The Invasion of Time (1978)

The Invasion of Time is the final story of the 15th season and it’s my second favourite story of the season (after Horror of Fang Rock. It also marks the departure of Louise Jameson as Leela. Leela had been with the show since The Face of Evil in January 1977. This story is the first since The Deadly Assassin in November 1976 to be set on Gallifrey. Six parters have always been a very difficult thing to get right but in recent years they have managed it well. What you do is you have a four part adventure and then there is a twist in plot and the final two episodes are used to help keep the viewers interest. This story is perhaps the most impressive use of this format.

The Sontarans return to Doctor Who after their last appearance in The Sontaran Experiment in February/March 1975. They are invading Gallifrey but they don’t appear until the cliffhanger of episode four and when they do appear they spend the next two episodes chasing the Doctor. This includes one of the most bizarre segments that I can recall in Doctor Who history. The chase takes place in the TARDIS which as we see in the story includes a swimming pool along with an empty one, a workshop (which in normal stories would be attached to the console room), an art gallery and a hospital ward. If ever a new Doctor Who fan wanted to see what was inside the TARDIS then they should watch episodes five and six. It’s all filmed in a proper hospital (abandoned) and as such it has that film quality which is distinguishable from studio recording. The idea of these rooms being in the TARDIS is quite clever and it helps add to the illusion that the Doctor could pretty much live in the TARDIS and never come out (should he choose) but it’s the fact that this whole segment feels slightly out of place and like massive padding because they figured that they had the Sontarans but no real idea what to do with them apart from trying to get the ‘Great Key’.

I don’t really understand quite why the Sontaran’s were bought in except for the fact that someone must have really liked them and figured it had been about four years since they last appeared in Doctor Who. When they are all masked they are ok but then Stor starts talking and it goes downhill. It’s quite interesting to know that there is a Cockney branch on Sontar. It does however slightly ruin the effect that the Sontarans are a big threat when they start talking like their extras from Eastenders then it doesn’t have the same effect. Also Stor does look like Bernard Cribbins if he went on a Chocolate binge and put on several stone just on the face.

Louise Jameson’s exit is disappointing. For the last 13 months, the character of Leela had been a savage who had never shown any affection for anyone apart from the Doctor. Even in this story, she doesn’t seem to be interested in anyone. Yet at the end of episode six she decides she is going to stay on Gallifrey with Andred. Now unless there is subtle indication that this is going to happen which I completely missed, I find this departure explanation to be somewhat inadequate. If she had fallen for one of the rebels that were outside the citadel then maybe that would have been a more believable idea but as it stands Louise Jameson’s thirteen month stint on Doctor Who ended with a whimper rather than a bang. I think that during her stint, Louise Jameson has been a better companion than I had previous thought. Having watched her stories in order means that it’s easier to see her development and it has been well done and Louise Jameson has had more good stories than bad. Tom Baker is in his element in the early stages of this story. The Doctor is been secretive not just with Leela but with the viewers and this is something we haven’t seen from this Doctor. He seems to be having the time of his life but then once everyone knows his plans and the Sontarans enter the story then his performance becomes slightly comical and that undermines his early performance.

I said at the beginning of this review that this story is may second favourite story of the season but that’s primarily because the other stories hadn’t quite hit the mark for me and this whilst flawed does contain some good stuff and whilst Louise Jameson’s exit was a wasted opportunity, The Invasion of Time is an enjoyable six part adventure.

Underworld (1977)

Underworld is a story that until it’s release on DVD, was the only Doctor Who story that I had never watched all the way through. That’s because it’s a story that is all over the place and that surprising considering the writers. This was Bob Baker and Dave Martin’s sixth story and their track record was very strong but unfortunately that perennial problem of money put a spanner into the works. This story is forever known as the one with the CSO. Apart from the spaceship set the story is entirely a CSO story which sees the actors trying to imagine where things are and this story pushes the boundries of what can be achieved with CSO.

The story starts off really well. We meet a group of people who seem to be on a long quest for something and have the ability to regenerate just like the Timelords. However after episode one the story starts to fall down as we find outselves in the middle of the planet. I was quite surprised to see that there was a civilisation in a world than until only a few moments ago didn’t exist.

Tom Baker and Louise Jameson do a reasonable job however neither of them are given anything memorable or major to do. Credit must go to all the actors (including the extras) who managed to work under very pressurised circumstances. When I was watching the DVD extras and they talk about having to film against CSO, you can appreciate just how much work and effort went into just making the damn thing ready for transmission. It’s not difficult now to film something entirely but for the very limited Doctor Who budget its something that hasn’t aged well and doesn’t look entirely convincing. Now with the benefit of hindsight, the thing I would have done would be to just use a minimal amount of CSO and use the remaining sets to tell the story. Ok it would have required some tweaking in the script but I think it would have been far better than Underwrodl.

Once you get past the CSO then its down to the story and sadly it is very dull indeed. Essentitally there is a lot of running around with some people in strange looking costumes and masks covering their face. To be honest I could try and talk about the plot but the problem is that its just not very interesting and I don’t like saying that about a Baker and Martin script but the truth is that even there was a budget for this then it wouldn’t have made a difference.

