the case for William Hartnell or Patrick Troughton. Though on the plus side he can get to things just by saying that he’s an associate of UNIT. I like Jon Pertwee in this episode as he flips between being curious on whats going on and winding up Dr Lawrence. Caroline John spends a lot of time either having a headache or doing ‘research’. I know that Liz is suppose to be a different from previous companions but I think that she’s not being utilised in the best way. I think that Nicholas Courtney is having fun in this episode and seems to put up roadblocks in the Doctor’s way. Not in a malicious way but it’s the military mind and its going to be a good constant source of friction.

In their first scene with the research facility staff, its clear what sort of ride that we are going to get with them. They are all people with things to hide. Dr Lawrence is in charge of the facility but doesn’t want people to look over the problems that its having. I liked Dr Lawrence from the very moment he appeared. Peter Miles is the sort of actor that can be relied upon to come up with an enjoyable performance. Dr Quinn is a likeable and on the face of it trustworthy character. It’s strange that he would go on to play the horrible Mr Mackay. The trustworthy vibe lasts about 10 minutes before this disappears as it seems that he is in league with whatever is affecting the facility. Miss Dawson is the only female member of the facility and she’s a bit more like Dr Quinn and also seems to be in collusion with the unseen threat.

The cliffhanger is quite good as it isn’t obvious and it answers the question as to what the two cavers saw at the beginning of the episode. It was a good opening episode. I cant say that there was anything special about this episode but that’s not a bad thing but it does a good job of just introducing us to the setting and the characters that we will be watching over the next six episodes. A good start.

Spearhead From Space - Episode 4

We start off the episode with the great chilling shot of the Auton Scobie approaching the normal Scobie. It’s good how they’ve gone to the trouble of making the auton duplicates look different and its simply by making it look like they are sweating. It’s simple but effective. The action moves around to various locations and it does feel like someone has hit the fast forward button because no sooner does it seem like their just bumbling along to executing their plan so quickly.

Hibbert is showing signs of not being quite under the control of Channing. From the moment in the museum to where he tries to destroy the nestene, there is a great decline and unlike Ransome, I was sad to see Hibbert go. It was clear that he wasn’t going to see the end of this story but he was a good character. In fact all the supporting characters have been good and the only thing that would have been better is if we had more Sam Seeley. Seriously, I loved this character.

The thing about this episode is that it features one of the most iconic scenes in Doctor Who. This is where the shop window dummies wake up and ‘smash’ their way through the windows. I laugh when I remind myself that they didn’t and it wouldn’t be until 2005 before they would. This isn’t just about smashing (or not) through the windows. The scene of shop window dummies walking along the highstreet killing people as they go along is something that stands out even by todays standard. It’s still a creepy and well done. Another thing I notice are the shops that appear, not one bookies or payday loan and no empty shops. That’s the main difference between 1970 and 2014.

The only thing that I’m not keen on about this episode is the scene where Liz is trying to get the machine used to kill the autons working and takes an age when its clearly visible (even from her angle) that the cable has popped out. It seems a bit silly and serves no purpose other than to have Jon Pertwee pull weird faces and delay the action a few moments.

The line of “Smith…Dr John Smith” was used by Patrick Troughton and I think its used here to remind us that Jon Pertwee is the Doctor and I think that this story has worked well to establish Pertwee in the role. It was the best possible story to launch the new era in Doctor Who, a solid story, a scary monster and it wasn’t padded out or rushed in the final episode (like I fear in the previous episode). Doctor Who is in safe hands and the stories are only going to get better.

Spearhead From Space - Episode 3

I didn’t think until now that its unusual really to have a cliffhanger which uses a character that the regulars haven’t come into contact with. If almost being wiped out by an Auton wasn’t a sign that his future in the story wasn’t going to last much longer then you would be in for a surprise.

I like how the Doctor is manipulating Liz into trying to get away. As he doesn’t have the key to the TARDIS, he persuades Liz to get the key of the Brigadier and give it to him. This shows that Liz Shaw has become a friend of the Doctors and instantly becomes someone that the viewer can trust as well. The fact that Liz does the Doctor’s bidding shows that whilst she might work for the Brigadier (in a sense), she doesn’t really like all the military orders stuff. When the Doctor tries to take off in the TARDIS we learn that the Doctor’s exile is exactly that. This shows the viewer that the Doctor isn’t going anywhere soon and that for the foreseeable future the adventures are going to be set on earth. I like this idea for some reason and think that the adventures we are going to have would only work on earth and not on some alien world.

The Spheres are now called energy units and Channing is missing one of them and it’s the swarm leader. That’s always the way isn’t it? Your missing one piece and its quite an important one. I think that Channing is a really good character and the moment when he’s staring at the Brigadier through that weird looking glass was a brilliant moment as does a good job in continuing to show that Channing isn’t as human as he looks.

I continue to like the Seeley’s. In particular the wife who I think stumbles through the events of this episode. She comes across the trunk that has the sphere in it and it leads to her exit from the story. There are several moments which are impressive in this episode. The scene where the Auton is walking slowly towards Mrs Seeley was one of them. The lack of expression on the Auton’s face is brilliant and it works so well with the shock and terror of Mrs Seeley. Another great scene with the AUton is when it rips its way into the tent that Ransome is resting in and within a moment kills him and makes him blow up into smoke. The final impressive moment is actually the cliffhanger and its where General Scobie opens the door to see his mannequin looking at him and starts walking towards him. It’s an effect that’s well realised and also it’s a creepy ending.

Even though it’s a four part adventure, it doesn’t feel like it. I know what happens in the story and so feel that it seems like Robert Holmes has been keeping our attention with other stuff until he gets into the final episode. That’s OK as the stuff so far has been entertaining and I think that despite some characters who haven’t quite worked (Munro & Ransome), I have enjoyed this story and my feeling about this season being my favourite continues to be the case.

Spearhead From Space - Episode 2

The beginning of the episode deals with the cliffhanger rather quickly. The Doctor isn’t dead just in a self-induced coma. I like it when they make random things up about the Doctor, if anyone can do this then its Robert Holmes. It’s quite lucky that the UNIT soldier was such a rubbish shot that all he managed to do was graze the scalp.

This episode sees the introduction of a different part of the plot. Ransome is working in a factory and gets the push and is a bit cross. The only reason why we should care is that its Channing is also a fixture of the factory. I don’t really like Ransome, I find him a bit whiney and just his whole character annoys me. I was happier when Seeley appeared. We got to see Mrs Seeley and the way they were together was very much of its time and it wouldn’t have worked in 2014.

I do like the scene where the UNIT soldier is killed transporting the sphere. It was quite different to anything that we would have seen during the Troughton era. The effect of crashing the truck was simply done but you don’t need to go over the top in order to achieve something effective.

