There are so many reviews around for 'Time Crash', many of which cover the same ground & many of which have already covered in blushing detail the ground I would cover, so I think it would be painfully redundant at this point to add another generic review to the slew!
What I have decided to do instead is crunch some numbers relating to Time Crash & Peter Davison in particular, hopefully in a fabulously insightful & didactic manner that will contextualise Davison's return to Dr Who & his performance in Time Crash in a fresh & enlightening fashion...Then I will loudly sigh, smoke a cigarette, roll over & go to sleep with my stuffed yeti...
Anyway,
Peter Davison returns to the role 23 years after his last regular appearance in 1984's 'Caves of Androzani' (no I'm not counting his 90 seconds of inane running around in that dog's dinner 'Dimensions In Time'). I also don't count the 'Big Finish' stuff; not because it's not great or because I contest its canon status (actually I do - but another time!), but because the voice is only half the performance, maybe even less. Davison slots his voice AND his body into the canon, as the 5th Doctor, for the first time in 23 years.
Why am I harping on about 23 years??. Well, it is by far the longest gap between drinks from the furry gallifreyan cup??!! (both as it were AND so to speak) for a returning Doctor. Believe it or not, in the case of Patrick Troughton, the previous record span holder, there was (only) a span of 16 years!! between his last regular appearance in 'War Games' (1969) & his third & final return in 'Two Doctors' (1985). Seven years short of Peter's mammoth 23 years & broken up twice. Pat's gap was divided thus, 3 years forward to the 'Three Doctors', ten hence to 'Five Doctors' & finally a brief 2 years to the 'Two Doctors'. In terms of 'keeping his eye in' as the Doctor, Pat's longest break without dusting off his giddy aunt & stroking his recorder was just 10 years.
The only other returning Doctors, Hartnell & Pertwee, had relatively brief spans of 7 years ('Tenth Planet' in '66 to Three Doctors in '73) & 9 years ('Planet of Spiders' in '74 to 'Five Doctors' in '83) respectively. This seems really quite bizarre to me. At the time of Pertwee's return in 'Five Doctors', it must have seemed aeons since he was the incumbent (let alone Troughton!), years stretching back through the two seasons of Davison & the entire Tom Baker era. 9 years is but a blink compared to Peter Davison's 23 year span. Whoops, I forgot the return of Sylv (a mere 7 years: Survival '89 to 'The Movie''96)...but who cares? The movie was shizen & after watching 'Silver Nemesis' last night, I don't want to think about Sly McCoy at the mo anyway.
Where is all this going? Well I guess I'm saying that for Pat & Jon to have been wonderful & effortlessly slip back into the role was not really such a feat. They were both superb of course, but it really shouldn't have been any other way. They had much shorter times away from the role & were always 'older' Doctors, so the change was never going to be too jarring. Davison however, who through his era embodied youth, vitality & often naive innocence in a refreshing slant on the character, is stuck with the problem of trying to authentically capture the same youthful spirit, 23 years on, lumbered with a (albiet well kept) 56 year old body. The tough question is how to pitch it? By far the youngest Doctor cast in the role in the original series (29 years in 1981), he is now one year older than William Hartnell was when Hartnell, the all-time oldest doctor at the time of his casting, was originally cast in the role. Considering all this, Peter does pretty well with the help of a mostly pretty tidy bit of fanboy fluff from S Moffatt.
The 'time differential' explanation was deftly tossed off so that it didn't seem too pointedly the fix up the 'older doctors' solution that it was. Perhaps with the 'time differential-ed' older body & older voice came the (somewhat out of character) grumpiness as well. I feel Davison's vibe was more 'impotent frustration' than 'stern grumpiness' when under stress during his tenure. However, considering his newly flagging middle aged hormones & 'greying' cells, Maybe the 5th Dr couldn't help being crabby & cantakerous when thrown into a desperate paradox situation with Tennant's charming (in this instance at least) boggle-eyed geek blabbing at him. It was also good to see the character stretched & developed just a little, rather than having it stunted by continuity fascism & the variable & limited writing of the 5th Doctor's own era. Such things should never be allowed to get in the way of good TV & more importantly, good Dr Who. Apart from having to say 'TARDIS' about five times too many for a 7 minute vignette & his first few technobabble lines seeming a bit forced through his smokers husk (not sure if he does?), Peter settles nicely & I smiled broadly watching Dr's 5 & 10 huddle over the console together in feverish Doctorisheness!
