FTA: Doctor Who Classic: The Five Doctors, Warriors of the Deep and The Twin Dilemma

This fifth volume of articles from Celebrate, Regenerate! covers stories from Season 21. (See here for more on this project.)

The Five Doctors
(Main article.)

The Five Doctors was where I started with Who, all the way back in 2003 when I first watched the Special Edition DVD and fell head over heels in love with Doctor Who. I was running around the playground pretending to be a Dalek two years before any of my friends had heard of them, and one of my favourite playground games was “Raston Warrior Robot.” I did what all children tend to do with DVD and video at that age; I watched it again, and again, and again until the disk itself was so out of commission that I had to order the 2008 release just to be able to see it again. It’s a story that stands at the centre of my love of Doctor Who, and I cherish it like no other.
     As a starter story, it’s got everything. The concept of regeneration is explained so fluently, and you get to sample the second-to-fifth Doctors (and an approximation of the first) without breaking a sweat. As a child, I was drawn to everything – the trek through the Death Zone, the ancient myths of Rassilon, the hallucinations in the corridors, the swooshy CGI time-scoop taking away old companions, and most of all I loved the Cybermen; their deep booming voices and their few vestiges of humanity peeking through their spandex. (Ooh, sounds rude.)
      What did The Five Doctors tell me about this strange new “Doctor Who”? It told me that this was a show with a lot of great ideas and a rich history filled with a wide variety of monsters, heroes and companions. It was tense, it was scary, but it was also a hell of a lot of fun. The Five Doctors did what it was intended to do, and in a really profound way it is to date the greatest celebration of Doctor Who’s rich and varied history.
    Until the 50th, that is. We hope.

Warriors of the Deep
(Main article.)

In the past, I've realised that I’ve been very kind to a gamut of Doctor Who stories that many would consider… less than adequate. My optimism when it comes to Who has been challenged many times, but none more so than the 1981 story, Warriors of the Deep. The story is a rare example in Doctor Who of when The Doctor has a bit of an off-day. Here, there is no doubt that the Doctor’s is a Pyrrhic victory; everyone bar the main cast is dead by the end, some in incredibly gruesome ways. After Johnny Byrne’s other stories, which celebrated human kindness and ingenuity, it’s a bit of a shock that the attempt to channel Cold War themes translates roughly into a theme of, “Sentient beings have the capacity to do horrible things, and you shouldn't trust anyone.”
     Now that doesn’t make the story bad, necessarily, but it does make it a bit of a downer. I can celebrate the beauty of a tragic opera just as well as I can the rhythm of a Madness song. What I’m essentially saying, and I don’t mean to sound pretentious here, is that Warriors of the Deep is a piece of high-class art. Stop snickering. What Warriors attempts, and ultimately succeeds, in representing, is that the state of paranoia caused by the Cold War only causes us to lose our humanity. The Silurians’ motives, while perhaps alien to us, are completely in line with the frighteningly paranoid people on both sides of their futuristic war. These people have become so consumed by war and death that their motivations are now as alien as those of our reptilian brethren. The guard who refuses to open the door to allow Tegan and The Doctor escape from the Myrka; the bomb controller, whose reluctant actions under hypnosis represent man under the Cold War, and the Sea Devils, whose presence reinforces the absurdity of each side’s power blocs.
     Warriors of the Deep isn’t much to look at, and if you want to try to treat it like a traditional Doctor Who adventure then you’re not going to get much out of it. But take it as a metaphor, as a warning, and then perhaps it’s possible to ignore the special effects failures, ignore the wet paint of the costumes, and see it for the masterpiece it really is.

The Twin Dilemma

(Main article.)

I found myself in what I then considered to be a very perilous position when I first sat down to watch The Twin Dilemma. The end-credits rolled after episode four, and… and… I liked it. I bloody loved it, and I could see absolutely no reason (beyond the whole momentary-strangling thing) why it was the subject of such venomous assaults as I had seen in Fandom. It was then that I and fandom decided that for the most part, we had a serious disagreement. 

     The best thing about the story, when you get past the run-of-the-mill story with its traditional villain, setup and nods to the past, is by far Colin Baker’s performance as the unstable and out-of-control early Sixth Doctor. His spasmodic episodes of villainy tow a line between frightening and funny, and especially towards the end of the episode one begins to wonder whether The Doctor is in on the act, and is simply using his condition in order to get away with doing whatever he damn well wants. It’s incredibly refreshing and it embodies what I love about the Sixth Doctor – he doesn’t care about what others think of him as long as he manages to both enjoy himself and save the day. 

     And everyone remembers the story for the strangling bit, yes. It is a bit over the top, and I would have toned it down a bit, but I don’t object to it in principle. The New Series is all about showing us how dark The Doctor can be, and this is just an extension of that. Instead of showing him brooding over an act of slight moral ambiguity, The Twin Dilemma takes the bulls by the horns and exposes a raw part of The Doctor’s id, taking the audience into the potential evil that lies within him – as we see later in The Valeyard and The Dream Lord. 

