The Wheel in Space - Episode 6

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Wheel in Space - Episode 5

The penultimate episode and the final time until The Space Pirates that I would be forced to listen to a CD. To be honest there’s a problem from the start and its that I cant remember what the cliffhanger was and there’s a good reason why as its not very exciting. This is the episode where it seems like they are considering Zoe as a companion when she has the speech about being raised to purely reel of stats and information. They have done a great deal since the last episode as she is far less annoying and that’s a big plus point. They have even dispensed with the slightly fractious relationship between Jamie and Zoe. I know they don’t have any scenes together but its still a point to go in the good column.

If I’m being honest then I feel that the focus seems more on the meteorites instead of the Cybermen. They don’t really get more involved in the story than they had done in the previous episode.  As the meteorites were taken everyone’s attention, it seemed the perfect opportunity for the Cybermen to continue with their plan. The thing about the meteorites it that it is something that the supporting cast can understand and believe in so we got to spend more time with them and that’s not a bad thing as they are quite entertaining.

The Cybermen have a rather convoluted plan to conquer the earth. Quite why they would go to the trouble of destroying the wheel. Surely there would be an easier way of getting the minerals that they all of a sudden desire. Also quite why its taken until the fifth episode to get this explanation is beyond me.

I haven’t mentioned the performances from Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines and that’s because there wasn’t much about them. They were perfectly fine but there wasn’t anything special. It did feel like they were trying  their best but the script didn’t really allow them to do anything and that’s a shame really. Gemma’s death is rather well done as she doesn’t do the hysterical scream that both men and women do in this show. It’s a shame that they have decided to kill her off as she was one of the few supporting cast members that stood out in any positive way.

I don’t know why but I’m not really being gripped by this story in the way that I thought it would have done.  I think maybe if I had watched/listened to it in one go then I would still think highly but it just feels like a bit of a dampener as the Cybermen are reduced to the secondary threat and I cant see how that’s going to change in the final episode. This is slowly turning into the weakest Cybermen story so far.

The Wheel in Space - Episode 4

Back to the CD for this episode and as we are in the second half of the story its where all the elements should be coming together and hopefully it will improve from the rather rubbish cliffhanger. The Cybermen don’t sound quite as tinny in the reprise which is good but they are still not as good as in previous stories. I do like the look of them and think that whilst it doesn’t beat my favourite look which is the very first design of the Cybermen, it’s a good look for them. The story has a base under siege vibe to it and it uses this to its advantage with the threat of meteorites at the forefront of the menace (apart from the Cybermen).

It’s taken until now for the inevitable disbelief of the Cybermen. It happened in ‘The Moonbase’ but it’s taken longer here because it’s a longer story. Though the disbelief tends to come from Jarvis. Jarvis is going slightly mad and hysterical with Gemma being the voice of reason, even if she’s slightly suspicious of things. The reasons behind his appointment is questioned quite rightly by the Doctor. He’s become so unstable that its clear to anyone that this is going to cause problems later on in the story.

There is another example of Zoe and Jamie having a somewhat unusual relationship. It’s certainly going to be different to the Jamie/Victoria one which was a nice one to observe (or hear in some cases). Zoe starts off as the smarty pants but by the end of the episode starts to realise that she’s not the most liked person on the wheel. I must say that Patrick Troughton doesn’t seem to have quite the impact that I have become use to. Frazer Hines has a slightly better episode but that’s only really because he got to interact with Wendy Padbury who went under a character change in a relatively short space of time so hopefully this is where Zoe will have mellowed for good now.

This episode is the first time for sometime that I’ve heard the TARDIS or the fluid link mentioned. It’s nice that we are reminded about this fact because with the knowledge that the Cybermen the point had been lost. It’s only briefly mentioned and then its dropped when its realised that the Cybermen have smuggled themselves on board.

The episode continued to move along but it still doesn’t seem to have the punch to it that I would have expected. The Cybermen are still on the outskirts of this story even though they are more visible to the viewer. I am still surprised that they haven’t come into contact with the central characters. All they did really in this episode was hypnotised several minor characters and that’s it. Whilst it might not be the greatest six parter in the history of the show its certainly maintaining my attention unlike ‘Fury from the Deep’.

A bit of trivia here to end this portion of the marathon is that this episode aired on May 18, 1968 and it aired 35 minutes late after the FA Cup Final finished late though footy fans might be happy to know that WBA beat Everton 1-0.

The Wheel in Space - Episode 3

For the first time since The Web of Fear episode six (November 28) I get to stick a DVD on and it’s the Lost in Time disc. This is the first time that we will get to see the restrictive atmosphere that the story would be set. It’s not the most awe inspiring design ever but once we get inside then it improves greatly. The reprise of the last episode sees the hand come out of the sphere. To be honest the sphere’s sound better in my head than what we would see. I know that its unfair to compare 1968 standards to 2013’s but even with the greatest will in the world, its not the best way to start the episode.

There’s a bit where Jamie looks for something and it says ‘Quick Set Plastic’. You would think that they didn’t need to label it so blatantly. I also like a shot where on the Cybermen’s ship there is a needle moving wildly and there is a company name on it and its nice to thing that the Cybermen have companies that make components for ships. Those tiny niggles aside the whole episode moves quite fluently and its good to have the Doctor and Jamie back as this keeps the theory that they are being considered as saboteurs.