Underworld is a story that isnt very good but you have to watch it just to see how sheer determination and hard work manage to get something this ambitious to screen. Sadly the plot is very boring and doesnt really work.

The Sun Makers (1977)

The Sun Makers is written by one of the greatest writers that Doctor Who has ever had. Robert Holmes is someone that has written some truly classic stories. Sadly The Sun Makers isnt one of those but having watched it recently I have to admit that its slightly better than I had previously given it credit for. The story takes place on Pluto which at the time must have seemed a fantastic idea, however since 2004 it’s not called a planet and is considered to be a collection of gasses. Thus making a planet where any civilisation cant live impossible. This story comes in Graham Williams’ first season as producer and he was trying to steer the show in a new direction after years of dark and gothic adventures. This story was suppose to be a satire on the taxation system however it gets bogged down and ends up being a slightly dull story.

The story is essentially about the Doctor helping those ‘tax dodgers’ from rising up against Gatherer Hade and the Collector. However the problem is that the people that he is trying to help are very boring and I find myself not really caring about them. The only one that I found myself liking was Roy Macready (Cordo). We get to hear his story and so can sympathise when he attempts suicide but is saved by the Doctor and Leela. Aside from that only Williams Simons is worth watching and that’s only because he was in the ITV drama Heartbeat. Richard Leech is pretty poor as Gatherer Hade. I know that this is suppose to be a satire but his character could have been slightly less camp and a bit more sinister. It seems odd that the collector would have Hade working for him but I suppose it was needed for the story.

There are things to like about this adventure. The story does come up with a funny line where Leela asks if paying taxes is like sacrifices to tribal gods and the Doctor replies “Paying taxes is more painful”. Then there is Henry Woolf. His involvement only starts in episode two but whenever he is on screen I find that the scene and the story pick up. The location scenes are very good and Pennant Roberts makes the best use of what there is. It would have been better if the sun had come out because the view would have been spectacular but Roberts still does well.

The ultimate problem with this story is the Robert Holmes has taken his eye of the ball and lost what he does best. Instead of telling a damn good story he is using this show as a way of ripping into the Inland Revenue for whom he had some dealings with previously which weren’t nice. Ok I can understand his frustration but there are better ways of dealing with that and The Sun Makers is a story that shows what a horrible thing taxation can be towards the poor but it should be able aliens and gribly things.

Tom Baker and Louise Jameson are reasonable in this story. Quite why Louise Jameson considers this to be one of her favourites is beyond me. Ok she’s entitled to her opinion but I think there were better stories to feature Leela. This isnt one of Tom Baker’s finest stories either but he’s just going through the motions here. The less said about K9 the better. There is a scene where he is meant to be creeping up behind someone but he’s making such a bloody racket that its hard to believe. The Sun Makers is a watchable story that has some good things in it but sadly is ruined by a lacklustre rebellion group and a gatherer that went AWOL from a panto. Not one of Robert Holmes’ finest.

Image of the Fendahl (1977)

Image of the Fendahl is a very strange story in that it is very dull but is at the sametime very watchable. This is the third story from Chris Boucher in the space of a year and its very different from The Face of Evil and The Robots of Death in that it has a earth settin with familiar things like proper chairs and tables and scientists in white coats and some very dodgy accents. The story takes place in a village called Fetchborough where four scientist are working on a skull that they found in Kenya which is apparently over twelve million years old. It’s not long before things start going wrong and the race if on to stop the Fendahl.

With its very dark and gothic story you’d be forgiven for thinking that this was a Philip Hinchcliffe story and not a Graham Williams and whilst the story itself is fairly dull it’s the cast that makes this story what it is. Lets start with Wanda Ventham who is just brilliant at the beginning. As Thea Ransome she seems to be the most normal member of the science crew. She is really good as Thea but then in the latter half become the Fendahl Core she goes into a different style of performing. I also liked Denis Lill as Doctor Fendelman who puts on the oddest accent that I have ever heard. It’s quite funny to think that these two would go on to play the parents of Cassandra in the BBC Comedy ‘Only Fools and Horses’. Lill has to spend the early part of this story playing to fans potential theries that because his character’s name is close to the name in the title that he would become the bad guy but this a nice little red herring thrown in by Boucher. Another familiar face that appears in this story is that of Geoff Hinsliff who would play Don Brennan in the ITV soap Coronation Street from 1987 to 1997. In this story he plays the son Jack Tyler who’s mother is quite the strict person. He is involved in one of the most bizarre cliffhangers in Doctor Who history. I thought that the person playing his mother was far more entertaining. Daphne Heard played Martha Tyler like a very typical TV mother. She starts off a very odd but then by the half way stage she develops into a very fun and likeable character and when the story starts to get bogged down its good that she was there to provide some entertainment.

There is something about Louise Jameson in this story that doesn’t quite work. I think it might be her outfit or it might be the fact that she seems to be wearing more make up than she usually does. She massive brown stains on her cheeks which become distracting as well as her hair being up as opposed to down which is how she normally has it. Now it could be argued that this is the Doctor’s continuing attempt to make Leela more civilised but I just think that if your going to change someone then go the full hog and just dress her up like she was in Horror of Fang Rock and Talons of Weng-Chiang. This just made Jameson look odd. Performance wise, Jameson is on very good form and is on par with Baker who seems to be growing in confidence to make the Doctor more comedic than he has ever been.

