Anthony and Whitney's Excellent Doctor Who Odyssey

[Anthony Williams]

Moving onto the third review in as many days, we get onto the mighty Season 21!

Warriors of the Deep

Why oh why does this story have such a bad reputation? Certainly, it has it's hilariously bad moments (how we both laughed when Ingrid Pitt decided to kickbox the Myrka!), but if you can overlook the cheap sets and bad costumes, this is actually a pretty good story. No, really... hear us out!

What we have here is a script in the best Mac Hulke tradition, where tension and a relatively convincing environment are built up. No, really! Despite the polystyrene doors and their attack systems being built on an operating system that seems to be that of BBC Micro... What helps is the concept. We have two power blocks locked in a cold war (just like in real life at this point in time), in a scenario where such things could really cause a nuclear apocalypse. Despite the big hair and cheap sets, this is basically set in contemporary Earth, and we all know it.

This isn't a base under siege story. This is a story about mistrust and aggression, not the politics of 2084. And that is why the Silurians and Sea Devils are the perfect monsters for this story, given their history in Doctor Who. Likewise, the use of hexachromide isn't there as a plot convenience. It's there to prove a point about the Doctor. He really doesn't want to use it to save the day. He wants a peaceful solution. It's only used in the end as a very last chance. Then, there are the characters. We have people who are thrust into positions way above their ability who can't quite hack it. We have double agents. We have Commanders and soldiers. We have real people.

So, despite what everyone may say about that, we both contend that this is a thoughtful and well-plotted piece of Doctor Who, despite the bad sets, questionable use of martial arts, and bad redesign of Pertwee-era monsters (still better than what the Moffat era does with the Silurians, though!) And with regards to the budget, most of it was probably used during those early scenes where the Doctor falls into the water, which actually look really good. All in all, this story was really was great, and a cracking season opener.

The Awakening

Hurrah! A two-parter! Whitney's ideal length for a story - means that they're pacey and not-too-padded, generally with a fairly tight plot.

Anyway, we all know how much Whitney and I love Tegan. So it will come as no surprise to anyone to learn that when it turns out that we're off to visit Tegan's uncle, Whitney is over the moon. "Are we getting rid of her!?" She excitedly asks. "No, dear... not just yet," I reply. The look of disappointment on her face is impressive.

But, what we're left with is exactly what a two-parter should be. The plot IS pacey, and it IS tight. And, by God, it takes advantage of what the BBC is good at, for the most part - costume drama! The idea of having Civil War reenactments is just genius. We have a contemporary story, with period costume and a few sci-fi elements.

And what about those brilliant characters in this? Whitney was adamant that Jane Hampden should have joined the TARDIS, while I thought that Will Chandler was superbly written - a character out of time who doesn't take everything in his stride, with some really great lines. And the villain? Well, he's just a man who comes under a bad influence. It's simplistic, but well written. And it's because of that that we love this one.

But what about the Malus? A weird thing in a crack in a wall? Well, we all know how much Moffat loves the Davison era, so we couldn't help but wonder whether that was partially the inspiration for The Eleventh Hour? (We'll get to that one in a few months, I'm sure...). But, it's actually quite well realised. We didn't think it looked terrible at all.

So, two good stories in a row - an impressive batting average so far.

Frontios

Aaaand this is where our opinions diverge. This is one of my favourite Doctor Who stories of all time. It's doomy, tense and just SO well written. This is, in my eyes, one of the best crafted scripts to ever grace the annals of Doctor Who.

Why is it so good? Well, it's partly the atmosphere. There's a feeling of impending doom throughout the story that we haven't truly felt since the also wonderful Inferno. And that's a feeling that I really, really love. Earth is gone. Here, we have one of the last factions of humanity, battling to survive on an increasingly hostile planet, unaware that a group of giant, malevolent insects are cultivating them for their own vicious purposes. But it's not all about alien conspiracies - from the very beginning, we see people bleeding to death, the infirmary is draped with peoples' corpses. This is gritty stuff.

Even the Tractators are pretty well realised. They are overgrown cockroaches, and the BBC do a pretty good job with them (unusually). And what they're using the humans for is absolutely disgusting and totally terrifying. This is the body horror that will come to be so common in the next season. But, because Doctor Who doesn't have much of a history in this area at this point, it's very effective. Oh, and the ground swallowing people up? Such an awesome idea, that it's another one nicked for the Moffat era!

Then, we have the way the characters are written. Let's be honest, Tegan and Turlough aren't the best characters to write for. But, Bidmead handles them marvellously, putting them to their best use yet. And to really add to that, Mark Strickson acts his heart out here, giving the performance of a lifetime. Likewise, Peter Davison is absolutely spot on, channeling not only his own abilities as our favourite Time Lord, but also showing traits of his predecessors - the gruff authority of the First Doctor, the mischievous ways of defeating the enemy of the Second Doctor, the man-of-action tendencies of the Third Doctor, and the intense curiosity of the Fourth Doctor.

I just wish that I could express better how much I love this story. Whitney, however, did not like this one nearly as much as I did. She found it "overly depressing", "gloomy" and "over-acted" (I can only assume that she was referring to the marvelous Mark Strickson). Shame!

Resurrection of the Daleks

And so we move onto Eric Saward's shoot-em-up. Superficially, this is really very good. It's a fast paced action piece, in which it's difficult not to get engrossed. But, ultimately, it fails. Why? Well, it's just needlessly complicated. In addition to the Daleks returning to get Davros to help cure the Movellan virus, we have bizarre side-plots with duplicates (aimed at infiltrating Gallifrey, apparently), the Daleks' intention to get rid of Davros as soon as possible, and Davros sensing this. There's just too much going on.

But, as is often the case with Saward scripts, this one is rescued by some incredibly slick production. While some of the scenes were doubtlessly horrific in their content, I don't think anyone could deny how amazingly awesome the special effects on the guy whose face gets eaten away by poisonous gas looks. It's fast paced, well cast, and brilliantly directed. Even if the plot is a mess.

And then there's the departure scene. We've made no secret of how much we dislike Tegan throughout the Davison era. She's constantly moaning. And she leaves in the same way she spent the whole time she was there - whining about something. In this case, it's the body count. Why didn't this bother her at some point before, such as during Earthshock, where she actually lost a friend? But a bunch of people who she barely knew get bumped off, and she decides to quit. Strange lady.

But yes, this one is a mixed bag. Whitney certainly struggled to keep track of everything that was going on (and this is the lady who understood Warriors' Gate on first viewing!), and by the time the Daleks' faked the duplication of Tegan and Turlough, she genuinely believed that they had. And there's nothing to ever refute that!

Ultimately, this story is a mess. A well produced mess, but a mess nevertheless.

Planet of Fire

The return of Kameleon. By this stage, we haven't seen him in such a long time that Whitney's forgottten who he is. Even with my attempts to remind her, she's utterly stumped. It's just been too long, and this fellow traveller within the TARDIS just hasn't made any appearances. It really was the perfect opportunity to have a number of guest actors as companions, and it was squandered. So, having been unable to use him, they write him out.

Then there's the Master. As we know, Whitney's always happy to see him (although less so Ainley than Delgado). Unusually, his plan isn't quite as batshit insane as normal. But, the whole relationship between him and Kameleon just doesn't quite convince, and he's given some truly atrocious lines.

Then there's the general plot, with the whole religion of Sarn, with the volcanoes and stuff. And we both just found that we really didn't care. For all we cared, they could burn in hot lava. There's no emotional connection with any of these people, beyond the fact that Turlough is connected to one of them.

On the bright side, we get introduced to new companion Peri, played oh-so-well by Nicola Bryant's tits. Or that's how it seems, given that they've made such a big thing about showing them off. And given how good they look, I don't blame them. So, with my sleaziness out of the way, she's a breath of fresh air after Tegan. Even at her whiniest here, she's a lot better!

And then we say goodbye to Turlough. It's a massive shame - he'd only really come into his own in the last few stories, and it's just as we feel that we're finally beginning to unwrap the character that he leaves. A few more stories, and he could easily have been one of the best companions of all time.

Again, another mixed bag here. We just don't really care about the main plot. We don't care about Peri's arsehole step-father. We're happy to see Kameleon go, and the Master is lumbered with a load of crap dialogue. But, we were delighted to see Peri arrive, and Turlough leave having found redemption for his family's sins on Trion (even though we'd liked to have seen more of him), and the frankly gorgeous on-location filming in Lanzarote (oh, the cast and crew fancy a holiday? Why the hell not!?)

Far, far from the best of the season. But not the worst, either. That's still to come.

The Caves of Androzani

And so we reach the greatest story of all time. At least, according to a DWM poll. This is a story that I love. Sadly, Whitney struggled with it. Quite badly. Perhaps it was the two week break that we took after Part Two, while we were in England? That's not impossible. What's so brilliant about this (and why I love it) has been said probably a million times by various people. So, I will leave it as that the reason for the Fifth Doctor's regeneration is self-sacrifice, for a girl that he barely knows (that's why the Big Finish stories with the Fifth Doctor and Peri don't work for me - they take away from his sacrifice in this story, IMO). That says it all as to why this story was so great.

