Companion Stats: Victoria Waterfield

Names: Victoria Waterfield
Actor/Actress: Deborah Watling
Doctor/s: Second
Years: 1967 - 1968

After her father is murdered by the Daleks, Victoria joins Jamie and the Doctor in the TARDIS. Plucky, strong-willed and with some great vocal chords, Victoria is a strong addition to the TARDIS and saw a lot of change throughout her tenure.

Episode Ranking

1. The Ice Warriors (9.5/10)
2. The Evil of the Daleks (9/10)
3. The Web of Fear (8/10)
4. Fury from the Deep (7/10)
5. The Tomb of the Cybermen (6.5/10)
6. The Enemy of the World (6/10)
7. The Abominable Snowmen (5/10)

These average out to make...                                                                            7.21/10

With a range of...                                                                                                  4.5

We can also break this down into meaning Victoria starred in...

2 Amazing Stories (9+/10)
1 Great Ones (8+/10)
1 Good One (7+/10)
2 Okay One (6+/10)
1 Bad One (4+/10)

In my opinion Victoria is at their best in The Abominable Snowmen where she shows her strong-willed independence and delightful curiosity.

Here is a graph showing the performance of Victoria's run:

The red line represents their average (7.21/10). Click to enlarge.

Fury from the Deep (TV Story) Review

Title: Fury from the Deep
Writer: Victor Pemberton
Original Broadcast Date: 16 March 1968 - 20 April 1968

Coming in right towards the end of Season Five, Fury from the Deep tells the tale of a gas refinery under siege, home to a boss who shouts everything he says and creatures invading from below, and when the Doctor and his friends arrive they are not believed of the dangers until it is too late. Wait - haven't we seen this one already?

Fury from the Deep follows closely the basic Troughton story blueprint and unfortunately it isn't particularly spectacular in its execution. While it does nothing bad, it doesn't do anything good either, making this story incredibly and remarkably average.

The only real problem with this six-parter is the fact the enemy is seaweed and seafoam, which you'd think would be a lot scarier by the amount of screaming Victoria does around them. On the subject of Victoria, after a season of adventuring, we see her bow out, which was probably the only unique thing about this story. Her exit - unlike Polly, Ben, and Dodo's before her - is hinted to throughout and is really rather good, while - again, nothing spectacular - its sweet and heartwarming.

Troughton is brilliant, especially in a particular scene in the final episode involving a helicopter without a pilot, and Jamie is as good as ever. Some dialogue in the third and fourth parts gives some great insight into his character, showing his complete trust for the time lord.

Absolutely unspectacular, but good fun; Fury from the Deep is a decent base-under-siege that sits towards the top end of Season Five.

7/10

The Web of Fear (TV Story) Review

Title: The Web of Fear
Writer: Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln
Original Broadcast Date: 3 February 1968 - 9 March 1968

While last time I questioned the sanity of the man who decided to bring the Great Intelligence and their Yeti minions back for another episode; this time I'd question the sanity of the man who wouldn't want to bring them back, after this brilliant second outing, bringing out the best in the monsters.

40 years has passed since Professor Travers left Tibet, but to this day he has never spoken of what really happened. That is until his past comes back to haunt him, and three travelers he met all those years ago arrive, looking not a day older.

What makes me like The Web of Fear comes down to two major things, as what draws from it slightly are two major problems. Starting with what makes it great, the story reunites the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria with Professor Travers, now 40 years older, after his Tibetan expedition (see The Abominable Snowmen). Jack Watling portrays a brilliant yet very different man to the Travers we saw in Tibet, with age and the experience having taken his toll on him. But the great cast does not stop there: Tina Packer plays the intelligent Anne Travers, who would make a fantastic companion; Nicholas Courtney is memorable in his debut as the legendary Brigadier - although at the time, Colonel - Lethbrige-Stewart; and Derek Pollit makes a hilarious welsh army driver, who adds touch of lightness to this quite dark story.

The other thing that makes this story great is the atmosphere, which Doctor Who directing legend, Douglas Camfield captures brilliantly, utilizing the setting of the London underground to great effect. The Yetis, who I found to be pretty unspectacular in their debut, are much better in this story, and Camfield worked miracles on them, shooting them in brilliant angles to make them genuinely feel a threat.