Seeing the Doctor try on his new outfit is something that has become a part of the regeneration process and the fact that the Doctor gets changed in a hospital would be mirrored during Matt Smith’s opening episode. In fact that whole scene is rather strange. It’s the first time that we had seen the Doctor take a shower in seven years on the show. When the Doctor eventually makes it out of the hospital its clear which car he’s going to end up in (I prefer the red version to the yellow Bessie we see).

The second scene between the Doctor and the Brigadier is a lot better than the first. It’s better because Pertwee has quickly got to grips with the character and the whole scene is a lot of fun. I like how he instantly gets on with Liz Shaw and its clear that two scientists are always going to get on far better than with a member of the military. Even one like the Brigadier. The cliffhanger is another good one with Ransome about to become a victim of the Autons. It’s good more because of Ransome’s face and the way that the Auton just slowly moved towards him. On one hand I don’t think that it was as much fun as the opening episode but then it did what it needed to do and as a result it’s a perfectly fine episode. The feel of the episode is strange due to the outside filming and as a four part adventure its moving along nicely and it seems like Pertwee is going to have an easier time settling into the role and making it his own than Troughton did.

Spearhead From Space - Episode 1

I am really excited today as I embark on the seventh season of Doctor Who. It’s not that it’s the first time that we see Jon Pertwee in the role, its not that it’s the first time we see Caroline John as Liz Shaw and its not that this is the first episode of Doctor Who in colour but it’s the fact that I regard the seventh season of Doctor Who as the best ever. I don’t think that theres a weak story in the season. Whether this opinion will change, only time will tell. This story is unique because it’s the only four part story of the season (the rest being seven parters) but it’s the first time in Doctor Who history that an entire story was filmed outside of a studio. This marks the first time that we see the Autons and it also sees Robert Holmes return to the show after his less than successful start with ‘The Krotons’ and the dire ‘The Space Pirates’. I remember the first time that I saw this story and it was one of the first stories of Doctor Who that I saw on video.

I like the fact that we are introduced to Pertwee’s Doctor straight away. Its three long minutes before we get to see him fall out of the TARDIS and we don’t get a proper look at his face. This was clearly designed to tease the viewers of 1970. We have several things to try and get our heads around, such as the fact that the Doctor appears to have two hearts and that his blood isnt like human blood. Add this to the fact that unlike with the last time no one saw the Doctor regenerate means that the transformation isn’t going to be a smooth one.

Jon Pertwee’s first episode is an interesting one. He spends most of it in bed (bit like Tennant), and the episode feels like its moving at a rather pedestrian pace until the twenty minute mark when the Doctor is kidnapped and there begins a chance to see what sort of Doctor Jon Pertwee would become. It’s the first time that the Doctor has done anything this action driven. Liz Shaw comes across as a rather cold and snobbish person in this episode which isn’t how she would end the story. The first scene with the Brigadier shows that Liz has certain ideas about how a woman should be treated.

It’s good to see Nicholas Courtney back and this is the beginning of a five year involvement in the show. It feels like only five minutes since the last time that we saw him in ‘The Invasion’. I like the scene with the Brigadier and Munro which seems a lot like ‘The West Wing’. The look of disappointment when he goes to the Doctor expecting to see Patrick Troughton and instead sees Jon Pertwee. It’s something that the Brigadier’s going to get use to but on this occasion its like the Brigadier doesn’t know what to do.

Captain Munro is the Benton of this story and I personally don’t really like him because he doesn’t have much charisma and its clear why he didn’t have much of a lifespan in the show. Sam Seeley is a character which seems very much like Clancy in ‘The Space Pirates’. He’s designed to be a larger than life character but unlike Clancy, I find Seeley to be far more interesting and nowhere near as irritating as Clancy.

The cliffhanger is quite good as after just twenty five minutes the Doctor could be dead. Could this be the shortest tenure of any actor playing the role? Of course not but I think that it tells us that the style of the 1960’s has definelty been replaced by the new vibe of the 1970’s. It’s a good opening episode for everyone involved in the show and all the different aspects are introduced well and I have a good feeling that my view about this story and this season is going to remain true.

The War Games - Episode 10

I feel really sad as I start to watch this episode knowing what’s about to come. The early stages are just of the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie trying to evade the Timelords. Knowing that this would be their final episode it seems pointless in hindsight but in dramatic terms its good because watching it I wanted them to find a way of escaping even though I know that they wont be able to. It’s strange to think that it’s the first time since the first episode of ‘The Mind Robber’ that we’ve been inside the TARDIS. That was back in mid-December and it’s great to be back. With the events of the War Games almost dealt with we can move onto the matter of learning as much as we can about the Timelords.

We learn a lot about the Timelords such as they don’t approve of meddling in the events of other worlds. Basically their horrible people, they are quite happy to sit back and watch things happen but get a bit arsey when the Doctor gets involved. If they are as powerful as they seem, why haven’t they seen the Doctor’s actions before this. I quite like the courtroom set that is used against the War Lord and the Doctor. It’s a much better set than the one we would get in 1986. Partly because its atmospheric and quite contained and I suppose if it were in colour then it would lose something.

During the War Lord’s trial there is a fair amount of defiance from him and his punishment is quite fitting as killing him would be too good and it seems like his punishment is the most extreme that the Timelords could bestow on a non-gallifreyan. There is a great moment when his soldiers come via a SIDRAT and there’s a lovely curve-ball that suggest the War Lord might escape but it’s the power of the Timelords that show this wasn’t going to happen. Without raising a hand the timelords we do see in this story show how god-like they are and its amazing whats achieved in 25 minutes.

The Doctor’s defence does feel like it’s a bit of a useless exercise and its during his trial that the Timelords come across as rather nasty. They exile the Doctor on 20^th Century earth and change his appearance purely because they want to. Cant quite think that had Troughton not left the show whether they would have changed his appearance.

The goodbye scene between the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie is heart-breaking. Everytime I see it I can’t help but get really sad. I always forget until this point just how good these three have been together. What makes its even more heart-breaking is that they will forget all but their first adventure so for Jamie the last three years are wiped and for Zoe the last twelve months.

I feel like this was a lovely goodbye episode. They finished off the War Lord perfectly and the Timelords were introduced and our three favourite characters were sent off in great style. It’s a shame that we didn’t get to see Patrick Troughton regenerate into Jon Pertwee but that was due to the fact that Pertwee wasn’t contracted until after this episode was recorded. It was the perfect way to end what has been a rather inconsistent run at times. I think that all three of the regulars performed brilliantly and it was one of my favourite ever episodes of Doctor Who and as a ten part adventure it was solid from start to finish and easily in my top 10.

