THE JON PERTWEE YEARS 1970-1974

Some excerpts from our thoughts on every Jon Pertwee era Doctor Who story.


SEASON 7

'Spearhead From Space'

Co-Pilot – The scariest Doctor Who story ever?...Hugh Burden as Channing is on a different plane all together – he only has the stand in the background of a shot to be creepy & unsettling.

Lucozer – It looks superb, the use of grainy film is very effective. Pertwee is great from the outset as is Caroline John. Best first story for a Doctor ever…full stop.

'The Silurians'

Co-Pilot - The Silurian eye view we see as a Silurian ascends, with tremendous deep reptilian breathing, & as he staggers towards the farm, is up there with the series greatest ever moments…Having a few of the characters driven mad by the events in the caves adds greatly to the claustrophobic menace. I can certainly remember many lunch & recess times full of Silurian inspired mimicry!

Lucozer – The Silurians are brilliantly realised; their appearance & movements, their society, their ethics & interrelations…everything. It contains two all-time classic cliffhangers; the Doctor's first meeting with a Silurian in the farmhouse & then when a couple of Silurians burn through the wall behind him while he is frantically trying to find an antidote to the virus. So many superb childhood memories…creepy & atmospheric.

'Ambassadors of Death'

Co-Pilot – Nothing too exciting happens over 7 long episodes & the guy with the dodgy French (?) accent undermines the whole thing…full of padding.

Lucozer – Slow, but it certainly has decent production values. It could have been done in 5 or 6 eps… I would even go so far as to say 'Dominator Rago' is a highlight; subtle & believable & much more convincing in this… the most graphically violent UNIT story ever; the scene in the warehouse with all the close up bullet deaths a case in point. UNIT Doctor Who by numbers, but still worth a look.

'Inferno'

Co-Pilot - …Inferno is more like a film than a TV show – the gritty oppressive quality Douglas Camfield evokes contributes a huge amount to the story's success. The parallel world stuff is highly effective & frightening. The cliff-hanger ending to part 6 is still unbearably dramatic…It maintains its quality over 7 episodes – something most four parters can't come close to emulating…

Lucozer – Fantastic! So tense and claustrophobic, it's almost unbearable. The ambient noise becomes increasingly unsettling. We are forced to relate to the Doctor more than ever in this 'fish out of water' plight because the companion is largely absent (Ditto 'Deadly Assassin'). Perhaps a good story to show non-fans if they can endure its length….So many potent childhood memories from Jon's first season. Season 7 is vastly underrated. It should be regarded as a classic up there with seasons 5, 13 & 14.


SEASON 8

'Terror Of The Autons'

Co-Pilot – The first & best Master story. This could have been even better if the Autons were as menacing as they were in Spearhead. There are many terrific & frightening moments...the suffocating chair, the master's eerie theme music, the Doctor pulling off the policeman's mask, the Auton being driven off the cliff then getting up and walking away…the Master in general!

Lucozer – This story makes the padding in other stories look all the more obvious. Almost as much happens in this as happens in Planet of the Spiders/ Daleks etc. A tight script & well paced. Classy Doctor Who that made the best of limited resources… That said, I just don't feel the urge to watch it that much. I don't know why.

'Mind Of Evil'

Co-Pilot – It has some excellent moments; the master smoking the cigar & the Keller machine bringing out all of the fearful images in the Doctor's mind (Cybermen & the fire) but it is also very bland and overlong. The Keller machine itself begins to get a little tedious after a while.

Lucozer – The Keller machine really freaked me out as a kid; a machine that could materialise anywhere & attack your brain! The sound effect & wobbly visuals I thought were great… Delgado is wonderfully malevolent…I love the 'Mao Tse Tung' scene, a nice touch...It's B&W status probably works in its favour. Creepy & tense.

'Claws Of Axos'

Co-Pilot – This is utter shite! Never can understand why this is rated a minor classic. The acting is forced & the special effects in the Axon spaceship are woeful. A great pity, as a kid I remember being very scared by the red tentacled Axon…Complete tosh!

Lucozer – Hugely overrated! The incidental music & direction are abominably ham fisted …seems like a bad student sci-fi film…The plot & concept are quite good but many departments let it down. If Dougie Camfield has directed this it could have been far superior.

'Colony In Space'

Co-Pilot - Pretty uninspiring. Dent is so boring, his hair is the most interesting thing about him – & that is really saying something. I prefer my villains to be dashing looking; not craggy po-paced old bores! Give me Soldeed or even the Nimon itself over Dent any day of the week!

Lucozer – Crap At Snails Pace! An endless procession of captures, escapes & tiresome politicking between unsympathetic & dull characters. Groan! I do like the scene where the Master offers the Doctor half-rulership of the universe though...I still have not watched this all the way through since 1986. Come to think of it, maybe I didn't even then?

'The Daemons'

Co-Pilot – Much better when viewed in grainy black & white. The Daemons is fabulous in lots of ways, although not as great as it was once reputed to be…Part one is a real humdinger…very atmospheric…Without doubt one of Pertwee's best, but just not THE BEST, as some influential critics used to maintain.

Lucozer – Bok is well realised & Mr Thorne is less painful here than in the 'Three Doctors'…. Part One is very sinister; the wild weather & the signs spinning around. However, this story is a perfect example of a sad & painfully common phenomenon in Doctor Who; good directors establishing wonderful tension & suspense early in a story, then being let down by budget restrictions which render the evil, when revealed, as laughable (see also 'Image Of Fendahl', 'Horror Of Fang Rock' & Nessie in 'Terror Of The Zygons') It must have galled directors when their fine work reached a dramatic zenith of silly CSO & poxy bubble wrap! No hands down classic but very good with some classic moments.


SEASON 9

'Day Of The Daleks'

Co-Pilot – A Minor classic? Sort of…Aubrey Woods who plays the Controller is brilliant, continuing the tradition of fantastic characters working for the Daleks (Mavic Chen, Nyder, Lytton, Tasambeker! (just kidding)) I remember being very captivated by the time tunnel stuff. The Doctor & Jo staying at Stiles' house & sampling his wine & cheese – great stuff!

Lucozer –…A clever little script & the Controller is superbly creepy. It is very polished production wise & it's shortness (four parts among many sixes), lack of obvious padding & its "playing with time" plot make it probably the closest to the new series of all the Pertwee era stories. Shame though that the Daleks are underused & their voices are so appalling.

'Curse Of Peladon'

Co-Pilot – The real Curse Of Peladon is Alpha Centauri! What or who is this most dodgy alien supposed to be a pastiche of? Is Alpha a raging queen? A feminist avenger gone wrong? A pre-pubescent boy whose voice hasn't broken yet? Ms/Mr Centauri stands out as woefully & memorably bad in an otherwise excellent adventure. The other aliens work well; Arcturus somehow overcomes design limitations to be an interesting & menacing character. The Ice Warriors are also superb. The whole idea of the Dr & Jo becoming emotionally involved in proceedings is very well handled…Naroon narooon naroon!!

Lucozer – Delegate Arcturus is a scream! I love him/ her/ it? Probably one of Ms Manning's better showings, even though she still over emphasises every gesture & emotion. The scene of the TARDIS landing on the windy cliff-face & the Doctor singing to Aggedor in the catacombs are vivid childhood memories. A strong & involving script presenting a well rounded view of a troubled society. A modest charmer.

'The Sea Devils'

Co-Pilot – …Owes much of its impact to an incredible soundtrack. Perhaps it is overlong, but the Sea Devils has an atmosphere of gloom throughout that is very enthralling. I still think a child these days would find some Dr Who stories to be chillingly frightening & this would be one of them. I love how the Dr goes to visit the Master – their relationship typifies the kind of dignity the Delgado Master had that the Ainley Master never came close to.

