#21 (6.35 - 6.44): The War Games.

The Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe find themselves
on a World War I battlefield - or so it appears...

10 episodes. Running Time: Approx. 241 minutes. Written by: Terrance Dicks, Malcolm Hulke. Directed by: David Maloney. Produced by: Derrick Sherwin.


THE PLOT:

The Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe materialize in the middle of No Man's Land in 1917 - right on the front lines of the First World War! They are rescued by Lt. Carstairs (David Savile), a British army officer, and Lady Jennifer (Jane Sherwin), a nurse, who escort them back to friendly territory. And that's when strange things start happening...

Two of the three officers they meet seem willing enough to believe that they are harmless. Until their superior, Gen. Smythe (Noel Coleman) puts on his glasses and declares that the Doctor and his friends are spies - at which point the other men agree not in a subservient way, but rather as if the matter had been fully proven. Zoe finds futuristic communications equipment hidden in the general's office. Finally, when they do manage to escape, they pass through a mist... and find themselves confronted by soldiers of the Roman Empire!

They soon realize that they aren't on Earth at all. They are on another world, where the ruling aliens have abducted soldiers from throughout Earth's history for a particularly vicious experiment. The Doctor immediately sets to work, organizing a resistance movement to foil the aliens' plans. But given the scope of the threat, this may be one time he can't fix everything on his own...


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: Patrick Troughton's final story is a showcase for his Doctor. At several points, he uses flattery to ingratiate himself to his enemies, gaining their trust long enough to learn how they are brainwashing ("processing") the human soldiers and gaining control of the tools that will allow him to undo it. He firmly rejects escaping in the TARDIS, because he refuses to leave all these human soldiers stranded on an alien world. It's this last that leads to the Second Doctor's end. By the end of Episode Nine, he's thwarted the villains' plans; but getting the survivors back to their proper times and places is beyond his abilities, leaving him no choice but to call on his people, the Time Lords.

Jamie: He's come a long way since The Highlanders. In that story, he was quick to suspect the Doctor of betrayal; even as late as Evil of the Daleks, he was mistrustful of the Doctor's motives. By this point, he has unshakeable faith in his friend, and he is the one who stands up for him when others doubt him. He is also briefly placed in charge of the resistance group, to which he reacts first with shock and then pride. All of this growth is wonderful to see - though the story's ending lends a certain poignancy to it.

Zoe: When she and the Doctor infiltrate the enemy base, Zoe ends up being captured and interrogated... and in the process is told the names and locations of all the resistance leaders. Her photographic memory results in that information being put to good use. She also shows leadership abilities of her own, first when she leads a group of resistance fighters to rescue the Doctor and Jamie, and later when she guides Jamie in negotiations with misogynistic resistance leader Arturo Villar (Michael Napier Brown).

Lt. Carstairs: The trio's primary ally for this story. Carstairs is the only guest character to appear in all episodes of the serial (though his appearance in Episode Ten is limited to a reprise of the previous installment). Initially skeptical of the Doctor, he ends up helping him after he is shown the communications technology in Gen. Smythe's office. Early episodes see him forming a bond with Lady Jennifer, and early hints about the larger situation are fed to us in a conversation between the two in which they try to remember how they found themselves in their current situation.

Lady Jennifer: She is the first to meet the Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe, and also the first to believe them. She pushes Carstairs to help them. While the Doctor convinces Carstairs that something unusual is happening, Lady Jennifer distracts Gen. Smythe's aide, Ransom (Hubert Rees). Her role diminishes as the story progresses, however, and she is unceremoniously written out midway through. Jane Sherwin, wife of producer Derrick Sherwin, is likeable and appealing enough that I was a bit unhappy to see the character dropped, though at least she gets namechecked near the end.

War Lord: The War Lord is frequently mentioned, but he doesn't actually appear until Episode Seven. His entrance is memorable, as he interrupts the squabbling War Chief and Security Chief. He makes his displeasure known not through explosive ranting, but through a far more unnerving quiet calm. When the Security Chief claims that problems are temporary, the War Lord grins and says he assumes that means they have now been resolved; the grin and tone of voice are perfectly calm, and unmistakably threatening. Philip Madoc is pure icy malevolence, and his War Lord stands as easily the best villain of Season Six... and probably one of the greatest one-shot villains the series ever saw.

War Chief: Edward Brayshaw's War Chief is another good villain in a story that has several of them. A member of the Doctor's race gone rogue, he has brought the War Lord the secrets of time travel, making the war game experiment possible. He and the Doctor immediately recognize each other, as well, with the War Chief hoping to persuade the Doctor to join him. As a character, he's all but indistinguishable from The Master, and it's hardly surprising that fan theories have cropped up that he's a pre-Delgado incarnation of that character (though the novel Divided Loyalties says otherwise).

The War Lord (Philip Madoc) confers with the
War Chief (Edward Brayshaw) - a Time Lord!

"YOUR TRAVELS ARE OVER":

The War Games was not just the final story for the Second Doctor, but also the finale for 1960s Who. Prior to this story, the Doctor was a traveler, his background a complete enigma. By the end of these ten episodes, we know that he is a Time Lord, we see his home planet, and we know that his travels began with the theft of the TARDIS. In short, the majority of the character's backstory for the remainder of the series is established here.

