The Evil of the Daleks

#36 5 Jun 2004, 12:00 am
Dorney
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The Evil of the Daleks 1:

OK, once more it's cards on the table time. I've never been vastly excited by Evil. I need to qualify that statement a little - I think it's fun, a genuinely enjoyable romp but a tiny bit too silly to really be an absolute classic. And to be honest, I've always been bitter that its reputation has exceeded that of Power, which is, in my opinion, definitely better.

All of this is relative though, as this is only really my third experiencing of the story. And certainly my first in about ten years. Up til now it's been one listen to the cassette release, one read of the self-indulgent novelisation. So, with increased clarity and telesnaps, it's time to plunge in.

My first thoughts are that it's quite an unsual structure for an episode. For once the Doctor isn't the character we view the episode through - really, it's Waterfield. We don't slowly work out the villains plan - we know pretty much from the get go that the Doctor's being led into a trap. The hook of the episode isn't trying to figure out what's going on with the Doctor. We know the answer. We want to know what's happening with this other figure, who doesn't even meet him this episode. Other points of interest - it's quite refreshing for the cliffhanger bridge really to link the stories together tightly. Rather than just be a meaningless lead in, Faceless One's cliffhanger is the entire drive for this story. It's a deep rooted link, rather than the lip service we've been treated to recently.

The realisation that the Doctor is being manipulated offers up a dramatically ironic take on the traditional Who setup. Even as we witness him making Doctorish deductions we know that he's pulling himself further into the plot.

And following on from this, we have the title telling us who the villains are. Now, I know there's a lot of criticism of the tendency to name the Daleks and then hold them off as a 'surprise' cliffhanger. I disagree. Obviously, it isn't a surprise. But that doesn't mean the cliffhanger is intended to be. By mentioning them in the title as here, we are being given the promise of their arrival. Essentially, this just means that the dramatic tension is being built up - we know they're involved. But how? Where are they? The story has the constant threat of the Daleks appearing at any time. Equally, there's the contrast between the environment of the story and the potential appearance. Already, I'm quite excited by the prospect of Daleks on contemporary earth (due to be rudely crushed, but I'm only considering this episode). In fact, the presence of the Daleks just makes this whole set up more intriguing - the old fashioned man, the criminal underground... it all seems bizarre as bits are dragged from everywhere. How does it all fit? It's an episode of contrasts, from the psychedelia of the cofee shop to the austerity of the antiques shop, which is very interesting and imparts a surprisingly surreal quality tor the show.

Plotwise, the episode is surprisingly slight, but it uses the bizarre imagery to keep you intrigued. OK, the actual plotting of what is going on is very confusing, and I suspect overly convuluted, but we'll have to see. Nonetheless, it's solid fun entertainment. I rather like it so far.

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#37 6 Jun 2004, 11:01 am
Dorney
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The Evil of the Daleks 2:

You want irony? How's about the fact that the sole extant episode from this story is the first one of these write-ups that's got completely lost. I typed up a full - and actually quite long - write up about two yesterday afternoon. My computer has however decided to be evil. It's always disconnecting, and that's what it did, mid-way through my attempts to post the review. Lost eternally. I'll have to try to remember what I put.

First, I recall quite clearly was that I found the opening credits weird. There's something a little bit wrong about putting the episode credit before the author credit, surely.

Onto the episode. Jamie really is coming into his own. He's dim, but his earnest honesty, bravery and loyalty really shine through. He was a bit dull in the first few stories and I'd forgotten how much I liked the character. The companions always work through their relationship with the Doctor and other companions (they can have bags of personality as individuals, but this is how we warm to them, and how the characters are really defined). Jamie's interaction with the Doctor defines his character. They're clearly friends, but he's equally clearly aware of his place, aware of how the Doctor is the leader, and he is the follower. Bizarrely, he's also the major comic foil of the duo (as in the way most double acts have one high status figure, one low status). Troughton's performance is less comic than you think, it's a controlled eccentricity, but it's rarely actually funny in the same way that Jamie is (Jamie is more traditionally comic, witness the knocking over the vase, wheareas the Doctor is amusing more by default, more because of how other people respond to the fact that he's a little bit weird). Victoria's first episode is rather underwhelming, but then she doesn't have much else she can do.

If the producers had wanted to, it's fairly clear that the first episode and a half of this story could have been replaced. It probably wouldn't have required much work on their part to translate this episode into an episode one, with the TARDIS arriving normally in 1866, and the Doctor getting embroiled somehow. But it doesn't, and that's rather nice. The long prologue is a sublime seque from the Faceless Ones. The cliffhangers between stories are usually resolved so tritely, it's great to see one that is allowed to take an episode and a half to resolve. The trap itself is so overcomplex it's a bit of a waste (why lead them on such a merry chase if you're just going to send someone along to say 'my masters got the TARDIS. Come here at ten.' which is roughly what happens), but it's played so enjoyably that it barely matters.

That's one of the big plusses that this story has. It's essentially a fairly shallow romp, with a plot that doesn't so much creak as collapse at the slightest pressure. But the acting and the writing are so well done that you are still swept along enjoying it. (Incidentally, look how good the cast is - Marius Goring is unrecognizable from his Powell and Pressburger days, but he still commands the eye, and there's a couple of great sitcom actors hanging around the fringes). It's runaround heart means that it's not really going to be the all conquering classic of repute, it doesn't have the dramatic heart of Power for example, but it will still remain thoroughly enjoyable.

One slight problem is that there's a lot of repetition of ideas at the moment. After two stories in a row had possessed people losing their accent (Macra, Faceless Ones), we've got the second story in a row with a secret room concealed behind a bookshelf. OK, it's something of a genre archetype, but it would have been nice to have had a bit of variation.

The Daleks remain on the fringes again, but that's for the best. I'm beginning to feel their dramatic strength is upped when they remain a potential rather than actual threat. The fear and suspense is generated by the worry of what they might do (Hitchcock always thought something similar - there's a sequence in one of his films, Blackmail I think, with a boy carrying a bomb on a bus. He always thought his mistake was letting the bomb go off, as it defuses the tension, it releases the audience. This is the same thing). The Doctor's worried response to the mention of static suggests something far scarier than the initial extermination of Kennedy.

Well, I think that's about all I put before. I actually seem to have written more though. If nothing else, it'll teach me to save the drafts...

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#38 6 Jun 2004, 11:01 pm
Dorney
Time Lord
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Just a quick note here - I'm seriously busy at the moment, so I doubt I'm going to do any more write ups til at least next Tuesday. I listened to Evil 3 today, and I'll be making notes. Should have the whole story done by Wednesday if I'm lucky. Then a bit of time off before Tomb. So see you in a week or so.

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#39 8 Jun 2004, 11:21 am
Carlos R
Patron

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Hey Dorney,

Just wanted to say how much I'm enjoying your Day-by-Day thread - I've been following it since day one, and really like your analysis of each episode. Have a good week, and I look forward to reading your thoughts on Evil and the "monster" season.
Cheers,

Carlos


#40 8 Jun 2004, 11:51 am
Max K Wilkie
Time Lord


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I'm enjoying it too - I've been following it since about mid-season 3 but have read all your earlier write-ups as well.

I'm interested to see what your thoughts on "Tomb" will be!

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Thanks chaps. It's slightly frustrating, as I've got the time to hear the episodes this week, just no time for a write up. Though I might try a sneaky Evil 3 one if I get the time later on... which I still may.

But I'll have listened to 4 and 5 by the end of today...

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#42 15 Jun 2004, 11:33 am
Dorney
Time Lord

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As a little update, I'm planning to finish off my Evil reviews this afternoon/evening.

They'll be formatted a little differently, with my thoughts on the individual episodes prbably being briefer than usual, preceded or followed (ain't decided yet) by an overview. In many ways this might be slightly better, as it does mean I don't have to keep saying the same thing over and over again.

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#43 15 Jun 2004, 7:54 pm
Dorney
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The Evil of the Daleks 3-7

Well, it's time for a big batch of review type things. I really want to get this story out of the way, and get onto Tomb (especially with that coming up in Enlightenment next week). So here we go.

My main thought with Evil is not about whether it's good or whether it's bad - it's that it's quite amazing that this story works at all. And not only that it works - that it triumphs.

Let's be honest here, the plot is a mess, there's more padding than story, and the concepts are daft. Somehow, however, it manages to be gloriously entertaining in a way that no other story with those problems does.

Let's look at these in detail before getting down to specific thoughts about individual episodes. It really is all over the place, unable to define what it's supposed to be about. The Terrall subplot is irrelevant and doesn't really go anywhere (the cliffhanger resolution to episode two has to be one of the worst in the entire history of the show, pure false tension). What plot it does have is stretched out beyond belief over seven episodes (if you actually analyse precisely how little happens in the four episodes worth of victorian england, you'll be amazed - the only really noteworthy plot point in those episodes is the isolation of the human factor, and even that is dragged out over more than an episode). Half the characters are broadly useless in plot terms, some like Ruth and Mollie seemingly contributing nothing at all to the story, others such as Kemel and Terral being left stranded in a plot that's frankly indifferent to them (Kemel in particular is very badly treated - beyond part four his only real contribution is to get killed needlessly. And that seems cheap to me).

Also, for a story with the word 'Daleks' in the title, it really doesn't seem to have any interest in them. The images of Daleks gliding through Victorian corridors that we glimpse in the telesnaps are utterly striking and beguiling, but ultimately window dressing - for example, witness how little they appear in parts four and especially part five - where they're really only in the reprise and the cliffhanger. In deed, they;re fairly inconsequential in the first three episodes as well, really just hanging round in the background. I've said before that the main strength of the Daleks in the Whitaker stories is their threat, rather than their presence. Troughton is clearly afraid of them, which really does add impact. However, as he ends up co-operating, and everyone seems less afraid, there really is less tangible threat about them in this story. You don't really feel them as a constant presence. The story sidetracks them, using them as a mechanism to prod the story along. Plot device rather than stars.

As for the concepts - well, the Dalek factor/Human factor stuff just seems daft to me. It seems such a silly intagible concept with little real threat that it's hard to care. Throw in some nutty stuff about mirrors and alchemy and you should have a disaster.

So why is it terrific fun? I think it's got to come down to a few simple things - it's a masterpiece of direction, script and acting. The dialogue is intelligent, witty and engaging. The cast are all masters of their field. And it has atmosphere in spades. Somehow it transcends it's myriad problems and becomes a thing of sheer joy. It's not the most intellectual of Who stories, and is nowhere near as classy a piece as Power was - but it's deliriously dumb fun, with wonderfully written characters and a grand feel that makes it feel more elegant and classy than it actually is.

Thoughts on the individual episodes will follow in a second post - just in case I go over the word count.

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#44 15 Jun 2004, 9:01 pm
Dorney
Time Lord

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Evil 3:

As I said before the cliffhanger resolution is trite and insulting, and the Terrall sublot a blatant bit of padding. The contrivance of Jamie overhearing the Doctor's schemes irks. Once more the Daleks do very little indeed, hanging around on the fringes.

Victoria's ok as a character so far, but she is a bit of a plot cypher. You do get the sense in this episode and the next that she's just popping in to justify being booked for these episodes.

Strange how the photo of Jamie seems to look so different to him now. (This is really emphasised in the DWM photonovel - there's a close up of him on the left, and the photo on the right - and they look like totally different people. I'm surprised Kemel could recognize him).

It's very much a filler episode this, with the Terral plot and murder of Toby just being there to fill in time (the story hasn't advanced all that much in the interim). However, it does have one of the most memorable sequences in the whole of the series. The Doctor and Jamie's argument is powerful stuff, but it pales into comparison with what you slowly realises is actually going on. The Doctor's clear manipulation of Jamie is genuinely shocking - suddenly you realise how alien he is (just when you'd forgotten - he's seemed eccentric, but never really above his companions. This is truly a return to the bigger picture Doctor of season 1). It's a nasty little scene, and the betrayal gives the entire episode dramatic weight and scope - the Doctor has to be doing it for a good reason. Hasn't he?


Episode 4:

Troughton's on holiday this week, but it's great to see an episode practically designed to disguise this. It's one of the few times where you really don't notice the absence of the lead, as the dramatic focus is elsewhere and your focus is kept away. Having said that, his scenes are excellent, relying as they do on the conceit of him seeming to be at best ambivalent about helping the Daleks - at worst practically friendly. Jamie just about carries the plotless episodes. There remain a few sequences of plot stalling involving the other guest cast members, but these are generally unmemorable, and even in a few cases - such as Maxtible pulling a gun on Waterfield - contradicted by later parts of the plot. The only real sequences of note are those when we begin to get a sense of the madness of Maxtible. His eyes convey such insanity in the telesnaps alone that it's desperately sad that we can't see them.

A fun episode, and Kemel is likeable (amazing considering it's a silent performance and we've only really got the audio). The traps are a touch unimaginative, and seem an utterly ludicrous and overly risky means of judging what they're alleged to be judging. But it's all still very enjoyable.


Episode 5:

As said above, the Daleks are forgotten in this episode, but still the story entertains. Goring really is the star of this episode (he's really the only actor I've seen who can shine through the telesnaps alone - look at the hypnotism sequence if you don't believe me). You can tell why he's such an iconic character.

This episode is essentially tidying up the loose ends of the Victorian segment, 'finishing' the Terral storyline for what it's worth, and writing out most of the characters (there's no good explanation of why the Daleks kidnap Kemel and Victoria but never mind). Again, it's rather padded - it takes Kemel and Jamie over half the episode to get out of the locked room). And the hypnotism of Molly is totally irrelevant. The story still retains our attention though, by use of good strong dramatic scenes, and thoroughly explored and interesting characters (the Doctor's discussions with Waterfield are intriguing examinations of morality). The Jamie versus the Doctor confrontation acts as a mirror to the similar scene in part three - and in all honesty, you can't exactly fault Jamie's logic. His dismay seems utterly justified to me, and his accusations of callousness on the Doctor's part ring distressingly true, the Doctor's justifications ever so slightly hollow (for all his faith in Jamie, it remains a betrayal of trust, ends justifying the means - the Doctor is looking to the bigger picture here and that ain't pretty.).

It's weird how the cliffhanger left me cold as a teenager first hearing this tale, yet now it leaps out as strange and bizarre, and quite a hook.

Final two episodes to follow.

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#45 15 Jun 2004, 9:48 pm
Dorney
Time Lord

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Evil 6:

Victoria actually begins to feel like a proper companion in this episode. Her positive attitude when trapped with Kemel is rather sweet.

Maxtible takes himself into the realms of the great Who villains on the basis of headware alone in this episode (could he make himself look any madder and more pompous if he tried?) That's a fairly flip remark that ignores what makes him work - acts of nastiness and betrayal, complete contempt for others, combined with huge deficiencies as a human being outside of adventure storylines (as in cowardice and moral weakness, single mindedness and lack of priority, that sort of thing). And helped by the increasingly gloriously over the top performance, he goes straight into the hall of fame.

The friendly Daleks are done wonderfully - there's a creepy contrast there, the childish silliness in the deadly having the disturbing overtones of mental illness, but combined with a humour and that all pervading fear factor we still associate with the Daleks.

Apart from that, it's more filler. It takes a hell of a long time to get not very far at all (the only real plot point this episode is the blowing up of the house, and the transfer of location). Skaro seems quite small and lacking in grandeur to my eye, too.

For all the talk of the Doctor's physical destruction of the Dalek, it still remains less inherently disturbing than the manipulations of parts three and five. It just isn't as nasty killing a Dalek as betraying Jamie.

The Emperor looks and sounds cool. The arch-manipulator Doctor is quite creepy (this Doctor really is quite unsettling when he wants to be, dark and nasty beneath the surface eccentricity, lightness and clowning). The twist is as silly as the rest of the plot, but it still makes for a fine cliffhanger.


Episode 7:

Yes, it's time for the... ahem, final end. This episode accompanied me on a bus ride last thursday, so it's comparitively fresh. Having scanned back through the other episodes in DWM, it amazes me how much takes place soley in this final part, with the script twisting and turning gleefully. The first few minutes are standard Dalek story climax scenes, but then it takes on whole new levels. The conversion of Maxtible is cruel and rather nasty (he's a nasty piece of work, and naive beyond belief, but he's rarely been entirely evil. The presenting of his dream to him, before it's withdrawal seems sadder than you'd expect.) Maxtible's Dalek conversion is scary (the murder of Kemel is, whilst unneccessary, one of the scariest, maddest, weirdest bits of Who ever. Darn, wish I could see it). His eyes remain terriifying, and he gets a suitably hammy exit (getting allowed to live too, sort of).

The Dalek factor concept is a bit ropey (what exactly is every converted human going to do?) And what's the point of it if it only affects humans? Having said that, the Doctor's seeming conversion is played well - it's convincing to a point, and isn't dwelt on long enough for us to realise he's faking before we're explicitly told.

But for once, the Doctor is a sideshow to the climax proper, with the revolution making this episode. It's a lovely conceit that the Daleks essentially destroy themselves. On a philosophical level, it's making a moral point, with the good side of the race swallowing up it's evil side - internal, rather than the good being an external factor - and this is what results in their final defeat. It's a rather apt way for the race to self destruct, and provides the satisfying climax the Daleks would need (their eventual return might weaken it a touch - but ultimately, seeing as that's, what, five years away it barely seems relevant). Note the way that the literal final scene of the story isn't the Doctor, or the TARDIS leaving - it's the still burning flames of the Dalek city - it gives it a sense of scale.

And one thing this story has had is a great epic feel. It does feel like it's building to something big (heck, maybe it's in the padding, a la DMP. You can make it feel like an epic if you write nothing happening in a fun way, and spread it out a bit). So the climax really is satisfying for a change (mainly as it builds over one and a half episodes).

And so it's over. The Waterfield death is a little contrived, especially since he hasn't done anything of any note for many episodes, and it only really reminds you of how slight the character is (the death is only there to give a moral weight, and to enable Victoria to join the crew legitimately).

Victoria herself hasn't really impressed me much so far. She's ok, but not yet as winning as Sam Briggs was, certainly showing less promise to my eyes. Will take a bit of time.

There we go. A rather ramshackle knocked together script that manages somehow to bluster it's way through and provide one of the most shamelessly entertaining stories of all time, a series of wonderful set pieces and great scenes that never really gel into a wholly succesful entity, but nonetheless entertain. I suppose that remains my great criticism. It's more about the parts than the whole, each scene designed to entertain in the moment rather than as a contribution to the entire piece. But maybe that's it's strength, that's why the flaws that sink other Who stories don't seem to matter as much here. When the individual parts are so much fun, who cares?

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#46 15 Jun 2004, 9:55 pm
Dorney
Time Lord
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Managed to post that twice like a fool. So I'll just use the extra space to say, I'll be trying to be back on properly with Tomb as of tomorrow. I'm amazed at how much space I took up finishing off Evil - I expected it to be an easy write up than usual, and much shorter... but it isn't, not by much.

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The Faceless Ones

28 May 2004, 11:44 pm
Dorney
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The Faceless Ones 1:

Hmm. A good episode. A very good episode in fact... but with a few minor quibbles. Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first.

One - is that the wrong theme on the video? It seems to be the Hartnell one and it just feels utterly wrong with the titles. Is that how it was transmitted or is it mastering error? I dunno. It does show how different the new titles seem - this is the first time I've seen them remember.

Secondly, this is the first of the isolated episodes I've seen with the full RT treatment. It does slightly bring it home to you, the tragedy of the missing episodes. It looks so fresh and immediate that it's hard to believe the next episode doesn't exist.

Now onto slightly more substantial things actually related to the episode proper. The first half is way too frenetic. The TARDIS crew have barely landed before they run out of the way of a plane, run from a policeman, witness a shooting, discover aliens, get kidnapped. Within ten minutes. Whilst it does get the story off with a bang, it does leave the episode feeling a little busy. It almost becomes comedic - you begin to feel sorry for Captain Blade. He can barely start to act menacing and threatening without the alarm going off and someone wandering into his hangar (it's, what, four or five times by the end of the episode). Thankfully, the pace settles down as the episode progresses and we're allowed into the story properly.

One other criticism is the shameful treatment of Ben. It's clear that the production team are sidelining him and Polly like they did Dodo, but she at least get's something that resembles a traditional companion plotline. Ben doesn't even get that, spending the entire episode wandering around lost. He does get one half-decent scene with Blade, improvising his way out of trouble. But beyond that he barely features. You're lucky to get a glimpse of him in the first or last ten minutes.

