Attack of the Cybermen (1985)

This story is quite an important story. It’s the first story of Colin Baker’s first season as the Doctor and it’s also the first story that was intended to be aired in a 45 minute format. Resurrection of the Daleks was aired in a 45 minute format but it wasn’t made like that.

The story sees the return of Lytton who had previously appeared in the Peter Davison adventure ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’ and it’s a welcome return in my mind because Lytton is a superb character and is played just as well. The story is also the first time in the shows history that the TARDIS changes it’s shape. There is a theory that producer John Nathan-Turner was planning of changing it permanently but I don’t think this is the case because its one of the things that will stay the same. This was the first appearance of the Cybermen since the 1982 adventure ‘Earthshock’ which is one of the best Cybermen adventures of all time and whilst this isn’t on par with that story this is still a damn good story. This is set during the same time that ‘The Tenth Planet’. Now for a fan this would be a nice little tie in and I myself quite liked this but to a new viewer it wouldn’t mean anything. I was half expecting to see Anneke Wills or Michael Craze pop up.

Set twelve months in the future there are a few nodding references to previous stories such as An Unearthly Child where in this story the TARDIS arrives and during the course of the story there is a mention to the 1966 story ‘The Tenth Planet’. This is the time of Doctor Who where references to past stories were starting to take over the telling of a good story. I always have the approach that light mentions are ok but when they get as big as they do in this story then that’s when problems occur. The story spends the latter half of its running time on Telos where the 1967 story ‘The Tomb of the Cybermen’ is set.

The story sees the Cybermen trying to change the events of Earth in favour of them. The thing that I like about this story are the scenes set in the sewers because they are a rare thing in classic Who of dimly lit sets. This creates an eerie impression and that is well created by Matthew Robinson (who directed Resurrection of the Daleks) who also does a good job giving the rest of the story a grim feeling. There are issues with this story. The first being the Cryons. There rubbish, they do naff all and they look silly and they are just too unbelieveable and as a result everytime they are on screen I just get bored. Sarah Greene is perhaps one of the ‘celebrity’ guests of this story but sadly is hidden under the mask of the Cryon as is Faith Brown. Also, when do Cybermen eat? I ask this because the Cyber Controller (played by Michael Kilgarriff) is on the portly side. In fact if there was a Cyber version of a gym then the Cyber Controller should go there. A lot is made of the moment where the Doctor kills the Cyber Controller and to be honest whilst I don’t think it should be a regular thing, there are times when the Doctor has to do things that he wouldn’t normally do and that includes killing aliens that would quite happily kill him.

Colin Baker is very good and is so much better than in The Twin Dilemma. There is a nice moment at the end of the story after Lytton has been killed where he realises that he has misjudged him and I thought that this was a brief sign of how nice this version of the Doctor could be. Nicola Bryant does very little apart from running around in a bright pink leotard (not that that’s a bad thing) but like Colin Baker, her character has improved greatly since the last story and the character’s relationship whilst strange is still quite intriguing. Maurice Colburn steals the show though with his superb performance. We learn a bit more about the character and despite how were suppose to dislike the character I actually find myself liking him and thought that his final few scenes were very sad and well played by Colburn. Also worthy of a mention is Terry Molloy, making his only appearance without the aid of a Davros mask. His character is totally different from what we get with Davors.

I like Attack of the Cybermen. There are a few issues with it but there is something really good about it. Eric Saward who through some convoluted reason wrote this has written a story that has some very good characters and scenes. Matthew Robinson directed the story well and together this story is one of e highlights of Colin Baker’s first full season.

Imperiatrix (2005)

This second series of Gallifrey has been brilliant. The difference in quality compared to the first season is vast and I was hoping that this final story was be a fitting way to sign off. It’s clear that they mean business on the duration alone because at 100 minutes, its by far the longest story in the Gallifrey series so far. Written by Stewart Sheargold this story has a lot to live up to and a long time to fit it in. Thankfully he does this well.

The story does a good job in keeping my interest throughout the whole 100 minutes, despite the action really only getting going in the latter half of the play but even in the first half it doesn’t feel like their just playing for time. The story has Romana battling against Darkel and trying to fight against the future as told by Pandora and Leela who has to try and track to the Free Time terrorists. Leela also has to come to terms with the death of Andred who had been killed but Leela chooses now to admit her feelings and avenge his death.