So, why didn't Whitney like it? Well, to begin with, I think that there was far too much politics in this for Whitney to really enjoy it. I am a political animal. I love all things politics. I devour it, and this goes to my whims. Whitney is quite the opposite. She despises politics - she thinks its nasty. And with the various political maneuvers between Morgus, the President, Sharaz Jek and the army, you can why this might not appeal to her.

Then, there are the characters. No-one in this is nice. No-one comes off well. Not even General Chellak comes across well, being thoroughly nasty when it suits him. There is not one good soul here. They're either mad or bad. Some are both. Consequently, Whitney didn't appreciate the way in which the Doctor and Peri are treated through the story - they're both dying, and they have a real rough time of it.

Whitney didn't appreciate how the Fifth Doctor fought to save Peri, instead of himself. Ever the pragmatist, she thought it was stupid that he fought so hard to save this girl that he barely even knows, holding back his regeneration and putting his own life at risk. And then, even more to her frustration, Peter Davison's final scenes are overshadowed by Nicola Bryant's boobs! It was at this point that she fell asleep (I must say that we were rather jetlagged by this stage).

So, the next day, we resumed, and she saw the regeneration scene (laughing at Adric), and then remarked "What an arrogant dick!" after the first words of the Sixth Doctor and continuing with "I hope that this isn't a sign of things to come..." Yowzers. So, she did not enjoy this one.

The Twin Dilemma

As we reach the season finale, we move from one of the best stories of all time (in the collective eyes of fandom), to one of the worst (ditto). To me, this is the one story that has absolutely nothing good going for it. It's the one story that is a true chore to watch, and through every scene, I would much rather be watching something else. But, in the spirit of this Odyssey, I persevered. I must be a masochist.

But, Whitney actually liked this one! At one point, she said that she even thought it was better than The Caves of Androzani! Evidently, she's a very deranged lady. Still, we must not pity the afflicted... She said that she likes the new Doctor (really?!? He tries to KILL Peri at one point!), and that his "dickishness reminds [her] of the First Doctor". She loves his pretentiousness, particularly his penchant for reciting passages from classic novels (she does have a degree in English Literature, after all!) She even thought the plot wasn't too bad, even if the main monster "doesn't look like a slug... he looks more like a furry turd"

Still, there were a couple of things that she didn't like. She found it distinctly odd that a Time Lord would be Master of Jaconda. Why? Why isn't a Jacondan Master of Jaconda? She thought Time Lords don't interfere? What is going on!? Oh, and she didn't like the "furry turd", either.

So yes, there we have it. Whitney likes one of the worst stories ever, and I don't. To me, it's yet another terrible season finale. That makes three seasons in a row, folks... they're on a roll. Hurrah!

Season Round-Up

Well, it was certainly better than the wretched Season 20. This season had its fair share of bad stories, but I'm very glad that Whitney and I didn't agree on all of them (vive la difference!). This season was the season that the previous one should've been - returns for classic Monsters and foes (Silurians! Sea Devils! Daleks! The Master!), some of which were actually pretty good, but also introducing new monsters. Looking forward and back, at the same time.

But, it's a shame that the ending with the new Doctor was a mess. Like the previous two seasons, the season should have ended on a high, one story before it actually ends.

Because of our two-week break, this is the longest that a season has taken us since Season 14 (blimey!). Still, as always when there's a new Doctor, we finished the season looking forward to seeing what might happen when Colin Baker properly establishes himself as the Sixth Doctor...

[Jeff]

I have to admit I'm sympathetic with Whitney's plight. I won't go so far as to say that Dilemma is better than Caves, but I do think Caves is overrated and Dilemma underrated, and mostly for the reasons you cited for each. The end of Caves is indeed a classic, but the build up is dreary and sometimes boring. My main complaint for Dilemma was usually the annoying twins, but on watching it again a few years ago, I found that the twins weren't even in it as much as I had remembered and that while nothing to write home about, it wasn't truly terrible either.

[Andrew Curnow]

But, Whitney actually liked this one! At one point, she said that she even thought it was better than The Caves of Androzani! Evidently, she's a very deranged lady

Erm, Ant, I think you may have some kind of predictive text setting on your PC. I don't know if you'd noticed, but the word 'discerning' has accidentally changed to 'deranged' in that last sentence.

[Andrew Curnow]

Although I've warmed a little to Caves over the years, I still have a fundamental problem with it, in the same way as I do with Seeds of Doom - namely, that (for me anyway) they are two of the most un-Who-like stories ever. Certainly, a show that was regularly in the style of those two is not one I would be a fan of for long. Much too grim & grimy - and your comment of Caves that "no-one in it is nice" is spot on, it's so atypical to have a story where the Doctor has no allies, no common ground, amongst the people he meets.

As for Twin... The worst a story can ever be is dull, surely, and whatever else Twin Dilemma is, it ain't dull!! It's uneven, it's got some dodgy acting, it's got some cheap visuals (and yes, they should have unquestionably stopped the season one story earlier, before the money ran out!!). But on the other hand it has Colin almost visibly finding his feet across the four episodes - he may be OTT when he's throttling Peri or talking about his craggy knob... but look at his spot-on 'Doctorishness' when improvising his way out of 'certain death' at the end of part 2. Look at his 'fully stabilised' ease in part 4 when he's musing over Mestor's plan. It's not a great story, no, and it's full of missed opportunities (throughout Caves the TARDIS beckoned as salvation... this story should have made much more out of the fact that, for Peri, the safe haven of the TARDIS is nothing of the sort - we should have had some weird lighting & different camera angles in the early console room scenes, for example) but it's, IMHO, eminently watchable, and by turns daft, fun, infuriating, invigorating, and nonsensical. I like it!!

[Anthony Williams]

And so that we're now 100%, fully caught up, we move into Season 22, starting with...

Attack of the Cybermen

So this is how we start the season? With a continuity-laden Cybermen story? Really, BBC, really?

The problems don't end with the level of continuity. Whitney had no clue who Lytton was. She had seen Resurrection of the Daleks about a month earlier, and didn't recognise him. If she doesn't remember him after one month, how the heck would the casual viewer? That was Whitney's complaint number one. Number two is that the music is bloody awful. On numerous occasions, she turned to me and complained that it had totally spoiled what could be otherwise excellent scenes. Then, there's the Cybercontroller. Why, oh why, did they feel the need to get Michael Kilgariff back for this? Whitney stared at the screen in disbelief, asking "why is that Cyberman obese!?" I kid ye not.

But, this one actually has some potential. Yes, it's certainly continuity-laden (something that Whitney actually loves), but the plot wasn't too bad in itself. It's nice to have some more of the Cybermen's backstory (between The Tenth Planet and Tomb of the Cybermen) filled in, particularly why they came to Telos and if there were any original inhabitants, and what became of them. Then, even though Whitney has no recollection of who Lytton was, he's actually a pretty good character - particularly here, where he comes full circle and shows his good side. Talking of characters, Whitney actually rather liked Griffiths, and was sad that he died. I guess that this is another one where absolutely everyone dies. Whoopie!

And although the hand-crushing scene is infamous among Who fans, we both thought that it was actually a pretty good way of demonstrating really how strong the Cybermen are. We also see the "body horror" element of the Cybermen return, with mid-stage conversion victims present. Wonderful stuff, and that really helps to make the Cybermen somewhat scary again.

Ultimately, this story fails. Both of us thought so. But it's not quite as bad as much of fandom seems to suggest. It has its good points, but they are sadly outweighed by the bad points. This is a story that could have been salvaged, much like Resurrection of the Daleks was last season, if it had had really, really good production values, music and direction. A waste, really. Especially since it was directed by the same bloke who did Resurrection.

Vengeance on Varos

This was the first Sixth Doctor story that I ever saw. And it's a story that I've always loved. But was my love for it merely nostalgia, or will it pass the Whitney-test, too? (and keep in mind that we seem to have quite different tastes in Who at times...)

The answer is yes, it does! She found this to be the story where the Sixth Doctor well and truly "clicked" for her. I think it's the first one where he isn't unnecessarily violent (I've seen accusations in other reviews that he "goes on a killing rampage" or other such accusations. They're wrong), or obscenely arrogant.

Beyond that, this story has some real treats in store. The concept and subsequent realisation of Varos as a brutal prison planet, where its denizens delight in watching punishment on their screens, and where their system of democracy can have fatal consequences for those in power, is just brilliant. It works and is done so well. And then you throw in the Doctor and his companion, and make them escape the Punishment Dome.

Then there's the make-up person. They did a marvelous job with Sil (is this really the same show that gave us the Magma Beast only three stories previously?), with Peri and Areta's transformations and with Quillam's facial scars. It all just looks amazing.