As a story it has continued to impress me and maintain my attention. Its worked a lot better than some six parters and it’s one of the best of stories of Troughtons era and of the sixth series. Overall I must say that the sixth season has been largely good. I really didn’t like ‘The Space Pirates’ which you might have guessed, the Dominators was boring but the rest were all enjoyable. Patrick Troughton made 117 appearances which is just twelve behind William Hartnell and after an initial bumpy ride with stories, he found his suede feet and ran with a fantastic version of the character. It must have been intimidating to take over from William Hartnell but he rose to the challenge well. Frazer Hines has been a fantastic addition to the show. He bowed out on his 112^th appearance and made 35 more appearances than William Russell. Hines has always given 100% playing Jamie and at times his double act with Patrick Troughton have been fun to watch. Wendy Padbury has had more of an impact than I expected during her 48 appearances. As a trio they have been the strongest combination since the First Doctor, Ian Barbara and Susan and that’s quite an achievement. They will all be missed and that was the Second Doctor era. Goodbye to Troughton, Goodbye to Hines, Goodbye to Padbury, Goodbye to the 1960’s and most importantly, goodbye to black and white television. Now I will get to enjoy a different style of Doctor Who and I am about to embark on what is my favourite season in Doctor Who history.

The War Games - Episode 9

It’s strange to think that I’m on the penultimate episode of the Troughton era. It’s weird to think that I started watching episode one of ‘The Power of the Daleks’ back on September 27 that it was going to be a tough job more because of the missing episodes but I knew that there were some classic stories coming along so it was worth enduring ‘The Abominable Snowmen’ and ‘The Dominators’ when there were stories such as ‘The Invasion’ and ‘The Tomb of the Cybermen’ to enjoy. In fact whilst I have enjoyed ‘The War Games’ in the past I feel like I am enjoying ‘The War Games’ more than I was expecting.

The Doctor starts the episode having turned against his friends but its nice how he got the resistance there they wouldn’t be around when the neutron bomb went off. It’s a typically Doctor like thing to do as he has a plan to save his friends but just doesn’t have a time to tell them. There an interesting moment between the Doctor and the War Chief when they talk about the SIDRAT’s.

Shorting the life-span of the SIDRAT is an impossible problem and it’s one that the War Chief hasn’t been able to solve the problem. Though as the episode progresses it’s the least of his problems as the Security Chief has evidence about his treachery and uses secret recordings to topple him.

I thought it was a shame when the Security Chief was killed as he was a very good character but the only thing that made his death worth while is that it was the War Chief that did it and that seemed like a nice end to their rivalry. Despite getting one over on the Security Chief, the War Chief didn’t escape his own death as he is killed by the guards of the War Lord. Philip Madoc is back on form in this episode as he has a coldness that seemed to be missing in the previous episode.

When we say goodbye to Carstairs it’s a sad moment because I’ve quite liked him and feel like he became the fourth member of the TARDIS. David Saville has been consistently reliable and whilst he might have come across as a bit of posh soldier but actually he’s worked well with the regulars and hasn’t put a foot wrong for the entire nine episodes that he has appeared.

Due to the fact that the SIDRAT’s aren’t totally reliable this forces the Doctor to call the Timelords and this is the first time that he says that this is the name of his people. Quite a historic moment in Doctor Who I think.  The Doctor uses a box to send information to the Timelords and this would be used again in a Matt Smith episode. Patrick Troughton is very good again in this episode as the Doctor has to try and outrun the Timelords. Both Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury are good in this episode but their performances are somewhat overshadowed by Troughton.

This is the first goodbye that we get between the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe but it doesn’t have the emotional depth so its quickly ended and this leads to the cliffhanger which is another cracking one because its done in slow motion and this is suppose to illustrate the Timelords influence and the last shot is of the Doctor trying to get the key in the TARDIS. It’s a very good episode as it effectively ends this part of the story. The resistance are going to be sent back to their own time-zones and we are going to get the Timelords and the end is about arrive. I have a feeling that the Troughton era is going to end on a high note.

The War Games - Episode 8

This episode was watched by 3.5 million people which is average viewing figures by today’s standards but this remained the lowest rated episode for 20 years. I was rather disappointed with the cliffhanger to the previous episode because after all the interesting and grim endings, it seemed like episode seven’s cliffhanger was a bit flimsy. Thankfully we get past that rather quickly and a large portion of the story seems to take place in the centre of the alien’s base where there is more bickering with the Security Chief and the War Chief.

We finally get a meeting between the War Chief and the Doctor. There is an intriguing reference about the War Chief having met the Doctor when he looked like William Hartnell. We learn that the Doctor stole the TARDIS. I like how there seems to be a possible way of ending all this and that’s by getting help from the Timelords but he doesn’t want to do this though it’s never mentioned why. Patrick Troughton has been on fine form during these eight episodes. Apart from The Space Pirates, he’s been on terrific form and both Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury are also on good form as they help lead the resistance.

I like how there are wars involved in the war games that I hadn’t heard of before such as the Russo-Japanese War and the Peninsular War. A quick look of Wikipedia says that the Russo-Japanese War occurred between February 1904 and September 1905 and described as the first great war of the 20^th Century. The Peninsular War was between 1808 and 1814 and was a battle between France and Spain. It would have been nice to see something from these periods but I suppose their not really relevant to the story and they cant stop at this stage of the story to take us there.

This is the episode where the resistance starts to act like a resistance and it’s where the Security Chief starts to look a bit silly and incompetent. They start to attack different zones in an attempt to have the main alien base as empty as possible. The Security Chief takes great delight from this and the War Lord seems to be getting tired of this and I don’t think that Philip Madoc is as good as he has been. There are a few moments where he seems to be like he was when he first appeared but this wasn’t his best episode.

The cliffhanger to this episode was much better than the last one as the Doctor seems to have turned on Jamie, Zoe and the Resistance. The whole episode seems to have picked up the pace after the rather slow previous episode. It feels like there is more questions forming as we learn about the aliens, the Doctor and the Security Chief. Even after eight episodes I am still gripped with this story and despite this getting three and a half million episodes, I think that that number rather implies that the story and the episode have gone stale and I don’t think that this is the case. With two more episodes it feels now like things are going to heat up.

The War Games - Episode 7

We are starting to enter the business end of the serial and today marks the 250^th episode of the show and the thing that stands out about this episode is that there isn’t any time for celebration. The regulars have been put in danger at regular intervals and whilst that is part of the course the thing that I am always reminding myself of is the fact that this is their last story and so the tension is cranked up.

