(647) The Trial of a Timelord (Part 8): Mindwarp - Part 4

Is Peri dead? Is the question that the Doctor asks and the Valeyard responds with no which shows that he is willing to use shock tactics to go overboard. It seems to be a sign of things to come which was a clever bit of writing on the part of Philip Martin. There is a nice scene between Peri and Yrcanos in which Peri decides she wants to be at home and talks to Yrcanos about life and love. This is where the relationship between the two begins. Now what I find interesting is that when Leela departs the show, I found the lack of a long term build up to be a reason why her departure is rather disappointing. In the case of this story it seems far more plausible and I think that it’s due to the performances of Nicola Bryant and Brian Blessed.

The confusion about what the Doctor’s true mental state is something that is confusing still. He starts off seemingly willing to help Crozier, then decides he would prefer if Peri weren’t experiment and then seems to be totally his normal self. Colin Baker does his best to try and clarify the situation but he can’t completely answer the question. It might be easy to understand on Thoros Beta but in the courtroom it seems that it’s not as clear cut as it might seem.

This is the beginning of the end for Peri because she gets used in the experiment to transplant Kiv’s brain to a suitable host. It’s is quite a grim process that she goes through in this episode. She doesn’t really get much to do apart from her nice chat with Yrcanos and then she is operated on. The sight of her with a bald cap on is quite a shocking. When Peri/Kiv starts talking then it adds to the shock. Yrcanos does the only thing that he could do and that is kill Peri (or her body anyway).

The Doctor is on his way to help Peri but is lured into a suddenly appearing TARDIS which leads to the events seen in episode one. His reaction when he sees that Yrcanos has killed Peri is a totally mesmerising one. This has to be one of his finest performances since Attack of the Cybermen.

He is very determined at the end of this episode and he is determined to find out why he was taken out of time. Whilst this has another close-up/zoom in that you all know I love, it’s the way that Colin Baker delivers the line that makes this one of the best cliffhangers of the season so far. It’s been a cracking episode. Partly because I know what was going to happen but for the first time in this season I have been more impressed with the performances than the story itself.

This episode is the final one for Nicola Bryant and in terms of endings it is perhaps one of the most shocking since Adric died in Earthshock (1982). It’s fair to say that Bryant hasn’t had the most enjoyable time ever in the show but she has been surprisingly upbeat even when things weren’t going her way. I would be surprised if she missed the show in terms of what she was required to do. The Peri that we now get in the Big Finish adventures is a stronger one than we get on TV.

As a four part adventure in its own right, Mindwarp has been a very enjoyable story with the right mixture of comedy and darkness. It has been written with the same enthusiasm as Philip Martin wrote in Vengeance on Varos and Ron Jones has really impressed me with the pace and the sets that he used helped add to the effectiveness of the story. It’s not very often that I have written this but Robert Holmes has written the weakest story of the season so far. Eight episodes in and I think that it is progressing well know that there are various elements that going forward have the potential to be very good. Unfortunately, coming up in the next episode is one of most controversial companions in Doctor Who history. But considering how I have re-evaluated Bonnie Langford’s character in the Big Finish plays, it is possible that this might mean a change but I suppose time will tell.

(646) The Trial of a Timelord (Part 7): Mindswap - Part 3

The small matter of what is causing the Doctor to act the way he is on Thoros Beta is something that continues to be the problem with this story. Despite all the hard work that Philip Martin and Ron Jones have done to make this story sound and look like a great adventure. Like the previous episode, this one doesn’t feature a courtroom scene for several minutes. It’s good that the series arc story isn’t thrown in our faces so soon.

This is the episode where Kiv’s mind is swapped and considering how important it seems to be there is little sense of drama apart from Sil over reacting. Sil is rather amusing apart from this brief moment. He decides he wants to be the first face the Kiv sees in his new body and the look on his face causes Kiv to think he’s died. There is very little room for humour in this section of the story so its good to see Nabil Shaban doing the honours.

Yrcanos is basically leading a revolution in this episode and becomes leader purely by the fact that he shouts the loudest. This involves dragging Peri from one tunnel to another and they don’t actually achieve anything. It was slightly disappointing that Brian Blessed has been left to do and also Nicola Bryant seems to have drawn the short straw in trying to calm him down.

There is very little from the courtroom but what we do see is rather good. Michael Jayston is the strongest part of the courtroom part. It did feel like Lynda Bellingham and Colin Baker were spare parts but to be fair Colin Baker makes up for that in other areas of this episode. There is more about what the Doctor can and cannot remember which s fun because it just seems to give the Valeyard more ammunition to use against the Doctor. It’s good to see the Doctor in a rare situation where he doesn’t know whats going on. This is something that usually happens to the companions so you could say that the Doctor is getting a dose of his own medicine.

The final minute of the episode sees Peri seemingly gunned down. Considering that Nicola Bryant is about to leave the show it is perfectly plausible that she could have left the show an episode early. This leads to a good cliffhanger but unlike previous endings, there isn’t a zoom in but just a static shot of Colin Baker which is at least a minor difference. It’s not been an action packed episode  and is probably the weakest of the three but it’s still been an episode that hasn’t been boring. Compared to the Robert Holmes story, this one has been a huge improvement.
 

(645) The Trial of a Timelord (Part 6): Mindwarp - Part 2

It’s weird to think that I am now six episodes into this and nearly at the half way point of the season. It’s fair to say that this season has taken a while to find its feet. It really doesn’t take long for the Brian Blessed we all know to appear. Within two minutes of the episode starting, he is throwing things around and shouting. If Blessed is shouting then Colin Baker is pretty much the opposite. It’s fun seeing the Doctor act the way that he is because its unlike anything we have seen Baker’s Doctor do and it hasn’t been seen in a Doctor since Tom Baker’s time.