     What does The Twin Dilemma ultimately do? It introduces a new Doctor and does it in style. So what if the story’s a bit one-note, when the main character is this good so early on in his career? Of course, some people aren’t going to agree with me. But when it comes to this story, I have no dilemma at all. It’s underrated, fun and I love it.

Thanks.

Review: Resurrection of the Daleks (Revisited)

See here for my previous, much more general, look at this story.

The Doctor is judge, jury and executioner upon his old enemy.

Doctor Who - Season 21, Story Four - Resurrection of the Daleks (Revisited)
Written 5/5/12
"I can't stand the confusion in my mind!"

It's not easy to describe Resurrection as anything other than a mess. Saward's multi-storyline technique saw its first outing here, and the result is not pretty in any sense of the word. The story is completely and utterly schizophrenic, and is almost unbearable in the way it jerks from plot to plot with gay abandon. This, however, does not ruin the story completely, and there's still some entertainment to be had from decent acting, expansive design and a true return-to-form from Davros and The Daleks. Plus, it's Tegan's last story. Rejoice!
     Following directly on from Frontios, the TARDIS is dragged by a Dalek time-tunnel to the midst of 1984, where a prison ship carrying a deep-freeze Davros is attacked by the Dalek Forces, desperate to find a cure to the deadly virus created by their enemy, the Movellans. The Doctor is dragged into the fray when the Dalek machinations start affecting 1984 London, and he becomes part of their many schemes. As Davros plots his revenge under the Daleks' watchful eyes, the machines plot to create duplicates of high-ranking political figures - especially The Doctor. In the end, Tegan is sick of Season 21's death and destruction, and so opts to stay behind in 1984.
     This story sees the first appearance of Saward favourite Commander Lytton, played by Maurice Colburne. He doesn't get as much characterisation here as he does later on in Attack of the Cybermen, but he's certainly one of the story's standout characters. This is also the first appearance of my favourite none-Wisher Davros, Terry Molloy, whose fine balance of the original with his own take on the role lends this incarnation a much more manipulative and yet slightly insane quality - justified, in this case, by having been frozen in stasis, fully conscious, for 90 years. Finally, Rodney Bewes is rather interesting as the character of Stien, whose mind is as confused as the plot is.

Lytton makes his first appearance.

     Saward's previous story was Earthshock, and you can tell in the way the story is styled. This is best seen in the first episode, which is quite similar to that of that prior story in terms of the way it builds and actually manages to sustain suspense very well. The slow collapse of power as the group invades the ship makes the first 25 minutes fast-paced and exciting, and it feels contently self-contained. It's after this point, where we get to nonsense about duplicates and invading Galifrey, that the rot starts to set in.
     If anything else can be said, it's that Saward doesn't waste the opportunity to use the Daleks well. While Davros does stand out, the Daleks are given a lot more screen time and don't do silly things like strapping bombs to themselves. Although we've seen a loose dalek before, this story provides one of the key examples of how dangerous the Dalek Mutant can be outside the shell. Saward was having fun with his first Dalek story and to be frank, who can blame him?
     Resurrection of the Daleks starts out well, and always has good intentions in mind. It's a damn-site better than the previous Dalek story, but its plot becomes very confused and very-much stuffed with unnecessary fluff. When the story finally decides upon a plot, though, it's very well executed and the characters stretch what really is a bit of a mess into something entertaining.

Thanks.

NEXT MONDAY: I Overview Season 22.

Review: Doctor Who Classic: Frontios

The evil Gravis rules over the Tractators under Frontios.

Doctor Who - Season 21, Story Three - Frontios
Written 5/5/12
"As a weapon, the TARDIS is about as dangerous as a chicken vol-au-vant"

This is it. After Frontios, I'll have seen all of the stories in the Saward Era. I don't know whether to be saddened or relieved. As you can tell by the mumbo-jumbo single-word title, this is a return to the series by former script-editor Chris Bidmead, whose last efforts had enough dodgy science to embarrass a classroom of schoolchildren. Frontios is not pretending to be something it's not, however, and with that in mind it balances a well-thought-through concept with clever characterisations to make what is, bar Androzani, the best story of the season.
     The behind-the-scenes in this story is rather creepy. Designer Barrie Dobbins committed suicide while working on the story, and well-known character actor was returning from work on this story when he was brutally murdered by an unknown figure. This hasn't, however, affected the quality of the serial. The set design is absolutely brilliant, with a mix of creepy corridors (with one of the first instances of the "all these corridors look the same" joke) and large expansive rooms. The story has an immediate atmosphere of mystery and suspense, which is only increased as the serial goes on.
     Set at the same time as the First Doctor serial The Ark, the story is set on Frontios, a human colony where the remnants of Humanity have escaped to after the Sun expanded and made Earth uninhabitable. The people of Frontios are all ruled by the secretive group around Captain Rivere and his son Plantagenete, who hide the fact that corpses too often sink into the earth, disappearing without trace. Ever since they've set up shop, they've been regularly attacked by aimed asteriod showers, and it's one such shower that brings down the TARDIS and buries it beneath the Earth, leaving the Doctor and crew to try and help without breaking the laws of time. Fighting off suspicions from the ruling class, the threesome must dig towards the truth, and save the Human race from the creatures that lie beneath them.

Hatstands are useful tools.

     Bidmead was told by JNT that this had to be a monster story, which is a particular change from his particular style of high-concept sci-fi like we saw at the beginning of the era. Luckily he's able to make it work, and even mixes in some high concepts anyway. Doctor Who has done this style of human-refugee story many times before, but Frontios is a particularly raw and bare example of the genre. Unlike, say, Outcasts, it doesn't faff about with the economics of how the settlement works and instead sets up immediate conflict between characters instead of the world around them. Yes, the inhabitants are stressed by the mysteries of Frontios - the disappearing bodies, the aimed asteriod strikes on their colony. But at the story's heart the problem lies within human paranoia and secrecy, without which the Tractators' plan never could have worked.
     As a monster, the termite-like Tractators are a little plastic, but the atmosphere gives them an earthy, gritty quality. Unlike Warriors of the Deep, where a single-colour fade-in looked very silly, the Tractators' gravity effect actually becomes quite good during the third episode or so. The machine carrying the semi-living body of Captain Rivere is really well-executed, and the third-episode cliffhanger in which it appears is one of the season's most chilling. Body horror like this wouldn't be used again until Season 28's Girl In The Fireplace, which takes a lot from this story's original intentions.
      Frontios' witty dialogue is ultimately the thing that saves it from boredom, as well as it's great character work. Bidmead really seems to understand all of these characters, and both Tegan and Turlough are significantly improved from the status quo. Turlough's ancestral memory of the Tractators was a great way of getting to know his character, especially in one of his last stories. Also, he wields a hat-stand as a weapon. Awesome. The Doctor is also a lot more clever than normal, and his final ruse is absolutely brilliant. The article quote is perhaps one of my favourite quotes from Five this season, and the story is a veritable cornucopia of witty lines.

The Doctor tricks the enemy.

      Bidmead's final contribution to the series, and my last new Saward-era story, is one of this season's best. I was wrong to ignore it as much as I have done, because it's a really distinctive story with great performances from everyone involved, well-made, atmospheric sets and, best of all, a script that gets the characters and does something interesting with them. Frontios is an absolute gem, and the first place you should go when looking for Five gold in Season 21.

Thanks.

NEXT MONDAY: Revelation of the Daleks finishes off Season 22
NEXT FRIDAY: Resurrection of the Daleks (Revisited) finishes off the Saward Era.

Review: Doctor Who Classic: The Awakening

The Malus. This image used to frighten me as a
child, but now it's just a little silly.

Doctor Who - Season 21, Story Two - The Awakening.
Written between the 3rd and 4th May 2012

I'll be the first to admit that my reviewing of Season 21 has been a total and complete shambles. I often considered renaming this site's tagline to "it's all in the wrong order" when I began writing these reviews in advance, and I think that it's also an appropriate description of the topsy turvy way I've treated Season 21. The Awakening is the last two-parter to have 25-minute episodes, and it really shows the problems that could arise when this format was used.
      The Saward Era seemed to have this vision of the past as hovering around the 17th/18th Centuries, and the only historical stories were set there. If I'm honest that isn't really a period of history that I find particularly fascinating, not least when it's executed in a dull way. The Awakening isn't set in the period, but for various timey-wimey reasons (and some stupid ones) everyone is dressed in 1640s attire and are reenacting the English Civil War. They're being controlled by a demonic creature called the Malus, a genetically engineered creature sent to Earth to destroy it several hundred years ago. The creature is now controlling Sir George Hutchinson, who has began a town-wide reenactment of the Civil War to create the perfect conditions for the Malus' return - intending for the final battle to cause a massive bloodbath.
      My main problem with the story's premise is not with the actual concepts at hand. It's quite fun time-travel BS, and given the proper (subtle) development it could have worked. Instead, the concept doesn't get room to breathe because we spend so much time developing these insane villains who make little-to-no rational sense. The Malus is controlling one man. That man has managed to persuade several perfectly sane people not under the influence of a demonic alien to commit several crimes, and until The Doctor shows up nobody bats an eyelid apart from one schoolteacher, Jane. I know that the country-folk are a bit out of it, but I really don't see how an entire village could become so insane as to follow every crazy order of one guy during a battle reenactment.

Oh yeah, and this happened. Never again.