If Davison's 5th Doctor was a few yards of scarf & a few teeth & curls short of iconic prior to Time Crash (pretty much only Tom is truly iconic in the role, with the 'twee a distant second) he is now, at least in Britain. The biggest small-screen star in Britain, David Tennant (although I'd listen to you if you argued Davison himself is, or perhaps 'best loved' is more his mantle?), deliciously fetishised the 5th Doctor before the eyes of a mammoth 11 million viewers. He reminded us of Davison's very own 'teeth & curls'; "the hat, the coat, the crickety-cricket stuff, the stick of celery". This was done very pointedly. Moffat (ably helped by Mr Harper) has now lovingly established the 5th Doctor, his own favourite, as the charming british flavoured small screen sci-fi icon that he wasn't quite. Probably I didn't need quite so many qualifiers, 'Iconic' is perhaps enough on its own now when it comes to Davison's 5th. All done in just over 7 minutes.
Well done loves. The Doctor AND the TARDIS!! Congratulations & well played!!
Showing posts with label TOM BAKER. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TOM BAKER. Show all posts
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
'Sontaron Shit-Sandwich' or 'A Vardan Pardon'? 'Invasion of Time' gets the once over.
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
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
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Lucozers' DVD release wish-list
Doctor Who stories that should be released on DVD asap (with asterisks to indicate pressing urgency of release!!)
** Decent story. A worthy addition to the DVD shelf
*** Good story. slightly surprising it has been passed over thus far
**** Get it the #%&* out on DVD already!!! &*^%# to the wall classic!
In chronological order...
TIME MEDDLER **
A snappy little 4 parter & it would be the first full Steven/ Vicki release
WAR MACHINES **
A modest charmer & the only complete Ben/ Polly adventure
ICE WARRIORS ***
With animation (or preferably CGI) for the missing episodes 2 & 3
WAR GAMES ****
The extra star for the lavish packaging & bonus feature possibilities. The story perhaps only worthy of 3 & a half
THE SILURIANS ****
!!!!! My most anticipated release at the moment
TERROR OF THE AUTONS/ MIND OF EVIL/ CLAWS OF AXOS/ COLONY IN SPACE/ DAEMONS ****
A masterful Master box set. He appeared in every story in Season 8 so it makes perfect sense. A fitting tribute to wonderful Rog. This is really the only way I would buy Axos & the best way to flog off the dreary Colony
FRONTIER IN SPACE/ PLANET OF THE DALEKS ***
As the double header it really is, this 12 part space opera would be a superb anorak filler
DEATH TO THE DALEKS ***
Can't wait to hear the striking incidental music restored!
TERROR OF THE ZYGONS/ ANDROID INVASION ****
Linked by being the final two appearances for both Benton & Harry & also the final UNIT story proper (not including the brief scenes in 'Seeds Of Doom'). Zygons contains some of the finest incidental music in the shows history, as does the wonderful...
SEEDS OF DOOM ****
All hail Geoffrey Burgen! Best TB story not out on DVD as yet
FULL CIRCLE/ STATE OF DECAY/ WARRIOR'S GATE ***
A superb set that would be more than the sum of it's parts. The only way I would buy Full Circle
MAWDRYN UNDEAD/ TERMINUS/ ENLIGHTENMENT ***
A fab triple set of the Guardian trilogy. Enlightenment is the only individual story I'd rush out for, but together they are almost a match for the E-Space trilogy
PLANET OF FIRE **
A modest story. A polished production if a little bland. Certainly one of Ainley's best showings
TRIAL OF A TIME LORD ***
The bonus features & packaging will lift this one above its station
HAPPINESS PATROL ***
This should be considered the 'Rocky Horror' of the Who canon. People should have dress up parties to watch it & lay on hors d'oerves & champers!
Cheers, The 'Cozer
Oh..and as for the Animated/CGI Hartnell/ Troughton missing story reconstructions. GET MOVING BEEB!!!!PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!
