Invasion of the Dinosaurs Part Two

The one where we discover one of the Doctor's allies is betraying him...

Most people criticise the dinosaur models in this story for the way they look, and their lack of movement, but I think far sillier is the way they sound. The T Rex is actually saying the word "RAAAAARRRR", like it's really a terribly cultured and refined dinosaur merely pretending to be a carnivorous monster from the dawn of time. It's a bit like how children might play at dinosaurs in the playground!

Everything looks different in colour. Everything looks like low budget Doctor Who again, rather than the glorious grainy "found footage" monochrome film look of part 1 that made it feel like a lost home movie from the 1930s. I miss the eerieness of the black and white part 1!

Invasion (of the Dinosaurs) Part One

The one where the Doctor and Sarah arrive in a deserted London...

Before we start, I'm making it clear that I watched the black and white version of this episode, as I find the colour-recovered version rather sub-standard. Also, this absolutely marvellous episode looks and feels so much better in monochrome, and I'm sort of glad the colour master tape is lost as watching it in black and white makes it more powerful, in my opinion.

From the moment the episode begins, you can tell this is going to be something a bit different, a bit special. The shots of the empty streets of London - the wet Thames embankment, the deserted Trafalgar Square - are really eerie and atmospheric, helped enormously by Dudley Simpson's mournful music. We continue to see shots of abandoned cars, stray dogs and derelict houses, but the key absence is people. There's not a single human being to be seen. These scenes are fantastic - among the best ever shot for classic Doctor Who - and instantly give the story a post-apocalyptic feel reminiscent of (although presaging) programmes like Survivors and Threads.

The Time Warrior Part Four

The one where Sarah tries to introduce women's lib to the Middle Ages...

It really is quite silly that the Sontarans' only weakness is the probic vent on the back of their neck. Linx seems to think it's fine, because it means they always have to face their enemies, but that's not much use when you're waging intergalactic wars (as the Sontarans do) and you might find yourself surrounded by enemies on the battlefield. The openness, the sheer accessibility, of the probic vent is also silly, because if it makes the Sontaran that vulnerable, why don't they try harder to disguise it, defend it, or cover it up? In the novelisation of Shakedown, the Sontaran helmets do have an extra bit that covers the vent, but otherwise I reckon the Sontarans have got it coming for being so dumb.

Irongron sends Bloodaxe to fetch Linx to the main hall, and I love how Bloodaxe gingerly peers around Linx's door and calls to him. The Doctor pretends to be Linx by popping his helmet on his head and telling him to go away, and Bloodaxe willfully flees, saying: "Come soon, or we'll come and fetch you!" The lily-livered coward... but I do love Bloodaxe.

The Time Warrior Part Three

The one where the Doctor fends off a medieval army using stink bombs...

The Doctor is saved from being hacked to death by Irongron's axe by new revolutionary Sarah Jane Smith, but as she points out: "This isn't a rescue, Doctor. It's a capture!" It's indicative of just how bolshie and ballsy Sarah Jane is in the opening half of this episode. She seems particularly full of herself and bursting with hubris, perhaps bolstered by the fact she's just led a successful raid on a robber baron's castle.

She tackles the Doctor about what she sees as his helping Irongron to kidnap the scientists, and deftly deflects the subject of her being a stowaway aboard his TARDIS. It takes a little while for the Doctor to convince her that he is not on Irongron's side, but actually trying to stop him and Linx, and there's a gorgeous scene between Elisabeth Sladen and Jon Pertwee which finally cements their friendship.

The Time Warrior Part Two

The one where the Doctor finally names his home planet...

Here's a question: why does Linx take off his helmet at the end of part 1? He strolls into the castle courtyard, checks there's no one around (except there is), pops off his helmet and has a quick look around, "tasting" the air with his tongue, before quickly putting it back on when he hears people coming. Surely Linx didn't remove his helmet simply to provide writer Robert Holmes with a cliffhanger?

Sarah Jane Smith, meanwhile, is giving Irongron and Bloodaxe a hard time as she's taken into the castle for questioning. Elisabeth Sladen is fantastic in these scenes, firing on all cylinders and pulsing with energy. She makes Sarah a force to be reckoned with, a woman not to be trifled with and who knows her own mind. When Irongron refers to her as "only a girl", she spits back: "Get lost!", and throughout the scene brands the medieval marauders as idiots and butchers.

The Time Warrior Part One

The one where the Doctor first meets Sarah Jane Smith...

Ooh! Ooh! New opening titles! Doctor Who has redecorated... but I'm not sure I like it. I really like how the time tunnel develops as the theme begins, spilling toward the screen like raindrops, and the shiny time tunnel in full effect is gorgeous. What I'm less sure of is the image used of Jon Pertwee, who looks more like Miss Marple than ever before, and although he's supposed to be standing with his arms crossed, he actually looks like he's been laid out in his coffin. It's not a great look.

Then there's the new logo, which looks too busy and over-complicated. It's become known as the classic "diamond logo" and is the preferred choice of almost every Doctor Who fan on the planet, but for me it's a little incongruous within the graphic title sequence we're seeing. It's a perfectly nice art deco design, but I just don't see how it works within its own context. Still, we're stuck with it for the next six years so I'd better get used to it.

The Green Death Episode Six

The one where the Doctor and Jo go their separate ways...

When the maggot is killed after eating Nancy's fungus it's only a matter of time before we see the final elimination of the deadly creepy-crawlies. It's a convenience that the saliota orbis fungus is the very substance needed to kill the maggots, and that it's been under everybody's noses all along. But there's a poetic neatness to it, that Wholeweal's effort to sustain the future of humankind is the very thing that puts a stop to the deadly products of a chemical pollutant.

But the danger isn't over yet. As the Doctor and Benton scatter fungus into the paths of the maggots - seen on another appalling mix of location, CSO studio and toy car - there's a new threat to vanquish, namely a giant fly! A maggot pupated and spawned a flying pest, which proceeds to harass our heroes on back projection. The fly model looks quite impressive, with its blood red compound eyes, and poses an icky threat when it spurts green goo at Bessie's windscreen. Luckily, the Doctor's wearing his Inverness cape and manages to bring the fly down. "What a beautiful creature," says the Doctor, channeling the very spirit of Doctor Who (more particularly the 21st century version).