When the story returns to the courtroom it seems that the Doctor’s memory is going to be a big issue for the story. On this matter it starts to become clear that the Matrix is being manipulated and that not everything we see is clear. For the first time I thought that the whole thing flowed perfectly. I didn’t find the going from one place to another to be as disruptive as in previous episodes. Again Michael Jayston and Lynda Bellingham are very good and its great to see Colin Baker having to have two different battles. The argument that the Valeyard has against the Doctor seems to be stronger in this part than in the previous story.

The Doctor appears to have turned against Peri and King Yrcarnos. It’s unclear whether the Doctor is under the control of the machine or whether it didn’t work and the Doctor is just pretending. Something’s tend to suggest the former and sometimes the latter. It makes the whole thing about this section of the trial rather confusing.

One thing I haven’t commented on is the wonderful lighting. The low lighting has been one of the things that I have liked about these two episodes so far. I know that might be damning with faint praise but it just blows the argument that there was about why the lighting always needed to be bright. Ron Jones hasn’t always been a great director in my eyes but to be fair to him, he has directed solidly paced episodes.

I thought that this was another good episode. It’s weird how this story seems to be stronger than the one written by the legendary Robert Holmes. Things are starting to get more interesting in the courtroom and the ‘evidence’ is starting to feel more like normal Doctor Who stuff and less like trial stuff. The cliffhanger was another zoom in but was at least shrouded in darkness so we didn’t get the proper close up that there has been throughout this season. It’s not as amusing as the previous episode but it is perhaps a better ending.

(644) The Trial of a Timelord (Part 5): Mindwarp - Part 1

Philip Martin returns for the second piece of evidence that the Valeyard is using in one the flimsiest cases ever seen on TV. Long before Deidre Barlow got stitched up on Coronation Street in the mid 90’s, The Doctor was still having to argue against evidence which showed that things might not have gone smoothly but it could have been a lot worse. This four part adventure is the one that the Doctor was on before being taken out of time and joining the courtroom at the beginning of episode one. The opening shot of Thoros Beta is stunning. I know that the colours are rather garish but I still like it.

There are a lot more court scenes which is good to see but unlike the previous story. I found this story to be far more interesting. Also the flow of the episode is better than in the previous adventure. The action centres of Kiv getting a new body and all of his hopes lay with Crozier. That is pretty much it but what I like about this is that Martin has managed to keep the action going. The Doctor has a rather unfortunate end to the episode. One that gives the sense that things are going to spiral out of control in the future. There was something that was a bit weird about the performances of Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant.

This is the story of course where Brian Blessed makes a guest appearance. This would have been several years after appearing in Flash Gordon. He quite quiet in this episode which is the only time that the words Brian Blessed and quiet will be used at the same time. It’s fun to have him in this story because he is pretty much perfect for the show. Nabil Shaban returns as the wonderful Sil. Sil seems to be less repulsive than he was in Vengeance on Varos. I still like the Shaban laugh and think that any story with Shaban in will be greatly improved. Despite Sil being in the story, Crozier is the one that is the main villain in the piece only because he is more dangerous than Sil.

Christopher Ryan plays Kiv. Ryan would return to play a Sontaran in the new series. The voice is pretty obvious but I like the character of Kiv. He basically treats Sil the way that Sil treated the Governor in the Varos story. Another person that is familiar is Trevor Laird. Laird plays Frax in this story. He would return to the new series to play Martha’s dad in the 2007 series. It’s a rather small part but its always fun when people show up and I know that they will come up in future Doctor Who.

The cliffhanger is another zooming in but this time I found myself distracted with the weird dance that Colin Baker seemed to be doing which I found partly amusing but partly confusing. Anyway this has been the first time since this trial season has begun that I have felt that it’s like a proper Doctor Who story. It also is the first time that it’s felt like a Colin Baker story.

(643) The Trial of a Timelord (Part 4): The Mysterious Planet - Part 4

This is the final part of The Mysterious Planet part of this season. The thing is that it doesn’t feel like the end of a story.

The cliffhanger worked quite well because it seemed to show Merdeen about to shoot the Doctor. This of course didn’t mean that the Doctor would die three episodes in. Merdeen shot Grell instead of the Doctor and it’s a rather touching moment when its revealed that Merdeen convinced Grell to join the army. This has been the best episode for Tom Chadbon because he gets a good amount of stuff to do. The character has been unravelled over the course of the four episodes and this is the reward for that.

It’s still rather funny that Queen Katryca is still under the assumption that the immortal is dead. Her death and the death of Broken Tooth is rather grim but compared to some deaths it could have been much worse. Joan Sims has been rather good in the role and when you consider what she is best known for, it makes her performance in this serial even more impressive.

The courtroom scenes do still continue to disrupt the flow but the first one was quite fun because it allows the Doctor to do a rather over the top. The next scene comes after a scene between Glitz and Dibber bleeps out a particular word which creates more mystery.

There is a nice debate between the Doctor and Drathro about the meaning of life. It’s surprising that such time was given to this philosophical issue. Drathro isn’t defeated by the Doctor but really by Glitz. The Doctor does actually save the day but it would have been better if he had been the one defeating the stupid robot. Colin Baker has slowly been getting better in this serial but it seems that he’s not really allowed to be like his previous self. Nicola Bryant was pretty much silent in this episode. I cant really recall what she was allowed to do in this episode. Scratch that comment, there is one moment that I can think of but it isn’t a positive moment. There is a bit where Peri, Merdeen, Glitz and Dibber are in a food chute and there is a laser used which sadly doesn’t look very good.

The mystery isn’t really solved in this story but there are two questions that the Doctor (and the viewer) want to know and that is ‘Who moved Earth and what was in the box that Glitz and Dibber were after’. The final scene in the courtroom is rather good because the Doctor is basically goading the Valeyard and the last shot is a close up (again) of Colin Baker’s face which is still annoying.

