Episode #272 - Hell Bent

 

"First thing you notice about the Doctor of War is he's unarmed. For many, it's also the last."

Episode #272:      Hell Bent.

Companions:        The 12th Doctor and Clara Oswald.

Air Date:             5th December 2015

After being tortured for billions of years inside his own confession dial, the Doctor has been pushed to the brink of madness. Returning to Gallifrey, he must face his own people, the Time Lords, but how far will he go in his quest for vengeance? Does he have another confession? And how fiercely does his rage towards them for causing Clara's death burn?

After the disappointing episode that preceded it, Hell Bent picks up the pace and the story quite nicely. After escaping from the confession dial he finds himself back on Gallifrey, now hidden at the far end of time. He comes into conflict with Rassilon (who seems to have gone more mad since we last saw him) and sort of takes over. It's all a ploy to snatch Clara at the moment of her death and keep her alive though, an event that causes more problems for the Doctor. Ultimately he escapes, meets up with Ashildr (Me), has a heart to heart with her, before believing that he had mind wiped her and they go their own ways. The Doctor once again on his own and Clara travelling, for now, with Ashildur. 

It's a good story with some well written dialogue and just the right amount of tension between the various characters. There are some nice throw backs to things like the Matrix and we get a bit more lore expansion. Little things that expand on the show. If I have any issue with this episode it is that it is somewhat disjointed for such an otherwise good story. We start off with the Doctor's return to Gallifrey and his meeting with Rassilon. He boots Rassilon off and then the story changes to the mythology of the Hybrid (which has been hinted at here and there). It then becomes an escape story and then falls into the explanation with Ashildr... and it doesn't flow very well. Almost like the ending was rushed. It's not a bad episode though which makes it feel odd. I just wish that somehow it had resolved itself as it leaves a lot of things left essentially unanswered.

Episode #255 : Listen

"What's that in the mirror? Or the corner of your eye?

What's that footstep following, but never passing by?

Perhaps they're all just waiting, perhaps when we're all dead,

Out they'll come a-slithering from underneath the bed."

Episode #255:      Listen.
Companions:        The 12th Doctor and Clara Oswald.


Air Date:              13th September 2014.

The Doctor has been pondering a question: have people ever been truly alone? Does something lurk unseen beside us all? With Clara at his side, the Time Lord will find himself delving into familiar pasts and eerie futures. Just where does the answer to the old man's unanswerable question lie? Will he find the answers he's been searching for, or will his quest cost him his life this time?

Listen is a bit of an unusual story as it isn't really an adventure in the traditional sense of the show. Despite first appearances there are no enemies or villains for the Doctor and Clara to defeat. Instead it is a mixture of showcasing Clara's growing relationship with Danny Pink and a strange jaunt through time with the Doctor having a rather overactive imagination one day.

It tries to be a horror story of sorts and although it doesn't actually play out that way, Listen is an amazingly well written and suspenseful episode. Definitely one of the best of recent years and of the 12th Doctor's era of the show. Very clever. However, even though I happily grant Listen a 5 star rating, it has it's issues. They just are not worthy enough to ruin the enjoyment of this episode. Primarily, as I say above, there is no real story to this episode. Our heroes bounce through time in search of whatever the Doctor thinks is lurking under the bed and it doesn't reveal anything other that a possible for future for the family of Clara and Danny. Also, we don't get any answers to anything put forward in this episode - what was at the door of Colonel Pink's time ship at the death of the universe? Who or what was under the bed sheet and what promoted this strange adventure in the first place? Listen is great but I prefer these sort of episodes to give us some sort of answers.

One very interesting scene in this episode was not expected at the time of viewing. The TARDIS takes the travellers back in time to Gallifrey to a certain barn we saw in The Day of the Doctor, which turns out to be the childhood home of the Doctor and we encounter him in his first incarnation as a small boy having nightmares about something under the bed. Clara has this nice little speech that I guess is meant to show her setting him up for his journeys and adventures. It doesn't add anything to the actual episode but it is a nice addition that fits in well with Clara being the Impossible Girl.

This is probably my favourite episode of the first 12th Doctor season. Well written, good dialogue and a perfect edge of your seat feeling that more episodes of Doctor Who should have.

Episode #243 : Hide

"In the seventeenth century, a local clergyman saw her. He wrote that her presence was accompanied by a dreadful knocking, as if the Devil himself demanded entry. During the war, American airmen stationed here left offerings of tinned Spam. The tins were found in 1965, bricked up in the servants' pantry, along with a number of handwritten notes. Appeals to the Ghast. For the love of God, stop screaming."

Episode #243:      Hide.
Companions:        The 11th Doctor and Clara Oswald.
Air Date:              20th April 2013.

Clara and the Eleventh Doctor arrive at the haunted Caliburn House, set alone on a desolate moor. Within its walls, a ghost-hunting professor and a gifted empathic psychic are searching for the Witch of the Well. Her apparition appears throughout the history of the building, but is she really a ghost? And what is chasing her?

Hide is one of my favourite episodes of the new show. We have some classic tropes expertly written and put together in a 40 minute slot. To start with we have a classic haunted house story that looks the part perfectly and reminds me a lot of the classic British ghost stories of the 1970's television. Add on to that time travel, a a multi-level love plot and some great thought provoking exposition from Clara.

I think what makes it work for me is the nostalgia element. As I mentioned above the haunted house elements remind a lot of the old television supernatural dramas of my childhood. That and the fact that I love a good ghost story. All the elements are there to give the story a suitably creepy feeling even before we get to see the "crooked man" Everything there to make this haunting work. fabulous work by the Doctor Who crew.

But Hide isn't just about a haunting. It's also a love story. That's the undercurrent of the whole thing. Whether we are talking about the two ghost hunters in the house or the "crooked people" separated in different worlds but longing to reunite. As a secondary story element it binds the whole story together and thankfully doesn't feel too contrived.

Clara's observations are also very well written and very much in keeping with the tone of the piece. Her view that we are all ghosts to the Doctor is quite apt. To him we haven't been born, are living and are already dead. We are ghosts. It is another great insight into the character of our hero. Such insights are rare-ish in the show now but when they come up I do tend to get goosebumps and that conversation certainly brings them up.

Lastly we get another take on there being something wrong about Clara as the TARDIS won't let her in without the Doctor. The TARDIS either doesn't trust her or senses that there is something wrong with her.

We get a reference back to the days of the 3rd Doctor with a crystal from Metabelis III although Matt Smith fails to pronounce it correctly ("Me-TEB-eh-lis" instead of "Met-a-BEE-lis").

I am giving this a rare 5 star rating. Hide lives up to the expectations and if there are any flaws in it - and I'm sure there are if you really want to go looking - they aren't immediately obvious. Hide is atmospheric and fun. Perfect Doctor Who viewing.

Episode #191: Utopia

"You two, we're at the end of the universe. Okay?! Right at the edge of knowledge itself! And you're busy...  BLOGGING!"

Episode #191:   Utopia.
Companions:    The 10th Doctor, Jack Harkness and Martha Jones.
Air Date:          16th June 2007.

Jack Harkness is back! As Captain Jack comes storming into the Doctor's life again, the TARDIS is thrown to the end of the universe itself. As the last remnants of humanity struggle to reach "Utopia", unknown to all, the Doctor's greatest enemy is about to rise again.

Utopia is technically the first of a three part story that concludes the current season of the show. Despite that I prefer to review Utopia as a separate story to the other two. A prequel essentially that sets up the finale.

This story sees the return of good old captain Jack who we last saw at the end of Torchwood season one, running off in search of the TARDIS. There is a small continuity issue but don't worry about it. It is just good to have him back again. His return sets up some interesting ramifications such as him being a fixed point in time and space which is why the TARDIS doesn't like him anymore and that because of that the Doctor does show some unease with him. This was a good opportunity to bring Jack back as I never felt he got enough time in the TARDIS on screen before being killed by the Daleks and abandoned.

Utopia also sees the return of another classic favourite... the Master! Restored to the living by the Time Lords to help fight in the Time War he hid using a chameleon arch the same as the Doctor. To start with he believes that he is human, a certain Professor Yana. Yana turning out to be You Are Not Alone, the cryptic response from the Face of Boe on New Earth. Getting such a great actor as Derek Jacobi for this role was, pun intended, a master stroke. Unfortunately he doesn't get to be the Master for long before he is forced to regenerate.

I do like this adventure. We go to the distant end of the universe where only a few people still survive in the universe and even the Time Lords never came this far into the future. On a cold desolate world where humanity either transforms into flesh-eating Future Kind or slowly dies out as the stars grow cold we have the setting for a nice interactive story. Utopia isn't about stopping evil villains or murderous aliens. It is an story about where humanity gets to in it's final days and mankind's search for a mythical haven called Utopia. Not having a real villain of the piece just a well written forty five minutes shows what can be done every now and then.

Episode #184 : Gridlock

"I lied to you, 'cause I liked it. I could pretend, just for a bit, I could imagine they were still alive... underneath that burnt orange sky. I'm not just a Time Lord, I'm the last of the Time Lords. The Face of Boe was wrong. There's no one else."

Episode #184:  Gridlock.
Companions:   The 10th Doctor and Martha Jones.
Air Date:          14th April 2007.

The Tenth Doctor takes Martha Jones to New Earth, in the far future, only to find that the entire city has become a deadly trap.