Many "event episodes" of television series claim that "nothing will ever be the same." This is one time that such a claim is actually true.


"THE WAR GAMES ON THIS PLANET ARE SIMPLY THE MEANS TO AN END..."

The War Games was not originally intended to span ten episodes. Season Six proved to be a particularly chaotic one behind the scenes. Multiple stories fell through, and in the end script editor/co-writer Terrance Dicks was forced to add episodes to this serial.

I can't pretend this doesn't show in the end result. The story is infamous for how much of it is made up of the capture/escape/recapture formula, to the point that even Jamie cries out "Oh, not again!" at one point.

Still, the story holds its extreme length remarkably well. There may be padding, but no full episode is left to just run in place. Each new part brings with it some revelation and advances some thread. Sure, the characters get captured and rescued in some way in practically every episode... but the pace feels surprisingly fast, the story always finding a way to push forward.

I will say that The War Games is better suited to modern viewing, watching clusters of episodes over a few days, than it was to its original 1969 airing. I viewed it over four days, in groups of 2 - 3 episodes, and was consistently engaged. Had I been left to view one episode per week over roughly two months, however, I suspect I would have tired of it.


"I WILL TAKE CHARGE... THIS IS WHAT I PLAN TO DO."

I've noted in past reviews that Douglas Camfield was Doctor Who's first great director. Well, I'd rank David Maloney, director of this story, as the series' second. One thing that stands out to me about this story is how frequently the camera moves. Shots pull back or move in on characters or pan to reveal and reframe them. Character staging is carefully done. In arguments between the War Chief and the Security Chief, for example, the two shift within the frame to take dominant positions depending on who is winning the argument at a given moment.

Maloney also recognizes the power of stillness. The War Lord is instantly more powerful than his feuding chiefs, by virtue of his quiet voice and icy demeanor. The all but emotionless Time Lords are more powerful still, their authority emphasized by their calm and lack of movement within frame. Maloney also emphasizes their power through separation. The War Lord is usually framed with significant space between him and his underlings. The Time Lords are mostly scene in fully different shots from the Doctor or the War Lord; when they are in the same shot, they are at a distance.

All of this seems simple enough when describing it... But The War Games feels instantly more dynamic and impactful than most Doctor Who stories, and these visual techniques have much to do with that.

The Time Lords put the Doctor on trial.

"YOU HAVE BROKEN OUR LAWS. YOU MUST FACE YOUR TRIAL."

The War Games is bookended by scenes in which the Doctor is put on trial. Episode One sees the Doctor undergoing a blatantly biased "court martial" by Gen. Smythe, culminating in a sentence of death. It goes without saying that the Doctor escapes from Smythe's firing squad... but his trials are far from over.

In the last episode just as the first, the Doctor is put on trial. This time it's by his own people, who unlike Smythe at least allow him to defend himself. Still, the result is much the same. He is sentenced to change his appearance - to regenerate, although that term would not be coined until the next change of Doctor. Effectively, it's a death sentence for this particular incarnation of the Doctor, and it is carried out with a brutal lack of emotion.

The final scene is of the Second Doctor's "execution." The scene actually starts out somewhat comical, with the Doctor protesting his treatment and then crying that the Time Lord are "making (him) giddy." Gradually, it becomes disturbing; multiple images of the Doctor's face swirl around a black void as the Doctor moans in pain. Our final sight of him sees him spinning away into the darkness, crying out against his fate.


OVERALL:

Though Season Six is one of the more uneven seasons of Doctor Who's black-and-white era, The War Games proves to be a superb finale: for the season, for Patrick Troughton's Doctor, and for 1960s Who in general. Sure, it's a few episodes longer than it needed to be, but the script takes care to keep the story moving forward, while David Maloney's direction is outstanding.

It all adds up to a story that's a must-see not only for its importance to the franchise, but for its quality as an excellent example of top-tier Classic Who.


Overall Rating: 10/10.

Previous Story: The Space Pirates
Next Story: Spearhead from Space

Review Index

#20 (6.29 - 6.34): The Space Pirates.

Space pirates plant charges on a navigation beacon.

6 episodes. Running Time: Approx. 144 minutes. Written by: Robert Holmes. Directed by: Michael Hart. Produced by: Peter Bryant.


THE PLOT:

In the distant future, the mineral argonite has become essential for space travel, and argonite mining is big business... and with it, argonite piracy. A group of criminals, led by the ruthless Caven (Dudley Foster), have moved on from attacking and plundering mining ships to blowing up Earth's space navigation beacons, which are made entirely of the substance.

The destruction of government property draws the attention of Gen. Hermack (Jack May). But he quickly fixates on the wrong target: independent prospector Milo Clancey (Gordon Gostelow), who has lost several argonite shipments to the pirates and has tracked the criminals to this sector to deal with them himself.

The Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe find themselves in the middle of this when they materialize on one of the beacons... just in time for the pirates to attack. When the beacon is blown into its component sections, they are trapped. Clancey rescues them. But the Doctor soon finds himself questioning whether he and his friends can trust Clancey, particularly when he flies them directly to Ta, home to the Issigri Mining Company - and also the pirates' secret base!


