The Tenth Planet

I am in major catch-up mode now with the marathon and this blog. Of course the gap is for a good reason; it’s been insanely busy with other writing projects, and work, and events.  I am only now getting write up episodes watched quite some time ago, and it will be good to get these up on the site. So here goes.

Episode 1

It's strange to think here in 2011, that when this episode was broadcast the time period portrayed was the future. 1986 was nothing like this in my experience, but there are lots of nice touches. I like the multi-cultural base. It’s a science fiction staple of course, especially for stories set in the near future, but it is nice to see here, and is done rather well. It’s been just as much a staple in Doctor Who, and was still there in 2009’s The Waters of Mars. Is this because we as a species always want to hope things will get better, and we can all get along without focusing on the differences between us?

Despite the idealism of harmony between races, we continue to get stereotypical treatment of women when Polly shows up on the base, and the men treat her with a 1960’s attitude. It’s an interesting contrast to

Ben and Polly don't look wrapped up warmly enough for the South Pole, but perhaps these are some more of those famous TARDIS coats that can protect the wearer against almost anything, despite looking normal in their appearance.

Hartnell is brilliant here, giving a no nonsense Doctor, but one who still has a sense of fun, and enjoys poking at authority figures. Even here in his last story, Hartnell is going toe-to-toe with Robert  Beatty’s General Cutler, in a battle of wills between two strong men; neither of these characters are going to back down, and this clash lasts throughout the story when both characters are on screen.

It's fascinating that the Doctor knows what's going to happen in this story. He is showing that he has advanced knowledge of the future just as he has always exhibited of the past. Knowing what we know now, this is obvious, but at the time this was a first. His behavior here, makes me wonder if 1986 is a fixed point in time? It seems like it must be, and that leads me to wonder how much of what will transpire during this story does the Doctor already know of? This is a major change for the character, who didn’t know who the Daleks were when he first encountered them. The character is evolving and developing and becoming ever more like the man we know today.

The concept and effect of the upside down planet is well carried off, and still holds some shock value for me. Then, right at the end of the episode is the moment I have been waiting for. The Cybermen are revealed, and to this day, they are my favorite Cybermen ever!

Episode 2

We don't see what the Cybermen do to the soldiers, but it's clear that whatever they did was horrific and deadly. Seeing the gear from the soldiers scattered in the snow by the TARDIS is a chilling moment. This story specializes in this kind of chilling scene. The destruction of the spaceship is another example. The reaction of Polly as the signal cuts out is shocking and very affecting. He audience is as shocked as the characters.

One of the things I love the most about these Cybermen are their sing-song cybervoices. The sound is inhuman, but retains a mockery of human intonation. It acts as a reminder of their organic origins, making these metal men seem more chilling than did the robotic voices that come along later.

This seems a good time to talk about a constant criticism of the 1^st Doctor, and Hartnell in particular; the so-called "Billy fluffs". Everyone talks about them as if he is the only one who ever fluffed a line. This happens all the time in 1960s television; it happens in Quatermass; Robert Beatty does it in episode one of this very story. But neither of those incidents get the criticism that Hartnell comes in for. It seems to be that because he is the lead he gets the bad reputation, and it is very unfair. As I have watched his full run of episodes I have been so impressed with Hartnell as an actor; comedy, drama, compassion, excitement - he does it all. His confrontation with Kang here is wonderful, and as he contemplates the Cyberman's responses to his statements you can see the Doctor's brain working and Hartnell is as alert as we've ever seen him. He inhabits this character completely, and it is brilliant!

There's something rather amusing about Ben escaping thanks to an old movie.

Episode 3

What a travesty that in his penultimate episode all William Hartnell does is keel over and then lie on a bed. It really is most upsetting. I have come to love this Doctor so much, and this is a sad ending.

Meanwhile we are getting our first alien invasion story and the tension is building very nicely indeed. And in another first, later on we get a companion crawling through a ventilation shaft. That is a tradition that is even more a part of Doctor Who than the Cybermen are. So much so that in Terminus two of the companions spend the entire story doing just that!

