Series One Episodes
Rose
Dalek
The Long Game
Father's Day
The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances
Boom Town
Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways
Sunday, 29 November 2020
My Time with the Eighth Doctor
The TV Movie
By 1996 we were all begging for someone to have a go at reviving the show. When it was advertised as a special, nobody really knew what to expect, but we knew that it would probably be better funded, and something different to what had gone before. In the case of the movies, that's absolutely what we got, we just didn't know how different it would be from Doctor Who and how run of the mill it would end up being compared to shows like Buffy.
The saving grace of this attempt was that at least Producer, Phillip Segal had attempted to keep some of the stuff from the old show in there. The downside is that certainly at the beginning, he overplayed it, throwing in any old bits like the sonic screwdriver, and tons of the Prydonian symbol, as well as crowbarring in mention of the Daleks in the most stupidest place ever.
Once you get over the quite boring start and watch like 45 minutes of it, then it turns into something of a standard US romp which is watchable, but just doesn't make much in the way of sense at all.
Coming out of the show, McGann would have years of work ahead getting a good chance to play his version of the Doctor and that's about it.
Night of the Doctor
Everyone was so excited about this as it dropped, which was exactly the point. The Production Team had used this webisode as a great bit of a marketing ploy for the upcoming Day of the Doctor feature.
What a shame then that it's not really got much substance to it beyond the first 5 minutes or so. Obviously, they wouldn't have the budget to do anything massive, so we're left with conversations in a cave and on a spaceship, but still, little justification is given for anything here and the result of it is to massively undermine the future doctor's angst and what made them (the ninth doctor specifically) so great.
Beyond?
Okay, okay. I'm going to hold my hands up here and say that I have never read one of the BBC books with the Eighth Doctor, I've not read the comics, and I've only listened to one, maybe two of the audios. I've never had the urge to to be frank. However, that doesn't mean they're not good. Hailed by fans all around as great pieces of the universe and well worth checking out.
The comics even feature the first lesbian companion in the whole of the franchise.
The Doctor
There's a world of difference between the Doctor we see in the TV movie and the one in the Night of the Doctor. This is clearly intentional because the ongoing Time War has sapped the child like joy out of him and turned him cynical and jaded over time. Because I haven't seen or heard any of the other stories, I can't tell you which, if any. is the personality he usually has.
Out of the two however, the TV movie version clearly shines as the better, with more attraction to want to be around and promises of great adventures to be had. It is a shame there was not more from him but there is a vast catalogue to go at now if you don't mind making it up in your mind.
Favourite Moment
A bit like cheating, I know, but my actual favourite moment was seeing a lot more sensibly dressed McCoy on screen in a great, gothic style TARDIS. It was intriguing to me and I was a little sad that we couldn't have actually had more adventures with this specific version of the Doctor if I'm honest.
Worst Moment
Favourite Story
The TV Movie
Out of the two, it's got to be this hasn't it? There's more that happens here because it's got a tremendously larger budget.
Worst Story
The TV Movie
This is also true because there are some god-damn awful conveniences in it such as the atomic clock, the overlooking of medical professionals to his two hearts, the fact that he's half human and his own race's technology only works with human input. Awful details make this a far more tedious watch than it should have been
Favourite Companion
Grace
Out of the two, she was the more fleshed out....barely
Worst Companion
Chang Lee
An interesting start, but someone who's not even bothered when his mates are shot and killed, and who's gullable to fall for the Master's Schemes like that, and get 5 million dollars out of it. Pah!
Night of the Doctor
One episode (web episode)
aired on 14th November 2013
Written by Stephen Moffatt
Produced by Denise Paul
Directed by John Hayes
Synopsis
A space pilot is fighting for control of her ship as it begins to crash. The Doctor shows up miraculously to save her and leads her to the back of the ship so that he can take her off it. She however draws back when he mentions that it's a TARDIS.
Turns out that humans are well aware of the ongoing Time Ward between the Time Lords and Daleks. The result of this is apparent as she locks the blast door between them and seals it with a deadlock so he can't get to her. She'd rather die than go with him.
He says at least he's not a Dalek, but the woman scornfully says who can tell anymore. He says he won't leave without her, and she says his dying is the best news she's heard all day. He pleads with her as the ship plummets into a planets atmosphere and crashes, exploding.
That planet is Karn.
On the rocky mountains of it, the Sisterhood of Karn are waiting. The new head of their order, Ohila, remarks that the man who is meant to save them has finally arrived.
The Doctor awakens laid against an altar.
He is disoriented and surprised to see the Sisterhood around him. Ohila mistakes the pilot for the Doctor's companion and tells him she fears her dead.
He corrects her about her companionship, and says he doubts she's dead, seeing as he's alive. Ohila says he's suffered mortal injuries and has about four minutes left to live before he regenerates as he's had a sip from the elixir of life that will sustain him for a short while. She suggests that drinking more of the elixir will allow him to choose which traits he possesses in his next regeneration.