This story has something for just about everyone. If you like action, it's there. If you like psychology, it's there (see Arak and Etta and their reactions to the scenes unfolding on their screens). If you like character pieces, it's there - the senior officers are all different and complex characters, whether you look at the corrupt Chief Officer, the sympathetic Governor or the psychotic Quillam. And if you like special effects and good costumes and make-up, it's there. We both adored this one, and it's probably the first Sixth Doctor story that we've watched so far that we both agreed we would watch again.

The Mark of the Rani

Knowing what was coming, I had a feeling that Whitney would enjoy this one. Which I'm quickly learning, means that she won't. She found Part One so utterly dull, that she was clockwatching all through it, and asking me "is it over yet?" every five minutes. She was slightly more excited when The Master showed up, but it still didn't hold her attention.

Fortunately, when we returned to this the next evening, she did much better with it. Her ADD had apparently abated. She began to appreciate it all, particularly The Rani and her wonderful put downs of The Master, saying things like they are (calling him "unbalanced" is probably the prime example of this).

As usual, The Master's scheme is completely insane. I don't know what happened when he stopped regenerating and started stealing bodies instead, but it's clearly driven him totally loco. All he does is come up with insanely complicated schemes (something that The Rani notes), and chuckles inanely. He he he he, indeed. What a Herbert.

I think one big problem for Whitney were some of the accents. She had no clue half the time what some of the extras were saying. Even I struggled to translate from "Northern" into proper English at times, but that was mainly because while I was explaining something that was said, something else got said, and I couldn't explain it, and then we've missed half the plot. Oh dear.

I think what part of the problem was for Whitney in Part One is that she just doesn't find this period in history particularly interesting. Yes, the Industrial Revolution is going on, but unless you're particularly into that kind of thing, it's dull.

Additionally, she particularly hated Peri's clothing in this one. It's ugly, gaudy and clunky. Admittedly, more modest than usual, though. And there aren't that many men (unusually) sleazing all over her. Good. That's my job.

So, this one was a bit of a failure for Whitney. She liked the Master and the Rani, and particularly liked the interior of the Rani's TARDIS. But, it was a bit of a clunky story (much like Peri's outfit), and Whitney ended up fairly ambivalent. As a scholar of history, I rather enjoyed it...

The Two Doctors

Remember how much Whitney loves Jamie? No? Well, I don't blame you. We moved on from the Troughton era just over a year ago. But, Whitney LOVES Jamie. She even made a comment this morning about how he displaced Romana as her favourite companion. Seriously!

Sadly, Whitney also hates six parters. So we're lumbered with one here, but in the guise of a three parter. You all know what I mean. But this one doesn't really feel padded until the third and final part. Admittedly, it probably could've been a two parter, but there are old format six parters that felt waaay more padded than this.

Despite the length, we both really, really enjoyed this. In addition to the glorious return of the Second Doctor and Jamie (for the very last time, sadly), we have here a script that is a wonderful black comedy. We both found ourselves laughing out loud on numerous occasions. Sadly, the production team don't seem to realise this, but the actors did. The bizarre result is that this is themed as an action story, while the rest of the actors are playing it for some rather dark laughs. After all, a story where the Second Doctor gets turned into an alien foodie, before sauntering off around Seville looking for food, is downright ridiculous and hilarious.

The biggest downside here is the Sontarans. They were just so unnecessary to the plot. And then the production team screwed them up, turning these midget potato heads into lumbering creatures as tall as Colin Baker. Ugh. I suspect that they were thrown in there at the insistence of JNT, rather than Robert Holmes' desire.

But, this story has so many things going for it, that it's more of a winner than a loser in the Williams' opinion. Between us, we loved so much about it. And I don't think I could end this review without saying just how wonderful Jacqueline Pearce is throughout! Oh, and Peri is once again played by Nicola Bryant's boobs in this story, much to my delight! I definitely enjoyed this story more than I had previously, and Whitney loved it too.

Timelash

Aaaah Timelash. Hated by so many, loved by me. Why do I particularly love Timelash? Well, you'll have to read You and Who 2: Contact Has Been Made, where I explain my quest for Timelash.

But, beyond what I say there, I do feel obliged to point out that beyond my personal reasons for loving this story, the one element that I do particularly love is Paul Darrow. From his very first moment on screen, he steals the show, chewing the scenery wherever and whenever possible.

"But what did Whitney think about it!?" I hear you ask. Well, she had also heard of its reputation, when we were down the pub at the beginning of the month with a bunch of chaps and chapesses from Planet Skaro. Someone was even gracious enough to tell her what its anagram is ("Lame shit", for anyone who is unaware). Perhaps that prepared her and dampened her hopes against my enthusiasm for this story. Because she actually quite liked it.

Yes, it's cheaply made. Yes, the Bandrils are a sock puppet. Whitney even commented that Peri gets menaced by a giant phallus. But, it's actually a pretty solid story that's been shoddily made. If you can get past the cheapness of it, and the occasional bad acting, it's pretty good.

But, there are two things you need to know about Whitney's reactions to this. Firstly, she really liked Herbert. To the point where she hoped that Peri would get left behind on Karfel and that Herbert would join the Doctor in his travels. Secondly, she had a pretty severe migraine during Part Two and forgot who Peri was. The crueler members of the forum might dare to suggest that the migraine compromised her judgement when it comes to this story.

Ultimately, my love of this story is well know. I wouldn't say that Whitney loved this one, but she claims to have enjoyed that. And someone who doesn't think that this story is absolutely terrible is clearly the right person for me to be with!

Revelation of the Daleks

For many, this is the highlight of the season. It's like Eric Saward went back, saw that his script for his previous Dalek story was a total mess, and decided to redeem himself by writing a better one. And I do think that there's a certain logic in that thinking.

This story is very, very well crafted. Granted, the Doctor and Peri don't really get involved in events at all - they just unfold around them, but does that matter? The plot surrounding this just pulls you in. There are so many different interest groups working for their own nefarious purposes.

Of course, there were a number of things that amused Whitney. First and foremost, they seemed to have spent time padding out Peri's blue coat to make her appear fat. Probably because the Sixth Doctor keeps calling her fat. What a meanie. Then, there was the DJ. I realise that for many, this is the one real bad feature of this story. Whitney was no exception to this: "Is he trying to sound American? That's terrible. I can barely understand him. Wait. What did he just say? I didn't get that." and she cringed at "IT KILLS!"

Still, we were delighted to see new Daleks finally having been constructed. The old ones were looking tatty at around the time of Genesis to the Daleks. They looked awful in Resurrection of the Daleks. By now, they would've been a total mess. Whitney spent most of the story confused about how Davros ended up as just a head. Then it turned out to be a trick. And we saw Davros hovering (how exciting!). But it was shortly after this that she opined that she likes Daleks, but doesn't like Davros. At least there's not much of him the next time the Daleks return...

But, she got lots of Dalek action here, particularly when the other faction of Daleks show up, and we get the beginnings of another Dalek Civil War. There's the disgusting see-through Dalek with Stengos in it. Absolutely horrifying. Then there's Davros' invitation for Tasambeker to become immortal - by becoming a Dalek, and then the Dalek eye stalk comes into view from the side of the screen to reinforce the point. Amazing direction, horrifying concept.

Of course, you can't talk about this story without talking about the direction. Graeme Harper is a master of his trade. It's no coincidence that he's the only Classic Who director to have been invited back for New Who. No little detail is missed here. I even pointed out Davros' fingers on the floor after his hand gets shot off to Whitney, when Orcini kicks a gun over to the Doctor. A further testament to him is that this story could so easily have been awful - can you imagine an Orcini without conviction, or a Jobel who wasn't as sleazy as the one that we got? This is another Saward story that could have been destroyed by poor direction, but was saved by amazing direction.

There's one thing that really does need talking about, though: Tasambeker. She's just so awkward. I tried to tell Whitney that I thought that the character was meant to be like that, and that it was brilliant acting. But, she was having none of it, and believed that it was just that the actress was naturally like that. I've never seen her in anything else, so can't really comment.

This is probably the best story of the season, in my opinion. A true classic of not just the Colin Baker era, but of all of Doctor Who.

Season Round-Up

You know, this Season has a generally bad reputation in fandom. The joy of watching all of Doctor Who in order is that you get the stories in more of a context of what had been going on on the show. I think we both saw Season 20 as one of the nadirs of Who. It's been on an upward curve since then, and Season 22 works very well for both of us, despite misfiring on its first story (poor direction, I think).

The stories are solid, Colin settles in well as the Doctor (and is MUCH more likable than I ever remembered him being), and Peri isn't nearly as whiny as I thought she would be (but could anyone truly be seen as whiny when following Tegan as a companion?)

At the end of this season, Who was put on hiatus. And I truly think that it was unfairly so. If they'd done it at the end of Season 20, I'd understand. But not here. This was a great season - one that we both enjoyed very much!