Sergeant Wilkins is bought in a talking head but he doesn’t really do very much here except for interact with Smythe. Speaking of which, Smythe makes a brief return in this episode though it ends badly when he is shot. Though for the time that he is involved allows him to enjoy his badness. I have enjoyed him during this story even though he had a very short shelf life and like other characters that have appeared in this story, he has stayed just long enough. However compared to the War Lord, he looks quite charming in comparison. We get more mentions of the War lord. When he finally appears he does instead steal the scene and I love it when he has had enough of the bickering between the War Chief and the Security Chief. It’s the first time that it feels like an adult is in charge. The capsule is called SIDRAT which is cleverly TARDIS backwards. There is more mentioned about the technology and how the War Chief’s people are the only ones that have the technology of time travel which implies that the Doctor is of the same race as the War Chief. Philip Madoc lays down the law to both the Security Chief and the War Chief. There is no sense that he takes fools gladly but has no choice but to keep them around despite their incompetence.

It does feel at times like the story is starting to recycle things. The budget is clearly starting to run out as at one point we also have a reprise from episode two cliffhanger. It’s not just a copy of the cliffhanger but it’s the exact same shots that they used in episode two. Thankfully that seems to be all that they copied but I wonder just how run down everyone involved was feeling as they will have been working on this story for nearly two months and there’s more to come.

I must admit that this is the first time in this story that I have been disappointed with the cliffhanger. It just felt rather flat and that was a shame because every cliffhanger so far had something about them but this didn’t have anything and I think that this is the weakest episode so far. There are just three episodes left before we say goodbye to Patrick, Frazer and Wendy and it feels like it’s the end but that the moment has been prepared for. An ok episode with some good performances but nothing special.

The War Games - Episode 6

So at the end of the last episode I was Jamie’s turn to be at the centre of the cliffhanger. It did seem on the face of it that Jamie was an ex-companion. It’s good how they continue with the pretence that he’s dead as the Doctor, Zoe and Carstairs leave without him. After a short time they realise that he’s not dead but just stunned. Sadly he spends the early part of this episode being interrogated by the Security Chief just like Zoe was in the previous answers.

I like the Security Chief. He’s a fly in the War Chief’s ointment. He is starting to put things together and putting pressure on the War Chief. The scene between the War Chief and the Security Chief whilst Jamie was being interrogated was a lovely scene as just bicker. Despite acting like a group of petty children, I still find both Edward Brayshaw (War Chief) and James Bree (Security Chief) to be very striking characters and believable villains. I like the way how the War Chief takes delight when he and the Security Chief walk into the room that the Security Chief thinks that the resistance members are cornered but they have managed to escape. There are mentions of the War Lord which implies that his arrival is very close and Philip Madoc will get to steal the show.

This episode is the first time in 249 episodes, that the term ‘Timelords’ is mentioned in the show. We aren’t told yet that this is the race that the Doctor belongs to them though the fact that the Doctor is quite accustomed to the control switches still hasn’t been properly addressed. Though Zoe does ask the Doctor this with the Doctor replying that it’s not too difficult. This is clearly designed to put doubt in the viewer’s mind but just let it fester until it’s needed in the story. The whole

The episode does a lot of running around corridors with moments of the War Chief and the Security Chief bickering. I didn’t find myself being bored and felt that there was more going on than in the previous episode. The cliffhanger was rather good again with the Doctor, Jamie and Carstairs being in danger with the possibility of them being squashed. It’s still maintaining my interest even after six episodes, how many times over the previous 248 episodes have I moaned about six parters yet with four more episodes to go I don’t find myself being bored and this is down to the characters that are on the screen. The regulars have all performed well so far (even if Jamie has been under used from time to time), the supporting characters are some of the best that we have had for quite some time and had this story being written by anyone other than Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke then it would have run out of steam quite early on but the introduction of new characters and the writing out of some ensures that they don’t outstay their welcome and keep the tempo going long enough so that we can get to the end.

The War Games - Episode 5

As we approach the half way point of the serial, its important that at this stage we start to get some serious development or something to help feel like we aren’t in the padding zone. It seems that Jamie has drawn the short straw  and doesn’t really get to do very much in this episode whereas Zoe who should be in a good position doesn’t seem to do much apart from being interrogated and running around with the Doctor.

We are introduced to another of the ‘aliens’ in this story in the form of James Bree who plays the Security Chief. He seems like the one who enjoys bureaucracy the most. He seems like the sort of person who isn’t very popular and is very good at his job. This is where the bickering between the ‘aliens’ seems to be getting out of hand as there is a power struggle between the War Chief and the Security Chief. It’s clear that the Doctor isn’t the only one hiding something as the War Chief seems to know more.

This is the last episode to feature Lady Jennifer. To be honest she served a purpose during the first few episodes but since the ‘aliens’ have been more introduced, she has become surplus to requirements and she was written out at just the right time. Jane Sherwin’s last scene was quite nice as it became clear that Lady Jennifer had formed a bond with Carstairs but they wouldn’t get a final scene as Carstairs is still being used well.

It’s Jamie’s turn to become the focus of the danger as he is shot at by the guards. There is a pattern emerging and it must be clear to the viewer of 1969 that nothing was going to happen to the regulars just yet. So out of four cliffhangers, each of the regulars have 1 each and it is Troughton’s who cliffhanger had the grimmest tone. I do think that the story does feel like its slowing down a bit, not too much but it doesn’t have the same pace to it. There is a problem with half the episode being set in a very confined barn and the Doctor and Zoe being stuck in the alien’s world where the rooms and corridors do look alike.

The War Games - Episode 4

I like the moment when Zoe asks about who else could have something that’s bigger on the inside than the outside and the Doctor has an idea but is almost to scared to admit it. This shows that he knows more than he’s willing to admit and that he’s deliberately keeping Zoe and Jamie in the dark about things. The story splits its time between two areas which is handy to keep the episode feel fresh and not feel like padding.

Whilst the Doctor and Zoe are in the time capsule, Jamie and Lady Jennifer are stuck in the American Civil War and it’s the return of Von Welch. During their scenes we see a very young looking Rudolph Walker who goes on to play Patrick in Eastenders. There is also an appearance from David Troughton who would play King Peladon during the Pertwee years. It’s during this period that we learn that there are those who don’t believe that they are where they thought they were and the brainwashing that has occurred has worn off.  I didn’t really find the American Civil War stuff to be interesting in this context. When the story returns to the Doctor and Zoe its here we learn a bit more and Zoe realises that they aren’t on earth. When Carstairs has been re-brainwashed and points out the Doctor and Zoe as spies the look on their face is quite good. Patrick Troughton and Wendy Padbury seems to be getting on well together and work well on screen together.