What's good about it then? Well the contemporary feel, reminiscent of the War Machines impresses, even more so than that script. You see this is a story rooted in it's time and place in a way that War Machines isn't. For all it's use of iconic locations like the Post Office Tower, TWM's actual plot is fairly indifferent to them. Faceless One's is based entirely around the world we live in - it's telling that the macguffin of this episode, the detail that leads to the murder and sparks off the plot, is a set of postcards. The menace and weight accorded to something so mundane is disconcerting and weird - and utterly intriguing. Likewise, TWM was set in a fairly anonymous London. Essentially, it's streets could have been anywhere. Here they're an essential part of the story (a good deal of the menace of the cliffhanger is derived from this juxtaposition - a disfigured alien is led through a place we know, a place we understand. It's placing the menace beside us. rather than simply near us).

Other joys in the episode are the Doctor's dealings with bureaucracy - his conversation with the man who will become Andred is a joy, the man completely unfazed even when the Doctor tells him about a dead body, still caught up in his red tape. Likewise Jamie suddenly comes into his own - you can hear the writers start to have fun with his character, what with his talk of 'flying beasties' and his innocent giving away of practically everything the Doctor wants to keep secret. He's got noticeably brasher and dumber, but he's much more likeable and less bland, so this is no bad thing. The Doctor is really in his element too - smart and dry, with a genuinely alien feel (his scenes with the airport staff in the Chameleon Tours hangar are masterpieces of eccentric superiority... he thinks of the humans as means to an end, mainly ignoring and dismissing them whenever they're uneccessary).

And it functions well as a first episode too, intirguing and puzzling. The set up is established, and a good sense of mystery and threat is established - again, primarily using the contemporary feel. Aliens and ray guns are ten a penny, so the details that grab are details like the postcards, and the question of why aliens seem to be running a tourist plane - plus the chilling nastiness of the disfigured figure we never quite glimpse. All in all, good unshowy Who.

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#29 29 May 2004, 3:13 am
Max K Wilkie
Time Lord

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dorney
The Faceless Ones 1:
...is that the wrong theme on the video? It seems to be the Hartnell one and it just feels utterly wrong with the titles. Is that how it was transmitted or is it mastering error?...

The new titles were made for Macra, but they didn't switch over to the new theme until Faceless Ones Ep2.

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Mind the gap.

#30 30 May 2004, 5:49 pm
Dorney
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The Faceless Ones 2:

Thanks for that. They really did feel amazingly out of place.

One of the great advantages of telesnaps is that on days like today - when it's been pretty much 24 hours since I listened to the episode in question - I can refresh my memory with a quick glance.

Episode two continues the settled pace of the latter half of part one... and I'm beginning to rather like this story. I remain convinced that judgement of whether a story is a 'classic' or not is always based on more than the quality of the script and production. In fact, my pet theory is that Dr Who fans go for stories they tend to consider more adult, perhaps in order to prove to themselves that it isn't a kids show... notice that they tend to go for stories that are more horrific, more gothic - any story set in Victorian times is a hit - the villains are always disfigured half men... etc. etc. As a result, the Faceless One's, a straightforward but not self-consciously 'adult' production tends to get left behind and forgotten. But it's really rather good.

This episode fulfills most of the structural requirements of a part two - elaboration and development. Some of the earlier mysteries are resolved (people are being duplicated, the postcards are explained) but these explanations offer further questions. It keeps you hooked and intrigued. Which I like.

One other thing I like is the distinct characterisation of the guest cast. All of the human's are recognisably people we know. You don't have the baddies, the goodies, or anything like that. You have real people. Colin Gordon's controller is a class act of weariness and annoyance, and Crossland is all pragmatism and pipe. They're distinct individuals without veering towards either cliche or being overly wacky. Likewise, it's nice to have villains with some personality as well. The refined aliens are still fairly traditional, but they seem smart and calm and ultimately something to be up against.

One of the other main parts of this episode is the introduction of the not quite companion Samantha Briggs. I'm sort of glad she didn't join, the character's nice enough as a one off but I suspect she'd get terribly wearying before too long. She's got a 'like me, I'm full of life and enthusiasm' feel that sort of reminds me of Dodo. But with a redeeming brassy humour.

The Doctor really has settled down by now. I thought this in episode one, and it's reinforced here. There's less of the wacky clown, more of an eccentric gravitas. He's odd, certainly, he wouldn't be the Doctor otherwise. But he isn't weird. It's a fine line between likeably strange and just a freak (hey there Big Brother producers), and Troughton's really cemented his position on the side of the good. Jamie's still coming into his own. Polly and Ben get chucked offstage here rather abruptly sadly. They've been far too good to deserve this.

Generally, it's a fun story. There's lot's of lovely little touches of humour (most noticeably the photobooth, wonderfully preserved in the telesnaps, but also the newspapers and Samantha's hat), and combined with the scheme seemingly about kidnapping young people, it manages to be quirky and yet it still connects. What I said for the previous episode holds true - it's a story truly set among us, which gives a fairly straightforward and entertaining adventure a bit more of an edge.

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Dorney


#31 31 May 2004, 3:18 am
Benjamin Adams
Rubber Sole

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dorney
"I remain convinced that judgement of whether a story is a 'classic' or not is always based on more than the quality of the script and production. In fact, my pet theory is that Dr Who fans go for stories they tend to consider more adult, perhaps in order to prove to themselves that it isn't a kids show... notice that they tend to go for stories that are more horrific, more gothic - any story set in Victorian times is a hit - the villains are always disfigured half men... etc. etc. "

Good call.

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#32 31 May 2004, 11:42 am
Dorney


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The Faceless Ones 3:

Cheers Mindrobber - I keep meaning to try to write an article about that whole thing. I might get round to it one of these days...

A first thought on this episode - at one point it seems that the only human males in 1966 are aliens, or middle aged men with moustaches and glasses. The conference between Crossland and the Commandant is mildly amusing for this reason.

OK, one problem I'm beginning to notice with this story is that it's a bit of a runaround. Not an episode can pass without people running to the Chameleon Tours hangar, discovering one bit of information and running away again... before somebody else runs to the hangar, discovers one bit of info and runs away again. It happens three times in this episode alone. The story effectively bounces around three central locations (the other two being Air Traffic Control and the Chameleon Tours Booth). This wouldn't be a problem but for the fact it seems so lacking in rhyme or reason. One moment Spencer's paralysed in the booth, next he's working at the tour desk, next he's watching the Doctor and Jamie on a monitor. The other problem is that it's a little bitty (first the Doctor discovers Meadows... but that's it. Then Jamie and Sam discover the postcards. And that's it. Then they discover the secret room. And that's it. This last is particularly glaring - when they've find the secret base, all the Doctor and Jamie do is switch on one - of two - tv monitors, and see one room. Do they investigate the rest of the room, or even try to disguise their presence there? No they rush straight off to the medical ward, without any real evidence it'll help. A search of the rest of the room would be an idea wouldn't it? Why do I have a feeling they'll be popping back next episode...)

Sam Briggs (of the brother Brian Briggs who can't help but make me think 'Ryan Giggs' every time he gets mentioned) is actually much more likeable in the flesh. The telesnaps make her look a bit gurny for episode two, but she is less 'like me, like me' in the flesh. And, sorry to be base and all, but quite cute as well (what with Wanda Ventham in it too, this is probably the most lad-friendly story in a while).

The story is reminding me a lot of the Honor Blackman Avengers episodes. It's almost a standard thriller, and but for the sci-fi trappings of the guns and pens, it could be a story of spies of some sort kidnapping young people (the aliens are quite disconcertingly human - there's a particular moment when Spencer is clearly flirting with a tourist as he runs the booth. Considering how evil and cold he is in the rest of his scenes this is quite creepy - it shows the potential dark underside behind so many innocent encounters, and it's disconcerting to see a villain being casual, friendly and happy. It's a casual ordinariness brings them closer to us - that old Yeti on the toilet thing). It's odd to see how Dr Who in a contemporary setting can veer so close to other tv shows (War Machines is, as often is said, slightly overshadowed by Quatermass).

One further oddity from this episode - Meadows gets let back into Air Traffic Control terribly easily, and no one remarks on his earlier weird behaviour. Bit mad surely?

Nothing else to report really, the story is continuing on as before. Kind of fun, filled with great images (the emptying plane at the climax is superb) and good ideas. Shame the script isn't a little more disciplined, less free-wheeling, but it's enjoyable enough and quite effective.

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#33 1 Jun 2004, 12:13 am
Dorney


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The Faceless Ones 4:

Well I've finally gone through with my desire to get to two episodes in one day. OK, so I didn't get any done yesterday, but that's not the point. I'm getting close.

Hmm. This is, clearly, the filler episode. It's hard to think of a way that this episode affects the ongoing plot. (The only progression I can see is the Doctor getting a few armbands - which he could easily have done in the secret room at the end of part three - and the kidnapping of Jamie - which could have been acheived by having him go off with Crossland at the end of part three. In fact, the cliffhangers for parts two and three are only a hairs breadth from being identical). The story is put in, ah, a holding pattern to fill in time.

It's nice filler nonetheless. OK, the villain setting up the laser to kill them leaving is cheap and Bondesque (and the sort of narrative cobblers we've not really seen). What's particularly amazing about this is that it doesn't even need to be there - it's not a trap at the climax, and the situation has to be contrived quite a bit to get Jamie and Sam trapped. It's clearly just giving them something to do for a bit. The fall out from this sequence is worse though - with Sam and Jamie hanging around Chameleon tours buying tickets as if the people involved haven't just tried to kill them (they all dismiss it without a second thought. Maybe it's all in days work for the Doctor and Jamie, but for Sam to immediately forget and be so casual about her attempted murder is barking).

Elsewhere, it's back and forth, back and forth, nothing being acheived. Somehow it does manage to pull this off without seeming dull or boring though, probably because there's a certain spikiness and wit to the writing and guest cast (there's a lovely little shot of Wanda Ventham pretending to be ill in the telesnaps that demonstrates how even this minor bit part character is given a witty personality). And the sequences with Jamie and Sam are rather sweet.

Shame it doesn't really progress though. All the info we learn is stuff that's easy to surmise anyway (such as the planes never arriving. Yep, guessed that). Ah well. It's still enjoyable enough.

But because of it's slight content, I really can't think of anything else to say. So I'm just going to have to leave it there...

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#34 1 Jun 2004, 11:42 pm
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The Faceless Ones 5:

There's one really awkward bit of scripting in this episode. After having had no explanations for most of the first four, we suddenly get a vast seam of information from Meadows. It's more than a little clunky in execution. Sure, we need the plot explained at some point, but a bit more subtlety and a slow burn reveal might have been more effective than this info dump.