Now onto the negatives of this story, the first being the setting. Yes!; what made the atmosphere also hindered my enjoyment somewhat, with most of the action taking place in far too similar looking corridors, simply because the story mostly took place in between tube stations. Very little progress felt like it was being made because of this, and lengthy scenes were made to feel a tad dull.

Towards the end of the six-parter the idea of a traitor was hinted at and - I shall not spoil it - a certain person was the perfect candidate for this role, and some scenes even pointed towards them. In fact, I was absolutely convinced this certain someone was in alliance with the Great Intelligence, except they weren't. No one was. There was no proper delivery on this idea at all, giving me a pang of anti-climacticy when the credits rolled up. I feel both the character and the story would have benefited from utilizing this character in the way I expected, but it opted for a plot twist, which felt more of a cop out than a game-changing u-turn.

The Web of Fear makes a much better job of the Great Intelligence, has a great setting, a wonderful cast, and an array of action sequences, making this one of the best base-under-siege stories so far.

8/10

The Enemy of the World (TV Story) Review

Title: The Enemy of the World
Writer: David Whitaker
Original Broadcast Date: 23 December 1967 - 27 January 1968

2013 was a massive year for Doctor Who, seeing the 50th anniversary of the show, but also the biggest haul of missing episodes ever: all episodes of The Enemy of the World and five out of six of The Web of Fear made its way to online and to DVD release, to be watched for the first time in almost 50 years. Since, Enemy has shot up in fans' rankings, now an under-loved classic after years of being percieved as pretty mediocre story, but was it really all it was hyped to be, or just the opinion through rose-tinted glasses after the recovery of this action-packed, Bond-like six parter?

Short answer: not quite. I often found myself questioning if I was genuinely watching Doctor Who or just some James Bond imitation on a cheap BBC budget, with, something that mostly goes without saying for most 60s Who but needs stressing in this case, terrible additional cast. In fact I found only four out of ten or so side characters to be played decently, or at least to acceptable levels for its time. The others were utterly crap, especially Milton Johns, who played the greasy, unpleasant deputy of Salamander with absolutely no hint of talent and a god awful haircut. Also watch out for Adam Verney playing Colin with the acting ability of a lamp.

For what it lacks in the ability of some additional cast, it makes up for the brilliance of the others: Mary Peach plays a brilliant woman of action as Astrid (who would make a great companion by the way), Carmen Munroe as the brilliantly developed Fariah (another great candidate for companion) and of course Patrick Troughton, who not only plays the Doctor in this story, but the evil, cunning and manipulative Salamander.

On the subject of the villain, I'd like to mention what a brilliant actor Troughton is in portraying not just two seperate characters, but with such conviction and sheer talent that they don't just seem like different characters, it seems like two entirely different actors are playing the roles. It's crazy how well he plays it! I actually had to remind myself they were the same man.

Unfortunately the way early Doctor Who episodes were filmed made this work only to an extent. Usually an episode would be film practically live with only two or three breaks in, having to wrap up filming in about 75 minutes. This meant Troughton could not be in consecutive scenes with a different costume so easily and thus rather than back and forth scenes between the villain and the time lord, there are bursts of story progression for each character for a period of time, before switching to the other one, making the various plots all feel rather disjointed and not integrated, not simultaneously building towards a crescendo like most episodes do.

This was only made worse by Frazer Hines and Deborah Watling both taking a week off for filming of episode four, and thus not appearing for a lengthy one and half episodes, meaning focus had to be shifted to the other plot strands, which felt as if they were being run into the ground just before they finally returned to the screen to my great relief. This and the fact Salamander, being Troughton, took away screen time from the Doctor, also contributed to the story not quite feeling very Doctor Who-ish.

Ending on a high note after the noticeable dip in quality in the middle, The Enemy of the World is a mixed bag: with both breathtaking and crap performances, great scenes and clunky ones, but stands out in a series of base-under-sieges with a Bond-like feel and the lack of alien presence at all.

6/10

The Ice Warriors (TV Story) Review

Title: The Ice Warriors
Writer: Brian Hayles
Original Broadcast Date: 11 November 1967 - 16 December 1967

In the distant future the earth has descended into another ice age and the TARDIS lands near Brittanicus Base 3300, where scientists are fighting to fend off the advancing ice glacier. Deep beneath the glacier, something sleeps: a warrior frozen within the ice.