I know Whitney's looking forward to what's to come... we'll let you know our thoughts on Trial of a Time Lord in about a week's time...

[Whitney]

"Whitney didn't appreciate how the Fifth Doctor fought to save Peri, instead of himself. Ever the pragmatist, she thought it was stupid that he fought so hard to save this girl that he barely even knows, holding back his regeneration and putting his own life at risk." Errata: I actually didn't give a rat's ass and I just fell asleep. In the future, I think we'll play a game... immediately after the episode, I'll write what I thought of it, tell Anthony, and then he'll write the review. Then we'll get a more accurate picture of how well he listens.

"She was slightly more excited when The Master showed up, but it still didn't hold her attention." I'm like a 5 year old.

""But what did Whitney think about it!?" I hear you ask." You know that he's a lunatic, right? He actually hears these voices in his head.

[Anthony Williams]

And so, we move onto Season 23, and the infamous Trial of a Time Lord! We got through this in just a weekend. Egads! Anyway, on with the review!

The Mysterious Planet

We start this story with new theme music, which we both hated. Whitney's immediate reaction is "what is THAT!?", while I tried to explain my thoughts: "Sounds kind of... muddy. Do you know what I mean?" Whitney just about got my meaning. It sounds almost dull in comparison to the previous theme. At least we only have to put up with it for one season...

Still, the story starts with that famous model shot, which I think is absolutely gorgeous. One of the best model shots in all of Classic Who. BUT, Whitney, being the contrary soul that she is, she thought it was awful. "That doesn't look very Gallifreyan! And why is the numbering on the side in Arabic numerals? Hmmmm?" Oh dear.

Anyway, onto the setting up of the Trial. When Whitney realises how it's going to work, as they all turn to the screen, we get into a rather insightful conversation, which went something like this:

Whitney: So, they're watching the adventures of the Doctor and Peri on a screen?
Me: Yes.
Whitney: So, they're basically watching Doctor Who?
Me: Ummmm... I suppose so! Yes, they are!
Whitney: THAT IS SO META!

So yes. Time Lords are watching Doctor Who. It's a fact!

Anyway, so what did we think of the actual story, disregarding the trial scenes?

Well, let's be honest. There was plenty of scope for this story to be absolutely awful. Look at the brief - a post-apocalypic deserted Earth, ruled over by a robot with some outliers living as essentially savages. That's a lot of cliches in one go. BUT, Robert Holmes makes this work. He adds poignancy, drama and intelligence to this situation, with a particular focus on his forte - the characters.

Talking of which, who would have ever guessed that the Sixth Doctor and Peri could get on so well? This was something that Whitney particularly liked, and said that she wished that they could get on this well all the time! She particularly liked when they walked off at the end, arms around each other. Their relationship has finally become sweet.

But what's really wonderful are the supporting characters. Glitz and Dibber in particular are just excellent, as funny and sadistic criminals (but with hearts, too!) - they're so multi-layered that it's unbelievable. In comparison with any of Saward's efforts, it just shows how standards in Script Editors have slipped since the Holmes/Hinchcliffe era. Then there's Merdeen, and the sad moment where he reluctantly kills Grell, knowing that he was about to be shopped to Drathro. And speaking of Drathro, how many other robots in Doctor Who are there that have this well crafted personalities? Not many at all!

Then there's the mystery in this story. Holmes builds this story around numerous mysteries. We don't know how many of these he was given, or how many he came up with himself, but he works them masterfully into the story. What planet are we on? Could it be Earth? It is, you say? Well, why is it two light years away from where it should be? And what are these secrets that we hear about, and why are the Time Lords so eager to hush them up?

Of course, Whitney, being the very astute lady that she is, realised pretty much straight away that they were stolen from the Matrix, and that the whole thing is a Time Lord cover-up. I married a very clever lady!

But there were, of course, a few things in this story that didn't quite work. "Am I watching Power Rangers?" asked Whitney, as we first saw Drathro's "Castle", and heard the two twins conversing. Likewise, neither of us were entirely sure on the villagers. They just didn't convince as a self-sufficient village - they were the one group of people in this story that weren't properly fleshed-out, and were just there to catch the Doctor and his gang, and provide muscle in storming the bunker. Sigh.

Overall, though, this was a very good story indeed. Hurrah for Robert Holmes - we both liked this one!

Mindwarp

Yeeeeesh. I've never liked this one, and never will.

Remember how much I hate The Twin Dilemma? Well, that's the same reason that I hate this one, too. Yay for "the Doctor turns into a bastard and is unnecessarily cruel to his companion!" stories. Whitney pointed out that he spent much of this story confused from the device that Crozier attached to him at the end of Part One, but I just don't buy that.

This is a story where the Doctor is just plain out nasty. It undoes everything that was displayed in the previous segment of the Trial, and rather than the warmer Doctor that we saw in The Mysterious Planet, he has reverted back to his early 6th personality, by selling out his companions, threatening them and just generally being horrible.

Then there are the supporting characters. Most of them are truly woeful. The Chief Guard is utterly wooden, neither of us could understand a word that Dorff said, and Crozier's assistant was just as wooden as the Chief Guard. Actually, Crozier wasn't up to much, either.

There were two characters that saved the day here. Firstly, Brian Blessed as Yrcanos. I love him for the same reason I love Paul Darrow as Maylin Tekker in Timelash. He shows up and chews the scenery so utterly that it turns into a mushy goo. Whitney loved him and his shouting, even going as far as to say that she wanted him to become the companion!

And then there's Sil. I love Sil. I think that he's a wonderful creation, and played so utterly disgustingly by Nabil Shaban. This is the case of where the actor really makes the character, and I think that in a less able actor, this character would have been awful. And, as if to emphasise the point, Whitney said that she hated Sil. When I asked why, the answer was "he's just such a detestable character." Looks like the writer and the actor did a good job with the character then...

The truly best bit of this story is the last 5 minutes. The epic climax, as the Time Lords take the Doctor out of time, and we see events unfold as they use Yrcanos to kill off Kiv (now inhabiting Peri's body). At the end, Whitney was visibly shaken. "...is she really dead?" she asked me. Knowing how if I say "wait and see...", she'll prize the truth out of me, I'll confess that I lied, and said that yes, she is indeed dead.

Terror of the Vervoids

"How can we see a story from the Doctor's future!?" asked Whitney. "Oh wait! They're Time Lords! They can do crap like that!" she exclaimed, answering her own question. And so we began the final piece of evidence in the Trial...

Anyway, we get a new companion - Miss Melanie Bush. She comes into a lot of criticism from fandom, but she appears to be well-liked in Williams Towers. I was worried that Whitney would be critical, but she liked Mel, based on her outing here (and those in later stories too, actually).

With Vervoids, we clearly move away from the more experimental stories that have made up the season so far, and go back to something traditional - a classic base-under-siege story. We're on a ship, and something is slowly killing off the crew - what is it, and why is it doing it? Of course, this has a Pip-n-Jane twist, of being a bizarre genetically altered vegetable creature, whose misguided creators are convinced aren't dangerous. Of course not.

The plot twists and turns at every corner, keeping us on our toes the whole time. We wondered for ages who sent out the distress message, who tried to kill Mel, why the hijack? Sadly, this doesn't always work out, and there are some small things that don't work, or that are never answered. How does Hallet breathe in the Mogarian suit, which has been specifically designed to keep oxygen out? Why are the gym towels destroyed, rather than washed (this particular one was Whitney's question)? Most importantly, why the scene with the Doctor holding an axe in the destoryed communications room, with the implication that he did it? Honestly, that was just the most ridiculous part - why would he even include that in his evidence, if it were true. It's even more bizarre that the Time Lords think that he did it! Then, there's the final twist in the story - when the Doctor is accused of genocide at the very end. What a cliffhanger!

The great thing about the plot is how the solution to all the problems was there from the beginning. The new series is so often accused of including "deus ex machinas" as a resolution (in a horrible misuse of the term by fans), but that's not in evidence here. We know that the vianesium is there from the very beginning. When it's suggested as a solution, it's something that's well established in the story. Hurrah!

Additionally, the supporting characters here are once again very good - even the celebrity casting which JNT was so fond off. Special credit must go to Honor Blackman, who's "think of Galileo" scene is just marvelous. Way better than the casting of Beryl Reid or someone like that.

The real joy here is how wonderful the direction is - the red light when they turn out the lights at the end. The glowing pods after the door to the office is left open. The Vervoid-infected lady. The explosions in the first cliffhanger. The race to save Mel from the pulveriser - it all builds up a wonderful level of tension and suspense.

This is definitely one of the better stories of the whole Trial, although in my opinion, not quite as good as the wonderful first story.

The Ultimate Foe

Wow. The climactic end to the whole season. We haven't had a story arc since Season 16, and so this is something quite special - the culmination of what we've been sitting through. And a good number of us are well aware of the problems in the production of this, and it's amazing that we got an ending to this at all.