Sam doesn't really do anything does she? Her only real story function is to run around getting into scrapes and needing to be rescued. Ultimately, she has no real reason to be in the story apart to function as a proto-companion figure. I'm a little worried that this creating of companions for the sake of it is a bit of an odd direction to be going (Ben, Polly and Jamie were all directly connected to the plots of their debuts).

Jamie doesn't get much to do in this episode (his discovery of the mini-corpses is a nice bit of imagery, but that's about it). His and Crossland's duplicate's both lose their accents when under control. This would be a great idea if it hadn't already been used in the Macra Terror.

The episode generally comes over as still something of a filler episode. But what's weird about this, and in deed episode four, is that they never really feel that boring. I was three quarters of the way through this episode before I even noticed. It's hard to define why... maybe it's because the characters are all interesting and distinctive (even the human Nurse Pinto, essentially a bit part has bags of personality). Maybe it's because the writing is just enjoyable. Possibly a combination of both.

The variations in tone between the monsters is interesting too. Blade is a cool psychopath, Meadows a coward, Pinto a dangerous and creepy maniac, Crossland urbane and intelligent. It's good to see a range of personality within the aliens. Makes them seem more real, we see them as individuals. The same treatment is meted out to aliens and humans alike, which to my mind shows an impressive degree of care in the script.

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#35 4 Jun 2004, 10:08 pm
Dorney
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The Faceless Ones 6:

Well, it's time for the most delayed write up ever. I listened to the episode proper two days ago - and just haven't had the time to do an update. (I plan to make this up by reaching Evil of the Daleks two by this time tomorrow, but I digress).

One thing that leaps out with this ending is that it isn't the standard Who climax. Rather than the explosive destruction of the aliens and their base, a la the Bond films, the story is resolved by negotiation and logic. And perhaps most interestingly about this, is the subsequent greying of Blade and Spencer. The script has been presented with an easy take on this - the new character of the Director could easily be written as a more benevolent leader who acquieses to the Doctor, but he turns out to be just as unpleasant a piece of work. It takes the more tricky option of shifting the goalposts and making the two murderous villains broadly sympathetic and unpunished. It's an usual point of view for a Who story, with the straight lines of good and evil basically ignored for a change. It does rather make the climax more low key than we're used to - but it's morally brave and intelligent, which is a fair enough swap, really. (Though I can't help but feel the whole resolution is a bit easy and they'll be back again the moment they're safe again).

It's sort of a solo trip for the Doctor this episode, with Jamie effectively neutralised since the start of part five, and everyone else on earth. His playing by his wits and desperate bluffing is beautifully done (and the canniness of the Controller is reflective of how much this individual character has developed - caustic and doubting to trusting and smart). It's a wonderfully audacious 'Doctorry' sequence, showing him living on his wits. Really reminds you why you love the character so much.

Sam finally gets to do something, finding the hidden bodies (though they're not really as well-hidden as all that. And it's a good job that the script specifies that after a time the bodies will be immaterial, otherwise we'd be left to wondering how they kept paying the parking tickets). She's a relatively pleasant companion figure, even if she is a bit all mouth no trousers, with all the initiative resourcefulness and bravery we come to expect from the companion being just as present in Jean Rock as it is in Sam. However, she is kind of sweet - and it's rather nice that there's the faint romance with Jamie, as it seems that companions are asexual figures if they aren't going to be leaving the series. It's quite good to have a bittersweet romance that doesn't end up with them together.

So, ironically, the viewers may have been expecting Jamie to be on the way out rather than Ben and Polly. And yes, it's another rubbish exit for some really fine companions. There's a lot that's galling about this - it's so rushed, for one, and if I remember rightly, they were contracted for the entire story so their sudden vanishing isn't a budgetary exercise. The scene itself is nicely played, however, and is kind of touching. Shame they didn't get more to do, but what can you do.

So overall it's not a bad little story. It's quiet and unshowy, although a little padded in the middle, but has engagingly well crafted characters (everyone, every alien, every human has a clear and distinct personality) a solid plot, and quite a bit of brain power. Never going to be a classic but thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless.

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Well, now I know you're mad, I just wanted to make sure.

Sapphire and Steel: Remember Me
Doctor Who - Short-Trips : Defining-Patterns
Blog: The World of Dorney

The Macra Terror

Dorney
24 May 2004, 12:11 am
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The Macra Terror 1:

Well, it's nostalgia time for me. As a tight-arsed and strapped for cash Whovian, I've never quite got the urge to update my old cassette copy of this. The new cd might have better mastering, but the narration's the same so somehow I can't justify it to myself in the same vein as I did with the Daleks box.

So I've dragged my old ghetto blaster out of mothballs. Sat it on my table. Dialled bbci and pulled up my telesnaps. It's not a story I'm particularly familiar with this one, so I've been rather looking forward to it.

So far, it's rather nice. I've always been a sucker for juxtaposition, where a jolly surface contrasts with a darkness believe (best example I can think of is the cheery music that plays over the end credits of the Evil Dead). This is quite a good example of that, with the sunny atmosphere never quite seeming real. It's an elevator colony, if you like. We know there's a falseness to it, and as a result there must be something nasty underneath.

There's also a good attempt to keep an air of menace tripping over. The occasional heartbeat motif in the music adds to the sense of darkness, oppresion, tension.

As a result, whilst this episode is essentially a series of fairly light set pieces, a darkness runs through it, mainly in the form of Medok, making it seem worthwhile. The continual escape/meeting/capture/escape cycle is a little wearying, to be honest, and betrays weaknesses in the structure. But it's a minor detail. The efforts to convince that the colony is terribly light and fluffy do nothing more than convince us otherwise. I've been a little critical of Ian Stuart Black previously for his determination to lay every single card on the table as soon as possible. There's a very real degree of that here, it must be said. As soon as Medok starts to explain what he believes is going on, we know he's right. We know monsters are crawling around. But ultimately, there are enough details left unsaid to keep us intrigued. It was always going to be monsters, the questions are what do they want? How are they connected to the colony?

So all in all, a nice little episode. Doesn't have much for the regulars to actually do (Jamie once more gets nothing, Ben about the same - Polly manages to get the least flattering haircut she's had) Only the Doctor gets a lion's share of the script, driving the story and having a nice comic sequence. And plotwise, it doesn't really go anywhere vastly surprising, but it is full of nice detail and bothers to explore the world and it's ideas and remains intresting. Quite fun. No classic, but enjoyable enough.

Otherwise, the show gets a new title sequence (not much use to me yet), and the theme music seems to be a hell of a lot faster... I'm not sure if that's me or the tape though.

And the phrase 'Day by Day' appears in the dialogue! How could I not like it!

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Dorney
25 May 2004, 12:36 am --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Macra Terror 2:

This is sort of like the Jaws of Dr Who. A slightly rubbish looking monster is introduced - but essentially sidelined in its own story, confined to shadows to disguise its inadequacies, and improving the story no end.

I'm rather liking this. It's dark and creepy. ISB has definitely improved his structuring. Whilst the reality of the situation is never in doubt, the context is all important. The Macra appear at the end of part one, so we know they're the underlying menace, but they then basically vanish. We know they're there but that's the whole point. The theme's of the story are emerging, the supression and ignorance that allows things to flourish. The cards aren't completely on the table yet - we don't know how the crabs fit into the colony (though we do have a pretty strong implication in the cliffhanger). And we're more interested in how the colonists (and Ben) react. Bug eyed monsters are pretty much old hat - they're the MacGuffin that drives the story, rather than the story itself.

This is manifest in most of the creepiest elements of the story - the slow ranting hysteria of the 'there are no Macra' announcement, the whispering voices trying to hypnotise everyone into believing everything is ok. The fear is derived not from the presence of nasty creatures - but of the wilful ignoring of them. It's scary because we know it's wrong. That everyone is living a lie.

And as a result we seem to come to the story's theme. Ignorance. This is a story about, rather like I think the Savages was, capitalism. This is about the happiness that conceals a darker core. Ignorance in the sense of wilful blindness. Prefering not to deal with the nasty underside if it means you have a happier life. The colonists prefer to live in ignorance. (OK, so I don't think it's their choice, but for the sake of the metaphor we need some leeway). The Macra Terror is essentially saying that in your happy life there is always a darkness you're ignoring. And that's quite scary. The story is our nightmares made manifest (especially in the cliffhanger - the hallucinogenic, potentially imaginery feel of the Macra is upturned as they essentially break through from our dreams into our reality. Up til now they could still have been collective hallucination or an abstract connection. But as the terrific cliffhanger ticks over, they truly connect with an interact with the surface world in a way they hadn't before - they're not under your life. They're in it).

Performance wise it's fun. I'm still a little disappointed Peter Jeffrey doesn't have more to do, but Terence Lodge is good. This is a really good episode for Ben, his betrayal and - perhaps more importantly - disbelief of the Doctor are genuinely shocking and upsetting moments. Not since the Massacre have we had the Doctor so distrusted by his friends (even in Power they warmed to him quickly). And even then, and in the earlier examples of season 1, there was at least some justification. You could see the companions point of view (noticeable that these incidents have only previously occured in stories where Hartnell wasn't demonstrably the sole lead). Here, with us used to the Doctor as a cuddly good doer, and with Ben so loyal and true, it just feels wrong. Likewise, his spiritual distrust of Polly, his twin companion is affecting to. His hunting of her through the streets reminds me of the Orbit episode of Blake's 7. Both are nasty little sequences with one person we care about betraying and hurting another.

So no wonder there's an air of menace. This script is more about primal truth's than monsters.

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Dorney
27 May 2004, 12:39 am


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The Macra Terror 3:

Right for one reason or another, I want this season pretty much done by about the 9th of June. It's sort of doable, but I'll have to double up once or twice. Should make it okay. Would have helped if I hadn't left last night's far too late with too early a start.

Well, after the joys of the last two episodes, this one's a slight disappointment. It is the traditional episode three treading water episode. It doesn't really take the story anywhere new, doesn't really advance it. This doesn't entirely matter, as the episode is quite nicely tense and characterful as it is - it just has a faint air of something missing.