It’s seems like another episode where Jamie is kept away from the Doctor and Zoe. They get to do the exciting stuff and learn things whilst Jamie gets to hang around with Lady Jennifer. That said I thought that Frazer Hines got to do some good stuff especially riding the horse which he seemed to enjoy and the location stuff was quite well done which is credit to David Maloney.

The cliffhanger was a bit like the first but less grim. With Zoe at the end of Carstairs gun is another indication that the regulars aren’t going to get out of this story unscathed. I thought that on the whole this episode was pretty much the same as the other three. I think that its still moving at a good pace and we learn a little bit more and its interesting stuff. Whilst I wasn’t blown away with the sets used on the main base of the War ‘people’ but I must say that found them all to be quite good and after four episodes the story is still holding my attention.

The War Games - Episode 3

After the intriguing cliffhanger the story continues and it’s at this point that we start to learn that there are several timezones. Despite this we do spend a large portion of the episode in the 1917 timezone.

We get to know a bit more about the setting that the regulars find themselves. Another individual we meet is a german called Von Weich. Von Weich is another one who seems obsessed with hypnotism. Unlike Smythe, I find him less menacing and more like the pantomime villain. The main area that the battle decisions is perhaps the most disappointing aspect because it’s clear that this is when the budget started to run out and it will get worse as the story progresses.

The War Chief is very interesting from the moment that he appears on screen. Out of the three of them, Smythe and Von Weich are like bickering kids and the War Chief is the support teacher.

There is an interesting line that crops up during the episode where the regulars learn that they are in the 1862 American Civil War and Zoe comes out with the line about ‘another war’. Surely she should have picked up on the fact that they always seem to be in war zones. It seems like her intelligence has let her down a bit here. The regulars don’t seem to actually do very much in this story apart from being driven by Lady Jennifer from one rabble to another.

Jamie becomes separated from Zoe and the Doctor which forms the cliffhanger. What I like about this cliffhanger is that it’s the third different style that they have used. It doesn’t have the grimness of the first or the weirdness of the second but it occurs after the Doctor and Zoe discover that some soldiers that come out of the capsule seems bigger on the inside like the TARDIS and due to gunfire, Jamie becomes separated. I’m glad that the story is moving along but at a pace that doesn’t feel like it’s being rushed or going too slowly. Three episodes in and I’m still engaged with it.

The War Games - Episode 2

So at the end of the previous episode, we were left with a rather grim cliffhanger with the possibility of the Doctor being executed. This is of course not going to happen and it’s quickly shown that the Doctor would survive. No sooner has he been saved than he and Zoe end up commandeering a vehicle and pretending to be from the War Office in an attempt to rescue Jamie.  

Smythe is acting more menacingly than he did in the previous episode. I like his first scene where he is about to leave in a capsule that just appears and is discovered by Captain Ransom. Once Smythe has gone it’s a few seconds before Ransom ‘remembers’ that Smythe has gone to a meeting. The only problem with hypnotising the same people is that it does somewhat devalue the character or characters. Ransom does seem like a rather insubstantial character despite how much he appears in the story.

Patrick Troughton seems to have having a wonderful time during the scenes with Commandant Gorton. Pretending to be in this sort of position is something that Troughton does well and it wasn’t until sometime in the episode that I noticed how again it’s the Doctor and Zoe with Jamie left to fend on his own although this time he’s with a highlander which seems like a nod to how he was introduced into the show and the last shot in episode ten.

There is a sense of frustration that seems to run through this story (it’s what I feel anyway). Just as the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie were reunited and they were on their way out they were captured again. No matter how many times I watch this story I hope that they get away and run off back into the TARDIS and so when they are captured (like they always will be in this story), I feel disappointment and frustration. The only thing that stops it from being ridiculous is that at least they have Carstairs and Lady Jennifer on their side. They become more involved with the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe and they start to remember things and after focusing a bit can see video screen.

After two episodes of being mainly in 1917 with World War 1 soldiers (apart from the Redcoat), the story continues to confuse and whilst the cliffhanger doesn’t have the grimness of episode 1 it has a rather different feel to it which is one of confusion. Just what is a Roman army doing running towards our heroes? It’s a wonderful sight and the music from Dudley Simpson helps create a wonderfully dramatic end to the episode. As an episode I thought that it was rather good. It felt like it had done most of the set up in the first episode (which it had) and this meant that it could just get on with moving the story along at quite a quick pace. I think the relief of getting over ‘The Space Pirates’ is still evident but I think even taking out of the equation, I still rate ‘The War Games’ as a story and currently it’s my favourite second Doctor story so far. I know that the good times wont be round for long but I’m just enjoying this story and this episode is another good one.

The War Games - Episode 1

Ah, I have been looking forward to this moment since I got into the Troughton era. It’s the final story of the Troughton era and it’s the longest story of his time. Due to problems with scripts that seem to have dogged this season badly, it’s seemed inevitable that something was going to have to be longer than intended. I have made my feelings very clear about six part episodes but ‘The Invasion’ was eight episodes long and I really enjoyed that so I hope that my enthusiasm for this ten part adventure would be as it always was. Like the last few stories this has a slightly different way of showing the titles. It should be clear that this is the beginning of the end for our favourite characters as the moment they exit the TARDIS and step in mud they laugh together and it’s about the happiest that they will be over the course of the next ten episodes.

The initial problem with Lady Jennifer is that she’s terribly clichéd. Even by 1969’s standards the character would have seemed outdated. Within a few minutes of appearing on screen she been captured by German soldiers before being rescued by Lt Carstairs. I think that Lady Jennifer and Carstairs are a good partnership and will see this in future episodes. General ‘The Butcher’ Smythe is one of the many baddies that appear in this story. It’s at this point that the seemingly ordinary setting of World War I takes an unusual turn. Soon after he hypnotises people which is something that’s not terrible original but like it as a character trait for Smythe as he is instantly unlikeable from the moment he appears on screen.

The court martial scene is the best moment of the story because of the injustice of it because two of the people on the panel encountered the Doctor and due to the hypnosis from Smythe is unable to intervene. It wasn’t much of a court martial and I like how Smythe bulldozes the guilty verdict even though others aren’t so sure of their guilt. This pretty much shows how screwed the regulars are and I think that they put in solid performances and I like in particular how the Doctor is quite naive that he will be able to explain the situation but its clear to everyone else that it might not be so easy.

