The Tomfiles: #21 - Season 1 Review

This is the first of my season reviews.

I have really enjoyed this first season and think that the ‘marathon’ is going far better than it did when I last did it in 2010. I know that there are going to be episode which I am going to struggle to pluck up the energy to sit through the episodes but I have to remember that they are only 25 minutes long. There have been some days when I have wanted to watch more than just one but I have to be disciplined and stick to an episode a day. What I have struggled with sometimes are the reviews. Normally I aim for over 600 words and I have stuck to that but sometime I have struggled and especially with Marco Polo I was writing between 400-500 words. At the end of this first season I have written just over 28,500 words which is (if I’m allowed to be modest) is an astonishing word count.

The first series of Doctor Who was 42 episodes long and it was a varied and overall enjoyable experience. Out of the 42 episodes, only seven don’t exist on DVD or VHS and that was Marco Polo. The experience of listening to an episode a day was made easier by looking at the telesnaps from Doctor Who Magazine. Out of 8 stories in this opening series, half of them had been historical stories and I must admit that this is one of the things that has changed since I started this journey. Normally historicals aren’t something I have had a negative reaction and actually I have responded well but The Reign of Terror was the exception to the rule. Half of this story was good but the other half wasn’t and it shows the limitations of doing historicals in a science fiction show. The lack of episodes on DVD or VHS is going to be an bigger issue in future series but

It’s great how the Doctor has mellowed over the course of the season. For the first dozen episodes he was a really moody character and it must have seemed odd to some people at the time as to how they were suppose to like someone who is so unlikeable. This started after Inside the Spaceship and there were several moments from this period where they are all best friends and it feels much more like a team. Barbara and Ian go from reluctant travellers to just embracing the whole experience. There are moments especially in the early stages where it becomes quite important to the story but apart from The Reign of Terror its sort of a case of if we get back then we will leave. Susan was the most disappointing part of the crew because due to the writing she goes from a strange strong woman to a whiny teenager. Occasionally the writing would suit the former but mostly that would last two episodes before resorting to the latter.

I’m afraid that I’m going to become a statatiscian and talk about ratings and stuff like that. Episode 1 of An Unearthly Child got 4.4m though this is dubiously put to the death of President Kennedy the day before. By the end of the first Dalek serial, the rating had jumped to over 10 million. Two more episode would get over the 10 million mark (Marco Polo: Assassin at Peking & The Keys of Marinus: Snows of Terror). After ‘The Keys of Marinus’ figures would start to decline due to the summer months. The lowest rating apart from the first episode would be ‘The Sensorites: A Race Against Death’. The ratings would rebound to finish on 6.4 million.

My ratings for this story have also varied. The first episode got 8.67 out of 10 and only The Daleks: The Dead Planet would get a higher rating (8.70). The lowest rated episode was actually the final episode of the season which got 6.50. Amazingly out of 42 episodes, only 4 episodes got less that 7/10.

The first season has done well in establishing the series and for most people it is the Daleks that made Doctor Who and made this season but I like to think that it’s the steady hand of Verity Lambert and David Whittaker that helped cement these characters into the public’s consciousness.

Average Ratings for Each Story

An Unearthly Child – 7.83

The Daleks – 7.65

Inside the Spaceship – 8.42

Marco Polo – 7.32

The Keys of Marinus – 7.41

The Aztecs – 7.50

The Sensorites – 7.38

The Reign of Terror – 7.14

Council of War (2013)

John Levine is the last of the companions from the Third Doctor era to tell a Companion Chronicle. He is an interesting individual and I base that on purely on the DVD commentary of ‘Inferno’, Levine does his own track which at the time I thought was down to him not being available but it seems like he wanted to be on his own. Whatever the reason for this, it is a commentary that you should listen to.

The Council of War is the final story of the penultimate season of the Companion Chronicles and new writers have been chosen to pen this story. The story initially deals with ghosts and missing people and with all due respect to the writers, its not the most exciting topic in my opinion but I am willing to be won over. However what starts off as a ghost story becomes something quite different and I like how it pulls you in an just changes what you think its going to be. The story takes place after ‘The Green Death’ and Jo has left and the Doctor isn’t reacting well to her exit. Also Mike Yates isn’t there due to what happened in that story. Benton has to go undercover by pretending to be a councillor.

