The Doctor's Favourite Companions!! (Hartnell/ Troughton Years)...for Peter Haining

Ian Chesterton - A charming & hunky antidote to Hartnell's coughs, cobwebs & mothballs. Steadfast, perceptive, quietly intelligent & stylish in a subdued way. I'd wear his cardigan any day (or Enoch on his wood perhaps?)...9/10

Barbara Wright - A smart & strong willed yet also warm & motherly figure. I would like Ms Wright to mop my brow & tell me it'll be alright after being paralysed from the waist down by a Dalek ray (if Ian wasn't available that is). I hope she & Ian got married & had lots of little Chesterton-Wright's...8.5/10

Susan Foreman - A painful & un-dimensional companion despite the writers best efforts to imbue her with mystique & alien-ness. A dreadful characterisation inhabited by a forced & clunky performance. Tripping (too often literally) at every wretched turn, I'd have no regrets, tears or anxieties if I never came back!...5.5/10

Vicki - An elfin cutie! I like her black & silver collar too. She had a relaxed & charming rapport with Barbara & Ian. Clever, curious, adventurous, woefully underrated & a vast improvement on Susan. For mine, she is the 'new black' where companions are concerned. Maybe that's overstating it a bit, but anyway...8/10

Steven Taylor - Not the poor man's Ian of repute, though initially he may have had to deal with a few scripts intended for Ian. He is passionate & heroic & Mr Purves gave it lots of gusto. His voice is a bit dorky, but his shoulders however..sf00khu...8/10

Sara Kingdom - C'mon. 6/7? episodes in the middle of one story (admittedly a Barrowman sized one). Not a PROPER companion surely?...N/A/10

Katarina - I've only watched Part 2 of 'Dalek's Masterplan' once & that was ages ago. So if I'm to be a serious critic, I'll have to award her the temporary pardon of another not very descriptive...N/A/10

Dodo Chaplet - If she was fired after a miserly five adventures because of, reputedly, 'terrible acting', then Ms Ann Ford's services deserved to have been terminated half way through her bus trip to the audition (sorry, that's probably a bit harsh) Dodo's not great, but she's competent & I think quite likeable. Lumbered with a dorky name, she suffered a dorky exit from the show too; written out half way through a story with no goodbye indeed! Tut-tut Innes...6.5/10

Polly Wright - Quite a looker. Would have set a few pimply fanboys pulses racing & a few dads might have poked their heads in too. Into the LOUNGEROOM that is! Not a great actress, but quite competent & a whole lot of sweetie. I'd go checking out the sailors & go-go dancing with her down at the Inferno...7.5/10

Ben Jackson - Originally cast to be the 'tough' for the ailing Hartnell. Fraze soon moved in, lifted the sporran & quickly showed who was going to be Pat's 'heavy'. Despite little character development & a broad accent that could make any dialouge wince in terrible pain, he did reasonably well. I'd buy him a pint...7.5/10

Jamie McCrimmon - A superb foil for the 2nd Doctor with whom he established a smashing rapport. Charming innocence, cheekiness & undying loyalty. What wondrous qualities. Oh how well he wore that long sleeve black T-shirt in the echoing white void. I'd quite like to be him, failing that, I'd really just like to...give him a whopping ...9/10

Victoria Waterfield - I wish Polly had stuck around & been developed further. She & Jamie would have made a foxy team, the pretty swinger & the simple, sexy Highlander. Alas, we have here the archetypal damsel in distress/ screamer. A thankless role played competently at best; not a good combination. She improved towards the end, but not enough to have me handing her a trophy for 'most improved'...6.5/10

Zoe Herriot - Not much character development here either, typical of the time I guess. At least they let her be a braniac even if not a very liberated one. Most of the time she just huffed & puffed & put her hands on her hips as impotent riposte to Jamie's sexist needlings. Zoe was charmingly played though & you can't argue with the curves in the catsuit or those doe eyes. The Co-Pilot would give her a lusty grrrrowwl if he were here. I'd give her half a growl too. I might just turn (on a spinning the TARDIS console) for zesty Zoe...8/10

That's it for now...stayed tuned for the Pertwee & Tom Baker years...