I thought the kiss that the Doctor gives Zoe is lovely and very tender. It’s another sign to viewers that this isn’t going to be a normal adventure. At the end of the episode the Doctor is about to face a firing squad. I personally think that this is one of the grimmest ends to a Doctor Who episode ever. The fact that its suppose to be a First World War firing squad as opposed to a firing squad on Telos or Skaro or somewhere else makes it much grimmer and much more real than it normally would be. I thought that this was a really good cliffhanger for a really good episode. I don’t know whether it’s because I was so despondent from enduring/watching ‘The Space Pirates’ but I can’t believe how happy I am now I have got to this story.

The Space Pirates - Episode 6

For the final time I stick my CD on and listen, that’s listen to a Doctor Who episode. Its weird to think that I will have to enjoy/endure a Doctor Who episode in this manner. There have been times when I have wondered whether I should carry on or just skip the missing episodes but I have perceived. Just think when I watched the first episode of Marco Polo back on May 29, 2013, there were 107 episodes missing but now there are only 96. It’s a shame that the last episode of this part of the marathon is forgettable. I mean literally forgettable because as I was listening to this episode I found myself not really caring what was going on and what was happening to the characters. Due to the lack of images its just a lot of people running around and somehow Clancy has become a useful and likeable figure to those that weren’t so keen on him a few episodes.

I don’t like feeling the way I have felt over the last couple of episodes. I remember when I watched Episode 2 and thought that my opinion might change but sadly no. I still think that this story is deathly dull and the only thing that stops me from saying this is worst than ‘The Dominators’ is that as this is missing five episodes, it’s hard to be fair to this story. I can’t imagine that my opinion would improve that much but it shows what difference looking at an episode makes to how I rate an episode. Another thing that I have found disappointing is how poorly the regulars have been used. From the start they have been badly overlooked as it took so long to get them involved in the story that once they didn’t do very much and normally when I have listened to audio episodes I have at least been able to enjoy the regulars but over the five episodes I cant say that because they did very little and that’s a shame.

Overall despite my determination to try and find positives (that didn’t last long did it!), I think that this is one of the worst stories that has been made in the Troughton era. Only ‘The Highlanders’ has a worse rating and as we approach the end of the Troughton era I worry that my abiding memory of his time on show will be marred by stories like this instead of ‘The Tomb of the Cybermen’ or ‘Enemy of the World’. Poor episode to end a poor story.

The Space Pirates - Episode 5

Right, I have decided to have a more positive attitude to these final two episodes. I’m going to force myself to get more involved in the story. Something I forgot to mention in yesterdays review is that it was Frazer Hines’ 100^th episode as Jamie. It’s a shame then that episode four was so poor. Hopefully his 101^st episode will be better. For the others, this is Troughtons 105^th episode and Wendy Padbury is celebrating 37 episodes and is currently one episode behind Maureen O’Brien (38) and two behind Deborah Watling (39). As a team, the Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are the third longest partnership in Doctor Who. They are just two behind the Second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria (40) and 14 episodes behind the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan (51).

The first thing that I noticed again about this episode is the opera singer (I’m guessing she’s an opera singer!), her voice pierces the early stages of this episode. There’s a line about a room being like an Edwardian study. The thought of a room like this on a spaceship is a lovely one. The problem at the moment is that because I haven’t really been paying attention to the story, I am slightly confused as to where the story is and more importantly where it’s going. There is a lot of people sounding quite worried and things seem to be getting out of hand but I have come to the party late and so feel like I should have bought a present and haven’t. It does feel like that for the regulars which shouldn’t be the case especially when they are suppose to be the main selling point of the story.

Whilst being totally confused with what’s going on and all the new characters that seem to have introduced is noticing that the regulars seem rather flat. They are there but don’t seem to be given much to do and that’s a weird thing to happen. It’s one thing when one of the regulars is given a light workload but when all three seem to suffers the same fate then it really affects the story. It even seems to affect the relationship between the characters. After being rather rude to Zoe in episode two, the Doctor accuses Jamie of not appreciating the things that he does for him.

As far as my enjoyment goes for this story, there was a definite improvement from the last episode. Episode 4 got a poor 4.8 whereas episode five got 5.2 so at least its going up but it’s the third episode in a row that has ended in the 6’s. The story rating (including all five episodes) continues to decline currently standing at 6.88 and only ‘The Highlanders’ has a worst rating during Troughtons’ time. I do think that the final episode of the story might end it on a high note. Fingers crossed. I do feel like I’ve been more enthusiastic about this episode but not much. One reason to be optimistic is that it’s the last time that I will have to listen to an episode as opposed to watching it.

The Space Pirates - Episode 4

The 25 minutes that I spent listening to this story felt like 2 hours. The fact that absolutely nothing happens in this episode is one of the reasons why it’s the fourth worst episode of Patrick Troughton’s run. Only The Highlanders episodes three and four and ‘The Evil of the Daleks’ episode three have received worst ratings. Not even Clancy can help sustain my attention and as a result I don’t really care about the characters or the plot. I don’t think that I will even bother with an in depth review. I could go on about the six parts running time or the lack of visuals but at this particular moment in time I’m just bored of that. The only good thing about this moment of time is that there are just two episodes left to endure of this story and two episodes before I enter the wonder land of DVDs and pretty soon in colour.

For the brief moment that I was following the goings on in this episode which as far as I could tell was just running about and the annoying space pompous people are closing in on Clancy who I still cant buy as a menace even though he’s clearly past his prime. The moment came when the Doctor was trying to do something with a tuning fork and Jamie just happens to find the right tune by throwing the tuning fork down to the ground in annoyance. What? This shows that Robert Holmes has just given up and this is definelty the low point in his career.

As a result its not hard to understand what I think about this episode. It’s the joint lowest episode of the series (tied with episode three of The Dominators). I don’t see that its going to improve with the final two episodes but brave heart!!

The Space Pirates - Episode 3

Something that strikes me about this episode. Just how on earth are we suppose to take Clancy as a serious criminal. It’s difficult to take him seriously when he talks like he does. It would have ruined Star Wars if Darth Vader had talked like a hillbilly. Also James Bond wouldn’t have worried so much about Blofeld if he started singing Yankey-Doodle-Dandy. The only thing that I really take from this episode is that the Doctor tries to get back to the TARDIS. That’s it really, apart from a lot of talking about Argonite and also how people are after Clancy.

After three episodes I don’t know where this story is going. It’s desperately dull and doesn’t have anything exciting about it. I can’t take anyone in this episode seriously and I am surprised that this story was written by the legendary Robert Holmes. I know that he does much better but before I got to the Krotons I would have struggled to think which of the two were the worst but after re-evaluating that story I have to say that this story is the worst Holmes’ story. I have given this story the rating of 6.67 out of 10 which is the lowest episode since the third episode of ‘The Dominators’ back in mid-December  and the first time that an episode has fallen into the 6’s since the fourth episode of that story.