The design of the Fendahl is very impressive and way better than that stupid looking prawn in ‘The Invisible Enemy’. It’s only when it moves that it becomes a little bit silly but when you see it and you look at pictures of it you cant help but be impressed with it. Jokes are made about how rubbish some monsters are but on this occasion a lot of time and effort has gone into making the Fendhal creature look as good as it can.

The story begins and ends with scenes featuring K9. The ‘loveable’ tin dog who debuted in the previous story doesn’t feature quite as prominently as I thought he would which says to me that his introduction to the TARDIS crew was a very late addition. I have to say that I am glad because I really couldn’t see the point of K9 and thankfully this story doesn’t lose anything from not having him in it. Image of the Fendahl is a story the benefits from some really good directing but the main problem with the story is that it isnt very interesting and its only because of the performances that makes this story worth watching.

The Many Deaths of Jo Grant (2011)

The Many Deaths of Jo Grant is the most curious title that there has been with a Companion Chronicle adventure. Written by the ever reliable hands of Cavan Scott & Mark Wright (The Prisoner of Peladon, Project Lazarus, Project Twilight and Project Destiny). This story is very much in the same vein as stories like Recorded Time and Other Stories where there are multi stories in one release. Here we get three stories which start off like any normal story but then all end with the death of Jo Grant (hence the title).

The three stories are all fairly interesting with the curious part being why are they happening and if there not real or visions of the future then who is causing them and the answer is very good. Each story could easily have been tweaked to make a decent story. The thing that I liked best about this story is that it takes one simple thing about the character of Jo and exploited it into a 70 minute story. We all know that the thing that makes Jo special is her willingness to sacrifice her life for the Doctor’s. The most memorable moment came in The Daemons when she wouldn’t let the Doctor be killed and its where Azal could not understand someone willing to sacrifice themselves for another. This is where this story stands up and after the third time we find out the truth. It came at just the right time because any more and it would have left very little time for the explanation.

I was starting to get worried when in the final act we thought that the Doctor had been killed but it turned out to be another ‘dream’. I was worried for a moment that we were going to get a few more scenarios like this and this would be the point where I would have lost interest but credit to the writers they held back from this. I liked the little plot point the different scenario’s that Jo has been aware of has happened to her 412 times over the space of four days. This is a horrible thing to force someone to go through and its quite a relief when its over.

Katy Manning is superb in this story. Quite frankly I could listen to her in practically anything. I don’t know whether this has happened in other stories that Manning has done but when she is actually doing the Jo that features in the story as opposed to her narration voice, her voice is bang on to the voice used when she was on TV. Nicolas Asbury is good as the other performer and does well in each of the different segments of this story. To be able to do three different performances and make them seem totally different is quite impressive.

The Many Deaths of Jo Grant is a very good story that takes a simple character trait and uses it well to tell a very good story. I think that it might be my favourite CC of this sixth series and shows that even after 48 stories (not including Freakshow or Mists of Time), that the Companion Chronicles format is one that can achieve anything and its down to the limitation of the writer (or in this case writers) to show what can be done.

The Invisible Enemy (1977)

The Invisible Enemy is a very important story in the history of Doctor Who. Love him or hate him, this story saw the first appearance of K9. This is another story written by the very reliable double act of Bob Baker & Dave Martin. This was their sixth story for the show and whilst this isnt the best it certainly has some good things going for it. The first half of the story is the best because it’s the more dramatic. The story starts off with some space crew in horribly white spacesuits who are infected by the swarm. They then travel to the Titan Base where they plan to start a breeding ground.

Right, lets start with the positives. I like the plot, it’s a nice typical Doctor Who story that has some interesting ideas. The idea that there is a swarm that is trying to breed is very sci-fi and the sets set on Titan are very good. I also think that any story featuring Michael Sheard is going to be raised because of his prescence. Name me a story that Michael Sheard was bad in… You cant (I’m imagining you cant!). There are some shots when Sheard and other are appearing on a screen in the hospital which do look quite creepy. Ok the make up of the infected is slightly dodgy by today’s standards but there is something about it that is quite fun. Also all the performances are quite good. Tom Baker is on good form and so is Louise Jameson who continues to impress me. After two consecutive stories (Talons of Weng-Chiang and Horror of Fang Rock) where she was very strong, she gets some very good scenes and I do like they she was the only one who couldn’t get infected because she was stupid. The primitive nature of Leela’s intelligence has often been a source of mocking in her stories but in this case its used as a plot device and as a result Jameson gives a good account of herself.