This is the last full story that Robert Holmes would write (his last contribution coming later) and whilst it’s not his best offering by quite some distance. It’s hard to appreciate what Robert Holmes has done for the show and so as a result I don’t have it in me to be too critical of this adventure. There are some nice things that take place over the four episodes and some of the season long story arc start to gain some significance. Four episodes into this season and I don’t know whether I like the structure that this series is going to take. The idea of the Doctor on trial is all fine and dandy but I don’t know whether mixing it with four related stories is the best move.

(642) The Trial of a Timelord (Part 3): The Mysterious Planet - Part 3

The third episode of this season is one that doesn’t get going for about ten minutes. There is a lot talking and this doesn’t exactly come across as very exciting. One of the first court room scene is quite interesting and that is something that stands out in this episode that I found the courtroom scenes to be more interesting than what was going on on Ravolox. The scenes on the surface are moderately exciting that is only because Glitz and Dibber are quite amusing and I like seeing them on screen. The stuff underground is less interesting because it just looks rather sterile and looks like an awful lot of 1980’s Doctor Who studio sets that look too clean and I just find myself not quite so interested.

It’s quite fun that they the tribe think that they have killed the Immortal but instead have just killed its robot and start to embark on a trek to the Immortal’s Castle. It’s clear that things are going to end badly for them because they are happy and we are nowhere near the end of this story. It’s a shame that Joan Sims’ character is going to get a not nice ending.

Towards the end of the episode there is the start of the suspicion that there is something dodgy going on when evidence. This is perhaps the best thing about the episode because it is where the season arc is really going to get going. As far as the central performances, I thought that Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant were good. Baker was slightly more noticeable but it’s a warm performance from the pair of them. Michael Jayston is still the strongest of the supporting cast. It’s a shame that he doesn’t have more involvement in the story at this point.

Merdeen appears to shoot the Doctor which forms the best cliffhanger in the series so far. I think that the fact there isn’t the extreme close up. I think that this episode is an odd one because it just seemed to lack any sense of excitement. If this were a normal four part story then I think that they would be building up towards something. However with this story it doesn’t feel like its building up to anything and that this story is just a holding pattern until the business end of things appear. It’s quite disappointing so far.

(641) The Trial of a Timelord: The Mysterious Planet - Part 2

After being slightly disappointed with the opening episode, I was wondering that I was going to go back to the days of the Hartnell and Troughton era where I would be going through several days of unwatchable but I am happy to report that I don’t think this will be the case. The episode starts off with the court scene reprise which is still good and doesn’t have the zoom in. Like in the previous episode, the courtroom appears in the middle of the episode which again disrupts the flow of the Ravolox story. There is another courtroom seen scene a few moments later.

The Doctor in the Ravolox story was being stoned in the previous cliffhanger and this is stopped by Merdeen via the Immortal. The Immortal has two helpers who are blonde and quite intelligent. Sadly they are slightly annoying. Whether they are as annoying as Balazar is still up for question but I think that it’s a close call. Merdeen is played by Tom Chadbon who last time we saw him in Doctor Who was throwing punches like Amir Khan. Chadbon is different in this story. Merdeen starts off as a bit of a bossy boots but soon shows his true colours by letting Balazar escape to the surface and he has been doing this for a while.

This episode starts the joke about making fun of the Valeyard. Boatyard and Graveyard are two insults that the Doctor hurls towards the Valeyard. I like the childish behaviour between the Doctor and Valeyard. The thing that is clear is that the Valeyard is trying to use what is seen onscreen to use against the Doctor. The thing is that whilst he may have a point it is also easy to argue that without his involvement then the people of Ravolox would be still be repressed.

The immortal is a robot that is running the base like a dictatorship and won’t allow people to go to the surface to get much needed water. This is when the story is that of an overzealous robot that is taking his job role to the letter.

The cliffhanger is much better but there is still the close up of the Doctor which didn’t work the first time and it doesn’t work the second time either. Two episodes in and I feel slightly more positive to this series. It is one of those episodes that has more good things than bad things. It’s not a classic Robert Holmes script by any means but I thought that the pacing of the episode was far better than in episode one. I still have reservations about this season but I am starting to think that the previous episode might have been a blip but I will need to see a few more episodes to judge.

(640) The Trial of a Timelord - The Mysterious Planet: Part 1

Doctor Who was saved. After being cancelled the show was saved although its clear that the show was now living on borrowed time. Instead of 13 x 45 minute episodes, the twenty-third season would be 14 x 25 minutes episodes. So it was a shorter run because instead of 585 minutes there would now be 350 minutes. The idea that the season would have one theme is something that had been done before in the form of the Key to Time and the new series would have a similar idea. However to have the Doctor on trial when the show itself was on trial is something in retrospect wasn’t the strongest idea. First that is evident about this new season is that there is a new theme tune which I hated when I first heard it but over the years via Big Finish plays its grown on me.

The open shot of the space station is one of the greatest sequences in Doctor Who history. It’s impressive to the point that for a few moments it seems like Doctor Who had stepped up a gear since it was off the air but it wouldn’t take long for that to change. The opening scene where the Doctor has landed is quite well done. The Doctor had previously been on trial in The War Games (1969) and is put on trial for pretty much the same thing.

One of the two new supporting characters for the season is the recently deceased Lynda Bellingham who plays the Inquisitor. I don’t think that it’s a very rewarding role however I think that Bellingham does a good job of acting like she is in charge. Michael Jayston plays the Valeyard and he is one of the strongest things about this season. Jayston is most recognisable to me as the father-in-law of Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses and also appeared in Emmerdale recently. He just has a sense of evil that he is rather enjoying and that is what makes the court room scenes half watchable.

The Valeyard intends to use two examples of why the Doctor is guilty and his first example form the first four episodes. When Peri appears in this story, its clear that their relationship is a lot more warm than it had been. It’s the only thing that is warm in this part of the story. There is a nice mystery (hence the title) about where they are. The planet is called Ravolox but soon its revealed to be Earth.