Sinead Kenean plays Margery Phipps. The name sounded familiar and a bit of work on Wikipedia led to me find out that she played the cactus looking alien Addams in ‘The End of Time’. Marjorie Phipps is an MP and considers herself to be more of a hippie than a member of parliament. However what seems like a character that is going to get dragged into the story is in fact someone who’s involvement was always part of the story. It takes until the second episode (or 35 minutes) to explain to Margery Phipps and more importantly to us to explain why she is on trial. It turns out that in 1992 she would become Prime Minister. The planet is rather amusingly called Kettering after Phipps. It seems like they have got all of their beliefs and understandings from a book that she wrote.

It was something different that Margery was trying to fit what she saw into something that she could comprehend. She thinks that they have landed in the council archives. Before we know what’s going on the Margery has been put on trial and with what seems like flimsier evidence that what we got in ‘The Trial of a Timelord’, she is found guilty and Benton gets to do a breakout.

The cliffhanger was ok. The line that Benton gives about them not being on Earth was one up on “I don’t think were in Kansas anymore”. It’s delivered perfectly fine and perhaps the right way to end the episode. The second half essential becomes a battle with Margery. It’s well into the second episode before the Doctor makes an appearance after Benton and Margery have worked hard up until this point.

There was a nice jokey line which was similar to ‘Reverse the polarity of the Neutron Flow’. It was a nice bit of humour after the past few minutes of drama. There was even an intergalactic version of UNIT called UGIT which sounded quite funny and also double up as an insult. The story was wrapped up in a just the right way and I didn’t think that it was rushed. John Levine’s long awaited debut in the range is a good one. Hopefully this wont be the last time that we hear from him because I thought that he put in a good performance from start to finish. I liked the Benton that we got here because it seemed like a more serious Benton and there was no sign of the loveable yet slightly simple Benton. Hopefully the next Benton story would carry this on.

As the final story of the Seventh Series I thought it was a good way to sign off. The writing was solid and the pace of the story was just right. It was the right length and I really liked the humour. In short, Council of War is a highly enjoyable adventure.

Trouble in Paradise (2013)

The latest Destiny release sees Nicola Bryant play Peri and it’s the introduction of another historical character. This story was written by Nev Fountain who is Mr Nicola Bryant and also the author ‘Peri and the Piscon Paradox’ which won the Toms Tardis Award for Best Companion Chronicle and was the best story from the series that year. So I was quite looking forward to this story knowing that there would be a nice balance between humour and drama.

The inclusion of the 11th Doctor usually comes quite late into the story but here its done quite early. It surprised me but actually when you listen to the story you understand why because it was the only place that it could have been placed. I thought it was a funny moment when the 11th Doctor loves the 6th Doctor’s coat. The 11th Doctor wants the 6th Doctor to get a Omni-Paradox. The Doctor has a Sat-Nav which is voiced by Davros. The idea is a wacky one but seems to work because it came from the mind of Nev Fountain.

It seems like their mission is going to be completed by as with these things they never go quite as smoothly as they could and they are soon captured. Admiral Christopher Columbus is the historical figure that features in this story and for one thing I didn’t know he was an Admiral. Never in the history lessons I had at school did I hear what rank he had. If I did then I must have forgotten it but it was something that intrigued me straight away. Cameron Stewart is the person responsible for bringing the discoverer alive and despite the quite horrible way that he treats the people under him the way that Stewart performs in this story I cant quite find the ability to dislike him. We get a bit of moral history from Peri as she isn’t bowled over by encountering Columbus which annoyed the Doctor. Nicola Bryant gets the chance to give the sort of performance that you wish she would have been allowed to give on TV. Peri gives us an alternative history of Columbus which was quite unexpected. Even after learning all of this I could find myself disliking him because Stewart was so good.