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe: Reduced to being guest stars in their own series. Across the first three episodes, the only thing they do related to the plot is to unwittingly distract some Space Security forces to make it easier for Caven's pirates to kill them. Jamie gets a few amusing asides in response to some of the Doctor's antics, particularly in the second half, but Zoe seems bizarrely out of character. For example, when they are trapped in a locked cavern, the Doctor discovers a hidden door. Zoe and Jamie complain that he's wasting his time first looking for the door, then trying to unlock it... even though there is literally nothing else useful for any of them to do, making the Doctor's actions the only reasonable ones to take!

Milo Clancey: Writer Robert Holmes seems to have modeled Clancy after the wildcat miners in old westerns (think Lee Marvin in space). Unfortunately, director Michael Hart and actor Gordon Gostelow take this inspiration too literally. He is dressed like he stepped out of an old "B" western, speaks with a cod cowboy accent, and drops more "tarnations" per minute than Yosemite Sam. The pity is, this character actually might have worked. On the page, Clancey is both smart and resourceful; he has traced the pirates to Ta, he effortlessly evades an attempt by one of Hermack's men to apprehend him, and he quickly picks up on and voices his disdain for the government's concern over its beacons vs. its lack of concern for actual citizens robbed by the pirates. But the decision to personify him as a walking cowboy pastiche dooms the character to seeming like a bad comedy creation, even though the actual writing isn't half-bad.

Gen. Hermack: The writing for Hermack, however, is atrocious. He's presented as a decisive man of action. The only problem is that almost all of his decisions are wrong, and he wins no points by snapping at crew members when his orders prove either deficient or impossible. Actor Jack May performs in this era's preferred style for dutiful authority figures... Which is to say, one gets the impression that this man seriously needs more fiber in his diet.

Caven: The villain of the piece isn't particularly better than the other guest characters. Caven is just plain evil, nothing more. This is fine for a Doctor Who villain, and writer Robert Holmes would go on to create some truly memorable "just plain evil" baddies... But Caven doesn't even seem to be having fun with his own evil. He snarls and snaps his way through every scene in a way that quickly grows tedious, and with no particularly memorable dialogue along the way.


THOUGHTS:

The Space Pirates was the second Doctor Who story by Robert Holmes.  On the basis of this and The Krotons, it's remarkable that he got the chance to submit a third script!

In its defense, the story is competently structured. All of the plot elements introduced in the first three episodes pay off in the final three, and all the threads converge effectively at the end. Sure, the guest characters are bland and one-note, and the portrayal of the most prominent guest character is misjudged... But the same can be said of Who serials with far better reputations than this one. The story also features miniature work that is far, far better than Doctor Who's norm, much of which thankfully survived the episode junkings thanks to being pre-filmed inserts.

There's really only one serious problem with the story. Unfortunately, it's a doozy: The Space Pirates is boring.

Holmes later revealed that he originally envisioned the serial as a four-parter, and it probably would have worked better at that length. However, there simply isn't enough story to sustain six parts. As a result, basic exposition is stated and re-stated simply to fill air time (a good half of Hermack's scenes consist of this). The regulars spend the entirety of Episode Two sealed inside a beacon section, something Patrick Troughton was apparently much annoyed by: ""This is Episode Two, and we're still trapped in that bloody awful spaceship set... People will just turn off!"

The pace does pick up a bit in the second half. Episode Four features an action piece in which the Doctor rigs a booby trap to fend off the pirates during an escape, and Episode Six even builds a hint of tension when Caven rigs a bomb to blow the heroes up. The first half is a genuine endurance test, though - and it likely doesn't help the story's poor reputation that its sole surviving episode is almost certainly its worst one.

Also not helping is how little involved the regulars are in the narrative. Part of this was to accommodate filming for Troughton's final story, the ten-part The War Games; the regulars appear in Episode Six only through the magic of pre-filmed inserts. Part of this may also have been in response to Troughton's (entirely legitimate) complaints about the show's workload; Season Six would be the last "full year" season, with the episode count slashed significantly the following year.

Regardless, the result is a story in which the TARDIS crew is left feeling like an afterthought. The story plays for all the world as if Robert Holmes had grafted the regulars onto a western-inspired sci-fi script that hadn't originally featured them... Which probably isn't the case, but it often feels like it, with even the Doctor's contributions to the plot's resolution being ones that easily have been diverted to other characters.

In the end, The Space Pirates probably isn't Troughton's worst story. It's competently plotted, at least, which puts it above the likes of The Underwater Menace. It is dull, however, made more so by being stretched out to fill six episodes. I'd be happy with any lost Doctor Who being returned. However, episodes of The Space Pirates would easily rank near the bottom of my wish list.


Overall Rating: 3/10.

Previous Story: The Seeds of Death
Next Story: The War Games

Review Index

#19 (6.23 - 6.28): The Seeds of Death.

The Ice Warriors prepare to conquer the Earth.

6 episodes. Running Time: Approx. 145 minutes. Written by: Brian Hayles, Terrance Dicks (uncredited). Directed by: Michael Ferguson. Produced by: Peter Bryant.


