Doctor Who season eight: A Moriarty for the Doctor

So, you have the Doctor stuck on Earth. What do you do for fresh villains for him to fight? Give him a brother (though not an actual brother) Time Lord to duel with throughout the season. The Master would go on to define much of the Jon Pertwee era of the show and would continue to be a foil throughout the classic series, through to the TV movie and into new show. (as Derek Jacobi and John Simm; double classy!)

Terror of the Autons

And welcome to the Master. Roger Delgado arrives in a circus caravan, hypnotizes a blustery gent and proceeds to terrorize children everywhere with a plot to use the Autons from the previous season to well… it’s all in the title. Delgado is terrific in the role and even though there is some dodgy special effects (color separation overlay really begins its own terrorization of the show here) the whole series is creepy and effective, especially as everyday household objects – dolls, plastic flowers, a telephone cord (ask your parents, kids) – come to life to KILL everyone in their path.

Mind of Evil

As the season deepened, the fact that the Master was behind all of the plots became a bit of a joke, but his appearance midway through episode two here is actually pretty effective. The show has a bit of a Patrick Troughton vibe to it, mainly because the only copy that existed for many years was in black and white. In fact, the blurry black and white copy I have is a bit more effective than some of the color episodes from the era, as it hides some of the weaknesses in special effects. That means you spend more time focused on the story, which is what this is supposed to be about.

The Claws of Axos

When talking about this episode in the bonus DVD material, the word that came up the most was “psychedelic.” Perhaps “mad” would have been more appropriate. A race of golden-skinned beauties come to earth with an offer of unlimited free energy for humankind? Sounds good, except what they really wanted to do was eat – everything bit of life, and they weren’t really golden-skinned beauties, but quintessential rubber monsters with tentacles everywhere. Oh, and they could replicate us to wreck havoc. And the Master shows up… Just barking mad from beginning to end, but a really entertaining romp that stands as a definitive Third Doctor adventure.

Colony in Space

Script editor Terrance Dicks has repeatedly said that he and producer Barry Letts chaffed against the “stranded on Earth” edict from the previous production team. Doctor Who should be, in part, an adventure about traveling in space. That’s all fine and good in concept, except that – with the exception of stories with the name “Peladon” in the title – the Third Doctor space adventures are pretty terrible. Case in point is the first adventure beyond the bounds of the planet, which manages to be overstuffed with concepts and absolutely boring in execution. There’s a colony, and an evil mining corporation, and three distinct races of aliens… and I really don’t want to think any more about this one. Bring on the Daemons.

The Daemons

These five episodes are rightfully considered stone-cold classics. You get the Unit family in full flower, right down to the Brigadier in a kilt, Mike Yates and Sgt. Benton out of uniform and kicking ass, and an ancient science experiment that appears to be magic. There’s even Roger Delgado giving the Goat during a black mass. Much of the sharpness is down to the script, which was co-written by producer Barry Letts. Not only was Letts an experienced writer, but he knew the main characters inside and out – which meant none of the fun was forced in any way. The plot does share more than a passing resemblance with Quatermass and the Pit, but there was (and still is, current Doctor Who writers) plenty of territory in the idea of the ancient alien on Earth, affecting our folklore, legends and myths.

So, that’s the Master season done and dusted – bring on the Daleks!

Doctor Who Season Seven: Meet the new Doctor, not at all like the old Doctor (and in color, too)

This is as close to a reboot as you will find in the original run of Doctor Who. The entire cast has turned over. A new production team would be in place by midseason. The Doctor is stuck on Earth with mostly unfamiliar characters. And it is in full living color (well, early 1970s full color at the very least).

But what about the stories? This is a bit of a messy season. The previous producers had decided that, as a way to save money on each storyline, that they would stretch out to seven episodes. The results were… well, not the best. None of the stories are complete losses, but they could have done with some (or a lot of) trimming to make them better.

Spearhead from Space

The new era gets off to a strong start with a cracking four-parter that introduces the Autons – the plastic people with guns in their hands that would make a couple of notable returns in the “new” series, first in the premiere episode and then with the whole plastic Rory storyline.