The 'episode three' feel is most clear in the fact that we're suddenly introduced to a whole new subplot. This mini-plot is slight enough to keep everyone occupied for an episode (just about) but nothing more. Notice how every other character we've grown to know in parts one and two are sidelined - even Medok, the only one to get anything approaching a major role in this episode, doesn't really fit with the character we've had established (would you let a dangerous man like him free? I doubt it). The Pilot and Ola get nothing at all, and the storyline doesn't really lead on from the previous episode - it moves sideways, it's not built on.

The episode keeps alive because the individual sequences are worthwhile. The gradual disintegration of Ben is nicely done, and reminds you that Ben can be quite interesting. There's never any doubt that he's going to be ok, but the sustained discomfort levels are great (possession usually only lasts an episode or two). It's good to see Jamie getting used properly for a change. Shame Polly get's substantially less to do than usual (in deed, given her hysteria at the beginning of the episode, she's remarkably quiet). The Doctor is pretty stuck too. But when they do get conversations and actions, we explore their personalities - the scene the Pilot has with the Doctor is particularly good in these terms.

It's a pity they bump off Medok so casually. He's one of the more interesting character's and his demise seems trite, soley there because he's a) no further use in the plot and b) because someone needs to die.

Generally the themes are in evidence here. The shock cliffhanger is dismissed casually and wonderfully. My criticism of ISB as playing his hand too early could almost work here too - but for the fact that really is the only point. The script could work as a slow exploration to find out what's behind the colony, but it doesn't, and this is what makes the story great. We know the answers, the difficulty is convincing other people. I'm not convinced this is planned, or just luck. Maybe ISB was doing his 'cards on the table' technique, and failing to realise that this added an extra dimension to the script (bear in mind that the story could work without us seeing the Macra at all, or even having any evidence. The creepiness is inherent in the difference between the reality - even in Telesnap form the cliffhanger to part two is really nasty - the monstrous grand guignol melodrama of it, and the jolly surface. You could play it all for mystery, cards in hand, and the story would still make sense - but we'd just have the surface. The horror beneath would be revealed eventually, but this way it permeates the story) Maybe ISB got lucky - or maybe he figured out how to use his style to his advantage.

A quiet, okayish sort of episode that doesn't really sustain the creepy momentum of the first (and less juxtaposition too, which doesn't help). Clearly marking time til the finale, but all right on it's own.

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Dorney
27 May 2004, 4:14 pm
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The Macra Terror 4:

It strikes me that the title of this story is a bit of a misnomer. There's the implication of a rampage by the Macra. That they instil terror in everyone. They just don't. As horrific manipulators go they're quite benevolent, and slightly inept (ultimately, they're a little bit stuck, as demonstrated by their inability to save themselves from destruction by Ben).

The other thought that strikes me is that it's often fairly difficult to figure out what's going on for this particular episode, from the cassette. Too much that's left un-narrated and too much that's just hard to hear anyway. I'm left a little sure precisely how the Macra got defeated... seemed to be just Ben pulling a lever...

Enough grumbles, if they can qualify as that. It's weird, the second half of this story isn't quite as engaging as the first. It almost feels like a different plot. And it sort of is - there's a transfer of the location from the colony itself to the corridors of power and the mines, plus the introduction of the splendidly named Officia. Medok is written out of the story casually and rather poorly (having essentially turned into another character, and he's completely unreferenced the moment he dies - as if no one really cares). And this is why the story get's less interesting as it goes on. The contrasts and resultant creepiness of the first two episodes are mellowed into a standard alien possession story (the cheery front of the colony only really appears once in the last two episodes, and that's in a blatant bit of padding - fun padding, creepy padding, but padding). Effectively, the threat is reduced from metaphor to reality. And it goes from thought provoking parable to straightforward thriller.

That's not to say the last two episodes aren't enjoyable - they are. But it's in a more straightforward, simplistic us vs. the aliens way. So it's gone from being cerebral to visceral.

There does remain lots of nice images and moments. The increasingly hysterical disembodied voice of the Macra is quite scarily barking. And the Ben subplot, with his increasingly distraught behaviour is really rather nicely done - it beggars belief that they'd decided to dump him by this point, as this is a genuinely interesting journey for the companion across the story - rather unusual. It's a shame that there's no moment for him to regret his activities at the end, to tie the thread off. But the end is rather abrupt as it is. (Wasn't that a criticism I made of the earlier ISB stories? I think it was).

So, overall - a really interesting premise that doesn't quite stand up for the entire story, losing steam over parts three and four. Never less than enjoyable and enjoyable creepy though. Good use of all the companions for once - each gets their own little moment. And excellent characterisation for everyone else, particularly Medok. It's a real shame nothing of this exists as it's definitely Black's strongest script for the series and is easily the most interesting four parter in season four.

I should be back on line later with the Faceless Ones 1 if I've got any say in it...

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The Moonbase

Dorney
18 May 2004, 9:47 am
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The Moonbase 1:

You know something? I think this might be the perfect episode one.

To put this in perspective - I'm not a particularly big fan of the Moonbase. I think, like I suspect most people do, that it's all right, but nothing special. But this first episode is as good an example of the type as you're ever likely to get.

A first episode has various functions. Exposition is the most obvious, but hooking the audience is equally important. And the Moonbase manages this perfectly. The exposition is swift but clear, using the device of the Doctor and co. being newcomers to have the entire set up explained (ok, there's not really a good explanation for the Moonbase crew not really bothering that these fellow 2070s Earthmen don't know the detail, but it's a minor point). This even goes so far as to name check every single character, even some of their nationalities. If there's anything about this that's a little weak, it's the rather self-conscious mutli-national make-up of the station, immediately reminiscent of the Tenth Planet. However, the alternative is a bunch of white englishmen, which is probably worse (though I would like it if the black cast member didn't die straight away. The series seems, to my eyes, to be it's most amenable to casting black actors here. This is, what, the fourth story out of six to cast one, which isn't bad, especially when you compare it to the records of contemporary shows like the Avengers. As I say though, only one of them, Underwater Menace, doesn't dispose of it's black cast member pretty quickly - and even then, he is blatantly subservient to the Irish slave. It should be noted that this is probably nothing more than the series not being allowed to push the boundaries any further... it's a good try). One mild disappointment is that again they're all male - in this future, it's ok to be foreign, just not female. It's interesting that, in comparison to the 10th Planet, these men aren't as immediately randy at the sight of Polly, in fact they barely register she's different at all. These scientist, eh? Cold types.

In terms of intrigue - well, the story has spades. The moment the TARDIS arrives, in a moment cruelly missing from the BBC Soundtrack, but clearly visible in the telesnaps, we see they are next to a spacecraft. But no reference is made to it. And then throughout the episode we get a combination of further moments of intrigue, some given huge weight (the mysterious listening in), and some thrown away subtly (the pressure drops). As a result, we're not overwhelmed. I always found a big flaw in the McCoy era where they seemed to think that 'intrigued' was synonymous with 'confused'. You'd spend the entire twenty five minutes (sometimes more) thinking 'what the hell is going on?' With this episode, you know what's happening, but there remain unanswered questions. The central set up, relationships are all clear, you know there's a virus, you know someone nasty is hanging around. You're hooked, rather than bemused.

There's also a tremendous sense of creepiness in this episode. The menacing shadow of the Cyberman as a hulking menace is a little bit unnerving, and the virus infection is also very effective. It's not entirely clear if we're supposed to recognize the cybermen or not from the cliffhanger though... if we are, we should get it a little earlier (from the jughandles), or the theme. The face... well, it's getable, the eyes and mouth remain similar... I'd like to think we'd know who it was (and considering that everyone recognized them when they turned up in Earthshock with an equally radical facelift, it's plausible - though obviously they had considerably more than the two episodes or so of appearance we've got at this point).

It's an ok story for the regulars, no one getting any stand out moments though. I'm beginning to get anxious for Jamie to actually do something, to affect the plot somehow. The Phantom Piper stuff is a nice try at integrating him, thematically, into the action without really giving him extra material. But you are still aware he hasn't really contributed yet (and his personality hasn't settled down yet either, he seems terribly dim at points).

As I say then, a pretty perfect part one.

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Well, now I know you're mad, I just wanted to make sure.

Dorney
18 May 2004, 11:34 pm
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The Moonbase 2:

Well, for one reason or another, I'm gonna be pretty distracted tomorrow. I'd have been able to watch this episode, but I wouldn't necessarily have done the write up. So here it is, in advance.

Once again this episode is a virtual model of the form. The mysteries of the first episode (what is this virus? why the pressure drops? who is listening in?) are all answered, but then elaborated on (now the principal question becomes 'what is the purpose of this?'), to keep us intrigued (whilst a few more - what is being done with the missing crewmen) are brought into play. Generally, however, the episode is less successful than its predecessor.

The main reason for this is that the script has one or two minor little niggles. Most blatant is a five minute or so sequence, with none of the regulars, that is clearly just technobabble. Presumably this sequence was written to fill up the episode, as it adds nothing to our understanding of the characters, or the situation. Likewise odd is the way that the start of the episode is a virtual rerun of the close of part one - I don't mean the cliffhanger, obviously, but the bits just to the side of it. Both feature Polly entering the room, seeing someone sneaking out of the sickbay, screaming, and having the crew rush to her aid. This is principally odd because no one comments on the faintly 'boy who cried wolf' air about it. There are one or two other repetitive bits, with two shots of a cyberman looming over Jamie before deciding to go for someone else. And there's a five, ten minute sequence (up to his entrance to mention the disappearance of another crewman) when it's completely unclear where Ben is - he seems to vanish (he's not been in the sickbay with Polly and the Doctor, and he hasn't been helping out in the control room). Bit sloppy that.

Contrasting, there are one or two wonderful moments. The Cyberman suddenly appearing behind Polly is a real crap yourself moment, to be a little indelicate (though this is slightly spoilt by her seeming indifference to it after about one scene - you'd barely know anything that scary had happened judging from her reaction). The Doctor's sampling is joyously entertaining - funny and playful, but strangely Doctorish. Benoit's lapsing into french to complain is brilliant - it's funny in itself, but also is a lovely bit of thoughtful detail. Does rather beg what language all the other french people have said - and you do have to ignore the fact that Benoit starts walking backwards into the Doctor for no better reason than setting up the gag, but that's a minor point. Troughton really is the Doctor I love now. A moral crusader (as that fabulous 'some corners of the universe' speech will attest); a smart out-thinker of others (witness his getting out of trouble with Hobson by making up a solution); and a playful lovable friend - always takes things seriously, but with a twinkle. Everyone of the companions might as well not be in this episode, particularly Jamie who does get short shrift, understandably. I have a vague recollection of a documentary using the clip of Polly going to get coffee to illustrate the show's sexism. Rather an ironic choice, as despite Polly's prediliction for boiling up kettles, this is the story where the making of coffee is actually a useful plot point.