THE PLOT:

In the not-too-distant future (next Sunday A. D.), the Earth is completely dependent on the Travelmat Relay, or "T-Mat." This technology uses a station on the moon to relay people and shipments from one part of the world to another. T-Mat has resolved world hunger and is considered by the governments of the Earth to be entirely reliable.

Which also makes the T-Mat system a perfect vulnerability. With their own planet dying, the Ice Warriors have decided to invade Earth. They don't intend a strict military invasion, however. Instead, a small force under the command of Slaar (Alan Bennion) takes control of the moonbase, planning to use T-Mat to devastate the Earth before their invasion force arrives.

The first stage of the aliens' plan works perfectly. They have control of the moon and, with it, control of T-Mat. Unless the Doctor can find a way to stop them, there is little standing in the way of their conquest...


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: For much of the story, his role is surprisingly peripheral. It's a full third of Episode One before he and his companions are even introduced, and they spend the first two episodes just getting to the moonbase! With Patrick Troughton also sitting out Episode Four, this leaves much of The Seeds of Death feeling almost like a New Series "Doctor-lite" story. Episode Three offers a semi-comedic chase scene that allows Troughton to showcase his facility at physical comedy before befuddling the Ice Warriors by telling them, "Your leader will be angry if you kill me - I'm a genius!". His best moment comes in the final episode, however, when he is unarmed and at Slaar's mercy, and yet still emerges as the dominant figure.

Jamie: "Either the Doctor's all right, in which case we've no need to worry, or he's in danger and he needs my help!" Another story showcasing Jamie's protectiveness. At first, it's an active impediment, when he tries to stop Zoe from going through a vent to turn up the base's heating. Both Zoe and Miss Kelly shut him down by pointing out that they have no alternative, leaving him to look (and likely feel) foolish. Later, however, that same instinct leads to him distracting an Ice Warrior long enough for Zoe to help the Doctor, and finally sees him rescuing the Doctor from almost certain death.

Zoe: Thanks to her photographic memory, she's able to navigate the base perfectly. Well, almost - She does get herself and Jamie lost at one point, but she finds the way "eventually," as she points out with a line reading from Wendy Padbury that's wonderful in its mixture of defiance and injured pride. Padbury continues to be a delight in a character that, in other hands, might easily have been insufferable.

Gia Kelly: Miss Kelly (Louise Pajo) is the T-Mat manager who is a lot like Zoe... if you took away Zoe's charm and replaced it with ambition. Kelly is a legitimate T-Mat expert, to such an extent that her supervisor considers her irreplaceable. In the story's opening scenes, before the crisis has started, it's commented that nothing ever goes wrong on her watch, to which she forcefully replies: "I don't let it." Refreshingly, while Kelly is stubborn and not particularly likable, she is also portrayed positively, showing courage and resourcefulness throughout the story.

Fewsham: Terry Scully's Fewsham is essentially Miss Kelly's opposite. The quick sketch we get from early scenes indicates that he's been promoted beyond his ability, and he is resentful and defensive when Miss Kelly complains about the delays his errors have caused. When the Ice Warriors arrive, he surrenders instantly, declaring: "I want to live!" At the same time, Fewsham is not the one-dimensional coward he initially seems to be, with Scully doing an excellent job at showing his mounting horror as he realizes what the Ice Warriors intend for the world.

Phipps: Twenty years before Bruce Willis's John McClane stealthily took on terrorists in Die Hard, Christopher Coll's Phipps did much the same with Ice Warriors on the moon. With the Doctor and company sidelined for the first part of the story, the action is initially carried by Phipps. A tech who managed to escape from the Ice Warriors, he takes refuge in the solar power room, where he constructs a booby-trap that fells a couple of the Martian meanies. He's pushed to the periphery after the regulars arrive, but he still gets a nice bit with Zoe when he briefly gives into the shock of the day's events - reminding us that for all his bravery, this is essentially a computer expert and not a trained commando.

Ice Warriors: The Ice Warriors' second appearance improves upon their first. In The Ice Warriors, they were physically imposing but lacked any real personality. They also spoke too slowly to develop much menace in dialogue, and their lines were not always easy to understand. This story introduces Alan Bennion's Slaar as a member of a separate leadership caste. Slaar's costume is notably less bulky, with the lower half of his face left uncovered.  This allows Bennion to speak much more clearly, and to put both menace and personality into his line readings.


THOUGHTS:

Brian Hayles began writing The Seeds of Death under the impression that Jamie was being written out in the preceding story. When Frazer Hines decided to stay until the season's end, major rewrites were required. Still more rewrites were needed to accommodate a week's break for Patrick Troughton. Eventually, it fell to script writer Terrance Dicks to take care of all the last-minute changes while making sure the story still flowed.

Somehow, The Seeds of Death emerges from this chaos to become one of Season Six's most purely enjoyable entries. Sure, there's plenty of padding; pretty much everything involving the Doctor's rocket trip could have been eliminated just by having him materialize on the moon in the first place. But even most of the padding is enjoyable, thanks to a strong guest cast, engaging dialogue, and unusually well-written characters.