     You can tell that writer Eric Pringle wanted this to be a four-part story, and it's an interesting look at Saward's problems. As happened in Timeflight, he was given a script from someone who'd been trying to get onto the program since the 70s. Pringle tried to give his script to the great Robert Holmes, who rightfully rejected it because it wasn't good. Leftover from the four parts are a stream of other characters and ideas that get compressed into this mess. The main focus of the villain's power ends up being incredibly confusing - something to do with psychic energy being focussed enough to allow the Malus to project himself in the present. And now he's in the TARDIS! But now it's fine. And there's a 17th Century guy wandering around for no reason. And Tegan's grandfather is missing. And while it's all explained, it's not explained in a way which made me go, "Wow!", but rather, "Ok, I suppose.."
    When I missed The Awakening, I certainly wasn't missing anything important. The story does have some fun ideas, but they're strangled by a running time that puts greater priority on the mysteries and then doesn't bother to do anything interesting with them. I rarely get to call a Who story dull, but The Awakening's problems leave it a complete non-entity in a season that has so many strong and memorable stories already. A third episode might have given it the space to be a bit more dynamic, but it's too little too late.

Thanks.

Overview: Doctor Who Classic: Season 21

After The Five Doctors, something strange happened to Doctor Who. Davison had decided, based on a chat with Second Doctor Patrick Troughton, that he would be leaving after his third season. This is also often attributed to JNT's decision to add in an American companion to make the show popular in the states, which for Davison was the last straw, as he believed that Americans (and Austrialians) liked the show for its Britishness. I've only seen five of the seven stories in Season Twenty One, but that's enough for me. The stories I haven't reviewed, The Awakening and Frontios, will be reviewed later in the year.

Davison's Doctor became darker.

Five (Peter Davison) - I'm not going to let you stop me now!
(Warriors of the Deep to Caves of Androzani)

Saward suddenly decided that he was feeling under the weather, and so for the next two years we were faced with kill-em-all bloodbaths. Warriors of the Deep, Resurrection of the Daleks and Caves of Androzani are all like this, and they all have one key feature - the Doctor inadvertantly plays an active role. Five kills Silurians with poison gas pumped into the ventilation system, he massacres the Daleks with both a gun and a genetically engineered virus, and his presence on Androzani sparks a war in which every last male character in the story (including him) dies.
     Perhaps because he knew he was leaving, Five is much more dejected and pessimistic in this season. This certainly adds to the darkness of the Saward kill-em-alls, but it even affects relatively lighter stories like Planet of Fire, where The Doctor euthanises Kamelion and watches as The Master burns to death. It just feels so unlike Five's characterisation, and in fact harkens back to Tom's era. Despite this he still demonstrates his wonder for the universe and all of its intricacies.
      This darkness of character does come into its own, however, once we reach his final story in The Caves of Androzani. Here Five shows his character's core determination - he will fight to save his companion's life no matter the cost, no matter the risk to himself. This is epitomised in Five's most badass quote, "I'm not going to let you stop me now!" where you can hear him trying desperately to resist the beckoning call of regeneration.
     Five's last days were darker than they needed to be, but his final story did justice to a season that had thus far been unimpressive. Until the end he was enthusiastic, nerdy, and always hoping that somehow, peace could prevail.

It was never fun, Tegan.

Tegan (Janet Fielding) - It stopped being fun, Doctor!
(Warriors of the Deep to Resurrection of the Daleks)

Tegan's final stories continued to fail to paint her in a particularly good light. In Warriors of the Deep she gets trapped under a polystyrene door. The final straw for the character comes in Resurrection of the Daleks, where she apparently cottons-on to the fact that it's a kill-em-all and takes her chance to wing-it. Tegan's leaving is a stark commentary on the darker nature of this season, herself commenting that, "It stopped being fun, Doctor!" Words that don't really ring true when one considers how much she found to complain about in her eighteen stories.
     Aside from that, Tegan doesn't make much of an impression. Her whining doesn't help in this more pessimistic year, and despite the Doctor's regret at losing her, I found it a bit of a relief. Her only real point of relief was Frontios, where Bidmead's writing gave her something to do.
     Although it wasn't part of Season 21, Tegan's next appearance would be in the non-canonical A Fix With Sontarans for Jim'll Fix It. There she randomly met Six, and the two work surprisingly well together. Check it out, it's awesome.

Mwhahah... wait. Did that joke
last time.

Turlough (Mark Strickson) - Pessimistic nobody.
(Warriors of the Deep to Planet of Fire)

Turlough is surprisingly pessimistic for someone who broke free from the most evil force in the Universe. This is especially characterised by the fact that he either stays in the shadows for most of the story and/or he declares that they're dead everytime a slight problem arises.
     And then, from nowhere, we suddenly find out all about him. Frontios does place some hints, but we have to wait until Planet of Fire before we learn anything about his history. He was a political prisoner from the Planet Trion, who was exiled to Earth for his own protection. This doesn't stop him from wearing the same school-boy outfit in all but one of his ten stories.
    Turlough's main problem was that he was too far outside the companion mould. He really didn't want or need to be there, he had little courage or confidance and he disagreed with The Doctor's ideas. When he leaves, one feels less sad or relieved and more concerned as to whether you should feel anything at all.
     Again, Turlough shines the most in Frontios, where he's given stuff to do. He also works very well into making Planet of Fire more managable. 

Erm... Hello?