As we don’t have this on video or have any telesnaps its hard to imagine what the hell is going on and its becoming harder to care and as a result its going to be a shorter review than normal and I think that this will be the case as we approach the latter half of the story.

The Space Pirates - Episode 2

This is the last time that I will be digging out my Lost in Time DVD set. It’s been useful over the last eight months but all good things must come to an end. The first thing I notice is that one of the crew members looks like he’s escaped from a Beatles convention. There are some curious costumes that the supporting cast are given which are screaming the 1960’s. The next thing that I notice is that unusually in space there are no stars. I liked it and thought that it gave a great impression that they aren’t just round the corner from Earth or any planets in the solar system.

This is where the wheels of this particular cart start to fall off. We are introduced to Milo Clancy who looks like he’s come out of a 1960’s Western. When we first meet him he’s having breakfast and eating an egg. Clancy is thought to be an Argonite pirate or working with them. He is portrayed as someone who might be old but has the potential to have quite a temper and isn’t weak and feeble.

It’s seven minutes before we get one word of dialogue from the Doctor. The regulars spend that time just ‘sleeping’. It’s another five minutes before we get a proper scene from them. So in nearly 45 minutes of the story we’ve had less than 17-18 minutes featuring the stars. We get a nice little explanation and demonstration from Patrick Troughton about the different sections that were broken up. I love the moment when the Doctor tells Zoe to not be a pessimist. This is the first time that there’s been a telling off like this. This comes after the Doctor has a plan to get the sections back but if he gets it wrong then they will be flung into space and this is what happens and at this point it seems lie there is no hope of rescue.

The one thing that I liked about this episode were the models. They looked slick and rather well done. It’s not cheap looking which isn’t normally the case in 1960’s Doctor Who.

The cliffhanger is really good and I just wish that the rest of the episodes exist. Clancy has shot Jamie and Zoe thinks he is dead. Obviously we know that he’s not dead and that he will feature in the next episode but it’s a cracking reason why we should tune in to the next episode. I think that whilst there were some good moments, this was a rather dull episode. There was an awful lot of talking about how Clancy was some sort of master-criminal. It was only when the regulars appeared on screen that I found myself interested in the story and I fear that the next four episodes will follow the same pattern. Oh well, lets just get through it and it will soon be over.

The Space Pirates - Episode 1

So we all know that Robert Holmes is one of the best writers in Doctor Who history right? Well if we were trying to convince a newbie of this and got them to watch The Krotons they wouldn’t be convinced but think that it was a bumpy start, try getting them to watch this story and they would think that we are barking mad. I will admit from the start that as I embark on Troughton’s penultimate story as the Doctor, I am not looking forward to this story. It’s a story that sticks out in my mind for being more slapstick than most Doctor Who stories. This is the final story in my marathon that doesn’t exist on DVD which is a massive thing because of all those days where I was stuck listening to the CD but the difference between those stories and this one is that I had telesnaps to look at to at least get a flavour of what the episodes might have looked like. This time there are no telesnaps so episode two is the only opportunity we get to see just how bad this story might have looked.

There’s something that’s quite odd about this episode (I say odd, I mean usual). It’s 15 minutes before the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe appear. Now in ‘The Seeds of Death’ there was a far bit of time before the regulars but it was about half the time of this episode. During this period we are left in the company of people who sound like they’ve just come from a pantomime because some of them have a rather exaggerated way of delivering their lines. When the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe appear it takes less that two minutes for them to be hunted by the people on the spaceship. The episode concludes with fragments of the ship being broken up with the regulars being in one of them. It’s a good ending for the episode. Despite not interacting with anyone else and only being in it for half of the episodes running time, the regulars are all good and there even seems like there’s more of that Troughton/Hines co-production stuff littered through their lines.

As much as I hate to admit it, I don’t hate this episode. I’m not totally sold on it but I think that there is something fun to enjoy here. I think once the regulars get involved in the story then it will continue to make me reassess this story and whilst I continued to bang on about six parters, I think that there might be enough here to make me forget the running time and as you probably have thought of there is an even longer story about to come. The Space Pirates might just be one of the surprises of the season for me, I emphasis might.

The Seeds of Death - Episode 6

This final episode of ‘The Seeds of Death’ is the 100^th episode that Patrick Troughton has appeared in. The Doctor at the beginning of the episode has two battle two menaces (one he can’t see), there is the foam/pods and the Ice Warrior. Like the first episode which took several minutes before the regulars, it’s the same amount of time before extras turn up and a few minutes more before the supporting cast turn up (eight minutes). When the Ice Warrior is dealt with the story action moves to trying to make it rain and the stop the invasion fleet from arriving. Considering it only has 25 minutes to do it, its done quite well. The making it rain thing was done quite quickly considering the machine that does it seem quite broken.

I like how the Ice Warriors are defeated. They are tricked into following the wrong signal and the invasion fleet are sent to the sun instead of the earth. It’s a plan that takes the whole episode to get it to work and when it does it’s revealed in a fantastic way. It’s not done quickly at the end of an episode but they take the time to finish it off and still manage to do it with time to spare.

The performances are the best they have been from the regulars in this story. That’s because they seem to be letting some of the comedy come out. There’s a great shot when Troughton arrives in the weather bureau and Wendy Padbury has a massive grin on her face. The best of the regulars is Troughton who’s best scene comes when he is against Slaar and he says confidently that his plans are finished. It’s a rare thing for Troughton’s Doctor to get a scene like that but Troughton seizes the moment and its great to watch. The supporting cast don’t really feature that much as the action is taken with the regulars and the ice warriors.

As a story it works quite well and despite my reservations about it being six episodes, I thought that it worked in a perfectly fine manner. The Ice Warriors though lacking in ice weren’t lacking in menace. Their plan was quite clever (compared to the Daleks’ regular plans) and the setting of the moon was a nice nod to the base under siege type story that we had become use to. Brian Hayles has written a sound script and introduced a raft of supporting characters that weren’t annoying and were fun to watch. Michael Ferguson has been praised during the previous episodes because he has kept the action going and the location stuff was great.

The problem now is that we are about to approach the space pirates.

The Seeds of Death - Episode 5

As we are now in the final third of the story, it’s where it needs to continue its way to a satisfying conclusion. The way that Zoe is saved is a mix of Fewsham and also the temperature getting too warm at just the right time. The early moments of this episode are quite good as we get to see what is going to happen to Zoe. I remember the first time that I saw this I thought that it was a good way that they dealt with it. The action doesn’t stop when Zoe is saved because Troughton returns from his holiday.

So because Patrick Troughton is back off holiday, he wakes up just an Ice Warrior is about to leave the room he’s been sleeping in. The Doctor doesn’t waste any time in getting back on track as pretty soon he’s out trying to find what stops the foam from growing. Once the Doctor discovers what it is there is a nice cut away so we don’t learn what it is for a few moments more. It’s simple water which then leads to Jamie and Zoe getting into action going to the Weather Control Bureau and make it rain however as we are probably suppose to have forgotten was destroyed by the Ice Warrior earlier in the episode. Once they get to the Bureau then they spend the rest of the episode wandering around and hiding from the Ice Warrior is seems like they are just killing time until the final episode.

Fewsham really has impressed me in this and the previous episode. I cant quite make my mind up just who he is working for. He realises that he will probably be put on trial on Earth but is willing to let the Doctor and the others go. He does things that are clearly designed to show that he is working against the Ice Warriors. His final act is when he leaves the video link on for the Doctor to hear and once its discovered he is killed.

Sir James Gregson is a new supporting character introduced at a stage when new characters are needed to keep things fresh. After warming to Radnor who is a likeable if slightly bureaucratic figure, it seems that compared to Gregson, Radnor has mellowed in the last couple of episode. Another new character is the Grand Marshal of the Ice Warriors. He is the one that has some authority and has a sparkly helmet to differentiate from a normal Ice Warrior.

The cliffhanger is a good one as there are two threats for the Doctor to try and avoid. If he manages to survive the pod blowing up right in front of him then he has to try and dodge an incoming Ice Warrior. This is perhaps my favourite cliffhanger not only for this story but for sometime. It’s a very good episode as it feels like it running towards something and the final episode is going to be fun to watch. I’m still not sold on six parters but I think that certainly the last two or three episodes have been fun to watch.
 

The Seeds of Death - Episode 4

So with Patrick Troughton on holiday, it means that Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury get a bit more of the action. Though they do come up with a clever way of getting rid of the person playing him by placing him in the T-Mat and sending into space. I like how there is a nice bit of tension with Fewsham not wanting to do it. Terry Scully must be getting a bit bored of just doing scenes with Ice Warriors and longs for acting against people not in costumes.

As Troughton is on holiday it means that Hines and Padbury have to get themselves involved in the story and Wendy Padbury does this very well as she has to work her way through the maze of tunnels to reach the control room to try and turn up the temperature. This was achieved by having the access hatch so small that only Zoe could get through. I do like how in trying to point out why she should do it and not Jamie she takes a pot shot at the fact that Jamie isn’t the quietest person in the world. Jamie is then forced to stay in that room where they have hooked up the weapon that doesn’t have a positive effect on Ice Warriors, though on the plus side he is stuck with Miss Kelly so there are worse situations to be in.

I forgot to mention about when the pod started to get bigger when it was in front of Radnor, Eldred and Brent. When it started to get bigger, why didn’t they close the door. If something like that was happening to me then I would have closed the door and got the hell out of there. But I suppose you lose a bit of common sense when your on TV. Another thing I haven’t mentioned (for some reason) is how sniffly and pathetic Fewsham started off and continues to be. He’s all about self sacrifice and nothing else. I don’t think that he cares about others which is why I think he’s an effective character. Eldred is the one that figures out why the Ice Warriors have sent their pods to cold parts of the world. I like it how despite being the oldest, he is still able to contribute and be useful to the story. He also seems to be the one with the wisest head on his/her shoulders.

The moment where the Ice Warriors surprises Eldred and Radnor was another good moment as it was the first time that they had been seen on Earth and in different surroundings to the moon. Even though it was just one it seemed more than capable of seeing off the guards.

We get to go outside for the first time since ‘The Invasion’ and though it doesn’t feature the regular any of the important supporting characters its still good to get outside. It has a different look to them. Ok there’s filmed at Hyde Park and so not going to have the cold bleakness of what we saw in ‘The Invasion’ and I don’t know whether its just the quality of the print but there is something that looks a bit odd. That said the effect of the foam spreading and the T-Mat guard being killed by an Ice Warrior is well realised.

The cliffhanger is a good one as Zoe is the one that is in danger as she is spotted by the Ice Warrior infront of that giant bank of lights. This has definelty been Wendy Padbury’s episode and it does show how the dynamic of the set-up has changed and despite the level playing field in the first couple of episode, its reverted back to what we have now. It’s a shame really but I think that the restrictions of Jamie’s character (even though this was his 94^th episode) is on show here. As an episode it’s the best so far and it feels like the story is starting to get cooking and also it feels like there is some menace to want the good guys to try and stop. Good stuff.

7.65/10

The Seeds of Death - Episode 3

As we approach the halfway stage of the story this is where the Ice Warriors plan starts to become clear. This is the first time that the Doctor meets the Warriors since their last story. The first 10-12 minutes are really about the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie landing on the moon. The focus of the episode has moved from earth to the moon and this helps create a sense that the story is a sort of base under siege feel cause there isn’t any real way that help can arrive as the T-Mat doesn’t work for a large part of the episode.

Miss Kelly becomes the star of the episode as really stands up for herself. When face to face with the Ice Warriors, she doesn’t show fear but rather warns them that they won’t find it so easy to invade the Earth. I thought that Phipps was a close second as he was the first to meet the Doctor and then Jamie and Zoe. He showed his intelligence in the previous episode when he killed an Ice Warrior and got to show it again in this episode. I liked how he was quite respectful to Zoe by calling her Miss Zoe which meant that we should like him and I do.

I think that the incidental music is quite fun though I’ve never noticed it before. I don’t think that I’ve commented too much about the incidental music on these episodes but I’m going to put that right today as Dudley Simpson has done a great job in this story. It’s very much of its period but that’s what I like about it because its distinctive and futuristic.

Patrick Troughton goes on holiday for the next episode so his absence is explained when he holds one of the Ice Warriors’ pods and it explodes causing him to faint. The Doctor doesn’t waste much time getting separated from Jamie and Zoe and gets to meet the Ice Warriors as a result. Troughton gets to deliver a great line when he announces that’s he a genius to prevent the Warriors from killing him. Jamie feels like he’s getting more of the action in this episode than he did previously. He’s been used better and is also being treated equally to Zoe. It’s good that the companions are working together instead of being separated like in previous episodes.

The cliffhanger was quite good as it didn’t feature the regulars which was a rareity. One of the pods arrives on earth via T-Mat and is about to blow up just like the one that knocked the Doctor out. It’s great to end the episode this way as we don’t know whether the supporting cast will survive or who will come and save the day so it must have been torture waiting a week to find out what happened. Thankfully I only have to wait until tomorrow. The story has picked up since the last episode and that’s more to do with the fact that the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie have finally got to get out of the rocket and interacting with other people. Long may it continue.