The Co-Pilot & I bunkered down to watch 'Invasion of Time' with some take away Indian last night. We've decided to re-appraise some of the Tom Baker stories we have written off as a load of old tosh & try & come at them with open (but lubricatingly alcohol impaired) minds. We'll probably tackle the blandarama 'Underworld' next, but for now... 'Invasion of Time'
We had to start with episode 2 as episode 1 was on another tape & I didn't notice when I hurriedly grabbed it to take to the Co-Pilot's house. We took up the story with the Doctor accessing the Matrix with the coronet on his head....
Despite evidence of a tired & penniless production at this point, even before the revelation of the risible tin-foil Vardans & some other blushing set design disasters, it is actually quite involving & mercifully played pretty straight. I was immediately struck by the powerful performance from Tom & John Arnatt's beautifully underplayed Borusa. They have some wonderful scenes together; the scene where Borusa realises he has learned from his old student & also when Tom bellows at him with shocking intensity come to mind. Sadly, after episode 2, a cheap looking but seemingly worthy story degenerates rapidly into a panto runaround & not even the brilliance of Baker & Arnatt can save it from ho-hum ignominy.
On a brief tangent; Toms' lines to camera have been criticised, but I think they're quite fab. Also, in terms of them damaging the dramatic credibility, you can almost excuse them as part of the Doctor shielding his thoughts by distracting himself with silliness & talking to himself. I might be drawing too long a bow there though? You could almost say this story is the turning point for Tom in terms of his Hinchcliffe-era versus Williams-era performance styles. He seems as if he is valiantly trying to deliver one final 'Hinchcliffe-era-worthy' performance before finally giving in to the seemingly inevitable panto silliness of the Williams era by the end of the story.
Apart from TB & Arnatt & to a lesser extent Milton Johns & Louise, just about everything & everyone is diabolical. Firstly, just how bad is the design? oh let me count the ways! shabby brick wall Tardis corridors, Tardis keys that look like failed year 9 Tech Studies plastics projects, control boards that look like kindergarten play-dough models, 'Gallifreyan' banana lounges on loan from the local pool, The Tech Studies workshop where they found the 'keys' doubling for the Gallifreyan Defence shield control room!? Just a sample of the many breathtaking design wonder-blunders that Invasion of Time has to offer. Only 'Underworld' arguably looks cheaper & this makes 'Nightmare Of Eden' look like it had millions thrown at it. The nadir of drab povvo Dr Who set design? Just maybe.
& then there's the Vardans; crap as shimmering tin foil, arguably worse in humanoid form with their ridiculous space soldier outfits & backpack rocket boosters. The performance of the lead Vardan is excruciatingly stilted & to make things worse his fellow Vardans just stand there looking bored (& don't even pull that off) & then there's the Sontarans!! Everytime I think I've mentioned the shoddiest thing, something even more crap springs to mind. Derek Deadman's Stor is unforgiveably woeful & his lieutenant? is worse... "They seem...to have sealed the door...with some kind of...locking...device!" One of the worst delivered lines in the history of the show. All their lines are stammered out in constipated emphysemic Cockney drawls. Dreadful. The superb Sontaron mask that looked convincingly like creepy alien flesh in 'Time Warrior' looks here like the ill-fitted papier mache travesty it was. Come back John Friedlander!!! Even the helmet that once looked like a tough polished metal now looks like poorly painted foam with eye holes poked through & the 'Sontaron Emblem' seems to have been coloured on with chalk in about 5 seconds. Uugh!
Yet more shizen!..Andred is wobbly when he's not wooden. The Shaboogans are laughable; they've managed to fashion clothes, find food & shave themselves in the barren wasteland? Despite Louise Jameson's best efforts, Leela teeters on charicature of her earlier self & her falling for Andred was not even hinted at. How late was that decided? During the filming of the last scene? Whoops! I suppose she looked into his eyes when putting the bandage on his wounded arm & fell hard for the dorky Gallifreyan guard. Well it was obvious wasn't it! Louise deserved better for her swansong. What else....Run, run, pad, pad, pad. Pretty wretched. But for Tom & John Arnatt; Laurels darling! laurels & wreaths!
To be fair to Graham Williams (who co-wrote it) Tom does have some great lines & the CONCEPT of the Vardans is a good one. It was also made with his tiny production wallet empty & had to be written, designed & played at the 11th hour due to another story falling through. However, excuses don't make good Doctor Who chums &; like wet gun powder, leave a sticky mess in the canon!
"Get out!! Get out!!!!"...Lucozer
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment