TW #5 :Small Worlds

Jack: Something from the dawn of time, how could you possibly put a name to that?

Gwen: Are we talking alien?

Jack: Worse.

Gwen: How come?

Jack: Because they're part of us. Part of our world, yet we know nothing about them. So we pretend to know what they look like. We see them as happy, we imagine they have tiny little wings and are bathed in moonlight.

Gwen: But they're not?

Jack: No. Think dangerous. Think something you can only half-see, like a glimpse, like something out of the corner of your eye. With a touch of myth, a touch of the spirit world, a touch of reality all jumbled together, old moments and memories that are frozen in amongst it. Like debris, spinning around a ring planet, tossing, turning, whirling... backwards and forwards through time.

Episode 5:     Small Worlds.
Companions: Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper and Ianto Jones.
Air Date:       12th November 2006.

Jack encounters monsters from his past: fairies, with the ability to choke people and change the weather, make a series of killings centred around a little girl, the Chosen One. He also reunites with an old friend, but will Estelle Cole be safe when she starts to get a little too close to these fairies? And how can Torchwood stop a force from the dawn of time, masters of Earth, their domain? More importantly, what is so crucial about a little girl named Jasmine, for whom these creatures will gladly tear the world apart?

Small Worlds is yet another excellent story from Torchwood's first season. Doctor Who has shown us it's take on many different myths and legends over the years but Torchwood brings us that universe's view on faeries. Once again they do a great job in giving us something alien and wondrous but making it horrifying at the same time.

The story centres upon a young girl who has been chosen by the faeries to become one of them. They take a nasty hand in her future killing off anyone who threatens her (or themselves) in any way. When Torchwood investigates they find themselves drawn into a conflict that no matter what they do, they cannot win. It makes me wonder, given how the faeries are described by Jack, how the Doctor or the Time Lords would have handled these creatures?

"Come away, O human child!

To the waters and the wild

With a faery, hand in hand,

For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand."

TW #4 : Cyberwoman

"You could have saved her! You're worse than anything locked up down there! One day, I'll have the chance to save you...and I'll watch you suffer and die!"

Episode 4:     Cyberwoman.
Companions: Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper and Ianto Jones.

Air Date:       5th November 2006.

 

Ianto has a dark secret, tied to the basement of the Hub — a secret he will protect at any cost: a semi-converted Cyberwoman! Will Torchwood Three fix things in time before the Cybermen, ripe from battle with their greatest enemy, the Doctor, convert the world?

 

When Torchwood was first announced I did wonder whether there would be much in the way of a crossover between the two shows. Unfortunately Cyberwoman is pretty much it, at least for a while. Where Ghost Machine was a vehicle to showcase Own this story gives us a side to Ianto that we needed. Unfortunately Ianto just seems to be a bit of an idiot when the chips are down and his "love" for a girlfriend almost converted becomes a problem. He knew what went on at Canary Wharf the year before so why risk this? We also learn that Owen has a bit of a thing for Gwen. This storyline continues for a while as a side issue for them.

 

I would have preferred more interaction with the Whoniverse through Torchwood but we don't really get it. I'd have loved for them to have to deal with Silurians under the Welsh hills or something to that affect. But we don't get it which is a shame.

 

In Cyberwoman we get to see a bit more of Torchwood's resident pterodactyl but it still doesn't explain why they have one.

 

Cyberwoman is the first disappointing episode but since the first three are so good, I can't fault it too much.

 

 

Episode #128 : The King's Demons

"Do our demons come to visit us?"

Episode 128:   The King's Demons.
Companions:   5th Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough.
Air Date:         15th to 16th March 1983.

The TARDIS materialises in 13th Century England during a joust held in the presence of King John. The King welcomes the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough as his 'demons', but his actions toward the family of his host Ranulf fitz William are decidedly hostile. The Doctor discovers that what appears to be the King is in fact a shape-changing android called Kamelion whom the Master found on Xeriphas. The Master has disguised himself as the King's Champion, Sir Gilles Estram, and is using Kamelion in a plot to discredit the King and prevent the signing of the Magna Carta, thereby changing the course of history.