Love hurts, Lucozer...

Doctor Who 'Sound Of Drums' Review - Lucozer's drum solo (with SPOILERS)

Umm, er, scratch, scratch. Well it was gooood! but, um, was it the whizz bang 'give up & go home' episode we have been hungry to gnaw on like rabid dogs all week? No, it wasn't. Twas lots of ('spirit fingers' gesture) & not perhaps enough ('clawed hand with palm to the sky & a little shake' gesture...quite similar to the 'grabbing someones bollocks' gesture actually, but done at chest level) The Co-Pilot knows what I mean even if no one else does! It was lacking that special something that 'Utopia' had in oodles. The Co-Pilot felt it lacked the finesse & depth of emotion of Utopia & I have to agree. It had moments, but Utopia had us by the heart strings throughout the episode. 'Sound Of Drums' just gave them the occasional, slightly fumbled pluck.

The episode was dominated by Simm, who's Master so far seems to be a comic-book evil 'fool', all smart arse one liners & unresolved adolescent brattiness. It is not the Master I know or was hoping for. The Co-Pilot & I do feel though that if he starts in 'fifth gear', so to speak, there will be nowhere for the character to go. Perhaps he is now at 'Boomtown' level on RTD's 'fabulometer', with the intention of being cranked up to 'Bad Wolf' in a year or two. There may be some Rusty wisdom at work & we may have to live with a slow build if we want to see many more Dr/ Master tete-a-tetes over the next few years that aren't bogged down by plateaud repetition. Let's hope a darker, less comedic characterisation will emerge with time. Simm does well & is marvellously entertaining, but the characteristation (for now at least) is flawed & he is capable of much more than the (albeit expensive smoked) ham we have seen so far.

Capt. Jack felt a little superfluous to proceedings this week, I hope he gets more to do in the lavish finale. Freema's Martha was lovely to watch as per usual & was kept busy. Tennant was pretty strong again & one of the few moments of real emotion in the episode was seeing the resigned hopelessness in the face of the aged Doctor as he looked at the havoc being wrought by the Toclaphane. A rare occasion in the new series where I couldn't imagine an easy escape with a boastful quip & a good sonic screwdriver-ing. The other emotional bits were Martha's reaction to her family being bundled away in the van. The scene at her house was a tidy little action set piece. I also felt the scenes on Gallifrey were well handled. They looked sumptuous & had a suitable grand austerity about them. Lovely to see the Time Lord garb hadn't changed too. Speaking of nice little bits of fanboy foaming continuity; the Masters 'People's of the earth, please attend carefully' speech had me putting a big golden tick in a mental box & sending flowery notes of telepathic congratulation to RTD & his feverishly busy quill.

All the drum schtick (sorry!) had such a sinister, foreboding bent in Jacobi's hands; shame it became a nasty party trick set to the wretched strains of Rogue Traders with Mr Simm. Quite a let down even though the idea was clever. I hope there is greater significance to the drums to be explored next week, beyond the coded mobile phone bleeps.

So, the action was flash, the master's meddling using another species was truly in character (see 'Terror Of The Autons' & 'Survival' etc) & the cliffhanger was pretty tense. So let's have some more emotional resonance generally & a little less 'vengeful spoilt teenager' from the Master & we may yet have a classic on our hands. Instinct says it will be more 'Doomdsday' than 'Parting Of The Ways', which isn't a great thing, but neither is it bad thing. It is merely the lesser of two pretty goods.

Cheers & Chockers, Lucozer.