While by the time The Ice Warriors swung around we had seen our fair share of base-under-siege episodes, I never felt we were retreading steps with this rather chilling, atmospheric six-parter, that introduced one of Doctor Who's most iconic monster, the Ice Warriors.

Something that is established right from the start is the high tension nature of this story, which doesn't get in the way of light-hearted moments (see the Doctor landing the TARDIS sideways and Jamie, Victoria and him having to climb out of the TARDIS), allowing for each regular to shine. Whether its Jamie's plead for Victoria to wear tighter clothes, Victoria faking crying to secrete her conversation with the Doctor, or the Doctor failing to pull a lid off a bottle of poison, there are many scenes throughout that remind us of the almost homely feel of the trio, something that never felt quite there with previous companions Ben and Polly.

In their debut, the Ice Warriors are brilliant, from the costume design to their voices, they stun and intrigue you whilst being rather frightening. The special effect of their gun's fire is surprisingly good, and is a neat visual effect that adds to the polish of the story.

There are some heavy undertones present in this story, tying into the conclusion with a well-handled moral, that didn't feel an afterthought at all, but a well construed, and developed idea, while not making itself too obvious with the perfect balance of subtlety.

By the end of its six parts, The Ice Warriors had offered a great base-under-siege, with high stakes and tension, a frightening monster, deep undertones, and a great use and exploration of a highly atmospheric setting, while never under or overstaying its welcome.

9.5/10

The Abominable Snowmen (TV Story) Review

Title: The Abominable Snowmen
Writer/s: Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincolm
Original Broadcast Date: 30 September 1967 - 4 November 1967

The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria land in the Himalayas, where the previously shy and timid Yeti are reported to appear violent, attacking travelers. When the Doctor visits a Bhuddist monastery, the least he expects is to become ensnared in the plans of an extra-dimensional being.

After a mediocre outing with the Cybermen, Season 5 fails to redeem itself with this boring, drawn out six-parter that shows hints of what could have been a riveting adventure.

These glimpses mainly are in the first one and a half, and the fifth episodes, the former extremely atmospheric and compelling in its introduction, mirroring those of The Time Meddler and Marco Polo. But unlike these two masterful serials once the side characters are brought in I found myself stifling yawns during what is best described as tedious politics between the monks. These monks in question are one of the biggest problems with its story: their costumes look cheap and glued together with sequins, their characters are very one-dimensional and in places incredibly annoying, and I'm pretty sure there were no Caucasian Buddhist Abbots living in Tibet in 1935!

Beyond the first two parts, the most enjoyment I got from this story was from the chemistry between Victoria and both Jamie and the Doctor. A stark contrast to her previous story, Victoria is much more active, and is delightfully inquisitive throughout the six parts, leading scenes with great confidence and experience. Even her excessive screaming has its pluses, with it being played for the laughs early on in the story:

"If you need me for anything just yell your head off."

"Don't worry, I will!" 

By the fourth episode there is a definite feeling of claustrophobia, where the setting is severly underused: the story sticks to the first three settings it stumbles upon, making for some tedious to-and-fro. Despite this the setting makes up for some great visuals in the second and only existing part, with some gorgeous and incredibly clear location shots, some that looked less grainy than the dimly lit sets of the monastery.

The big-bad of The Abominable Snowmen, the Great Intelligence, is also the big-bad in the story's quality, never feeling like the proper villain, but rather a servant of the great (but tellytubby-like) Yeti, which is ironic considering the actual standings. While a interesting concept, the Great Intelligence doesn't actually do very much, rather than saying things in an echo-y voice and hypnotizing people (which is used as a plot-device far too often).

From this story alone I would question the sanity of the man who decided bringing them back would be a good idea, but then again they also decided to broadcast this abominable second outing in a so far poor season.

5/10

The Tomb of the Cybermen (TV Story) Review

Title: The Tomb of the Cybermen
Writer: Gerry Davis and Kit Pedler
Original Broadcast Date: 2 September 1967 - 23 September 1967

Back yet again, the Cybermen face the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria as an archaeological dig uncovers a control centre, where deep below a chamber holds the long-lost tomb of the Cybermen - an archaeological marvel, that is until they start to wake up. Often credited as one of the best stories of Doctor Who ever, The Tomb of the Cybermen inevitably has a reputation that precedes it, but I never expected be as clumsy as it was.