The King's Demons is a nice short story played out well and gives the 5th Doctor the opportunity to refresh his sword fighting skills. A casual viewer may not notice the details but there are some plot holes in the telling. The most obvious and perhaps important one is the question why the Master wants to mess with something like the signing of the Magna Carta? As the Doctor points out this is small fry compared to what he is used to doing. Then at the end the Master simply runs off and escapes not even bothering to try and finish what he started. The second problem is more obvious. The Master is disguised as a French knight in service to the king, but he looks just like the Master with a beard. It's obvious that it is him and yet the Doctor and Tegan don't recognise their old enemy till the end of the first part.

At the culmination of the story Kamelion joins the time travellers but only ever makes one more appearance. Why he was included seems a bit odd but the reason for his disappearance is that the use of the robot prop was impractical and often malfunctioned.

This episode while entertaining is really just a filler episode to round out the current series. However it does lead directly into the next story which is far far superior.

Episode #70 : The Time Warrior

Sarah Jane Smith : "You're serious, aren't you?"

The Doctor : "About what I do, yes. Not necessarily about the way I do it."

Episode 70:   The Time Warrior.
Companions: 3rd Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith.
Air Date:       Four episodes. 15th December 1973 to 5th January 1974.

 

Journalist Sarah Jane Smith is impersonating her aunt, virologist Lavinia Smith, in order to gain access to a research centre where top scientists are being held in protective custody while UNIT investigates the disappearance of a number of their colleagues. The missing scientists have been kidnapped by a Sontaran, Linx, and taken back to medieval England, where they are working under hypnosis to repair his crashed spaceship.

 

Another excellent story that gets us away from UNIT and back into time travel. In The Time Warrior, a Sontaran officer has been forced to crash in 13th century England and using crude time travel techniques is abducting scientists from the 20th century to held repair his space ship. The Doctor with new companion, and stowaway, Sarah Jane Smith travel back to medieval England to stop him. This story is good classic science fiction and the OTT acting from the medieval inhabitants is so amusing that you can easily ignore any issues with the story.

 

In this episode we have the introduction of the most famous and arguably the most beloved companion ever, Sarah Jane Smith. In my opinion, no one will ever match her as a companion. Played by the late Elizabeth Sladen, Sarah Jane became an immediate hit and would remain about of Who lore right up until the current incarnation of the show. The character starts off as a tough no-nonsense feminist which is a big change to Jo Grant. There is immediate great chemistry between her and the Doctor.

 

This is our introduction to the Sontarans as recurring villains. A race of warrior clones at war with a race called the Rutans (who will eventually make an appearance). They seek to conquer the galaxy much like every other villain out there but in all of the show they never seem to actually get anywhere.

 

We also learn for the first time the name of the Doctor's home world: Gallifrey. Now that it has a name, we will be seeing it a bit more often in the future.

 

I have great fondness for this story because although there has been humour before, I think this is the first time that it is used so well by the Doctor and will become part of his make up from here on. The show is about time travel and for ages we do seem to have been bogged down with UNIT stories.

 

The Time Warrior is another great story that everyone should check out.

 

 

Episode #4 : Marco Polo

 

"We're always in trouble! Isn't this extraordinary - it follows us everywhere!"

 

 

Episode 4:      Marco Polo.

Companions: The 1st Doctor, Susan Foreman, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright.

Air Date:        Seven episodes. 22nd February to 4th April 1964.

 

Arriving in Central Asia in 1289, the Doctor and his companions join the caravan of the famous Venetian explorer Marco Polo as it makes its way from the snowy heights of the Pamir Plateau, across the treacherous Gobi Desert and through the heart of imperial Cathay.

Unfortunately I have been unable to watch this story as I believe that it no longer exists except in isolated fragments and stills. Even so I have read numerous plot and story write ups about it on several different fan sites.

The story is the first to feature an actual historical character in this case the titular Marco Polo. As I have mentioned previously the show was supposed to be an educational tool not just a science fiction story. In this case it tries to show some backstop to the character of Marco Polo. Thankfully there aren't too many historical stories as I find in general those from this era tend to be overly long and in general not all that interesting. The show works better when it incorporates some horror or science fiction into the historical.

Not having been able to watch the story I can only go by what I have read of it. If I am honest I think I would have been quite bored with this one as it seems that nothing much actually happens. There is no real plot other than Polo taking the companions and the TARDIS to Cathay and interactions with the Mongols.