Let's start out with the amazing things about this, starting with... "Just a minute! Did you call him... the Doctor?" As the viewer, can it get more jaw-dropping than this? Whitney pestered me about this immediately - "what does the Master mean by that!?" I told her to be quiet, and that the answer would be forthcoming in a matter of seconds. She was gob-smacked.

Then, there's the Master himself. I hadn't told Whitney that he was going to be in this, and so she was genuinely surprised when he showed up on the Matrix screen, and even more surprised when he helps out in the Doctor's defense, by sending him Glitz and Mel. Still, as usual, he's up to his usual nefarious plans. But, the good thing here is that this Master seems to finally have come out of Delgado's shadow, and now seems to be coming into his own. I know what he becomes in Survival, and you can see the beginnings of that here.

Colin really is superb all through this part of the story - this could well be the best performance of his entire era. His court scenes are wonderful - intense and confident, right up until the point where he heroically leaps into the Matrix to give chase to the Valeyard. His speech against the Time Lords' decadence is absolutely brilliant. It's such a shame that this is the last we see of him as the present Doctor.

Once again, kudos has to go to Chris Clough as the director. The scenes inside the Matrix are amazing - the Victorian atmosphere, with hands shooting up from barrells, harpoons coming at Glitz from buildings and the echoes of childrens' laughter in the background. Then, there are the wonderfully evocative scenes on the beach, which give such a great feeling of panic to the viewer. It's all brilliant.

Even Pip-n-Jane's second part doesn't manage to screw things up, barring the needless technobabble. It still ultimately makes sense, and while I'm sure that what we got was not as good as what Robert Holmes would have given us, they do an admirable job, given the circumstances. The only downside is that the Valeyard's plot appears to be made up of a box that the Doctor destroys, sending sparkly things into the trial room. Hmmmm... well, we can't all be perfect.

And then we're left with that end, with the Valeyard being the Keeper of the Matrix! Such a shame that this was never followed-up on! It's very exciting!

Season round-up

For the Family Williams, this season has broadly been a hit. Whitney commented on how the Trial scenes actually drew her deeper into the stories, helping to break them up a bit - since she probably has some form of ADD, this kept her in the story, rather than took her out.

The whole trial twists-and-turns, as the Valeyard manipulates events, right through to where it's revealed who he really is, and then through again to the ending, as the Valeyard tries to defeat the Doctor, while the Master tries to defeat him, and the Doctor tries to defeat them both.

Neither of us thought that Colin deserved to be axed from Who after this, where he gave some of the best performances of his tenure. Whitney was sad to see Peri go, but relieved when she found out that she was still alive! BUT, she was also glad to "meet" Mel, who she took an immediate liking to. Excellent!

We both thought that this season is maligned rather unfairly by fans, as we both really enjoyed it. But, all good things must come to an end, and we're both looking forward to moving on to my favourite Doctor, new theme music, and a mostly new production team. Exciting times ahead!

[Andrew Curnow]

Errata: I actually didn't give a rat's ass and I just fell asleep

And the Androzani-beating goes on, love it!!

[Anthony Williams]

And so we move straight on to the wonderful Season 24! Let's be honest. This season doesn't have the best of reputations. But at least one of us is going to love it ALL...

Time and the Rani

And so we start with our first pre-credits sequence since The Five Doctors. Whitney was rather bemused by the poor CGI, although I did remind her that this was 1987 - CGI wasn't so advanced back then. Anyway, as we cut into the TARDIS after it lands, we see a Tetrap turn the Doctor over... and he's regenerating! I hadn't prepped Whitney for this, and the ensuing conversation went something like this:

Whitney: Wait. What? You told me that the Sixth Doctor would be in this season! You lied!
Me: No, not really. I said that he'd be in some of this season. "Some" is subjective - in this case, it was about 15 seconds.
Whitney: You're mean to me.
Me: Lawyered!

Anyway, at that point we go into the new credits. Whitney mused that the new theme music (my favourite of them all) is much better than Season 23's "muddy" arrangement, although still not very good. I was saddened by this heretical opinion.

So, new Doctor. This was, of course, an absolute delight for me. Everyone here should already know how the Seventh Doctor is my favourite Doctor of them all. Whitney, however, was a little more uncertain. However, as Sylvester got into his own costume (surprisingly early in the story - I don't know why, but I always seem to think that new Doctors get into their costumes towards the end of their first story, but it tends to be in the very first episode in Classic Who) and started making Malapropisms, playing his spoons and genuinely acting a little goofy, Whitney warmed to this new Doctor. The Malapropisms particularly endeared him to her, being the language nerd that she is.

What a lot of people complain about with this story is the script. Well, we actually thought it was pretty good. Both of us. The plot is actually pretty solid, and does actually make sense. Where this story particularly fell down is in parts of the production. Oh, don't get me wrong - the costumes are superb, particularly the Tetraps and the makeup job on the Lakertians. However, who the hell told the Lakertians to run like Muppets? Who told Kate O'Mara to be camper than Christmas? Or did she make the decision to camp it up? Because, based on the rest of the direction, Andrew Morgan actually seems like he was at least semi-competent as a director.

Whitney's biggest complaint about this story is Keff's music. And I agree with her. The problem is that the music itself isn't that bad. It's just inappropriately placed - in a pointless attempt to add drama to scenes where there is no drama. Like walking along a corridor. Jesus.

This is a story that had a lot of potential. But small things ruin it. This will become a theme for us throughout this season. At least we both like the new Doctor, and we both continue to like Mel. Neither of us really know why she gets so much criticism, as we both think that it's quite nice to have a companion who can scream well again! This story was enjoyable enough, but far from a perfect start to the McCoy era...

Paradise Towers

This is another story that could've worked so well, but several things managed to sabotage it spectacularly. Let's divide this up into things that we liked, and things that we didn't like. To end on a higher note, we'll do the latter first.

SO, things we didn't like. Yet again, Keff's score. Yeeesh. Exactly the same complaints as with Time and the Rani, with Whitney's complaining about this being particularly prominent through this story - more so than any other in this season. Then there's the cleaner robots, which are just clunky, slow and totally devoid of any notion of threat. They look like you could just sneak past them with ease, and not even have to be particularly fast about it. Pex isn't particularly well acted - wooden to the max! Then there's also the supposedly fantastic swimming pool. Honestly, the set just looks poor - it's a reasonable pool, but not spectacular. And the less said about the pool cleaner, the better

Then, the things that we liked in part, but thought were awful at times. The first nominee for this is Richard Briers as the Chief Caretaker. While he's still the Chief Caretaker, he's alright (Whitney recognised him as being from a Britcom straight away, but couldn't figure out which one - I reminded her that he was in The Good Life, or Good Neighbors as it's known over here). But once he gets possessed by Kroagnon, he starts walking like someone's shoved a broomhandle up his rear and talks like he has a mouthful of toffee. Then there's Mel - a character that poor Bonnie does her best with, but she's just so badly written for at times. The Kangs also fit into this - both of us found them rather cringeworthy at times, but rather endearing at others.

As for the great things, let's start with the majority of the sets. If you ignore the swimming pool, the sets are outstanding - they really are wonderfully grimy and look like they've had better days. Then there are the Rezzies (Whitney at first misheard this as "the Lezzies". Seriously!) - they're all actually rather well acted. They have both charm and menace when it's needed. When Maddy (who Whitney recognised immediately from Keeping Up Appearances) turned up at the pool to offer a peace treaty, it was rather touching. Then there's Sylv as the Doctor. He's just marvelous through most of this, dealing with the Kangs, the Chief Caretaker/Kroagnon and particularly in the scene where he escapes from the Caretakers, using the rulebook against them. He's settling into the role well.

Finally, a massive amount of kudos has to go to the script. This really does deserve a paragraph all of its own. This sums up the tragedy of Season 24. The script for this story is absolutely fantastic, when you think about it. Certainly, there are a couple of plot-holes, but this script is filled with menace. With better direction (was this really directed by the man who went on to direct The Curse of Fenric!?), this would have been absolutely amazing, and probably hailed as an all-time classic. But because of some utterly bizarre directing decisions, whether it's bizarre shots, lumbering cleaning robots, allowing Richard Briers to camp it up to the extreme, or letting Keff run amok over the story, this brilliant script is considered to be one of the worst stories of what many consider to be the worst season. Such a shame

Ultimately, we both enjoyed this one, despite its manifold faults. There's a good underlying story, and that makes up for everything.

Delta and the Bannermen

This is the one story from this season that Whitney had seen before. And she was dreading the idea of sitting down and re-watching it. So, of course, I popped in the DVD, and Whitney sat down, looking rather put out.

Anyway, we start out with what looks like a high-budget chase scene between Delta and her survivng Chimerons, and the Bannermen. And let's be honest - it looks GREAT. Plenty of explosions, and a real life-and-death struggle. By the time that Delta had stolen Gavrok's spaceship, Whitney had been reeled in. Hurrah!

