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"It feels different this time..." - The new Doctor Who Thread
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Look, City of Death is right after. It's like eating your shit before you get your dessert.
I might have dysentery.
It's kind of wild how Terry Nation, the guy who made Daleks and had them very coded to the real world evil like fascism, really lost the thread after his first few Dalek stories.
I might have dysentery.
It's kind of wild how Terry Nation, the guy who made Daleks and had them very coded to the real world evil like fascism, really lost the thread after his first few Dalek stories.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
The Destiny of the Daleks
"Oh, look! Rocks!"
In this serial, the Doctor and Romana (who has regenerated) find themselves on Skaro where the Daleks are involved in an operation to exhume Davros from the ruins of the original Kaled base. Seemingly on the Doctor's side are the Movellans, who seem to have a mysterious mission of their own. Eventually, the Doctor stumbles onto Davros, who has managed to survive and place himself in suspended animation. The Doctor manages to keep him as a hostage and manages to negotiate the release of their human slaves. The Doctor then reveals the Movellans are robots. In fact, the Daleks and the Movellans are both conquerors in a stalemate due to their perfectly in-synch planning and plotting. The Daleks need Davros to upgrade their own computers while the Movellans wish to do the same with the Doctor. The Doctor manages to outwit both sides and defeat the Daleks and imprison Davros.
The Destiny of the Daleks has a rough reputation and it's mostly deserved. But I'm going to get some good stuff out of the way because I do think there's... some moments. And some of the good things lead into my complaints. 1) There are a few good lines. A bit of clever stuff or weird comedic beats. Not a lot but they are in there. However, this also leads to my first big complaint; tone. The story mostly feels like generic sci-fi stuff but also tries for some comedic swings which feel drenched in flop sweat. The Doctor reading a book while pinned goes on for a bit and feels like subpar copies of Douglas Adams bits. Which is funny because I think Adams wrote this bit and also it is a direct reference to the Hitchhiker's Guide. But the directing and editing is also rough. It feels weirdly quiet and detached, like they were editing it begrudgingly. It feels soulless for much of the series and the actors don't seem to be on their a-game (I don't think Tom Baker is checked out. It feels like he doesn't have a lot to work with and springs to life only when the story allows).
2) There's a few good ideas in the story. The main one is Davros returning. Not that in and of itself. A villains return should have a new approach to the character and in this case, he gets to see how the world has moved on. Almost. It feels like it is on the edge of the episodes tongue that the Daleks only care for him as far as what he can do for him and they will probably either toss him or enslave him after they get what they want. It would be interesting to see either Davros despairing at the Daleks moving beyond him or so weirdly proud that they are assholes that he embraces their treachery even as he strives to live and take control of them. But it never gets there. Instead it's stuck on the ideas of robots being in a stalemate and also I guess Terry Nation decided they are robots now? Even though the elements of their organic mutations are directly referenced.
But mostly, it's just a mess. The Movellans are incredibly pathetic secondary antagonists and feel like the worst of the robots from the original Star Trek. Davros' make up looks worse and maybe it's just because he's saddled is a bad script but David Gooderson makes for a bad Davros. It's just not working. It comes close when the Doctor and Davros are trading barbs. This is point 3. I think even though it's a slow down episode to set up the garbage finale, but the Doctor and Davros hanging out and going at it is the story at it's most interesting. But going back to point 2, this is also setting up Davros either seeing a disillusion with his place within the Dalek empire or trying to claw his way back in because he respects they are cutthroat enough to use him. Just... nothing happens. It's a sloppy episode with potential that never is met. It feels like Nation, the guy who made the Daleks, would be happy that his cold war allegory had enough juice to make a very conventional 50s style sci-fi pulp story worth anything.
Best cliffhanger: I don't even remember. They were mostly pretty dull.
Next time:
"Oh, look! Rocks!"
In this serial, the Doctor and Romana (who has regenerated) find themselves on Skaro where the Daleks are involved in an operation to exhume Davros from the ruins of the original Kaled base. Seemingly on the Doctor's side are the Movellans, who seem to have a mysterious mission of their own. Eventually, the Doctor stumbles onto Davros, who has managed to survive and place himself in suspended animation. The Doctor manages to keep him as a hostage and manages to negotiate the release of their human slaves. The Doctor then reveals the Movellans are robots. In fact, the Daleks and the Movellans are both conquerors in a stalemate due to their perfectly in-synch planning and plotting. The Daleks need Davros to upgrade their own computers while the Movellans wish to do the same with the Doctor. The Doctor manages to outwit both sides and defeat the Daleks and imprison Davros.
The Destiny of the Daleks has a rough reputation and it's mostly deserved. But I'm going to get some good stuff out of the way because I do think there's... some moments. And some of the good things lead into my complaints. 1) There are a few good lines. A bit of clever stuff or weird comedic beats. Not a lot but they are in there. However, this also leads to my first big complaint; tone. The story mostly feels like generic sci-fi stuff but also tries for some comedic swings which feel drenched in flop sweat. The Doctor reading a book while pinned goes on for a bit and feels like subpar copies of Douglas Adams bits. Which is funny because I think Adams wrote this bit and also it is a direct reference to the Hitchhiker's Guide. But the directing and editing is also rough. It feels weirdly quiet and detached, like they were editing it begrudgingly. It feels soulless for much of the series and the actors don't seem to be on their a-game (I don't think Tom Baker is checked out. It feels like he doesn't have a lot to work with and springs to life only when the story allows).
2) There's a few good ideas in the story. The main one is Davros returning. Not that in and of itself. A villains return should have a new approach to the character and in this case, he gets to see how the world has moved on. Almost. It feels like it is on the edge of the episodes tongue that the Daleks only care for him as far as what he can do for him and they will probably either toss him or enslave him after they get what they want. It would be interesting to see either Davros despairing at the Daleks moving beyond him or so weirdly proud that they are assholes that he embraces their treachery even as he strives to live and take control of them. But it never gets there. Instead it's stuck on the ideas of robots being in a stalemate and also I guess Terry Nation decided they are robots now? Even though the elements of their organic mutations are directly referenced.
But mostly, it's just a mess. The Movellans are incredibly pathetic secondary antagonists and feel like the worst of the robots from the original Star Trek. Davros' make up looks worse and maybe it's just because he's saddled is a bad script but David Gooderson makes for a bad Davros. It's just not working. It comes close when the Doctor and Davros are trading barbs. This is point 3. I think even though it's a slow down episode to set up the garbage finale, but the Doctor and Davros hanging out and going at it is the story at it's most interesting. But going back to point 2, this is also setting up Davros either seeing a disillusion with his place within the Dalek empire or trying to claw his way back in because he respects they are cutthroat enough to use him. Just... nothing happens. It's a sloppy episode with potential that never is met. It feels like Nation, the guy who made the Daleks, would be happy that his cold war allegory had enough juice to make a very conventional 50s style sci-fi pulp story worth anything.
Best cliffhanger: I don't even remember. They were mostly pretty dull.
Next time:
This is one of my favorite stupid bits of the show. The way Romana regenerates has never been really explained, or attempted again (although, man. I could see RTD doing it very soon...).
Destiny of the Daleks also has my favorite funny moment with Davros:
I really wish I could find a clip of that slightly extended because the comic timing is magnificent.
But yeah, the rest of Destiny of the Daleks is straight trash. And then there's City of Death, among the best the show has ever done! What a weird era.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
The City of Death
"I say; what a wonderful butler, he's so violent!"
In this serial, the Doctor and Romana where they notice a strange chronological phenomenon. Determined to ignore it, they check out the Louvre, only to discover a woman is casing the joint with a strange device, which the Doctor pickpockets. This attracts the attention of boorish and tough Detective Duggan, who suspects the Doctor of working for Count and Countess Scarlioni, rich gadabouts that are suspected of being master criminals. As the Doctor suspects the duo of targeting the Mona Lisa, they are captured by Scarlioni's men and interrogated by the couple. They are locked in the basement where the Doctor makes some strange discoveries. A put-upon scientist studying time manipulation and six identical copies of the Mona Lisa.