I am going to repeat myself again here by praising the performances of Lalla Ward, Louise Jameson and Lynda Bellingham. Lalla Ward is fantastic as she has to fight harder than she ever did and excels in the role. Louise Jameson has more emotional stuff to do in this one as she tries to deal with the loss of Andred. I am continuing to be impressed by how the character has developed over the course of the nine stories. Lynda Bellingham is in danger of becoming my favourite character of the series. Considering how two dimensional the character was in Trial of a Timelord it hard to believe that the character we get in this story is the same one. That said, Bellingham appears to be having a ball. The character is totally horrible but brilliantly played.

There are numerous scenes that I thought were very strong and shows what is so good about these characters. One that instantly comes to mind is when the bomb has gone off and killed lots of people and one of the K9 units. There is a lovely quote that accompanies this scene;

“Look out there Romana. Look at that wasteland of ash. That is what we will become under your rule.”

The story goes mad towards the end with Romana declaring herself a dictator after the Great Key has been found. With the return of Romana 1 it was a shock to think that Romana 2 had killed Romana 1 and at the end there was a moment where Romana 2 asks Leela to kill her. It’s a this point the story cranks up the tension. It was good to have Mary Tamm back because as one of the Romana’s she should be in it more but there can only be one Romana. I was listening to this in my car and I was surprised at how abruptly it seemed to end. It’s clearly a cliffhanger to series three (only time will tell) but if this is the case then the first story of series three should be a humdinger. We have Romana effectively locked up and her relationship with Leela which has been one of the highlights of the entire series is very fragile and it’s made even more noticeable thanks to Ward and Jameson. Overall the second series has been a delight to hear with some solid scripts and some superb direction but most importantly the acting has been high rate.

Pandora (2005)

Panadora is the second of an unofficial two-parter which hopes to clear up the mystery of who this mysterious figure was that arrived and interrupted Romana and Leela’s holiday. The thing that I wanted from this adventure was for a satisfying conclusion to the identity of this mysterious figure and that is exactly what we got and more importantly we got a satisfactory answer. Written by Justin Richards (Red Dawn), this story manages to build on the foundations laid down in Spirit. The story does a great job of balancing the main story arc but also give the conclusion that the mysterious individual deserves.

The replay of what happened to this figure who is called Wynter is truly horrific. We learn that Pandora is planning on using him to help get power but one he realises this he tries to prevent this from happening. as he tries to drink a flask thinking its poison but it is in fact a regenrative mutagen. There is then a sense of desperation as he tries to kill himself with K9’s nose laser and then crushing his hands in a door before biting off his own tounge. This is all in vain as Pandora keeps him alive. This was totally engaging and its one of the finest scenes that I have ever heard in this series. It was brilliantly played by Ian Hallard as Wynter. Another great performance was from Miles Richardson as Cardinal Braxiatel who seems to make the ultimate sacrifice as he tries to control Pandora in his mind but is forced to leave Gallifrey to save. Braxiatel is a very good character that is well played and goes through all the possible character moods but I felt quite sad when he left because I liked the character so much. That said it might not be the last we hear from him.

I have really liked this series so far because the quality of storytelling is far greater than in series one This was a very good conclusion to the unofficial two-parter with the last two stories potentially going to be superb stories. On its own this story benefits from some truly great acting mainly from the supporting cast. I think that the series has found itself and it seems to benefit more from having less complex time stuff and more from what we know (or think we know) about Timelords and the politics and backstabbing that goes on.

Spirit (2005)

The latest instalment sees the story move away from Gallifrey. Written by Stephen Cole, this followed the very complex opening story and thankfully this story isn’t anywhere near as filling on the brain but it’s still a nice story. Leela is still getting use to the truth about what happened to her husband is neglecting her duty of protecting Romana.

The story does quite a long time to get going because it sets up the idea that Leela wants to leave Gallifrey and Romana thinks that a holiday would do her some good. The story is pondering along and whilst I am wondering when the story is going to get going I am enjoying the gentle pace that the story is undertaking. Then the story gets going properly completely out of the blue. There is an arrival of a ship with a Timelord who’s had his tongue removed and seems to be under some tremendous mental agony. There is no way of finding out who he is and there is a discussion of a ‘forced regeneration’ but its never done. Then the story moves along a bit more because whilst enjoying some water-tank relaxation thing there appears to be a mind swap where Leela is saying words in a manner which isn’t like her and Romana seems to have lost some of her intelligence. This is an amusing idea and it doesn’t drag on too long before it’s resolved.