So, what of the story? Well, the absolute joy of these story is that it is so very simple - Gavrok wants to wipe out the Chimerons, of which Delta and her daughter are the last. The Doctor and Mel have to stop them, in a 1950s Welsh holiday camp. Simples! The setting of this is wonderful - for once, Keff's music isn't overly obtrusive and complements the story well. The period songs chosen are very well done, and don't come across as overly cheesy.

Gavrok is wonderfully vile. He constantly shows zero regard for the rules of war, and does anything that he thinks will help him in his quest. He kills the informer so that he doesn't have to pay him. He blasts the Doctor's white flag. And the scene where he's chewing on a raw hunk of meat (pork?), Whitney thought was so utterly disgusting. This is just not a nice man at all.

Sylvester McCoy is on top form in this one - something that we both agreed on. He's thoughtful, yet goofy and humorous at the same time, just how Whitney likes her Doctors to be. The scenes where he's comforting Ray are an absolute highlight, and the chemistry between them is superb. If it weren't for Ray's irritating accent (overly exaggerated Welsh), then I think she would have possibly been a better choice than Ace to take over from Mel.

In this story, Mel is shown to be an absolutely brilliant companion, making some very daring decisions on the spur of the moment. A particular shout-out goes to the moment where she lies to Gavrok and tells him that Delta died when the bus exploded. A brave move, and one that nearly gets her killed. Honestly, neither of us know why she gets so much flack as a companion...

Then there are a lot of lovely little characters, of which Goronwy is by far the best - so brilliantly weird! Burton is also utterly crazy, clearly relishing what's going on, after he accepts it. He's happy to stick around and wield his sword in defence of his camp, and when it's all over... he goes back to life as normal! And Ken Dodd's Tollmaster is nowhere near as bad as people seem to like to suggest he is.

Of course, there were the two Americans. Whitney complained about the Americans being sent up in this story as being particularly stupid. I came close to feeling the back of her hand when I reminded her that stereotypes normally exist for a reason... However, I will agree with her that Hawk has possibly the worst accent since The Chase. At least they got an actual American to play Weismuller!

We ended this story with Whitney having re-evaluated it. It's certainly not going to make her top 50 stories of all time, but it's better than she remembered it. Me? Well, I love it. But there isn't a Sylv story that I don't love!

Dragonfire

And so we move onto the final story of Season 24. By many, it is considered to be the best of the season, despite a couple of things. Whitney would probably argue for that, while I would argue against. But it's differences like that that make life worth living!

So, after the Doctor and Mel arrive on Iceworld, Whitney is overjoyed to see the return of Glitz (who she really liked during the whole Trial of a Timelord Thing). It's bizarre, really - here's a man who is, from what we know, an absolute bastard. In the past, we knew that he was a cold-blooded killer, who had previously sold out the Doctor to the Master. Here, we see that he sells off his crew. But you just can't help but like the bastard!

We also meet Ace, Teenager with Attitude! I can see what they were trying to do with the character - tough cookie by necessity. At times, they get the character utterly wrong (Battlefield comes to mind - but more on that when we get there), but here, she's pretty good. We see the onion nature of her character, particularly when she's talking to Mel under the stairs, and when Kane is threatening to freeze her.

Which brings me onto Kane. I think that he's an amazing villain. So wonderfully power crazy and psychotic, thirsting for revenge, and manipulates everyone around him to get what he wants. "Must be a Scorpio," I mused. At which, Whitney pointed out that I am a Scorpio. "I know!" I replied, with a glint in my eye. He's definitely one of my favourite villains in all of Doctor Who - if I was going to be a villain, I'd be like Kane.

A shout-out must go to Patricia Quinn. Whitney recognised her as having been in Rocky Horror pretty quickly. But, it must be said that she does a really good job as Belazs, particularly since she avoids the temptation to camp it up. Her character is wonderfully sympathetic, having sold herself to Kane, aged 16, and has come to regret it. She plots, and it's her eventual downfall.

What's most amazing about this story is its repeated references to outside films. There's the obvious connotations with The Wizard of Oz, but there's the cantina scene which feels like a cut-budget version of that from Star Wars, the Dragon is reminiscent of the xenomorph from Alien, Kane is like Mr Freeze from the whole Batman franchise, the ice fortress from Superman... the list goes on! I can't quite tell whether these were deliberate nods (I'm sure the whole Wizard of Oz thing was), or accidental things that hid in the scriptwriter's subconscious. Whitney pointed a number of these ones out to me - I'll admit that I had missed things like Mr Freeze before.

Finally, there's the Doctor. What's with his behaviour in this one? Well, I know what happened with the (literal) cliffhanger to Part One, but Whitney didn't. It left her very, very confused indeed. I had to explain to her that there was meant to be a ledge closer to where the Doctor was climbing down from (and not a massive crevice), but the director screwed up. Which, when you think about it, is quite an oddity when he did a pretty good job with the rest of the story. Anyway, beyond that, Sylvester is wonderful in this story, as always. The way that he slips and slides around the under-city of Iceworld is just brilliant, and it's a shame that no other character seems to act like they're walking on ice. The way that he deals with all characters throughout this story is just SO Doctorish, and you just can't help but feel that this is the story in which he really nails the part for the first time. Even Whitney is beginning to see why Sylvester is my favourite Doctor!

The lack of Keff scoring this meant that Whitney adored it. Dominic Glynn's score is a welcome change from Keff's intrusive scores. It meant that Whitney managed to go for an entire story without complaining about the music. Hurrah!

So, this season went out on a high. Definitely Whitney's favourite story of the season, while that accolade goes to Delta and the Bannermen for me, but I do rate Dragonfire very highly.

Season round-up

This season is a weird one. The ideas behind all of the stories are extremely good. But, for one reason or the other, a lot of them are screwed up in execution. Paradise Towers is probably the worst culprit of this. Overall, we could see through the problems with this season, and we enjoyed it for the most part - much to Whitney's surprise. She even liked the 7th Doctor, which she didn't think she would! This is undoubtedly a flawed season, but way better than its reputation suggests it should be.

Looking forward to moving on to Season 25, as we march inexorably closer to the end of Classic Who...

[Stuart Wallis]

If you don't like Keff, that's going to be a problem during this period...

[SiHart]

Hmm. I think you come away with a new appreaciation for Keff when you hear the alternative score on Paradise Towers DVD that was originally recorded.

Nice review, as always!

[Ian Lethbridge-Stewart]

I like Keff's score for Time and the Rani, it's his best in my opinion.
Paradise Towers has a good score, but to me it's not as interesting as Time and the Rani, and I can certainly understand the view that it can be intrusive at times.
I think Remembrance of the Daleks is Keff's second best score, in terms of the music itself and the way it works within the story. The trouble is that Remembrance, Silver Nemises and Battlefiled all sound exactly the same to me!!! I also think that Keff's music seems to sound more dated today than anyone elses since 1980!

[Anthony Williams]

Hmm. I think you come away with a new appreaciation for Keff when you hear the alternative score on Paradise Towers DVD that was originally recorded.

You know, I didn't even know that that was there! With our marathon, we're trying to be as close to "as broadcast" as possible on our watch-through - so we've avoided CGI effects, alternate scores, the SE of The Five Doctors etc. But, I will probably go back and re-watch Paradise Towers with the alternate score sometime soon - since it's now in the past, I can do a "repeat" viewing, with alternate effects etc.

[Andrew Curnow]

Hmm. I think you come away with a new appreaciation for Keff when you hear the alternative score on Paradise Towers DVD that was originally recorded.

I absolutely agree. It's not that the score is bad in itself, it's fairly generic dramatic music and is reminiscent of some earlier 80s stuff... but it really doesn't fit Paradise Towers as is. For myself, I think Keff's music fits season 24 to a tee, and just to take an obvious example, his scoring of the rule book scene in PT is far better than the rejected one.

As a bit of a season 24 fan myself, I still, after 26 years, find myself dumbfounded when people rate Dragonfire as the best of the season - it won the DWM poll in 1987 I know, but for me it's by far the worst of the bunch. McCoy's sliding around, which Ant admires, has the effect (for me) of making the Doctor appear to be an idiot, because nobody else is doing it. Was the director (Chris Clough isn't it?) going through some kind of crisis when he did this one, because it's all round pretty dire.

Mind you, differing opinions are what makes things all the more interesting aren't they! Here's another one:

who the hell told the Lakertians to run like Muppets?

I like that, I think it's an admirably cheap (ie, free!) attempt to suggest an alien species. Akin to the weird alien movements of the Menoptra back in The Web Planet. But I'm very pleased to see TATRani get a generally good press from Ant 'n' Witney - again, it's been 26 years now, and I've still genuinely never heard a cogent argument as to why it is so (allegedly) bad.

And, by the way, I love McCoy's battered old hat in S24, I was rather sad to see it replaced for S25!!

[Jason Thompson]

Burton is also utterly crazy, clearly relishing what's going on, after he accepts it. He's happy to stick around and wield his sword in defence of his camp, and when it's all over... he goes back to life as normal!