They manage to escape thanks to Duggan's brute force and the Doctor realizes something is very strange as the fake Mona Lisas have been locked away for hundreds of years. He goes straight to the source and visits Leonardo Da Vinci where he meets one Captain Tancredi... who is also Scarlioni. It turns out that Scarlioni is Scaroth, last of a race called the Jaggaroth who died 400 million years ago on Earth due to Scaroth's mistake. This inadvertently birthed all life on Earth and Scaroth was scattered in time, living several lives in human history and influencing it for his needs. None of the six Mona Lisa's are fake, they are in fact 7 identical paintings BY Leonardo. When the "real" one is stolen, he will sell all 7 paintings to 7 buyers who think they have the real one and making more money to pay for time research so he may go back in time to undo everything and save his people. The Doctor manages to escape from Tancredi/Scaroth but not before writing "this is a fake" on all the canvases that will become the six other Mona Lisas. But this turns out to be moot; not knowing the full story, Romana allows Scaroth to go back in time to save his people at the cost of the existence of humanity. The Doctor, Romana and Duggan all go back in time where Duggan clobbers Scaroth, stopping his plan. Scaroth is sent back home, only for his henchman, who doesn't recognize him, attacks him, inadvertently burning down the house and all but one of the "fake" Mona Lisas.
Well, here we are with one of the most beloved stories in the series and deservedly so. When the show stepped away from scarier stories, it's a shame the show wasn't like this from the get, playful with it's ideas. I can definitely point out flaws but even they (like the padding of the Doctor running around Paris, or the weird continuity of where the Doctor put the TARDIS) just add to the charm of this delightful story. Because EVERYTHING is firing on all cylinders. The show has a bad habit of trying to handwave through it's plots of jumping ship from one to another rather than properly resolving anything. The funny thing is in this story the bad guy does too by bypassing his own plan and yet we actually get a resolution of it (the Doctor tampering with the paintings) regardless and it's still satisfactory because it still ties into the cleverness of a "fake" Mona Lisa having that written on it.
Mostly it's very funny and clever with Julian Glover (best known as the villain in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) being such a force with such fun dialogue to play with. Baker's been given a lot of clunkers but finally it's got clever and playful dialogue worthy of him and even the dumber stuff goes by Airplane! rules; it moves so fast if you don't like one bon mot another one is a literal second away. And the plot of the villain is clever, using time travel that really plays what you can do. I like the fact that the Mona Lisas are all real and the goal isn't really to steal it but to create demand.
Even the henchmen and ally are great. With all the characters being a whirlwind of quips makes Duggan stand out in a good way, someone in over his head that just knows punching and body checks and that being a valuable asset to the Doctor, much as he's annoyed with it. This is also Lalla Ward and Tom Baker in their honeymoon phase of their relationship so I have no doubt that plays into the joyful energy of this arc. If anything, with the exception of the padding, pretty as it is, it feels like it has the more frantic pace of nu Who, at least in terms of explaining things playfully and feeling fun and zippy. Perhaps this is the last great Baker story but what a banger to go out on.
Best cliffhanger: The first one is good not because "BOO MONSTER" but it ties together what seems like a non-sequitor opening the audience might have forgotten about. Still, they all work.
Next time:
"I say; what a wonderful butler, he's so violent!"
In this serial, the Doctor and Romana where they notice a strange chronological phenomenon. Determined to ignore it, they check out the Louvre, only to discover a woman is casing the joint with a strange device, which the Doctor pickpockets. This attracts the attention of boorish and tough Detective Duggan, who suspects the Doctor of working for Count and Countess Scarlioni, rich gadabouts that are suspected of being master criminals. As the Doctor suspects the duo of targeting the Mona Lisa, they are captured by Scarlioni's men and interrogated by the couple. They are locked in the basement where the Doctor makes some strange discoveries. A put-upon scientist studying time manipulation and six identical copies of the Mona Lisa.
They manage to escape thanks to Duggan's brute force and the Doctor realizes something is very strange as the fake Mona Lisas have been locked away for hundreds of years. He goes straight to the source and visits Leonardo Da Vinci where he meets one Captain Tancredi... who is also Scarlioni. It turns out that Scarlioni is Scaroth, last of a race called the Jaggaroth who died 400 million years ago on Earth due to Scaroth's mistake. This inadvertently birthed all life on Earth and Scaroth was scattered in time, living several lives in human history and influencing it for his needs. None of the six Mona Lisa's are fake, they are in fact 7 identical paintings BY Leonardo. When the "real" one is stolen, he will sell all 7 paintings to 7 buyers who think they have the real one and making more money to pay for time research so he may go back in time to undo everything and save his people. The Doctor manages to escape from Tancredi/Scaroth but not before writing "this is a fake" on all the canvases that will become the six other Mona Lisas. But this turns out to be moot; not knowing the full story, Romana allows Scaroth to go back in time to save his people at the cost of the existence of humanity. The Doctor, Romana and Duggan all go back in time where Duggan clobbers Scaroth, stopping his plan. Scaroth is sent back home, only for his henchman, who doesn't recognize him, attacks him, inadvertently burning down the house and all but one of the "fake" Mona Lisas.
Well, here we are with one of the most beloved stories in the series and deservedly so. When the show stepped away from scarier stories, it's a shame the show wasn't like this from the get, playful with it's ideas. I can definitely point out flaws but even they (like the padding of the Doctor running around Paris, or the weird continuity of where the Doctor put the TARDIS) just add to the charm of this delightful story. Because EVERYTHING is firing on all cylinders. The show has a bad habit of trying to handwave through it's plots of jumping ship from one to another rather than properly resolving anything. The funny thing is in this story the bad guy does too by bypassing his own plan and yet we actually get a resolution of it (the Doctor tampering with the paintings) regardless and it's still satisfactory because it still ties into the cleverness of a "fake" Mona Lisa having that written on it.
Mostly it's very funny and clever with Julian Glover (best known as the villain in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) being such a force with such fun dialogue to play with. Baker's been given a lot of clunkers but finally it's got clever and playful dialogue worthy of him and even the dumber stuff goes by Airplane! rules; it moves so fast if you don't like one bon mot another one is a literal second away. And the plot of the villain is clever, using time travel that really plays what you can do. I like the fact that the Mona Lisas are all real and the goal isn't really to steal it but to create demand.
Even the henchmen and ally are great. With all the characters being a whirlwind of quips makes Duggan stand out in a good way, someone in over his head that just knows punching and body checks and that being a valuable asset to the Doctor, much as he's annoyed with it. This is also Lalla Ward and Tom Baker in their honeymoon phase of their relationship so I have no doubt that plays into the joyful energy of this arc. If anything, with the exception of the padding, pretty as it is, it feels like it has the more frantic pace of nu Who, at least in terms of explaining things playfully and feeling fun and zippy. Perhaps this is the last great Baker story but what a banger to go out on.
Best cliffhanger: The first one is good not because "BOO MONSTER" but it ties together what seems like a non-sequitor opening the audience might have forgotten about. Still, they all work.
Next time:
I love City of Death a lot. It lives up to the promise "Doctor Who written by Douglas Adams" gives unlike the rest of the Adams era.
It is not! His final season has some stinkers but I kind of love the back half of it.
It is not! His final season has some stinkers but I kind of love the back half of it.
Holy shit, that's incredible news. I had been wondering what was going to come of Film is Fabulous' efforts that they hinted at last year, but things had been so quiet for so long that I thought perhaps the process had fizzled out for one reason or another.
Great article, too. Getting Peter Purves' emotional reaction to the news was wonderful. After so much time had passed since the last recovery in 2013 I figured what we have now was all we were ever going to get.
Thank you for sharing!
Great article, too. Getting Peter Purves' emotional reaction to the news was wonderful. After so much time had passed since the last recovery in 2013 I figured what we have now was all we were ever going to get.
Thank you for sharing!
BBC Breakfast spot about it, featuring the moment Peter Purves hears he's going to be watching a previously missing episode for the first time, followed by an interview with Toby Hadoke (and, right before the interview, a clip I've not seen anywhere else yet of Katarina mopping sweat on Steven's brow!):
Phantoon
I cuss you bad
Exciting time. The Daleks' Masterplan is one of the less likely serials to find because so many countries passed on it back in the day because it's violent. Almost any other serial was more likely. I wonder if there's more to find now or if this is it? It's been 60 years.
