Doctor Who review blog...

Post Reply New Topic

REVIEW: Time-Flight by Peter Grimwade

SERIAL: 6C, 4X25 minute episodes

SEEN IT BEFORE?: No.


Having directed four stories of the series previously, Peter Grimwade decided to turn his hand to writing Doctor Who. He was by no means the first (Barry Letts was the first director to work on Doctor Who to also become an albeit uncredited writer), but he would later go on to write three stories for the series. With Time-Flight, an ambitious little number involving Concordes and the Master, would he impress with his writing skills?

Trying to recover from the loss of Adric, the Doctor, Tegan, and Nyssa end up, accidentally, at Heathrow Airport in the modern day, where there's a crisis. A Concorde aircraft has vanished on approach to the airport. The Doctor, after establishing his credentials as a former member of UNIT, offers to help by tracking the Concorde via another Concorde flight to replicate the conditions. The second Concorde apparently lands at Heathrow, but it is swiftly proven to be an illusion: they are at Heathrow, but 140 million years into the past. And a mysterious conjuror called Kalid is controlling the passengers and crew of the first Concorde to his own sinister purposes. How does Kalid know the Doctor? What is the true power of the mysterious Citadel, built long before any civilisation should be present on Earth? And will the Concorde passengers, crew, along with the Doctor and friends be able to make it back to the present day?

Time-Flight is a decent enough story, but it has a couple of all-too noticeable flaws. Firstly, it seems to be built around the gimmick of the Concorde aircraft seen in the story, and I dunno how much of that is due to John Nathan-Turner. Secondly, and perhaps more notably, why the hell does the Master actually disguise himself as Kalid? His previous disguises (as Melkur or as the Portreeve) seem to follow a purpose, but there is no immediately apparent purpose stated in the storyline. Tegan being left behind on modern Earth at the end is an interesting twist, but one that doesn't pan out, as it turns out.

The characters are fairly averagely written. The regulars are good, with them trying to get over the trauma of Adric's death early on (with Peter Davison mixing the right amount of anger with angst when he yells at his companions, as you can tell that the Doctor dearly wants to go with their plan), although Nyssa's susceptibility to the Xeraphin is not as well explained as it should be. Anthony Ainley performs well as the Master and his alter ego, Kalid, although both roles are not so well written. The guest characters do all right, though Nigel Stock's Professor Hayter doesn't seem so well written, seeming to be more antagonistic than he needs to be.

Unfortunately, for such an ambitious production, the actual production proper isn't up to scratch. Anything at Heathrow and in certain parts of the Citadel are fine, but the special effects are well below par, even for Doctor Who, and the Plasmatons are, while a brave concept, rather poorly realised. You can see the painted backdrops on a couple of sets, on one piece of stock footage used to portray Concorde taking off from the Jurassic Earth, you can see buildings in the background, and other various things that make the production of this story look cheap.

Better production values might have helped this story, but as an end-of-season story, it is rather disappointing. I'm not sure that the Master truly is necessary, and the result is a story that is below average. Not as abysmal as some, but still disappointing.


SCORE: 7/10

And why was the Master the villain in Time-Flight again? This was an insult to his character. He's always doing grandiose schemes, not schemes that would be better suited for trickster types.

Oh, that technicaly has an explanation. He intended to exploit the nucleus of the Xeraphin gestalt, which supposedly would make him all-powerful.

Oh cool, I still enjoy Doctor Who, but sadly, after 3 years solid of it, my obsession died off somewhat.
I never considered writing my own review though, that is a good idea.

It sort of grew out of the book-reading reviews that I did, as well as a realisation, or so I thought at the time, that I hadn't watched most of the stories that I have on DVD. As it turned out, I actually had watched (at least once) more stories than I had thought.

REVIEW: Arc of Infinity by Johnny Byrne

SERIAL: 6E, 4X25 minute episodes

SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes (years ago, early in the morning, on the ABC... ).