Gridlock is a bit of a disappointment for me. Rather than be a fully fleshed out episode we instead receive a filler story. It does set things up for the end of the season but that is tacked on to the end of the episode. The story itself just deals with the Doctor taking Martha to New Earth some time after his visit with Rose. She gets "kidnapped" and the Doctor chases through the underground highway to recover her. Once rescued we get a nice moment where he explains more about the Time War than we had before. It also reintroduces the Macra, though in a devolved form and they do not play a real part in the story. Everything about this story is just there to set up the "you are not alone" reference.

There is only two elements to this story that I fine entertaining. One is the various drivers on the highway and their own idiosyncrasies - a married woman and her catkind husband with their kittens, a pair of married old grannies and the rest. The other is the Doctors explanation to Martha at the end of the episode.

Gridlock is not even close to being the worst story out there but it is real waste of an episode. Had there been something more to it then my opinion would probably be very different. There just isn't enough to this story to make it worth while.

Episode #171 : New Earth

Novice Hame: One story says that just before his death, the Face of Boe will impart his greatest secret. He will speak those words only to one like himself.

The Doctor: What does that mean?

Novice Hame: It's just a story.

The Doctor: Tell me the rest.

Novice Hame: It is said he will talk to a wanderer, to the man without a home, a lonely god.

Episode 171:   New Earth.
Companions:   10th Doctor and, Rose Tyler.
Air Date:          15th April 2006.

In the distant future, an order of cat-nuns cure all illnesses, but the Tenth Doctor is suspicious of their methods. He must uncover the truth and save Rose from the vengeance of his old enemy, the Lady Cassandra.

The Doctor and Rose travel to New Earth, a replacement to the Earth that we have already seen destroyed in The End of the World. The Doctor has been drawn here by the Face of Boe who is supposedly dying. Something not quite right draws the time travellers into a scheme by the resident cat people to heal all known diseases but at the expense of created lives. New Earth is not a bad story but I feel it is let down a little in places by pacing, dialogue and lack of get up and go.

The catkind look amazing. This is the first time that I can say that an alien species on Doctor Who actually looks real rather than a person in a suit. Major thumbs up to the make up department for this. Are they are more evolved version of the cat folk from Survival? Don't know but I can't imagine that two species of humanoid feline evolved in the galaxy. I like to think that they are the same species.

Cassandra returns but not as the villain. She certainly has greed on her mind and is selfish but ends up assisting the Doctor after projecting her mind into Rose's body seeking a new life in a real body. Her appearance does seem tacked on but it is made up for by giving her a decent send off at the end.

The Doctor's personality seems to have brightened up since The Christmas Invasion and he's a much more likable character now. The beaming smile means you can't help but begin to like him.

I think the reason why I'm not so keen on New Earth is that it is yet another filler episode. While it is self contained it appears to exist purely to set up events at the culmination of a later season. I have always hated filler stories in TV shows.

Episode #169 : Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways

"You don't just give up. You don’t just let things happen. You make a stand. You say "no." You have the guts to do what's right when everyone else just runs away, and I just can't!"

Episode 169:   Bad Wolf / Parting of the Ways.
Companions:   9th Doctor, Rose Tyler and Jack Harkness.
Air Date:        11th June 2005.

Separated and with no TARDIS, the Ninth Doctor, Rose, and Jack have to fight for their lives on board the Game Station, but a far more dangerous threat is lurking, just out of sight. The Doctor realises that the entire human race has been blinded to the threat on its doorstep, and Armageddon is fast approaching.

We have reached the end of the first season of the new series of Doctor Who and it culminates with an absolute corker. The Bad Wolf meme is realised and explained, and we learn a bit more about the Time War. The adventure also deals with the often unforeseen results of the Doctor's meddling in things. Had he not done what did during the events of The Long Game then things might have been very different here and now. His actions caused this future.

The Daleks are back, as is the Emperor Dalek last seen way back during the time of the 2nd Doctor. I doubt it is the same one but you never know. The Daleks here are different from those we know. In order to rebuild the Dalek race, the Emperor was forced to take human dead and create new Daleks from their remains. Nothing new there as we saw this in Revelation of the Daleks. In this story however, the events that allowed the Emperor to survive coupled with creating impure Daleks has driven them all somewhat insane. They now believe that the Emperor is a god and that Earth will be their new paradise. The only downside to them here is that I am now sick of seeing levitating Daleks!

Jack dies, along with pretty much everybody else and the Daleks, but is restored by Rose as the "Bad Wolf" using the power of the time vortex. This would have serious repercussions as he is now effectively immortal and reanimates minutes after death. Because of this, and we learn why much later, the Doctor abandons Jack on the space station. I really like Jack as a character, and he does go on to lead Torchwood, I would have liked him to remain longer as a companion simply because New Who seems intent on having just female companions.

After just one season, the Doctor regenerates. I don't know whether this was planned from the start or not, but it is a real shame that Eccleston didn't do at least one more. It does feel like a waste of a regeneration. Every other Doctor, barring the 8th as he only made the movie episode, did at least three years.