The problems with this story occur in the second half of the story. Once they go inside the Doctor’s head it really starts to test the patience of mine. The idea of going inside someone else’s body wasn’t new even in 1977 and for someone like me who will have seen such films as the 1987 Joe Dante film ‘Innerspace’ will have seen this done better. I know its unfair to criticise the show for such things because the budget for that film and this show are vastly different, however I think that there were two things that were totally avoidable. The first being the swarm creature itself. It’s laughably terrible. It has to be helped along by the cast because John Scott Martin had difficulty in moving. It is hard to believe that anyone would be frightened by this thing. I thought that the threat can from Lowe. Another thing that I found to be very bad were those white ball things that appeared in the Doctor’s mind. I reckon someone watched the Prisoner and thought ‘those white balls, they look menacing’. Well they do when they are attacking Patrick McGoohan but not when there in a BBC studio attacking Louise Jameson and Michael Sheard. Another moment that let the story down was the sign of the wall when it had clearly come away from the main part but had been put back together for another take. It’s easy to defend Doctor Who sometimes against people who mock it for poor production values, however in stories like this its hard to defend it.

This is a story that is let down primarily by the production values. I know we should be praising the show for pushing the boundaries of what is possible to do on a BBC TV budget but sometimes you just have to admit that the money isnt there, that you cant do everything you would want to do an move on. Things would be so much better if this attitude had been used. The Invisible Enemy is not as good a story as Horror of Fang Rock which proceeded it but it was a distinctive shift in tone from the more gothic type of stories that we were use to under the Philip Hinchcliffe era.

The Robots of Death (1977)

The second story to feature Leela as the companion and it’s the second story in a row to be written by Chris Boucher. This is his better story out of the two by a clear mile. The story is about some Robots that cause the deaths of humans. The story benefits from the fact that it is entirely studio based and is in an isolated environment. I always love a story that got an single setting with no chance of help (Tenth Planet for example). The sand miner has a human crew that treat robots like slaves and don’t have any respect for the them or the other crew. They spend the early part fighting and arguing with Uvanov. We are constantly told that Robots cannot harm humans. This is built into their core programming but as the title suggests and within the first ten minutes of episode one we are shown that this clearly isn’t true. The humans that we meet in this story are not particularly nice people and so when their demise starts then I’m not totally sad to see them go. Only Pamela Salem’s character was the right side of nice to warrant me to want to see her saved. Uvanov (Russell Hunter) redeemed himself at the end but it was too late in my opinion. D84 is the robot that has been put in this story to prove that not all robots are evil. D84 is a detective robot who is becomes the Doctor’s assistant when Leela isn’t around. I’m not sure if the person in D84 is the same one who is delivering the lines but if it is then Gregory de Poinay came across like he was child like which might explain why he came across as the nice robot.

David Collings is very good in this story and his character suffers a mental breakdown or Robophobia (hence the 2011 Big Finish story featuring the Robots). Another name for this condition if Grimwade Syndrome named in honour of Doctor Who writer/director Peter Grimwade who had worked as a production assistant on this story and had directed some of the scenes for this story. Collings is the first one of the crew to seem to want to trust the Doctor and Leela. However his greed (along with everyone else’s) is the thing that gets in the way of me caring about Collings’ character.

Taren Capel is the person that we learn is responsible for the robots going a bit mental and it then becomes part of the story to find out his laboratory and more importantly who he is. The revelation of the true identity of Capel turns out to be Dask (played by future Celestial Toymaker David Ballie). Ballie is the best of the supporting cast as he does a very good job of being in the background whilst the build up is taking place and then when its time he shines and despite the slightly dodgy make up he still manages to come across as a effective if slightly flawed villain. If I had a tiny issue in this area then it would be with a scene where we see this physcadelic screen and its meant to hide the human that we are told is Capel but its clearly Dask which slightly ruins the revelation.

Of the main performances, both have changed significantly since the previous story. Tom Baker was less comedic in Robots though there was the right amount of humour and drama. Louise Jameson’s performance was much stronger in this and that is largely because she has a female co-star which was lacking in Face. My favourite line came from Jameson when she was describing Paol as he was entering the role.

There are some quite gruesome moments, obvious the sight of robots killings humans but perhaps the strongest was in episode four when Uvanov stabs V4 in the back of the head. This is heading towards the end of the Philip Hinchcliffe era and whilst it might not be as dark and gothic in tone as other stories but there is still a lot to enjoy. For the second story running some of the people have to wear ridiculous outfits. The humans have to wear some stupid head gear along with some weird lines on their face. I don’t know that it was the 1970’s but that excuse can only work for so long. The design of the robots is quite good but it’s the heads that impress me the most. They look very sinister and I find it creepy.

The Robots of Death is a very good story but I’m not sure it’s the best story of this season. It does have some very atmospheric scenes and the story itself is far stronger than Face of Evil. The penultimate story of this season is a return to form for the series.

The Face of Evil (1977)

After a companion free story we get back to more traditional Doctor Who storytelling. Louise Jameson makes her debut in this story as the primitive yet aggressive Leela. The story sees the Doctor arrive on a mysterious planet where there is a primitive tribe that denounce the Doctor as the Evil One. The story suffers from a lack of a story. Ok there is a mystery as to why there is a huge rock with the Doctor’s face on it and why everyone thinks that the Doctor is the evil one but that mystery is very thin and is resolved once they travel through the mouth of the Doctor.