It’s a regular row that these two characters have and that is ‘Who’s methods are best?’ Is it Romana with her scientific and level headed approach or is it Leela with her do or die attitude. This is never resolved in this story but it’s clear with the two experiencing each other’s way of relaxing that both methods have merits. Typical. This is another good character piece with Romana and Leela finding out about the others beliefs. I thought that Louise Jameson was more convincing as someone who isnt herself. Lalla Ward, who is normally very good, somehow doesn’t quite seem to get a good hold of Romana with a mix of Leela. I also thought the supporting characters were very good because we get different Timelords though we don’t go without Narvin or Braxiatel but they aren’t in it as much as they usually are. I thought that Melyin was the most interesting because she is someone who is based on Davidia but has seven more years before she can leave. It seems like she’s happy but she is planning her way out and purposely gets herself into trouble so that she will have to leave. It’s a clever transformation of the character in such a relatively short amount of time.

This is a nice story that is a shift in the sort of story that we are use to from this series. It superbly written and superbly acted with the two leading stars both giving solid performances. I really enjoyed it and hope think that the quality of stories have greatly improved in series two compared to the previous series.

Insurgency (2005)

After the wonderful two-parter, I did have a fear that the series was going to return to bombarding a story with complex science stuff but I am glad to report that it wasn’t the case. Instead Insurgency continues to follow the path that I like because this story revels in the politics and the attempts of Darkel to take power from Romana. The story is about a group of students who are at the academy, some are gallifreyans but some are off-worlders and its these off-worlders who Darkel has an issue with. It’s almost a modern day feeling when it comes to immigration and people’s fear about outsiders coming in. Leela has been positioned in the Academy because one member has been exposed as a member of the terrorist group ‘Free Time’. It’s odd to see Leela as a teacher but she carries it off very well but Leela has her own story in this adventure as Andred tries to persuade Leela that he still the man she fell in love with back in The Invasion of Time. Something I liked the most blatant nods to Doctor Who that we have had when they mention the house that the Doctor belonged to as well as the Master but no mention for the Meddling Monk.

The performances in this story were all very strong and Insurgency is another strong character adventure. Lalla Ward is very good as her once unflappable nature starts to weaken a little. She becomes desperate and frustrated at times. I thought that bit where she is talking to the Imperiatrix Pandora (through K9) were very good scenes because they were almost a spoiler for Romana and the listener. Ward has played being President very well and I like how she holds herself despite all the political backbiting that goes on. The Romana we get in this series is not the one we got on TV, likewise I could say the same for Louise Jameson who has character wise been on a different course to Ward because the main thing in series one was finding out what happened to her husband and in series two we see her almost losing that fighting spirit we all know she has and trying to deal with Andred. What has happened to Lynda Bellingham? I ask that it a total sense of disbelief of how the character has improved over the series. I was watching The Trial of a Timelord the other day and its incredible how a pretty standard two dimensional character has grown into someone who has grown into the third most important character in this series. Her political views have been evident but it’s a this stage that they really step up a gear and it almost seems like her story because everything benefits her and Lynda Bellingham is superb as Darkel.

The final scene is a wonderful moment because it hopefully sets up the final story where there is a fight for power between Darkel and Romana. Darkel has been an increasingly big influence in these stories and her political fighting with Romana has been one of the highlights of the series and the coup d’etat is well and truly on the cards. Whilst this story may not have the action that Spirit or Pandora have but the story still has something that makes it highly enjoyable but still just as good as other stories from this series.

The Forbidden Time (2011)

The Forbidden Time is the latest Companion Chronicle and it features Anneke Wills, returning as Polly after her 2009 adventure ‘Resistance’. The story also sees Frazer Hines return in the secondary role as Jamie. Hines had previously done this in the 2010 adventure ‘The Emperor of Eternity’. The story is written by a newcomer to the Big Finish/Doctor Who world David Lock. The story starts off with a wonderfully eerie scene where we hear an alien voice say that the particular period of time is now forbidden (hence the title). The alien voice is very creepy and helps create the importance of what has been done. Sadly however the story starts to go downhill from here and it’s a shame because of the great quality of recent Companion Chronicles. The story is told via Polly being in a sort of Press Conference explaining a recent adventure she had. Part of it is told by Polly and the other half is told by Jamie who has recorded his part of the story of a Dictaphone. The setting of Earth is a good one because it’s slightly greyer than expected and there are Vist’s running around and the Doctor and Polly able to run through walls and it’s a good set up. The problem however with this story is that it’s dull. I was really struggling to get through to the end because there things that were happening that never really got me excited and as a result I was just wondering how long there was left before the end. The only good bit was when it was revealed the Vist that are trying to make some money out of it by forcing people to pay a toll to move out of that time-zone. That’s about as good as it got because nothing else is of any excitement.