My major complaint behind this four-parter is the lack of genuine threat behind the Cybermen, something that was what made previous stories such as The Moonbase and The Tenth Planet so good. This is mostly due to the fact they have very little to do throughout the story, being trapped down n the tomb for the entire length, and when they do get some action their movement seems more erratic, destroying a certain edge from their emotionless robotic factor.

Two new additions to Cybermen lore comes in the forms of the rodent-like Cybermats and the Cyberleader - I'll get to him later. The Cybermats seem like a poorly explored idea done to bring a bit more action to the story, seeing as the Cybermen are unable to get out of the tomb. This isn't the only case of this: the story constantly relies on short sequences of action that feel totally irrelevant to the plot, clutching at straws to stretch the story to fit four parts, namely the Episode 1 cliffhanger, which you later learn doesn't affect standings much at all. The aforementioned Cyberleader who again could have been quite scary isn't simply because he looks rather phallic, and doesn't add much, again feeling like another side-step just to stretch out the rather lacking main plot.

Victoria, having joined the TARDIS in the previous story, The Evil of the Daleks, doesn't do much, failing to sell me on her character, simply because all she seems to do the entire story is stay out of trouble's way and scream... a lot. She does get a bit of action when she tries to attack a Cybermen with a water bottle (again adding to her lack of suitability as a companion), but apart from that she is pretty void of any integrity or character for that matter. Despite this Troughton and Watling have some great chemistry and real potential is shown in the character by the Doctor's side.

"Ah, you scream real good, Vic!"

Missing episodes often benefit in terms of fans' opinions due to the lack of visuals, which means visual faults cannot be judged, and I feel this story would be much higher regarded if so. The direction is pretty clumsy throughout, with some erratic Cybermen attacks, and poorly thoughout camera angles and cuts. Sometimes it is not entirely clear what is going on, and I sometime had to rewind the episode to figure it out.

Despite all the problems there are glimpses of genuine script-writing genius, especially in the opening half of the first episode, setting an excellent tone, utilizing the setting of an archaeological dig that works really well in Doctor Who. Other highlights include the Doctor's interactions with his companions, with some great comedy moments (such as the Doctor and Jamie's accidental hand-holding, and Jamie's reactions to the Doctor's 'metal breakdown' pun), but also those with some great insight into the characters (such as the Doctor and Victoria's talk about the events of the previous episode and the death of her father).

"You probably can't remember your family"

"Oh yes, I can when I want to. And that's the point, really. I have to really want to, to bring them back in front of my eyes. The rest of the time they sleep in my mind, and I forget. And so will you. Oh yes, you will. You'll find there is so much more to think about. So remember, our lives are very different to anybody else's. Thats the thing. There's nobody in the universe who can do what we're doing" 

Opening Season Five in a clumsy fashion, The Tomb of the Cybermen suffers from lack of a meaty plot, leading to blatant points added in just to dial up the action, poor direction and Cybermen who feel not at all scary, but does have glimpses of brilliance, adding some redeeming factors to this highly overrated adventure.

6.5/10

The Legends of Ashildr (Book) Review

Title: The Legends of Ashildr

Writer/s: James Goss, David Llewellyn, Jenny T. Colgan and Justin Richards

Original Release Date: 10 December 2015

Taking a break from our usual Classic Who reviews, we come to The Legends of Ashildr, an anthology of four short stories starring Ashildr on her many adventures during her eternal life, taking place in between the Series 9 episodes, The Girl Who Died and The Woman Who Lived. Because of its format I thought it would be best to review each of the four short stories individually and give my final verdict of the book at the end. To start with we have...

The Arabian Nightmare by James Goss

Opening the collection comes an interestingly-formatted story basing itself around the idea of shorter adventures combined into a large scale picture and it works to an extent. The length of only 70 pages (in rather large font) results in a writing style that feels far too passive and condensed, that if a paragraph is skipped (or even a sentence for that matter) you may miss a multitude of key events.

These shorter adventures tie together well but a certain character seems to have been forgotten and is written out without any conclusion which may have been done on purpose, to make a statement on how things as important as human life is dismissed so easily when one is immortal, but this seems more like an afterthought.