There are so many good roles, I left several good ones out of my "Characters" breakdown. Among these, I would note: Commander Radnor (Ronald Leigh-Hunt), Miss Kelly's beleaguered supervisor; Professor Eldred (Philip Ray), a crusty rocket scientist resentful of T-Mat in general and Radnor in particular; and Osgood (Harry Towb), the experienced and competent controller who has grown to regret recommending Fewsham for promotion. All of the above emerge as three-dimensional individuals, even though one of them only gets a few minutes of screen time.

Like most six parters, there are places where the pacing stumbles. Slaar threatens to kill Fewsham at least one time too many, and characters spend entirely too much time running back and forth across the moonbase sets. But just as it threatens to go stale, the script cannily changes focus and setting in a way that brings in new complications, making the story fresh again.

The result may not be the best story of Season Six, but it's probably the most accessible. The Mind Robber is an oddball tale; The Invasion is a touch long; but this is one that would be fairly easy to show to newcomers as an example of a particularly well-done standard Who story.  This was my third time viewing this story, and I still found it to be a whole lot of fun to watch.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Story: The Krotons
Next Story: The Space Pirates



Review Index

#18 (6.19 - 6.22): The Krotons.

Jamie is menaced by a Quark! ...er, a Kroton.

4 episodes. Running Time: Approx. 90 minutes. Written by: Robert Holmes. Directed by: David Maloney. Produced by: Peter Bryant.


THE PLOT:

The humanoid Gonds live their lives under the law of the Krotons. That's the way of things, ever since the Krotons arrived on their planet many generations ago. The brightest male and female students of each generation's class are sent to the Krotons: in this case, the male is Abu (Terence Brown) and the female is Vana (Madeleine Mills).

The Doctor and his companions have no reason to expect trouble. Not until they find a mysterious machine just in time to see Abu ejected and executed. When Vana is similarly ejected, the Doctor acts quickly to rescue her, though she remains in a catatonic state.

The time travelers soon learn that the Gonds' entire society is built around the Krotons. In effect, the invaders have created "a form of self-perpetuating slavery." When the Doctor reveals the killings of the selected students, a faction of Gonds prepare to rebel. Led by the ambitious Eelek (Philip Madoc), this group ignores warnings that force will not work against such a technologically superior foe.

For the most part, the Doctor ignores Eelek's group. Force won't work - but if he can get into the machine, he may find a way to turn the tables on these oppressors...


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: Tasked with carrying an unimpressive story, Patrick Troughton responds with a flurry of comedy business, enlivening small moments to keep the serial engaging. The first episode sees the Doctor hiding behind his umbrella, then later pulling an exaggeratedly crestfallen face when the umbrella falls prey to "dispersal." He fumbles with machines, gets flustered while trying to match Zoe's score on the Kroton "learning machines," and deliberately puts a headset on wrong while playing for time. Given that for a long time in the 1980s, this was the only Troughton story broadcast, I can't help but think that it's at least partially responsible for his exaggerated reputation as a "comedy Doctor" (something that, bits of business aside, he most of the time definitely wasn't).

Zoe: Promises Jamie that she'll keep the Doctor out of mischief. But she's the one who can't resist starting up one of the Kroton learning machines, which sets off the crisis that occupies the rest of the story. The Doctor tells her not to blame herself - But given that this makes three stories in a row in which her impulsiveness has made matters worse, it's only actress Wendy Padbury's engaging screen presence which keeps this character likeable at this point.

Jamie: His loyalty to the Doctor and Zoe shows after they are taken into the Kroton machine. Jamie pries at the door tirelessly until it finally opens, then doesn't hesitate in going straight in. Classic padding in a sense, because by this time the Doctor and Zoe have already escaped - but it's also perfectly in character. Less in character is his moment of doubt that the Doctor and Zoe might leave without him; by now, he should be completely confident that the Doctor would not abandon him (or, indeed, flee from the Krotons of all things after all the far more formidable enemies they've faced).


THOUGHTS:

A Doctor Who serial written by Robert Holmes and directed by David Maloney, and featuring Philip Madoc's first series guest appearance! The definition of Who bliss, right?

Unfortunately, this was Robert Holmes' first Doctor Who script, and it would take a few tries for him to really hit his stride. Still, I don't think The Krotons is as bad as it's frequently made out to be. Even here, Holmes understands both structure and pacing. The story moves along at a fair clip by 1960s Who standards, and it actually does a reasonable job of using the first three episodes to set up the manner of the Krotons' defeat in the final part.

David Maloney was always a highly visual director. Given that this serial features location filming in the same quarry used by The Dominators, it's interesting to compare the two. In The Dominators, Morris Barry was content to give us a very good view of the quarry; in this serial, David Maloney keeps the camera tight on the regulars, doing as much as he can to avoid spoiling the illusion of being on another world.

Both stories also feature rather silly-looking robots. We almost always saw the Quarks in The Dominators in full, all the better to giggle at them. In this story, the Krotons are regularly shot from below to try to make them appear more threatening; and in many shots, particularly in Episodes Two and Three, we only see bits of them, with the focus more on the human actors, helping to somewhat obscure them. Episode Three even offers a (rather overly) sustained tracking shot from a Kroton's point-of-view. Both are mediocre stories, but there's a legitimate effort being made to at least present The Krotons with a measure of style.