Peri (Nicola Bryant) - I'm Perpegillium Brown and I can shout as loud as you can!
(Planet of Fire onwards)

Peri has issues. Sure she does. Like Tegan, she was conceived to make the show popular with foreign viewers, this time in the Amercian market. The problem is that they cast a very British actress, Nicola Bryant. As a kid watching the old videos I didn't really notice it, but now it's obvious to both British and American audiences why this should never have happened. The character didn't even need to be American - and if she wasn't, there's a chance Davison would have stayed for longer.
     Although she's mainly eye candy (another nod to 'the dads'), there was a token attempt at giving her some backstory. Apparently she's a botanist, and she lives with her step-dad who she appears to have a strange sorta relationship with. In the end, she's sorta stuck with the new Doctor; they argue and fight, but I think that Peri still wants to find Five's innate goodness within Six's brash exterior, something that she certainly does by the end of Season 22.
     In Season 21, she's not so lucky. While with Five she gets a few cool moments - chastising the Kamelion!Master with, "I can shout as loud as you can," and talking ethics with Karaz Jek. Rather unfortunatly for Five, her cleavage ends up being the defining image of his regeneration! By Season's end, Peri is how she is in Season 22 - stuck with a joyfully unstable Doctor, not really knowing why the hell she's there.

Colorful!

Six (Colin Baker) - In my time I've been threatened by experts... and I don't rate you very highly at all.
(Caves of Androzani onwards)

I've already said how much I love Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor. He's brash, he's rude. He's arrogant and he always believes that he's the most powerful person in the room. And, in his way, he is often right. The thing that differentiates Six from your average villain is that Six has these qualities and balances it out by using them for good ends.
     The coat gets so much scrutiny, and yet while it shouldn't matter to you what he's wearing, this is a time where The Doctor's costume actually reveals a lot about his character. He's brash. He doesn't care about style or class; he doesn't fit in anywhere because he doesn't accept the things people try to fit him into. Six may be a little morally sketchy, but he always tries to do what is right.
     Since this is about Season 21, The Twin Dilemma is the most hated of all stories in the show's 48 year history. But it really shouldn't be. Colin Baker was a brave move for the production team and frankly, I love The Twin Dilemma's little cotton socks off. He's promising, and after the dire season that he finished he was a wonderful splattering of colour. After I've taken a look at a few assorted stories, I'll be continuing with Colin's story when I cover Season 22.

Thanks.

Review: Doctor Who Classic: The Twin Dilemma

The Twins are not the best part of this excellent story.

Doctor Who - Season 21, Story Seven - The Twin Dilemma
(aka. The Treaty on Why I Love Six)

John Nathan Turner had an idea. To make sure that fans remained loyal to the series at the end of Davison's tenure, he would allow fans a peek at the new era by tacking on a Sixth Doctor story at the end of Season Twenty-One, following on from The Caves of Androzani. This was, to say the least, a mistake. It jarred with another of JNT's decisions - to have Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor begin as an arrogant buffoon and then transform into a likeable character. Fans were left with one serial they hated and then the sixth-month wait for Season 22.
     The Twin Dilemma rates at the bottom of most, if not all, full lists of Doctor Who stories. It is hated throughout fandom, viciously and without intent or purpose. This I prepared myself with when I went to first watch the story, about a month prior to writing this. And I watched it. Afterwards, as I sat dazed and confused, I asked myself one simple question that sums up my view on this story.
     What's not to love?
     Colin Baker's first outing as The Doctor is absolutely first-rate, and I can't find a single thing to hate about it. It's not the perfect story, but that adds innumerably to its charms - more-so than if those aspects of the story had been done today. Amongst them is Baker's performance, which is outstanding. It's different, it's fresh, it's never been done before. Baker's Doctor is still the paradigm of morality, but his regeneration in particular is a violent and turbulent one that exposes the dark side of his personality. He wears a brash coat that many fans hate; guess what - you're supposed to hate it, and Six doesn't care whether you do or not. He rejects fashion, he rejects life's complexities and focuses on doing what is right.

Six thinks.

     There's a mumbler on the back row. Go on, go on, speak up. I know you're there. Yes, I know about Peri. The Twin Dilemma is the only time in the history of the program where The Doctor causes deliberate physical harm to his companion, to the point where it's a wonder that Peri even travels with him. I agree that Peri being strangled by a maddened Doctor was a tad extreme, but it was a very pertinent way of exposing Six's mental instability, a key part of his character. Throughout the serial he flashes between personalities and motivations, and you never know whether it's a secret plot to outwit the enemy or whether he actually believes it. Six can be watched over and over again and I never find him tiring.
     Mestor, the story's villain, is a giant slug who kills people using his mind, giving them embollisms. Again, I don't see what's wrong here. He's just another typical Who villain; his costume is awesome and his ambition, to blow up a sun in order to colonise the galaxy, makes him at least a little bit interesting. Azmael, a Time-Lord under Mestor's control and apparantly one of the Fourth Doctor's old drinking buddies, is played by classical actor Maurice Denhem to perfection.
      Again? You at the back. What do I think of the titular twins? Well, I will admit that they are not the story's best feature, but Romulus and Remus aren't as irritating as everyone says they are. At least they don't side with the villain all of the time. Really the issue is that the actors themselves were difficult to work with, and thus suffer bland, uninspiring scenes. And there's no dilemma about that.