There are occasional moments where the action is broken up by a short scene back in the courtroom. To be this slightly ruins the momentum that the story has had. Instead of the bit in the middle which doesn’t contribute anything to the story. However the ending is slightly more important because it sees the Valeyard says he wants the Doctor’s life put on trial.

As this is a Robert Holmes story there is of course a double act. In this case its Tony Selby and Glen Murphy who star as Sabalom Glitz and Dibber respectively. They are quite a good team and Robert Holmes’ magic works in this department. They are both rubbish criminals and shouldn’t be taken seriously. That is why I like them because there is something comedic about them and that is what this story needs. Joan Sims is one of the big stars in this season. In this part of the story she plays Queen Katryca and I remember when Beryl Reid appeared in Earthshock and it was clear that she didn’t understand the part and so didn’t come across as a convincing space pilot. Here I think that Sims is far more convincing and as a result I buy into the fact that she is a Queen. There is a character called Balazar who is somewhat annoying and one of things that slightly ruins this opening episode. He keeps calling the Doctor “old one” which is funny at first but becomes quickly annoying.

The cliffhanger is basically a zoom in on Colin Baker’s face which is going to be a recurring theme during this season. It’s somewhat disappointing that this is the way they have chosen to end each episode but I suppose a cliffhanger doesn’t make or break a season. What has surprised me about this episode is just how underwhelming it feels. There doesn’t feel like the opening that it should. It doesn’t have the big selling point that Attack of the Cybermen or Warriors of the Deep had. It is sort of half-hearted in certain was which does worry me a little bit.

(639) Revelation of the Daleks - Part 2

The final episode of the shortest season of Doctor Who at this point and it’s the final story of the 22^nd season. I mentioned in the previous episode that the episode wasn’t as grim as I remembered. I still don’t think that this episode was as grim as I remember but there are some moments that do stand out as memorable. The cliffhanger from the previous episode has some good things about it but I think that its instantly forgotten just moments are the episode starts.

Jobel begins his interest in Peri and his dislike of the Doctor from the very beginning. Jobel’s time in this episode is rather entertaining. He walks around the place with arrogance. The attitude he has aimed at Tasambeker leads to her killing him and its hard to muster any sympathy for him. There is a little bit more sympathy when she is exterminated by the Daleks. On the subject of Jobel’s death, it was another example of the violence in Doctor Who at this point and its one of the more valid points. There is a slight dark comedic moment in his final moment in the store when his toupee falls onto the floor.

There is a solid moment with Orcini and Bostock when they are on Necros and come across as Dalek. It ends with a spectacular explosion. They don’t seem to feature in the episode as much as I thought they did but when they are in then they are fantastic. Their next big scene is when they encounter Davros but things start to go downhill for them and Bostock is the first to fall. Orcini’s death is far better because it’s a noble death and he dies with his friend next to him. William Gaunt has been a superb piece of casting.

I like how Davros sends some Daleks to ‘protect’ Kara and Vogel. It’s at this moment that it’s clear that they won’t have very much time left in this episode. Vogel’s death is rather amusing because it’s over the top. Kara’s death is slightly better but only because it comes at the end of a good scene where she meets up with Orcini and he stabs her. It’s hard to find sadness in her death because whilst she might have started out with good intentions, the fact that she was more looking out for herself sort of removes any sympathy that the viewer should have.

The DJ in this episode is less annoying and becomes a more likeable person. The first scene with him and Peri is a rather sweet and lovely encounter. He is willing to fight against the Daleks that is good for the viewer to see but I think that he was a bit rubbish in the seconds leading to his death. He deserved slightly better. The casting of Alexi Sayle might have been part of a long running problem that hung around this period of the show but I thought that Sayle managed to that this was more than a one dimensional character.

I had forgotten about the moment where the Doctor first encounters the Daleks in this story. It’s good to have this brief encounter and if there was one thing I would change about this story then it would be to have more time between Colin Baker and Terry Molloy. Terry Molloy’s performance wasn’t mentioned in the previous entry but he has really performed well in this serial. He is just a head for most of this serial and yet he manages to be one of the best things in this serial. Davros is very good in this episode and I like the twist when it appears that Orcini and Bostock have killed Davros. Davros does something that hadn’t been seen on screen before and that is he floats in the air. It’s often mentioned that the Daleks floating in Remembrance of the Daleks is the first time they are seen in the air but Davros beat them by three years.

It seems like I have had to wait for ages to see the Doctor meet Davros. There is a nice bit of continuity link back to Resurrection of the Daleks. Another memorable moment for Davros apart from the levitating bit is when his hand is blown off. The next time we see his hand is in metal form in the new series. Davros is basically led out to survive and fight another day. This seems like a plausible way of keeping the option open of using the character in another story.

There are a new breed of Daleks that have the more traditional colour scheme. The white and gold ones that are associated with Davros are the better looking ones and thankfully they return in the next story. Compared to the Davros aligned ones, the Daleks that are associated with the Supreme Dalek look rather bland in comparison.

The final scene is quite sad because I know what’s coming up. The Doctor talks about taking Peri on holiday is about to take her to Blackpool but due to the show being cancelled before being renewed, that is edited out so that we would have to wait until 2009 before Big Finish would take us to Blackpool. It’s a shame that the show was put on hiatus at this time because it seems like the show was still firing on all cylinders. Apart from Timelash, I thought this had been one of the strongest and most consistent season for quite some time. It would be 525 days before the show would return but it wouldn’t have the soul that it had before. This would be the last great story that Colin Baker would have but one thing is for sure the next fourteen days are going to be a mixture of emotions but one of major change.