If I'm not saying too much about the story itself, it's because there isn't much to say. The first two episodes do a fair job of building intrigue around the mysterious Kroton "machine." Once the Krotons are revealed in all their generic robotic glory, however, most of the initial interest vanishes. The rest of the story follows two tracks, neither very interesting: the "A" plot sees the Krotons trying to recapture the Doctor and Zoe; the "B" plot pads the runtime with a generic power grab by Philip Madoc's Eelek - a subplot so perfunctory that it isn't even particularly resolved at the end.

Even so, these four episodes are briskly paced, and manage to use all three regulars to good effect. As bread-and-butter Who goes, it's reasonably entertaining nonsense. Patrick Troughton and script editor Terrance Dicks might have derided this as among the worst of their respective tenures, but I'd rather re-watch this than at least two other stories from this very season...


Overall Rating: 5/10.

Previous Story: The Invasion
Next Story: The Seeds of Death




Review Index

#17 (6.11 - 6.18): The Invasion.

The Cybermen invade London.

8 episodes. Running Time: Approx. 194 minutes. Written by: Derrick Sherwin, Kit Pedler. Directed by: Douglas Camfield. Produced by: Peter Bryant.


THE PLOT:

The TARDIS materializes in 20th century England... only for the Doctor to discover that some key TARDIS circuits have been damaged. He decides to take the circuits to their old friend, Professor Travers. But Travers isn't home, having leased his flat to his friend Professor Watkins (Edward Burnham) and his daughter, model-turned-photographer Isobel (Sally Faulkner).

Professor Watkins works at International Electromatics, headed by Tobias Vaughn (Kevin Stoney).  But the professor hasn't left the I. E. compound in weeks. When the Doctor and Jamie investigate, they become Vaughn's captives and barely escape with the help of the newly-promoted Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney), and the newly formed United Nations Intelligence Task Force (UNIT).

The Brigadier is already suspicious of Vaughn. But even he is surprised when the Doctor reports that Vaughn is working with an alien force to conquer. A force all too well-known to the Doctor. The Cybermen!


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: When he and Jamie first try to see Professor Watkins at I. E., they are greeted by an automated system. This annoys the Doctor to no end, who complains about "stupid machines," before deciding to ignore the computer and go in through a door marked "Authorized Personnel Only." It's a perfect embodiment of the 2nd Doctor's dismissal of rules. Still, this story shows that he's happy enough to work with Establishment figures he respects, such as Lethbridge-Stewart and UNIT.

Jamie: Remains intensely loyal and protective. This sometimes comes at the expense of common sense, such as when he reveals his and the Doctor's position to Vaughn's guards after hearing Zoe scream - thus walking into an obvious trap. He earns Zoe's ire when he declares that he believes men to be superior to women, though his playful tone may indicate that he's doing so to deliberately bait her.

Zoe: Outside of a mid-story lapse when she suddenly becomes an idiot with Isobel (more on that below), both character and actress are in good form. She gets a delightful moment in Episode Two, reprogramming one of Vaughn's computers in such a way that it ends up self-destructing - and doing it all off the top of her head. Later, when UNIT is faced with the impossibility of taking out incoming Cyber-ships with only a handful of missiles, Zoe takes thirty seconds to reprogram the missiles to create a chain reaction, prompting a priceless reaction from one of the soldiers: "Can we keep her, sir? She's much prettier than a computer."

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart: Lethbridge-Stewart receives a promotion in his second series appearance, and the rank of Brigadier and the position as head of the United Nations Intelligence Task Force (UNIT) would define his role throughout the franchise. In may ways, this is a Season Seven story one year early. That includes the characterization of the Brigadier, who is consistently competent and quick to adapt to changes in the overall situation. He trusts the Doctor implicitly, and that trust extends to Zoe - as shown when he allows Zoe to recalculate the trajectory of the missiles despite another officer's objections.

Isobel: Together with Zoe, is guilty of two counts of involuntary manslaughter. In a desperate attempt to pad out the episodes... er, get photographic evidence of the Cybermen, the two disregard the Brigadier's instructions. With Jamie in tow, they head to the sewers where the Cybermen are hiding, and manage to get a police officer killed along with one of the soldiers sent to rescue them. At least she gets the photographs! Too bad they're totally useless. Isobel is hardly paralyzed with guilt; by the story's end, she is back to wheedling for the chance to take pictures of the Cybermen. Oh, and yes - We are actually meant to like her.

Tobias Vaughn: Kevin Stoney returns as another Doctor Who villain. As in The Daleks' Master Plan, his performance and sheer screen presence helps anchor an epic-length serial - but Tobias Vaughn is much better-scripted than Mavic Chen was. He's cold and utterly controlled most of the time, almost like a human machine... save for a tendency to erupt in fury when things don't go according to plan. Stoney's rapid turns from unflappable to furious are startlingly effective, while his emotionless exterior makes him the perfect foil to Troughton, who is arguably the warmest and most human of Doctors.