Lucozer – As a child it was a pinnacle, but memory has cheated a little. The Sea Devils base is far too colourful & bright, suffering in comparison with the gloomy, shadowy Silurian caves. Also, the Sea Devils look awkward & clunky when compared to the Silurians. This may be the fault of direction though; too many undramatic long shots. The Silurians were brilliantly revealed & realised with close ups on parts of them & using their strange vision & close miked breathing. Not so with the Sea Devils. They do look great rising from the water though…The Master/ Doctor banter is superb, well scripted & played. The memorable incidental music is perhaps a little overdone; almost as if they were excited at how (undeniably) great & strange it was & put it in too many places, often too loud & occasionally very jarring. Despite my criticisms, still marvelously entertaining.

'The Mutants'

Co-Pilot – Very sad to admit how crap this actually is, because I loved the atmosphere of it in 1986. Episode one is actually pretty good but, from there on in it all gets very bland. The acting is probably the most notable thing about it. The fat warlord guy with the dodgy Slade haircut is wooden & horrible. The Marshal over-acts through the whole thing. Did Cotton actually audition for the part?!

Lucozer – Certainly not diabolical in the way 'Twin Dilemma' & 'Delta' are, just deathly dull with a few excruciatingly bad moments for good measure. Cotton & the Captain are particularly dreadful, but Jon is solid as usual though & George 'Shaboogans' Pravda is always worth a moment of ones times.

'The Time Monster'

Co-Pilot – zzzzzzzzzz!

Lucozer – I have less childhood memories of this Pertwee story than any other, so a recent viewing held a curious interest for me & the panning it gets in 'received Dr Who Wisdom' led me to expect nothing. So its relative 'freshness' & my low expectations meant I quite enjoyed this frivolous & tacky runaround, despite some poor direction, woeful acting & the otherwise masterful Delgado straying the closest he ever came to lame eyebrow-arching-&-maniacal-laughing charicature (though through no fault of his own)


SEASON 10

'Three Doctors'

Co-Pilot – The goodness in this story is obvious. Part one is brilliant, as is part two. The ending with the whole of UNIT being sucked into the black hole is wonderful. Pat & William are fabulous. Jon fighting the dark side of Omega's mind is intense. Generally the story has the aura of an absolute classic. …Where it falls down though is the d-grade set design of Omega's Palace, the frankly ridiculous gel guards & the amateur bellowing of Stephen Thorne. All of these factors rob Omega & his world of the menace they might otherwise have had. A real pity as in every other respect this is possibly the best story of Pertwee's reign.

Lucozer - …Notably disappointing. It could/ should have been so much better. The Pat & Jon bickering scenes are largely clunky & childish (the scripts fault, not theirs) & the recorder sub plot is utter crap. The Brigadier is reduced to a blundering imbecile & the whole thing looks garish and panto-esque. I must concur with the Co-Pilot, the "amateur bellowing" of Mr Thorne is awful & renders the final moments of the story anti-climactic. It is still a lot of fun & has some great moments, but (rant alert!!) why do multi-doctor stories always have to be frivolous run-arounds? Why can't they be dark & compelling & blow our fucking minds! Three Doctors!!! Fan boys everywhere should be creaming themselves in unison! Three Doctors should mean thrice the tension, thrice the fear & thrice the brilliance. All these things seem to have been divided in this! Once again, why wasn't Mr Camfield brought in. Although, even he would have struggled to salvage something credible from the likes of the appalling gel guards & their hideous chorus of 'wob, wob, wob'.

'Carnival Of Monsters'

Co-Pilot - Like 'Claws Of Axos' this is always overrated. The circus duo with the Projector are really crap, they aren't funny at all. Michael Wisher is always really good & some of the bits inside the machine are effective, but overall it's pretty ordinary fare. Perhaps I'm missing something?