There is a moment when the Doctor doesn’t treat someone with TB is one that on the face of it is perfectly reasonable but there is an argument as to whether one person treated would make that much of a difference but that’s never talked about a Peri is angry with the Doctor and comes up with the idea that if it were Columbus with TB then he would do what he could. It leads to Peri fleeing the Doctor in tears and then it appears that Peri has gone overboard. Now, I always have an issue when the Doctor or a companion is ‘dead’ because I would say a good 90% of the people listening would know that this isn’t the case and something else has happened.

As it was Peri washed up on land and she quickly encounters some locals and what makes them different is some technologies on their spears. Her experiences from this point on are the most entertaining out of the two and I thought that Nicola Bryant did a wonderful job in this story though I thought that only Nev Fountain would be allowed to get away with heifer jokes. Peri encounters a Space Buffalo which at first was thought of as the Devil which isn’t something that I was expecting when I started to listen to this story. We learn that he is the leader of a herd and wants Columbus to discover

Columbus goes from being a nice chap with a posh voice to being someone who turns on the Doctor wanting the Doctor to take him and his men off the ship. The Omni-Paradox is quite integral to the story and its disappearance is causing the Doctor some concern and out of nowhere there is a time that the Doctor tells us he has to find it. This along with Columbus’ demand helps to create a fun second half to the story.

I liked this story as it felt different from any of the stories that we have had in this series which is quite an achievement. I thought that the narration of Columbus was a nice thing to include as it broke up the story a little bit and it was very much like in ‘Marco Polo’ when said character narrates and it helps sees things from his perspective.

If I had an issue with this story then I feel that its slightly too long. It could have lost about 10-15 minutes and would have been even better. That said I thought that it was an enjoyable story with a good setting and some quite funny lines. Especially with the idea that the Doctor got a goat to replace Peri as he thought she had died. It’s a good story and also another solid offering from Nev Fountain.

The Tomfiles: #20 - My Doctor Who Marathon

Back on May 16, I embarked on a journey to watch and listen to every Doctor Who episode from An Unearthly Child until whatever the current episode is when I reach the end. In all I think that it will take just over two years to do this. I was partly inspired by a chap called Will Brooks who on Doctor Who Online who is doing exactly the same thing. He's about six months ahead of me as he is just starting on the Troughton era.  I did do this before but it was back in 2010 and then I didnt stick to it and watched sometimes several episodes in a day. The whole marathon became a bit of a struggle and so I was a bit unsure whether I wanted to do this but I started as was seeing how long I could keep it going.

The beauty of this marathon is that I do a review of each episode and this means that I re-evaluate the stories and certain characters. At this moment in time I am of episode two of The Aztecs and one thing that I have noticed is that I can see why Carole Ann Ford has had mixed feelings about her role over the years and why she only lasted a year. Sometimes the character is really well written for and strong and then other times you just wish that she would just shut up and its an early indication of why three's company and fours a crowd because most of the time Ian and Barbara  are the grown ups and are given the mature things to do. Ian is the action hero and has to several times save the group and there are moments where Barbara is quite strong too and my opinion of the characters has been strengthed since the marathon started.

Another thing that I have been impressed with is how in the space of 20 odd episodes the crew have gone from being a reluctant team to best friends who would die for each other. The directing has been something I have appreciated more because I think that Waris Hussein has been very impressive and so has Christopher Barry. The writing has been noticeable because Terry Nation and John Lucarotti have written two stories each so far and Nation has done well with 'The Daleks' and 'The Keys of Marinus' and Lucarotti did an ok job with 'Marco Polo' and much better with 'The Aztecs'.

I will keep you updated on how my opinions of stories and people have changed over the future episodes but you can follow me @tomstardis on twitter to see my progress.