Power, Evil, Masterplan, Fury, Web...the palette waters!!!
** Decent story. A worthy addition to the DVD shelf
*** Good story. slightly surprising it has been passed over thus far
**** Get it the #%&* out on DVD already!!! &*^%# to the wall classic!
In chronological order...
TIME MEDDLER **
A snappy little 4 parter & it would be the first full Steven/ Vicki release
WAR MACHINES **
A modest charmer & the only complete Ben/ Polly adventure
ICE WARRIORS ***
With animation (or preferably CGI) for the missing episodes 2 & 3
WAR GAMES ****
The extra star for the lavish packaging & bonus feature possibilities. The story perhaps only worthy of 3 & a half
THE SILURIANS ****
!!!!! My most anticipated release at the moment
TERROR OF THE AUTONS/ MIND OF EVIL/ CLAWS OF AXOS/ COLONY IN SPACE/ DAEMONS ****
A masterful Master box set. He appeared in every story in Season 8 so it makes perfect sense. A fitting tribute to wonderful Rog. This is really the only way I would buy Axos & the best way to flog off the dreary Colony
FRONTIER IN SPACE/ PLANET OF THE DALEKS ***
As the double header it really is, this 12 part space opera would be a superb anorak filler
DEATH TO THE DALEKS ***
Can't wait to hear the striking incidental music restored!
TERROR OF THE ZYGONS/ ANDROID INVASION ****
Linked by being the final two appearances for both Benton & Harry & also the final UNIT story proper (not including the brief scenes in 'Seeds Of Doom'). Zygons contains some of the finest incidental music in the shows history, as does the wonderful...
SEEDS OF DOOM ****
All hail Geoffrey Burgen! Best TB story not out on DVD as yet
FULL CIRCLE/ STATE OF DECAY/ WARRIOR'S GATE ***
A superb set that would be more than the sum of it's parts. The only way I would buy Full Circle
MAWDRYN UNDEAD/ TERMINUS/ ENLIGHTENMENT ***
A fab triple set of the Guardian trilogy. Enlightenment is the only individual story I'd rush out for, but together they are almost a match for the E-Space trilogy
PLANET OF FIRE **
A modest story. A polished production if a little bland. Certainly one of Ainley's best showings
TRIAL OF A TIME LORD ***
The bonus features & packaging will lift this one above its station
HAPPINESS PATROL ***
This should be considered the 'Rocky Horror' of the Who canon. People should have dress up parties to watch it & lay on hors d'oerves & champers!
Cheers, The 'Cozer
Oh..and as for the Animated/CGI Hartnell/ Troughton missing story reconstructions. GET MOVING BEEB!!!!PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!
Power, Evil, Masterplan, Fury, Web...the palette waters!!!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
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'...
Thursday, April 5, 2007
The Lucozer's 'Top 5 Most Criminally Underrated Doctor Who Stories'
Aaahh....the quest to find the 5 most criminally underrated stories in the whole of Doctor Who....
I hope to bring some much needed & long awaited attention to some neglected gems that have fallen on hard times. These gems, through no fault of their own, have found themselves trolling the dives & seedy bars at the lower end of critical opinion & 'favourite story' lists.
On occasion they have found themselves in the unsavory company of the likes of 'Delta & The Bannermen', 'Nightmare Of Eden' & 'The Twin Dilemma' (shudder) having to resort to lewd acts of Xoanan knows what to get by in the vicious, unforgiving world of Doctor Who fandom. I was propositioned by 'Death To The Daleks' in a dark alley just last night! Death has fallen on the hardest of times. Times that will change if I have owt to do about it!! "Death" said I, "you need not offer me that, I would be glad to take you home for a viewing!"......
First up (chronologically), from 1968, another hungry undernourished slice of 'Death'!
1) 'Seeds of Death' (Troughton/1968)
Granted it's no 'Evil' or 'Web', but what it is is jolly good. There is a grand sense of adventure in this eminently enjoyable tale. The rocket trip to the moon & T-Mat stuff are a little kitsch, but still fabulous fun. The character of Fewsham I find most intriguing; his struggles with his guilt & his conscience are beautifully written & quite gripping to watch.
The Ice Warriors are genuinely frightening in the claustrophobic confines & shadowy corridors of the Moonbase & the Weather Control Station. The shots of the Ice Warrior stalking through the foam covered park are creepy & superb. I would argue this is their finest showing from four starts. Alan Bennion as Slaar is particularly wonderful, bringing depth & great menace to a character stuck in a stiff plastic suit, daft helmet & silly cape & having to rely mostly on his sinister voice & heavily made up lips to do it.
Seeds never drags as badly as some of its six part counterparts do (though it is often criticised for padding) & it has some truly great moments of suspense & dialouge. The line "your leader will be angry if you kill me, I'm a genius" is one of the most oft quoted in the history of the show & deservedly so. It is a marvellous synthesis of the 2nd Doctor's manner & wits into one small moment.
The 'T-Mat nerve centre' prop & daft costumes are the obvious cons, but they are just cosmetic. The Pat, Frazer & Wendy team are in smashing form & Seeds is a big cut above the underachieving drabness of the 'The Dominators' & 'The Krotons' from early in the uneven 6th season. Dudley Simpson's frantic, percussive incidental music is stunning; it adds hugely to the tension & drama. Perhaps the finest of the Troughton era bar the marvellous score for 'The Invasion'.
Seeds is a great pulpy romp, certainly lacking the depth & finesse of a true classic, but a super example of 'monster invasion/ base under seige' Doctor Who. Never self importantly absorbed in excessive exploration of characters or sci-fi/fantasy wank, it purely sets out to be entertaining action/ adventure. The 'wrong signal' ploy to see of the Ice Warriors is a simple & charming conclusion. Nice one Seeds!
2) 'Death To The Daleks' (Pertwee/1974)
Sure it looks a tad shabby at times, but it has a palpably tense & sinister feel to it. That's what I'm after in Doctor Who dammit! Part one is superb; the promise of sunny, effervescent 'Florana', the TARDIS being drained of all power & then the Doctor & Sarah both wandering alone in the darkness…shivers & tingles! The unnerving stillness & sense of impending trouble in these scenes & in the moments before the Exxilon arrow attack is fantastic.
The startling incidental music in 'Death' probably bows only to the 'Sea Devils' in the whole of the Pertwee era. It is marvellously evocative & has been unfairly maligned by some over the years. The sound the city beacon makes & the moment Sarah first sees it are indelibly stamped on my memory. The Doctor's 'wonders of the world' line as the city crumbles at the end is a lovely touch.
The Daleks losing power renders them vulnerable & allows us to see their true resourcefulness & cunning; perhaps more than ever before. The sweet Bellal is sensitively played & quite charming. He has a touching rapport with Jon as they explore the city. Dr #3 is marvellous when he meets new beings such as Bellal for the first time. He shows great sensitivity & respect. His first meeting with a Silurian in the cottage in 'The Silurians' is another fine example.
There is clearly more inspiration & effort in this script than 'Planet Of The Daleks'. 'Death' is gritty, atmospheric, involving, tightly plotted & full of wonderful moments. A few flat guest performances & lack of overall production polish aside, criminally underrated.
3) 'Leisure Hive' (T. Baker/ 1980)
'Leisure Hive' marks the brilliant beginning of the greatest re-invigoration of Doctor Who in the show's history. Only 'Spearhead' comes close, though it's 'new stylings' were foreshadowed by 'Web Of Fear' & 'Invasion'. The new series you might say? Well that only really hit its stride with 'Unquiet Dead'. This amazing about-turn in Leisure was surely a huge shock on the heels of Season 17 dross like 'Nightmare' & 'Nimon'. It was an immediate & self assured creative success (if not a success in the ratings up against 'The A-Team').
The new title credits & Peter Howell's new version of the theme tune are striking. One can only imagine how exciting it must have been for long term fans to have seen them for the first time back in 1980. After 6 seasons with unchanging credits, it must have been a wonderful surprise, up there with the unheralded revelation of the Cybermen after a 7 year absence in 'Earthshock'. These credits still excite nearly 30 years on.