Overall an interestingly formatted story that didn't quite work, but may have done so better if stretched out into a full book.

5/10

The Fortunate Isles by David Llewellyn
Second in order, David Llewellyn's entry is a much better example of a structured and well-construed story, telling of Ashildr, in alliance with a group of sailors, in search of an island of treasures, providing a slightly naff but better realised plot.

From the get go you'll notice the much more detailed and drawn out writing style, offering a significant improvement over the previous entry, and there being much more focus, allowing for a more leisurely and natural pace. That is until halfway through the story, which feels much more rushed and once again could have worked better if developed into a full book, a recurring problem with this anthology. The Fortunate Isles' biggest problem lies in the fact two stories into the book it is nothing more than a filler.

6.5/10

The Triple Knife by Jenny T. Colgan
Tragic, emotive and heavy in significance, The Triple Knife is an example of what these short stories should be. There is not much that can be said without spoiling the plot, for it leads into an event we've seen on TV beautifully, and in a clever fashion, and explores the moral hardships Ashildr faced and the narration carries a definite weight, reflecting the character's outlook on life, but falls down slightly in the delivery which would have benefited from a few extra pages, resulting in a slightly convoluted telling of the tale, and the main plot feel forced to fit the conclusion.

7.5/10

The Ghosts of Branscombe Wood by Justin Richards
Ending the collection with a bang, The Ghosts of Branscombe Wood is the perfect mixture between filler and arc-heavy, allowing for its own tale to be told, but also connections to be made with previous adventures and TV appearances. By the end of the tale you also get a real sense of the character's development, which worked much better in the narration of Ashildr, rather than third person used in the first two. The plot is fun and intriguing, simple but fitting for its length and  it is told in perfect pace, something that is lacking in the other tales.

9.5/10

Overview

Overall The Legends of Ashildr is a mixed bag, with two mediocre stories that failed to grasp the essence of the character and the show, feeling more like fairy tales than extended universe stories, and two excellent ones, working in a much better perspective, that allows for better pacing, plots and characterization of the woman who lived.

7/10

Season 4 - Ranking and Stats

Doctor Who - Season Four (1966/67)
10 September 1966 - 1 July 1967

William Hartnell's last and Patrick Troughton's first, Season 4 of Doctor Who was a roller coaster throughout, providing us with unforgettable moments such as the first Cyberman appearance and the first ever regeneration. Season 4 is undeniably one of the biggest game-changing seasons, second only to the very first.

Ranking

1. The Tenth Planet (9.5/10)
2. The Evil of the Daleks (9/10)
3. The Moonbase (9/10)
4. The Highlanders (9/10)
5. The Power of the Daleks (8/10)
6. The Macra Terror (8/10)
7. The Smugglers (7.5/10)
8. The Underwater Menace (6/10)
9. The Faceless Ones (5/10)

Averaging these out means Season Four has an average rating of...                  7.89/10

And a range of                                                                                                        4.5

From my ratings we can see Season Four had:
4 Amazing Episodes (9+/10)
2 Great Episodes (8+/10)
1 Good Episode (7+/10)
1 Okay Episode (6+/10)
1 Bad Episode (4+/10)
1 Terrible Episode (2+/10)

Here is a graph of my ratings:

The red line is the average. Click to enlarge.

Comparison

So far in our marathon we rated all over Season One, Two and Three's episodes, par the missing ones, so the averages could change when I get around to listening to the surviving audio or watching orphaned episodes.

In terms of average quality, Season Four comes in at second place, behind Season Two.

1. Season Two - 7.94/10
2. Season Four - 7.89/10
3. Season One - 7.79/10
4. Season Three - 7.5/10

In terms of range, it is in second as well. As so many Season Three episodes are missing, the range is counted from the only three surviving serials, so this is bound to change.

1. Season Three - 2.5
2. Season Four - 4.5
3. Season One - 5.5
4. Season Two - 8

That's all folks! Join us in two days time for a review of The Legends of Ashildr, the book, and following that: the first episode of Season Five: The Tomb of the Cybermen!

The Evil of the Daleks (TV Story) Review

Title: The Evil of the Daleks
Writer: David Whitaker
Original Broadcast Date: 20 May 1967 - 1 July 1967

"The Hybrid is not half Dalek. Nothing is half Dalek. The Daleks would never allow that!" 