I may not have liked the persona very much but Eccleston did a grand job in bringing the character back to the TV screens for a new generation. What I disliked the most was the negativity and passive-aggressive approach. It may have fitted the character at the time but looking back this incarnation doesn't feel like the Doctor of old.

A great ending for the season and an excellent story. From here on things do get a lot better.

Episode #165 : The Long Game

"The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. And there it is: planet Earth at its height. Covered with megacities, five moons, population 96 billion. The hub of a galactic domain, stretching across a million planets, a million species. With mankind right in the middle."

Episode 165:   The Long Game.
Companions:   9th Doctor and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:         7th May 2005.

New companion of the Ninth Doctor, Adam Mitchell, takes his first trip in the TARDIS. The ship materialises in Satellite 5, a space station that broadcasts across the entire Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. However, the Empire's attidude and technology is backwards, those who are promoted to Floor 500 simply disappear, humanity is possibly being manipulated by the news, and who exactly is the sinister Editor's employer?

At the end of the previous adventure the Doctor and Rose pick up Adam Mitchell, a former worker at the facility where they encountered the Dalek. On his first and only trip in the TARDIS they come to the far future where mankind seems enslaved by the media. Hundreds of channels beaming news out from all around the human empire.

In the story Adam tries to be naughty and bring back future knowledge so that he can profit from it in the 21st century. Surprised that no one else has tried that to be honest, but the Doctor does overreact and feels somewhat out of character in the way that he handles it though it is probably in keeping with the current personna.

Bad Wolf is referenced this time in the form of the Bad Wolf news channel.

The problem with this story is that it is part filler where nothing really happens and exists just to set up the story at the end of this first season. As such I find it all rather dissapointing.

Episode #161 : The End of the World

The Doctor: You think it'll last forever: people and cars and concrete. But it won't. One day it's all gone. Even the sky. My planet's gone. It's dead. It burned, like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust. Before its time.

Rose: What happened?

The Doctor: There was a war, and we lost.

Episode 161:   The End of the World.
Companions:   9th Doctor and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:         2nd April 2005.

The Ninth Doctor takes his new companion, Rose Tyler, to the year 5,000,000,000 to see the sun expand and destroy the Earth. The observation deck space station, Platform One, is holding an event with the richest beings of the time observing the Earth's destruction, but mysterious metal spiders gifted by the Adherents of the Repeated Meme to the other guests are secretly infiltrating and sabotaging the station.

After a reasonable but perhaps shaky start, Doctor Who continues with story set against the backdrop of the Earth's last hour before destruction. But the Doctor isn't here to save it, the Earth has had her time. Instead, he thinks bringing Rose to the far future will be an adventure but doesn't consider the impact it will have on his new companion. That is one of the things I especially like about this episode. Previous companions seem to get past the culture shock quite quickly and adapt with ease. Rose however gets rather upset that she is seeing the Earth die even though it is billions of years in her future. We also see her reaction to suddenly realising that she has just picked up and off into time and space with a complete stranger. Again, something we didn't see under the classic show. For the criticism that was levelled at RTD during his time as producer of the show, it is elements like this that really help define the new Who.

This story also features the first instance of the phrase Bad Wolf which would appear in every episode of this first series from here on. Here it is spoke by one of the alien visitors who mentions "the Bad Wolf scenario".

As you see in the above quotation, this story starts to introduce the back story which we have missed while the show was off air. It appears that Gallifrey has been destroyed in some sort of conflict with an unnamed enemy and that the Doctor is the last of the Time Lords. At the time of air, I didn't like this as I am rather fond of stories that feature the Time Lords but as we go along we eventually learn of Gallifrey's fate.

There are quite a few elements in this story which will return as the show goes along, including the Face of Boe and Lady Cassandra, in addition to the Bad Wolf plot line. The End of the World is a very good example of Doctor Who but I can't help but feel that it might have been better if stretched out to two parts. There is a lot crammed in here and doesn't get nearly enough air time. However it does end with some thought provoking comments and all good science fiction should entertain and make you think.

Episode #150 : Dragonfire

"Do you feel like arguing with a can of deodorant that registers nine on the Richter scale?"

Episode 150:    Dragonfire.
Companions:   7th Doctor and Mel.
Air Date:          23rd November to 7th December 1987.

The TARDIS materialises in Iceworld, a space trading colony on the dark side of the planet Svartos. The Doctor and Mel encounter Glitz and learn that he has come here to search for a supposed treasure guarded by a dragon. Also on Svartos is Kane, a - literally - cold-blooded criminal who has been imprisoned here by his own people from the planet Proamon. The Doctor and Mel, aided by Ace, a disaffected waitress, discover that the 'dragon' is a biomechanoid and the 'treasure' a power crystal held within its head. Kane is desperate to obtain the crystal and the Doctor uses it to bargain with him for Ace's freedom. It turns out that Iceworld is a huge spacecraft and the crystal the key that Kane needs in order to activate it.

