TW #13 : End of Days

"And I heard but did not understand and I said, 'Master, what is the end of all things?' And he said, 'Go, Daniel, for the things are closed up and sealed until the end of time.'" Daniel 12, verse 10.

Episode 13:   End of Days.
Companions: Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper, Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper and Ianto Jones.
Air Date:       1st January 2007.

The Rift is open and beings from all the periods of time are seeping through. What exactly does Bilis Manger know and what lurks in the rift? Can Jack save the world?

Season one of Torchwood comes to a mighty climax with an excellent ending. Bilis Manger has manipulated the team and following the events of the previous episode manages to use the Cardiff rift to orchestrate the return of Abaddon, the son of the Great Beast (see The Satan Pit) who appears to have been sealed away somewhere. Freed the monster strides across Cardiff and wherever his shadow falls people die.

First off I am going to point out something that does grate on my nerves with the current Whoniverse. In recent years there have been too many major events where there is no chance for anyone (other than Donna Noble it seems) to have missed it. Classic Who never did this. Lots of little things and events that could be covered up. The 21st century may be when everything changes but personally I find it a bit much. Especially as these events rarely get mentioned again despite being huge occurrences for the world.

Despite that we have here a really good episode and some excellent closure for events that have taken place this season. Jack's immortality is revealed to the rest of the team, the team themselves seem to have a moment where their past transgressions are forgiven and you get a sense that maybe, just maybe everything will be ok now even though we know it won't be.

Using Abaddon is a nice tie in to Doctor Who and we have had such few connections really considering this is a spin off set in the same universe. I just wish he had received more and useful screen time. 

At the end of the episode we hear a familiar whirring groaning noise and Jack takes off in a rush before anyone realizes where he has gone. It ties in to the end of the next Doctor Who series but with a small and probably forgotten at the time continuity issue.

Sadly the following seasons of Torchwood never live up this first season which I think is a real shame as it had potential to be a good adult version of Doctor Who. 

Episode #177 : The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit

"I am the rage, and the bile, and the ferocity! I am the Prince, and the fool, and the agony! I am the sin, and the fire, and the darkness! I shall never die! The thought of me is forever: in the bleeding hearts of men, in their vanity, obsession, and lust! Nothing shall ever destroy me! Nothing!"

Episode 177:   The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit.
Companions:   10th Doctor and Rose Tyler.
Air Date:         3rd to 10th June 2006.

The Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler lose the TARDIS down a deep chasm, leaving themselves stranded on a space base positioned on a planet in the orbit of a black hole. Meanwhile, an entity who identifies as Satan himself, is awakening and beginning to cause chaos amongst the crew.

This is a really good adventure for our time travellers. Here we have a story that combines elements of Alien/s, the Omen, and so many other loved films. Stranded upon an impossible planet in the mouth of a black hole, the Doctor and Rose encounter scientists from the Torchwood Archives, the Ood and an ancient force of absolute evil. Slowly things go from bad to worse as the entity calling itself the Beast begins to possess the collective thoughts of the Ood and one of the scientists. Being a fan of the Alien series of films I always get a bit of giddy feeling when our heroes have to flee through air ducts to escape, and that scene seems well copied from those movies.

The Beast says that it came from a time before this universe existed making it one of the Great Old Ones, assuming it is telling the truth. Through out it's existence it has been the source of all forms of evil through the universe from Satan on Earth to the Kaled god of war. The appearance of the Beast and the possessed voice really make this story a cut above the recent ones. The question comes up however, who trapped him in there? Since the Great Old Ones are a take on the entities from the Cthulhu Mythos, are there a race of "elder gods" who imprisoned them?

This is the sort of story I would have loved to see as a three part story which would allow us some more back story, both for the Beast and the crew of the sanctuary base. The Beast seems to know of their dark flaws, weakness and so forth, and perhaps with more time that could have been expanded upon. However, one thing we get from the Beast is a revelation that Rose will die in battle setting up a not too distant episode.

If there is one thing that hinders this story it is the constant love interest elements. We get it. They both love one another but can't say it for whatever reason. When they think they have lost the TARDIS we get a few minutes of them planning their future "together". I am in the camp of fans who feels that there shouldn't be a love interest between the Doctor and his companions. It is there for modern audiences I suppose.