So this was a "cutting copy" made not for sale but as a test for internal training or something. This means there's a whole untapped avenue of potential returns we could have that were either undocumented properly or not at all - copies made by professionals, and then either taken home or given away/sold, perhaps illegally. We know this was a "cutting copy" but nothing else about it - the collector passed away, but even before he died, he couldn't recall where he got them. He never even watched them! He had a special interest in films about trains, and just happened to acquire six Doctor Whos, two of which were missing eps. I do not know what the other four were, other than that we already have them in the archive (if I find out what they are I'll post it here).
Off to Gallifrey Base I go...
EDIT: Ah, here we go, from Richard Bignell, author of "WIPED!" the definitive-prior-to-today documentation of Doctor Who's missing episodes:
(Richard's reply to this person's question is below) Surely no less significant is the "TELERECORDING CUTTING COPY" label stuck on the reel. Doesn't that suggest that this was a film copy that was meant to have edits made to it, to ensure an overseas sale?
It's a process that we've known about for well over a decade. A cutting copy was a positive print created for internal review, so that they could check for things like off-locks and picture faults, usually caused at VT editing points. If any were spotted, the print was edited and then sent back to the lab so that the negative could be match-cut. From that negative, the sales copies would be produced. Nine times out of ten, the cutting copy would then be disposed of as it was of no further use as the work to the master negative had been completed. Evidently, it appears that a few escaped.
Last edited:
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
I'm reading the Dalek comic book collection. The first story is a weird, cute little story that feels like the start of an EC story, then kind of gets generic, It's a cute premise (An alien race that fought a war with the Dalek's centuries before and their victory was mysterious and another alien decides to make a biopic film about it just in time for the aliens to attack) but they never do enough with the "Daleks attack Space Hollywood" premise.
Then there is the introduction of one of the weirdest parts of the Doctor Who expanded canon, Abslom Daak - Dalek Killer. It's funny because the character feels like a very late 80s/90s character but was introduced in 1980. The character feels SO out of place in the Doctor Who canon, not because he's a bad-ass antihero but because writer Steve Moore(who was Alan Moore's collaborator and mentor and the two actually created their own rip off of the very character he created, for legal reasons) seems to be all aboard this character who is counter to the kind of heroism the Doctor represents but also the Doctor isn't around to actually act as a counterpoint. I can see why he's a fan favourite (the new series has included a couple small Easter Egg references to him) but it's such an odd fit to have a Judge Dredd/Punisher-type without a form of narrative rebuttal to who the character is.
Then there is the introduction of one of the weirdest parts of the Doctor Who expanded canon, Abslom Daak - Dalek Killer. It's funny because the character feels like a very late 80s/90s character but was introduced in 1980. The character feels SO out of place in the Doctor Who canon, not because he's a bad-ass antihero but because writer Steve Moore(who was Alan Moore's collaborator and mentor and the two actually created their own rip off of the very character he created, for legal reasons) seems to be all aboard this character who is counter to the kind of heroism the Doctor represents but also the Doctor isn't around to actually act as a counterpoint. I can see why he's a fan favourite (the new series has included a couple small Easter Egg references to him) but it's such an odd fit to have a Judge Dredd/Punisher-type without a form of narrative rebuttal to who the character is.
Full details on the return of the two missing episodes from the organization that found them: https://filmisfabulous.org.uk/statement-on-doctor-who/
The four already extant episodes returned along with the previously missing two:
The four already extant episodes returned along with the previously missing two:
- The Survivors (Broadcast: 28th December 1963) (from season 1's The Daleks)
- The Escape (Broadcast: 4th January 1964) (from season 1's The Daleks)
- The Web Planet (Broadcast: 13th February 1965) (from season 2's The Web Planet)
- The Executioners (Broadcast: 22nd May 1965) (from season 2's The Chase)
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
The Creature from the Pit
"And did she put the welfare of her struggling people above her own petty power? No... she tipped the ambassador into a pit and threw astrologers at him!"
In this serial, the Doctor and Romana land on Chloris, a wild planet of plants where metal is rare. The planet is ruled by the cruel Lady Adrasta, who is astonished the Doctor has found a giant "eggshell" the Lady is obsessed with. The Doctor is told to help her or face the Creature that lives in a pit. The Doctor decides to go to the pit voluntarily, hoping to solve the mystery of the creature and also guarantee that Romana, the only other person who could solve the mystery, isn't murdered for being redundant. The Doctor then meets in the pit an old astrologer named Organon who managed to survive the creature. After some research, the Doctor decides to try to communicate with the creature.
Meanwhile, bandits who raid the metal in Lady Adrasta's home try to steal an unusual piece, only to be hypnotized by it. They bring it to the creature, allowing it to communicate through the Doctor. It reveals it was an ambassador named Erato hoping to trade metal for nutrients but Lady Adrasta captured it to cement her own power. Erato kills Adrasta in revenge and most of the planet believes it. However, it is revealed Erato's people set in motion a plot of attrition to send a neutron star hurtling toward the solar system to destroy it. The Doctor convinces Erato to save the planet and for the people to work toward a trade deal with the aliens.
I left stuff out to be sure but really, this is a story that feels done by episode 3. It tries hard to add some last minute complications and commentary on the corrupting nature of wealth but it all feels really obvious. That's not to say people throwing away their futures for the promise of money has no reflection on the now but it's not a message well told. The last episode's attempt to have the people of Chloris essentially threaten their own lives for greed makes me think the story would have been better served as not only a full on comedic arc but specifically a farce, with various dumb factions plotting against each other, unwittingly sending their planet to doom until the Doctor helps. Maybe a bit like an outer space Kind Hearts and Coronets but with a happier ending. I assume. I must admit, I haven't seen Kind Hearts and Coronets yet. It feels like a lot of people die in funny ways.
So it's mostly a let down. The villain is over the top but not really in a way that's fun. I think either the character should have been more sly or, conversely, even dumber. And the character is clearly very dumb as she keeps letting slip her secrets at the slightest of provocations. But not, like, in a funny way. I feel like the show thinks this is a fairly straightforward villain and in that viewing it's a pretty dull performance, even though I think the actor is enjoying the scenery chewing. But man, the replacement actor for K-9 is just... doing it all wrong. To be fair, if this was the first vocal appearance of K9 Mark II, I guess I could have written it off. But David Brierley's version feels much more like a cheap C-3P0 knock off. He feels a little more... I dunno how to articulate it. Snooty? Like he doesn't want to be there? While John Leeson's K-9 feels very happy to help, even if it would deny it's capability of happiness.
Overall, it's a week serial but it isn't without charm. The monster is not evil trope has certainly been done worse and I like the Doctor struggling to communicate and would have rather a "Darmok"-style two-hander where they try to figure each other out. Organon is a fun little side character, though it never feels like he amounts to much beyond his sweet charm. As far as cheap monsters go, I love the Wolfweeds. They look like they were easy to make but there's something fun about "Trained Attack Tumbleweeds" as a monster that I wish we got more of them. I also liked some of the sets in the early scenes. But overall, this feels like it was aiming for "light but with a message" but ended up with "bloodless and trite". As blunt as that assertion is, I didn't "hate" it so much as I thought "this was a real waste of that one astrologer guy".
Bet cliffhanger: I guess the middle one. The way the Doctor was holding it, I was hoping the reveal would be it's jumping on him like a playful puppy, kinda like this ending to Columbo.
Next Time:
"And did she put the welfare of her struggling people above her own petty power? No... she tipped the ambassador into a pit and threw astrologers at him!"
In this serial, the Doctor and Romana land on Chloris, a wild planet of plants where metal is rare. The planet is ruled by the cruel Lady Adrasta, who is astonished the Doctor has found a giant "eggshell" the Lady is obsessed with. The Doctor is told to help her or face the Creature that lives in a pit. The Doctor decides to go to the pit voluntarily, hoping to solve the mystery of the creature and also guarantee that Romana, the only other person who could solve the mystery, isn't murdered for being redundant. The Doctor then meets in the pit an old astrologer named Organon who managed to survive the creature. After some research, the Doctor decides to try to communicate with the creature.