This story is full of  some excellent performances from the guest cast. David Dodimead does worried scientist very well, and above all, Robert Beatty gives a very emotional performance as a man on the edge. He is willing to do anything, and he is personally invested in this, which heightens the tension of the 2^nd half of this story to almost unbearable heights. It is interesting to compare Cutler to later military characters. Many of the do-anything archetypes we see later are present in this character and his blundering in regardless is something that that later Doctors would delight in commenting on and Hartnell would doubtless be challenging were he not collapsed on a bed. (Yes, I am very bitter about not getting to see that here).

The tension at the episode's end is very well done. You can feel it as the noise of the rocket gets louder and louder. Well done to director Derek Martinus.

Episode 4

This episode is a bit of an anti climax isn’t it? Everything seems to end rather easily. But along the way though we finally get to see some devious Cybermen, and the real invasion and a last wonderful 1st Doctor bluff. There’s even a moment where he feels that he may have miscalculated after all. How Doctor-ish is that? Up until that point it had almost felt like General Cutler was the villain of the piece, but once we see the ruthlessness of the Cybermen, we can be reminded that he is really just a desperate father, with too much destructive power at his disposal.

When we see the Doctor and Polly imprisoned on the Cybership, I am pleased to see that the cells look like they could double for conversion chambers. It’s a nice hint at the real horror of these creations.

Finally, what can I say about the end of this episode and the first “renewal” of the Doctor. There is a lovely symmetry to the trauma of that first TARDs flight we saw back in An Unearthly Child, as we experience the trauma of this first regeneration. What was the audience to think? It certainly seems to shake Ben and Polly.

Goodbye Bill. You were magnificent. But now it's onwards to meet this new Doctor...

The Smugglers

As the previous post implies, I’m baack, and better than ever! And so is this blog, but it will now be at a less breakneck speed, and more at the speed that I just want to watch “Doctor Who”. Right now though I am eager to watch the stories that are coming up, so we’ll see how it goes! The announcement of the Series 6 premiere date has left me very excited and very much in a Who-watching mood. So here we go again.

Episode 1

This episode has a lovely opening TARDIS scene, as the new crew size each other up. The Doctor is gruff and cantankerous, and Ben and Polly are perplexed as he explains what they have got themselves into. It really is a perfect season opener, since it introduces the audience to the concepts of the series again, and setting up Ben and Polly as audience identification figures. They are a far cry from Ian and Barbara. Unlike he introduction to the schoolteachers though, the Doctor is more open about being a wanderer who cannot tell where he ends up.

Once they get to Cornwall, Polly is far more enthusiastic than Ben, who seems extremely suspicious of everything. It’s reminiscent of how Steven behaved when he arrived in pre-Norman England in “The Time Meddler”. Anneke Wills and Michael Craze have wonderful chemistry, and I shall be paying close attention to how this develops. The Doctor has already accepted them and there are hints of the attitude towards companions that we see joked about in the show today; that they can’t look after themselves without him keeping an eye on them; that they just don’t listen; that he’ll have to bail them out. At this point in his journey though it seems to amuse him no end, as opposed to the world-weariness with which it is referred to by the 10^th and 11^th Doctors.

It’s interesting that Ben and Polly can accept the change in location and the bigger on the inside bit of the TARDIS, while it is the time travel thing that is so much less believable.

There are some definite nasty pieces of work in this story, as we start to meet the different factions that will drive the plot, but this episode is more about the fun interactions, as the new TARDIS crew meet the cast of characters that make up this suspicious village. There’s some nice setup in this area, as the plot gets set into motion, and we discover that there are precious things hidden away, and lots of people looking for it.

Oh look, it’s Paul Whitsun-Jones as the squire! It’s almost as if the Marshall from The Mutants has been transported back to 17^th century Cornwall! How wonderful! He does fatuous pomposity, with a slightly sinister edge, like nobody else!

Episode 2

There goes the Doctor, turning on the charm again, to ingratiate himself with Captain Avery’s erstwhile shipmates. He appears to relish the company of these pirates, and is having a lot of fun negotiating with them.

Ben and Polly are not having quite as much fun, but they are definitely getting into the spirit of adventure, and ready to try every trick in the book to escape from their jail! Ben especially is now really getting into the swing of things – knocking out possible villains, and looking out for his friend. He has accepted their lot now it appears, and it just getting on with it.