With Dragonfire the show has finally begun to shirk off the silly stories that started the Sylvestor McCoy era. It still has the silly costumes and low production values of the late 1980's but at least we start to see some decent story and the beginning of the true 7th Doctor.

We finally lose Mel as a companion and she gets replaced at the end of the story with Dorothy "Ace" McShane, a far better choice. I'm not sorry to see Mel go in all honesty. Ace is a plucky young girl with skills in explosive making. We learn that she was swept up in a time storm from 20th century Earth and dropped on Iceworld. This will make a reappearance later as we learn how and why.

The adventure is memorable for the rather grisly final end of the villainous Kane, whose face melts away in clear camera shot. Even now it is rather unpleasant and I wonder how well that went down with children at the time. Not well I imagine.

Dragonfire is a reasonable story that shares elements from lots of different science fiction genres, including some elements that seem lifted straight out of the movie Aliens. It isn't perfect but you can see that things are getting better in the writing and the characterisations.

Episode #146 : The Ultimate Foe

"In all my travelling throughout the universe I have battled against evil, against power mad conspirators. I should have stayed here. The oldest civilisation: decadent, degenerate, and rotten to the core. Power mad conspirators, Daleks, Sontarans... Cybermen, they're still in the nursery compared to us. Ten million years of absolute power. That's what it takes to be really corrupt."

Episode 146:   The Ultimate Foe.
Companions:   6th Doctor and Mel.
Air Date:         29th November to 6th December 1986.

With the evidence complete, the Doctor learns that the Master has gained illicit access to the Matrix in his TARDIS. Glitz is now revealed to be the Master's associate and the 'secrets' to be information stolen from the Matrix. The Valeyard admits his identity as a distillation of the dark side of the Doctor's nature, somewhere between his twelfth and thirteenth incarnations, out to take control over his remaining lives. With the help of Mel, who along with Glitz has been brought to the space station by the Master, the Doctor defeats his future self - although, as they leave in the TARDIS with all charges in the trial having been dropped, it appears that the Valeyard has taken over the body of the Keeper of the Matrix and may not have been as completely vanquished as they had thought.

The Trial of a Time Lord season comes to an end with a rather disappointing two part story in which it is revealed who the Valeyard really is (see above). It then ends up being a repeat of The Deadly Assassin with the Doctor with Glitz in tow, entering the Matrix where he is at the mercy of what the Valeyard can throw at him. It then ends with the Doctor forgiven, though how you can try someone for the same crime twice (see The War Games) is beyond me. But as everyone goes home it is revealed that the Valeyard is still very much alive.

The addition of the Master into this story is pointless. He doesn't do anything and seems to be just there to gloat, and show off how clever he is. It smacks of lazy writing to me. Had the Master been to the one behind it all, having created the Valeyard in an attempt to kill the Doctor from behind the scenes, I think this story might have been better.

I really hoped that in the right spot in the new show that they might show the Valeyard or at least hint at his creation but they never do and the character has never reappeared in canonical Who.

One last thing, we do at least discover that Peri is very much alive, and living as a warrior queen with King Yrcanos. Why the Doctor doesn't go back for her we never learn.

Episode #145 : Terror of the Vervoids

"This is a situation that requires tact and finesse. Fortunately, I am blessed with both."

Episode 145:   Terror of the Vervoids.
Companions:   6th Doctor and Mel.
Air Date:        1st to 22nd November 1986.

In a desperate bid to clear his name, the Doctor presents his defence to the charges laid against him. In the year 2986, the starliner Hyperion III makes its way to Earth... but all is not well. The Doctor and Mel arrive in response to a distress call, although not in time to prevent a murder. And this will not be the only death: someone aboard will kill again and again to protect their secret. And while the murderer closes in above decks, in the Hydroponic Centre a terrifying new breed of creature is about to awaken.

By far the best of the adventures in the Trial of a Time Lord story arc. We are introduced to a new companion, Melanie Bush (Mel), who we never see the Doctor actually meet because this is all out of temporal order. Unfortunately Mel is a fairly terrible companion. Played by Bonnie Langford, famous for her stage and dance work, is so well out of her depth here and it shows. She just isn't companion material and it shows. She does her best to be fair, but it isn't good enough.

The story has plot holes that the canny observer may spot. If the Vervoids are genetically created life forms made to replace robots, why would you give them a poisonous sting? Or give them human intelligence for that matter? I can't fault their appearance though which I don't find laughable at all, even if they are the week's "man in a monster suit." I think they look pretty good for what they are.

In this story the courtroom scenes are a little unnecessary as the adventure on the Hyperion III is far more interesting. Bouncing back to the court starts to get irritating by this point. I'd rather focus on the story in front of me to be honest.