With the 20th anniversary of the series looming, producer John Nathan-Turner, flushed with the successful return of the Cybermen in Earthshock, made a bold announcement. For the 20th season of the series, every story would have the return of an old adversary of the Doctor's, culminating in a feature-length special to be transmitted on the 20th anniversary proper. And having seen that overseas filming can be done to a degree on Doctor Who's limited budget, he made the decision to set the opening story in Amsterdam as well, not to mention bringing back Tegan, who apparently left the TARDIS crew in the last story of the previous season...

In Amsterdam, Tegan's cousin, Colin Frazer, is abducted by a strange alien creature from within a crypt, leaving his friend, Robin, to explain things to Tegan when she arrives. On Gallifrey, the Doctor's biodata is transmitted to a mysterious location, and an investigating technician murdered. And in the TARDIS, the Doctor and Nyssa encounter the Arc of Infinity, an ancient gateway between dimensions, whereupon a being from the antimatter universe tries to take him over. The Time Lords, deciding that to track down the being would take too long, recall the Doctor to Gallifrey. The being is now linked to the Doctor, and if he is executed, the being has no way to enter the normal universe. But there is a traitor at work on Gallifrey, and even though Nyssa tries her best to stop the execution of the Doctor, it is the traitor who succeeds in saving the life of the Doctor. But who is the traitor? And, more importantly, who is the anti-matter being, and what does Amsterdam have to do with anything?

I have to admit that the script manages to pull off something that would have been rather hard on paper, reintroducing both Tegan and Omega, as well as setting part of the story in Amsterdam. I can cope with the coincidences involved in the story, even if it does seem somewhat contrived, and bringing back Omega was a good idea that, while it could have been handled a little better, had some nice tension. The first and last episodes are the better written, with some considerable tension. But the reason why the second and third episodes suffer are because of the Time Lord characters.

I have nothing really to fault the performances of the actors playing Time Lords. Leonard Sachs as Borusa tries his best, and both a pre-Sixth Doctor Colin Baker as Maxil and a pre-"No, not the mind probe!" Paul Jericho as the Castellan perform their roles with relish. But of the Time Lord characters, only Neil Daglish's Damon and the ever-wonderful (and sadly now late) Michael Gough's Hedin are anywhere near well-written. The High Council (and the aforementioned Maxil), with the exception of Hedin, seem too much like the Consuls from The Keeper of Traken, too unwilling to consider any alternatives to the situation. If they had been better written, then I could stomach their willingness to execute the Doctor. As it is, they seem cowardly rather than apprehensive. However, Omega, while not as brilliantly written or performed as he was in The Three Doctors, is still quite well written, and the performances of both Ian Collier and Peter Davison give much to the character and help elevate the story. The two main human characters are fine, and while Andrew Boxer as Robin Stuart initially annoys me at first, he grows on me. The regulars, as usual, are written well, with Sarah Sutton as Nyssa particularly kicking arse and taking names.

The production is fine, although Gallifrey seems rather superficial and dull, and the costume for the Ergon, while aspects of it are fine, ends up looking comical-looking in even half-decent light. It looked like it had potential, but in the end, well, the Doctor's line about it being one of Omega's less successful creations is rather apt. However, Omega's costume is excellent, and the direction works all around.

Arc of Infinity isn't an excellent adventure, but seriously, I have seen many that are worse. Poor characterisation and a few stuff-ups in production mar what is an otherwise pretty good story, even if it is somewhat contrived.


SCORE: 8.5/10

BTW, I thought, as I am coming up to various stories that have alternative versions on separate discs (rather than optional CGI effects), I thought that I would review the special editions separately. Now, I considered doing reviews of those special editions alongside the originals, or watching the special editions instead of the originals, but I've decided to save the special edition versions until after the Sylvester McCoy era. I'll watch the special editions along with any stories that have come out during this blog that I don't have access to or have already gone over the respective eras, as well as K9 and Company, and the TV movie.

So, to summarise, I will probably be watching the following stories after I am done with the Sylvester McCoy series:

K9 and Company: A Girl's Best Friend

Enlightenment SE

The Five Doctors SE

Planet of Fire SE

Battlefield SE

The Curse of Fenric SE

Doctor Who: The Movie

In addition, the stories that will be coming out (or have come out recently, and I am awaiting access to them) in the next little while, and might thus be ready for me to review in this addendum, include...

Frontios

The Gunfighters

The Awakening

Paradise Towers

The Sun Makers

Day of the Daleks

Now, I am strongly considering keeping this review blog to classic rather than new Who, so I can review the new DVDs as they come out and I obtain them. But I will still consider watching and reviewing the new series, up to at least series 5.

I thought Arc of Infinity was fine. Tegan finally did something relevant for a change.

Oh, come on. She (along with Nyssa) saved the TARDIS from Event One in Castrovalva, her meddling with the controls in Four to Doomsday had the fringe benefit of preventing Monarch from getting to it, and she not only manages to kill at least one Cyberman in Earthshock, albeit recklessly, but she distracts the Cyberleader from killing the Doctor long enough for the Doctor to use Adric's badge.

But her bravery in helping the Doctor locate Omega in the first place can't be denied either, especially given the pain she suffered when the Doctor thought she was an illusion.

REVIEW: Snakedance by Christopher Bailey

SERIAL: 6D, 4X25 minute episodes

SEEN IT BEFORE?: No.


To the people he tries to warn of danger, the Doctor must often seem like an utter lunatic. In Image of the Fendahl, someone asked him whether he was a kind of 'wandering doomsday peddler'. In the new series episode Midnight, his attempts to take control of the situation and defuse it not only led to suspicion against him, but the entity in the story diverting attention onto him via a mental rape and manipulating the situation. Snakedance is not at the extremes of Midnight, but show what happens when the Doctor loses grasp of tact...

Tegan is suffering recurring dreams, and the Doctor and Nyssa begin to fear that she is falling under the influence of the Mara again, as she has set the coordinates to Manussa, once seat of the great Sumaran Empire. But on Manussa, now the third planet of a Federation, the legend of the Mara is just that, a legend. Most of those who even believe in the Mara's existence believe it long destroyed, like the Federator's indolent son Lon, or the egotistical archaeologist Ambril, director of research into the Sumaran Empire. And the rest have reduced it to public tradition, festival and spectacle. The Doctor is not being believed, dismissed as a madman, and Tegan has fallen completely under the influence of the Mara. With the Mara luring even more people into its thrall, the Doctor and Nyssa will be hard-pressed to stop it, especially when everyone who should be allies do not believe their story...

I'm not sure whether Kinda truly needed a sequel, but Snakedance, as a story, is quite well done. While not as multilayered and deep as Kinda, and somewhat reminiscent of Jon Pertwee's final story Planet of the Spiders, it still has some interesting ideas. Most notable is the idea of something dangerous reduced to ceremony and pageantry, and while the Doctor isn't often believed in his travels, here, it is, to a degree, portrayed rather realistically, with the characters involved not fearful or ambitious, but simply close minded and, at times in the case of Ambril, petty. Unfortunately, this is one of the stories where the deleted scenes (or rather, the original ending) would have cleared up far more, and the pageantry around the Manussan ceremonies do get tiresome. I also have to wonder, if the Mara was created on Manussa, where did Deva Loka and the Kinda come into the story?

The regulars are well done, although I would think that the Doctor would know better than to barge into a dinner party and expect to be listened to, no matter what the urgency of the situation. Tegan, as played by Janet Fielding, is wonderful, especially when she struggles with the Mara. Of the new characters, well, Lon could have been immensely irritating, but Martin Clunes, early in his career, performs him so well (even in that ridiculous costume he wears at the end), that that is forgiven. The other regulars are fine, though I expected Brian Miller's Dugdale to be a bit more hammy, and John Carson's Ambril is irritatingly written. His motives work fine for the character, but he really grates on me, and I don't know whether that's the writing or the performance. And sometimes, I wonder, given a few of the Manussan's attitudes (Tanha, ironically, along with Chela seem to be the few sane people), that they didn't deserve the Mara.

The production works mostly well, but there are a few sorepoints. Some of the costumes don't work, especially Lon's ceremonial outfit towards the end (my sympathy to Martin Clunes), and while this may be stylistic suck, it is still rather jarring. There are also a few dodgy special effects that mar the production, like the Mara marks (which don't look convincing, and even worse when inflating) and a few shots of the Mara puppet.