The Doctor questions why she'd do this. Ohila explains that the Time War threatens all reality and that the Doctor is the last hope of ending it.
They bring the pilot in for the Doctor to see but say she's beyond all their help. She also says the pilot was wiser than the Doctor because she knew there was no escaping the war.
The Doctor says he would rather die than take part in it. Ohila points out he's already dead, but says how many more will he allow to go with him if he does nothing?
The Doctor concedes the point and says the universe doesn't need a healer right now. He asks to be made into a warrior instead. Ohila points to a chalice that he takes and orders them all out the room.
Quoting from Luke in The Bible, he says "physician, heal thyself" and drinks, regenerating into another man.
He takes the bandolier from the dead pilot and puts it on himself, declaring "doctor no more".
Trivia
- The costume here was based upon the one from the TV movie - Paul McGann has said this is his favourite out of all the costumes he's had
- The companions he mentions are all from the Big Finish audios, the first time these have been referenced in canon.
- The public were not told that this was coming, so everyone flocked to the internet when this dropped to see the second ever episode with the Eighth Doctor in it
- Up until the release of this, there was the long held belief that the Eighth and Ninth Doctors were the predominant forces at play during the Time War, and casts a shadow on the fact that the future regenerations are numbered correctly
- Just for a bit of trivia, this is the second regeneration story to not feature the TARDIS interior - the first being Planet of the Spiders
The Review
Whilst this isn't a TV story per-se, it was such a landmark event, and the fact that it's only the second ever visual appearance of the Eighth Doctor that I felt it deserved to be covered here.
What I'm not going to do is give it a free pass just because it has Paul McGann in it. That's sadly what the show had wanted at this point, a quick boost on the ratings by using a cheap gimmick. The actual start of the webisode is pretty good, with the Doctor doing what he does best and being quick with a quip whilst saving lives. It is great to see the impact of the Time War evident here and the unexpected sacrifice of the pilot is great, but all too soon, we fall back on nostalgia to give the fans something to jerk off to.
There's pretty much zero reason for anything beyond the opening, with the Sisterhood of the Flame and Karn being shown for absolutely no reason other than because. There's no point in him drinking an elixir - it says he could control his regeneration by it, but - meh. It hinges on the fact that he would die if he didn't drink it. Eh? Did everyone forget the purpose of regeneration that all Time Lords have?
The addition of the War Doctor is a similar cheap gimmick done just for shock value to add a story mcGuffin that does more harm than good. Seriously. If you look at Christopher Eccleston's run you'll see the searing intensity of a man haunted by his actions...HIS actions. Yes, the Doctor is the same person, but by regenerating, there's that disconnect - removing us and him psychologically from his past. Tennant was intense too, and if John Hurt (RIP) turned out to be a really depraved version of the Doctor that did some awful things in order to survive or win the Time War, I would be far more lenient, but he doesn't does he? Moffatt came up with this as a ratings boost and whilst he fooled many superficially, many more can see under the sickly sweet nostalgic vaneer and find nothing worth savouring. The reason for the 6 is that it's quick to watch.
Rating
4 out of 10
Re-Watchability Factor
6 out of 10
Watch this if you liked...
- The Day of the Doctor
- The Magician's Apprentice (Doctor Who, Series 9)
Doctor Who: The Movie
One Episode (TV Movie)
Aired on 14th May 1996
Written by Matthew Jacobs
Produced by Peter V. Ware
Directed by Geoffrey Sax
Synopsis
In a monologue, the Doctor explains how the Time Lords and the Daleks had a treaty to punish the evil Time Lord and old time nemesis, The Master, on their home planet of Skaro. The Daleks executed the Master and according with his last wishes, the Doctor is taking them back to Galifrey.
Some time has clearly passed since last we saw him as he has changed his outfit, grown his hair, and Ace is no longer with him. The TARDIS has changed significantly too, presenting as a rather gothic interior, complete with live bats.
After locking The Master's urn into another box with the aid of a new (but looking like an old) sonic screwdriver, he sits back and relaxed with jelly babies and jazz.
Little known to him, the box starts to shake and as the Doctor is investigating the music as it starts to skip, it breaks open and a gelatinous snake like thing slithers out, moving across the floor to the console, where it causes all sorts of havoc. The Doctor is forced to bring the machine out of the vortex and make an emergency landing on Earth.
Meanwhile, on Earth, it is December 30th 1999. The eve of the millennium. A trio of Chinese kids run through the streets of San Francisco, being chased by the cops. These are evidently gangers, and no sooner do they escape those, they are caught in a firefight with rival gang members. Two of the three are shot and killed, leaving only a young man, Chang Lee alive. He is about to be executed too, but the gangers pause in confusion as the TARDIS materialises in the alleyway right in front of Lee. The Doctor steps out of the TARDIS and is promptly shot by the others, who run away.