Episode #143 : The Mysterious Planet

"Whereas yours is a simple case of sociopathy, Dibber, my malaise is much more complex. A deep-rooted maladjustment, my psychiatrist said, brought on by an infantile inability to come to terms with the more pertinent, concrete aspects of life."

Episode 143:   The Mysterious Planet.
Companions:   6th Doctor and Peri.
Air Date:         6th to 27th September 1986.

The Doctor is on trial for his life. Plucked out of time and space by the Time Lords, he is charged with transgressing the First Law of Time. He must defend himself against the prosecution led by the sinister Valeyard. The trial begins as the Time Lords review an adventure from the Doctor's recent past. The setting is Ravolox, where the Doctor and Peri find themselves caught in the conflict between a warrior tribe, a pair of intergalactic con-men, and a god-like robot. But deep below the surface of the mysterious planet lie secrets that threaten the very fabric of the universe. And to protect them, drastic measures have been taken that will shock the Doctor to his very core.

After a year and a half hiatus the show comes back with another season long arc similar to the Key to Time. This time however the Doctor is plucked out of time and space by the Time Lords again and put on trial for violating the First Law of Time. The first case presented by the Valeyard is an adventure on the planet Ravolox. The opening sequence where the camera weaves its way across the surface of a space station is excellently done and sets up the trial atmosphere very well. The story then alternates between the court room and the adventure.

The court room scenes prove to be quite amusing as the Doctor relies on humour to poke fun at the Valeyard and the proceedings. Who is the Valeyard and why does he seem to have an aggressive desire to see the Doctor dead? All will be explained in time.

The actual adventure on Ravolox revolves around the mystery of why planet, in fact Earth, has been moved across space into a whole new galaxy and renamed. Even the computer records of the Time Lords have it listed as Ravolox. The planet is supposed to be dead, scoured clean by a fireball, but is actually alive and well, with survivors living a sort of Celtic existence on the surface, and others living underground under the rule of an "immortal" robot. Add to that a pair of immoral space pirate types, Sabalom and Dibber, who seek information hidden somewhere in the underground settlement and you have an interesting tale.

Episode #141 : Timelash

"The stories I've heard about you. The great Doctor, all knowing and all powerful. You're about as powerful as a burnt out android."


Episode 141:   Timelash.
Companions:   6th Doctor and Peri.
Air Date:         9th to 16th March 1985.

On the planet Karfel a high ranking official, Maylin Tekker, uses threats against Peri to force the Doctor to go to Earth and bring back a young woman called Vena who, while holding a precious amulet, has accidentally fallen into the Timelash - a time tunnel through which the planet's tyrannical ruler the Borad banishes all rebels. The Doctor also inadvertently brings back Herbert, a man from the 19th Century, who stows away aboard the TARDIS.

Timelash at first glance is a story with potential but other a few elements really doesn't live up to it. The whole story appears to be an homage to the writings of H.G. Wells even going so far as to have the young Wells stowaway on board the TARDIS and experience the very things he would write about in his books. It just seems a gimmick story to get all of that in one place rather than to tell an interesting story.

The story ties in to something that the 3rd Doctor talked about -  taking Jo Grant on a trip to Karfel, but was never seen on screen. In Timelash we learn that they did indeed come here and defeated the Borad much earlier. It is hinted that he had more than one companion so who did he bring?

Most of the effects seem even more basic than usual which feels like a let down. However, the facial make up for the evil Borad (see the picture above) is superb and when seen it action does not seem at all like a dodgy BBC make up effect.

Timelash, just like The Two Doctors, features a well known actor from Blake's Seven, this time Paul Darrow who played Aven. Just as then, he plays a bit of a villain.

While I rate this story as being below average it isn't so bad that I don't suggest watching it. Just don't expect much.

Episode #132 : Frontios

"Frontios buries its own dead."

Episode 132:    Frontios.
Companions:   5th Doctor, Tegan and Turlough.
Air Date:          26th January to 3rd February 1984.

The TARDIS is dragged down to the surface of the planet Frontios and apparently destroyed during a meteorite bombardment. The Doctor is forced to help the planet's human colonists - refugees from a doomed future Earth - and eventually discovers that their problems stem from an infestation of Tractators, burrowing insect-like creatures led by the intelligent Gravis.

Frontios is a story that I remember fondly from my childhood. Unfortunately it is not one that stands up to those childhood memories very well. I think I must have just been enamoured by the giant underground monsters. But it isn't a bad story and in fact is very watchable if you can ignore the appearance of the Tractators.

Turlough gets some limelight and does a nice mental breakdown when confronted with the Tractators. It appears that these creatures have been on his world and were a major problem. About time we got some backstory from this character.

Frontios is a story that again plays into my Time Lords continuity concern from Arc of Infinity. TARDIS units are not supposed to be able to pass beyond Gallifrey current time and yet by the concern of the Doctor this story is set in the future beyond that barrier. We all know that the classic era of the show has limited continuity but by this time I expect the scriptwriters to have some guidelines to go by.