Snakedance is not as good as its predecessor, but it's not that bad. Some dodgy bits and a less cerebral storyline mean that it's less than its predecessor, but it's still a very good, somewhat underrated and overlooked story.



SCORE: 9/10


And now, the DVD trailer for the Black Guardian Trilogy, which encompasses Mawdryn Undead, Terminus, and Enlightenment.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzMR0siVTWs[/youtube]

REVIEW: Mawdryn Undead by Peter Grimwade

SERIAL: 6F, 4X25 minute episodes

SEEN IT BEFORE?: No.


I'm surprised that, after the debacle of Time-Flight, Peter Grimwade bothered to write for the series again. However, he did, writing the first story of what has become known as the Black Guardian Trilogy. Not only did he have to re-introduce the Black Guardian, but also the Brigadier, not to mention introducing a new companion, the shady Turlough. So, would this former director of the series learn from his previous mistakes?

Vislor Turlough may have the life of a badly-behaved schoolboy at a British public school, one who has retired Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart as a maths teacher, but he isn't human. Longing to escape Earth, he finds his chance after an accident leads him into contact with the Black Guardian, who offers him escape, in exchange for killing the Doctor. Meanwhile, the Doctor, Nyssa, and Tegan, while travelling to Earth, end up being caught up in the warp ellipse of a luxurious spacecraft, and in order to free the TARDIS, now trapped on board, the Doctor needs to use the spaceship's transmat to travel to Earth. Unfortunately, that means he is near Turlough, and a malfunction in his repairs means that the TARDIS ends up six years early, with Tegan and Nyssa on board. In 1977, Tegan and Nyssa meet the Brigadier. In 1983, the Doctor does as well, only the Brigadier doesn't remember who he is, at first. And Nyssa, Tegan, and the Brigadier encounter someone who used the transmat who claims to be a badly injured Doctor, in the process of regenerating. How did the Brigadier lose his memory? Who is the alien impersonating the Doctor, and what does he have to do with stolen Gallifreyan technology? And will the Doctor be able to see through Turlough's pretence?

The story itself is actually quite excellent, a marked improvement on Time-Flight. Multi-layered, and complex, it is amazing how Grimwade managed to make it all work. In fact, the only part of this story I have trouble with is exactly how the time zones came into play, as well as the fact that, considering that the transmat mutilated Mawdryn, how the other characters are able to use it safely. But the concepts are good and well-used. And considering that it was apparently a swift replacement for Turlough's original debut, it works very well.

The regulars are all well-written and performed. The Brigadier's character when he has amnesia doesn't seem in character, but otherwise he is well-written and performed by Nicholas Courtney. Newcomer Mark Strickson is a revelation as Turlough, managing to make him both malevolent and yet sympathetic simultaneously. Valentine Dyall manages to make us take him seriously in a chilling performance as the Black Guardian, despite the fact that he was apparently nearly blind, had some rather cheesy lines, and had a rather silly hawk's head on his noggin. Of the guest cast, only David Collings is particularly noteworthy as Mawdryn, and I feel that he should have seemed a little more sympathetic, but he does convey much of the pathos of the role of Mawdryn.

The production itself is pretty good. Paddy Kingsland tries something interesting and new with his incidental music, and Peter Moffat's direction is excellent. Production design, compared to Grimwade's original scripted story, is excellent, with the only duff notes being the 'dead hawk' on the Black Guardian's head and the undead beings' rather silly costumes. But the make-up is impressive for Mawdryn, the Brigadier in both versions of himself, and Nyssa and Tegan under the effects of Mawdryn's virus.

Mawdryn Undead was very surprising, and while not perfect, is not far from it. A stellar beginning to the Black Guardian Trilogy, and a story that vindicates Peter Grimwade's abilities as a writer for the series.


SCORE: 9.5/10

REVIEW: Terminus by Stephen Gallagher

SERIAL: 6G, 4X25 minute episodes

SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes.