Lee approaches the Doctor who is bleeding out. He sees the Master's snake like form, oozing out of the keyhole and tries to warn Lee, but doesn't get his message across before falling unconscious.
Lee calls an ambulance and rides it with him to the hospital. Unknown to him, the snake-like Master, slips onboard the ambulance.
Once at the hospital, the staff become puzzled as the x-rays show two hearts. They assume it's double exposure and dismiss it, but realise the Doctor needs urgent surgery. In they call Dr Grace Holloway away from enjoying an opera with her boyfriend, who is not pleased at her having to leave again.
Grace scrubs up and tries to use a micro camera to examine the problem the Doctor has, but to her astonishment, he comes back conscious, trying to tell her he's not human. Through her efforts to treat him, unfortunately, the Doctor dies on the table.
Grace goes to tell Lee about the death, and hand over the possessions, but quickly realises that he doesn't know the Doctor at all. Lee races off with the Doctor's stuff.
Elsewhere, the Doctor's body is taken to the morgue for an autopsy later on. The attendants discuss their costumes for the new year's party happening the day after. One says he's going as Wild Bill Hickock. As the technician goes off to watch an old Frankenstien movie, the Doctor regenerates within the freezer.
He begins to kick the door down and frightens the technician into fainting.
As this is happening, the snake-like Master has stowed away in the paramedic, Bruce's jacket. Once he's home asleep, the Master slithers inside his throat, possessing him.
The newly resurrected Doctor wanders through the hospital and finds an old disused wing. Confused he cries out "who am I?" Taking time to pull himself together, he steals the Wild Bill Hickock outfit and wanders off.
Now alone, Lee goes through the Doctor's belongings, finding a sonic screwdriver, a yo-yo, jelly babies, pocket watch and most importantly, the TARDIS key.
Back at Bruce's house, the Master in his new form callously kills this body's wife and smiles as he beings to formulate a plan to find the Doctor.
Over at the Hospital, the Doctor is hanging about in reception, trying to cure his amnesia, until he sees Grace leaving. He follows her to her car and tries to get her to tell him his identity, he recognises her, but not from where. She thinks he's crazy and tries to leave, but he turns up in her car, screaming in agony. He pulls out the broken probe from his operation and that proves to Grace he's the man who died on the table. She takes him off to her home.
"Bruce" goes to the Hospital to find the Doctor. Instead he finds out he died but the body is missing and a boy took his stuff.
At Grace's home, she finds that her boyfriend has left her, but he has left a pair of his shoes that the Doctor uses. In the meanwhile, he's gaining some of his memories and fills Grace in on a few Time lord facts e.g. has thirteen lives, two hearts etc.
Lee makes it back to the TARDIS and goes inside, astonished at the fact it's bigger on the inside.
He meets the Master there, who hypnotises him into passing over the possessions. He forces Lee to help him find the Doctor in exchange for his own life. He tells Lee of the regeneration process and says the Doctor is still alive. He lies to Lee and says that the Doctor is a bad Time Lord that stole the Master's body, using it's incarnations to do bad things. He gives Lee $5,000,000 in gold dust as payment for him to help return the Doctor's body.
Lee agrees and the Master takes him to the Cloister Room where he uses Lee to open the Eye of Harmony. a neutron star that powers the TARDIS. He somehow uses the Eye to watch over the Doctor.
Back at Grace's house, the Doctor regains his memories and kisses Grace in excitement who asks him to do it again. He however suddenly becomes aware that the Master has opened the eye, and closes his own so that they cannot scrye into his whereabouts. The Doctor then tells Grace of the Master's plan to force him to look into the Eye of Harmony, thus destroying his soul and allowing the Master to possess his body. The Master tells Lee he is lying, but Lee is worried Grace will believe it.
The Doctor goes on to say the TARDIS is not working right because of what the Master's done to it and he needs access to a Beryllium Atomic Clock in which to grab a vital component to fix it. This is a step too far for Grace and she runs to the house, convinced he's mad. The Doctor proves existence is in jeopardy by walking through the glass patio window as the structure of the universe is unravelling slowly and will be destroyed if they don't find the component in time, which conveniently is midnight on new year's eve.
Grace calls for an ambulance, and hearing this, the Master decides to use his disguise as Bruce to commandeer one and go to her.
As they are waiting, the Doctor and Grace turn on the TV, watching reports of wild weather as a result of the Eye opening, and the fact that an atomic clock is being unveiled at the Institute for Technological Advancement and Research (ITAR). This happens to be a building Grace has access to and the source of a new year's eve party.
The master and Lee arrive as paramedics and play along with the charade, reckoning to take them to the ITAR building on the orders of Grace to humour the patient. The disguise is foiled when the Master's glasses fall off as Lee jerks the ambulance to a stop at some lights. They fight and the Doctor and Grace manage to escape.
