Episode #231 - Closing Time

"Hello, Stormageddon. It’s The Doctor, here to help. Be quiet. Go to sleep. No, really. Stop crying. You’ve got a lot to look forward to, you know. A normal human life on Earth. Mortgage repayments, the 9 to 5, a persistent nagging sense of spiritual emptiness. Save the tears for later, boyo. Oh, that was crabby. No, that was old. But I am old, Stormy. I am so old. So near the end. But you, Alfie Owens. You are so young, aren’t you? And you know, right now, everything’s ahead of you. You could be anything. Yes, I know. You could walk among the stars. They don’t actually look like that, you know — they are rather more impressive. Yeah! You know, when I was little like you, I dreamt of the stars. I think it’s fair to say, in the language of your age, that I lived my dream. I owned the stage. Gave it a hundred and ten percent. I hope you have as much fun as I did, Alfie."

Episode #231:      Closing Time.
Companions:        The 11th Doctor.
Air Date:               24th September 2011

Craig Owens is having enough trouble trying to care for his child. The last thing he needed was the return of his old friend, the Doctor. And it looks like he's not alone; trouble seems to have once again followed the Doctor to Colchester, with a silvery shine.

Closing Time is a disappointing story. It feels like any instance where the writers ran out of ideas. Rather than be a Cyberman threat story, it's the Doctor trying to stay away from anything interesting but getting caught up in things. The Cybermen are just an afterthought to the Doctor's search for self. Even the return of Craig Owen (last seen in The Lodger) does little to make this a better story.

Another part of what spoils this is the silly elements that the Matt Smith era includes. Things such as being able to speak baby and the shop staff thinking Owen and the Doctor are lovers just doesn't work. It's all too forced and isn't actually funny. It is more cringe worthy than anything. The Doctor Who writers have shown that they can do better this and it makes me wonder how this made it through to completion.

We do get a new form of Cybermat however. The special effects department have given us a creepy new shape complete with real flesh mouth with teeth. A much better upgrade for these than we have seen previously. Again, nice to see something from the classic show making an appearance.

Closing Time is also an episode which is companion lite. Rory and Amy do make an appearance in the episode but they don't interact with the story. Instead it looks like Amy has become model or something, as she is advertising a new perfume -  "Petrichor." Would it have been better with them? I don't think so. There isn't enough going on in the episode already to include them. Nice to see them getting on with their life though.

Ultimately, Closing Time is just another poor attempt at a filler episode. Not the worst the show has had in recent years but another case of could have done better.

Episode #79 : Revenge of the Cybermen

"You're nothing but a pathetic bunch of tin soldiers skulking

about the galaxy in an ancient spaceship."

Episode 79:    Revenge of the Cybermen.
Companions:  4th Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan.
Air Date:        Four episodes. 19th April to 10th May 1975.

Expecting to be reunited with the TARDIS following a secret mission for the Time Lords, they instead find themselves on a plague-stricken space station orbiting the remnants of Voga, Planet of Gold. The Doctor, Harry Sullivan and Sarah Jane Smith have stumbled into the last battle of an ancient conflict between humankind and one of its most terrifying foes — the Cybermen.

At last we have the long awaited return of the Cybermen to the show. We last saw them in The Invasion, story of the 2nd Doctor. The appearance of the Cybermen has been improved and they now look much closer to the excellent 80's Cybermen design. These ones even sport weapons in their foreheads which is somewhat odd. The voices are now supplied by the actor in the suit and we can finally understand what they are saying properly. Unfortunately this is the only on screen appearance for the Cybermen for the 4th Doctor and we have to wait several years until they return.

The reason for the Cybermen's revenge is the fabled moon of Voga which is made of gold. The Cybermen have been given a new weakness which doesn't make too much real world sense, but then I am no scientist to explain it. Supposedly because gold is noncorrosive substance it can block their breathing apparatus. Why does a machine like being need a breathing apparatus? I have no idea. But you can just go with it.

This story concludes the Nerva Beacon arc which started with The Ark in Space, and we get to see what the Nerva Beacon looked like before the solar flares. The only disappointing element to this story is how closely it resembles The Moonbase. Both stories feature a Cyberman attack with Cybermats and a plague to strike down the human crew. While it may have been a staple mode of operation for the future Cybermen it just comes across as reusing the same old plot elements from an older story.