With three more companions once more in the TARDIS, it was decided that another companion would go, and it was decided to write out Sarah Sutton's Nyssa. Stephen Gallagher, who wrote Warriors' Gate, was brought back, and Blake's 7 director Mary Ridge brought in to direct for the first and only time for the series. The problem is, Terminus was hit by industrial action, and fan opinion has remained divided ever since...

Under the directions of the Black Guardian, Turlough sabotages the TARDIS, but before it can be destroyed completely, it manages to lock onto a nearby spacecraft, allowing Nyssa, trapped in her disintegrating room, to escape. But the ship, which has been boarded by a forward party of space pirates, Kari and Olvir, has a dark secret: it is really a transport ship used by the ruthless Terminus Company to transport the Lazars, sufferers of Lazars Disease, to Terminus, a space station that is little more than a leper colony. There, the Vanir guards process the Lazars, supposedly for a cure, but nobody has been known to return. And Terminus has secrets of its own. Nyssa has caught the disease, Tegan and Turlough are trapped aboard the transport ship trying to find a way back to the TARDIS, and the Doctor and Kari have problems of their own. Will Nyssa be free of the disease? Is there any significance to the fact that Terminus is at the centre of the universe? And what is going to happen when one of the unstable engines of Terminus, once a vast spaceship, explodes?

Terminus, after the wonderful but thematically obscure Warriors' Gate, is a more traditional adventure. However, Gallagher does write a good storyline, although he seems to draw quite heavily on Norse mythology. This is a dark and grim tale involving a heartless corporation and the creation and potential destruction of the universe. Gallagher manages to masterfully separate Tegan and Turlough away from the Doctor, thus solving the problem of Turlough, tasked as an assassin against the Doctor by the Black Guardian, being in any position to do so. He also manages to work in Nyssa's departure.

The regulars are, as usual, written well, although Nyssa in particular gets a chance to shine, and Sarah Sutton gives it her all. Valentine Dyall is, as always, a delight as the Black Guardian, even if his lines aren't as good as they could be. Liza Goddard's Kari and Dominic Guard's Olvir are perhaps the best written and performed of the guest characters, although they sometimes do go inappropriately over the top. Of the Vanir, the only one who is particularly noteworthy is Peter Benson as the delirious Bor, who has some wonderful lines.

Production wise, well, the sets themselves are actually quite good, atmospheric and moody, and the direction is pretty good. But the costumes, ugh. I mean, Kari and Olvir are dressed up as glam rockers, the Vanir, while visually impressive, clunk about in costumes that sound wooden, and the Garm's costume looks more cuddly and comical than menacing and imposing, which is a pity, as if he were, the monster would have been more interesting given what happens in the plot. And the robot on the ship doesn't look menacing enough.

Terminus, then, is a quite well-written story let down by some characterisation and performance issues combined with production problems, which is a shame. I have heard that some people detest it, but I can't honestly see why, if you look past the more dodgy aspects...


SCORE: 9/10

REVIEW: Enlightenment by Barbara Clegg

SERIAL: 6H, 4X25 minute episodes

SEEN IT BEFORE?: No.


With the Black Guardian Trilogy drawing to a close, a new writer to the series, and one of the few female writers to ever write for the classic series, Barbara Clegg, was brought on board. Although the original script did not include the Guardians, instead having the Enlighteners (the original title being The Enlighteners), they were soon included. With an ambitious script involving sailing ships in space, could this be at all achieved on the budget of Doctor Who?

The Doctor is sent a garbled, enigmatic warning by the White Guardian, who sends him to special coordinates. There, the Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough find themselves on what appear an Edwardian racing yacht. But nothing is as it seems, with the rank and file sailors suffering from some kind of memory loss, and the top echelons of the crew strange and eerie. The Doctor and his companions soon learn the truth: the top crew, who includes the driven Captain Stryker and the Tegan-obsessed Marriner, are Eternals, immortal beings who crave ideas from the minds of mortals, and they are in the strangest race of all. For the racing yacht is really a spacecraft, modified to use solar wind, and there are other sailing spaceships, all piloted by Eternals, all eager to get their hands on the first prize: Enlightenment. But all is not well. Anyone who challenges Captain Wrack and her pirate ship are mysteriously destroyed. Turlough is tormented by the Black Guardian, who condemns him to eternal life on Stryker's vessel. And Tegan is disturbed at Marriner's obsession with her. Winner takes all in this race to end all races, but the prize may turn out to be more valuable than ever thought, and Turlough's allegiance and his soul hang in the balance...