As they run, they encounter a Policeman on a motorbike. The Doctor takes his gun and points it at himself to commandeer the bike. They race off on the bike to the ITAR building but find the ambulance already there, empty.
Going into the party, the Doctor and Grace blag their way to the atomic clock's creator, stealing a security pass from him.
They then take a vital component from it and spot the Master and Chang Lee in the crowd. They set off the fire alarm and escape from the roof by lowering themselves over the side using a fire hose.
With the component in hand, they race to the TARDIS and using an emergency key placed above the P on the name plate above the door, they open the TARDIS. The Doctor manages to close the eye, but a quick scan reveals that it's been open for too long and he needs to use the TARDIS to fix it. He starts work on the console to kick start the ship, having being drained of power. He asks Grace to help him, but finds out she's been possessed by the Master's will. She knocks the Doctor out and joins the bad guys as they enter the TARDIS.
When he wakes, the Doctor finds himself strung up in the Cloister Room, with a strange crown on his head to help drain the regenerations out of him.
The Master has changed into Galifreyan robes for the occasion, and Lee is still helping him.
The Doctor points out where the Master is lying to him and Lee turns against the Master, refusing to help any longer, prompting the Master to simply kill him.
The Doctor then tells the Master he still needs Grace to look into the eye, but she can't do it with human eyes whilst she is possessed. The Master releases his grip, but forces her to look into the eye.
The Doctor implores her to jump start the TARDIS and stop all this, as his remaining lives are being drained away.
The world begins to turn to chaos, and Grace, free of the Master's control, goes to the console, remembering that the Doctor told her starting it is like setting an alarm clock. She throws the ship into a Temporal Orbit and goes to free the Doctor. The Master attacks them again and throws Grace off the balcony, killing her too. After a brief struggle though, the Master is thrown into the Eye. The Doctor does try to save him, but he rejects the help and falls to his apparent death.
The TARDIS goes back in time from one second to midnight and energy from the Eye travels into Grace and Lee, reviving them both before it closes.
All being well, the Doctor shows Lee and Grace Gallifrey from his observation deck and then drops them off in a park exactly one minute past midnight on new year's day, crisis averted.
He let's Lee keep the gold dust and warns him not to be in San-Fran next year. In exchange, Lee passes him back his possessions. He smiles and leaves.
The Doctor then asks Grace to come with him, but she refuses and asks him to stay with her. He can't do that so they say goodbye after one final kiss.
He sets off once more, getting back to his Jazz, jelly babies and novel, asking the TARDIS "where will we go next?" The music begins to skip again and the Doctor groans "Oh no! Not again!"
Trivia
- Ok, strap in because this might be slightly longer than usual. It all began as Doctor Who was cancelled from terrestrial TV in 1989. Philip Segal, Canadian producer on an American TV network decided that, after reminiscing about when his family used to show him the show in childhood, he would love to do a movie on the show.
- In a ludicrously short version, Segal who was working on Seaquest DSV, happened to approach then head of BBC, Alan Yentob. He convinced him that he would be able to put together something great with American TV backing from none other than Ambelin Entertainment - Steven Speilberg's production company. Yentob said yes.
- In the following two years, the project went into production hell, with multiple scripts surfacing and both American companies, and BBC worldwide trying to get the lions share of their ideas agreed.
- The production eventually went to Universal pictures, with Segal becoming producer of it. He had less than two months to come up with a cast and full script before they started to film for the 1994 season.
- One of the conditions of the agreement reached was that Universal script writer, John Leekley was to be used, as opposed to British writers
- A series bible was produced with Leekleys help to show how the show could go. It had Cardinal Borusa chronicling the adventures, with the Doctor and Master being half brothers of a Time Lord known as Ulysses. Borusa was their grandfather. When Borusa dies, the Doctor goes off in a TARDIS to find his father and finds Borusa's spirit in it, allowing him to "advise" the Doctor as he goes on adventures
- This series treatment was not met with enthusiasm by Spielberg. He asked Segal to try again, this time using another writer.
- Segal teamed up with Robert DeLaurentis and tried again. This script follows the same start, but ended up travelling to WW2 London and saw a companion called Lizzie joining in. The Doctor's father was revealed to have had a plot to assassinate Hitler. He meets him and the gang all get transported to Skaro where they have a showdown with the Master who eventually escapes with the Daleks.
- At this point, the BBC put in Jo Wright to oversee their interests in the project
- With the new script, Jo and Segal touted it to the networks but practically none were interested. The only one to come through was Fox who offered a one off special with the option for another if it went well. They wanted a change in script though.
- So, on Fox's advice, they went to Young Indiana Jones writer, Matthew Jacobs. This time, they didn't keep the old stuff, starting from scratch. This script is a lot closer to what we get, but it's in New Orleans and is around Halloween. This script was constantly revised as filming closed in until we got what we saw on screen.