Burton is a brilliant character. He starts off apparently as a comic character, and his disbelief at the Doctor's story is glorious. "You are in fact spacemen in fear of attack from other spacemen?" But then he is shown the TARDIS, and immediately realises the danger and evacuates his staff. But his best moment is right after the one you mentioned about Mel bravely lying to Gavrok. When he turns to her in fury with his gun, and Burton rushes in yelling at him to stop and telling him she's far more use to him alive. Let's reiterate that: this dotty old man, who only met Mel the previous day, runs towards a genocidal maniac with a gun who has just massacred an entire busload of people and shouts him down to save her life!

[Dino]

What I love about Dragonfire was the rather brutal Cafe massacre scene. I'd forgotten about it until I saw it. It seems to be out of place with the rest of 24's stories, let alone Dragonfire.
A sort of taste of what's to come.
I see by your avatar you've made more progress, but please drag out the remaining two series's round-ups for as long as you can!

[SiHart]

I don't know if it;s any more brutal than the massace of all the people on the bus in Delta, which arguably is an even more out of place moment in what's up till then been a knockabout fun story.

[Junkyard]

Burton is a brilliant character. He starts off apparently as a comic character, and his disbelief at the Doctor's story is glorious. "You are in fact spacemen in fear of attack from other spacemen?" But then he is shown the TARDIS, and immediately realises the danger and evacuates his staff. But his best moment is right after the one you mentioned about Mel bravely lying to Gavrok. When he turns to her in fury with his gun, and Burton rushes in yelling at him to stop and telling him she's far more use to him alive. Let's reiterate that: this dotty old man, who only met Mel the previous day, runs towards a genocidal maniac with a gun who has just massacred an entire busload of people and shouts him down to save her life!

Yes, it's the performances that save Delta and the Bannermen. Don Henderson (Gavrok), Hugh Lloyd (Goronwy) and Richard Davies (Burton) are all excellent. And I believe Sarah Griffiths (Ray) was considered as a replacement for Mel.

[Anthony Williams]

Well, we've now finished Season 26, and are well into the Wilderness Years, so I guess that now is high time for me to write up our thoughts on Season 25! Hurrah! Before I start, let me mention that Whitney had previously seen (i.e. about 5 or 6 years ago) two out of four of the stories - The Happiness Patrol and The Greatest Show in the Galaxy. So, with that in mind, let us begin...

Rememberance of the Daleks

And so we start off the 25th anniversary in style! We start off with a story with BIG EXPLOSIONS, the MILITARY, DALEKS and MORE BIG EXPLOSIONS!

Let's be honest here... what more could you want from a Doctor Who story? We have action, Daleks, 60s nostalgia, a creepy child, a sort of proto-UNIT military force with a pseudo-Brigadier type character, and some mystery injected into the Doctor. This story twists and turns in all sorts of wonderful ways. Whitney was thoroughly entertained the whole way through, particularly with hints about the history of Gallifrey, with the Hand of Omega and all that.

Of course, one of the real joys of watching this with Whitney is that she genuinely thought that the controlled of the Renegade Daleks was Davros for most of the story. When it turned around and turned out to be the little girl, she was quite surprised, to say the least! She loved the idea of a Dalek civil war, and particularly loved the Special Weapons Dalek (which led to a rather hilarious conversation, about why all the other Imperial Daleks are immaculate in their hygiene, the Special Weapons Dalek is dirty as crap)

Whitney did point out one thing that she didn't like - "I thought that Dalek spaceships were flying saucers?" I pointed out that these are Imperial Daleks - bionic blobs with bits added. They don't adhere to the conventions of sauceryness. It's true.

Of course, there's the scene where the Doctor nonchalantly blows up Skaro. Whitney turned to me and said "...wait. Did the Doctor just blow up Skaro? Basically committing genocide?" "Yup, pretty much!" came my response. This is a new side to the Doctor. Gone is the goofy spoon-player of Season 24, and in comes the galactic chess player.

So, this was a pretty brilliant start to the season. It's got everything you could want in a Doctor Who story. It finally feels like the McCoy era is firing on absolutely all cylinders... and don't get me wrong, Season 24 wasn't bad, but it was never this awesome.

The Happiness Patrol

So, Whitney had seen this one before. She was dreading seeing it again (you'll see a similar story for Greatest Show), as she remembered it as being one of the reasons that she thought that the McCoy era was generally awful.

But, she's older, more mature... she's gained a degree in English since she last saw it. That sort of academic study involves subtexts and stuff like that. And you know what? This story finally clicked for her. She loved all the juxtapositions between happy and sad. She loved how this story was camp at times, but had such a dark edge to it. She even admitted towards the end that this is one story that could actually be considered good for the very reason that it is camp on the surface!

To be honest, Whitney had very few complaints about this story this time around. She thought that the characters were well fleshed out, with even the Candyman being quite a well developed character (although she did sigh when she remembered what he looked like... and it's worth remembering that Bertie Bassett is not a well-known character in the USA!)

This is the fall of an Empire in one night. This shows us more of the ruthless side of the Seventh Doctor - and he does it without a shot fired. This is where he becomes the Doctor that is mentioned by River Song as the man who can turn around armies without shots being fired. That truly begins here, with the defeat of Helen A's regime through laughter!

We both ended this story with the feeling that it is an underrated classic.

Silver Nemesis

Ahhhhh the 25th Anniversary special. Silly Nemesis, as it is known to some. You know, this is another one in this season that isn't quite as bad as its reputation.

However, both Whitney and I thought that it was by far the worst story of the season. There is stuff in here that doesn't make sense. Why is Ace so convinced that the Cybermen saved her life, for instance? All they did was land their spaceship when the Nazis were about to kill her. This was totally by damned coincidence! They didn't deliberately save her. They wanted the Nemesis. It just makes precisely zero sense. But never mind...

There were things that Whitney liked here (and me, too - but I think you can all take that as read, given how much I love the McCoy era!). She particularly liked the hints at the Doctor's past that were given by Lady Peinforte. She liked all the mythology surrounding Gallifrey and the Nemesis (of course!). She even found the scene where the Doctor and Ace try to meet the Queen to be pretty funny. She liked the guest appearance from the Llama. She liked the scene where Lady Peinforte and Richard tie up the skinheads. And, finally, she liked Richard, who she thought should travel with the Doctor and Ace as a second companion.

But, of course, there were a number of things that she really didn't like. The American lady in the limo - what a stereotype! She thought that the Cybermen's extreme weakness to gold really took away from their effectiveness. She found the Nazis a little difficult to understand in places, thanks to the thick accents.

This is by no means an absolutely terrible story. But it's the worst of a good bunch. It's not a good celebration of 25 years of Who. It's probably the worst of the McCoy era (yes, really!) And it's the one that we found the most difficult to get through out of all of this Season.

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy

Whitney was dreading this one. Truly dreading it. Way more than she had been dreading The Happiness Patrol. She had seen this one before, and did not have fond memories of it. On the contrary, I had first seen this on UK Gold sometime in the mid-90s, made an off-air copy, and it had become one of my favourites of the McCoy era.

So, we both sought to re-evaluate this one. Was it as bad as Whitney remembered? Was it as good as I remembered? Well, in short - no and yes. I loved it, and Whitney definitely found that she liked it better than before.

But, let us look at what Whitney didn't like, and what put her off the last time. First and foremost, there's the rap. "Oh look, it's a black guy... let's have him rap! Way to stereotype, Doctor Who!" I think that that's a fair criticism. Then there's the Doctor in the God's arena in Part Four. Whitney visibly cringed when the Doctor did his "because you aint seen nothing yeuuuuuuuut" thing. Yeeesh. When I was 8, I thought that was the coolest thing ever. Now that I'm 25, I think it's a little cringe-worthy.

Beyond that, there was the embarrassment that was Whizkid. Believe it or not, Whitney didn't realise that he was meant to be a parody of nerdy Who fans until I told her. Just as she didn't believe that Captain Cook was meant to be a parody of Who superfans until I told her. She was rather sad that the show was intent on ripping it out of its biggest fans. But c'est la vie...

But what was excellent? Well, Whitney ADORED the corridors. They're so wonderfully atmospheric, particularly as Ace tries to hide from the clowns. Speaking of clowns, I think that it's me having been exposed to this story at a young age that caused me to feel very, very nervous around clowns. The performance of the story just has to go to Ian Reddington as the Chief Clown, for being so utterly, utterly creepy.

Now, what about the basic concept? The Doctor rocks up to fight evil from the dawn of time. Oh, sounds like fairly standard 7th Doctor fair? YOU'VE BEEN READING TOO MANY NEW ADVENTURES. This is where it all started. This is where the Seventh Doctor went from fighting small-scale monsters (like Daleks or Cybermen) and started going after the biggies from the previous universe. This is where he becomes the Oncoming Storm. Ka Faraq Gatri. Pure awesomeness. This is where he becomes the Seventh Doctor that was always my Doctor.

