The Two Doctors Part Three

The one where the Doctor murders someone with cyanide...

I think The Two Doctors is where Doctor Who really did go off the rails. There's so much about this story that feels fundamentally ill-judged. I go through so many different emotions while watching it - repugnance, disgust, horror, shock, disbelief - but one emotion I don't seem to experience is joy. I don't find watching The Two Doctors fun, or uplifting in any way. I like Doctor Who to be bright and breezy, fun and adventurous, witty and clever. Occasionally I enjoy its forays into darker territories (The Talons of Weng-Chiang, The Caves of Androzani) but I look for entertainment when I come to Doctor Who, and I don't find much of that in The Two Doctors (or, indeed, in Season 22).

This story in particular, with its theme of cannibalism, leaves me cold. There are so many little moments which make me feel repulsed by what I'm watching, such as John Stratton's "woof woof" when he captures the helpless Peri at the start ("Just in your prime and ripe for the knife!"), or when Chessene succumbs to her Androgum ways and licks the Doctor's spilt blood off the ground. There are so many instances where you have to remind yourself this is Doctor Who, and not some low-rent video nasty.

The Two Doctors Part Two (includes 'A Fix with Sontarans')

The one where the Sixth Doctor is reunited with his old friend Jamie McCrimmon...

What exactly is the savage creature trying to do when it attacks Peri? She claims it's her own fault as it was merely "protecting its nest", but when we subsequently learn that this growling, feral entity is actually Jamie McCrimmon, it's not made clear how or why he's ended up this way. How long has it been since the space station was attacked, leaving all but Jamie massacred by the Sontarans? In the meantime Jamie appears to have undergone a bizarre regression, reverting back to an unconvincing primitivism to survive. Protecting his nest he may have been, but why physically molest Peri? Why is he dressed in grubby overalls? Why has he built a nest in the bowels of the station and surrounded himself with half-eaten animal carcasses?

The whys and wherefores are disappointingly ignored, presumably because it made a good cliffhanger and that's it. When the Doctor sees that the poor creature is actually Jamie, he's barely moved at all to be reunited with his old friend (and one of the most faithful companions he'd ever had). "I seem to remember I was always very fond of Jamie," recalls the Doctor. Well, obviously not fond enough to be pleased to see him, or want to reminisce, even briefly. He does very little to convince Jamie that he is the Doctor, he just tells him that he is a future version without the Scotsman understanding that there can even be different versions of him. Jamie knows nothing of regeneration, but just accepts what he's told without question.

The Two Doctors Part One

The one where the Second Doctor and Jamie get a brand new adventure...

Opening a new story with a different Doctor is a brave but refreshing thing to do. For those viewers finding the Sixth Doctor a little hard to take, it's a welcome side-step to be able to revisit the programme's more palatable past. It's a lovely touch to have the first few seconds in monochrome, reminding us of the Second Doctor's black and white origins, with the gentle fade to colour bringing this figure from the past firmly into the current series. It would have been even braver to have Troughton's face in the titles for one week only, or even to have Troughton's original opening titles, but I understand why that didn't happen! It's also a nice little touch to have the old TARDIS console prop, just to reinforce that this is a different period.

The dialogue tells us that this is taking place during Season 5 for the Doctor and Jamie, as they've dropped Victoria off somewhere to learn graphology (the 1993 novel Birthright adds that Victoria sailed to Vienna to study). There's a whole wad of spin-off adventures featuring just the Doctor and Jamie that fans have slipped between The Ice Warriors and The Enemy of the World, from Big Finish audios like Helicon Prime, to Short Trips such as The Time Eater. And this is where The Two Doctors takes place for the Doctor and Jamie (despite Troughton's greying hair!).

The Five Doctors

The one where (most) of the first five Doctors join forces against a traitor to their own people...

It's difficult to express just how exciting The Five Doctors was to the seven-year-old me back in '83. Doctor Who's 20th anniversary year was something of a landmark in the history of the series, and of fandom, turning a very popular family series into something of an institution. For a programme to be still going after two decades was a rare achievement, something to be rightly celebrated, and The Five Doctors, with its crazy ambition and all-star cast, was just about the best way to do this.

The excitement is still palpable almost 40 years later. It's got "all the Doctors" in it, loads of old companions, and loads of old monsters (well, I say "loads"...!). Robert Holmes was initially given the role of writing this anniversary tale, but he struggled to make work his "Cyber-Lord" idea about Cybermen fusing Time Lord DNA with their own (not so much a problem for Chris Chibnall...). The best man for the job was obviously old hand Terrance Dicks. If there was anyone who could make this mad hotch-potch of Doctor Who eras work as one, it was him.