Meanwhile, bandits who raid the metal in Lady Adrasta's home try to steal an unusual piece, only to be hypnotized by it. They bring it to the creature, allowing it to communicate through the Doctor. It reveals it was an ambassador named Erato hoping to trade metal for nutrients but Lady Adrasta captured it to cement her own power. Erato kills Adrasta in revenge and most of the planet believes it. However, it is revealed Erato's people set in motion a plot of attrition to send a neutron star hurtling toward the solar system to destroy it. The Doctor convinces Erato to save the planet and for the people to work toward a trade deal with the aliens.
I left stuff out to be sure but really, this is a story that feels done by episode 3. It tries hard to add some last minute complications and commentary on the corrupting nature of wealth but it all feels really obvious. That's not to say people throwing away their futures for the promise of money has no reflection on the now but it's not a message well told. The last episode's attempt to have the people of Chloris essentially threaten their own lives for greed makes me think the story would have been better served as not only a full on comedic arc but specifically a farce, with various dumb factions plotting against each other, unwittingly sending their planet to doom until the Doctor helps. Maybe a bit like an outer space Kind Hearts and Coronets but with a happier ending. I assume. I must admit, I haven't seen Kind Hearts and Coronets yet. It feels like a lot of people die in funny ways.
So it's mostly a let down. The villain is over the top but not really in a way that's fun. I think either the character should have been more sly or, conversely, even dumber. And the character is clearly very dumb as she keeps letting slip her secrets at the slightest of provocations. But not, like, in a funny way. I feel like the show thinks this is a fairly straightforward villain and in that viewing it's a pretty dull performance, even though I think the actor is enjoying the scenery chewing. But man, the replacement actor for K-9 is just... doing it all wrong. To be fair, if this was the first vocal appearance of K9 Mark II, I guess I could have written it off. But David Brierley's version feels much more like a cheap C-3P0 knock off. He feels a little more... I dunno how to articulate it. Snooty? Like he doesn't want to be there? While John Leeson's K-9 feels very happy to help, even if it would deny it's capability of happiness.
Overall, it's a week serial but it isn't without charm. The monster is not evil trope has certainly been done worse and I like the Doctor struggling to communicate and would have rather a "Darmok"-style two-hander where they try to figure each other out. Organon is a fun little side character, though it never feels like he amounts to much beyond his sweet charm. As far as cheap monsters go, I love the Wolfweeds. They look like they were easy to make but there's something fun about "Trained Attack Tumbleweeds" as a monster that I wish we got more of them. I also liked some of the sets in the early scenes. But overall, this feels like it was aiming for "light but with a message" but ended up with "bloodless and trite". As blunt as that assertion is, I didn't "hate" it so much as I thought "this was a real waste of that one astrologer guy".
Bet cliffhanger: I guess the middle one. The way the Doctor was holding it, I was hoping the reveal would be it's jumping on him like a playful puppy, kinda like this ending to Columbo.
Next Time:
So I just rewatched the recon of The Nightmare Begins, the extant episode 2, and the recon of The Devil's Planet.
Episode 1: Even as a recon, the episode cooks along nicely. There’s some bits I want to see - Kurt Gantry and Bret Vyon early on, when Bret jokes that they haven’t seen a Varga plant that looks like Marc Cory - I would imagine Nicholas Courtney plays it well, with a wry look on his face. I’d like to see how Kurt visibly reacts. Also, the recon subtitle says the Doctor “narrowly misses a Varga plant.” I’d like to see how this is played - is Hartnell aware of the danger, or does he just luckily bumble past? Most of all, I want to see how Katarina plays everything she has in this episode - she seems so out of her depth, and how does she act when deciding to risk giving Bret Vyon’s tablets to Steven? Heck, I want to see her discuss the key with Hartnell in the beginning - how confused is she about the concept? We have so little of her, I can’t wait to see how she performs some of this stuff, as I’ve heard from Toby Hadoke who has seen the returned episode that she gives a great performance.
Episode 2: I love Mavic Chen’s space writing style and nails, and that the delegates all panic, one of them even leaping on top of the table in front of him and jumping off when the alarm is going off. Useless, the lot of them, when in crisis! No wonder the Daleks can’t wait to exterminate them all lol
Episode 3: Hartnell fluffs… I love that magnetic tape is still somehow used in the year 4000 lmao. “The Daleks will stop at anything to prevent us!” It’s odd how little we’re on Desperus (Terry Nation-assed planet name lol). I wonder what the screamers are like in motion - are they even on screen? Do they look like they’re on strings, if so? The impression I’ve gotten from those few who have seen the returned episode is that this one is better than they expected - it was never an episode that stood out to me, not that it’s bad or anything. Looking forward to seeing it!
Ahhhhh, man. I wish we had The Traitors. I’ve heard so much about Katarina’s horrible death, I wish we could see it…
Episode 1: Even as a recon, the episode cooks along nicely. There’s some bits I want to see - Kurt Gantry and Bret Vyon early on, when Bret jokes that they haven’t seen a Varga plant that looks like Marc Cory - I would imagine Nicholas Courtney plays it well, with a wry look on his face. I’d like to see how Kurt visibly reacts. Also, the recon subtitle says the Doctor “narrowly misses a Varga plant.” I’d like to see how this is played - is Hartnell aware of the danger, or does he just luckily bumble past? Most of all, I want to see how Katarina plays everything she has in this episode - she seems so out of her depth, and how does she act when deciding to risk giving Bret Vyon’s tablets to Steven? Heck, I want to see her discuss the key with Hartnell in the beginning - how confused is she about the concept? We have so little of her, I can’t wait to see how she performs some of this stuff, as I’ve heard from Toby Hadoke who has seen the returned episode that she gives a great performance.
Episode 2: I love Mavic Chen’s space writing style and nails, and that the delegates all panic, one of them even leaping on top of the table in front of him and jumping off when the alarm is going off. Useless, the lot of them, when in crisis! No wonder the Daleks can’t wait to exterminate them all lol
Episode 3: Hartnell fluffs… I love that magnetic tape is still somehow used in the year 4000 lmao. “The Daleks will stop at anything to prevent us!” It’s odd how little we’re on Desperus (Terry Nation-assed planet name lol). I wonder what the screamers are like in motion - are they even on screen? Do they look like they’re on strings, if so? The impression I’ve gotten from those few who have seen the returned episode is that this one is better than they expected - it was never an episode that stood out to me, not that it’s bad or anything. Looking forward to seeing it!
Ahhhhh, man. I wish we had The Traitors. I’ve heard so much about Katarina’s horrible death, I wish we could see it…
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Continuing The Daleks comic collection. It's clear that writers on these things like their gnarly antiheroes. In The Dogs of Doom, at least Brill feels a little more right for the series; a savage space werewolf who acts as the Doctor's sidekick for much of the story. Interestingly they also gave him a comics' original sidekick Sharon Davies, the first POC companion for the Doctor in any media. But she doesn't do much in the story. The issue is by John Wagner and Pat Mills and the two 2000 AD vets try to inject that tone into things but unlike Steve Moore they try to let it feel like a Doctor Who story. One of my favourite bits is Doctor contracts lycanthropy, goes into the TARDIS with K9 who he asks to stun him whenever he goes feral and spends the next three months working on a cure, though for his friends outside the TARDIS, it's just 10 minutes. I wouldn't call it top tier but it is an interesting flavour for a story with elements (space truckers carrying larger carrier shuttles with unusual names) that feels a bit more like what I would expect from the knowningly wackier 7th Doctor tales.
EDIT:
Speaking of, the collection ends with two 7th Doctor stories. The first is the first team of Abslom and the Doctor. It gives a very curt send off to his team The Star Tigers (a Dirty Dozen-type team that were kinda interesting) and then a big epic self-sacrifice by Abslom. But it doesn't quite earn it for me because I never feel like the two very different characters have time to play off of each other. The last story is a very short Paul Cornell tale. It's not one of his best (actually touching on ideas better explored in Evolution of the Daleks) but it does have some fun moments of wordplay.