So, did Whitney re-evaluate this story? Yes. Will it ever be a favourite of hers? Probably not. Do I still love it? Yes.

Season round-up

As it transpires, Whitney enjoyed this season a lot more than she thought she would. In fact, she's enjoying the Seventh Doctor much more than she thought she would. In watching his era in order, the character has finally "clicked" for her. We see the Doctor's transformation in this season, going from the buffoon of Season 24 to a man who destroys the Daleks, brings down Governments, corrects past mistakes and starts bringing down evils from the Dawn of Time. This is very promising - we both felt that the season ended with the show heading in the best direction that it has done since, well... the Tom Baker era. It's just a damned shame that we only have one more season of this to get through before we hit the Wilderness Years. It's just started getting utterly awesome...

[Anthony Williams]

And, to cap off the Classic Series, before we move into the Wilderness Years, we look at the outstanding SEASON 26!!!

Battlefield

You know, I don't quite know where to start with this story. It's just SUCH a mess, but it's still really enjoyable. Even Whitney, normally the most critical of people anything short of amazing, really enjoyed this one.

There is a lot here that's just fantastic - the way that we see some of the Doctor's life out-of-sequence (such a trope of the Moffat era), with all the hints of his future life as Merlin, is just so exciting. We have Morgaine, who is just a fantastic villain, and so ably played by Jean Marsh - she's not inherently evil (she restores Elizabeth Rawlinson's sight, and turns off the nuclear weapon detonation sequence when she realises what the weapon would do), but she's certainly not working with the interests of Earth or the Doctor in mind. Her morality is so multi-levelled, and so wonderfully gray.

Never before has UNIT felt so spectacularly RIGHT. We have the feel of a truly international organization - with names like Zbigniev and Cusak, all wearing foreign uniforms with UNIT berets - about time! Then we have the two Brigadiers. It's obvious what was going to happen here if the show had continued - we were waving goodbye to Lethbridge-Stewart, and getting introduced to the new Brigadier: Brigadier Winnifred Bambera! A new Brigadier for a new age. And we may have even had Ancelyn returning with her! As for the old Brigadier - Whitney was really touched when he knocked out the Doctor and went in after the Destroyer himself, saying "awwww! He went in to spare the Doctor!", and she was over the moon when he lived.

Talking of the Destroyer, that must surely be one of the best costumed monsters in all of Classic Who? Whitney was very, very impressed - particularly how it appeared to produce saliva. The animatronics involved were just superb!

Finally, on the positive side, this has got to be one of the wittiest scripts of its time. To me, it's on a par with the wittiest of the Tom Baker era. The dialogue sparkles, the physical comedy is often great, and (as Sylvester himself says at one point), it's all a matter of timing!

Of course, beyond all that positivity, there are a number of things that are just awful about this story. Most of you will probably be expecting me to say the "BOOOOOOOM!" moment. Well, no. Neither of us cringed at that. It wasn't a highlight, but it certainly wasn't as awful as I remember it, and Whitney didn't mind it. But what we both really cringed at was Mordred's incessant laughing. Good God, it just goes on and on, doesn't it!? Then there's the red trousers guy - who just keeps dying!

But, overall, despite the questions that this left that have still to be answered about the Doctor's future life as Merlin (suck on that, Moffat - Aaronovitch has gone 24 years and counting without explaining his stuff!), this feels like a rather underrated gem. We enjoyed it.

Ghost Light

We all know how well that the BBC does period pieces. Is it any wonder that this is one of the best designed pieces of Doctor Who from the Classic era? Gabriel Chase is a wonderful-looking house, the characters immaculately dressed and the whole thing just oozes atmosphere. It's just wonderful. But the set isn't the only thing that gives such this story such an amazing atmosphere - full kudos must be given to the director, whose little touches really make the story, whether it's the glowing eye in the rocking horse, or the blue ambulance lights when Ace is having her freak out, so wonderfully setting things up for the later twist.

Now, to rail against the accusations of this story being difficult to understand. I've understood this story since I was 6. Whitney understood it on first viewing. You just have to keep your mind open, and concentrate. The whole thing's a science experiment, based around evolution.

The characterisation here is utterly, utterly superb, too. Whether we think of the relationship between Gwendolin and her mother, Ace's past crimes, or even Control's push for independence (and her eventual role reversal with Josiah), everything that happens here helps to mould the characters in new ways. And, of course, we're seeing the Doctor at his most manipulative here - making his companion face one of her greatest fears (it's such a shame that we never got to see why on screen!). Even Light's character evolves with the story, as he becomes more and more horrified with the evolution of the planet - but he too evolves, not just in his speech and reactions, but even by his appearance, glowing less and less as he gets more and more angry and desolate.

In my opinion, this is truly the masterpiece of the McCoy era - possibly even of the JNT era as a whole. This story is as stylish as a film and so very, very clever. This is the kind of story that Moffat wishes he could write.

It was during this story that Whitney made an interesting observation: "both this season and last, we seem to have reached a similar pace to modern Doctor Who." We really enjoyed this one.

The Curse of Fenric

This has the reputation as being one of the best stories of the McCoy era. And I would agree with that - for all the reasons that are normally trotted out, and I won't bore you by rehashing all of them again and again. However, Whitney thoroughly disagrees. Why? Well, intrepid readers, read on! Read on!

Whitney honestly feels that there's just too much going on here - there's the Viking curse, the Second World War, the Russian incursion, the Ultima Machine, the previously-unseen ongoing battle between the Doctor and Fenric, the Priest losing his faith, the onslaught of the Haemovores, the hints of Fenric manipulating Ace's life so that she travels with the Doctor... the list goes on. For once in her life, Whitney actually found herself lamenting that this story would have been better as a six-parter! I did tell her that there's an extended cut on the second DVD, but she wasn't overly keen to see it.

Then there was one thing that she thought was just plain awful - Ace's attempted soldier seduction scene. Whitney asked if he was really that desperate, because it wouldn't attract anyone normal.

So, I think that this story is a classic. Whitney does not. We do not speak about it in Williams Towers.

Survival

Wow. What a way to go out! Of course, when this was written, they didn't know it'd be the last proper story for seven years. But, they did it well. They got the best director in for the job (the superb Alan Wareing), and all the regulars are at their best.

What we see here is a story that finally makes something of the Ainley Master. Gone is the pantomime villain of the Davison era. This is the Master we should have had since he took over Tremas' body eight seasons prior - a savage Master, desperate in his attempts to survive. He's feral, violent and malevolent, and will do everything that he can to survive. This is just fantastic.

But what this story is truly about is our own internal savagery - we all have that instinct to fight or survive, somewhere in our natures. How many of us act on it on any regular basis? That survival instinct would come out if our lives were at threat, but most of us here are pretty calm individuals. That's part of what makes this story so terrifying - the Cheetah aspect that takes over The Master, Mitch and Ace (and, for a very brief moment, The Doctor) is in all of us. Deep down. Excuse me, I appear to have become an English Literature student...

The upside of this is that every actor gives it their all. We see the best of McCoy and the best of Aldred. The guest stars are just superb. Sophie Aldred really does deserve a very special mention, with all of her scenes being terrific - particularly her relationship with Karra, every single moment absolutely oozing with emotion. Then there's her struggle with the Cheetah nature taking her over, and whether she should embrace it or not. She is just on the top of her game all through this story.

Then, to top all of this off, the story is so well directed. Every shot is marvelous - whether it's our first sighting of a Cheetah Person, or Ace arriving on the Cheetah planet and seeing the boy get mauled, or even the fight in the quarry. The music is just perfect, for one of the only times in the McCoy era (and even Whitney agreed on this one).

The really interesting thing about this story is that it not only shows how far the series has come since An Unearthly Child, but it also comes full-circle, with a contemporary Earth setting, and characters being kidnapped from their home, being in conflict with each other. If anyone says that the Classic era of Doctor Who didn't end with a bang, then they are lying their backsides off. This is just so close to perfect, and both of us loved it.

Season round-up

This is the closest a season of Doctor Who gets to being perfect. Even Battlefield is very, very good. And while Whitney didn't enjoy The Curse of Fenric that much, she acknowledged that this is probably the strongest season of Doctor Who since the Tom Baker era. It feels that the show was really, really picking up, and it is just such a shame that it was cancelled at this stage - both Whitney and I finished Survival, wondering where the show could have gone in the future.

[Stuart Wallis]

So it's not just me that's been wondering about the way the series was changing pace at this point.

And the seduction scene is as sexy as a slap in the face with a wet dishcloth - and just as baffling.

[Ian Lethbridge-Stewart]

And the seduction scene is as sexy as a slap in the face with a wet dishcloth - and just as baffling.

Agreed, although I believe it was re-written to match the weather during filming. I seem to recall it was supposed to be something along the lines of that old classic "isn't it hot out here?" (lossens clothes)!