Episode #157 : The Curse of Fenric

"We hoped to return to the North Way, but the dark curse follows our dragon ship... The Wolves of Fenric shall return for their treasure, and then shall the dark evil rule eternally."

Episode 157:   The Curse of Fenric.
Companions:   7th Doctor and Ace.
Air Date:         25 October to 15th November 1989.

The TARDIS materialises at a secret naval base off the coast of Northumberland toward the end of the Second World War. Dr Judson, a scientist there, has created the Ultima Machine, an early computer designed to break German codes. The base's Commander Millington plans to let a Russian commando unit led by Captain Sorin steal the Machine's core, which he has booby-trapped with deadly toxin. Judson uses the Machine to translate some ancient runes from the crypt of the nearby St Judes church and this leads to the release of Fenric, an evil entity from the dawn of time whom the Doctor trapped seventeen centuries earlier in a Chinese flask by defeating it at chess.

The Curse of Fenric is an exceptional story that covers multiple story lines and wraps up a number of plot lines that we perhaps didn't even notice were there. Mainly the story deals with the return of Fenric, a Great Old One, sealed away by the Doctor in a much earlier untelevised adventure. We learn that the Doctor beat Fenric at chess in order to do so. The chess game we saw previously in Silver Nemesis, was part of Fenric's scheme, and we learn that the time storm that snatched Ace away from home to deposit her on IceWorld was also his doing. Fenric had been planning things for a very long time.

The script for this is perfect. There isn't anything wrong with it and combined with excellent production values gives us a chilling atmospheric tale of ancient horror set to a backdrop of the second world war. If only the late 80's could have had this level of writing and production value all the way through then no one could have complained.

The celebrity guest star in this tale was Nicholas Parsons, a household name in the 1970's and 80's for the game show Sale of the Century. In this story he plays a priest who has lost his faith because of the horrors of war.

This story is very much a return to classic Doctor vs the monsters but with some of the best writing of the classic show. You cannot go wrong with The Curse of Fenric.

Episode #154 : The Greatest Show in the Galaxy

"I told you, girl, to get lost. Or I'll do something 'orrible to your ears"

Episode 154:   The Greatest Show in the Galaxy.
Companions:   7th Doctor and Ace.
Air Date:         14th December 1988 to 4th January 1989.

The Doctor and Ace head for the Psychic Circus on the planet Segonax, where they meet a disparate group of fellow visitors including a pompous explorer named Captain Cook and his companion Mags and a biker known as Nord. The Circus itself is dominated by the sinister Chief Clown and his deadly troupe of robot clowns, who organise a talent contest in which all visitors take part. The audience consists of just a single strange family - mother, father and daughter - seated at the ringside. Although hindered by the treacherous Cook, the Doctor eventually discovers that the Circus hides a terrible secret: the family are in reality the Gods of Ragnarok, powerful creatures with an insatiable craving for entertainment who invariably destroy those who fail to please them. With Ace's help, the Doctor ends the Gods' influence here and returns the Circus to the control of its original hippie owners.

The idea of a dark and evil force lurking behind the farcical front of a circus is nothing new but it is a plot element that I am surprised took this long to appear in the show. This adventure for the 7th Doctor and Ace takes that and gives it a rather bizarre surreal twist but not in a way that I find particularly good way. Surreal can be a very good way of dealing with a story concept but this adventure takes it a step too far with robot clowns, ancient "gods" from before the dawn of time and characters that just don't fit the Whoniverse at all. The Greatest Show in the Galaxy hearkens back to the early days when we had stories like The Mind Robber and the The Celestial Toymaker. Those stories didn't really fit in either but dropping such a story in now feels even more out of place.

The 7th Doctor drops back into the mold in which he first appeared on our screens with a clownish behaviour. He seems to be enjoying this dark eerie circus far too much and spends a big chunk of the final part just doing stage magic to amuse the Gods of Ragnarok. Where is the manipulative Doctor who had started to appear over the last few stories?

One interesting note for this story was a surprise for myself. Whilst doing some research on the story I learnt that the actor playing the Ringmaster (Ricco Ross) played the marine Frost in the Aliens movie. Sometimes it really is surprising to see who ends up with a role in BBC television dramas.

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is one of the biggest flops for the show. I recommend avoiding this one entirely.

Episode #41 : The Web of Fear

Episode 41:   The Web of Fear.
Companions: The 2nd Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield.
Air Date:        Six episodes. 3rd February to 9th March 1968.