EDIT:
Speaking of, the collection ends with two 7th Doctor stories. The first is the first team of Abslom and the Doctor. It gives a very curt send off to his team The Star Tigers (a Dirty Dozen-type team that were kinda interesting) and then a big epic self-sacrifice by Abslom. But it doesn't quite earn it for me because I never feel like the two very different characters have time to play off of each other. The last story is a very short Paul Cornell tale. It's not one of his best (actually touching on ideas better explored in Evolution of the Daleks) but it does have some fun moments of wordplay.
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Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Nightmare of Eden
"Oh, my arms! Oh, my legs! Oh, my everything!"
In this serial, the Doctor arrive right after two space ships collide and merge with each other due to an accident. One ship is the Empress, captained by a man named Rigg, a cruise ship, and the other is the Hecate, piloted by Dymond, is a trade his. Also aboard the Empress is Tryst and Della, scientists whose CET machine can capture portions of a planet and store them like living slide shows. The Doctor begins to work toward seperating the ships and comes across the drug Vraxoin, which the Doctor suspects is part of a larger smuggling operation. Things escalate as creatures from the planet Eden, known as the Mandrels, are escaping their slides and attacking humans aboard. Intrigue increases as the Doctor is framed for drug smuggling and Rigg is doused with Vraxoin, causing him to act erratically.
Romana learns that Tryst and Della's partner Stott seemingly died on Eden but the Doctor learns he is alive in the CET machine. Further investigation reveals that Dymond and Tryst are partners and were plotting to meet the whole time to make a trade. The duo nearly escape but the Doctor, after trapping the Mandrels back in their slide, manages to use the CET machine to capture Tryst and Dymond's ship in a slide. The Doctor and Romana decide to return the slides of the CET machine to their homes.
Nightmare of Eden is perfectly solid but not better than that. I will say this; it avoids a lot of the pitfalls of weaker episodes. In a lot of those, it feels like the main plot is ejected or doesn't connect well with the resolution (I could also call this a Russell T. Davies problem). I think the villains scheme actually is not too hard to follow overall and makes sense within the context of the series. There is a bit of technobabble but I think the Doctor's fix still makes poetic justice sense within the logic of the story. And I think the whodunit element is perfectly decent. I kind of had one half of the evil duo pegged from the get-go but I think it does a decent job of not making it too obvious despite the small suspect pool.
I do with it was MORE of a whodunit, really, with clever clues and such. The Doctor and Romana are, understandable, more focused on the monsters and getting the ships unstuck and it feels like the mystery is happening at them as they try to solve the other problems first. While David Brierly is not doing it for me as K-9, it feels at least closer to the character I know. This is more what I wanted; Brierly doing his own thing but still feeling of a piece with the much better John Leeson. I've heard a lot of people say these are among the show's worst monsters and while they are undercooked, I feel like there have been far less impressive threats in the series. Mostly, it's just a watchable but unimpressive arc with a few shining moments.
In terms of little moments, I like Tryst pleading with the Doctor as a scientist and in an unusually cold moment for Baker's Doctor utters a quiet but weighty "Go away." On paper the sentiment seems almost too soft but Baker imbues it with a sense of "Don't compare us. I want you to disappear from my memory." I think a flaw is we are told how bad the drug is and we see people affected (including a nicely weird scene while one addict laughs at people being murdered by monsters) but I never really feel the weight of how much Doctor is disgusted by the sins this drug wages across the universe. If anything, I think it would have been good for the CET to have a hidden slide of a Vraxoin plagued world, maybe done to hide evidence and also allowing us to see how horrific it all is. Otherwise, it feels more like "The Doctor busts drug smugglers" and as much as I like the idea of a lower-stakes Doctor story, it's still kind of not as engaging as I'd hope.
Best cliffhanger:
None of them as strong so I guess I monster popping out of the plumbing.
Next time:
"Oh, my arms! Oh, my legs! Oh, my everything!"
In this serial, the Doctor arrive right after two space ships collide and merge with each other due to an accident. One ship is the Empress, captained by a man named Rigg, a cruise ship, and the other is the Hecate, piloted by Dymond, is a trade his. Also aboard the Empress is Tryst and Della, scientists whose CET machine can capture portions of a planet and store them like living slide shows. The Doctor begins to work toward seperating the ships and comes across the drug Vraxoin, which the Doctor suspects is part of a larger smuggling operation. Things escalate as creatures from the planet Eden, known as the Mandrels, are escaping their slides and attacking humans aboard. Intrigue increases as the Doctor is framed for drug smuggling and Rigg is doused with Vraxoin, causing him to act erratically.
Romana learns that Tryst and Della's partner Stott seemingly died on Eden but the Doctor learns he is alive in the CET machine. Further investigation reveals that Dymond and Tryst are partners and were plotting to meet the whole time to make a trade. The duo nearly escape but the Doctor, after trapping the Mandrels back in their slide, manages to use the CET machine to capture Tryst and Dymond's ship in a slide. The Doctor and Romana decide to return the slides of the CET machine to their homes.
Nightmare of Eden is perfectly solid but not better than that. I will say this; it avoids a lot of the pitfalls of weaker episodes. In a lot of those, it feels like the main plot is ejected or doesn't connect well with the resolution (I could also call this a Russell T. Davies problem). I think the villains scheme actually is not too hard to follow overall and makes sense within the context of the series. There is a bit of technobabble but I think the Doctor's fix still makes poetic justice sense within the logic of the story. And I think the whodunit element is perfectly decent. I kind of had one half of the evil duo pegged from the get-go but I think it does a decent job of not making it too obvious despite the small suspect pool.
I do with it was MORE of a whodunit, really, with clever clues and such. The Doctor and Romana are, understandable, more focused on the monsters and getting the ships unstuck and it feels like the mystery is happening at them as they try to solve the other problems first. While David Brierly is not doing it for me as K-9, it feels at least closer to the character I know. This is more what I wanted; Brierly doing his own thing but still feeling of a piece with the much better John Leeson. I've heard a lot of people say these are among the show's worst monsters and while they are undercooked, I feel like there have been far less impressive threats in the series. Mostly, it's just a watchable but unimpressive arc with a few shining moments.
In terms of little moments, I like Tryst pleading with the Doctor as a scientist and in an unusually cold moment for Baker's Doctor utters a quiet but weighty "Go away." On paper the sentiment seems almost too soft but Baker imbues it with a sense of "Don't compare us. I want you to disappear from my memory." I think a flaw is we are told how bad the drug is and we see people affected (including a nicely weird scene while one addict laughs at people being murdered by monsters) but I never really feel the weight of how much Doctor is disgusted by the sins this drug wages across the universe. If anything, I think it would have been good for the CET to have a hidden slide of a Vraxoin plagued world, maybe done to hide evidence and also allowing us to see how horrific it all is. Otherwise, it feels more like "The Doctor busts drug smugglers" and as much as I like the idea of a lower-stakes Doctor story, it's still kind of not as engaging as I'd hope.
Best cliffhanger:
None of them as strong so I guess I monster popping out of the plumbing.
Next time:
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
The Horns of Nimon
"Why don't you give me the gun and then I can keep an eye on myself so I don't get up to any funny business."
The Doctor and Romana find themselves on a stranded spaceship filled with prisoners who are to be taken to the heart of the Skonnan Empire. It seems they are to be tributes to Nimon, a powerful alien with superior technology who will give it to the Skonnans in return. The Doctor reluctantly repairs the ship to help the hostages but is abandoned once it is fixed. Upon arriving, Romana and the sacrifices are met by Soldeed, who is working on behalf of Nimon. The Doctor returns and realizes there's more to Nimon than meets the eye. It turns out Nimon is a vanguard for an invasion force who will turn the planet into their new home, eat up the resources and find a new stooge planet. The Doctor manages to stop the system the Nimon is setting up to transport them to Skonnos and the Nimon are stranded on their own dying world.