It seems odd seeing Louise Jameson’s Leela like this. Considering all the Leela stories I watch of her are of her later time it’s not much of a surprise. I have always had mixed feelings about the Leela character because sometimes I like her and sometimes I find her annoying. I think that despite the weak script she does well in this story and it’s probably a good thing that there was a four week gap between Elisabeth Sladen’s departure and Louise Jameson’s debut. However as we would see in future stories, Louise Jameson would effectively be background noise as Tom Baker would steal the scenes that they were in together. Tom Baker never wanted anyone to replace Elisabeth Sladen as he thought he could do it himself and as a result this is where the silliness of Tom Baker’s Doctor took over, there didn’t seem to be the sense of seriousness that there had been before.

There is a good performance from David Garfield as Neeva. He plays the one who’s getting the voices and is at several points possessed by Xoanon. He gets massive brownie points from me because in the early part has to walk around with a massive glove on his head. Leslie Schofield returns to Doctor Who after having appeared in ‘The War Games’ in 1969. In this he plays Calib which was an ok performance but nothing really special. Another familiar name is Lloyd McGuire who appeared in this story as Lugo (which doesn’t ring a bell) but he appeared in the Channel Four drama ‘Teachers’.

The different tribes that are this mysterious planets were well realised. They Seva team are the usual band of argumentative people with a certain number vying for the position of leader. It seems odd that Leela is the only woman that we get to see in this story. It’s never made clear why this is. She can’t be the only woman on the entire planet yet even the Tesh’s don’t have a female crew member. On the subject of the Tesh, I feel sorry for the actors because they are forced to wear the stupidest looking outfits I’ve seen for a long time. As a result I can’t take them seriously.

The only cliffhanger that was of any worth was episode three’s. The idea of the Doctor being killed or whatever by voices and a CSO laden effect of Baker’s face was quite effective. The rest were rather dull but unfortunately that sums up my feelings for the story. The first third is pretty much boring but the last quarter was where all the interesting stuff happens. It was a fun notion that it was the Doctor had effectively caused all of this. Had it not been for his involvement (in an unseen adventure) and use his mind print on something then things probably would have been better.

The Face of Evil is the worst story of the fourteenth season. It lacks any drama and as a result I find the Serva team to be a bunch of bland group of people. Chris Boucher’s first story isn’t his finest (but then again neither was the great Robert Holmes) but it introduced Leela and that’s the best thing in this story.

The Tomfiles: #12 - Death of Doctor Who Confidential (2005-2011)

The news that Doctor Who Confidential has been axed has come as a great shock and sadness to a great deal of people. It has even prompted a campaign to get set up on twitter to try and bring the show back. This is due to the fact that the BBC has had its licence fee frozen by the Government until 2016. As a result this means that the BBC has to cut its budget by 16% as well as having to take control of the World Service and some of the costs of the Welsh language channel S4C. Over the last few months, the BBC has around 2,000 job losses as well as loss of sports coverage including Formula One.

The show was created in 2005 purely as a way that new fans to the show could understand its history and why the Doctor is the way he is and why the TARDIS is bigger on the inside than on the outside. It last around 45 minutes and in recent years has focused on interviewing the cast and looking at some of the people that make the sets and other stuff. Ok this is mildly interesting but after about 25 minutes I have found myself getting restless and wanting to change channels. In the most recent series, I have not even watched them because I have found them to be very poor in entertainment.

BBC Three has had its budget cut by 10% or £8.5 million pounds. According to the BBC website it’s “to nurture and develop shows for BBC One with some reduction in drama, music and entertainment”. Now this means that we are supposedly getting more original programming which will be worthy of the licence fee but considering this is the channel that gives us ‘Lee Nelson’s Well Good Show’, ‘Snog Marry Avoid’ and ‘Don’t Tell the Bride’ I’m not holding out much hope. However despite these shockingly bad shows they do show ‘Family Guy’, ‘American Dad’ and ‘Russell Howard’s Good News’ so if they do more of these shows as opposed to bridal vanity shows then that will be ok.

No other drama gets a behind the scenes show apart from Eastenders which occasionally and I mean occasionally gives us a one hour show. So why is Doctor Who so special? Most shows that are released on DVD get a behind the scenes disc and even when they release Doctor Who on DVD they present the cut down version of Confidential. Ultimately the main reason why DWC was axed was because it was probably too expensive. When you think about how much time is spent interviewing people, recording what’s going on and more then it must stack up to a whole lot. Considering what the ratings are for this show it’s a very poor return rate.

As long as Doctor Who is on the air, should we really be bothered that DWC has been axed. No, Doctor Who was and still is the main priority and the fact we are all getting so het up about it is frankly baffling. If the show were to come back in some shorter format then that would be fine but I won’t miss DWC. Let’s not forget that people are losing their jobs and some of them may find other jobs but some won’t and if you compare some job losses to the cancellation of a mildly interesting show then you should see which the inferior problem is. Doctor Who Confidential has been a supporting show to the main show but lets get our priorities right. DW is the show we should be enjoying and when they decide to cut that then we should get angry until then, let’s pause for a moment and wave goodbye to DWC.

The Hand of Fear (1976)

The Hand of Fear is the final story for Elisabeth Salden. After three years the most popular companion leaves the TARDIS. It was the right time for Sladen to leave because I think it was the logical conclusion. The character had started off as a journalist but after Tom Baker joined the show, she kind of lost that side of her character and she falls into what most companions start off as and that’s a screaming individual. Had it not been for The Masque of Mandragora peeking Elisabeth Sladen’s interest then this story would not be about.

The story starts off in a quarry, not an alien planet that’s filmed in a quarry but a quarry disguised as a quarry. Within minutes we are treated to a fanstastic explosion which sees a camera covered in rocks. The story starts on earth where Sarah Jane gets possessed by a ring and walks to a nuclear power station where the ring uses radiation to grow. It leads to a very impressed cliffhanger when the hand moves. Considering most people slate 1970’s special effects in Doctor Who, this one was done very well. The only problem comes when Eldrad walks out of the nuclear chamber. It’s a very poor outfit and does look ridiculous. It’s not made any better when Judith Paris is replaced by Stephen Thorne. It’s like Thorne has had to occupy the very same costume that Paris had. It’s a shame because I actually quite liked Thorne and felt his performance was somewhat better.

When the story is set on Earth then its more enjoyable than on Kastria. I think that the reason is that the acting on Earth is far more reliable. I found Glyn Houston as Professor Watson to be very good and was a joy to watch. Whenever he was on screen I felt that the story picked up. However for me the best honour belonged to Rex Robinson who starts off as a really nice guy but then meets a particularly nasty ending which I thought was a shame really. Robinson is one of those reliable actors that you could give any role and he would make it brilliant regardless of how bland they may be.

As this is Elisabeth Sladen’s final story its only right that she gets to dominate most of the early action. She is the one that gets encased in the falling rocks after explosion (though quite how she managed to survive remains a mystery), she is the one that gets possessed by Eldrad and so her exit at the end of episode four is well justified and not a silly one like the one Louse Jameson’s Leela would suffer. The final scene between Sladen and Baker is a very sad one and its because Sarah Jane is fed up and its only by a weird twist of fate that the Doctor pretty much forces SJ out of the TARDIS. Their final interaction sums up two people who would like to meet up again but probably never will.

The Hand of Fear is a very good story with a strong plot and some superb acting from both Sladen and Baker. You could understand why Sarah Jane wants to leave the Doctor because anyone in their right mind would have been sick of all the kidnapping and hypnosis after a year but its always been clear that Sladen has a respect for the show which I don’t think has been repeated by anyone before or since. When Elisabeth passed away, it was decided to repeat this story on BBC Four and it was the right decision because it shows every possible reason why Elisabeth was so well loved and respected. Ok, so the Eldrad costume was a bit silly but the story is a brilliant story that benefits from some fine writing but more importantly some very good acting. A good story.

The Memory Cheats (2011)

The Memory Cheats is a sequel (of sorts) to the Echoes of Grey story from 2010. I decided to revisit that story in an attempt to familarise myself with the overall story. I have to admit that I was wrong with my original review. In that review dated August 22nd 2010, I said

“Echoes of Grey isnt quite the story it should be…….It takes way too long to get the story going and by that point I had all but lost interest in what was going on”

On listening to this story again I think that whilst it wasn’t snappy it was very interesting and it made complete sense. So with that change in opinion I ploughed on with this sequel. We seem to be getting a lot of story arcs in these CC’s. Liz Shaw is going to get an arc as are Steven Taylor has one at the moment so its only right that one of the smartest Who companions should get this treatment. The way that they get round Zoe’s mind block imposed by the Timelords is always a tricky one by the writers to get around. Simon Guerrier manages it very well and as the CC’s most regular writer (this is his 10th story with two more coming in this series), he has become the undisputed king of these sort of stories.

In the previous story, Zoe is being probed by Ali from ‘The Company’ who want to use her knowledge to retrieve some information from the events in Echoes. This comes some time later when Zoe is being charged by ‘the company’ and has a 63% change of avoiding execution. The story is set in Uzbekistan in 1919 where children are being taken. It didn’t matter what their race or religion was, they were been taken by some strange looking creature. The first half is so interesting and well read by Wendy Padbury that I was amazed that some 35 minutes had passed.

The alien ship that has been taking the children was apparently on an mission that just happened to be hit (which is likely considering they would have been round in 1918 during the First World War). I quite liked how we got the impression that the alien was feeling guilty about what it had done. I thought it was a brave idea to let the alien take the children back with him. Normally the Doctor would save the day and let the children go back to their homes. Zoe implies she was responsible for the negotiations which is something that is clear Guerrier wants us to accept and that is Zoe isn’t the whiter than white person we all think she is. But at the end Zoe says that she misled Jen which I thought was more like the old Zoe.

This story is a Padbury affair. Wendy is joined by her daughter Charlie Hayes who had appeared in a Stage play from a couple of years ago. They are both very good with Wendy edging it as plays Zoe just as good as she did in the 1960’s. Sometimes due to actors having played there characters anywhere between 30-50 years ago their voice don’t quite lend themselves to the time that the story is suppose to be set as we (or they) would have liked but Wendy has managed to get the closest. Charlie’s performance is also very good as she tries to find out the information and her best scene comes at the end when she realises that she has been lied to.

The title really refers to the point that Zoe had theses adventures yet cant remember them and as a result thinks that everyone else is wrong. The final scene is perhaps the most important because it leads the way into the next installement and I hope that they permantley get past this memory block thing because it is in danger of getting in the way of telling the story. I wouldn’t say that this story is better than Echoes of Grey but it is certainly a very good story and definetley the best story of this sixth season so far.

The Masque of Mandragora (1976)

The Masque of Mandragora is the first story of Season 14 and it marks the first appearance of the new console room. Written by Louis Marks (Day of the Daleks and Planet of Giants), this story is another Pseudo-historical adventures. The story is set in 15th Century Italy where a Mandragora that has gotten on board the TARDIS and has escaped when they arrive in Italy. The plot is about how the Mandragora Helix will swallow the moon and “it will be time to strike”. The story is special because of its location. It was filmed in Portmeiron which is where they filmed the cult 1960’s show ‘The Prisoner’. I thought that the location stuff was very well done and looked lovely. It’s very unusual that location filming has this effect but when its done well its worth mentioning.

The story benefits from having some very interesting characters which makes up for a rather lacklustre story. John Laurimore was very good as Count Federico and Norman Jones (previously in Dr Who and the Silurians) was very amusing as Hieronymous especially as he had what can only be described as one of the funniest beards in TV. Though I was thoroughly impressed with Tim Pigott-Smith who is very striking from start to finish. Gareth Armstrong finished off the set of actors that impressed me. As Giuliano the character was well written and played by Armstrong. The setting is quite a good one as its better than the one that we saw in The Time Warrior. That story is more science than history whereas this story is more history than science which I do find to be quite endearing.

Tom Baker is very good in this story and seems to be enjoying himself quite a lot. The moment when he is using the football rattle thing to scare the horses and assist in his escape was typical of the Doctor. There is no harm to anyone apart from the dignity of the horse rider. Elisabeth Sladen is also very good but does fall into being imprisoned and at one point was about to be sacrificed.

It would be odd not to go into greater detail about the new TARDIS console. I must admit that I rather like it and think that it suits the gothic era that Doctor Who was in. I think that whilst it doesn’t feel as big as the ‘traditional’ set that is something that I could overlook. Basically I really like the set and it’s a shame that they didn’t continue with it for much longer. I don’t really think that The Masque of Mandragora is the best story of this series but it does have a lot going for it and there is enough for me to find this an enjoyable story, I think that it is far better than the previous story but think that the duration was just the right length. The strong relationship between Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen is about to reach an end.

The Seeds of Doom (1976)

The final story of Tom Baker’s second series isn’t quite the adventure that I think was the best way to end the series. Six part adventures to end a season would become norm for the Tom Baker era over the next couple of years but this story doest have enough going on for four episodes let along six. It’s an ecological story which is unusual for a non-Barry Letts story. Written by Robert Stewart Banks who had opened the series with Terror of the Zygons.

The story starts off in the Antarctic where they discover a pod that soon turns one of the crew into a green axon. That’s the funny thing, they have got an axon costume from the 1971 Jon Pertwee adventure and painted it green. Whilst the story is in the Antarctic, the story is quite good. It has a claustrophobic atmosphere about it. But the it started to go downhill after the Doctor and Sarah are driven to the middle of nowhere

The story features one of the worst villains in Doctor Who history. Harrison Chase is a very rich individual who lives in a ruddy big mansion but has a thing for plants. The problem with the character is that its very 2 dimensional character who is about as interesting as a bucket of ditch water. I think that when you compare the character to that of Tobias Vaughn in the superbly effective ‘The Invasion’ (1968), Chase is woefully inadequate and that the thing I can’t get over this fact.

This story is noticeable because of the huge green leafy monster which is laughable as at the cliffhanger for Episode 4 when it is waddling towards the camera. I fail to see how even in 1976, this would have scared the kids. I must admit that when it was clamouring over the house it did look impressive and some of the shots of it walking against live action was well done but unfortunately I didn’t like it when it was a live action blob that was waddling around. It’s really hard to find that sort of thing scary.

Elisabeth Sladen gets a lovely speech where she gets to have a go at Scorby. Sladen gets some good things to do in this story and the Baker/Sladen partnership is as strong as ever but for me the sight of the Doctor jumping through a roof window to try and save Sarah was one of my favourite moments in this story. Tom Baker does the best he can in what is a rather light story for him. Apart from the window thing I cant recall what Tom Baker actually does. I’m sure he does something but its not that interesting. The story does feature some UNIT personnel however none of them sadly Nicholas Courtney or Richard Franklin or Ian Lavine. The most noticeable face apart from the regulars was that of John Chalis who played the aforementioned Scorby. He would go on to play Boyce in Only Fools and Horses and for that reason I love the character even more. Compared to the rather lifeless Chase, Scorby was lie an over active child.