La Stupenda! (& I don't mean Dame Joan) - A Doctor Who 'Utopia' Review

Wow wee!!! The Co-Pilot & I were (briefly) speechless at the conclusion of this hum dingler of an episode. The Co-Pilot was heard to wonder aloud whether the last 15 minutes or so were the greatest in the shows (44 year) history? I was heard to reply, "shit yeah"! or something equally as considered & incisive.

Well, let's briefly pick at the minor problems before hanging some tinsel & whipping some double cream! The 'savages' looked a bit naff & their back story wasn't really developed enough (perhaps that's still to come). In fact, a sense of excessive rush pervaded the whole episode. It didn't need 2 parts to flesh things out, maybe just another 10-15 minutes would have sufficed. I was also disappointed not to see more from Mr Jacobi, his regeneration came too soon after his fob watch 'rememberance'. His brief moment of Master-ly menace was all too miserly & minute. In that small moment though, he showed the genius that has afforded him legendary status within his craft. The change in his eyes after he opened the watch & 'became' the Master was absolutely superb. He didn't need to wave his arms around maniacally or arch his eyebrows. True class Dezza!

On the 'goodies' side, Capn Dick Barrowman actually managed to convey some genuine depth & rouse some palpable pathos, particularly when he described having to live through nearly 140 chaotic & violent years of earth history, no doubt loving & losing many more times than anyone could be expected to endure & no doubt having to keep moving so as not to rouse suspicion of his unageing countenance. Barrowman is improving all the time & the character has become much more sympathetic in light of the revelations.

Tennant, despite the usual few moments of silly mugging & juvenile boasting, had some of his finest moments as well. The scene where he talks to Jack through the protective glass as Jack pulls out the big cylinders (ooh er) was just about faultless. I loved his delivery of "you're wrong Jack" & the whole scene really. He got everything right; tone of voice, gestures. Lovely stuff. The Doctor seemed genuinely spooked because Jack is beyond even his vast capacity for comprehension & imagination. I found their discussion striking & quite shocking. Can you imagine any other Doctor deliberately abandoning a good friend in that way? In the 'classic' series there would have been some silly sci-fi wank way to fix Jack & the Dr would never have left him. Not here though. There's no easy answer or 'it'll be alright' pats on the back. This is adult stuff. The themes are darker & more complex that we've ever had to deal with in Dr Who. At 30ish we are ready for it. We couldn't have handled that at age 8 probably. We have grown up; & finally, so has Dr Who.

This pivotal Jack/Dr scene was undoubtedly a difficult scene to play 'just right' because of the complexity of the emotions involved. Despite the frantic activity & high stakes involved, David & John play against the pervading mood of extreme tension with a lovely calm stillness, aided by Mr Harper's brill direction. This will be looked upon as a major scene in the canon. Theses will be written, mark my word.

Oh & I thought the blue crustacean lass was just lovely. Sad to see her dealt with so callously by the Master in his first act of unconscionable cruelty.

RTD, I beg forgiveness for ever doubting you. You are every inch of your 6'7" the genius that some say you are. Sure, you have had your best forgotten moments (New Earth, WW3), but you've also been near perfect (Bad Wolf & a couple of others) & you didn't take many wrong steps here. You have a vivid imagination & the masterful talent to wrangle your ideas into a cracking bit of 45 minute Teev.

The fob watch revelation was wondrous & the moments leading up to its opening as all the pennies dropped were utterly breathtaking. Even the wildly inconsistent Murray Gold had my stomach knotting (in a good 'scared shitless but very excited' way).

- A few predictions/ thoughts/ excited rubs (of my hands that is)

If the Master & the Doctor escaped out the 'back door' (so to speak) & into rusty old timepieces, did other Time Lords escape the same way? Is there a giant fob watch in RTD's pants pocket? The Daleks had their Genesis Arc. I'm certain the Time Lords will rise again!

How does the Dr escape the futuristic outpost? Does the Master send back the TARDIS with a programmed flight to trap the Doctor, who would rather be trapped by the Master than lose his beloved 'old girl'.