Paul Whitsun-Jones continues his lovely performance as the squire. He plays this archetype to the hilt, and his enthusiasm is contagious. All of the actors are really getting into their roles and completely committed to them. It makes the drama so much more believable, despite some occasional cod accents and clichéd dialogue.

I love the joke of Captain Pike’s pike being fake, and the crewmembers needing to remind him to attach it!

Episode 3

Hartnell is having such fun with this script, which gives him plenty to do, and is unlike a lot of Brian Hayles’s later work for the show. This is just the type of script that Hartnell always enjoys, that come up a lot in the historical stories, where he gets to bluff and bluster his way through and have fun at the expense of his captors and trick his way out of any situation in which he finds himself. It’s in stories like these that we get to see the fun side of the 1^st Doctor, rather than the sternness that people usually remember.

Ben and Polly have the Doctor pegged already, even though they have only been with him a short while. They know that he just cannot help getting into trouble. Today of course, everyone would complain about this early knowledge, as they did with Amy in The Best Below knowing that the Doctor is alien and very old, since the assumption was that the knowledge wasn’t earned. (On that score they are wrong. It’s all right there and Amy has noticed and is a smart young woman; but that’s a discussion for 27 seasons from now!) With Ben and Polly here it all seems perfectly natural that they would understand the Doctor this well. They are observant people and they have paid attention to how he behaves!

Captain Pike is a vicious sort. Michael Godfrey plays him wonderfully, with a charming veneer, hiding a mercilessness streak underneath.

As the Doctor explains his need to get to the crypt, rather than just escape back to the TARDIS, we get a lovely redefinition of his moral code as he asserts that he has a “moral obligation” to keep the village and the innocent villagers there safe. He’s come a long way from the character that had to be restrained from braining a caveman with a rock. This is absolutely the character we know today, who tries to make a difference and to do the right thing.

All roads lead to the crypt as the parties converge looking for the treasure. The stakes are high – for the village anyway! And everyone is out for their own gain except the Doctor and his friends.

Episode 4

The Doctor is wonderfully powerful again in this. His righteous anger and his schemes are on top form as he works to outwit the crew of smugglers. I would love to be able see Hartnell’s visual acting in this scene. Vocally he sounds full of energy and confidence that belies the myth of a sick man who was pushed off the show he loved and gave so much to.

I love Ben asking Polly to put the kettle on when she gets back to the TARDIS! So English and so typical! It made me laugh.

Finally the Doctor solves the riddle. He’s known the answer all along of course, and could have wrapped this up in episode 2. But it’s been fun getting to this point! Hartnell is having a ball with this. I will be very sad to see him go.

As we reach the climactic battle between Blake’s men and the pirates, I feel disappointment that we cannot watch it, and simply have some pictures and the audio (although I am grateful we have that at least!) Director Julia Smith was to go on to become a very important t person in the BBC over the following 20 years, and of the 8 episodes of Doctor Who she directed we only have “The Underwater Menace” episode 3. All evidence points to her work here being of a higher quality.

And what a lead in to the next episode! I can’t wait!

Day 27 - The War Machines

The snow looked beautiful this morning! A definite disadvantage of living 20 blocks from work though is that I have few excuses not to go into the office, and cannot work from home. Yes, it is home now. A realization that came to me over the last week or so. And I am glad.

I am excited about the next couple of days, despite some weirdness and setbacks that have set my head spinning, and filled it up with so many different feelings it is ready to explode. But I have some fun plans, which I hope will send me off to India with smile, along with something to look forward to when I return (which will help with the letdown of the trip being over!) But it is early days in so many things, and only time will tell what happens next.

Episode 1

This is a fantastic opening, with some wonderful location work. It’s fun to see the amazement and excitement from Dodo at seeing the completed Post Office tower. It was so new then, but seems so normal now.

It’s interesting how the Doctor already seems to have a position of authority, or at least has built up a reputation as an expert, in some circles of British society. I wonder when he did that. It seems quite at odds with the man we met in “An Unearthly Child”, who was only in 1960s England for Susan. Although based on what we will discover in his 7^th incarnation, the Doctor is full of secrets.

This whole story seems quite different and fresh, and is much more modern than what I’ve been watching lately. Ben and Polly are a breath of fresh air, as is the then-present day setting of 1966, which seems more like nostalgia today, with all the glamour of the swinging sixties in London! The location work also adds to the impact. It’s great to see the Doctor wandering around a familiar London again.

The description of WOTAN puts me in mind of SKyNet. It’s never a good idea to network all these computers together. And we are soon shown how bad an idea it is. The computer’s virtual tentacles start reaching out and taking control, leading up to the infamous cliffhanger, where “Doctor Who is required”. Innes Lloyd or Ian Stuart Black are a little confused about the name of their lead character! It’s a good thing this is a compelling story.

Episode 2

Dodo really is behaving rather oddly. I wonder what is happening with her. Meanwhile, the Doctor is right at home in English society, barely noticing the change in his companion. Until he speaks to WOTAN and everything becomes clear to him, and then, most conveniently, Dodo gives the plot away.

Oooh. Ben and Polly are flirting already. Are we going to get another couple in the TARDIS a la Ian and Barbara?

That all-purpose ring is up to yet another new trick! Now it’s a hypnotic tool being used to cure Dodo! And suddenly she is gone from our screens, without so much as a goodbye. I have never been the biggest fan of Dodo, and would usually claim her as my least favourite companion. But I have to admit that I have really enjoyed the time that I’ve spent in her company, and may need to re-evaluate that opinion a bit.

WOTAN is very efficient at getting all these parts into London in such a short time. It’s interesting that the tingle the Doctor feels reminds him of how he felt when the Daleks were around. The War Machines are the closest thing to the Daleks we have seen so far in the series, although they are far more bulky and unwieldy. They also seem to need very specific instructions to actually do anything. Their mallet style arm though seems more deadly at the moment though than the Dalek sucker-style arm.

Episode 3

Anneke Wills does possessed acting very well. Ben’s attempted escape from the warehouse is well put together and makes for a very exciting sequence. Michael Craze does a great job of showing his disbelief at Polly’s behavior. I think I am going to enjoy spending time with these two. They work very well together.

The Doctor has been rather static in this since he discovered what was going on. He has left everything to his new friends Ben and Polly. I hope he starts to become more active soon. It’s quite out of character based on the confidence and power he has demonstrated over the course of this season (when he wasn’t written out of episodes, of course!)

I have to complement Michael Ferguson on a great direction job on this story, especially in the climatic sequence to this episode. This is more like it; the army are attacking in force. This story really does feel so different and modern, and is nothing like we have seen before. It may also be the crystal clear picture that is contributing to this. The restoration team have done a spectacular job on this story. It looks pristine, especially in the film sequences as the War Machine exits the warehouse. The War Machine in full attack mode would be a great sequence even without the great restoration team job, however. It’s big and menacing and means trouble. And there, as the episode ends, my confident hero returns, as the Doctor strides fearlessly towards the enemy.

Episode 4

I like the idea of showing how regular people are reacting to the emergency. It’s something we don’t get often in later invasions, but makes for effective scenes here. The government don’t really know what they are doing yet though, and need to do a better job with cover stories. But this is just a practice run for all the invasions to come. Earth, and especially England, will learn from (some of) its mistakes.

I love watching the Doctor, taking charge completely, and putting together a machine from junk and making it up as he goes along! It’s so very Doctor-ish, and I love that Hartnell is so dynamic and gets to do this, after his inactivity in the previous episode.

Once it is all wrapped up, and we hear Dodo’s perfunctory departure, the Doctor seems saddened to have lost her, and goes into the TARDIS an old man. But all is not lost and it doesn’t look like he’ll be alone for long. Ben and Polly are an adventurous pair! And in they go!

And so I reach the end of the 3rd series of Doctor Who, and for the time being, I reach a short break from this blog, and the marathon watch. I am going to be focusing on the trip to India and the new experiences and adventures that I will be having out there! It’s a new country for me, and full of new things to go and see, and to focus on things I may not normally do. I am very grateful the person who helped me to understand that.

But I shall come back, yes I shall come back, and Season 4, and the 2^nd Doctor await me when I do!