Didn't mean anything. Totally.

      The Twin Dilemma is a story that does the job it was there to do, showcasing Colin Baker's take on the Doctor. But for some reason, it gains universal hatred simply because of a few small aspects of the story that don't agree with people's sensibilities. It shouldn't have been placed after the more conventionally brilliant Caves of Androzani and Baker's Doctor should not have been left hanging over the six month break. But that's all there is to it. The Twin Dilemma is brilliant.

Thanks.
NEXT WEEK: We revisit the raging Inferno. This time with Josh!

Review: Doctor Who Classic: Planet of Fire

Peri... makes an impression.

Doctor Who - Season 21, Story Five - Planet of Fire

Peter Grimwade was used to having to juggle ideas. After the dreadful Time-Flight in Season 19, Saward used Grimwade's script to create the very plot-divided Mawdryn Undead in Season 20. Now that he'd brought Turlough in, it was time for him to write him out. Soon after, Grimwade was also tasked with introducing a new companion, facilitating a trip to Lanzarote, having The Master as a villain and then using and killing Kamelion. It's no wonder that he gave up the script to Saward. Planet of Fire has a lot on its plate, and at times it struggles to find a plot to call its own.
    Something that really strikes me about Planet of Fire's plot is that the main story involving Turlough and the revelations behind his history and his people seems to climax in the third episode; the Master/Peri subplot rumbles along throughout and is left as clean-up in the final episode. The two storylines are united in tone but it would have felt so much more investing and deep had both of the storylines merged.
     Kamelion is once again influenced by The Master, and sends the Tardis to Lanzarote. There, student Peri is stranded on a boat by her archeologist step-father, who has just found a ruin bearing the mark of Turlough's people. Turlough, saving Peri from drowning, keeps her in the Tardis to recover and discovers the ruin, becoming very worried about it. Kamelion, now with the details of his destination, takes the Tardis to the planet Sarn, where the indigenous population have waited for the Tardis as a sign of their God, Logar. Kamelion, as the Master, tries to have The Doctor burned as a heretic, but he is soon defeated and he takes Peri back to his Tardis. Peri discovers that The Master wants to use Sarn's large resources of healing Numismaton Gas to heal him; he was experimenting with his shrink-ray and ended up tiny. The Doctor arrives at the chamber and manages to disable Kamelion before euthanising him. The Master recovers, but The Doctor allows the natural fires of the Volcano to consume him. Turlough decides to stay with his people, and Peri is allowed to travel with The Doctor.

The Master gets a burning sensation.

     Location filming in Lanzarote is utilised here much better than it was in Arc of Infinity's Amsterdam, although in some early scenes there is very little difference between the two locations. Despite this, having the more real landscape instead of cardboard set makes Planet of Fire appear that much more atmospheric. It's only now that we really get a new look at the Tardis console, and the expansive shots here give it a much more epic feel.  There's something about Planet of Fire's characterisations and its tropical setting that shows real charm. The Sarnite Trions aren't the first cult on Doctor Who, but they are very different in that the vast majority of them are incredibly skeptical about their leader's claims. It's a very refreshing attitude to see in Eighties Who, and the story does portray faith in a powerful and realistic way.
     I like Peri. I really do. But the American accents in this episode are atrocious. It's laughable sometimes; I got so used to Peri during my time having seen the Sixth Doctor that her less experienced first appearance is just painful. Even worse is the late Dallas Adams, who is utterly unconvincing as Foster but is surprisingly humane as Kamelion. The prop here is out of action but for a single scene, and the rest of his time is split being either Anthony Ainley (popping his eyes to appear abnormal) or as Dallas Adams with a silver face-covering.
     This was to be Anthony Ainley's final story as The Master, as his contract was running out. Thus, he burns to death at the end of the story that I think rather exposes the effect that Saward's callous writing had on the script. To his credit, Ainley's performance is a lot more serious than previously - or it would have been, had the Master not been tranformed into a Borrower. Seriously? Had this actually been Ainley's final story, this would have been one of the most preposterous departures in the series.

Kamelion, as The Master, gets a nice suit.

      Planet of Fire does have a few issues, particularly in how much it had to do at once, but I think it was produced with a great love behind it, no doubt encouraged by the stunning environment they filmed in. Despite its inner confusion, the story is a fitting end for Turlough's often dull character and a promising introduction for a companion who would go on to be in all but one of Colin Baker's stories.

Thanks.

NEXT WEEK: He wrote a positive review of Warriors of the Deep, didn't he? I wonder what he'll make of The Twin Dilemma...

Review: Doctor Who Classic: Warriors of the Deep

The Silurians and the Sea Devils are back.