It’s not a total washout. There was one slight sense of curiosity occurred during the bits where Polly is talking at some sort of press conference and it transpires that the audience at this press conference had been hearing voices and wanted an explanation. This explanation turns out to be that the Vist planted these messages as a threat. That was believable and wasn’t a cop-out. I also like Anneke Wills and Frazer Hines and think that whenever they are in a story that they are going to put in a strong performance and it’s only a shame that the story wasn’t there to compliment them. I did like the bit at the end where Polly was saying goodbye to the recording of Jamie and I thought that was a lovely way of finishing the story.

The Forbidden Time is my least favourite Companion Chronicle for quite sometime. It lacks anything drama to really care about and as a result it’s a waste for Anneke Wills and Frazer Hines. The point of bringing two actors (former companions) is to bring something to a story that the lead companion wouldn’t be able to by impersonating them. However I really don’t see what Frazer bought to the story and that’s not his fault it’s because of the writer. This is definitely one that I won’t be listening to again any time soon.

Children of Earth - Day 5 (2009)

The final part of this truly fantastic series picks up after the death of Ianto. However there is yet more to come and more death. It was the fitting end that I was hoping it would be.

The children are a drug to the 456 which is quite a grim revelation almost like they shouldn’t have asked what the 456 intended to do with the children. As the children are being taken to there are some crazy scenes as people fight back against what the government is planning (cant think where they got that idea from!). There is an unusual start where Gwen is talking to a camera talking about the Doctor and why he doesn’t come and help and concludes that he looks away out of shame. Quite a grim view of the Doctor but then I am being biased. The lighting just goes over her eyes and is a wonderful start to the episode. This is the first time that Gwen is really doubting her role in Torchwood and even whether she wants the baby. I don’t really like this in her character because she is always the voice of reason.

Frobisher is asked to sacrifice his kids to the 456 for the ‘inoculation’ just to pretend in front of the cameras. This is where Peter Capaldi really shines because after all the stuff that Frobisher has had to do for the Prime Minister, The scene where he finds out and Frobisher threatens to tell the media is made even more emotional when the Prime Minister doesn’t even care. Capaldi’s final scenes involve him shooting his wife and kids dead before turning the gun on himself. Thankfully we don’t see this as it would have been too shocking and this way it was more emotional and showed the everyone was paying the price. Russell T Davies has done a superb job over the five episodes in giving everyone something to lose. Mr Dekker goes out in a blaze of glory. After a lacklustre previous episode his sneery character (who survived the gassing at the end of the previous part) is forced to try and kill the 456 despite bleating on how it’s impossible to beat them. Ian Gelder has been a delight to watch in this series.

As Frobisher is killing himself and his family there is a story that really humanises Bridget as she tells Lois how they first met some 30 years ago. It shows that John Frobisher was a good man and despite what happened over the last few stories wasn’t done because of some desire to inflate his ego but because he is trying to do the best he can. Bridget’s story shames Lois and it the first time that Lois is shown to be a bit horrible. However she is slightly redeemed because she helps Bridget get hold of the contact lenses which she uses against the Prime Minister who is looking after his own skin but gets his comeuppance. The final death is the most shocking because it happens to Jack’s grandson who is sacrificed in order to destroy the 456. It wrecks what was effectively a fragile relationship between Alice and Jack. It’s the final straw for Jack and what we get is a superb performance from John Barrowman who leaves the Earth to try and forget what has happened. Next time we see him is in David Tennant’s final story. Eve Myles has been superb throughout this entire series and it’s nice that the character has a happy ending despite everything that has being going on.

Children of Earth may have been shorter but it made up for it in terms of quality. I enjoyed every single minute of it and everyone on the show should give themselves a round of applause because it was a brilliant lesson in how to produce superb drama. I’ve been particularly impressed with the characterisation and especially Rhys who has gone from being a buffoon boyfriend/fiancé of Gwen’s to being an important part of the team.