The Three Doctors Episode Four

The one where the Doctor's recorder saves the universe...

When the Doctor is released from his battle with the dark side of Omega's mind, Jon Pertwee has to pretend to be in a head-lock with the invisible man, but this made me wonder whether the Doctor had been tumbling around the singularity room all this time, fighting an unseen troll? I hope not, because that would've been silly.

Omega finally reveals what it is he wants the Doctor to do: replace him. In a twist reminiscent of The Mind Robber, Omega wants the Doctor to perpetuate the anti-matter universe so that he can leave, because as things stand, Omega cannot leave without relinquishing control, and he cannot do that unless he leaves. It's a paradox. So he needs someone else to take control.

The Three Doctors Episode Three

The one where the Doctors meet one of their heroes (and you know what they say about meeting your heroes)...

I realised while watched the reprise that when UNIT HQ is zapped off into the black hole, it leaves behind a beautifully grassed verge where it once stood, rather than torn foundations, leaking water pipes and sparking electricity junction boxes. It's also rather silly that there's absolutely nobody else in the entire building when it's transported, not even a squaddie on the loo, a cleaner, or a secretary. The only people transported to the anti-matter universe are those who matter. PLUS... when UNIT HQ arrives in the anti-matter universe, we never see it there. It would have been a fantastic shot of an entire building sitting in the middle of a quarry, even if it was done by using a cut-out of the building (as with the black hole effect).

When the Brigadier opens the door to see the CSO beach outside ("I'm fairly sure that's Cromer"), it looks nothing like the reality of a chalk quarry in Rickmansworth. It actually looks quite pleasant outside, which makes me wonder why, if he's all-powerful in this domain, Omega doesn't imagine himself a much more pleasant environment to exist in.

The Three Doctors Episode Two

The one where UNIT HQ is transported through a black hole...

Isn't it interesting how Sergeant Benton has really taken a front seat in this story, as well as in The Time Monster? In the absence of the Second Doctor's actual companions, Benton becomes a replacement sidekick, and the two work very well together, with Benton acting as a sort of ersatz Jamie. I've no idea where Captain Yates is in all this. Richard Franklin appeared in only seven episodes in Season 9, and only appears in three in Season 10 (not The Three Doctors). I think John Levene is more than up to the job, however, and certainly has a more amiable presence than the sometimes smug Franklin.

And with Jon Pertwee's absence, Patrick Troughton really comes into his own, and is able to be the Second Doctor properly rather than a comedy foil for the Third Doctor. Troughton balances his performance beautifully here, being both funny and serious in accurate measure (the bit where he and Benton scarper back into the TARDIS when the organism fizzes is classic!).

The Three Doctors Episode One

The one where the first three Doctors team up...

Doctor Who celebrated its tenth anniversary a whole 11 months before the actual anniversary, because the tenth season started in December 1972. Would it have been wiser to celebrate the anniversary at the start of Season 11, which started in December 1973? Or would that have been too late?

The idea of having more than one Doctor at a time starts here. There'd only been subtle hints and reminders of "earlier Doctors" before now (a glimpse of Hartnell in The Power of the Daleks, and the first two Doctors seen during the Dalek mind scan in Day of the Daleks), but this story was the first to acknowledge properly that there had been earlier Doctors - other actors - and to joyfully bring them back! Now that's pretty damn exciting, isn't it?

The War Games Episode Ten

The one where the Doctor is put on trial and exiled to Earth (with a new face)...

And so here we are, the last episode of the last Doctor Who story of the 1960s. The last Patrick Troughton episode, the last black and white episode, the last time we'll see a Quark! But the Second Doctor isn't going to give all these things up to the impending decade without a fight, and it's wonderful to share his determination to outrun the Time Lords, however fruitless it may be.

David Maloney directs this episode so well, from the beautiful dematerialisation of the TARDIS shot from low down, to the shots of the trial room from up above. He adds both grandeur and heart to the piece whenever it's needed. In the hands of a more workmanlike director, The War Games could never have been as successful.

The War Games Episode Nine

The one where the Doctor calls in the Time Lords...

I love how Patrick Troughton and Edward Brayshaw bounce off one another in their scenes together. The early scene where the Doctor asks how the War Chief has managed to overcome the limited lifespan of the SIDRAT machines is magical, with a twinkle in both actors' eyes as their characters continually try to wrest the upper hand. In fact, director David Maloney cast some of Doctor Who's very best guest players for the bigger character roles here, along with Philip Madoc and James Bree. It's one of Doctor Who's best guest casts ever.