- Actors looked at to play this new Doctor included Rowan Atkinson, Michael Crawford, Derek Jacobi and Jim Carrey. When they agreed on McGann, Universal insisted that the Master be American
- The show in Britain received halfway decent reviews, but more for nostalgia reasons. It gave however a clear shot in the arm to the franchise that had continued to exist in the books and audios during these wilderness years and would prove that the appetite for Doctor Who was still there.
- In America however, the show flopped, with a huge portion of potential viewers missing out due to the final episode of Rosanne airing at the same time. As a result, the series was never picked up and that was it
- Unless you've been living under a rock though, that wasn't it for Paul McGann who many found to not have had a decent crack at the whip. So, Big Finish went on to produce many many audio dramas starring McGann as the Eight Doctor, and the Dr Who magazine featuring many stories in their comic strip of his ongoing adventures.
The Review
Before this TV movie, all the die hard fans were calling for a resurrection, after it, they all accepted the fact that it wasn't going to be on TV again. That probably says something about this.
Many of the guides and reviews will criticise this show for being too Americanised for it's own good, stating that the company took the Doctor Who template, threw it out the window except for a few in your face props and name drops, and then turned it into a quintessential 90's TV show like X-Files, Roswell, Alien Nation etc. This is not untrue, but I remember the time it came out, and nobody really hated it for that. Everyone knew this was the price to bring Doctor Who back to the TV. There was apprehension there, sure, but that was weighed by the cool looking Doctor and the bigger budget that came with it.
Watching the show, it really does have a 90s feel with bike chases for the sake of it. There is also a lot of wasted potential here, mangling the history with the Time Lords and the Daleks and just being damn awkward with the overly long expositions and convenient plot points e.g. the atomic clock just happening to be in San Francisco where Grace can get to it. I would go as far to say that if it wasn't for the insertion of Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, or the big blue box, this would have absolutely nothing to do with Doctor Who at all - it would be a totally different show.
But for all the tedious plot holes and inconsistencies, it is reasonably fun to watch. McGann saves a lot of it by his glimpses of child like wonder, but those only come after 45 mins of boring set up. McCoy does a great job in it too. The sets are good although weird, and the music is very moviesque with a big orchestra feel - that will be one of the things kept from now on.
All in all, this is an hour and a half of silliness which was never consistent enough to be any good, but if you don't concentrate too hard, it can be fun at times and after seven years of no Doctor Who, this was an effort people shrugged at. But as said above, the one thing it did do was keep the already thriving community alive and prove that Doctor Who was very much still wanted by the British population
Rating
5 out of 10
Re-Watchability Factor
3 out of 10
Watch this if you liked...
- The Parting of the Ways (Doctor Who, Series 1)
Sunday, 15 November 2020
My Time with the Seventh Doctor
Twenty Fourth Season
By it's twenty fourth season, Doctor Who was in freefall. Feared cancelled, it was given one last bite of the cherry, and nobody else wanted the job (or the BBC wouldn't let anyone else have the job) other than John Nathan-Turner. His plans to go were put on hold and he carried on to make the show that he cared about.
Unfortunately, for many factors, one being new Script Editor and main cast, the show couldn't hit the ground running as it might have otherwise. Nobody knew how they wanted to play the Doctor, so it took the first appalling show to figure it out. Mel was given little to do beyond scream and hang about in a quarry. What we did get out of the show, was a more mild mannered buffoon that harkened at first back towards Patrick Troughton and there was a glimmer of hope.
The next story of Paradise Towers was far better, and helped flesh out this Doctor. Mel was more dynamic, but for all the great setting and story, the nuances were quite clunky and the baddies were lame.
Delta and the Bannermen helped cement the idea that the show was heading more towards the fantastical side of the comic book stories. It was an off the wall, stand alone concept that would have likely worked well on the page, but again, the show just didn't have the budget to convince us and the ending just deflates. We narrowly avoid a motorbiking welsh girl, but the concept for a rebellious companion has been cemented in the teams mind
The final show of the season, Dragonfire doesn't know what to do with itself. It takes the mythological concepts of folklore, the horrors of Alien, and then puts them on a supermarket planet with badly realised costumes and naff characters. Mel makes bizarre decisions and the explanation for Ace being there is almost as bad as ... because... The only redeeming feature is the way the bad guy melts at the end. If the high ups in the BBC were hoping for a re-invention of the show, this is pretty far from what they (or any of us) were expecting
Twenty Fifth Season
Finally having an idea of where they wanted to go, and how they wanted Sylvester's Doctor to be, the show finally begins making traction. It's silver anniversary is starting strong with a decent (but not perfect) story from Ben Aaronovitch. Daleks shooting it out in London is a good sight to see and the return of Davros is better, but can anything top Ace beating one up with a baseball bat?