Cybermen: They've been redesigned again, and much for the better. Though I still find the Tenth Planet Cybermen to be creepier, this is by far the best of the various redesigns. These Cybermen are bulkier, and project a solidity that was absent in certain other stories. The helmets just plain look good, and the teardrop shape by the eyes has become iconic in itself.

I'm spending a lot of space on how good they look... because there isn't much else to say about them in this story. They're offscreen for the most part, only receiving three significant appearances across eight episodes: Menacing Zoe and Isobel in the sewers; the justly-famous Episode Six cliffhanger, in which they emerge from hiding to occupy London landmarks; and an effective large-scale action scene in the final episode. They're effective when seen - but this is very much Vaughn's story, with the Cybermen largely acting as his weapon for the bulk of it.


THOUGHTS:

The Invasion represents several firsts for the series. It was the first story on which Terrance Dicks acted as script editor, a role he would hold for the remainder of the Second Doctor's run as well as the entirety of the Third Doctor's. It was the first UNIT story (though I'd argue that The Web of Fear was one in all but name), and with Lethbridge-Stewart and Benton (John Levene) in the cast, it plays very like a template for the Pertwee era.

It is also an important last: The last of what I'd argue were too many Cybermen stories throughout the Second Doctor's era. In just three seasons, the series put out five Cybermen stories - as many as would occur throughout the entire remainder of the Classic Series! They would not appear again until Season 12, and it honestly was time for a break from them.

At least The Invasion sends them out on a far better story than The Wheel in Space. The script has been cleverly divided into what are effectively two 4-parters. The first four episodes focus on infiltrating Vaughn's factory, with the usual capture/escape pattern padding things out as the Doctor uncovers evidence that Vaughn is working with an alien force. The second half turns into an invasion story, with the Cybermen becoming more of a presence. The shift in focus keeps the pace alive.

Douglas Camfield is at the helm, which means that production and visual aspects are well above the series' average and that action sequences are particularly strong. The story also benefits from Don Harper's incidental music, which I'd rank among the best in the entire series.

Not everything is perfect. Padding is evident in the repetitive capture/escape/re-capture formula of the first four episodes, and later with Zoe and Isobel's narratively pointless trip to the sewers. An action scene involving the rescue of Isobel's uncle was scripted, but the production ran out of time for filming - leaving only some dialogue between Vaugh and a hapless henchman to paste over the gap.

Still, The Invasion is a fine story, with a particularly strong production helping to pave the way for the series' next, more Earthbound iteration, while at the same time sending the Cybermen off in style.


Overall Rating: 8/10.

Previous Story: The Mind Robber
Next Story: The Krotons



Review Index

#16 (6.6 - 6.10): The Mind Robber.

The TARDIS breaks apart!

5 episodes. Running Time: Approx. 100 minutes. Written by: Peter Ling, Derrick Sherwin (uncredited). Directed by: David Maloney. Produced by: Peter Bryant.


THE PLOT:

With the TARDIS caught directly in the path of a volcanic eruption, the Doctor engages a risky emergency dematerialization, one that whisks the time machine out of reality entirely. They escape the lava... only to find themselves weathering a mental attack by an unseen opponent, one determined to lure them out of the TARDIS into a featureless void.

The Doctor is almost able to break free. But as they make their escape, the TARDIS is broken apart. Now the time travelers are wandering about in a land of fiction, interacting with characters such as Gulliver (Bernard Horsfall) and Rapunzel (Christine Pirie), even as they are hunted by man-sized toy soldiers.

It becomes apparent that there is some purpose for their abduction. But the Doctor has no idea what that purpose may be - even as he prepares to confront The Master of this Land of Fiction (Emrys Jones) (and no, he's not that Master).


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: Shows his strength of will, first as he fights the unseen force in Episode One, then a second time as he pits his creativity against the Master's in the final episode. Once he recognizes the nature of the Land of Fiction, he is able to urge Jamie and Zoe to deny the reality of each threat they face, effectively nullifying those threats.

Jamie: Goes to pieces. Well, really just his face. Frazer Hines picked an auspicious time to come down with chicken pox, as the nature of the story made his brief replacement with actor Hamish Wilson not only fit with the story, but actually enhance it. The hastily-created bits in which Jamie's face is disassembled and left to be fitted together like a puzzle create one of the story's more eerie visuals.

Zoe: In the first episode, she is the one the unseen force successfully lures out of the TARDIS. This fits. Jamie has been traveling long enough to wait for the Doctor before impulsively running out into an unknown space. Zoe, who is always certain that she is correct and who is still quite new to the TARDIS, is inherently more vulnerable to the siren's call. Once in The Land of Fiction, Zoe has the most difficulty refusing to believe the evidence of her own eyes... Until she meets a fictional character with whom she's familiar, in comic book villain The Karkus (Christopher Robbie), at which point she merrily romps with throwing him about like a rag doll.


THOUGHTS:

The Mind Robber was a four-parter that became a five-parter, after the decision was taken to excise an episode from the previous story. The result is The Mind Robber's first episode, a minimally-budgeted setup, all of which takes place in either the TARDIS or a featureless white void.