These words uttered 48 years and 10 Doctors after The Evil of the Daleks seemed to be inspired by this fantastic and high-staked finale, because this is the story behind how the Doctor found that out.

The story picks off from where The Faceless Ones left us: the Doctor and Jamie, now without Ben and Polly, stuck in 1966, with the TARDIS having been stolen. Their search for the time machine leads them into the hands of Mr. Waterfield, an antique shop owner who seems to stick out like a sore thumb in the swinging '60s. The antiques that aren't so antique and the victorian-dressed Mr Waterfield prove the be the least of the Doctor's issues after he discovers a plot, devised by his worse enemies: the Daleks!

Like most stories in the fourth season, The Evil of the Daleks is missing... mostly. The second episode of this seven-parter remains the only existing episode (to our knowledge), and you can be glad of that, as it is is full of intrigue and mystery, which can't quite be captured on audio.

The story dips slightly in quality by the fifth part, but is back up again, reaching new heights by the sixth episode. What the fifth episode does lack in substantial progression, it (partly) makes up for with an intriguing investigation into what sets humans and Daleks apart. This idea's further exploration is promised, and unlike most Doctor Who episodes with interesting undertones, delivers, which leads into the clever conclusion.

Regular readers may remember my disappointment in the under-usage of Jamie in previous stories such as The Moonbase and The Highlanders, and I'm glad to say Jamie finally got time in the spotlight, given some great scenes in which he stood up to the Doctor. Just as when Barbara did the same in The Edge of Destruction, this stand lead to their friendship seeing new proximity, as the odd pair form a brilliant and entertaining duo.

The Evil of the Daleks, originally planned to be the final ever appearance of the Daleks, would have provided a lovely bow-out for everyone's favourite pepper-pot mutants, but thank god they didn't, because by the end of this glorious seven-parter I just wanted more of them!

9/10

Click here to check out my DVD Cover Mock Up for The Evil of the Daleks!

Companion Stats: Ben Jackson and Polly Wright

Names: Ben Jackson and Polly Wright
Actor/Actress: Michael Craze and Anneke Wills
Doctor/s: First and Second
Years: 1966 - 1967

Coming in right at the end of the Hartnell era, Ben and Polly traveled with the Doctor, and were the first companions to help the Doctor through his regeneration. The two intuitive and brave citizens of the swinging 60s were swept off in the TARDIS by accident, in The War Machines and stayed on until The Faceless Ones, one season and one Doctor later.

Episode Ranking

1. The Tenth Planet (9.5/10)
2. The War Machines (9/10)
3. The Moonbase (9/10)
4. The Highlanders (9/10)
5. The Power of the Daleks (8/10)
6. The Macra Terror (8/10)
7. The Smugglers (7.5/10)
8. The Underwater Menace (6/10)
9. The Faceless Ones (5/10)

These average out to make...                                                                            7.89/10

With a range of...                                                                                                  4.5

We can also break this down into meaning Ben and Polly starred in...

4 Amazing Stories (9+/10)
2 Great Ones (8+/10)
1 Good One (7+/10)
1 Okay One (6+/10)
1 Bad One (4+/10)

In my opinion Ben and Polly are at their best in their debut, The War Machines, where they show their bravery and resourcefulness, displaying their suitability as companions.

Here is a graph showing the performance of Ben and Polly's run:

The red line represents their average (7.89/10). Click to enlarge.

Comparison

We can see the young pair come in at third place in terms of quality of episodes:

1. Vicki Pallister - 8.08/10
2. Steven Taylor - 8/10
3. Ben Jackson and Polly Wright - 7.89/10
4. Susan Foreman - 7.7/10
5. Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright - 7.65/10
6. Dodo Chaplet - 7.5/10

And again, at third place, with consistency! Remember the lower the consistency the better!

1. Dodo Chaplet - 2.5
2. Steven Taylor - 3
3. Ben Jackson and Polly Wright - 4.5
4. Susan Foreman - 5.5
5. Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright - 8
6. Vicki Pallister - 8

These results could differ (extremely so in Steven and Dodo's case) when I finally get round to reviewing the missing Hartnell episodes, so these standings are temporary.

Join us in two days time for the review of the Season 4 finale, The Evil of the Daleks!