Wow. What else can I say about Enlightenment? The idea, on the face of it, seems ridiculous and silly, and yet, Barbara Clegg is a masterful writer, creating a rich story that, while simple, is so lyrical and beautiful, it is almost poetry in script form. The Eternals are a brilliant creation, and the resolution of the Black Guardian Trilogy is so well done, well, it defies belief.

The regulars are all done well, but particular praise has to be given to both Janet Fielding as Tegan and Mark Strickson as Turlough. Fielding portays her discomfort and disgust at Marriner's intrusion on her memories very well without degenerating into histrionics, and Mark Strickson portrays Turlough with torment and angst, but also makes you unsure of his allegiances to the very end, making his final redemption satisfying. Valentine Dyall as the Black Guardian is a delight as always, with perhaps his best performance ever being in this serial, while Cyril Luckham makes a welcome return as the White Guardian. Keith Barron's driven Stryker is a chilling performance, and Christopher Brown's Marriner is both disturbing and yet, despite his character, sympathetic. Lynda Barron is clearly enjoying herself as Captain Wrack, and while I feel that she should have underplayed it a little more, it's still an enjoyable performance.

This is perhaps Fiona Cumming's masterpiece for the series, with everything coming together and slotting into place. The sets are sumptuous, the models and special effects (with a few excusable exceptions) achieve what could have been impossible without today's technology, and Cumming helps maintain that lyrical and fantastic nature of the script. In fact, I'm not sure how she could have improved Enlightenment for DVD (she made a re-edit for the DVD as a special edition), as I feel that it's hard to improve on perfection.

Enlightenment shows that even in the classic series, on a limited budget, imagination can go a long way. Wonderful, magical, and one of the best stories, if not the best, of the Davison era.


SCORE: 10/10


Now, the DVD trailer for the next story The King's Demons, along with Planet of Fire.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsL7Ytezz9g[/youtube]

REVIEW: The King's Demons by Terence Dudley

SERIAL: 6J, 2X25 minute episodes

SEEN IT BEFORE?: No.


John Nathan-Turner has often been accused of going for gimmicks to promote the show, and while this is debatable during the early years of his reign as producer of Doctor Who, it certainly becomes apparent with season 20. Although the idea of bringing back old adversaries for new adventures turned out to be fairly decent in the end, it is his idea for bringing a real robot into the show that possibly marks the point where the rot began to set in. Unfortunately, thanks to one of the creators dying and the general impracticalities of the character, Kamelion turned out to be more trouble than he was worth...

Landing in 1215, the Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough are greeted by King John as his 'demons'. But it is March the 4th, and the King is supposed to be in London, taking an oath for a Crusade, not trying to extort more money from Sir Ranulf Fitzwilliam. Ranulf and his family are suspicious of the demons, but they are also suspicious of the King, who is acting strangely. And he has a French champion by his side, Sir Gilles Estram, who turns out to be the Master. But why does the Master want to discredit King John? And who, or what, is the being who is impersonating King John?

While it's a nice little historical, The King's Demons suffers from major historical inaccuracy. While John wasn't quite the SOB some historians portrayed him as, he was still forced to sign Magna Carta. And by the Master's standards, as the Doctor points out, this is pretty petty, despite its ramifications. That being said, it is written well and entertainingly enough to make you forget that, even though this is a vehicle to bring back the Master and introduce Kamelion.

The regulars are mostly written well, despite the Doctor's words to Tegan near the end of the story, and performed well, and despite the rather shoddy use of the Master, Anthony Ainley is a delight as always. Gerald Flood is great as King John, though unfortunately he does little to mitigate the underwhelming impact of the frankly crap Kamelion. The other characters aren't written well, but otherwise performed well.

Production-wise, well, besides Kamelion, I can't find much to fault it. The sets look like they were just used for Blackadder (which they could very well have been) or a period drama, the costumes are pretty good, and the direction suits the small-scale tone of the story. Kamelion, though, is a major disappointment, and even Gerald Flood's voice doesn't help give the robot any real personality.