Again we are not looking at a bad story but unusually this one suffers from not having enough going on to fill out a four part story. Some of it simply drags especially in the middle. It is still entertaining but it needed fleshing out a little more. There is also an issue of what happened to Kamelion during this story but I we will never know.

Episode #95 : The Sun Makers

Leela: These "taxes"; they are a sacrifice to the Gods?

The Doctor: Taxes are much more painful.

Episode 95:   The Sun Makers.
Companions: 4th Doctor, K9 and Leela.
Air Date:       Four episodes. 26th November to 17th December 1977.

The TARDIS arrives in the future on the planet Pluto where there are now six suns, a breathable atmosphere and a large industrial community. The Company controls the planet and exploits the workers, pays them a pittance and then taxes them on everything imaginable. The Doctor and Leela join forces with an underground band of rebels to overthrow the corporation.

The Sun Makers is written as a parody of the UK's Inland Revenue and it's taxation. Even today you can get the same feelings about taxes as they must have done back in the 1970s. The story deals with the last of humanity's colonies in the solar system, now living on Pluto under the governorship of an alien corporation. Everyone works too hard and the taxes are too high. I think we can all feel something towards that. The Doctor and companions find themselves drawn into the growing rebellion and become the spark needed to give mankind that boost to rebellion.

The concept of the story is fair but the execution leaves much to be desired. The sets look worse than normal and there is something off that I can't quite put my finger on when you see on-location locations that does actually spoil things a little. The acting from the extras is a little too over the top and also adds to the dislike of the story. Everything feels a little off.

Most of the time you can come away from an episode of Doctor Who with no problems at all. With this one however, I get a nagging sensation that the Doctor may have brought about the doom of all on Pluto. The alien corporation has abandoned the planet and left everyone to it. As mentioned in the story, the artifical suns need constant maintenance and I guess that means they eventually go out. So unless the survivors have access to space travel (unlikely) or the ability reach and maintain those suns sooner or later everyone on Pluto is going to freeze to death. Meanwhile the Doctor and friends have vanished and left them to it. We know the Doctor tends to vanish once everything is done but the end of this story leaves me with an uncomfortable feeling because of it.

The Sun Makers is a very weak and uninteresting story from my point of view. Typical of this point in the show.

Episode #89 : The Face of Evil

"Now drop your weapons or I'll kill him with this deadly jelly baby."

Episode 89:   The Face of Evil.
Companions: 4th Doctor and Leela.
Air Date:        Four episodes. 1st to 22nd January 1977.

The TARDIS arrives on a planet where a savage tribe called the Sevateem worship a god called Xoanon. The Doctor discovers that Xoanon is in fact a spaceship computer that he tried to repair at some point in his past and inadvertently drove mad by giving it a multiple personality.

The Face of Evil is another classic science fiction trope. In this case it is a deranged computer with multiple personalities caused by the fourth Doctor in a previously untelevised story. I'm guessing there is a big gap of adventures following the Doctor departing Gallifrey in the previous story as I can't see when he could have done it otherwise. Although the insane computer backstory is central to the adventure, it also deals with the power struggle in the Sevateem tribe and their struggle against the Tesh who serve the computer. All in all, not a bad little story.

The Doctor is joined by a new companion, Leela, a primitive female warrior of the Sevateem played by Louise Jameson. I like Leela quite a lot. She is another strong female companion but with the right amount of vulnerability to be believable. Unlike Sarah Jane Smith, Leela remains a strong figure throughout her tenure on the show. I think she was included, skimpy outfit and all, to keep the dad's watching after the Saturday afternoon football.

Leela is quite a violent character for an afternoon tea time family show. She kills two members of her own tribe very early on in the story. It is kind of nice to have such a character as normally the Doctor and companion are so nice - not counting the amount of Venusian Akido that the third Doctor used to do. It's just a very different approach.

As I said earlier, this isn't a bad story but at the same time it is missing a little something to give it that push towards a good story. It floats along at a nice pace with some good character interaction and humour but I am sure there is something that could have made it a better story.

Episode #84 : The Brain of Morbius

"You can't really go on calling yourself Morbius. There's very little of Morbius left! Why don't you think of another name? Potpourri would be appropriate!"

Episode 84:   The Brain of Morbius.
Companions: 4th Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith.
Air Date:        Four episodes. 3rd to 24th January 1976.

The planet Karn is home both to a mystic Sisterhood, whose sacred flame produces an elixir of life, and to Mehendri Solon, a fanatical scientist who is using the remnants of spaceship crash victims to put together a new body for the still-living brain of the executed Time Lord criminal Morbius. When the Doctor and Sarah arrive on the planet, Solon decides that the Doctor's head is just what he needs to complete his work.