Lucozer – Classic my b*&^bag! What are the critics on about? This is drivel. The Drashigs are woeful & wouldn't scare a blind spielsnape. The 'fruit loop' duo are god-awful. Maybe there are one or two memorable moments; the 'big hand', the cruise ship with the 'sea dinosaur'. It has brevity in its favour & not much more. This is very average if not quite 'Mutants' level awful.

'Frontier In Space'

Co-Pilot – I remember being very impressed with the Draconians (even as an adult). The shock ending with the Daleks arrival & then the Master shooting the Doctor was very exciting. I like the idea that the Doctor travels across space & that the action takes place on several fronts, much like 'Genesis Of the Daleks'. Not too many bad moments off the top of my head.

Lucozer – An ambitious space opera on a shoe-string; impressive despite the usual meagre budget. The politics of the story are a little forced & creaky, but it is a polished production without too much padding & the different locations & strands of the story are juggled well. The marvellous John Friedlander again excels with his fantastic looking Draconian design. Roger Delgado is as exquisitely shady & textured as ever in his last story. Katy is actually pretty good in this, Delgado lifts her in their scenes together & they are surprisingly effective. It has flaws, but the Pertwee/ Letts & Dicks team seems well oiled here & they play to their strengths on this one.

'Planet Of The Daleks'

Co-Pilot – Could have been great, but on every level this is just a copy of Terry Nation's previous efforts with hardly an inspiring or original idea anywhere. I loved this when we were kids, but as adults, it just looks tacky & full of padding.

Lucozer – Part One with Jo trying to help the ailing Doctor & exploring the jungle & the Thal ship is quite unsettling. The 'air duct escape' is a gripping moment & Part 3 benefits from the moodiness of B &W (the scenes in the ice tunnels are particularly effective). Sadly though, the Gold Dalek in the final episode, so grand in memory, now looks like a tatty, oversized Christmas bauble & is depressingly symbolic of how the whole story appears to me now. Episodic & padded, it doesn't hang together very well & is a lazy-ass rehash as the Co-Pilot points out. Still, it is eminently watchable.

'Green Death'

Co-Pilot – Probably better in memory than reality. The special effects are pretty crap apart from a few terrific maggot moments (such as Jo being menaced late at night in the lounge). The ending with the Doctor driving off is surprisingly emotional & overall I like the theme; humans messing up the environment & causing things to get out of control.

Lucozer – Shame about the dodgy CSO special effects. An involving romp & probably the most 'Pertwee' Pertwee story; UNIT, Bessie, ecological/ political themes, misguided humans, chase scenes, action sequences, caves etc etc. BOSS is quite entertaining even though it looks like a crap 'Goodies' prop. Jo's final scene I thought very sad as a kid & it still holds up now. A bit padded & silly in parts, but still most enjoyable.


SEASON 11

'Time Warrior'

Co-Pilot – Linx is terrific, his costume is superb. When he pulls off the helmet for the first time…very memorable. The rest of the story is a bit tired though. It has potential but overall nothing better than an average run-around.

Lucozer – Linx is superb, Kevin Lindsay is the definitive Sontaran & the Friedlander mask is masterful. Why did the Sontaron masks deteriorate so much after this? They looked dreadful in 'Invasion Of Time' & 'Two Doctors'. Anyway, I digress, 'Time' succeeds on its own modest terms & is fairly well executed. A great first showing for the smashing Ms Sladen too. It just lacks classic moments beyond Linx removing his mask for the first time & later copping an arrow in the Probic vent. Forgetting all serious credibility briefly (not that I lay claim to a great amount) if Irongron had a haircut, a shave & a damn good scrub, he'd be HOT, I shit you not! The 'Lucozer Award' for 'Sexiest Pertwee Guest Star' goes to…Mr David Daker!