As is typical, it takes a bit for the new Doctor to settle into the character. Jon Pertwee came into the show best known as a comedy actor, and he puts it to good use in the early scenes as the confused Doctor makes his escape from the hospital, including a raid of the doctors’ wardrobe (shades of the 11^th Doctor’s first episode as well). We also get a sense of the dramatic flair he’d bring to the character as well (not to mention getting a look at proto-Bessie, the antique car that defined the Third Doctor far much more than the Tardis). Oh, and there's a terrific Robert Holmes script to hold it all together.

The Silurians

Now things start to get stretched out. There is good material within this story, especially the core idea that the Silurians are not alien invaders but actually the original sentient race on Earth. There are also good supporting characters throughout – including a youngish Geoffrey Palmer, who meets an untimely end due to an ancient plague – and the deepening of the relationship between The Doctor and short-term companion Liz Shaw. The alien costumes are a bit daft, but the political fighting among the Silurians gave them an extra bit of depth. The same goes for the end, which has the Brigadier – with some justification – blowing up the cave entrances to cut off the creatures and keep them off the show until the 1980s.

The Ambassadors… OF DEATH

While The Silurians could have used an episode or two trim, this series is a complete mess. There may be enough material for a four-episode storyline, but stretched out over seven episodes breaks the poor story’s back. Again, we have an interesting twist on the expected tale – as the titular ambassadors really are that – alien visitors who are being manipulated by a mad astronaut bent on destruction. However, there is no real drive to the story, which includes what seems like a million captures and escapes on the part of Liz and what feels like real-time rocket launches. On the upside, the series did introduce a landmark change in the theme – the familiar “scream” that now leads us into and out of every episode made its debut here, being used to introduce the show’s title and at the cliffhanger.

Inferno

While searching the library database for a copy of the DVD of this, the only show called “Inferno” I could find was an episode of Steven Moffat’s Coupling, which – while having some tangential connection to Doctor Who, and a very funny episode to boot – really wasn’t going to help. Thankfully, I have alternative ways to watch any of the series, via some crusty old video copies, which was good. This may be my favorite of the Third Doctor adventures. There are mutated humans affected by a poison from deep in the Earth’s crust; a drilling project that could end the world; and some parallel dimension hopping that features Liz Shaw in a black uniform and the Brigadier with an eye patch.

Fascist Britain aside, the story actually delves into the concept of free will and affecting change. The Doctor has to think quickly on the side-Earth, knowing that it is doomed, but with the sacrifices of the alternative characters he may be able to save his home Earth. It also features the less-than-ideal sending off of Liz, with the last view of Caroline John is her laughing at the Doctor’s expense. Alas, a cerebral modern woman who was an intellectual rival for the main character wasn’t in the cards in 1970. Goodbye Liz, and hello somewhat ditzy (but eventually a very good character) in Katy Manning’s Jo Grant.

Doctor Who Season Six: Bye bye to black and white

Like the legendary “troubled” third album by a any number of classic rock bands, Patrick Troughton’s third season threatened to run off the rails at any moment. There are collapsed commissions, truncated pieces and an emergency episode that had no budget beyond the three main actors, the standing Tardis set and enough paint to make the whole studio a white void. There are also some absolutely classic stories, and the first revelation of the Doctor’s origins.

The Dominators

This isn’t one of the classics. It’s a strut-a-thon in the opener, which was such a mess of a piece that they took away an episode and made it a five-part story. The five episodes basically break down to this: The titular invaders wander around a quarry – one tries to kill everyone he meets; the other reprimands him for trying to kill everyone he meets. There are cute little robots called Quarks that are supposed to be replacements for Daleks, but look about as threatening as a Rock-‘Em-Sock-‘Em Robot after being punched. The inhabitants of the planet – committed pacifists – debate endlessly on what to do, while the Doctor and crew shuttle endlessly between different locations before the show mercifully comes to a close.