The Brain of Morbius is a fantastic retelling of the Frankenstein story complete with mad scientist, an assembled from body parts monster, a an Igor-like henchman and at the end a group of flaming torch wielding sisters to defeat the creature. The writer has taken all the classic elements of the original story and given them a Whovian spin.

This is another story that gets a big thumbs up from me. The plot and pacing are spot on and it so adds to the atmosphere of the story. The characters and the acting also fit very well. For most of the story Sarah Jane is blinded and she pulls off that condition brilliantly and realistically. As for the Doctor, after the last couple where the character seems to have been a grumpy mood, here he is back to his lovable eccentric self.

The setting for this story is the planet Karn, which may be in the same system as Gallifrey or a neighbouring one. It is home to a mystical order known as the Sisterhood of Karn who keep the sacred flame capable of producing an elixir of life highly valued by the Time Lords. This is not the last time we see them as they have a part to play much further into the Doctor's life time.

In this story there is a mental struggle between the Doctor and Morbius (in his new body). In this struggle they pit the power of their minds against one another. On a screen appear images of past incarnations, including the first three Doctors. But there are four or five other faces that appear. It has caused discussions among fans ever since as it initially implies that the Doctor has had more incarnations that we know of. Of course, where we are at the moment with modern Who, we know that this isn't the case. However, it has always been my thought that these other faces are simply images of Morbius in his prior incarnations. It seems strange to me that that has not been mentioned before (though some corner of the Internet must have raised it) and it explains that mystery.

The Brain of Morbius is another big thumbs up from me. It isn't one of the best but it certainly is worth a watch. Enjoy.

Episode #81 : Planet of Evil

"Here on Zeta Minor is the boundary between existence as you know it and the other universe which you just don't understand. From the beginning of time it has existed side by side with the known universe. Each is the antithesis of the other. You call it "nothing", a word to cover ignorance. And centuries ago scientists invented another word for it. "Antimatter", they called it. And you, by coming here, have crossed the boundary into that other universe to plunder it. Dangerous..."

Episode 81:   Planet of Evil.
Companions: 4th Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith.
Air Date:       Four episodes. 27th September to 18th October 1975.

The TARDIS picks up a distress call and the Doctor and Sarah arrive on the planet Zeta Minor. There they discover that a Morestran geological expedition has fallen prey to an unseen killer and only the leader, Professor Sorenson, remains alive. A military mission from Morestra has also arrived to investigate. The culprit is revealed to be a creature from a universe of antimatter, retaliating for the removal by Sorenson of some antimatter samples from around the pit that acts as an interface between the two universes.

There is a line in this story where the Doctor tells Sorensen "You and I are scientists, Professor. We buy our privilege to experiment at the cost of total responsibility." That pretty much sums up the apparent construct of this story; whether science has the right to meddle in things that should be left alone. In this case it relates to matter and anti-matter, but you can see that that very question is extremely relevant to today's world of nuclear energy, chemical weapons and cloning. Unfortunately this thought provoking concept doesn't save the story.

Even if you ignore the terrible set designs (and as Who fans we love our wobbly sets), this story just doesn't hold the viewers interest I find. The acting is off from pretty much everybody, though as always that could just be down to the script. The effects are quite poor though they do work with regards to the anti-matter monster that is hunting down the people on the planet. But some of the ropey transformation sequences for Sorenson are too reminiscent of the Primoids from Inferno. Some fans love this story but for my money I cannot see how.

Episode #23 : The Ark

"A long time ago, your ancestors accepted responsibility for the welfare of these Monoids. They were treated like slaves. So no wonder when they got the chance, they repaid you in kind."

Episode 23:   The Ark.
Companions: The 1st Doctor, Steven Taylor and Dodo.
Air Date:        Four episodes. 5th to 26th March 1966.

The Doctor and his companions Steven Taylor and Dodo Chaplet arrive some ten million years into the future, on board a generation starship which is carrying the last of humanity away from an Earth that is about to fall into the Sun. However, the cold that Dodo has could prove devastating to these future humans and their servants, the Monoids.

The Ark is one of the best stories I have watched for some time. Well written and taking a couple archetypal science fiction troupes and running with them. We see the destruction of the Earth (prior to it being rebuild by the National Trust), a generation ship taking humanity to a new home and the effects of a 20th century (and no extinct) illness on a future generation. Together it works very well.

The story starts off with the companions arriving on a generation ship. Dodo's cold is passed to the humans and their Monoid servants. The Doctor has to find a cure for the cold to save everyone. Once done, they make their goodbyes but the TARDIS takes them to the same spot seven hundred years into the future. In this future the Monoids have evolved to conqour the humans.

The new companion, Dodo, seems a little too eager and that makes her a tad annoying throughout this story. At least she doesn't feel like a replacement for Susan this time.

The Ark is another excellent story for those who want to watch the better tales from the classic days of the show.