The Faceless Ones (TV Story) Review

Title: The Faceless Ones
Writer: David Ellis and Malcolm Hulke
Original Broadcast Date: 8 April 1967 - 13 May 1967

The TARDIS lands in Gatwick Aiport, 1966, where Polly discovers a murder in a nearby hangar, before she is kidnapped. Jamie and the Doctor attempt to find her when they uncover a series of mysteries, all revolving around Chameleon Tours: planes full of thousands have people have arrived in their destination with no one on board!

From what I heard about this story I expected it be an early Troughton masterpiece; that, it certainly was not! The episode starts off with a great chase scene, where the Doctor and friends all separate as they are chased by the police around the runway of an airport. I regret to say this was the most enjoyable part of the story. After that it all goes downhill.

The Faceless Ones, with such an intriguing concept behind it, failed to capitalize on its potential, leaving us with a rather unpolished, inconsistent story that dragged on too long. Perhaps it would have worked if it was reduced to four parts, but pacing is not its biggest problem. Instead that lies in how it handles (or fails to) the characters, with Ben and Polly completely sidelined for most of what is their final appearance, only present in the first two and last episodes. While not as bad as Dodo's departure, it feels more offensive mainly because of the fact no one liked Dodo (sorry Jackie Lane!); Ben and Polly were a fantastic duo that brought some lovely charm to many adventures across the two Doctor's eras they featured in.

Adding to the already ridiculous situation, the lovely Pauline Collins (who I'm afraid can't pull off a Liverpool accent) takes their place for the rest of the episode, but even then, she is completely underused and forgotten about for large periods of time throughout.

Even with complications such as this stripped away, The Faceless Ones still lacks in quality, with a menace that never really felt menacing and (as two episodes remain intact) sloppy direction, making this story feel like it never took off. (Get it? Because its set in an airport? Ah forget it!)

5/10

The Macra Terror (TV Story) Review

Title: The Macra Terror
Writer: Ian Stuart Black
Original Broadcast Date: 11 March 1967 - 1 April 1967

The Macra Terror, sorely missed from the BBC archives, follows the adventures of The Doctor, Ben, Polly and Jamie in a earth colony holiday camp, where they're treated with luxury, but something doesn't seem right. A prisoner escapes, crying about massive insects, but no one believes him - the Macra don't exist! Or do they?

Plunged straight into action, the story sticks to this fast pace throughout its four parts, which works well considering some aspects of the plot are a little daft and are best moved on from, but its a lot of fun nonetheless. Countering The Moonbase's problem with dealing with three male leads, everyone, Doctor and companions included, has something to do in this story, and both Ben and Jamie are given some great time in the spotlight (and the latter is even given some hilarious lines).

As with all the missing episodes, the soundtrack is the only fragment of the episodes that exist, which could potentially work in its favour (60s Who Costume Design + Giant Crabs = Oh Dear!), or not considering the annoying screechy incidental music that could have been masked over with the brilliant visuals.

I'd also like to mention the great use of the setting in this story, with some great chase scenes (at least I assume they're great) and some touches to give the sense of the scale of the colony.

The Macra Terror is spectacular and incredibly unique, something quite unlike anything other in Who history, so very weird, but so very compelling.

8/10

The Moonbase (TV Story) Review

Title: The Moonbase
Writer: Kit Pedler
Original Broadcast Date: 11 February 1967 - 4 March 1967

Only 4 stories after their original appearance the Cybermen returned to Doctor Who in this frightening and well crafted base under siege.

The Doctor, Ben, Polly and Jamie land on the moon to find a base that controls the weather on earth, but there is mass fear among the crew. A disease is spreading and more and more people are dying, but the Doctor discovers something far more deadly on board the moonbase.

Jamie, in his second trip in the TARDIS, I found was slightly underused, due to the fact this was a very science-fiction based story, with less action than usual and thus the Scottish highlander couldn't add much to the progression. Instead he was sidelined, and Polly and Ben took the spotlight.

The Cybermen, were much creepier than in their first appearance, mostly due to the redesign which fixed the issue I had with their voices: now they sound much less camp and much scarier. Their improved fear factor is also due to the story allowing for some genuinely creepy moments and cliffhangers.