Usually this would be two paragraphs but I was REALLY checked out by episode 3 and I didn't like it to begin with. This is a dreadful serial with a dull, embarrassing villain and an even more embarrassing villain. I'll let you decide which one is which, really, you are perfectly fine with either guess. Both are just chewing the scenery but failing to make the story ANY fun. I know there are stories that made me angrier but this is just completely boring. Even the potential for a good story is very minor.
I guess the intent was to do a sci-fi version of the story of the minotaur but it has surprisingly little fun with idea of characters trying to avoid a monster in a maze, especially when the monster is THIS unintimidating. It's possible there's stuff in here that makes sense but I was so deeply disinterested in the proceedings, I just lost it. Soldeed is definitely going for Saturday morning cartoon villain but even by that rubrik, he's too goofy. And really, the planet just seems to be full of assholes so it seems weird to have the stakes to be the destruction of their planet when the only people we see are just the worst middle aged men. If we were also reminded there were innocents on the planet or perhaps a reminder that even the worst people don't deserve to have their world taken away or something but it doesn't feel like there was much thought into the ideas.
It also feels like the Skonnan Empire should not be intergalactic. I feel like the idea of the story is of an empire with humble technology making a devil's deal for super tech but I really feel like all the parties are kind of at the same level. I will also say the innocents in need of saving where such non-entities, I was surprised they were named and I guess one of them had an arc where he accidentally becomes a legendary hero. Again I was fighting to try to keep my eyes on the screen here. I'm also kind of bugged that this is like the third outer space adventure in a row. It's like the show forgot they could do interesting settings. Yeah, I don't know that this is the worst story of the era but it's a real low point.
Best cliffhanger: Nothing worth remembering.
Next time:
(Not bothering to look for Shada)
"Why don't you give me the gun and then I can keep an eye on myself so I don't get up to any funny business."
The Doctor and Romana find themselves on a stranded spaceship filled with prisoners who are to be taken to the heart of the Skonnan Empire. It seems they are to be tributes to Nimon, a powerful alien with superior technology who will give it to the Skonnans in return. The Doctor reluctantly repairs the ship to help the hostages but is abandoned once it is fixed. Upon arriving, Romana and the sacrifices are met by Soldeed, who is working on behalf of Nimon. The Doctor returns and realizes there's more to Nimon than meets the eye. It turns out Nimon is a vanguard for an invasion force who will turn the planet into their new home, eat up the resources and find a new stooge planet. The Doctor manages to stop the system the Nimon is setting up to transport them to Skonnos and the Nimon are stranded on their own dying world.
Usually this would be two paragraphs but I was REALLY checked out by episode 3 and I didn't like it to begin with. This is a dreadful serial with a dull, embarrassing villain and an even more embarrassing villain. I'll let you decide which one is which, really, you are perfectly fine with either guess. Both are just chewing the scenery but failing to make the story ANY fun. I know there are stories that made me angrier but this is just completely boring. Even the potential for a good story is very minor.
I guess the intent was to do a sci-fi version of the story of the minotaur but it has surprisingly little fun with idea of characters trying to avoid a monster in a maze, especially when the monster is THIS unintimidating. It's possible there's stuff in here that makes sense but I was so deeply disinterested in the proceedings, I just lost it. Soldeed is definitely going for Saturday morning cartoon villain but even by that rubrik, he's too goofy. And really, the planet just seems to be full of assholes so it seems weird to have the stakes to be the destruction of their planet when the only people we see are just the worst middle aged men. If we were also reminded there were innocents on the planet or perhaps a reminder that even the worst people don't deserve to have their world taken away or something but it doesn't feel like there was much thought into the ideas.
It also feels like the Skonnan Empire should not be intergalactic. I feel like the idea of the story is of an empire with humble technology making a devil's deal for super tech but I really feel like all the parties are kind of at the same level. I will also say the innocents in need of saving where such non-entities, I was surprised they were named and I guess one of them had an arc where he accidentally becomes a legendary hero. Again I was fighting to try to keep my eyes on the screen here. I'm also kind of bugged that this is like the third outer space adventure in a row. It's like the show forgot they could do interesting settings. Yeah, I don't know that this is the worst story of the era but it's a real low point.
Best cliffhanger: Nothing worth remembering.
Next time:
(Not bothering to look for Shada)
I don't want to distract too much from Classic Who discussion (I've been quietly enjoying this thread for a while, and I love the episode by episode classic recaps).
But I guess there's no longer a good way to watch older seasons of New Who? I remembered that it disappeared off HBO Max a few months ago, but I have a lot of seasons that I had purchased throughout the years on iTunes while they were premiering. When I tried to watch some Peter Capaldi episodes on my Apple TV app last night, nothing would load. I guess I could buy the old DVDs just to keep, but at this point I'm not one to keep physical media and no longer have a way to play DVDs.
EDIT: I think my app just isn't working right, because I was finally able to check the Apple TV app on another platform and it started the episodes. Strange glitch!
But I guess there's no longer a good way to watch older seasons of New Who? I remembered that it disappeared off HBO Max a few months ago, but I have a lot of seasons that I had purchased throughout the years on iTunes while they were premiering. When I tried to watch some Peter Capaldi episodes on my Apple TV app last night, nothing would load. I guess I could buy the old DVDs just to keep, but at this point I'm not one to keep physical media and no longer have a way to play DVDs.
EDIT: I think my app just isn't working right, because I was finally able to check the Apple TV app on another platform and it started the episodes. Strange glitch!
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I cannot imagine being a Doctor Who fan - classic or nu - outside the UK and having to navigate the endless moving from platform to platform the series goes through seemingly every couple of months. I feel for you but cannot help - I obtain the episodes, hoard them on my external hard drives, and just open up Plex whenever I want to watch them. I'm glad you figured out the issue though.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
The Leisure Hive
"Don't cross your bridges before they're hatched."
In this serial, the Doctor travels to the Leisure Hive on Argolis, a luxury resort in the middle of a wasteland planet designed to bring together people of all cultures. The Argolins planet was devastated in a war with the alien race the Foamasi 40 years prior. Though they won, the cost was great and the surviving Argolins claim dedication to making up for what they did to win the war. However, the Leisure Hive faces bankruptcy and Brock, an Earth agent of the Argolins, arrives with a business plan; allowing the Foamasi to purchase the planet, as they can survive the polluted atmosphere of the planet. The old guard of the Argolins are slowly dying and the young buck Pangol is offended by the offer. Meanwhile, a scientist Hardin has arrived promising to use the Argolins noteworthy technological advances in tachyon fields to create way to give actual youth to people.
Though Hardin is somewhat a fraud (the theories are sound but incomplete), he genuinely wants to develop the technology and gets Romana's help. Meanwhile, it seems like someone is sabotaging things and murdering people around the complex, which both results in the Doctor getting framed but also greatly aged in a sabotaged experiment. The Doctor meets a Foamasi who helps reveal what is happening; that a Foamasi crime organization rather than the Foamasi government wants to purchase the planet, disguised as human agents for the Argolins. It seemed things are wrapped up but Pangol reveals he is waiting for his elders to die to take control of the planet and create a war army of clones using tachyon technology to rage against the Foamasi and the universe. The Doctor meddles with the machine and the clones are all of the Doctor, who also manages to de-age himself. Pangol attempts to take control but inadvertantly de-age himself and his dying mother until she is a young woman and he is an infant. The Argolins and Foamasi begin to talk peace while the Doctor and Romana exit.
The Leisure Hive is... not what I expected. From the title, I assumed this was going to be more like a Seventh Doctor story; one set in a seemingly benign place, perhaps even a silly place, that is actually a dark dystopia. Like Paradise Towers, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy or The Happiness Patrol. But really, the show shoves the element that Doctor arrives on a luxury resort WAY off to the side very quickly. It really becomes another vague space age setting that feels like any complex or base. It talks about ideas of this place bringing people together but it never really shows it (if anything, this would have been a fun excuse to reuse some alien costumes. Maybe some Draconians by a pool or Sontarans in a spa).