The Cybermen look a touch too squat for me. The new design is ok, but not as inherently chilling, and I'm bloody amazed anyone could tell who they were at sight. But they still do manage to cut a menacing dash, with their every appearance having some creepiness factor (ok, apart from the Paul Darrow-esque camp gun aiming at the cliffhanger). Nice cliffhanger, too. As incomprehensible as the Dalek rising from the thames, but utterly effective and scary.

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Dorney
22 May 2004, 12:23 am
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Back to me episodes. Many apologies for the delay in this one. As I said, I had plenty of irons in several fires.

The Moonbase 3:

The Cybermen are a bit crap aren't they? Let's look at the evidence - out of the three episodes that have properly featured them to any real degree (10th Planet 2 &4, and this one) it's noticeable that they always seem to follow them same pattern. They invade. They congregate most of the humans in a central area and explain the plot to them. One or two other humans - usually the Dr's companions are left away from the action, in a place (A-Team like) that contains all that is required for a Cyberman defeating weapon to be built. They are then defeated.

It's a good job they've got loads of reinforcements, because they are just far too easy to defeat. How are we supposed to feel fear when faced by these monsters that are always subdued within twenty minutes. It took more than that to defeat the Moroks!

The logic of this is that they only invade to explain the plot - after that point they need to be removed quickly. And this emphasises the problem with this episode. The story has run out of plot.

It's a high concept sequel, with no solid idea underlying it, or good reason to be told. The result is, like Web of Fear next season, a story rushed into production to capitalise on a big success monster, but without a story to justify it. In comparison to the clinical logical scheme of the 10th Planet, their plan here is frankly daft: they want to destroy the Earth to 'get rid of any potential troublespots'? I mean, get your priorities straight. It's just a villainy for it's own stake concept - they know they're villains. You can tell that the main drive in the creation of this story was getting them back, not neccessarily giving them a story worth their presence. Following on from this, the atmospheric mysteries of the previous two episodes are brushed away. For a start, the Cyberman was forced to reveal itself at the end of part two - but this episode acts as if that was all part of their plan. And all the hiding under sheets, poisoning sugar and so on seems completely pointless as part of their overall scheme. Why not just march in (ok, they're 'supposedly' scared of gravity - but this shouldn't stop them using the controls, they're standing over the men using them - and even if they do need to nick humans, why go to all the convoluted lengths of poisoning the sugar, why not just nick people when they pop outside - they clearly do this anyway). The only real saving grace is the voice - it's cool, with a definite emotionless computer generated quality. The biggest problem is that it is frequently incomprehensible.

And even the easy defeat of the Cybermen runs out of steam, so a last five minute sequence with Benoit being chased is thrown in...

The regulars don't do as much as you think. Troughton barely says a word til halfway through, and doesn't really affect the outcome. Polly's solution is clever, if you can face the embarassment factor of death by nail polish. A real shame is that despite the fact that Polly is clearly smarter than her two male fellows, she still get's treated as a girl (one solution derived from her making coffee, one from nail polish). Given all this, and how little Ben and Jamie have done, the 'man' s work' sentiment is patronising in the extreme.

Still the cliffhangers fine. 3rd episodes are traditionally weak. Maybe part four will get better...

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Dorney
22 May 2004, 9:10 pm
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The Moonbase 4:

Hmm. A short while ago I likened the Underwater Menace part two, to a third episode. Moonbase 4 is a part three too. Odd.

Once again, I'll explain what I feel. The plot just seems to have vanished. Usually a part four is about tying off the story, building to a climax. Here, it's seems to be about desperately filling out the script.

A lot of people suggest that the 10th Planet is the story that created the 'base under siege' archetype, but it's not really true. In that story, there's a base, yes, but it's never really under siege. Compare it with this episode and you'll see what I mean. This episode is nothing but siege - a series of largely disconnected set pieces. And whilst this would be ok as a good tense third episode, holding off until the climactic final episode, as that climactic episode it just doesn't work. This is the point where the story shuld be building, not treading water.

For example, look how good the cliffhanger to part three was. Big army of cybermen start marching across the moon surface. Ooh, that looks exciting. It's in part four we find out what they've marched out to do - stand around and wait for a bit. Yes, that was worth it wasn't it? They even call in reinforcements, as if they've lost more than about four cybermen in the previous episodes. What do they need them for? They don't raid the base or anything (surely they could get through in force of numbers alone?). Are they lonely? You get the feeling their just winging it really.

And their plans seem so disconnected - the moment they've got a man in with the gravitron, they knock him out by piercing the dome. Once again the episode is just a series of set pieces. Now, it's worth noting that they are fun set pieces, yes, kind of tense, yes... and viewed on its own this is a perfectly acceptable episode - but as a climax, it just doesn't cut it. We get twenty minutes of filler before the cyberman are defeated seemingly without any build up whatsoever. The episode itself is fine - the problem remains where it is placed in the story. It doesn't take it anywhere. It doesn't build.

One big niggle I have with this story has to be mentioned. It tries to ignore the regulars as much as possible. In fact, the entire story seems to be about Hobson. Watch how many times the Doctor is shoved into the background of the shot (the communication with the Cybermen sequence, the big cheer when they're defeated). Hobson is foregrounded, blocking the Doctor. Who's show is this? I seem to remember one writer of the NAs saying that the problem with the rejected stories was that if you took the Doctor out it was very difficult to get them to work. It's true of most good Doctor Who stories, but it isn't true of this one - even the eventual solution to the cyber-menace is easy and simple enough to be within the logical grasp of any of the Moonbase staff. (and whilst we're on that subject - why does it take the Doctor so long to bring the idea to everyone's attention - he was clearly talking about this very idea at the end of part three... why else was he asking how low the gravitron could go in that episode?)

Once again the rest of the crew do get sidelined. Polly gets to make coffee, again, and make thumbs up gestures. Jamie and Ben get stuck dealing with a subplot (and doesn't the medical room have two exits anyway?). Can't help wondering what happens to the ill crewmen afterwards as well, in any case. It's never explained.

So, all in all, a pleasant enough story, kind of fun - but lacking in depth. I can't quite see why the Cybermen were considered so highly this early, to be honest. In their first story they looked huge and menacing - the sleekness of the design actually distracts, and lots (particularly the one at the end of part two) look quite small and squat. Half their dialogue in this episode goes for a burton. And perhaps most damning of all, they've only properly been in four episodes - and in each one they develop a different weakness: their own guns, radiation, nail polish remover and gravity. The Daleks have pretty much gone six whole stories without even one. There's a lot of potential in them, but they need to get seriously better before they'll move up the chain.

The Underwater Menace

Re: Day by Day

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The Underwater Menace 1:

Thanks to the assistance of the great ianzpotter (where have you got to mate?), I'm able to listen to this one. As can be told from the rather obvious fear the BBC have of actually releasing this on audio, it isn't exactly the most popular missing story going. But from my marrying of the soundtrack to the telesnaps this doesn't, on the basis of this episode, seem the best idea in the world.

You see, the problem with this episode - not necessarily the rest, but this one very much so - is that it looks ridiculous. Listen to the soundtrack alone and you get a relatively good episode of Who - nothing particularly amazing, but not poor. But look at the telesnaps and you have to put up with a bunch of actors in daft hats and silly eyebrows. It's usually quite easy to ignore the design of stories, and it sholdn't really be the deal breaker - but it is hard to forget when it is this monumentally atrocious. An official radio collection release would obviously gloss over this kind of stuff, and allow us to concentrate on the story. It's such a shame that the story gets in good actors like Colin Jeavons and then just layers them with this mess.

Jamie's first episode as a companion isn't terribly promising. It's rather clear that he's a late addition, as practically all he does for the episode is hang around Ben and agree with him. Also he doesn't seem to be all that put out by the revelation's offered to him - suddenly he's travelling through time and space in a police box bigger inside than out... and he doesn't seem all that bothered. No queries, no disbelief. When Polly starts talking about it being about 1970 he doesn't say a word. What would they have to do to shock him, exactly?

There's no good reason for everyone to split up at the beginning as they all get captured individually and reunited in a cell straight away. Hardly seemed worth the effort of contriving the split. Still, you could argue it's a nice subversion of the format.

The Doctor is on rather good form here - exploring and deducing this that and the other, and saving the TARDIS crew's lives through sheer gall. I'm beginning to warm to him properly now. He's feeling Doctorish, without being a copy of Hartnell. It's a more erratic, odd, dangerous, dark figure. Less immediately cuddly, but utterly engaging and fun.

Plotwise... well, it feels like a prelude. It isn't entirely clear yet where we're aiming, and the whole sacrifice thing is a sideshow whilst we wait for the plot to turn up. It's quite a nice sideshow, there's always something creepy about human sacrifice, slightly undercut by the daft outfits of course, but never mind. Zaroff's eventual arrival hints at a new direction. The legendarily ott performance seems quite under control here, right up until the end when he goes a little mad laughing... but I have a feeling he's supposed to go a little mad.

It's an enjoyable enough episode, not really going anywhere, but with some nice ideas. The alien culture within the earth itself is quite a nice concept, and we get a proper sense of how this culture works, how they live, how they worship and how they are unlike to ourselves. Just a shame it all looks so daft really.

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Dorney
#13 15 May 2004, 12:06 am
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The Underwater Menace 2:

Have we had an explanation for the Olympic bracelet yet? Not sure we have. What exactly is it doing in Atlantis of all places? Did a swimmer stop by for a breather en route? OK, the shipwrecks thing is a good try, but it doesn't really justify the contrivance.

This episode is very strange. To all intents and purposes, it feels like a third episode. It's in this episode that we learn the villain's plan, the companions escape from their various trials and reunite, seemingly ready to win the day and escape. But there's still two episodes to go.

The result is it all seems a bit sudden. We've barely met Zaroff, he was in no more than a couple of minutes of part one, but within six minutes he has explained his entire plan to the Doctor and us. We now know pretty much the entire premise, and as a result we're immediately less interested. This is exacerbated by the fact that the explanation is given, pretty much unprompted, in a big dollop of expository dialogue (and the whole thing is explained again about ten minutes later). Did we really need to know this this early? If the entire plot is announced within half an hour, where have we got to go? (It's Ian Stuart Black syndrome - show your cards straight away - it just loses direction for the story, turning it into a series of scrapes).