The fourth episode is a bit of a let down considering the superior quality in terms of plot of the first three but I still enjoyed the resolution to this brilliant base under siege, that keeps you simultaneously on the edge of your seat and hiding behind the sofa.

9/10

The Evil of the Daleks DVD Cover Mockup

Click here for a larger version

Here is my mock up cover for a DVD of The Evil of the Daleks! This is my second ever attempt at one of these so I'm rather proud of it and it is a massive improvement over my Marco Polo cover.

My review for this story will be up on the 13th of March, at 6:00 UK time!

The Underwater Menace (TV Story) Review

Title:  The Underwater Menace
Writer: Geoffrey Orme
Original Broadcast Date: 14 January 1967 - 4 February 1967

Ah, The Underwater Menace! What a story! Mad scientists, Atlantis, fish people: this story is utterly unforgettable, simply because its absolutely bonkers!

With Jamie now on board, the TARDIS lands on a deserted volcanic island, where deep below the surface the lost city of Atlantis thrives. Behind the seemingly primitive civilization, a scientist plots to destroy the world.

I actually really enjoyed watching this story, but that doesn't mean it's not crap. The story was very entertaining throughout but the plot was rather daft and far-fetched to say the least. The costume design, on par with The Web Planet's Menoptra, is terrible, with the fish people, who in concept are rather scary (and make for a spine-tingling cliffhanger to Part 1), look like a child's Halloween costume stitched together the previous night. Adding to this, the costumes for the residents of Atlantis are ugly and do nothing for the serial, other than add to the existing campness.

Thanks to the late decision to bring Jamie on board the TARDIS, Orme had the job of splitting lines between the now three companions which causes some lack of characterization, most offensive in the case of Polly, who is sidelined and portrayed as a weak, whimpering shell of the real character. Not affected by this, Troughton's Doctor, now comfy in the role, is undeniably awesome, providing a brilliant opposition against Joseph Furst who plays a chillingly mad scientist, who's progression into hysteria is unnerving. Their rivalry reflects that between The Doctor and The Master, yet to come into fruition by the time of the story's broadcast. Even so Furst's strong performance failed to draw a veil over the character's lack of development, with a poor excuse behind his motivations.

The second episode of The Underwater Menace is in fact the very first surviving Troughton episode, and while I'm thankful I got to watch him oppose a mad scientist whilst Polly, Ben and Jamie are dressed in fish-themed costumes, I'd much rather have the chance to see the creepy and atmospheric Power of the Daleks or the fun romp, The Highlanders over this entertaining but beyond far-fetched adventure.

6/10

The Highlanders (TV Story) Review

Title: The Highlanders
Writer: Elwyn Jones and Gerry Davis
Original Broadcast Date: 17 December 1966 - 7 January 1967

Placed right after Patrick Troughton's debut comes The Highlanders, introducing the Second Doctor's most famous and longest running companion, Jamie McCrimmon, and bringing an end to the pure historicals, being the very last one to broadcast for 15 years.

The Doctor, Ben and Polly land in Scotland, right after a battle between rebels and Red Coats, where they befriend a group of highlanders. Polly, by chance, manages to escape before British soldiers discover the rebel's hiding place and take The Doctor, Ben, Jamie, and Colin McClaren, the Laird to hang...

From that sypnosis you may have been able to figure out that this story follows the basic historical formula, with focus on imprisonment and attempts to escape, but this ceases to matter to me as it did it so well and it has its own unique charm, with a variety of unique settings and landscapes, and intriguing sub-plots.

Jamie McCrimmon in his first ever appearance is surprisingly underwhelming, and from any of the supporting cast, Kirsty, the daughter of the Laird seemed a more suitable choice for a companion from this story alone. This is mostly due to him being originally written to be a side character exclusive to this story, not planned to become a companion. This changed when the cast and crew got on so well with Frazer Hines, thus he became apart of the TARDIS team.

The Second Doctor, now settled into the role, was allowed to flex his muscles, and Troughton allowed to parade his talent, portraying The Doctor's comedy side as he deceives enemies by dressing up as an old lady, a German Doctor and a British soldier, which provides some great comedic moments. Its a shame this story is missing as I would love to see Troughton in disguise of an old crone.

The Highlanders is often overlooked by most fans, but this last hurrah for the historical genre never failed to impress me with its clever dialogue and plot, characters and hilarious comedy moments.

9/10