The Mind Robber

This one is just mad – The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe travel beyond the normal universe into the Land of Fiction. Along the way, they run into Gulliver; a superhero from a future comic strip (from the far off year… 2000); and a gaggle of riddle-telling story. The tone is light and fantastical throughout, with Fraiser Hines and especially Patrick Troughton having a ball throughout. The serial even has one of the oddest episodes ever on the show. After The Dominators was truncated by an episode, that left the show with an empty episode to fill with no budget at all. The resulting episode is an interesting bit. It’s more than filler, but it only includes the three core members, the Tardis set and lots of white paint. It works, like most of the shows this season, because of the skills and chemistry among our leads.

The Invasion

Who is invading? Who? Who? We don’t actually get confirmation until about halfway through this eight-episode adventure, when the Cybermen start to terrorize London the way the Daleks did a few season’s earlier in the Dalek Invasion of Earth. Up to that point, it’s been an adventure through swinging London as the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe team up with another young lady (Isobel Watkins) and get to meet the United Nations Intellegence Task Force (good ole UNIT, we’ll see a lot of them in the seasons to come) for the first time with the new promoted Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. The tale is missing two episodes, but those have been recently animated, allowing auidiences to see the show for the first time (officially, at least) in many years. It’s one of the stand-outs for the season, which will be heading downhill very fast.

The Krotons

That would be this turkey, which is the rather inauspicious debut by Robert Holmes, who would become a key contributor in years to come. Here, his signature wit and playful storytelling are largely absent. There’s some potential in the tale – which has some echoes of The Time Machine and its bifurcated society – in it, but that gets pushed aside by some clunky storytelling, static staging and absolutely horrible monsters (the titular Krotons, quickly dubbed “Croutons” by the staff) undercut it all.

The Seeds of Death

Here’s the other highlight from the season, with the Ice Warriors coming back and Patrick Troughton having plenty of fun running around in what looks to be a set full of laundry suds. The story makes pretty much solid sense from beginning to end, and while the action is confined to a pair of bases (on Earth and the Moon this time) there’s enough variety (and tension, especially in the moonbase) to keep it going.

The Space Pirates

And know we’re back to the grind, with a largely uninteresting six-parter that – apart from more touches of Robert Holmes’ wit – doesn’t have much to recommend it. It’s also almost completely missing from the archives, so it’s largely been forgotten over the decades.

The War Games

Patrick Troughton goes out in a story that – despite being stretched well beyond its breaking point to an ungodly 10 episodes – manages to be largely entertaining and provide a number of landmark changes for the series. The plot of the aliens – stealing human soldiers from different time periods and having them fight it out to find perfect soldiers for an invasion – is pretty silly, but it does provide for enough structure to keep the story from completely collapsing.

The key here is that the aliens are aided by one of the Doctor’s own race. This isn’t a congenial trickster like the Meddling Monk. Instead The War Chief is cold, calculating and willing to murder thousands for the ends of his clients. And while the Doctor is able to mostly sort out the troubles, he needs the help of his own people to set things right. Enter, for the first time, the Time Lords.

Most Time Lord lore would come later on, but the basics are here: they don’t like to interfere, so the Doctor ran away to see the Universe; they can “live forever, baring accidents”; and they have dominion over time. In saving the Earthlings, the Doctor has put himself back in their clutches. After a short trial, he gets his money-saving sentence: an exile to his favorite planet, Earth, along with a new regeneration.

In a touching scene, he has to say goodbye to Jamie and Zoe. Then its down a spinning tunnel and into color.

Doctor Who Season Five: A monster behind every couch

The fourth season marked a bridge between the original Doctor Who and the show that is more familiar to modern audiences. Sure, there were iconic monsters early on – well, the Daleks at least – but the mixing of science-fiction adventures and strict historical stories, along with William Hartnell’s caustic take on the character made for a show with a distinctly different vibe.

For the fifth season, we got a bevy of creatures, even with the Daleks sitting the next few seasons out. There are two Cybermen adventures, two goes of the Yeti and the Great Intellegence, along with the first Ice Warriors. The singletons of the season give us some sentient seaweed and a bad guy played by Troughton – and a thick “Mexican” accent – bent on ruling the world.

And while Victoria doesn’t have the best reputation as a Doctor Who companion, there is something special about the tight bond that she and Jamie form in these episodes. Both of them are characters out of time and there is a lovely brother/sister type bond that forms throughout the episodes.

Best of all, a recent find of missing episodes means that four of these stories are complete or near-enough to be watched. Considering that when I first saw the Troughton episodes back in the 1980s, it started with Season Six’s The Dominators, that is great news for those wanting to explore the early years of the series.

The Tomb of the Cybermen

This was the first one to be found and is a case where the reputation didn’t hold up to the actual show. There is good material in here, especially the first episode as we explore the upper level of the cyber “tomb” on Telos. Some of the visuals later on – especially the Cybermen slowly waking up as the temperature increases – are arresting as well. The whole thing doesn’t hold together very well, as the actual reason for going to the tomb by the Earth explorers never comes into focus.

The Abominable Snowmen

This is mainly an audio-only adventure, but it quite a romp to listen to. Not only do we have the crew hanging out in Tibet, but there are contemplative monks, a strange alien threat disguised by extremely cuddly creatures and a strong guest turn by Deborah Watling’s (Victoria) father, Jack as an explorer in search of the mythical yeti. Instead, they find the Great Intellegence (one of the bad guys from the most recent series of Matt Smith adventures) making its first go at an invasion.

The Ice Warriors

Here’s another strong outing that introduces our favorite Doctor Who Martians. The story has nice elements to disguise the fact that it is basically a base-invasion tale. In the future, an ice age has descended on the Earth, and a team of scientists is at the base on of the glaciers. They find something very tall and lizard-like (and with really, really impractical hands) and, in the way of not-thinking-ahead scientists in a lot of science fiction stories, they thaw him out. After wrecking some havoc, the warrior heads to his crashed ship and before you can say The Thing, the base is under siege. There are a number of solid supporting turns this time around, including Peter Barkworth as the hard-to-deal-with leader Clent.

The Enemy of the World

The full series was just discovered in 2013 and it gives audiences a chance to watch an intriguing story that turns on tour-de-force performance from Troughton. He not only plays the bumbling-but-brilliant Doctor, but the cold, murderous and brilliant Salamander, who has dreams of ruling the world with a pack of people he has hidden away in a secret base and has convinced that the end of the world has come. The series is really a romp, as we get globetrotting, a hovercraft and some helicopters along the way. In the end, there is a confrontation between the Troughtons, which must have been a lot of fun to shoot in the primitive studios of the 1960s.

The Web of Fear

Our favorite soft and fuzzy murderous Yeti are back for an adventure in the London Underground. Apart from bringing back the Yeti and Jack Watling for a round as the older Professor Travers, the series gives us the proto-U.N.I.T., as Nicholas Courtney makes his first turn as Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, though only a colonel in the British Army at this point. The sets are convincing enough that officials with the Underground were irked at the program – they thought the producers had snuck in to shoot after being refused permission. There is a real sense of danger throughout the episodes as the characters are trapped in the dark tunnels beneath an abandoned London as they try to work out what the Great Intellegence wants and how to defeat it.

Fury from the Deep

When fans look over the missing Patrick Troughton stories, this one (usually after Evil of the Daleks) is near the top of the list. Victoria gets his finale, and her constant screaming gets put to good use as sentient seaweed threatens a North Sea drilling rig. Here’s a case where the extra length is put to fine use, as the story builds slowly early on, giving us a sense of danger without revealing all until later. It’s a way to avoid the middle-episode bloat that threatens a lot of the six and longer-part series during the first 11 years of the series. (Once Tom Baker arrives, the six parters were largely abandoned except for, at most, once a year. They often felt like they were loaded with filler as well.)

The Wheel in Space

Well, you can’t have everything. The classic season ends with a bit of a dud, as the Cybermen return with an appalling complex plot that doesn’t stand up to a lot of examination. It’s not all bad, as Zoe makes her debut. She’s a bright presence from the start, set up as a brilliant foil for the boys. While her relationship never develops the same level of warmth as you found with Jamie and Victoria, the two companions do have a real fun chemistry. That’s important, because what’s coming is probably the most troubled season of the series not called The Trial of the Time Lord, as script issues, cast fatigue and tanking ratings will all combine to threaten the future of the show.