Is Tennant in it next week? He wasn't in the add. Will we now be having a Dr-lite AND a Doctor-less episode each season? Come on Dave! I can hear Willy & Patty turning in their urns. Absences are certainly not presences where the lead actor is concerned.

Anyway, questions, questions, criticisms, congratulations, questions...

Hurraaahhh!! Lucozer.....

Alien Nurture - Co-Pilot blows kisses to Paul Cornell.

Human Nature

Exciting. Mature. Enters new territory for the show. Human Nature is terrific really. At times it evokes the best memories of eerie 70s Who with creepy faced villains, well-realised period setting and creepy monster set pieces. It is perhaps not the all conquering epic I was hoping for, but heh, expectations schmecpectations...you have to take it for what it is...and all things said and done I'm happy to take this (wherever you want to put it!)

This is a story full of interesting characters. Martha is fabulous - we feel her confusion and pain and Freema manages the range required well. The flashback sequences in the Tardis are fantastic and full of drama. Sorry Lucozer you are wrong on this one, she is terrific.

Tennant is actually very good here as well–. On first viewing I thought he was a bit too samey as John Smith - not enough distinction between the roles, but on a second viewing, I think he gets it just right.

Of the others, Joan is a very sympathetic character, despite her dissing of Martha. The intriguing child from Love Actually is rivetting - one– can't wait to see how his involvement unfolds...is he going to feature in future stories? Are there clues here for the rest of the season? He does look a touch like a wee Sir Derek or a wee Sir Simm...

Flaws: Baines doesn't look right. His face has a weird, unearthly quality - even when he is playing it straight. Before he is possessed, as he stands and watches the green lights decend, there is a strange close up on his face in which he looks totally bizarre. Thankfully when he is possessed he is quite chilling.

Other flaws: The ludicrous green guns, the cricket ball scene - a bit silly really and the cliffhanger was a tad obvious too.

The Jack Straws are OK –though perhaps not as threatening as they might have been. I can see kids freaking out however.

And just what do we make of the trailer: the Doctor married? And with a baby?!!!

A character drama which could go into facinating darker territory, Human Nature is very tasty and edges 42 as the premier story of the season, thus far. Nice work Paul.

St David at the Pearly Gatiss

The Lazarus Experiment

More throwaway fare, The Lazarus Experiment is a comic-book tale, with a comic-book deluded scientist who turns into a comic-book monster-villain. Needless to say, it is fairly inconsequential. Needless to also say, it is enjoyable nonetheless.

The premise of the story couldn't be simpler: the misguided Professor Lazarus has found a way to reverse the aging process...with predictably devestating results. Familiar RTD themes – science perverted by vanity (New Earth), and the messing with biology to find and distill some true essence of what it is to be human (ie Human Nature, Rise of the Cybermen, Dalek, Daleks in Manhattan etc etc) get another run here. Sadly nothing really new is brought to the table in these regards.

This is a visual story and on this count it fairs well. The FX are reasonably good (I dare say impressive...if you like that kind of thing). The remains of the victim's bodies are suitably grisly, and the monster itself is quite well realised, as far as CGI goes. Lazarus's machine and in fact his whole institute are well realised.

Martha has some good stuff to do in this - she seems to be growing into the role after a few early flat spots. The delicious moment where the Doctor produces the sonic screwdriver in the confined space and pops down out of screen, much to Martha's surprise (and our delight), is fabulously playful and a touch risque.

On the other hand, just what exactly is going on with the Jones Family? It seems as if the writing team is unsure of quite how to handle them. Not as annoyingly prominent as the Tylers, but neither are they as interesting...why include them at all if they are not going to be given the chance to develop as characters or provide us with much substance by way of Martha's backstory. Perhaps these developments will emerge, but so far The Jones' are stuck in cliche-ville.