All of a sudden the show seems to have become 'adult' again. It has an invigorating urgency about it & has regained the earnestness it had so palpably lacked through the Williams reign. The new production team seems to be hungry & eager. There is innovation & ambition evident in every department. JNT is widely criticised for the way the show developed (some say degraded) during his reign, but at first & throughout the whole of season 18 he got it mostly right.
The design & production polish throughout season S18 are so far superior to S17 it is mind boggling. The scripts generally were several cuts above as well. JNT also pulled off the seemingly impossible & pulled the by now almost unquestioned & dictatorial TB back from the lazy self parody & excessive humour that had contributing hugely to eroding all the credibility the show had. In 'NOE' & 'CFTP' I would go so far as to say it had none.
JNT's team gave the Doctor a sumptuous new look & his vision of the Doctor is that of a quite grave & world weary man with a sparing dry & melancholy humour about him. This major shift in the Doctor's mood & manner gave us back a true sense of his long history; hundreds of years of experiences, littered with more than his share of death & loss. You wouldn't have known it from the scene chewing silliness that prevailed from '77 to '79. Good riddance to the casual flippance that had no relation to the Doctor we knew! Tom is a brilliant & charismatic actor & he was using his full range once again.
Leisure has many evocative & memorable moments. The Doctor ageing in the Tachyon machine...all the Pangols marching out...The story itself is merely good, but the whole of 'Leisure' is executed with such style, swagger & joy that I can forgive its minor shortcomings & silly plot holes. The guest cast are generally strong too; no more of the season 17 cardboard extras! The incidental music is absolutely gobsmacking; at turns marvellously rousing & at others tender & almost tear inducing.
Lalla & Tom are absolutely wonderful together. With the lead duo taking things seriously again, the sense of drama & our interest return with full force. 'Leisure' is a bold & wonderful first step by the JNT regime.
4) 'Mysterious Planet' (C. Baker/ 1986)
This story will always have a special place in my heart. For a long time it was the only Dr Who story that I had on tape (I'm mystified as to why that happened?) & for an even longer time it was the only Colin Baker story I had in my collection full stop. Colin's stories were not repeated in Australia until 1993 & even then were on at 4.30am!! Despite the nostalgia factor, I actually would pick this story if I could only have one Colin Baker story in my collection now. I honestly believe it is the best Colin Baker story of all. Better even than the patchy & flawed 'Revelation OTD' (more on that another time) It is also the only story that my sister, a devout non-fan, actually asked if we could watch one day! Go figure!
There are flaws certainly, the Humker & Tandrell silliness, the mystery of the planet being all but solved in the first 10 minutes, some sketchy design choices; but on the whole it looks polished & is pulled of with a fair amount of style. The story barrels along at a cracking pace & never forgets it primary duty to entertain. Robert Holmes script gives Colin some lovely passages that he delivers well; "planets come and go, stars perish, matter disperses, coalesces & reforms into other patterns, other worlds, nothing can be eternal" etc. There are also lovely touches such as the sacred texts. I thought the 'UK habitats of the Canadian Goose' scene blushingly daft as a child, but now I think it is brilliantly quirky & inspired.
The shifty double act of Glitz & Dibber are a treat. I adore their casually sinister banter as they peice together their guns in the first episode. It is a shame though that Glitz is rapidly softened from unconscionable thug at the start of the story to (almost) loveable rogue by the end (& in subsequent appearances). The season 23 'more comedy' mandate seems to have come into effect HALF WAY THROUGH the first story. This change is most evident in the court scenes, initially unsettling & credible, they rapidly degenerate into panto-ish silliness & repetition despite the valiant efforts of Jayston & Bellingham.
I can't state strongly enough how wonderful the first few minutes are, in fact most of the first episode. It is genuinely mysterious & engrossing & there is very little to fault. The stupendous first shot of the spacecraft & the time scoop, the TARDIS being dragged down the beam, the Doctor's first chilly exchanges with Michael Jayston's exquisitely malevolent Valeyard in the half light. All wonderful stuff that could stand proudly against any era of the show. I couldn't say that about many other episodes from season 22 or 23 sadly.