My bigger issue comes with this being the arrival of John Nathan-Turner as producer. His era is... not well loved and it sounds like that includes behind the scenes with him trying to up the game of the show with a synthy opening and weird branding. It was an attempt to make the show a little less light again but this is an odd opening gambit in many ways. It's a swing, to be sure, but it takes a potentially strange, intriguing location and kind of makes it dull. There are some weird choices that don't work. Very long, languid establishing shots, attempts at "cool" transitions and some (and perhaps this is merely the copy that Britbox used) really atrocious looking film stock quality. It looks like it was either colour corrected wrong or colour corrected weird.
In terms of story, it's an odd duck. See, the thing I think about the Nathan-Turner era, mostly from my remembrances as a child, is that it gets rather bleak (especially in the fifth Doctor era) and that there are some cool ideas in theory that don't work out in practice. Here there are small cool ideas and an attempt to make something a bit wild on paper with a weird time altering box and a man making a clone army of himself. I feel like the writer knows what he's talking but I kind of lost the plot a few times. I think the actor for Pangol is doing good as the villain but I guess he spends a lot of time explaining what he wants to do but I guess I don't get why this motherfucker is so warbound. Also, I feel like the show is leaning into wanting to be young but also dying with grace and the show never really knows how to juggle those so it makes Mena the matriach feel like she's of two minds; is she in despair she can't be young or brave in the face of her final days. I suppose there's a way to have it both ways but I don't think it pans out (it really feels like the story needs to be about accepting death and never actually gets there). I don't think it's a good story but I also appreciate, for al the producer's missteps, that it feels like it wants to try something new. Unfortunately, considering it sounds like the staff and crew was trying to say "we don't want this" and it turned into a mess. I don't hate this thing. Sometimes, I like it scene to scene. But as a whole it doesn't stand out.
Best Cliffhanger: this is actually where the story cooks because I kind of like all three. They are all kind of silly but they are also unique, weird and memorable. I guess if I have to chose, they cheesy video effect of the Doctor's body being ripped apart.
Next time:
"Don't cross your bridges before they're hatched."
In this serial, the Doctor travels to the Leisure Hive on Argolis, a luxury resort in the middle of a wasteland planet designed to bring together people of all cultures. The Argolins planet was devastated in a war with the alien race the Foamasi 40 years prior. Though they won, the cost was great and the surviving Argolins claim dedication to making up for what they did to win the war. However, the Leisure Hive faces bankruptcy and Brock, an Earth agent of the Argolins, arrives with a business plan; allowing the Foamasi to purchase the planet, as they can survive the polluted atmosphere of the planet. The old guard of the Argolins are slowly dying and the young buck Pangol is offended by the offer. Meanwhile, a scientist Hardin has arrived promising to use the Argolins noteworthy technological advances in tachyon fields to create way to give actual youth to people.
Though Hardin is somewhat a fraud (the theories are sound but incomplete), he genuinely wants to develop the technology and gets Romana's help. Meanwhile, it seems like someone is sabotaging things and murdering people around the complex, which both results in the Doctor getting framed but also greatly aged in a sabotaged experiment. The Doctor meets a Foamasi who helps reveal what is happening; that a Foamasi crime organization rather than the Foamasi government wants to purchase the planet, disguised as human agents for the Argolins. It seemed things are wrapped up but Pangol reveals he is waiting for his elders to die to take control of the planet and create a war army of clones using tachyon technology to rage against the Foamasi and the universe. The Doctor meddles with the machine and the clones are all of the Doctor, who also manages to de-age himself. Pangol attempts to take control but inadvertantly de-age himself and his dying mother until she is a young woman and he is an infant. The Argolins and Foamasi begin to talk peace while the Doctor and Romana exit.
The Leisure Hive is... not what I expected. From the title, I assumed this was going to be more like a Seventh Doctor story; one set in a seemingly benign place, perhaps even a silly place, that is actually a dark dystopia. Like Paradise Towers, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy or The Happiness Patrol. But really, the show shoves the element that Doctor arrives on a luxury resort WAY off to the side very quickly. It really becomes another vague space age setting that feels like any complex or base. It talks about ideas of this place bringing people together but it never really shows it (if anything, this would have been a fun excuse to reuse some alien costumes. Maybe some Draconians by a pool or Sontarans in a spa).
My bigger issue comes with this being the arrival of John Nathan-Turner as producer. His era is... not well loved and it sounds like that includes behind the scenes with him trying to up the game of the show with a synthy opening and weird branding. It was an attempt to make the show a little less light again but this is an odd opening gambit in many ways. It's a swing, to be sure, but it takes a potentially strange, intriguing location and kind of makes it dull. There are some weird choices that don't work. Very long, languid establishing shots, attempts at "cool" transitions and some (and perhaps this is merely the copy that Britbox used) really atrocious looking film stock quality. It looks like it was either colour corrected wrong or colour corrected weird.
In terms of story, it's an odd duck. See, the thing I think about the Nathan-Turner era, mostly from my remembrances as a child, is that it gets rather bleak (especially in the fifth Doctor era) and that there are some cool ideas in theory that don't work out in practice. Here there are small cool ideas and an attempt to make something a bit wild on paper with a weird time altering box and a man making a clone army of himself. I feel like the writer knows what he's talking but I kind of lost the plot a few times. I think the actor for Pangol is doing good as the villain but I guess he spends a lot of time explaining what he wants to do but I guess I don't get why this motherfucker is so warbound. Also, I feel like the show is leaning into wanting to be young but also dying with grace and the show never really knows how to juggle those so it makes Mena the matriach feel like she's of two minds; is she in despair she can't be young or brave in the face of her final days. I suppose there's a way to have it both ways but I don't think it pans out (it really feels like the story needs to be about accepting death and never actually gets there). I don't think it's a good story but I also appreciate, for al the producer's missteps, that it feels like it wants to try something new. Unfortunately, considering it sounds like the staff and crew was trying to say "we don't want this" and it turned into a mess. I don't hate this thing. Sometimes, I like it scene to scene. But as a whole it doesn't stand out.
Best Cliffhanger: this is actually where the story cooks because I kind of like all three. They are all kind of silly but they are also unique, weird and memorable. I guess if I have to chose, they cheesy video effect of the Doctor's body being ripped apart.
Next time:
With all of his issues - particularly with his partner at the time as detailed in this good, if harrowing at times, biography of JNT - I am a bit of an 80s Doctor Who defender. It has some - several, actually - quite low points, but I feel like it got a horrible rap from fans at the time. There are people who, decades after his death, hate JNT and what he did with and to the show in the 80s still. And yet... The 80s have some of the best stuff the show ever did. Kinda, Snakedance, Caves of Androzani, The Five Doctors and more during Davison. Vengeance on Varos, The Two Doctors, Revelation of the Daleks, and bits of The Mysterious Planet and Mindwarp for ol' Sixie. And the McCoy era, my goodness! Paradise Towers (of which I am a big fan), Remembrance of the Daleks, Happiness Patrol, Ghost Light, Curse of Fenric, Survival... And there are still other stories well worth watching and enjoying during that time. Sure, there were bad bits. Twin Dilemma is the worst the show has ever done. The less said about A Fix for Sontarans, the better. But quite frankly, I vastly prefer the 80s to the back half of the Tom Baker era, often considered his worse half but still preferable to what we got in the 80s. And, collectively, I prefer the 80s to the 70s (although the 60s remain my favorite decade of classic Who).
Anyway. 80s Doctor Who is spinning up for you now, and I'm glad. It hasn't gotten to the good stuff yet - Meglos is bleh and I don't much care for The Leisure Hive either - but it's coming. I do like most of Tom Baker's last season, though.
I have seen a new 1960s Doctor Who episode! Ahhhh what a delight. Spoilers follow for The Nightmare Begins!
I really enjoyed Adrienne Hill’s performance - I was watching her in particular since she gets so little to do in episode 2 and we have had so very little of her until today. She really does seem both out of her element - clearly not understanding much of what is going on - but also doing her best given the circumstances. She is not portrayed as dumb or anything like that at all - she is just cautious. The Doctor explaining what a key is to her doesn’t come across like she doesn’t know what a key is, either, though that scene is completely different than I imagined it. It’s framed with Bret Vyon on the right and Katarina barely visible as soon as Hartnell pulls out the key - the emphasis of the shot being that Katarina didn’t know he had a key, not that she didn’t understand the concept. But it’s clearly to set up Bret Vyon accosting the Doctor for the ship’s key.