(638) Revelation of the Daleks - Part 1

Revelation of the Daleks is a story that I have waited for and it arguably the last great Sixth Doctor story. This is the final story of the 22^nd season and the final story to air as a 45 minute episode until the show returned in 2005. It is also an Eric Saward story so you can expect a darker Doctor Who story than normal. It is also a story directed by Graeme Harper which means that the story will move in an interesting way. It seems that the Doctor and Peri’s relationship is as frosty as the lake the TARDIS lands by. The fact there is a lot of snow adds something to the story which is an added bonus.

Clive Swift appears as Jobel. He is quite an arrogant individual and is instantly unlikeable but that makes his likeable. He treats everyone around with contempt and that includes Tasambeker. Tasambeker is someone who has a bit of a crush on Jobel. Tasambeker is played by Jenny Tomasin  and she might be small but she almost stands over some of the other performers. Tasambeker comes to the attention of Davros which isn’t always a good thing.

Alexi Sayle appears as a DJ and adds a bit of anarchy to proceedings. He seems to be in own little world talking to those who are in suspended animation. He in fact doesn’t interact with anyone which is quite similar to Arak and Etta in Vengeance on Varos. Sayle’s performance is quite entertaining but it’s more fun trying to listen to the music playing in the background and guessing what the tracks are.  

It takes just eight minutes for Davros and the Daleks to make a return and this is a wonderful change of form because normally they wouldn’t appear until the half way point or even later. Here, Eric Saward doesn’t waste anytime. What he does do however is delay when the Doctor realises that the Daleks and Davros are on Necros with the name ‘The Great Healer’.

The Doctor and Peri spend an awfully long time just walking around. I suppose this allows for the other aspects of the story to take centre stage. The only person they come into contact with is someone who is quite deformed due to the Great Healer’s experiment. It almost seems like they are being kept separate from the main action. They are there for the cliffhanger however when a statue of the Doctor falls over and seems to crush the Doctor. The cliffhanger is different because it’s a white statue that falls to the camera and then the screen goes white before the credits roll.

There are several different plot strands that take place in this episode . The first involved Kara and Vogel. Kara (Eleanor Bron) and Hugh Walters (Vogel) run a factory that is basically a plaything for Davros. They dislike Davros but are nice as pie to his face. They are arranging for Orcini and Bostock to kill him. The first scene between Kara and Orcini is a great one because Kara is gushing about him but Orcini is less enthusiastic and acts like a nice guy because he gives his fee to charity. William Gaunt is brilliant as Orcini and the character is great because Gaunt makes us believe that he is a gun for hire and is a man with morals and a code.

Natasha and Grigory appear at first to be two body snatchers which is a wonderfully dark idea to have in a Doctor Who adventure. They are looking for Natasha’s father and it doesn’t take long to find him. He is in a glass Dalek casing and its in a dark room that has a faint red glow. The image of a glass Dalek casing is wonderful and the make-up used for Natasha’s father is quite gruesome. He wants her to kill him which is a quick and surprisingly emotional moment.

This episode didn’t strike me as grim or dark as I remembered. I do think that this might change in the next episode but the episode wasn’t slow and had enough going on to maintain my interest. It shouldn’t be a surprise considering how good Eric Saward’s last credited effort Earthshock was. Graeme Harper also deserves credit for directing this episode with the passion that it needed to. No story will ever be as well directed as The Caves of Androzani but Harper has shown again how a story should be directed. I look forward to the season finale.

(637) Timelash - Part 2

The second episode of this story is a lot better than the first although that’s not a great compliment. The Doctor ends up going into the Timelash after all and what we see is rather disappointing. It doesn’t look very impressive at all. Even the sight of the Doctor being hoisted down on a rope doesn’t do very much to interest me. It was at this point that I wondered whether things were ever going to improve but then Tekker enters and I am reminder about some of the good things that happened in the previous episode. Paul Darrow continues to be superb in this episode. He acts like the ruler that he thinks he is but sadly he meets a sticky ending.

The character of Herbert is the exact opposite of Tekker. Even the Doctor is finding him irritating. It’s unclear whether Colin Baker is acting or not because if it were me then I would have pushed him into the Timelash. He spends time walking around acting its all some big adventure and I really can’t believe how disappointing this aspect of the story. It’s a good idea that the Doctor would meet the great literary figure and that encountering the Doctor would have inspired some of his novels. Sadly the casting of David Chandler has reduced this to a less interesting encounter.

There is another tease at what the Borad really looks like at the beginning of the episode. It’s around the half way mark that we finally get to see what the real Borad looks like Robert Ashby’s debut on screen is rather underwhelming. The design of the make-up is rather good however and I think that Ashby has a wonderfully booming voice which lends itself to the role. Together it is one of the highlights of the entire serial.

There is a rather interesting painting of the third Doctor. I think that after the references in the previous episode, it seemed inevitable that there should be a visual one. Don’t quite know whether its relevant to the story but it seemed to be just a passing thing.

The Doctor uses the Borad’s weapon against him so for the second time in a row, the Doctor actually causes someone’s death. Ok so you could argue that he has done this before, he has never done it so blatantly. After a moment it was strange to realise that there was about fifteen more minutes before the episode would end which is unusual in a Doctor Who story at this time. I had forgotten about there been more than one Borad and the explanation given to this is rather good and there is a nice beauty and the beast thing going on with the Borad and Peri. I like the increasing number of people that have a crush on Peri.  

This has been the weakest story of the season just like I predicted in yesterdays review. It’s certainly not as bad as The Twin Dilemma but it certainly lacks from convincing characters and that’s a shame because there is a very good idea in this middle of the serial that is trying to get out but it doesn't.

(636) Timelash - Part 1

Timelash isn’t my favourite Colin Baker story. However I do have the strong belief that things will change over the course of the next two episodes. This story was written by Glen McCoy who becomes the 60^th credited writer in Doctor Who. That’s about the most interesting part of the entire review which is going to be a bit shorter than usual. The relationship between the Doctor and Peri isn’t as fierce as it was at the beginning of the season. There is still some tension there but it has definelty been reigned back since the beginning of the season. The story takes place in Karfel which is under a rather interesting dictatorship. The word Timelash is used within the first few minutes. This is what people are thrown into for being disobedient but to be honest it’s probably a good thing.