The Lady of Mercia (2013)

The Lady of Mercia is a story that if I'm honest I wasnt that eager about because I felt that it looked like a historical story and if there is one thing tht i'm not keen on at the moment is historicals and whilst there is a fair amount of historical in this story its mixed in with a lot of modern day (well 1980's). The story was written by Paul Magrs who has a good track record and so I was willing to go into this story with a certain amount of good will. The story starts off with the TARDIS crew arriving in 1983 and what struck me first about it was how Tegan didnt take this oppertunity to think about going home. Ok so she was about two years away from when she first stepped onboard the TARDIS but the same was true about Ian and Barbara when they finally left so it should have at least been raised here. Tegan is confused for an academic and the mere idea was quite fun.

I wasnt aware of the Aethelflaed who according to the wonderful internet was known for defeating the Danes at Leicester and Derby and by invading Wales. This character is very much like Iceni in 'The Wrath of the Iceni'. However Paul Magrs has put enough information into this story to not feel like were watching a history programme yet still makes the character interesting.

The Doctor knows what is going on but doesnt tell the others straight away. There is a conference going on and there is something going on with time travel and its the greed of these scientists who dont know what their doing that ultimatley leads to the problems that are faced in this story. There is a bit of a question as to whether they could have come up with a time machine in the early 1980's is questionable but to be honest I was enjoying the story so nuch that I didnt mind that much.

This is definetley Janet Fielding's episode because she has to pretend to be a historical figure and despite being a tad bit reluctant she decides to go along with the plan. It's a great performance from Fielding and she seems to thrive under what she is given. As the latter half progresses, Tegan goes from being slightly sceptical of the idea to bonding with Aethelflaed.

It's great how the character has been written for over the last couple of years. I must say that as a result I thought that Mark Strickson and Sarah Sutton are somewhat sidelined over the course of the four episodes. After being the centre of the story in 'Eldrad Must Die', Turlough takes a bit of a back seat here. The supporting cast were all very good with well written parts. Rachel Atkins was very good and actually the best of the supporting cast as Aethelflaed.

The Lady of Mercia is a wonderful adventure which if I had to sum up in a word it would be BONKERS. It starts off as one thing and then turns into something else and its done with such an effortless ease that it was sometime before I noticed that the story had changed. It's my favourite story of the year so far.

The Apocalypse Mirror (2013)

The latest Companion Chronicle sees Fraser Hines and Wendy Padbury join up to tell a story that sees the TARDIS land on Earth. This story has been written by Eddie Robson who’s last story was the very good ‘The Jigsaw War’ and in the past he has been a writer who I feel has been a little bit inconsistent but after his last story I was confident that this would be just as good. I like the combination of the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie and its good that both Wendy Padbury and Frazer Hines are here to tell this story.
The story starts with the Doctor trying to do keepie-uppies in the TARDIS console room. The Doctor then manages to break something on the TARDIS and they land on earth in far future (even for Zoe) which has been devastated by flooding. The setting of this story is rather well done. Credit to Richard Fox and Lauren Yason who created the right sounds to help me imagine this rather grey and broken down place to be.

The main threat of the story is a meteorite which is making its way towards the earth and there is around five hours before it hits. This helps force the story into movement. The fear is now trying to save the residents lives and the main problem was that I didn’t really care about them. Despite Eddie Robson’s best efforts I just found them to be a bit annoying.

Despite this featuring two of our favourite companions, it’s really more of a Jamie story as Fraser Hines features largely throughout. Even in the interview at the end its only Hines and not Padbury that features. It’s not very often that speeches stand out in my mind but the speech that Fraser Hines gives towards the end is one of my favourite speeches that I can remember in the companion chronicles.  

Fraser Hines is very good in this as he usually is and this isn’t just because he does a great Patrick Troughton impression but he also have a wonderful way of telling the story and he’s like William Russell in that respect. In the interview, it was revealed that he is one of the most popular people in the range and it’s not hard to see why. Despite being slightly side-lined at times, Wendy Padbury is a great presence here and is entertaining from start to finish.

We’re going to get at least one more Jamie story before the Companion Chronicles end next June (2014). I cant say that I was totally bowled over by this story as there were things that I found a little difficult to follow but there were things in this release that I enjoyed and think that it’s a story that has some ideas even if it isn’t quite as good as some of the stories that we have had in 2013.