The problems derived from this, and the speedy feel (and part and parcel of the episode 3 quality to the episode) are blatant in the companion threads. It's almost as if Orme has run out of plot for them already. Ben and Jamie have this most obviously - they have a basically circular route for this episode. My dad always talked about a 'ten minute nowhere', I may have mentioned this before in the thread. This is where you travel for five minutes, remember something you've forgotten, go back and get it. You've been travelling five minutes. You've gone nowhere. For all the appearances of the mine escape sequence, it leaves Ben and Jamie pretty much where theY were an episode ago. They just been strolling round a narrative cul-de-sac. Further to this, we spot the rushed feel as they've barely been there a minute before they're trusted enough to come in on an escape plan. And then... and this is where the 'oh god we've run out of plot' feel really kicks in - even when their third or so of the episode is them being caught, and escaping - they still have to throw in an utterly superfluous Jamie falls down a pit subplot. This early on, he's filling in time.

Likewise Polly. For all the fuss made about the fish people last time, they don't appear here. And Polly too, the moment she is released, doesn't really go anywhere or do anything....

Performances - ok. No-one leaps out much either way (though they may be disguised by the costumes). For the most part Furst is remarkably sedate. It's kind of nice that he isn't an evil character, and is just barking mad... but it does seem lazy writing, and some explanation for his psychosis would be worth while (and ultimately, the plan of a madman is going to be less engaging than a carefully thought out piece). Troughton is much more relaxed here too. He's still eccentric, but he's noticeably less strange this time.

Can't think of owt else frankly. Inoffensive so far, but kind of childish in a tv action obvious sort of a way. Who as a cartoon. An ok one, not a great one.

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Dorney
#14 17 May 2004, 12:20 am
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The Underwater Menace 3:

What a relief. It's been such a bare patch without episodes, finally one exists. Watching the stories in order really rams home how devestating those gaps are. The gap from Galaxy 4 to early DMP was appaling. This last break is almost bearable, thanks to the telesnaps. They're hardly a proper substitute for the episodes themselves, but at least it goes some way to putting a sticking plaster over the scar.

It's a shame that the earliest Troughton episode to properly exist is so weak. Let's get one myth out of the way right now, though. Furst isn't a rampant ham. For all the information in the Companion, etc. and their reliance on received fan wisdom, he's usually quite restrained. Ironically, this is perhaps a less successful take - he's supposed to be barking mad, that's the only justification he has for his scheme. So the fairly relaxed Furst comes across as a bit sedate for a loon. It's only really in the final scene that he begins to chew the scenery, but even then there's something gloriously fun about it (he's an inch away from corpsing too - which makes me think he knows what he's doing, he knows it's ott, but he just wants it to be entertaining).

Apart from that... well it's crap. There's no plot. At all. It remains a series of capture and escapes... but not even that really, it's a lot of circular plotlines, loads of tiny filler scenes. Watch how many times something happens and then gets nullified almost instantly - the execution of the Doctor, the kidnapping of Zaroff, and his subsequent hostage taking, Polly getting chased through a bazaar. The story isn't really going anywhere at all - and it even has the gall to admit this, with Polly asking the Doctor what his plan will achieve and his admission he has no idea. Watch how little carries over from the previous episode - the mine has vanished, for example. We're just watching the plot go round and round in circles. Orme is just desperately filling in time.

But it wouldn't matter so much if the whole thing wasn't so dumb. Zaroff's faint is accepted pathetically quickly, for a start. But this pales into insignificance compared to the sheer stupidity of the look of the episode. Silly outfits, beards, eyebrows. The Doctor dressed as a gypsy, general crappy mess. The offstage 'gunshots' at the climax. Zaroff's remarkable inability not to recognise Jamie and Ben. The costumes again. It looks cheap, it looks tacky. And we haven't even got to the Fish People yet (convinced by an Irishman with a weak accent who's just been rude to them - they indulge in their padding dance sequence... which could have been impressive shorter). You really do feel like you're watching a kiddies show again, with that sort of join the dots plotting. It is hard to comprehend how a script of this inanity could have sat in the same show as sophisticated pieces like Power of the Daleks.

The most interesting thing here though is that the Doctor has really defined himself now. He's no longer this mildly scary figure - he's warm and fun, a little bit naughty, like an Intergalactic William Brown. Even if he does fall for Zaroff's faint, he's still the smartest most engaging figure here. The companions just run around a bit meaninglessly, Jamie still showing no particular personality or purpose. It's not over the top. It's just dumb.

As well as watching this episode I watched the missing years doco - it's very pleasant to see all these little clips from stories I've covered, mini tasters. Shame Frazer Hines isn't the sole host though...

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Dorney

#15 17 May 2004, 10:31 am
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The Underwater Menace 4:

Well, less than twelve hours after episode 3, time for part 4.

The dumbness really doesn't stop with this story does it? It feels like a loose collection of set pieces thrown together in the vague hope they'll make a coherent story. Take the fish people, for example. They only really appear in two episodes, and then they have so little impact it's any wonder they even feature. (It's weird rewatching the story, and realising that the image we tend to have - black eyes, scaled face, gills - isn't universal to them. Some are just humans in goggles. Good grief). The strike of the fish people, given so much emphasis in part three, is barely mentioned here, and doesn't affect the resolution one iota. In fact, if you want, you can recount loads of elements that are there briefly for a cheap thrill and then never return - the sacrifice of the crew in part one, the Fish-conversion (Jeavons has next to nothing to do in 3 and 4), the mines, the strike, whatever Jamie and Polly are trying to do in this episode. This story is composed of nothing more than side-shows, distractions, designed to keep what passes for a plot ticking over until the whole thing can be wrapped up.

And what a wrap up. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the Doctor's got a plan. A plan that is ludicrously over the top. Flood the entire city? Are you nuts? Sure, the Doctor needs to stop Zaroff, but this plan seems to be predesigned to randomly kill practically everyone, good, bad, whatever. Surely there must have been a simpler way? As it is, it isn't even that successful a concept - but for a moment of barking madness from Zaroff, it would fail (why does Zaroff feel the need to step out from behind his portcullis? He's just asking for it!). Having said all that, the telesnaps would suggest that the flooding sequences look cool - though I wouldn't put it past the makers of this story to have mucked it up. Perhaps we should be glad we don't have the filmed footage.

It is nice that the Doctor doesn't want to leave Zaroff behind though, only forced away by the water (the villains death is caused by his own insanity, rather than any deus ex machina or any specific murderous intent). I think I've really warmed to this Doctor now. He seems braver and smarter than before, less weird and scary. Almost without noticing it, he has become the Doctor.

Ben comes across the best he has in yonks. His improvised blagging his way past the guard is hugely engaging. Polly and Jamie fare less well, trapped in a plot cul de sac for the episode, with it never entirely clear what's going on. (but they shouldn't feel that guilty about it - practically every other character has nothing to do this week. The Atlanteans just get to say 'Ooh, it's a bit wet out there', and the slaves have been redundant since episode 2). Jamie is still just absorbing plot and lines from the other two, but it doesn't really bother you. If we didn't know I doubt we'd notice, after all, the original foursome rarely had totally individual plotlines.

A nice touch is the fact that the Atlanteans think the TARDIS crew are dead and decide to renounce their ways in tribute. It's a poignant little moment. In contrast, when Polly and Jamie think the other two are dead - and get greeted by a cheery 'boo', it's a wonder Jamie doesn't smack him right in the face.

The final TARDIS scene is pleasant enough, but Jamie seems ludicrously comfortable and familiar with the TARDIS and it's workings for someone who's only just arrived. He feels comfortable and safe there already? And worried about what's outside? After one trip? He's a bit clingy isn't he? Get away, the Doctor's got a stalker.

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The Highlanders

The Highlanders 1:

You know that thing Windows Media player does where it displays a picture of the cd you're playing, and lists the tracks on it - I'm never quite sure how this works, technologically speaking, but I've always thought it's quite clever. Until now. My copy of the Highlanders registers as the A-Z of British TV Themes. Looks like quite a good disc. It has two versions of the Doctor Who theme (traditional and disco), plus Steptoe, Man in a Suitcase, Tales of the Unexpected, the Prisoner, and several others. Wish I had a copy.

OK then, let's get on to the episode proper. It's a bit of an odd one. There's a more than faint sense at the moment that we've arrived after the adventure took place, as this episode is concerned with the fallout from Culloden. Whether the originality of this is intentional we can't tell, but it's quite a quirky thing to do. The episode therefore has a rather melancholic and doom laden air as we hang around the defeated scots. Perhaps more striking is the fact that there doesn't seem to be all that much plot actually in the offing. We do get some clues - Solicitor Grey looks so much like Bragen from Power of the Daleks that he really has to be the villain (some actors just have evil faces) - but on the whole this doesn't feel like the start of an adventure yet, just a succession of scenes, a hotchpotch of threats and resolution.

The guest cast all seem fine, if mainly uninspiring so far. The standout is Hannah Gordon's Kirsty who's engagingly heavy on personality, and seems quite fine. Alexander dies incredibly quickly. I say incredible because his prominence in some many photos from this story (and the cd cover) would seem to have suggested he had a bigger part to play in the story than he actually does. OK, but fairly one note. Jamie doesn't seem at all a companion figure yet, surly and frankly rather forgettable, just hanging around in the background. There's little of the jolly figure we've got used to here.

The regulars acquit themselves variably. Polly gets the best of the script, her scene in the cave showing up her bravery and potential resourcefulness (this good work is slightly thrown away by giving her a bit of a girly strop at the end, but we shouldn't ignore that at this point she is everything a companion should be: just as determined as the Doctor to move the story, save the day, etc.). Ben gets less to do, bar being tied up, so consequently is less interesting. The Doctor... hmm. He is going a bit odd here. It really is beginning to get hard squaring this slightly panicky, cowardly, scary and mad figure with the austere barmy cuddly first Doctor. I think this is probably about the point where the culture shock sets in. We realise that this Doctor is truly different from the original, and that everything as changed. I'm still not quite comfortable with him yet. He's kind of fun, but when you've been used to another very different interpretation, a change this big can only be a bit of a jolt. A very brave move by the production team - this Doctor is very clearly his own man, not some cheap impression of his forebear. I think the important thing now is trying to trace what the essence of the Doctor is, what this character shares with his predecessor. At the moment, it's hard to tell. He doesn't have the same exploratory air, the foolhardy bravery, the moral indignation. However, the ludicrous German accent is extremely Doctorish - it has the same barking but sensible feel as things Hartnell would do (such as the lyre playing, or his arguing around of Pike), that brash audacity, whilst at the same time being done in a very idiosyncratic style. To put it another way, this plan is something very Doctorish to do. But not universally Doctorish in it's precise execution - the 1st Doctor wouldn't do the accent - he'd do something similar, but more germane to himself. Likewise you can imagine the other Doctor's doing similar scenes, but they'd do something more appropriate to themselves as well. The accent seems to fit the Troughton persona, and I suspect we're going some way towards defining what exactly the 'Doctor Factor' is.

A pleasant enough episode. A bit of a come down after Power, and slightly lacking in plot. Good, if forgettable.

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7 May 2004, 11:46 pm
Dorney

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A-Z of British TV Themes 2:

It's probably happened a few times before - but this is the first one that's really leapt out at me. The contrived cliffhanger given away by it's resolution. The end of episode one has Polly trapped down a pit, and a knife hoves into view. This episode it turns out to belong to Kirsty. If you consider the two episodes together it's rather clear that the cliffhanger is artificial - it doesn't really connect with the story before or since, and is only there because a cliffhanger is needed. Kirsty's annoyance with Polly and the contentious ring are both forgotten as well, as they were only used to set up this five minute detour. The only way this actually affects the plot is in the capture of Ffinch - but that could just as easily have been done out of the pit, or in the cave, with a little ingenuity. What's also quite striking is that after this scene, Polly is basically forgotten.

I'm still a little concerned - there isn't really an obvious plot yet. For a regular historical, constrained by having to fit themselves around the real historical events, this is understandable, but here it's baffling. This story hasn't got a vast amount to justify it's telling if there isn't a clear plot. You can't really see why anyone felt this was a story that needed to be told. Nothing's really happening. OK, there's a faint slavers plot bubbling around, but it's not really all that easy to care about - the scots aren't really all that likeable enough for us truly to be behind them. And as for the villains - well Grey is duped totally by the Doctor practically straight away, so he's hardly a threat. Trask is more appealingly nasty - but not really due to any of his actions, more due to the persona, the piratical feel. We think of him as evil cos he's got stubble, a gruff voice and he goes 'aargh', and that's what we expect of people like that. Not that he actually does anything all that bad. In general though, it ain't clear what's supposed to be going on - is the Doctor just wanting to save himself and his companions. Shouldn't there be more actual story than that? If he's trying to save the scots... why? It's not like they've been particularly nice to him, and it would be a fairly pointless gesture (and morally dubious, surely - ok, from our perspective slavery is abhorent, but is it really right for the Doctor to be against people who are doing things that are pretty much acceptable for their period?).

The telesnaps prove their worth here, btw. One sequence in particular reminds you how little information those cds can give you. At no point is it entirely clear that the prison cell is on a different level from the guards, that it's a hole in the floor with the grill on top (well, maybe it is clear, but I missed it). It's an impressive looking set - and completely lost to us without further information like this.

With nothing much going on plotwise in this episode, the standout is Troughton. This is the character getting defined - a bit madder, more dangerous than Hartnell, slightly dark (I'm amazed Ben trusts him enough to judge that the whole traitor bit is a ruse straight away: that's not outside plausibility for this disconcerting, uncomfortable figure). The Grey/Perkins confounding sequence is a showstopper that justifies the entire story by it's presence. You can practically feel Troughton stamping his identity on the character: clever, subversive and eccentric in a slightly more in-your-face style (mad as he played the part, you can't really imagine Hartnell dragging up), fun but undeniably alien and unknowable. And in many ways, that's the key. Hartnell seemed eccentric, but never quite came across as coming from another planet (or at least, a really alien other planet). Troughton is a Doctor you could have fun travelling round - but you'd always know he wasn't quite one of us.

Having said all that, the similarities are coming through too. The sheer audacity of the escape plan here, the moral indignation. The Doctor is defined by what stays the same - and those are things that do, the general sense that this is a likeable, clever, witty, semi-heroic figure. It's still quite hard to accept him as the same character as Hartnell - but we're beginning to get enough clues to think that we might do a few stories down the line.

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10 May 2004, 10:01 am
Dorney


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The Highlanders 3:

Family visits at the weekend prevented me from updating, so apologies. Did try to do this one last night, but was so tired I decided to go for the 'stuff it' option.

One thing I've failed to mention both of the last times, is the bagpipe music that plays over the titles. Rather haunting and evocative it must be said.

OK, the plot's actually beginning to turn up now. It's rather slight, to the degree it barely qualifies as a plot at all. It's entirely about the regulars, and their escape attempts. There's a bit of an overlying 'slavery' plot going on, but it's really rather secondary to the basic plot imperative - that the main cast want to get away. The drive is not to stop the slaving operation, but to rescue friends (and if this one particular operation gets keelhauled, then fair enough). Doesn't quite feel like a plot proper, but it's entertaining enough, I suppose, and Grey is becoming more of a callous and dislikeable figure - still can't quite shake the feeling that he's a bit too petty and small fry to really deserve the Doctor's attention, but horses for courses.

This is all emphasised by how little actually happens in this episode. Usually I have a good sense of how much episode has gone by - here, the entire thing was over and done with before I realised it. The plot so far has been - Ben and the MacCrimmons get taken to a slave ship. The Doctor finds out. They rescue them. Not much is it? And this episode doesn't add a thing to that - it reunites Polly with the Doctor - but if you think about it, they've just been trapped in a plot cul-de-sac for a couple of episodes. Whilst it's been nice to watch Polly being smart and resourceful, and coming up with clever plans, and her wonderful blackmail of Ffinch, it's hard not to spot that she hasn't actually acheived anything to get the story further to it's goal (perhaps a touch unfair, she does find out that she has to speak to Grey, it's not her fault the Dr's beaten her to it). Generally, this is a fab companion story. Polly comes across brilliantly, spunky and full of personality, and Ben is brave and noble. Jamie, proto-companion though he may be, does sod-all this episode. I can't even remember if he has a line of dialogue.

But I've digressed - the episode doesn't really take the plot anywhere. It's a stalling episode (the twice over with the contracts - even the cliffhanger is broadly the same as the second one - not saying they're not both terrific cliffhangers, they are, but they're a little similar). Though it does use this to its advantage, exploring the characterisation. Ffinch, Grey and Kirsty in particular all come out well from this. Perkins too. Trask remains a bit of a walking cliche though, reminding us all the time that this seafaring adventure story style historical is rather similar in conception to the last one (did Gerry Davis get a Robert Louis Stevenson omnibus or what?)

The Doctor remains strange, in that sort of unwelcoming way that differentiates him from Hartnell's eccentricity. His mood swings, his up and down personality combine to make us still a little uncertain of him. I like him, but I don't love him yet, if that makes sense. I'm wary of him. I trust him to be smart and so on, but he still seems resolutely alien. His distrust of guns is reassuring, it undercuts the increasing darkness of the figure - though his subsequent plan to get other people to shoot up the boat seems contradictory. He remains frustratingly hard to put a handle on.

#11 11 May 2004, 2:39 pm
Dorney

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The Highlanders 4:

What an odd little episode. Everyone always talks about the second episode of Timelash's ludicrous double Borad plot to fill out a story that runs out of steam. But this episode pretty much the same. The actual plot comes to an end about half way through this episode, with a big climax and everything, and the rest of the script has to fill in time inventing new little subplots. Now, I know there's been a similar drop off at the end of the Chase, Web Planet, DIOE, but they did seem to fill in the remaining time with interesting character detail. This episode just doesn't. It contrives an escape for Grey, and has to whip up a miniplot of its own from nowhere. And it doesn't entirely work.

My other main problem with this story remains in place - the baddies are small fry. Grey is an opportunist, a mildly unpleasant man - but I remain unconvinced he deserves the Doctor's wrath. It's telling that in order to give him a proper comeuppance, the Doctor has to defraud the authorities. What Grey is doing is legal, but immoral. This would be ok if it was on a wider scale - if the Doctor's actions were to defeat slavery as a whole, it would have some justification, but there's little doubt someone else will be making money out of the system, and that more slaves will be transported. I suppose what I mean is that it all feels too personal, like a grudge. The Doctor decides to take down one little man, even cheating a bit at the end to do so. It's a bit too petty for my taste. Grey isn't nice, but he isn't so evil that the Doctor can justify going out of his way to defeat him - especially when he is reunited with his companions, he doesn't even have that loyalty to guide him. It's not like the Scots have done him any real favours is it? (And it seems such a crass way for the Doctor to behave as well - arming the scots. Isn't that just causing death for another bunch of people? This is the Doctor playing God, acting in judgement. I don't like it).

Jamie's joining at the end is equally weird. This bit part character, who seems to have pretty much said nothing outside 'creag an tuir' or however it's spelled, suddenly gets weighted as if he's a major character (note Polly's plaintive 'But we haven't had a chance to say goodbye to Jamie', as if she's met him for more than five minutes in episode one, with a gun to her face). He features more in the last ten minutes than in the rest of the story! The logic seems bizarre anyway. He doesn't travel off with his family because he 'fancies his chances more'. But then decides to just nip off in the TARDIS for no obvious reason, with a bunch of people he's barely met - if he isn't prepared to do one thing that's practically a dead cert, why does he decide to take a chance on something he knows nothing about. Maybe he just fancies Polly. He certainly doesn't feel like companion material.

Ffinch comes out of the story nicely, with his final scene utterly sweet (Polly does look so much more fanciable in the period costume than in the dollybird outfits, so you can hardly blame him). One of the nicest guest characters I can recall - plenty of personality and likeability, distinctly human and changeable (you do warm to characters with somewhere to go, this is a clear example).

Ben and Polly don't really acheive much either (Polly remains in her plot cul-de-sac, doing nothing of worth - and Ben joins her. His escape from the boat, his swim ashore don't really progress the story. He might as well have stayed on the boat for all he adds - another example of a contrived cliffhanger that's there solely as a cliffhanger and not to progress the story). The Doctor still seems just mad (did we really need all those disguises and voices? It just seems a bit ott. They haven't quite nailed the character yet).

So overall, not the best story. Really slight plot. Some nice characters. Pleasant to listen to, not actually a chore, but not really exciting. The historicals have been so good, it's a shame they didn't get a better send off.

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