As we rush headlong toward the long-awaited grand finale of not only this story, but also this season and this Doctor, there are plenty of twists left in writers Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke's armoury. The ongoing feud between the War Chief and the Security Chief comes to a juicy head when we discover that the latter has been bugging the former's conversations with the Doctor in order to capture evidence against him.

The War Games Episode Eight

The one where the Doctor seems to have betrayed his friends...

I don't know what material the alien guards' gimp suit costumes are made of, but they must be impregnable to bullets. In the cliffhanger reprise the guards seem impervious to the rebels' gunfire just feet away, and a little later, when the guards return to have another go, the rebel machine gun does no harm whatsoever.

The return raid makes me chuckle actually, because it just seems so silly! The SIDRAT arrives, a guard comes out, gets shot at by a machine gun but miraculously survives, and his Plan B is to poke his ray gun out of the SIDRAT door and zap the gunmen! And the crazy thing is, it works, although the two supporting actors need to brush up on their "reacting to being shot at" skills (especially the one on the right, who looks like he's sleepwalking through his scenes).

The War Games Episode Seven

The one where the War Lord arrives to take control...

Early in this episode - Doctor Who's 250th, no less - the War Chief refers to the travel capsules as SIDRATs ("side-rats"), and I think it's the only time this word is mentioned. SIDRATs were mentioned in scripts and stage directions throughout the story, but never in dialogue until now, but it does mean that the SIDRATs are undoubtedly of the same technology as the TARDIS (hence the semordnilap). What the SIDRAT acronym stands for is never confirmed in the story, but Malcolm Hulke's novelisation claims it stands for Space and Inter-Time Dimensional Robot All-purpose Transport (I wonder how long it took him to wangle that one?).

This makes a link between the Time Lords and the Doctor, as the War Chief is known to be a Time Lord, and it is the technology of his people which has constructed the SIDRATs/ TARDIS. It still doesn't conclusively prove that the Doctor is a Time Lord, because he could quite easily have stolen it from them, but seeing as we already know that he is a renegade from his own people, it's easy to connect the dots. We'll ignore anything that says the Doctor and/ or Susan built the TARDIS themselves, and stick to the evidence of our own eyes, as seen in The Name of the Doctor!

The War Games Episode Six

The one where the Time Lords are first mentioned...

The battle of wits between the War Chief and the Security Chief continues in this episode, in which we see that the Security Chief - who talks as if he's permanently constipated - colludes with the scientist to help him prove that his arch enemy is up to no good. The Security Chief does not trust the War Chief and believes he has brought the Doctor to the war planet as they are of the same race. This fact has only been heavily implied so far, so when the Time Lords are mentioned for the first time ever (2 mins 26 secs into the episode - see screencap below), it's easy to assume that we now know the name of the Doctor's people.

But not necessarily, because the scientist is naming the War Chief's people, and we do not know for sure that the Doctor and the War Chief are of the same race. It's assumed to be the case by the aliens because they both have knowledge of space/ time travel - and we already know that they recognise each other - but that in itself does not make them both Time Lords. So we continue to wait for the confirmation that the Doctor is a Time Lord...

The War Games Episode Five

The one where we meet the Security Chief...

We're halfway through this ten-part epic and only now do I detect a faltering in the pace as this episode feels a bit padded, although we still learn plenty from it. For instance, it's nice to know that the travel capsules are green!

As with the last episode, the most interesting developments take place in the alien control centre, and all of the material in the American Civil War zone is surplus to requirements. There's a particularly unnecessary and overlong sequence where Harper and Spencer have a brawl, and it's choreographed in that very rehearsed way that makes it look more like a piece of performance art than a genuine fight (even some of the supporting actors can't help smirking!). By the end of the episode, Jamie, Russell and the two smirking extras climb aboard the travel capsule to make way for the alien base, leaving poor Lady Jennifer behind to tend to hundreds of injured soldiers! Sadly, this is the last we'll see of Lady Jennifer Buckingham, which is a real shame as it would have been nice for her to make it to the alien base and be reunited with Carstairs, who she obviously has a thing for.

The War Games Episode Four

The one where the Doctor and Zoe infiltrate the alien control centre...

The alien travel capsules are TARDISes in all but name, so I wonder why designer Roger Cheveley chose to not have the interior like the Doctor's Ship? After all, the Meddling Monk's TARDIS was very similar to the Doctor's, and even the Dalek time machine reflected the architectural footprint of the Doctor's Ship. These capsules are obviously something slightly different, which we can tell by the rather flimsy interior design! Quite how the Doctor and Zoe are expected to hide from a passing garrison of Roman soldiers by hiding behind a see-through plastic shower curtain is baffling!