But saying that I can't complain about this story. Revenge of the Cybermen is a good piece of entertaining Who made better by the return of the Cybermen. The plot is straight forward but we get some good acting from our regular actors and Harry Sullivan gets to shine once again. Sarah Jane though seems to have continued the trend of being a screaming female companion.

At the culmination of this story our companions are reunited with the TARDIS and discover that the Brigadier has summoned them back to the Earth.

Episode #43 : The Wheel in Space

"Logic, my dear Zoe, merely enables one to be wrong with authority."

Episode 43:     The Wheel in Space.
Companions:   The 2nd Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon and Zoe Heriot.
Air Date:         Six episodes. 27th April to 1st June 1968.

The TARDIS materialises on board a spaceship, the Silver Carrier, where the Second Doctor and Jamie are attacked by a Servo Robot. Jamie contacts a nearby space station known as the Wheel and they are rescued. Meanwhile, the Silver Carrier discharges Cybermats, which also travel to and enter the station. These pave the way for the invasion of the station by Cybermen, who intend to use its direct radio link with Earth as a beacon for their invasion fleet.

Only two episodes of this story remain so again this review comes from a couple of synopses of the story.

The Wheel in Space is a fairly typical science fiction story where a remote location comes under mysterious attack with no means of escape. When done right it works and I think it does here. The mysterious attack from the returning Cybermen though oddly despite chronological events no one on the station has heard of Cybermen or Daleks. It feels very similar to the early story The Moonbase in some regards.

The story sees the introduction of a new companion, Zoe, a genius of a young woman whose intellect seems to rival if not exceed that of the Doctor himself. This seems to aggravate the Doctor somewhat giving some conflict between him and his new companion. We really haven't had that since Ian and Barbara's time on the TARDIS. It is difficult to tell how she would come across to the viewers as the role of a companion is to ask the questions that we want to ask, and she probably already has those answers.

As this story is set in the late 21st century I'm guessing that the writers assumed we would be more advanced than we are, so this is probably the first time that we can assume that the Whoniverse is not our own, allowing for certain cover ups of alien appearances in the 1960's and 70's.

All in all, it reads like an OK story.

Episode #37 : The Tomb of the Cybermen

"Our lives are different to anybody else's. That's the exciting thing, that nobody in the

universe can do what we're doing."

 

 

Episode 37:   The Tomb of the Cybermen.
Companions: The 2nd Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield.
Air Date:        Four episodes. 2nd to 23rd September 1967.

The TARDIS arrives on the planet Telos, where an Earth archaeological expedition led by Professor Parry is trying to uncover the lost tombs of the Cybermen. With a lot of help from the Doctor, the archaeologists enter the tombs. There, one of the party, Klieg, reveals himself and his business partner, Kaftan, to be planning to revive the Cybermen.

There are time as I go re-watching these stories, that I realise that I am often overly-critical of some of them. Especially these which are pre-Pertwee. But The Tomb of the Cybermen is a gem among these early stories and a must-watch in my opinion. Very rarely does 1960's Doctor Who get such a well written, well paced and well-acted story, but this one does it.

The story deals with the Cybermen having put themselves into a hibernation state for 500 years. My guess would be because of Mondas' destruction in the mid 20th century though as machine life forms who could live indefinitely it makes me wonder why that would be necessary. Now that they have been found they plan to start assimilating, for lack of a better word, the archaeologists and rebuild their race. The story also introduces the concept of a Cyber-Controller and Cybermats, both of which will last throughout the Cybermen's appearances in the series.

This is the first time that I can say I've seen Victoria Waterfield on screen and I quite like her as a companion. Unlike Jamie, who just seems to leap into the idea of time travel and space, Victoria actually plays the culture shock of being a person out of time, dropped into things she doesn't truly understand.

We get a follow up to the events of this story with the 6th Doctor in the story Attack of the Cybermen, which also ties into the events from The Tenth Planet. Nice to see that the writers were considering previous stories at some point.

For those who want to watch the better classic stories, I heartily recommend this one. A big thumbs up.