The King's Demons, as long as you disengage your brain a little, is still fairly entertaining, though as the (technical) finale to season 20, it is a disappointment. I just wish it was more substantial.


SCORE: 8.5/10


And now, the trailer for The Five Doctors.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LclJe3va3o[/youtube]

REVIEW: The Five Doctors by Terrence Dicks

SERIAL: 6K, a 90-minute feature-length special

SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes.


With the 20th anniversary approaching, Robert Holmes was initially approached to script the anniversary special. With William Hartnell dead, Holmes originally scripted The Six Doctors, with the sixth Doctor being an android double of the first created by the Cybermen. Unfortunately, Holmes didn't continue, and Terrance Dicks was brought in, often rewriting the scripts based on the availability of the actors involved. With Tom Baker refusing to come in, the task must have seemed difficult, impossible even. How can you bring five Doctors together with one dead and another refusing to come to the story?

While trying to relax on the Eye of Orion, the fifth Doctor finds himself suffering from a deadly attack. His past incarnations are being taken out of time by a Time Lord operating forbidden technology from the Dark Times of Gallifrey. The fourth Doctor is stranded in the vortex due to a mistake, while the other four incarnations of the Doctor, along with selections of companions, have been deposited in the Death Zone, a dark secret from the Time Lords' past. For the Death Zone was where the ancient Gallifreyans deposited races from many times and places to do battle to the death, until stopped by Rassilon. Except Rassilon, whose tomb, the Dark Tower, remains in the middle of the Death Zone, may have been a cruel dictator, later sealed away. And whoever makes it to the Dark Tower and survives the traps therein gains their wish. While the first, second, and third Doctor make their way past enemies past and present to the Tower, the fifth Doctor, after an encounter with the Master, who himself had been sent to help the Doctor by the Time Lords, makes his way to the Capitol of Gallifrey, and sets about finding out who the traitor is. But even he cannot guess who is willing to endanger the Doctor's lives, and those on Gallifrey, for their personal gain...

The Five Doctors is an absolute miracle that it manages to stand up at all, never mind how well it does. This was one of the first Doctor Who stories I have watched (although the VHS version I had was actually slightly edited, and the first DVD version was the special edition only), and even now, I am impressed by both its ambitious scope and the success in which it manages to juggle all its elements. There's even an impressive new foe in the Raston Warrior Robot. The only fault I actually have with the storyline proper is that not enough urgency to the situation regarding both the Doctor getting pulled into the Time Vortex, and the endangering of Gallifrey. That, and how the hell the chessboard trap has anything to do with pi.

Given the fact that there are so many characters crammed in here, it's not surprising that there is little room for development, but all the Doctors and companions are written and performed spot-on. The clips used to portray the Fourth Doctor from the unfinished story Shada are brilliantly used, and Richard Hurndall, while it would be hard to mistake him for William Hartnell, makes an excellent stab at the character of the first Doctor. Anthony Ainley plays the Master well, put into the most unusual position of actually helping the Doctor. Paul Jerricho is surprisingly good as the Castellan, his crappy delivery of the infamous "No, not the mind probe" line notwithstanding, and Philip Latham puts in an excellent performance as the now power hungry Borusa.

The production is mostly spot-on, with Wales standing in magnificently as the Death Zone and as the Eye of Orion, and the direction doing well with this rather epic story. There's a few hiccups (watch the Cyberarm grabbing the Brigadier through the wall early in the story, and you'll see some Cyberjeans, and, of course, there's the 'mind probe' line), and one wonders why the Cybermen don't open fire on the Raston Warrior Robot while fighting it, although that fight scene is also one of the most exciting and horrific in the shows' history. But all in all, it works.

The Five Doctors came so close to perfection, but considering how hurried the writing was and what it had to fit in, it's amazing that, not only does it stand up, but it stands up well, even to time. This is Terrance Dicks' last story for the program, and it is also his magnum opus. This is what a Doctor Who movie should be like. Indulgent fanw***, yes, but it's the right kind of indulgent fanw***.