We get to see the Cybermats again which serve a better purpose than back in Tomb. The Cybermen continue to be well hidden but still deeply involved in the story. It’s quite a good how they have been improved without making any modifications to them. The scene where they attack the guy is really well done. I really don’t like the Cybermen’s voices. They just sound too tinny and it’s the one downside to the Cybermen in the whole run of Doctor Who. There’s very little consistency and this is something that’s going to bug me for the next four episodes.

Patrick Troughton returns after his holiday/knock on the head and the way it’s done is really good as Jamie says that the reason he wrecked the laser was because the Doctor told him and then Troughton repeats it. Their chemistry is one of the best things about the Troughton era and as they don’t have Victoria around and Zoe hasn’t joined the team yet it means that they can show why they are so good together.

Zoe is still unlikeable and rolls of stats like she’s a machine and it takes Leo to be the one that tells her like it is. There is another round of Jamie picking at Zoe’s intelligence. I cant think what they were thinking by making her such a stuck up cow. There’s no need to be like the way she is apart from providing Frazer Hines with some opportunities to be quite smug in his own right. Speaking of Jamie he’s in the rare position of being the cause of the danger by putting the laser out of use.

It isn’t the best episode of the three but it’s a perfectly fine episode that feels like its starting to go somewhere now that Patrick Troughton is back and also the Cybermen have finally appeared. At the halfway stage its good that it feels like the padding is over and the fun stuff can finally begin.

The Wheel in Space - Episode 2

So this episode is where Wendy Padbury is introduced into the story and it’s the episode where Patrick Troughton goes on holiday. It’s several minutes before Jamie and the unconscious Doctor are rescued and that’s when we get another important part of Doctor Who trivia. This is the episode that the John Smith name comes around. The Doctor would go on and use this from time to time for the rest of time. I liked how there was an explanation about what the wheel does and how some people don’t like the wheel and will try and sabotage it (more of than in later episodes) and this leads to Jamie and the Doctor’s presence being confused for one of these saboteurs.

The thing about Zoe is that she’s not particularly likeable. Unlike pretty much every companion up until now, they have been to varying degrees likeable. Here Zoe comes across a little bit snobbish and also acts like the female version of Stephen Fry except without the charisma or humour. It’s not the greatest debut episode for a companion its has to be said. What’s slightly disappointing about this episode as well is Jamie. I don’t think that it’s the best Frazer Hines’ best episode because all he does is walk around with Zoe pretending to be interested and about to cause trouble for everyone. Normally it wouldn’t be noticeable that Patrick Troughton has gone on holiday because the story would be good enough to keep my attention and it managed to do the same here but only because the supporting cast were all interesting. Jamie and Frazer Hines were let down in this episode.

Of the supporting cast members there were two that stood out for me (apart from Zoe). They are Anne Ridler who plays Gemma and Michael Turner who plays Jarvis Bennett. It’s clear from the outset that Jarvis is going to be the worrier of the story and is instantly in this episode jumping to conclusions and its clear that you wouldn’t want him around because he would just make you worried and paranoid. At least he will be a nice distraction from time to time.

We have to wait until the cliffhanger before we get our first glimpse of the Cybermen. Even then it’s not the whole Cyberman but merely its had. David Whittaker is definelty making us wait for the Cybermen but at least its helped by not having them named in the title. I thought that this second episode was a good progression because at least Zoe was introduced and we got to meet the supporting cast and now the Cybermen will be gracing us with their presence and best of all, its on DVD.

The Wheel in Space - Episode 1

The Wheel in Space marks the last change of line up before Patrick Troughton departs the show. It’s also the penultimate story that doesn’t exist in its entirety.  This story also marks the final story of the season and it introduces Wendy Padbury as Zoe although she doesn’t appear until episode two so here we get Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines. We get one final reference to Victoria and both the Doctor and Jamie are really sad which shows how close they all were. After the initial grumpiness that they both have they are soon laughing and forget why they are grumpy.

We get a reference to the fault indicator and also the fluid link which were both from the early days of the William Hartnell era. This has to be the first instance of the show looking back at its past (if you don’t include monsters/villains). There is also a mention of the food machine which again harks back to the early days of the Hartnell era. As this is written by David Whittaker, this isn’t such a great surprise.

The main action of the episode sees the Doctor and Jamie wandering around trying to seemingly not bump into the service droid that is the only other character in this part of the episode. It’s not perhaps the most exciting thing ever but it did lead to the next episode. The Doctor bumps his head which would normally mean that he would be on holiday in the second episode and lighting does strike twice in this instance. Though he is conscious enough for a while to be of use.

For a large portion of the episode it’s just Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines which is a brave thing to do as these two have to carry the episode and they do it quite well. It’s 20 minutes before we get anyone else in the episode. It’s at this point that we learn where the Doctor and Jamie have landed and it’s a ship that’s way off course.  It’s a simple yet short introduction to the rest of the characters that we would be spending the next five episodes with although there is one noticeable exception.

As an opening episode it’s nice that the show seems to have returned to solid storytelling and I like how there was a nice mystery as to where they were and what was going on and whilst we all know that the Cybermen are coming they aren’t mentioned in the title and there aren’t any signs that they are coming. It’s a brave thing that David Whittaker has done (though its an idea from Kit Pedlar) and this will be rewarded later on. A good start.