The first time that the Borad appears in this episode its in a chair that turns around and the camera cuts to Aram before we can see what he looks like. The voice of Borad (Robert Ashby) is very good and helps to create a ‘nice’ atmosphere. Denis Carey returns to play the human face of the Borad.  Carey had previously appeared in Shada but this is a more interesting performance.

The Doctor has previously visited Karfel before but in his third incarnation. I think that this is quite a good idea that we hear a bout the Doctor visiting somewhere that we have never seen before. Paul Darrow is easily the best thing in this story. He treats the story in the way that it should be treated and does well as Tekker. There is a wonderful sense when he walks into a room he pretty much owns that room and owns the scene that he is in. Sadly that is all the good stuff that I could find to say about this episode.

Jeanne Crowley unfortunately doesn’t impress as Vena. I just find her unconvincing and thought that it was stupid how she ended up going into the Timelash. She just doesn’t carry any emotional weight when she is on screen. The Android is rather odd but not really for the right reasons. It’s blue face and yellow hair really doesn’t look right. At least they learnt from the mistakes that were evident from Kamelion. The Bandril is another unfortunate design. The idea of the Bandril is good enough it is just that the visual lets it down completely. Like the design of the Timelash, one does suspect that a bit more money could have made a difference. Considering how important it is in the story, its weird that it wasn’t higher up on the list of priorities. The Morlox is also a disappointment. I really don’t know what it looks like but it seems like very little thought was given to the look of it. The introduction of H.G.Wells is something that should have been a great moment in the show. A big name in literaly history that is in my favourite TV show and yet the casting David Chandler means that it is another disappointment. He’s portrayed as a bit of an idiot and boards the TARDIS without the Doctor’s approval.

Sadly the Timelash doesn’t look impressive. In fact I would go so far as to say it looked a bit crap. It’s clear that the jollies to Seville took its toll on the budget. I do wonder what could have been achieved if The Two Doctors had been filmed in the UK.

As you can probably guess I don’t think very much of this episode because there are more things wrong with it than right. Despite the best efforts of Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant, this story doesn’t start off in a particular good way and I am just wanting Revelation of the Daleks to arrive so I can get past this one. I don’t think my opinion will change of this story and this is going to be the weakest story of the season. The only question that remains is whether it is worst that The Twin Dilemma.

(635) The Two Doctors - Part 3

The first three parter since Planet of Giants (1964) ends with what needed to be a better 45 minutes than the previous two for the whole return of Patrick Troughton thing to be worth it. It hadn’t struck me until now but Colin Baker and Patrick Troughton hadn’t actually met. The first encounter between the second and sixth Doctors is one of the highlights of this episode. It’s slightly frustrating that its taken until now for this to happen.

The second Doctor is going to be turned into an andragum. Quite why Robert Holmes has waited until now for this to happen is a bit of a mystery. I say this because it by far the most entertaining aspect of the episode. The Second Doctor and Shockeye start going in for food. They form a more entertaining double act than Oscar and Anita. Their walk to find food does lead to some lovely location filming. The filming ends up in Seville itself and there is quite a lot of it which makes up the little that we had in the previous episode.

The tension between the Sontarans and Chessene really starts to rise to the boil as they set to wipe the other lot out. Chessene is the one that strikes first as she drops some acid bombs on them and acts like it’s a normal activity. Stike makes it and lasts a while before he tries to make off in his ship and that explodes. Once the Sontarans are out of the way its means that the threat comes from Chessene and Dastari. I have to say that I think that the Sontarans were very underused in this serial and suffer from being treated as secondary monsters. Chessene is the one that is calling the shots and Jacqueline Pearce is very convincing as a baddie. It’s only during a scene between the two that its clear that some of Dastari’s morals start to come to the centre. There is a rather odd moment when Chessene puts her hands in some of the Doctor’s blood and seems to smother it on her face but the camera cuts away to Dastari’s reaction.  One of the grimmer moments in Doctor Who in my opinion.

This episode features a scene which is far worst that the apparent accede bath scene in Vengeance on Varos. It is where the Doctor pops a cyanide laden sponge on Shockeye’s mouth thus killing him. Even if the Doctor weren’t the one doing it then it would be a shocking moment in Doctor Who but it is the Doctor doing it and so just seems worst that what was shown in the previous serial.  

Sadly Oscar returns in this episode and when he gets stabbed by Shockeye I was really happy about this because it means that he is leaving on a permanent basis. Even just after he is stabbed he over acts in such a terrible way that I just hate the character even more. It is funny how Peri and Jamie leave Anita to tend to the recently deceased Oscar.

The deaths of Dastari and Chessene come in quick succession and I was disappointed with the death of Dastari as I would have liked for him to have made it and either die trying to save the Doctor or decide that he’s going to work for good now. Sadly this wasn’t the case but at least things ended at just the right point. The goodbye between the two Doctors, Jamie and Peri is rather amusing and seems to be just as good as the goodbye scene in The Five Doctors.

This episode has definelty the better of the three just because it’s been the most consistent. Unlike the previous episode, this one didn’t get started at the half way point. I don’t think that this story needed to be three episode and I still stand by my idea of making one of these episodes a standalone episode. That said I think that for a non-anniversary story, they just about got away with it although the question about why the story was set in Spain was never answered. Well there are just two more stories left of this season and this is the weakest of the season so far. Sadly this is the last time that Patrick Troughton would appear in Doctor Who as he passed away two years after this story transmitted. Troughton’s final performance summed up what was magical about his era on the show. Ok so most of the stories weren’t that great but there were some absolute crackers and even when the story didn’t work you could always rely on Troughton making at least worth watching.