SCORE: 9.5/10

REVIEW: Warriors of the Deep by Johnny Byrne

SERIAL: 6L, 4X25 minute episodes

SEEN IT BEFORE?: Yes (again, ages ago on the ABC ).


One of my favourite Doctor Who monsters are the Silurians or, more correctly, the Earth Reptiles. In their debut story, Malcolm Hulke gave them a degree of complexity of character, and the Sea Devils, while not as complex, were still interesting continuations of a similar concept. I actually enjoyed seeing (albeit revamped) Silurians in the new series, with The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood being one of my favourite stories from Matt Smith's debut series as the Doctor. However, I also had distant memories as a child of watching Peter Davison's sole adventure involving these beings, Warriors of the Deep, along ago on the ABC. I didn't actually catch the storyline properly, but I did watch it early on weekday mornings. But as this is one of the most lambasted stories of the Davison era by fans, would it be any different watching it as an adult?

The year is 2084, and the world is gripped in a Cold War in danger of heating up to the max. The TARDIS is shot down from Earth orbit by an automated satellite defence system, and to save the TARDIS, the Doctor performs a short materialisation, moving only in space to Sea Base 4, a military base in charge of launching missiles, should hostilities actually occur. But Commander Vorshak has got problems. His computer specialist, an inexperienced student, is inexperienced and heading for a nervous breakdown, and the two people responsible for his care are traitors, working for the other power bloc. But even that pales into significance with the threat outside. For a group of Silurians are preparing to invade the base, with the help of a team of Sea Devil warriors, and the bioengineered Myrka. Two sets of warriors of the deep are about to clash, and the cost for stopping it may be too much for the Doctor...

I have to admit, there's really nothing wrong with this, Johnny Byrne's last script for the program. Everything seems rather sound, although the Silurians and Sea Devils don't seem complex enough as characters, and there seems to be an inconsistency with how much the Sea Base characters trust the Doctor and company. Byrne also seems to ignore the fact that 'Silurian' was a misnomer bestowed upon the species by Dr Quinn in the original story. But other than these, the story, I feel, is fine. A little too bleak in tone, but fine.

The characters...well, the performance and writing for the regulars is spot on, with Turlough, though self-serving, getting a chance to show that despite everything, he cares about the safety of the Doctor and Tegan, even if the move he makes is rather silly. Most of the characters are written and performed functionally, but I have to take issue with the way the Silurians are acted. They sound too upper-class, and while they may have meant to be dignified, it rather jars, and their characterisation in-story isn't that good, especially compared to Johnny Byrne's original intent. The Silurians come off as hypocritical. However, Christopher Farries has to be given kudos for adhering to the original style of Sea Devil vocalisation as Sauvix.

The production, sadly, is where everything begins to fall down. The direction of action scenes vary wildly, from the Doctor's excellent fight against a soldier (ending with him being thrown over a railing into the water) at the end of the first episode, to the frankly abysmal and suicidal attempt by Dr Solow to try and karate kick the Myrka. The Sea Devils' costumes are excellent, although they still seem too lumbering, but the Silurian costumes, while fine to a degree, really fall down. At one point, you can even see the actor's eyes moving through the Silurian eyes, and their new voices are just wrong. And the Myrka. Oh, dear, God, the Myrka. If the base was more murky, it might just have worked, but bugger me, that's a scaly panto horse! The other costumes for the humans, and the sets for the Sea Base itself, work, if a little too bright for something that is meant to be at the bottom of the ocean. The models do well, but we also see a door being torn down by the Myrka that is blatantly foam, and not even Peter Davison, Mark Strickson, and Janet Fielding acting their hearts out can convince me that it is metal!

Warriors of the Deep was a good enough concept, and if you can ignore the Myrka and some of the dodgy direction, it's a pretty good story. But it's bleak, there is too many gaps showing, in short, the Doctor's final words, "There should have been another way", become rather appropriate.



SCORE: 8/10


Now, the trailer for the DVD release, Earthstory, which contains The Gunfighters, and the next story to be reviewed, The Awakening.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek1k0IKxVoY[/youtube]