A crucial factor in the ultimate success of the story is that Colin is the most 'Doctor-ish' we have seen him to this point & more sympathetic & likeable than ever before. He is genuinely concerned for others, endearingly curious & generally dry humoured rather than the often cringeworthy buffon of prior stories. Colin gives the most relaxed, assured & natural performance of his reign. The same can be said for Nicola. Even when Col does slip back into mugging arrogance; "this is my best side", (delivered to Drathro's security camera), it is mercifully brief.
The rapport between Colin & Nicola has vastly improved from season 22. Their scenes together wandering through the forest & exploring Marble Arch are their finest bar none. There is genuine affection & SUBTELTY in the performances! It is such a shame that just as they were finally building a mature & believable rapport, they struck the craggy 'shitberg' that was 'Mindwarp' & that was that. In this though, albeit briefly, most of the the childish bickering & over acting is gone.
Gone too are the indescribably bad stabs of synthesizer incidental music that had made their wretched tiffs seem even more forced & painful ('Timelash' & 'Attack Of The Cybermen' being just two of many examples). In fact, the incidental music is the finest of Colin's era. It is generally tasteful & suitably dramatic at the right points. It responds appropriately to the mood of each scene. Genius! You'd think it was rocket science looking at its forebears.
Of the other support cast, Joan Sims gives the most uneven performance; wavering from tender & subtle in her scenes with Peri in the hut to awkward & OTT in her 'rousing' battle speeches. Probably she was miscast. It was almost another 'Beryl Reid', but she actually copes pretty well in comparison. Tom Chadbon as Merdeen is very laid back (some might say too laid back), but I would say his performance is dry & laconic rather than wooden. Merdeen lives a shitty existence in underground tunnels ruled by an megalomaniac robot, so I think his performance is quite apt. The naive, dorky Balazar is also quite well realised.
'Mysterious Planet' is a qualified success & began 'Trial Of A Timelord' with great promise that was all too quickly squandered. As Robert Holmes last contribution to the show, it is a solid if not spectacular farewell, with Colin & Nicola at their all too brief peak.
5) 'Happiness Patrol' (McCoy/ 1988)
Why does this divide people so? I am happy (& glad!) to see some champions for it amongst the Gallifrey One reviews, but a hell of a lot of people still seem to think it is embarrassing rubbish & the finest (or worst?) example of the daft camp & pantoesque leanings of the late JNT era.
The best way I can tackle reviewing this story is to first mention the way I saw it on first viewing as an 11 year old kid. I thought it was horribly gaudy, woefully overacted, painfully unbelievable & much too bizarre. The way I saw it then is pretty much the way a lot of people still see it now. It has taken several further viewings, several years more experience & an understanding of Graeme Curry's intent to change my perspective. I now feel it is an unfairly maligned (by some) & widely misunderstood minor classic. I should also point out that I am no push-over for the mid to late McCoy era. I feel that amongst its contemporaries, 'Rememberance' is very good, but overrated (thanks Keff!) & 'Silver Nemesis'is absolute rubbish.
There is much to applaud in 'Happiness'. There are lovely (gulp) 'Kafka-esque' touches such as the 'Waiting Zone'; where pointless, head spinning beauracracy prevails ("You're not under arrest but... step over that line & you're a dead man") & also in the impersonal & dehumanising doling out of letters to denote rank & worth (the icy, iron fisted Helen 'A' & the ambitious 'heavy' Priscilla 'P' for example). The scene where Silas P attempts to grovel his way up the alphabet is fantastic, as is Helen A's swift, clipped retort "Not quite, the very top, I hope, Silas P?". In this society, your worth ultimately comes down to your letter. Climbs up & slides down the alphabet ladder are desperately desired & fearfully dreaded respectively. As an 11 year old I had no idea what beauracracy was let alone being able to tell when someone was satirising it. I just thought it was all far too odd. Several years on though, I feel the 'clever social satire' credentials are in good order & I enjoy the story very much on this level.
Although the McCoy/ Aldred team is on fine form & has some lovely moments (could have done without McCoy's singing & "laughing" victory though!) I find the Doctor & Ace to be the least fascinating players in this most curious grotesque. They are sidelined somewhat by a wealth of intriguing, well written & finely textured support characters. The troubled, melancholy Susan Q, the droll, theatrical & shifty Gilbert M, the seemingly dotty & submissive but ultimately duplicitous Joseph C. Were he & Gilbert M on together for years? They seem to have had a lot of practice with their little barbs at one another. All three characters are beautifully played with nuance & delicacy. The distinction between the artifice that each character is forced to maintain under Helen A's regime & their true inner selves is intriguing to watch played out in these & many other characters.