Doctor Who - Season 21, Story One - Warriors of the Deep

Warriors of the Deep is well known for being one of the worst things, bar Time-Flight, that ever happened to the Fifth Doctor. Its infamy mainly stems from the use of the Silurians and Sea Devils, classic monsters from the Pertwee Era, in a way which didn't live up to their previous adventures. Well. And the fact that this sole story is responsible for Doctor Who's cancellation. Despite the fact that great Who came immediately before and some time after it, this one story pissed off Doctor-Who hater Michael Grade so much that he began to set plans in motion to have the program cancelled. That's right - this story is directly responsible for the 1985 hiatus, the shoddy treatment of Colin Baker in 86 and the end of the program in 89.
      But the question we must ask is whether this story is irresponsibly bad, like, say, Time-Flight, or whether it is simply a victim of circumstances. The story's production schedule was decimated when Margaret Thatcher declared a sudden election, meaning that a lot of the team's resources were diverted towards coverage. JNT had two options: continue with a schedule that would leave the story deprived of time and money or simply can the story. Intent on using the script he had received, JNT chose the former. This included the production of the story's big show-monster, the Myrka, which has gone down in sci-fi history as one of the worst monsters ever presented.
     Presumebly after The Five Doctors, The Doctor and crew head to Earth to show Tegan some of the future. They arrive on a Sea Base in 2084, where the Earth is in a different Cold War between two power blocks. While enemy spies have inflitrated the base, there are also plans by an alliance of the Silurians and the Sea Devils to attack the base and use its missile system to spark a nuclear war, killing off Humanity and allowing them to take over once the dust has settled. The Myrka, a towering genetically engineered creature, is used as heavy infantry as the Silurians invade the base. Forced into retreat, The Doctor reluctantly saves the day by releasing a gas used in the base's construction that is poisonous to cold-blooded life forms.
     The Myrka was never really properly planned out, and the lack of time made it worse. A horrifically shoddy looking concoction, the creature had the appearance and gait of a fat-bodied panto horse. It wasn't finished by the time production needed it, and so a lot of the actors are noticeably covered in green paint. Worse, the actors inside were choking from the fumes. The Myrka is this story's point of total meltdown. I find the rest of the story relatively tense and dramatic, but the ridiculousness of this thing takes one out of it all.

High Death Count. Yeah.

       Johnny Byrne, the writer of The Keeper of Traken and Arc of Infinity, was commisioned to write this story. I've found that the further he got from Traken, the more unfocused his writing became. Arc of Infinity's script was forgiveable because Byrne was forced to juggle so many plotlines, but it's less forgiveable here when you consider that the actual concepts at hand aren't affected much by the budget issue. Byrne identifies that the two reptilian races have a complex history and are used mainly to demonstrate that not everything different is evil. Instead of actually portraying them as such, however, they act like normal villains and there isn't any greater context to their actions. It just seems so strange when the story does cover, in depth, the issues from the past.
     But, strangely, I find myself liking this story. It's your average dark Eighties story, where a dark theme and tone is mixed with the hilarity of camp, shoddy special effects. I enjoy loving a dark, sinister tone and then out of nowwhere being able to giggle at the Myrka or Ingrid Pitt's karaté chops. Warriors of the Deep is not the unwatchable story that I was expecting it to be, and in ways I looked forward to watching it more than I do for its more classically good predecessors. It's just Eighties Who, and I love it - simple as that.

Thanks.

NEXT WEEK: The Awakening... wait, no. Haven't got access to that. Frontios? Nada. Ressurection of the Daleks? Already reviewed it. Planet of Fire... Nicola Bryant in a bikini? I'm in!

Review: Doctor Who Classic: The Caves of Androzani

The Phantom of the Opera is here, inside my mind.

"Change, my dear. And not a moment too soon."

Two of my Classics in the November collection were written by Robert Holmes, one of Classic Who's most prolific and talented writers. Despite a somewhat formulaic story structure of a disfigured, trapped villain fighting to return to former glory, Holmes penned some of the greatest stories of the Classic series, such as The Deadly Assassin, Spearhead From Space, The Talons of Weing Chang and today's story, The Caves of Androzani, which was Peter Davison's grand finale.
     There's a vaguely Shakespearean vibe to the story, especially in the comparisons to Hamlet; villain Sharaz Jek is a man whose lust for revenge has turned him into a monster. That, and Peri is the only character to survive the story, if you count The Doctor's regeneration as a death. Five's era was often accused of having death-filled episodes, and it's fitting that his final story leaves not even he alive.
     The Doctor takes Peri, fresh from her intro in Planet of Fire, to the planet of Androzani Minor, twin to the large trade planet of Androzani Major. The Doctor is intrigued to find signs of life in the caves, and after stumbling through some poisonous webbing, they become caught up in a gunrunning cartel and are accused by the local law enforcement of assisting the madman behind the operation, Sharaz Jek. Jek is being fought by the corrupt leader of the mining operation, known as Morgus, who has a long-running rivalry with the villain and has been running guns himself. At the first cliffhanger, it appears that The Doctor and Peri are shot dead by firing squad.