The Happiness Patrol is again, good idea and almost executed right this time. Harking on images of Thatcher's Britain, the only real thing that lets it down is the studio shooting for city streets. With the budget they had, it was the best they could do, but ultimately the slick black floor and rubbish go-carts detracted from a gritty noir feeling story.
Then we get to the silver anniversary story, aired on the same day, 25 years after An Unearthly Child. I wish it was a ground breaking story and as impactful as that first one. The reality though is that it is just the same plot as Remembrance, regurgitated and thrown together in a lot of nonsense with the vaguest hint that something more is going on. A shame as Cybermen are staples of the show but this is one of their worst outings.
The final outing of this season has yet more of the failings the others have. Good play on an idea, but the reasonings and finale are just put together with an "it'll do" approach which causes it to suffer. We see more manipulation by the Doctor and things start to turn a little dark in his world.
Twenty Sixth Season
The final season starts with a story that brings the show into a new era with a UNIT full of foreign people. It also harks back to the past (both arthurian and 1970's) and lets go of both by giving the Brigadier a jolly good send off rather than turning him into a school teacher. The monster is probably the best one the show has ever made and despite the lame fireworks for weapons, it is an enjoyable watch, even though it also suffers from the nonsense past Seventh Doctor stories suffer from.
The next story is the first of a trilogy looking at Ace and it is gothic, and broody and great atmospherically. If only we could truly understand what's going on without having to google it! If it had come after Curse of Fenric, I think it would have worked a lot better, but as it is, it's one of the good shows, and finally we're getting promise of a return to good stories from the Doctor.
The Curse of Fenric should have stuck to parodying Dracula as it does well to capture the sinister feel of it, especially with a great job by Nicholas Parsons and the great soundtrack accompanying it. Ace's background story is fairly well done too. For me, it once more deflates in the ending with Fenric being less of a horrifying entity than he should have been and the least said about The Ancient One being a mutated human, the better.
The end of an era then greets us. Survival. A return to suburban stories with fantastical elements. The first two episodes are halfway decent, promising something good going on, but the payoff is very much lacking because little or no thought had gone into it. The Master is there for almost no reason and Midge the bad boy is just lame. Ace almost turning savage is worth the watch, but that's about it.
So, for the higher ups, they missed the fact that the show was steadily improving, and put it back on hiatus, forever it seemed. The show which had given us much joy as a nation was over, and it went out with a whimper rather than a bang.
The Doctor
Even before his supposed Masterplan, Andrew Cartmel had helped to shape a Doctor worth watching in my opinion. As much as I do like Colin Baker, the constant rattiness and bitching with Perri was wearing mightily thin and we only got a glimpse of it towards his end. The Seventh Doctor is the antithesis to that and was a very welcome one.
Most will look at the latter seasons, which to be fair, is where the production team were taking the Doctor, Nothing wrong with that, and if you look back over my reviews, you'll see that I frequently like the darker episodes. What I remember though is the feeling of hopeful joy when it looked like we had a reasonable, clumsy buffoon style Doctor that mirrored some of the more pleasant traits that Patrick Troughton had. Regardless, many people will judge the Seventh Doctor's run on the stories they told and their poor execution, but it should be noted that despite that, he was a great Doctor.
Favourite Moment
Some people will find it cringeworthy, but I think the Doctor's heartfelt plea to Morgaine in Battlefield was somewhat moving. Often prone to melodrama, Sylvester McCoy turns this lecture into a sincere moment that tells us no matter how dark and manipulative his character gets, he's still on the right side, fighting for the good of us all.
Worst Moment
Possibly many to choose from - honourable shout out to the frantic escape chase in a motorised go-cart, or almost all of Delta and the Bannermen. The one that has to top it all is the literal cliff-hanger for no good reason!
Favourite Story
Remembrance of the Daleks
This story plays on the history of the show, and is by no means the best, but it adds good elements of its own. The Dalek civil war is a very interesting concept, the conversion of Davros to the Emperor, the hint that the Doctor came to Earth in 1963 for other reasons and if nothing else, the Special Weapons Dalek are all pretty cool!
Worst Story
Time and the Rani
The worst story, although there are some good contenders, has to be Time and the Rani. It is just so tedious and frustrating to watch that you really have a hard time keeping your attention on the screen.
Favourite Companion
Ace
Rebellious and angst filled. Ace is almost unlike any companion we've seen before. She is capable, and opinionated, but most of all, she has a good heart. Fleshed out far more than other companions, she is many a fan's favourite when it comes to their choice of companion.
Worst Companion
Mel
Someone has to be last, and sorry to poor Mel, she is the one this time. Despite the god-awful 80's costumes, I never particularly minded her as a companion. Especially around the Sixth Doctor, she was quite pro-active and intelligent. Unfortunately, as what happens with some companions, she was gradually reduced to running around and screaming a lot. Bonnie Langford knew this was the direction she was going and decided to jump, quick, going back to never never land to continue her tenure as Peter Pan in panto.