Also on the down side, Mark Gatiss as Lazarus gives a performance that is self aware and over the top. Perhaps the script and style of production demands of him the one-dimensiaonal characterisation he produces...or perhaps he just overplays it. Either way, his discomfort in the role is evident on the screen. Following his showing here and the forgetable Idiot's Lantern, Gatiss's Who stocks seem to have fallen somewhat, after the truly marvellous Unquiet Dead.

One thing this story really has going for it, is its golden, cheesey finale. How we cherish the sights and sounds of the Doctor (with flailing quaff) pumping the pedals with his sneakers and smashing the keys with his fingers...saving the day by playing the church organ at 11! The whole thing builds up to a Tennant-era defining crescendo of kitch! Needless to say, many peaks of hillarity were reached at the Lucozer Lounge!

Lazarus is OK...entertaining but lightweight...though certainly a few notchs higher up the ladder than the lamentable Ablution of the Daleks. A final thought - The Claws of Saxos are coming!

Mother of All Doctor Who Marathons: Part Two

After viewing 'Seeds of Doom' & by now pretty drunk, The Co-Pilot & I fought off tiredness to have a squizz at part one of 'Planet of Spiders'. Much to my pleasure & a smidge of surprise, it was an atmospheric & creepy first episode. The Yates/Sarah car crash & chanting scenes are particularly striking. We decided it was a good point to stop & turn in for the night, remembering what was to come.

The following morning, with fresh eyes & brains, we picked up with part two. Like 'Invasion of The Dinosaurs' earlier in the season, a strong first part is followed by a sharp decline in quality in ensuing episodes. Parts 2 & 3 are largely taken up by an extended chase sequence. It seems as if the Production team got to the end of the season & realised that they hadn't met the stipulations Mr Pertwee had made in his contract that during the season he must get to drive 'abtholutely everything that goeth!' on God's green earth. They had to shoehorn it all into the last story. It's all good fun, but the chase is also what you would find on an online video encyclopaedia under 'padding'. It takes the cake (& the cake tin, the oven & the baker) in that regard.

After parts 2 & 3, the Co-Pilot & I seperated our conjoined Dr Who brains for a few hours to continue on with such trifling matters as washing, eating & connecting with the outside world. We reconvened during the evening to watch 'Blink' with our other chums & they joined us for parts 4-6 after that.

So, some more problems with this story before I find praise for it. There is some ghastly CSO (points for trying to create a truly alien looking world though) & the design is pretty drab across the board. The spiders throne room looks like a showroom for 1970's classroom furniture. POS also contains some of the most wretched performances by guest cast in the history of the show ("my husband, husband!"). The natives are as wooden as they come & rouse no interest or sympathy. The most awkward performance is that of the chap playing Lupton. It is a crucial role as he is the main humanoid villian. He fails to convince; his acting 'style' an amateurish mix of 'Harold from Neigbours'-esque bluster & constipation. He manages to convey the abominable nature of his character, but that's about all. You can see all the cogs grinding & it's painful to watch. His cronies don't fare much better, all forgettable apart from his second in command who manages to muster a little mystery & depth.
Kismet Delgado tries to make up for all the wood by laying it on thick; "Until, until, until...bow down planets, bow down stars'. She could have wound it down about 3 notches & still been memorable.

'POS' is never dull despite all that hamstrings it. It is carried along by the unsettling sense of impending crisis for the Doctor & several iconic moments that are etched upon my mind & gave me such childhood joy. I speak of Tommy looking into the crystal, the spider appearing on Sarah's back & her speaking with the spiders voice, the Tibetan chanting. Marvellous stuff. Jon gives a strong final performance, handling well the the come-uppance he recieves for his thirst for knowledge & curiosity causing death & destruction. He also exhibits the wonderful humility & sensitivity towards other cultures & those he can learn from that I have come to expect & cherish him for. This is an area in which he excels & he is truly 'the man' among his other selves. Tom & Patrick could not do this as effectively & as genuinely as Jon.