(634) The Two Doctors - Part 2

The thing about this being a three parter is one that I didn’t go into much in the previous review. The show went from 26 x 25 minute episodes to 13 x 45 minute and this means that there is going to be an odd number of episodes. They got around this in the previous season by having a two parter so I think that they could have don’t just a single 45 minute episode. The problem at the moment is that the fast paced feel that the previous stories have had has pretty much gone in this serial.

The cliffhanger is solved by Peri saving herself from the person that grabbed her. That person is Jamie. It’s good that the pieces of the puzzle start to slot into place so early on and its means that Jamie isn’t doing nothing. The opening scene with the Sixth Doctor, Jamie and Peri helps add a bit more to the story. The interaction between Peri and the Doctor is on fine form again with their usual bickering on display.

I like how the Doctor says he might be wiped out in a few centuries and Peri doesn’t seem to understand the rush and then he puts his head in hands. A funny moment in an episode that doesn’t have a great deal of comedy.

Shockeye’s eating habits are quite interesting. At one point he eats a rat and Dastari’s reaction mirrored my own. The group of villains is something that I think works quite well because it doesn’t feel like the old adage about too many cooks.  The trio of Shockeye, Chessene and Dastari work well together but there isn’t a clear leader amongst them which is perhaps the only thing that needs improving. Chessene does edge it a little bit but not by much.

Like the previous episode, this episode takes about 20 minutes before it starts to get going. I could tell where the point happened and that was when the Second Doctor wakes up and talking to Dastari and the others. Patrick Troughton has a rather easy time in this episode. He spends most of it either lying down or sitting in a wheelchair.

Like the previous episode, there is a nice amount of Seville on display here. Ok so its not the city centre but its still nice to see a bit of sun on Doctor Who that doesn’t involve a quarry.

Oscar continues to be annoying. He assumes that the Doctor is working for Interpol even when Anita points out that the police box sign isn’t written in Spanish. Sadly Oscar is quite involved in this episode. I don’t mind Anita but Oscar is totally annoying.

There is a nice reminder about the Rutans. For me this is a nice bit of continuity for the Sontarans. The question of the Sontaran’s involvement in the story is still something that doesn’t quite. Stike is the lead Sontaran but I think that Clinton Greyn doesn’t come across as a convincing Sontaran. I know that Sontarans are referred to as potatoes but I think that the design of the current costumes does make them look like a baked potato.

The Doctor was involved in the previous cliffhanger so it perhaps makes sense that Peri is involved in the ending. She is about to be menaced by Shockeye which is terrifying in itself because he has spent the previous 45 minutes acting in a really fun way.

I think that this has again been an episode of two halves but even the more active part hasn’t been as good as I would have expected. There were moments where things seemed to be just plodding along. I think that the final episode is going to make up for this but at the moment this has to be the weakest story of the season so far. It just doesn’t live up to the hype that this story has created for itself.

(633) The Two Doctors - Part 1

Despite this not being an anniversary story, we are treated to a Multi-Doctor story. This is the only three part story of the season which would be six 25 minute episodes in the old format. I have never been a fan of the longer story so it was going to be interesting to see how this serial would work. This story was written by Robert Holmes and this is his first story since The Caves of Androzani. He becomes the most credited writer in Doctor Who history with this being his 57^th episode. Patrick Troughton returns in his 125^th episode and Frazer Hines returns in his 115^th episode. The Sontarans also make a return for the first time in 152 episodes (3,598 days).This story sees the show filmed in Spain. Quite why I don’t know why and there doesn’t seem to be any explanation given. That said what we do see of Spain is quite nice but its not of the same quality that we saw in the previous story.

I like how they went to the trouble to start the episode in black and white to give a nod to the fact that the Second Doctor and Jamie were in the black and white era of the show. The Second Doctor and Jamie seem to be one a mission and I will state here and now that I won’t be going into continuity problems that arise with their involvement and their activities in this serial. The Doctor and Peri don’t really interact with anyone in this episode. They spend a lot of time fishing, a lot of time trying not to be killed by the computer and then spend the latter part of the serial in a weird area with lots of pipes. The chemistry that Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines had in the 1960’s is very evident in this serial. The problem I think with having these two in a story together is that they have a danger of overshadowing the current line-up. Speaking of the current line-up, the bickering style that they have does seem rather out of place considering how well the Second Doctor and Jamie get on.

This story has some interesting supporting characters which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise considering that it is a Robert Holmes script. The character of Shockeye is mesmerising and well performed by John Stratton. He is obsessed with food and turns into quite the food critic when he arrives on earth. Jacqueline Pearce plays Chessene and she really is very good as one of the main threats in this serial. She carries a certain elegance throughout and never raises her voice yet there is much more to her character which shows itself during this serial. Laurence Payne plays Dastari. Payne previous appeared in The Gunfighters (1966) and The Leisure Hive (1980). However I think that this is a stronger performance than in those two. The former I will be honest don’t really remember but recognised him from the latter. Dastari is a clever person but like most clever people in Doctor Who, he just wants to use his intelligence for bad purposes.

The introduction of Oscar (James Saxon) & Anita is something of a common theme as all Robert Holmes stories feature a double act and this story slightly changes the format with a courting couple. I do find Oscar to be an annoyance and Anita is there purely to work alongside Oscar but doesn’t contribute anything to the story. Oscar uses cyanide to kill moths which seems like a horrible thing nowadays but at the time must have seemed perfectly fine and fine enough to include on prime-time Saturday evenings.

The incidental music is particularly impressive. Peter Howell’s highlight is the Sontaran music because it’s very striking.

Even though their ships had been identified as Sontaran ships, we have to wait a long time for them to appear. There is a shot of one’s hand but its 25 minutes before we actually see one and even then it’s a rather understated first appearance. Bearing in mind that it had been about seven years since they were last on screen it is somewhat disappointing that their first appearance happened in this way.