The Doctor and Peri face excecution.

     This cliffhanger is oft considered to be one of the best in Who history, and I can see why - its unrelentless, pessimistic scenario seems to have no escape, and the solution to the cliffhanger ties into the story instead of being a quick fix. The one problem that I have with the acting is this story is from John Normington's Morgus, who is incredibly, incredibly wooden.
     It turns out that the killed heroes were instead Androids under the control of Jek, who has lifted the pair to his deep sanctum. There they meet Jek, as well as a man named Salateen, the android version of which was monitering the authorities that found them. Salateen explains that the company mines a substance called Spectrox, which lengthens life. The pair have come in contact with the substance's natural form, and have now contracted a disease called Spectrox Toxemia. Jek reveals to Peri the reason for his Phantom-of-the-Opera-esque mask; Morgus led him into a mud-burst accident that permenantly disfigured him. Soon The Doctor works out a way to escape Jek's lair, but he becomes embroiled in an encounter with the gun-runners and is approached by a giant Magma Beast! Of this episode's few technical failures, the Magma Beast is the only one that really stands out. It has little to no real purpose being there really, and it stains what is otherwise a creepy, Victorian atmosphere.
     The Doctor escapes but is caught by Jek, who tortures him. Peri and Salateen return to the General, who they tell about the Android imposter. The Doctor is taken onto a transport ship on its way to Major. Salateen plans on using the android to lead Jek on a wild goose chase, while The Doctor manages to escape his bonds and takes control of the ship. Fearing deception, Morgus assassinates the President. The cliffhanger of this episode is also one of the best that I've seen, and is one of Peter Davison's finest moments. The episode ends on The Doctor about to crash the ship, and his desperate cry of, "I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU STOP ME NOW" demonstrates Davison's range. You can feel his desperation, his will to fight his own demise to save the life of another.

Lots of rubber in this mine...

     On the run, The Doctor lands on Minor with an escape pod, arriving in time for there to be a tremendous gun battle between the androids and the gun runners. Jek's mask is removed and in his disgrace he assists the Doctor in retrieving the antedote to the Spectrox Toxemia. As a mud-burst arrives into the caves, killing both Jek and Morgus, The Doctor retrieves the antedote and carries Peri across the exploding surface of Androzani Minor to the TARDIS, where he sets her down and gives her the antedote. He collapses, and regenerates into Colin Baker.
     Davison's regeneration is actually one of the more interesting of the series, utilising the era's effects well. Instead of seeing him physically transform, we see what he sees, and the effect flashes on and off through his vision as he fights off death. Upon regeneration wee see all of the companions of the Fifth Doctor's era - Adric, Nyssa, Tegan, Turlough, Kamelion. It's quite good, actually, and provides a very interesting insight into the process of regeneration that standing up and firing energy out of one's arms simply doesn't do.
     The Caves of Androzani isn't perfect, but it comes damn near close. The writing is top notch with a wide variety of fascinating themes that reflect the nature of beauty in our society, as well as a lot of commentary regarding Capitalism. The Fifth Doctor's era was a rough one, but it ended on a story that did the era and his Doctor all the justice it deserved. We'll look more at the Doctor's era after Christmas, when I follow on in Chronological order from my review of Four to Doomsday.      

Goodbye, Peter.

Thanks.

P.S. A head's up to the Tardis Wiki for the screencaps.

NEXT WEEK: Colin Baker nearly meets his maker in Vengeance on Varos. Marshminnow?

Review: Doctor Who Classic: Resurrection of the Daleks

To complete my Davros Story reviews, I present to you 1984's Resurrection, which was the first and only story of Davison's era. It's an Eric Saward script, and so is unrelentingly messy and complicated (For more examples of Saward doing this, see Attack of the Cybermen, Revelation of the Daleks) It saw the return of Davros after five years, this time played by Terry Molloy (who would go on to play Davros in his next two appearances.) This Davros was a much better send off to Michael Wisher, despite keeping some of Gooderson's ranting.
     The basic plot is that the Movellans have created a virus that kills Daleks, and are using it to win the war. They attack a prison ship holding Davros in suspended animation, and release him. He pretends to start work on a vaccine, but instead plots his revenge...
    It's some more of the JNT classic fanwank, taking ideas from all of the past Dalek stories. There's also a sense that it was a little thrown together; Davros seems to be holding the plot by a very thin string while random schemes are thrown about to explain stupid behaviour. For example, the Daleks are A.) Trying to find a cure for the virus via Davros, B.) Trying to duplicate the Doctor and have him assassinate the Time Lords, C.) Duplicating key world figures to collapse Earth's government, and D.) Fighting lots of wars. B.) and C.) are litterally thrown in, mere sentences that may have seemed tense but instead are paper-thin excuses. So, while the characterisation of Davros is sound, the rest doesn't make up for it.

Thanks.

P.S. The commentary's nice though.