Fortunately, this hastily-scripted episode works a treat. All three regulars are particularly good, and there is just enough of a sense of structure and rising crisis to keep it engagingly weird, rather than just feeling weird for its own sake. The final shots of the episode, with Jamie and Zoe clinging helplessly to the center column as the TARDIS breaks apart, are pulled off very well by director David Maloney, in what would be the first of several Who stories he helmed.

The rest of the story is good, too. Episodes Two and Three continue to deliver effective oddities, from a forest of words to children presenting the Doctor with increasingly threatening riddles - all of which hint at the nature of this strange land. Just as "strange stuff" threatens to become tedious, we start getting answers, with Episode Four delivering an almost complete explanation.

The Mind Robber is probably the prime example of a story's reputation shifting. It was not well-received on initial airing, with viewers complaining that it was too "silly" and fantasy-oriented. Over time, it has grown to be considered one of the series' early triumphs, earning a regular spot on lists of Troughton's very best.

I could quibble about the abruptness of the ending. That aside, however, I find this a splendid story, with imaginative ideas that not only aren't harmed by the production challenges (an extra episode; Frazer Hines' illness) - they're actually enhanced by them!


Overall Rating: 9/10.

Previous Story: The Dominators
Next Story: The Invasion



Review Index

#15 (6.1 - 6.5): The Dominators.

The Doctor is menaced by a Dominator.

5 episodes. Running Time: Approx. 121 minutes. Written by: "Norman Ashby" (Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln). Directed by: Morris Barry. Produced by: Peter Bryant.


THE PLOT:

Dulkis is a planet of absolute pacifism. The only trace of warfare is on a single island: The Island of Death, where nuclear weapons were tested 172 years earlier before being permanently outlawed. "For centuries we have lived in peace," Director Senex (Walter Fitzgerald) brags. "We have proved that universal gentleness will cause aggression to die!"

But now the planet has been invaded by beings who know nothing of peace nor gentleness. The Dominators, Rago (Ronald Allen) and Toba (Kenneth Ives) have landed on the island. With the Dulcians incapable of waging war, or of acting at all, the Doctor and his friends must find a way to stop these enemies - before they and their deadly Quarks enslave or kill the entire population!


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: With the Dominators believing that he and Jamie are Dulcians, the Doctor decides to behave as if he is meek and stupid. Even as the invaders dismiss him as a threat, he absorbs as much information as possible, until he is able to figure out exactly why the Dominators have come to this planet. In the final episode, he uses a medical kit to improvise explosives for Jamie and local troublemaker Cully (Arthur Cox), so that they can disrupt the Dominators' work. When a test shows that the explosives work, he jumps around like a gleeful child.

Jamie: Keeps the Doctor grounded, reminding him of immediate dangers - be it a Quark that is waiting at the site where their transport rocket is programmed to land, or a volcano that will soon erupt. He also displays skill as a guerilla fighter, leading Cully as they pick off Quarks to disrupt the Dominators.  He also comes up with the plan that finally thwarts the aliens - one which receives backhanded praise from the Doctor for being "so simple, only (Jamie) could have thought of it."

Zoe: Her first story as a proper companion doesn't really give her much to do; this serial would not be particularly different if it had been made with Victoria. Still, Wendy Padbury slips well into the existing Doctor/Jamie dynamic, playing well opposite both Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines, and she is able to show more spark and humor here than The Wheel in Space allowed.


THOUGHTS:

The Power of the Daleks. The Macra Terror. The Abominable Snowmen. Fury from the Deep. All of those stories were junked... and this survived. The Dominators isn't quite the worst Troughton story - The Underwater Menace is stupider, and The Space Pirates is more padded. But it is probably the most generic serial of his tenure, a runaround that was deemed so tedious that the production team removed an episode from it. They probably should have removed two.

The script is credited to Norman Ashby - a pseudonym for Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln, who were displeased when the story was cut and never worked for the show again. It is difficult to credit that this was the same writing duo that created The Abominable Snowmen and The Web of Fear - though in fairness, I thought Web had some issues that were largely obscured by an excellent production.

The Dominators does not benefit from its production. Given dull nonsense to shoot, Morris Barry falls back on the tried-and-true technique of pointing the camera at the actors and not doing much else. The Dominators exchange vital information in front of their prisoners, with no sign that they are even attempting to avoid being overheard. The heroes do the exact same thing, with Jamie and the Doctor not even bothering to whisper their assessment of their captors directly in front of them. The entire thing looks cheap, even by 1960s Who standards. Oh, and the Dulcian costumes are straight from the famed Window Drape Line, and provoke giggles on sight.

The interactions of the regulars keep the story watchable. Likely painfully aware of how weak the script was, Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines insert even more bits of screen business than usual. These create bursts of amusement that help brighten up an otherwise deadly dull set of episodes.

In the end, however, a few good throwaway moments can't disguise how boring this is. Tedious villains, a generic plot, and a bland production all combine to create one of the least interesting stories of the Doctor Who's black-and-white era. When the end credits finally rolled over the closing episode, the only thing I felt was relief that it was over.


Overall Rating: 2/10.

Previous Story: The Wheel in Space
Next Story: The Mind Robber



Review Index