The production does seem tired & so does Pertwee at times, but in a way that suits the conclusion of utter exhaustion & the desperate need for renewal. Kevin Lindsay's Cho-Je is a charming mix of frustrating enigma & cheerful wisdom. It is a lovely touch that he is there to comfort Sarah & give the Doctor's regeneration a helpful nudge. Lovely also that the Dr had been missing for 3 weeks since he had left to return the crystal. It created more emotional texture for Sarah & upped the ante for the final scene. POS is deeply flawed as I have explored (sorry about the trite ryhme) but it is really very much 'classic' Dr Who. What I mean is that so much of the show is of this quality & we adored it as kids. How many stories are in the league of Genesis & Pyramids? (2% perhaps?) I'd say that 40% of Dr Who stories are in the ballpark of this story & that was more than enough to make a fan of me & keep me watching.


So onto 'Blink'....

Perhaps not the absolute pants wetter of promise? It was still jolly scary at times. The idea of an alien that can only act when not observed. Marvellous. The subtle changes in the statues as a person passes across our view of them are fantastic. The scene in the basement with the flashing lightbulb is one of the scariest in Dr Who ever. That would make any 'scary bits' mix tape I could muster. Wonderfully claustrophobic. The Doctors plot to have them look at each other is a clever little peice of Doctorly derring-do as well. Great stuff.

I was pleased that the Doctor & Martha are scattered through the episode rather than just in one tack-on scene. It made their presence (or lack of) seem much less like the contractually stipulated (week off?) that it is. This ripping little pot-boiler gives last years Dr-lite 'Love & Monsters' a good seeing to in every respect.

The 'lead' guest cast are pretty solid all around, with the added benefit of a few sexy minxes for the chaps who are into that sort of thing. As for me, I had to make do with the lad from the 20's & his all too brief moment. Oh well, I have had it pretty good so far this season. Unckie Rusty is taking care of my needs in that respect pretty well this year. & Capt. Dick is bringing 12" of sexy back next week!

So lots of clever & scary & very little groan & grimace. Let's hope this is a mere tasty apertif for the mouth watering banquet ahead.


(Exhasuted & waxed out) Lucozer....

Mother Of All Doctor Who Marathons: Part One

The Co-Pilot & I have just this weekend subjected our wits & senses to a mammoth Doctor Who marathon during which we imbibed 16 episodes of Dr Who (including a fresh out of the oven 'Blink') over a 30 hour period. About 9 of those 30 hours were taken up by exhausted sleep, so we didn't do much else. It was fab!

We began our epic eyeball workout on Saturday afternoon with 'Greatest Show In The Galaxy'. I was expecting the usual latter-day JNT era garish, panto-esque trimmings for sure, but I was also expecting a redeeming dark & unsettling undercurrent & some moments of genuine terror & suspense that would lift the flawed production to (dare I say) late-era-minor classic status (lots of qualifications I know). Sadly, I was disappointed in every diabolical department. Performance wise, McCoy is merely competent (with the requisite grimacing teeth & rolling 'r's in plentiful supply). He falls short of his later impressive performances in the likes of 'Ghostlight' & 'COF'. Sophie Aldred really has very little to do & like McCoy is a fair way off her season 26 peak.

The guest cast are uniformly poor (varying from wooden dullness; 'Flowerchild', to excruciatingly OTT charicature; 'Nord', 'The Captain'....) with one glowing exception; The Chief Clown. He scales grand heights of sinister menace when considering the lack of effort & credibility around him. I love his breathy, wide- eyed, halting delivery of his lives. He obviously thought about the character for more than two seconds. His smily face/ hand gesture is absolutely magnificent. This is the stuff of Dr Who! Vaguely disturbing & perfect for playground imitation everywhere. If the Co-Pilot & I were still in year 3 at school (maybe even year 11 if no one was around!), we would be mimicking that gesture at recess tomorrow without a doubt. He nailed it & no one else in the sorry cast did.

The concept is quite a strong one; the Gods of Ragnarock on an unceasing hunt for thrills through the aeons, destroying performers who fail to quench their thirst for entertainment or can't keep them interested. Also, the idea of the story being a parable for the whole show itself is potentially interesting & quite noble, but the design, direction & script are all blushingly sub par & render those promising ideas sadly impotent. Clunky camerawork, wafer-thin characters, laughable dialougue ('your kites, your beautiful kites' delivered with all the panache of a plank of 2 b 4) & as for the sass-talking stereotype that is the Ringmaster throwing 'baby's' around willy nilly.... All these awful elements add up to a wretched mess. The 'Happiness Patrol' is often held up as the 'finest' example of all that was wrong with late 80's Dr Who, but this is the grand contender for that ignoble title for me (from season 25 at least). The best that can be said about this rubbish is that it is still a good deal better than most of season 24. This would get Dr Who a life sentence in a court of Televisual law, whereas most of season 24 would see the show on death row.

Some good incidental music aside (which can often lift drivel into atmospheric watchability) this just doesn't work. I really thought this was going to be much better & I didn't really expect that much from it, which is often my downfall when trawling the 'Who archives'. I knew I'd have to sift through the shit to find the nuggets (gold ones that is). One nugget (the Chief Clown) & a load of...

After the brief detour of a Traveling Wilburys documentary & a marvellous dinner at a nearby Cafe, we then recommenced the marathon with the esteemed 'Seeds of Doom'.

We began with episode 2 as we had watched & thoroughly enjoyed part one on Youtube a week ago. I expected a lot from this grand & ambitious epic & for the most part I wasn't disappointed. Parts 1 & 2 particularly, at the Antarctic base, are a master class in 'how to do' Dr Who. Claustrophobic camera work, moody visuals, strong nuanced performances, inspired characterisation & taut direction all topped off by one of the greatest incidental scores in the history of the show (by the wildly talented & shamefully underused Geoffrey Burgon). The strings & woodwind score is absolutely bone chilling & used to brilliant effect.

Tom Baker gives one of his greatest performances; well past the finding-his-feet nerviness of his very early episodes & before the 'bored & restless God' schtick of his mid to late era, he is sublimely alien. No one can touch him. I would even go so far as to say this is as good as our beloved Doctor gets (nudging out Troughton by the thinnest of whiskers). Tom can turn on a needle head. From disarmingly flippant to brutally intense in half a blink. Even after 25 years of innumerable viewings of his work, his deftly delivered one liners & masterful body language had the Co-Pilot & I in complete awe. From hysterical laughter to slack jawed disbelief, we were but putty to a true master. The fact that even his throwaway quips & boggle-eyed grinning head tilts made us leave the comfort of warm rugs on a cold night to rewind the tape on more than one occasion speaks volumes. The man is a genius & this was him near his peak.

There is really not much to criticise. Tony Beckley's 'Chase' is a textured & fascinating adversary. He only has a couple of slight stumbles. His second or third take on 'Why am I surrounded by fools/ imbeciles/ idiots' seems flat & unispired, as if he's thinking 'oh dear, surely they could have found a slight variation on this daft line' or 'I already realised I'm among dullards half an hour ago, why am I so shocked to realise it again?'. I love the be-gloved symphonic wankery with his organ knobs. Wonderful disturbed villianery!

Of course the large Krynoid looks crap, but the sound it makes is wonderful & everyone involved plays with such passion & energy that it really is easily overlooked. Past viewings have lessened the deflation of first seeing it's silly CGI head wobbling above the mansion. Part 6 is where 'Seeds' falls a little flat & this perhaps partly explains why (particularly after the peerless first two parts) this doesn't quite rival 'Genesis' in fan esteem. The 'blow it up' finale & UNIT tack on is lazy & painfully predictable. It is also padded & the tension does drop well before the end of the episode. 'Seeds' had scaled such heights though & maintained them through the lions share of the story, that I can forgive it's coughing stumble down the home straight. Mr Camfield excels for the most part as we'd expect, but seems to realise a UNIT shoot 'em up finale is bound to be lame no matter how you play it. Perhaps he handed over the directorial joystick to a green but ambitious young Graeme Harper for the last half an episode & took off down the pub with Beckley!

