The Greatest Show in the Galaxy Part Two

The one where the Doctor is chosen as an act in the Psychic Circus talent contest...

Part 1 concentrated on establishing the characters, and part 2 cracks on with the story proper as the Doctor and Ace enter the Psychic Circus to the sound of rapturous applause from within. The weird thing is, there's no audience in the amphitheatre, which means the impression of there being paying customers is a fabrication. Where's the audience gone?

The reprise from part 1 adds on the fact Ace spots the Chief Clown in the circus entrance waving her in, which we see her visibly shudder at in part 1, but we don't see the cause until part 2. A niftier bit of editing would have made the part 1 cliffhanger slightly stronger if they'd left in the grinning clown.

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy Part One

The one where clowns dressed as undertakers use kites to track hippies in the desert...

That introductory line barely scratches the surface of how bizarre and surreal elements of The Greatest Show in the Galaxy are, but this is what Doctor Who was excelling at in its twilight years. It was trying new things, it was far from predictable, and it was going for big, colourful comic book ideas and visuals. Setting Doctor Who in a circus seems such an obvious idea - it was touched upon half-heartedly in Terror of the Autons - and I'm surprised it took 25 years to get around to it properly.

The deluge of wild and wacky images that bombard the viewer as the episode unfolds is almost overwhelming. It might have been filmed on location in a quarry to represent the barren alien world of Segonax, but the characters that populate this arid planet are far from dull and dusty. It all begins with the opening scene of a circus ringmaster performing a rap to an empty amphitheatre (but actually the viewers at home). The ringmaster warns of amazing and scary acts, and plenty of surprises, finishing with: "You ain't seen nothin' yet."

Silver Nemesis Part Three

The one where Lady Peinforte threatens to spill the Doctor's beans...

There's a lovely little scene in this episode as the Doctor and Ace trudge through the woods and Ace admits she's "really, really scared". I appreciate the sentiment and intent of the scene, as it shows that Ace feels confident enough to share her true feelings with the Doctor, and in turn the Doctor can show compassion for his young friend. When he realises Ace is afraid, he apologises and offers to let her wait in the TARDIS. In the event, Ace refuses to give in and will not leave her Professor's side.

But something bugs me about the scene. I don't quite buy the fact that it would be this story, this adventure, this particular set of dangers which would scare Ace so much. It's not as if Ace has endured very much in this story so far, she's mostly been wandering around the countryside listening to jazz and blowing up spaceships. I don't understand what's made Ace so scared, especially considering her run-ins with Kane, the Daleks and even the Happiness Patrol presented greater threats. It's a lovely scene, but somehow in the wrong story.

Silver Nemesis Part Two

The one where Lady Peinforte visits her own tomb...

The Cybermen disembark from their shuttle, only to be set upon by a trigger-happy neo-Nazi - and so begins the Battle of Windsor! These scenes were actually filmed in Greenwich, not Windsor, and the old warehouse has long been demolished, with the area redeveloped to give way to the Millennium Dome and its car parking facilities. It's thought that the comet's crash site later became the David Beckham Football Academy (until it closed in 2009).

"Eradicate them!" orders the Cyber Leader. Cue lots of explosions, machine gun fire, and impressive stunts as the Mondasian marauders battle it out with the Nazi numbskulls, but it must be noted how pathetic the Cybermen's weapons are. They don't shoot lasers, they just fizzle and spark like damp fuses, and let down the physical might and presence of so many silver giants.

Silver Nemesis Part One

The one where a comet containing a living statue crashes to Earth...

Silver Nemesis was Doctor Who's 150th story, as well as its 25th anniversary serial. It was a chance to celebrate the series' monumental achievement in reaching half a century. It was lucky to have reached this birthday, as there had been a handful of times along the way when Doctor Who could have been axed. The BBC could quite easily have scrapped it when William Hartnell left in 1966; the series was almost cancelled in 1969 when ratings had tumbled to a numbing 3.5m; and then there was the infamous 1985 hiatus, when the BBC really wanted to ditch the Doctor, but didn't have the guts. So to get to Season 25 was a real achievement, and this was the story to mark the moment.

But Silver Nemesis isn't a straightforward anniversary tale. For its 10th and 20th anniversaries, Doctor Who had brought back old Doctors and old enemies, celebrating the show's past and present. Lesser anniversaries tended not to be purposefully marked (The Invasion for the fifth, The Key to Time for the fifteenth), and although Silver Nemesis was marketed and intended as an anniversary tale, there were no returning Doctors, no litany of old monsters and enemies, and (thankfully) no Time Lords. It's just the current Doctor and the current companion in an action-packed time travel adventure. 

The Happiness Patrol Part Three

The one where Helen A's empire comes tumbling down...

"There are no other colours without the blues."

The Doctor, rather than try to rescue Ace from the miracle survival act at the Forum, forgets the fact his best friend is in danger and decides instead to hang out at Forum Square while he waits for Earl. He passes the time by chatting to Trevor Sigma, who shows him just how many routine disappearances there have been on Terra Alpha in the last six months - how can there be anyone left?! He also ends up crooning jazz standard As Time Goes By into a microphone.

As much as I love this story, it's messily constructed, as demonstrated here when the Doctor's movements do not follow on logically. After expressing concern for Ace's welfare at the Forum, he then drops that concern altogether to move to a different strand of the story. This serial could have done with four episodes and a bit of a rejig.

The Happiness Patrol Part Two

The one where the Doctor confronts two snipers...

Killjoys from the flatlands have entered the city to demonstrate, covering their pink uniforms with black drapes, and their faces with beautiful commedia dell'arte masks as they move through the darkened streets slowly beating a drum like a funeral cortege. This mass demonstration of public misery initially goes unpunished (Helen A allows demonstrations, surprisingly) but Daisy K tells Ace that this won't last long. These demonstrators are not allowed into the city, and so will get their comeuppance when they try to leave. This is dark material.

Meanwhile, in the Kandy Kitchen, the Doctor and Earl - a character in search of a point - are prisoners of the awesome Kandy Man, who explains what Helen A employs him for. He is her executioner, and he loves his job. "Just because she employs me as her executioner doesn't mean I can't be creative," he threatens. "Tonight you see before you the artistic, sensitive side of me. So I make sweets. Not just any old sweets, but sweets that are so good, so delicious, that sometimes, if I'm on form, the human physiology is not equipped to bear the pleasure." In essence (vanilla essence?), the Kandy Man makes sweets that kill people.