'Invasion Of The Dinosaurs'

Co-Pilot – Not since 'Unearthly Child' has such a cracking first episode been let down so badly by what follows it. The rest of the story is actually not too bad I suppose - the intrigue is really good & Yates turning bad is also very dramatic & memorable. Grover tricking Sarah, Sarah waking up on the spaceship, the Whomobile…all great stuff….but so much padding! And of course the Petrodacktyl is something else altogether…Klack Klack!

Lucozer – The diabolical dinosaurs aside, this is not really that far removed from some of the Pertwee classics like 'Green Death' in many ways. I find it quite entertaining despite the usual could-a-done-it-in-four padding. The space ship scenes are fairly well handled & The 'Golden Age' team of Peter Miles & Martin Jarvis are very effective. Part one is wonderfully creepy & this is by no means the unmitigated disaster of repute.

'Death To The Daleks'

Co-Pilot – An often-overlooked gem. The TARDIS being drained of energy, the Doctor being attacked outside in the darkness, Sarah finding blood on the Doctor' candlestick, the voodoo chanting of the Exillons, the Exillon city, the Dalek machine gun being tested on the model TARDIS, the root killing a poor Exillon who can't escape in time, the antibodies that materialise to protect the city…. a series of extraordinarily effective moments – all punctuated by some of the most amazing incidental music the series ever had. 'Death' is a hidden classic. Riveting.

Lucozer – It looks a tad shabby at times, but it has a tense & sinister feel to it. Part one is superb; the lights going out in the TARDIS & then the Doctor & Sarah both wandering alone in the darkness…shivers & tingles! The incidental music probably bows only to the 'Sea Devils' in the whole of the Pertwee era. The sound the city makes & the moment Sarah first sees it are indelibly stamped on my memory. The Daleks losing power renders them vulnerable & allows us to see their true resourcefulness & cunning; perhaps more than ever before. Bellal is sensitively played & quite charming. There is clearly more inspiration & effort in this script than 'Planet Of The Daleks' (which I feel I was a little too hard on by the by). I too will stick my neck out; this is gritty, atmospheric, involving, tightly scripted & full of evocative moments. A few flat guest performances aside, criminally underrated.

'Monster Of Peladon'

Co-Pilot – This tired old mess vies with 'The Web Planet' for the title of worst ever 6 parter. If only the production team had skived two parts off this, Invasion Of The Dinosaurs & Planet Of Spiders – & made a really decent six parter – Jon's final season might be remembered in a better light. Also a shame that after giving the Ice Warrior race a bit of dignity in Curse Of Peladon, Brian Hayles goes & turns them back into boring old thugs again…

Lucozer – Dire indeed; it looks tired & cheap & if you can feel any sympathy for the mineworkers who basically just grunt & chant 'strawberries, strawberries, strawberries' (and fail to do that with any real conviction) then you're seeing something I can't. Jon & Lis are great, but it's sloppy, excruciatingly padded & fatally dull & uninvolving.

'Planet Of Spiders'

Co-Pilot – Unfortunately this is an uninspired end to JP's reign. The spiders look ok at best & Lupton's inability to deliver even the simplest lines with conviction is grating. The less said about the "oh my husband, my husband" fiasco the better. How can something be so wonderful when you are 7 & so bollocks when you are 27? Not the absolute, no holds barred classic it once seemed. There are some good bits though. The stuff with K'anpo & Cho'Je is pretty good – the Buddhist stuff is pretty good too – the idea of the Doctor getting too big for his boots and having to face his deepest fears is a nice prelude to his regeneration.

Lucozer – Despite the padding & proverbial dogs bollocks woeful bits, it has a suitably foreboding tone & I have so many vivid childhood memories. The Metebelis crystal, the professor looking into it, the spider on Sarah's back, the creepy chanting, Omm mane padme hum? Tommy, the voices of the spiders...Nostalgia just gets this past my critical razor wire. Ultimately it wins kudos for thrilling me as a child as it was only ever designed to do.


THE END

So that's it. What a hefty undertaking! Stay tuned for the Co-Pilot's incisive Pertwee era summary coming soon.....