Some of the grizzliest & most potent cliffhangers of all-time (Sarah clamped next to the opening pod, the blood & bone grinder set piece) are the icing a-top inspiration & class on all levels of the production. This a rare animal; utterly terrifying in childhood, pleasingly atmospheric, credible & entertaining in adulthood & also, a story to proudly show the 'non-believers' in our lives. A story that might just garner some sympathy & understanding for our strange obsession.


To be continued...

Next episode..I will wax on 'Planet Of Spiders' and 'Blink'...

Family of Blood - Lucozer's review

Hi folks,

Having watched 'Human Nature' again prior to 'Family Of Blood', I can see that my review last week was too easy on the former. I still agree with my criticisms, but to frivolously praise all else as masterful, gripping &/or fabulous was overstating the greatness of what was certainly a strong & involving, but far from perfect opening part. On paper, this two parter should have been the 'critical' highpoint of the season (with the 'whizz bang melodramatic' high point in the season concluding 2 parter going by past form). However, It was the not the 'superlative rousing', hands down critical high point of promise.

In all honesty, despite my best efforts to find it so, HN/FOB was neither as gripping & scary as '42' nor quite as emotionally involving & charming as 'Gridlock' for example. I could not say it was streets ahead of the better episodes of this season in any department. I am still hopeful to find the level of storytelling & tele-visual mastery that I expected from this eagerly anticipated opus later in the season, but as the weeks wind down, it seems less & less likely. I hope this was not the height of ambition & craftsmanship for the season.

I also recant my criticism of Freema last week (The Co-Pilot could be forgiven for calling me an 'intellectual muscle mary', or another suitable (loving) barb to that effect, on this point). I was wrong. I can't really pinpoint what I thought was lacking in her performance in 'Human Nature'. She is lovely to watch, disarmingly open & genuine. What a gem!

The Co-Pilot thought Tennant's performance was palpably lacking at some critical moments. I am a little less critical of him, but I see what he's getting at. This was his chance to give an era-high 'incarnation defining' performance (ala Tom Baker in 'Talons' or perhaps Troughton in 'EOTD') If the answer to whether he nailed it or not in that sense has to be 'yes' or 'no', the answer is, sadly, no. Come on Dave, I know you can! I thought he might be heading towards that auspicious crown during Human Nature, during which I found his performance to be charming & full of life & careful nuance, but he got the wobbles a bit in Family Of Blood.

However, that said, if Tom Baker & Troughton were forced by their scripts to keep making awkwardly adolescent offers to 'go steady' through time & space with them, to bits of crumpet they'd just met, I wonder if their performances would have been the flawlessly great ones we have to cherish in those previously mentioned stories. It has happened too often & it is frankly absurd that a character we have watched travel for aeons as a happily detached alien, has now offered his charms, in a wildly out of character manner, to at least 3 or 4 women he has just met in the space of about 20 episodes. Ludicrous. Ms Tate's excerable trainwreck being the most ludicrous example.

Even though 'Family of Blood' was a clear step down from a fairly strong set up in 'Human Nature', as a whole it was still quite polished & certainly never an embarrasment to the Dr Who canon. The young chap playing Tim Latimer was fantastic as was the young lad who played Baines. He gave a marvellously alien & disturbed performance which left the rest of his rag tag family in the dust. Although, as the Co-Pilot noted, he seemed disconcertingly alien even before he was possessed which lessened the impact. I liked the last scene between Latimer & the Doctor. It was quite charming & had a magic about it that helped slightly to alieviate my disappointment with the minutes prior.

Anyway, I've gone on too long this week after my miserly output last week.

Love & other bruises, The Lucozer.