I love the weird controls these alien people have though, they're like little fridge magnets which are moved about into different formations to complete certain tasks/ circuits. We can all pretend to do that at home!

The War Games Episode Three

The one where we discover there are many time zones...

The Romans are coming! What's the best thing to do? Jump in this ridiculously slow ambulance and reverse (slowly) back into the war-torn 1917 zone, that's what! While it does appear to be the best of a poor bunch of options, it does afford us the glorious sight of seeing a Roman soldier extra stand open-mouthed, his gob well and truly smacked, as the ambulance disappears into nowhere while the episode caption fades up. Whoever that extra was deserves a Roman medal for giving that elusive 110%!

Actually, the gobsmacked Roman soldier kind of sums up how a first-time viewer might feel during, and after, watching this stunning episode, because it's packed full of cleverly placed mini-WTF moments. Remember, this is the programme that has recently churned out pretty standard (and sometimes sub-standard) cod teatime sci-fi like the woeful The Dominators and The Krotons, and the frustratingly dull runaround The Space Pirates. Suddenly, Doctor Who gives us The War Games, which is like a beautifully sculpted Russian doll - every time something is revealed, there's more intrigue just around the corner to reel you in.

The War Games Episode Two

The one where the Doctor impersonates a War Office examiner...

Ooh, clever! I might have my issues with the strength of the episode 1 cliffhanger, but fair's fair, writers Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke resolve it perfectly well without rewriting what we've already witnessed. Yes, a shot is fired, but the Doctor's face creases in anticipatory agony, because the bullet actually came from a rogue sniper in a nearby building, aiming at the firing squad! Who this man is remains a mystery right through to the end of the episode, but judging from the way he is dressed, he's not local...

Seeing the Doctor tied up before a firing squad, and then being hastily untied and scarpering with his companion, reminds me heavily of the same thing happening in The Curse of Fenric, and if I cast my mind back to my 13-year-old self watching that scene in 1989, I remember being quite nervous for the Doctor then too. Maybe I've got a thing about my heroes facing firing squads? Then again, who doesn't...?

The War Games Episode One

The one where the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are court martialed...

I'll be totally transparent from the off: The War Games is my joint favourite Doctor Who story of all time, so reviewing it for this blog is something of a poisoned chalice. I intend to stay as open-minded and impartial as possible because being a Doctor Who fan can sometimes mean watching things with rose-tinted spectacles. I'm going to leave the specs off and judge this epic ten-parter as I find it critically. And I cannot wait...!

The overwhelming feeling I have after watching the first episode is how unrelentingly grim it all is. After a lovely, inventive shot of the TARDIS materialising reflected in a puddle, David Maloney's direction starts full-pelt and barely lets up, and in the first four minutes alone we witness a barrage of bombs, acres of mud, an abduction, and the rat-a-tat-tat of machine gun fire. It's not long before our heroes find themselves holed up in a World War One trench close to enemy lines, apparently not far from Ypres. Writers Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke certainly get the story started with a literal bang!

The Space Pirates Episode Six

The one where Caven gets his comeuppance...

Madeleine's continued attempt to get Dervish to turn on his boss and help her get her father back falls on deaf ears. Dervish's allegiance is very strongly to Caven, despite his conscience, and it would be great to see the scenes between Lisa Daniely and Brian Peck because they're performed so well.

Most of this final episode concerns the Doctor's attempts to rescue the LIZ-79 from Caven's booby-trap (which he does) and then his race against time to defuse Caven's remote-controlled explosive device in Ta's atomic fuel store. The trouble is, the scene where the Doctor, in protective suit, tries to do this is so interminably long and drawn out that, as we're unable to see it, the pace is slowed right down to a crawl.

The Space Pirates Episode Five

The one where we learn Dom Issigri has been alive all along...

Now this is more like it! The huge leap in the quality of story-telling between episodes 4 and 5 is considerable, as the plot finally kicks in and the TARDIS crew finally gets (very slightly) involved! I mean, it's still pretty lightweight, but there are a good few revelations and twists that crank up the interest and turn what has been a poor runaround so far, into a mildly intriguing thriller.

As suggested last week, it seems Madeleine Issigri has been in cahoots with Caven all along, but as we learn more about her working relationship with the pirate, we realise that things have gotten rather out of hand for her liking. She first got involved with Caven to orchestrate a salvage operation, but his plans have expanded somewhat to include piracy, and now murder (or "deliberate murder" as Madeleine rather puzzlingly puts it).