Survival
Three Episodes
Aired between 22nd November 1989 and 6th December 1989
Written by Rona Munro
Produced by John Nathan-Turner
Directed by Alan Wareing
Synopsis
The TARDIS lands in Perivale, home of Ace. They've come here because she wanted to catch up with her friends, but it turns out the further the go into the village, the more they find that people have been going missing.
Originally fearing that he would be bored, the Doctor soon latches onto the behaviours of a peculiar black cat that follows them around.
He believes it is hunting like a jungle cat and becomes preoccupied with it's motives, even going so far as to buy some cat food from the corner shop to try and entice it closer so he can have a look.
Unknown to him, the cat is somehow controlled by a shadowy figure. It does indeed stalk humans, and selects victims intelligently, then as it attacks them, they disappear. This is the source of the missing people in the area.
Ace meanwhile cannot find her friends around, not even at the youth club where self defence classes are being run on a Sunday by a Sgt Patterson. She finds one solitary friend who say's with few exceptions, they've all disappeared. Ace wanders up to Horsenden hill, expecting to find them mucking about up there, but they're gone. As she sits at the playground, the black cat approaches her and suddenly, after a big flash of light, there is a humanoid Cheetah warrior, mounted on a horse. The Cheetah person chases Ace and teleports her to another planet.
The Doctor continues to try ensnaring the cat, but is thought to be a public nuisance, and Sgt Patterson, part of the local neighbourhood watch is sent to deal with him.
Patterson tackles the Doctor, just as he's about to catch the cat, and they teleport to the strange planet also. It's a desolate place, with a blood red sky and filled with human bones.
The pair wander for a short while and find a village of the Cheetah people.
Within one of it's tents resides the person behind the abductions - The Master. He has somehow adopted animal characteristics, having now got yellow eyes and fangs. He explains that it's the effect of the planet they've been transported to - it has a "bewitching" effect.
He says that the people who once ruled this planet had a mighty empire, but degenerated into animals and lost it all. At the moment, once you are on the planet, you cannot leave. Only the Cheetah people can do that. He found a way to tame them to his bidding by allowing them to hunt on Earth via the cat creating a dimensional bridge.
The Master asks the Doctor to help him find a way off the planet.
Ace meanwhile finds out what's happened to her friends. She meets Sheela and Midge, who are hiding and surviving in these wilds with a guy from the town called Derek.
They are apprehensive about attacking the Cheetah people to get the upper hand and their attempts to capture one fails. They do say the Cheetah's are not violent unless you run though or they're hungry. They love to hunt.
Ace convinces the group to move out and they soon find the Doctor and Patterson who grabbed a horse and ran away from the Master's village. The Doctor is in the midst of explaining everything when a Milkman is teleported to the local site. He is obviously panicked and runs, prompting the Cheetah's to hunt him and kill him. The others run and / or fight despite the Doctor yelling at them to stop.
The group are separated and Ace manages to wound one of them. Midge on the other hand, finds an injured one and kills it, awakening the hunting instinct within himself and turning more animal-like.
Ace finds the wounded Cheetah, but unlike Midge, does not kill it. She finds out it's name is Karra, and tends its wounds instead before going off to find the group.
Once back together, the Doctor explains that the only way off the planet is for one of them to turn into a Cheetah person, because it will give them the ability to teleport. They can then use this to get back before the victim is fully transformed. It's not a prospect the Doctor wants to see at all though.
The group do witness this however, as the Master finds and subjugates Midge who is animalistic.
He uses Midge to transport him back to Earth and expects the Doctor and the rest to rot on the planet.
They fear the worst, but when Karra returns, recovered from her wounds, Ace is seen to have developed an affinity with her, and now has yellow eyes herself.
She abandons the group to go hunting with Kara, but the Doctor finds her and convinces her to come back. She agrees to use her newfound Cheetah powers to teleport them all back to Earth. Sheela and Derek are both elated to be back and run off to their families. Sgt Patterson however cannot accept what he's been through and dismisses it as a crazy dream before going off back to the youth club and his defence classes.
Ace wants to go home, but the Doctor says they still have to deal with Midge and the Master. They ultimately track them down to the defence classes, where the Master has used Midge to enslave all the students and kill Patterson as he retuned there.
From the club, they go to Horsenden Hill, where the Master has set up a final showdown with the Doctor.
The Doctor gets on a motorbike and goes head to head with Midge, playing chicken.
The bikes collide and explode, injuring Midge badly. The other students, now half-Cheetah, kill Midge as the weakest link.
Things look bad for Ace, but Kara turn up and starts killing students. The Master fatally wounds her and she turns back into a human woman. Other Cheetah's turn up and take her back to her home planet.
The Doctor is alive, but the Master has fled. He runs back to the TARDIS, finding the Master trying to pick the lock.
They fight and the Master, now losing control to his hunting instincts, teleports them back to the Cheetah planet. They fight on the ground as the planet rages around them, the endless violence causing it to self-destruct. The Doctor also begins to succumb to the hunting energy, but in a final moment of clarity, rejects the urge to bash the Master's head in with a skull, declaring that "if we fight like animals, we'll die like animals!".
The Master however rejects the notion, gets the upper hand and is about to hit the Doctor. The Doctor teleports away back to Earth as the Cheetah planet destroys itself, leaving the Master behind.
Having returned to Earth, the Doctor goes back to Horsenden hill and finds Ace there, her Cheetah powers having left her thanks to the world blowing up. He comforts her saying Kara will be part of her forever, but she can move on.
Ace asks about the Master, but the Doctor says "who knows". He asks her where she wants to go now, and she tells him she'd like to go home, hinting that the TARDIS is now her home.
The Doctor smiles and as they walk off into the sunset, he ponders that "there are worlds out there where the sky is burning, the seas sleep and the rivers dream; people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere, there's danger, somewhere, there's injustice, and somewhere, the tea's getting cold. Come on, Ace. We've got work to do!"
Together, they walk off into the sunset, back to the TARDIS for another adventure.
Trivia
- The author of this story was recruited from a BBC writers workshop. The original title she came up for this story was cat-flap. Whilst taken in an abstract concept, it makes logical sense (time portals for cats to go through) it was felt to be a bit crap so it was changed, first to "Survival of the Fittest", then just "Survival"
- The show had two guest stars - comedy duo Hale and pace as the shopkeepers
- This was one of the few stories in Doctor Who to be shot totally on location
- The famous stunt performer Eddie Kidd did the motorbike crash scene. Eventually, he would move on to jumping busses on a bike
- The location filming was so hot, it was unbearable for the cast wearing normal clothing. In between takes, they'd strip down to summer wear and sun bathe. Imagine how hot the Cheetah People actors were! Not surprising then, that one of the Cheetah extras stripped off to their underwear and walked off the set, never to be seen again
- The original script had the Doctor and the Master returning from the cat planet during their battle. As part of this, the Master was to say that the Doctor had evolved beyond being a Time Lord. John Nathan-Turner felt this was too explicit and at odds with what had been revealed before about him
- The yellow contact lenses back then were really painful to wear and made the cast's eyes run
- The closing remarks were hastily written by Script Editor Andrew Cartmel when they knew that show was cancelled
- We know that the BBC higher ups had despised the show for a long time. However, as the show had escaped before, the cancellation was supposed to be just a postponement for a year or two, but ended up going on longer. Either that, or that was the pill that was given to the production crew to make it easier to swallow. Regardless, this was the last full length Doctor Who story to be filmed in England and shown on British TV until 2004, ending it's original, continuous 26 year reign. We don't talk about "Dimensions in Time" as a serious episode, as it was spliced together with East Enders and is more a lame comedy than anything else.
The Review
So this is it. The last of the classic era episodes. Survival perhaps earns a sense of nostalgia because of that and many would see it as special and maybe give it more kudos than it deserves.
On the positive, it is a pleasant return to some of my favourite tropes, such as setting a fantastical story in the suburban Britain of the day, a time we've not fully seen since Resurrection of the Daleks, or The Android Invasion. The concept of the sidekick almost being possessed and taken over by primal urges is pretty good too. Despite Rona's original thoughts of the Cheetah people being like us, just with yellow eyes and fangs, I personally think they did an okay job with the monsters this time. Yes, it's likely the faux fur that kids play with that forms the costumes, but if you're modelling a monster on a Cheetah, these look pretty spot on.
The disappointment therefore comes in the sloppy execution of the concept once more. The fact that the Master is trapped on the planet is alright, but there's no real.. good reason why he's there, or why he's still messing around once he's escaped the Cheetah planet. He just hangs around, ready to be beaten. The crap with Midge is just awfully executed, and the ending is ... meh. If you watch it in sequence too, yet another story about Ace so close together has me yawning.
I guess when it comes down to it, the ideas the story plays with - survival of the fittest, and fighting the urge to be primal and savage are all good basis for stories about personal struggle, and whilst the show is in the Cheetah planet, it handles them well. It just all falls apart towards the end when it matters most, by half hearted efforts to spin it out for another 24 mins and to put a named villain in it for the sake of it. Survival is worth a watch, but as I said at the start, probably more for nostalgia reasons than anything else.
Rating
5 out of 10
Re-Watchability Factor
5 out of 10
Watch this if you liked...
- New Earth (Doctor Who, Series 1)
- Gridlock (Doctor Who, Series 3)
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