The TARDIS narrowly avoids becoming engulfed in a cobwebby substance in space. It arrives in the London Underground railway system, the tunnels of which are being overrun by the web and by the Great Intelligence's robot Yeti.

At the close of The Enemy of the World, a special trailer was played to prepare viewers for the terrors that were to come with The Web of Fear. The audio remains and has been turned into an animated feature here:

 

 

The Web of Fear is a sequel of sorts to The Abominable Snowmen and continues the machinations of the Great Intelligence as it seeks physical form or whatever it's ultimate goal is at this time. This story also introduces one of the most loved characters in the show, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (though he is Colonel at the time of this story). It can well be argued that the events of this story would perhaps be the reason for the founding of U.N.I.T. later on.

 

The sets were so well done that during the showing of this story the BBC received complaints from the London Underground claiming that they had filmed down there without permission.

 

This would be the last time that we see the Great Intelligence in the classic run of the show. It does return much later on for the eleventh Doctor where we also learn how it knew to use the London Underground for its invasion.

 

Episode #38 : The Abominable Snowmen

Jamie: Have you thought up some clever plan, Doctor?

The Doctor: Yes, Jamie, I believe I have.

Jamie: What are you going to do?

The Doctor: Bung a rock at it.

Episode 38:    The Abominable Snowmen.
Companions:  The 2nd Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon and Victoria Waterfield.
Air Date:        Six episodes. 30th September to 4th November 1967.

Mysterious forces are at work in 1930s Tibet. The once gentle Yeti have turned savage and besieged a Buddhist monastery. The Second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria arrive expecting a friendly welcome from the abbot, but soon become ensnared in the plans of the extradimensional being known as the Great Intelligence.

This story sets up another sort-of long running villain in The Great Intelligence, an entity also retconned into being another of HP Lovecraft's Great Old Ones. In this case, it is supposed to be the god-like entity called Yog Sothoth even though it bears little in relation to that being. There is a gap of 44 years between appearances, giving The Great Intelligence the biggest gap between appearances on screen of any villain so far.

Only the second episode of this story survives so again I am basing this review on episode synopses. With that in mind it is difficult to actually tell what the plot of the villainous Intelligence involves. It hints that it is seeking a physical form but I don't think it is implicit that that is the case. The story also sets up the appearance of the robot Yeti, who only make a couple further appearances at this point. Whether these are meant to be the new physical form for the Intelligence is unclear.

As episodes go it seems ok, but lacking in motivations for the villain, but again that could just be the result of reading the synopses.

Episode #13 : The Web Planet

"I wouldn’t had thought it possible, but somehow we’ve materialised, for a split second of time, and been imprisoned in some kind of force. I simply can’t break its hold. Somewhere, somehow, we’re being slowly dragged down."

Episode 13:   The Web Planet
Companions: The 1st Doctor, Vicki, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright.
Air Date:        Six episodes. 13th February to 20th March 1965.

On the planet Vortis, the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki are swept up in the struggles of the butterfly-like Menoptera, the original denizens of Vortis who were forced to flee the planet for the moon Pictos to escape the encroaching web of the Animus and its mind-controlled minions, the ant-like Zarbi and their living weapons, the larvae guns.

Unfortunately The Web Planet is yet another story which is far too long for its own good. At six parts it feels horribly drawn out and you have whole sections that could have been cut back. It is a real shame because had it been shorter I feel it would have made a rather good story.

This is Doctor Who and I feel bad criticising anything that appears cheap and nasty (remember wobbling walls in some stories?) as that was the charm for me at least under classic Who but this story is quite bad. I can forgive the look of the set due to the era this was made but the alien costumes for the Zarbi, Menoptera, and Optera are just awful. They are children's fancy dress costumes and little else. I can appreciate that at the time making an insectoid appearence would be difficult but I am sure they could have done better.

One interesting addition to this story comes from the expanded universe of the novels - though there is reference in the animated story The Infinite Quest making the concept semi-canonical. That addition makes the Animus one of the Great Old Ones from the Cthulhu Mythos of HP Lovecraft. In this case the Animus is supposed to be an entity called Lloigor, though it bears little real resemblence to that fictional entity. This is not the last appearence or reference to a Great Old One in the show.

Ultimately I feel this is a story that could have been a lot better both in length and production efforts. A fairly dissapointing tale.