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....
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