The Seeds of Doom is a part fun part boring adventure that isn’t helped by a lifeless villain and a alien threat that can only move with the help of special recording equipment. When the story is in the Antarctic then it’s a nice closed off story but the moment moves to Chase’s house then it becomes a dull story. Not the best T Baker stories ever.

The Wedding of River Song (2011)

So it all comes down to this. The day the Doctor dies. Over the last thirteen episodes we have been heading towards the day that the Doctor meets his end and like the last series finale, there is very little that appears to be done to be able to change things. After the end of the previous episode where we learnt that River was the one in the astronaut suit in ‘The Impossible Astronaut’. I had a theory that it was a red herring and that in fact there was a second Doctor that would swap places with River. That theory didn’t last long though. The story was unusually told in flashback form which is very much like Lost. I did like it in this episode as it made it feel different to previous episodes.

The idea that they have raised River/Melody to kill the Doctor only for her to not want to do it because she loves him is a clever thing. This then causes the universe to be stuck at 5:02pm forever. The Doctor knows what needs to be done but River won’t let it happen. So the story is then about the Doctor trying to convince River to do this and save millions and millions of lives in the universe. River of course won’t because she’s selfish and doesn’t want to kill the man she loves. The Doctor quite cleverly resorts to marrying them (answering the question the Doctor asks in The Big Bang).

One of the worst things that Steven Moffat has ever done was writing the scene which saw us hear the news that the Brigadier had died. Of course it was nice that they acknowledged the character but I thought it was totally wrong to say he had died. I think there were two camps of thinking. Those who (like Steven Moffat) thought that he should be honoured in this way and those (like me) who thought he should be in Geneva forever. Now it’s made the loss even more final. Of course he was never going to come back but it still didn’t make it easier. I thought that the Dalek was a complete waste of time. The money that must have been spent on letting the BBC use the Daleks could have been better spent on say a really good special effect. If they were going to use the Daleks then they should have featured in the story a bit more, rather than to provide the Doctor with information about the Silence.

There were some good things. I say some. The idea that the Doctor we see get killed is one of those Teselecta creatures we saw in Let’s Kill Hitler was brilliant and totally unexpected (by me anyway). It didn’t feel like a cop-out and the way that it was revealed was also quite fun. I’m glad they explained the eye patches. I was hoping that the explanation would make sense and thankfully it did. The idea that the patches would turn on the user was also a clever twisty thing to do. The Silence came back and in a rather marvellous way. I think they are a very good creation and the fact that they were waiting in those water cases to make their captures believe that they were being locked up was a nice clever thing to do.

We are introduced to a weird parallel world where Winston Churchill (played by Ian McNeice) is Caesar and living in Buckingham Place and Charles Dickens is still writing plays (as played by Simon Callow like he did in the 2005 story The Unquiet Dead). The sky of London is filled with cars tied to hot air balloons and trains. There are Pterodactyls in the air. The Doctor is telling his story and every so often odd things happen, now it was the Silence doing that thing they do on the roof which was effective in the first episode and managed to be just as impressive second time around.

This episode did air the most gruesome death scene I can remember seeing in Doctor Who. Gantok falls through a hole and gets consumed by a heck of a lot of skulls. This seems to have been heavily edited as there seems something slow and odd about it. Whether it was designed to try and not scare the kids too much I don’t know but it was certainly impressive. Madam Kovarian met a particularly gruesome death as well. She was effectively left for dead by Amy with the eye patch that she has been wearing about to turn on her just like it did on everyone else.

The performances were all quite good. I thought that Matt Smith was on usual good form but he does need to stop wearing that fake beard because it looks terrible and distracts me from his acting. Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill return after their mini break and do their usual thing but it was Alex Kingston who was the one of interest as the episode named her character. I thought that Kingston has played the character with the fun and this episode was no different. This episode was the acting equivalent of polyfiller as we now know everything there is to know about the character but Kingston has been really good in this series and has revelled in what she was given to do. I particularly liked the scene towards the end where Kingston, Gillan and Darvill were in the garden, River had just returned from the events of The Time of the Angels/Flesh and Stone. River has just pretended in that story that she didn’t know she was having an adventure with her mom and dad. Next time I watch those episodes it may have a different feeling for me. That scene was a very well directed scene and well acted.

This is one of the most underwhelming stories since the show returned. At the end the question was Doctor Who with the emphasis on Who. Was that it? Was that what we were supposed to get excited about? Ultimately we have spent the last two years building up to this big moment and it never turned up. I think that Steven Moffat needs to do something new with the next series. Stop being focused with this convoluted story arc and do something that was fun and more importantly didn’t make me fell like I’d pissed away the last two years building up my hopes that we would get an epic finale but as I have said in the past with my references to Lost, this episode has kept that comparison because at the end of Lost you were just left going meh!

Overall this has been a mixed series. The idea to separate it into two blocks isn’t one that I am convinced about. No matter how much I think about I don’t think that it really served to the story. It’s reason was that everyone goes on holiday in the summer and so that last four or five episodes are victims of poor ratings, so I think that splitting it into two could be considered a success. At least as I write this (October 2, 2011) there are only 85 days until the Christmas Special (that’s assuming they broadcast it on Christmas Day).