Sadly the quality of the costumes is not very good. It’s not terrible but I don’t think is as good as previous designs. The question as to why they are even in this story is something that doesn’t get answered in this episode. Considering that the Sontarans are strong enough to act on their own it does raise the question as to why they would be in league with Dastari.

The cliffhanger is ok but nothing spectacular. The problem is that the final 10-15 minutes does start to show the episode has run out steam which is very odd for a Robert Holmes story. The opening episode of this ‘special’ story is one of two halves but I think that there are a lot of positives than negatives. I don’t think that I am going to have to endure the next two episodes which is a relief. Still wonder why the story was set in Spain.

(632) The Mark of the Rani - Part 2

The cliffhanger works just as well as in this episode but something is slightly different and that is a shot of a man who is later identified as George Stevenson. It is a bit of a cheat really but it’s an interesting way of introducing a character like Stevenson. Sadly I think that Stevenson is rather under used in this episode. It does raise a question as to why he was even introduced into the story. You could easily have just mentioned his name and he would have been more involved in the story than he was. There was one fun scene when the Doctor gets very wrapped up in helping Stevenson with his design. Whilst Stevenson is pretty much underused, the same can’t be said for Luke. Gary Cady plays Stevenson’s assistant Luke. He gets put under the control of the Master but unfortunately it’s difficult to tell the difference because Cady doesn’t really show much emotion.

The whole idea about the Rani have a Turner painting hiding her TARDIS is quite a clever idea and it is something that featured in the previous episode but it seems to be more important in this one. The first thing that strikes me when we see inside the Rani’s TARDIS is that she has a better designed TARDIS than the Doctor. I just want the Doctor to travel in this TARDIS from now on

There is an interesting bit where Peri is point the Masters tissue thing and it’s clear that things are going to go wrong because its Peri. She is quickly outwitted by the Rani which isn’t too difficult but its worth it just to see Kate O’Mara act like an evil genius. The partnership of the Master and the Rani is rather interesting as they do seem to be almost on the same page. The Rani introduces some interesting bomb things which turn people into intriguing things. Luke gets turned into a tree although the performance is the same. The Rani’s reaction to Luke being a tree is funny because she reminds the Doctor that a tree has four times the life expectancy than a human so he is actually better off as he is now.

There doesn’t actually seem to be a moment which is where the Doctor is victorious. The closest that we get is when the Rani and the Master escape in her TARDIS and things go wrong. Things are worse than that actually as a dinosaur starts to grow and unfortunately its not the best model of a dinosaur that there has ever been. This story has been just as much fun as I had thought. The location filming has been one of the main reasons why this story seemed to work. The introduction of the Rani was well done and I liked the trio of Timelords battling it out on earth. I thought that Sarah Hellings, Pip and Jane Baker have done quite well with this adventure. The performances have been really very good and apart from the character of Luke, they all seemed to be relevant to the story. The next story is going to be interesting because some familiar faces make a return. I am starting to think that this season is one of the strongest seasons of Doctor Who for quite sometime.

(631) The Mark of the Rani - Part 1

If this story goes the way that I hope it does, then it will be the best start to a season for many years. After the rather violent previous story, it’s a bit of a relief that we have a less violent story. This was the first story to be written by the husband and wife team of Pip and Jane Baker. Jane becomes the third credited woman to write for Doctor Who. Sarah Hellings becomes only the fifth woman to have directed the show. So far women have accounted for 5.1% of writers and 9.4% of directors.

This is one of those stories where I am going to bang on about the location filming but its hard not to when it looks as good as it does. I don’t live too far away from the Black Country Living Museum which is very similar to where this story was filmed. I wish that this story had been longer because its beautiful to look at. Every scene that is filmed outside looks perfect and Sarah Hellings makes really good use of every single opportunity.

This story sees the first appearance of the recently lost Kate O’Mara who plays the Rani. We don’t see much of her at first but on her second appearance she features more on screen. She wants to do her dastardly plans for scientific research whereas the Master just wants to destroy the Doctor. That is why the Rani could make a claim as being better than the Master. She is removing a chemical from people’s brains which takes away their ability to sleep. A group of miners are knocked out by the Rani’s gas and then become very aggressive and sort of become the lackeys for the Rani and the Master. The Master makes his first appearance since Planet of Fire (1984). It’s clear that his demise was short lived but it would have been interesting to have a bit of information given as to how he survived. His ‘first’ appearance comes when it’s implied that a scarecrow may be him. He doesn’t waste much time in trying to cause trouble. The aggressive trio are easily brainwashed into believing the Doctor is the one causing trouble.

“Devious and over complicated” is how the Rani describes the Master and that is pretty much how I would describe the Master. I like how the Rani and the Master don’t get along at all. Kate O’Mara is very good as the Rani and brings a freshness to this timelord fairground ride that exists between the Doctor and the Master. It’s always nice to see Anthony Ainley back and for once it does seem to be for a good reason. Ainley also seems to be enjoying what he’s doing and is more involved in the action than he was in his previous story.

The first scene between the Doctor and the Rani leads to the Doctor figuring out what’s going on within minutes. This is perhaps the only thing that really doesn’t quite work for me but I suppose I can forgive it for how the rest of the episode works out. If I was being ultra-harsh then I could pick up on the moment when the TARDIS is thrown down a mineshaft which the viewers know won’t affect that the TARDIS and the Master should know this.

The cliffhanger sees the Doctor strapped to a gurney accidentally pushed down a hill by Peri and then by the aggressive luddites. This is quite a good cliffhanger because there is no clear way of how the Doctor is going to get out of this situation. This has been a curious episode because it seems that it took a long time before things started to find its feet. The latter part of the episode (or second part in old money) was the stronger part but I still thought that there were things that worked well in the first part that made the whole thing work.

(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.