Speaking of Vyon, Nicholas Courtney is great in his first ever Doctor Who appearance. He is, as always, understated with humor - his little bit about not seeing a Varga plant that looks like his friend is beautifully underplayed. His friend getting killed by the Dalek is pretty grim - he looks burnt when it shows his corpse. Also the Doctor finds a straight up skeletal Marc Cory, which I can’t recall seeing a skeleton on Doctor Who before in this era though I may be misremembering. Exciting stuff!
On to The Devil’s Planet!
I really enjoyed Adrienne Hill’s performance - I was watching her in particular since she gets so little to do in episode 2 and we have had so very little of her until today. She really does seem both out of her element - clearly not understanding much of what is going on - but also doing her best given the circumstances. She is not portrayed as dumb or anything like that at all - she is just cautious. The Doctor explaining what a key is to her doesn’t come across like she doesn’t know what a key is, either, though that scene is completely different than I imagined it. It’s framed with Bret Vyon on the right and Katarina barely visible as soon as Hartnell pulls out the key - the emphasis of the shot being that Katarina didn’t know he had a key, not that she didn’t understand the concept. But it’s clearly to set up Bret Vyon accosting the Doctor for the ship’s key.
Speaking of Vyon, Nicholas Courtney is great in his first ever Doctor Who appearance. He is, as always, understated with humor - his little bit about not seeing a Varga plant that looks like his friend is beautifully underplayed. His friend getting killed by the Dalek is pretty grim - he looks burnt when it shows his corpse. Also the Doctor finds a straight up skeletal Marc Cory, which I can’t recall seeing a skeleton on Doctor Who before in this era though I may be misremembering. Exciting stuff!
On to The Devil’s Planet!
Spoilers for *The Devil’s Planet follow!
Mavic Chen cooly standing by and not commenting or even really reacting to the Dalek’s murder of the Celation Zephon is cold, and of course, wonderfully played. He could not care less about his former ally.
Hartnell’s “The Daleks will stop at ANYTHING to prevent us!” comes at the very end, the absolute last moment, of a long scene. What an unfortunate fluff lmao
LMAO of course there are no screamers on screen. Just a couple shadows and the dialogue description from the prisoner haha
I rather enjoyed that as well! I desperately want to see The Traitors though, dang. Poor Katarina… Had the Doctor remembered to close the damn door she’d have survived.
Positively buzzing. What a great start to the day. I’m going to be watching the whole Master Plan this weekend. The audio was great, too! Was able to make out dialogue I struggled with in the past!
Mavic Chen cooly standing by and not commenting or even really reacting to the Dalek’s murder of the Celation Zephon is cold, and of course, wonderfully played. He could not care less about his former ally.
Hartnell’s “The Daleks will stop at ANYTHING to prevent us!” comes at the very end, the absolute last moment, of a long scene. What an unfortunate fluff lmao
LMAO of course there are no screamers on screen. Just a couple shadows and the dialogue description from the prisoner haha
I rather enjoyed that as well! I desperately want to see The Traitors though, dang. Poor Katarina… Had the Doctor remembered to close the damn door she’d have survived.
Positively buzzing. What a great start to the day. I’m going to be watching the whole Master Plan this weekend. The audio was great, too! Was able to make out dialogue I struggled with in the past!
(I've taken a few posts, broken up by dashes, from another forum I post on to here, having finished the entire Master Plan again today):
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Having just watched The Traitors (as well as the following two episodes, Counter Plot and Coronas of the Sun), I hope we get it back, I really enjoyed it even as a recon!
The next two episodes, though… Yeah, this is usually where my attention starts to wane. It’s not necessarily Terry Nation’s fault, for once - the usually fairly reliable Dennis Spooner struggles with the Daleks and the overarching story of DMP. They’re not bad, at all, really! Just a bit dull. The face Hartnell pulls when they’re all being teleported to Myra (one of a billion planets Terry Nation writes with invisible monsters, but that’s a complaint for another day - Pertwee got it much worse) is ridiculous. He’d have been better off making the face in my new avatar.
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I can never get over just how bonkers The Feast of Steven is. The sole Christmas episode of classic Doctor Who, pitched as an extremely broad comedy, with literal runarounds, silent film type text inserts, a joke about how a film director kept telling Sara Kingdom to take off her clothes, the Doctor breaks the fourth wall and wishes a happy Christmas to everyone at home, all with a soundtrack that is just audio CHAOS. It’s nearly indecipherable at times - particularly on the Hollywood classic film set. I don’t think it works at all on its own, much less as part of The Dalek Master Plan, and yet… I wish we could see it. There’s nothing else like it in the entirety of the show. And as many of us know, it is the least likely return of them all - as far as we know, zero copies of this were made, it was never even intended to be sold overseas, so unless there were cutting copies made, it is likely this was destroyed soon after broadcast. Every expert I’m aware of thinks this is gone for good, the least likely return of the 95 missing episodes. Such a shame.
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Alright, I’ve finished The Daleks’ Master Plan again, and it was easily my favorite viewing of it. Those first and third episodes really add a lot! I still find episodes 6-11 quite dull, though, comparatively, to the first four and a half and final episode. My most wanted returns from this serial are definitely The Traitors and The Destruction of Time. So much so that I would consider the satisfactorily complete enough with them! The runaround in the middle drains all the tension and dread the first several episodes set up. It comes back in spades in the final episode, but wow do those middle episodes drag. That said, they aren’t bad or anything, and I did largely enjoy myself, but I am now convinced that Episodes 1 to halfway through episode 5 and episode 12 of The Daleks’ Master Plan are among the show’s best. I’m so glad the new episodes were found.
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Having just watched The Traitors (as well as the following two episodes, Counter Plot and Coronas of the Sun), I hope we get it back, I really enjoyed it even as a recon!
The next two episodes, though… Yeah, this is usually where my attention starts to wane. It’s not necessarily Terry Nation’s fault, for once - the usually fairly reliable Dennis Spooner struggles with the Daleks and the overarching story of DMP. They’re not bad, at all, really! Just a bit dull. The face Hartnell pulls when they’re all being teleported to Myra (one of a billion planets Terry Nation writes with invisible monsters, but that’s a complaint for another day - Pertwee got it much worse) is ridiculous. He’d have been better off making the face in my new avatar.
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I can never get over just how bonkers The Feast of Steven is. The sole Christmas episode of classic Doctor Who, pitched as an extremely broad comedy, with literal runarounds, silent film type text inserts, a joke about how a film director kept telling Sara Kingdom to take off her clothes, the Doctor breaks the fourth wall and wishes a happy Christmas to everyone at home, all with a soundtrack that is just audio CHAOS. It’s nearly indecipherable at times - particularly on the Hollywood classic film set. I don’t think it works at all on its own, much less as part of The Dalek Master Plan, and yet… I wish we could see it. There’s nothing else like it in the entirety of the show. And as many of us know, it is the least likely return of them all - as far as we know, zero copies of this were made, it was never even intended to be sold overseas, so unless there were cutting copies made, it is likely this was destroyed soon after broadcast. Every expert I’m aware of thinks this is gone for good, the least likely return of the 95 missing episodes. Such a shame.
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Alright, I’ve finished The Daleks’ Master Plan again, and it was easily my favorite viewing of it. Those first and third episodes really add a lot! I still find episodes 6-11 quite dull, though, comparatively, to the first four and a half and final episode. My most wanted returns from this serial are definitely The Traitors and The Destruction of Time. So much so that I would consider the satisfactorily complete enough with them! The runaround in the middle drains all the tension and dread the first several episodes set up. It comes back in spades in the final episode, but wow do those middle episodes drag. That said, they aren’t bad or anything, and I did largely enjoy myself, but I am now convinced that Episodes 1 to halfway through episode 5 and episode 12 of The Daleks’ Master Plan are among the show’s best. I’m so glad the new episodes were found.