What I read as over-acting as a young whippersnapper, I now see as characters either valiantly struggling with the artifice & fearing death for failure in maintaining it (Susan Q) or on the other hand, so practiced at it that they have forgotten how sickeningly false they appear (Priscilla P, Daisy K). The same goes for the design. Yes, clearly it is hideously colourful & garish. Surely that's the point though? The artifice of the design is ugly because all true emotion has been sucked out & it is presenting what is really fake, uninspired happiness.
The Kandyman is a joy to watch "It's all in there somewhere; caramel, sherbet, toffee, marsipan". Never did a list of sugary sweeties sound so terrifying. He is genuinely intimidating & his voice drips with malice. His demented nursery rhyme 'theme' adds to his impact too. All the "Fondant Supreme" stuff is marvellous. The Co-Pilot & I are big suckers for it. It makes us giggly school girls. I also really like the overhead pipe design in the Kandy Kitchen.
Sheila Hancock is just superb. I hang on every poisonous word that falls from her pursed lips. She can change gears in half a blink. Her rants about the miserable drones & such are masterfully delivered & perfectly cold & callous. Helen A sets the tone for the whole story. Hancock has the gravitas in this central performance to give the whole thing a big shot of credibility. If she hadn't taken it seriously & played for laughs, the whole thing could have fallen apart. The rest of the cast follow her lead & thankfully for the most part play it straight. Helen A is no cardboard villain. She has incredible depth & mystery to her. The final scene of her cradling her beloved Fifi in her arms as the incidental music swells is a gem & I genuinely feel for the twisted, misguided old bitch.
A fourth episode could have allowed for fleshing out of the Pipe People side-story a little, but in three parts it may have been wiser ultimately to excise them all together. With the brisk way they are brushed over & their drab design & muffled voices it is hard to engage with them in their plight. Despite a few dubious design choices (not all of them can be excused as 'for effect') & mercifully brief silly moments, this is captivating & intriguing to watch. Intelligent & innovative Doctor Who that is stretching for new ideas & new frontiers.
So that's it, thanks for reading!
The Lucozer
I hope to bring some much needed & long awaited attention to some neglected gems that have fallen on hard times. These gems, through no fault of their own, have found themselves trolling the dives & seedy bars at the lower end of critical opinion & 'favourite story' lists.
On occasion they have found themselves in the unsavory company of the likes of 'Delta & The Bannermen', 'Nightmare Of Eden' & 'The Twin Dilemma' (shudder) having to resort to lewd acts of Xoanan knows what to get by in the vicious, unforgiving world of Doctor Who fandom. I was propositioned by 'Death To The Daleks' in a dark alley just last night! Death has fallen on the hardest of times. Times that will change if I have owt to do about it!! "Death" said I, "you need not offer me that, I would be glad to take you home for a viewing!"......
First up (chronologically), from 1968, another hungry undernourished slice of 'Death'!
1) 'Seeds of Death' (Troughton/1968)
Granted it's no 'Evil' or 'Web', but what it is is jolly good. There is a grand sense of adventure in this eminently enjoyable tale. The rocket trip to the moon & T-Mat stuff are a little kitsch, but still fabulous fun. The character of Fewsham I find most intriguing; his struggles with his guilt & his conscience are beautifully written & quite gripping to watch.
The Ice Warriors are genuinely frightening in the claustrophobic confines & shadowy corridors of the Moonbase & the Weather Control Station. The shots of the Ice Warrior stalking through the foam covered park are creepy & superb. I would argue this is their finest showing from four starts. Alan Bennion as Slaar is particularly wonderful, bringing depth & great menace to a character stuck in a stiff plastic suit, daft helmet & silly cape & having to rely mostly on his sinister voice & heavily made up lips to do it.
Seeds never drags as badly as some of its six part counterparts do (though it is often criticised for padding) & it has some truly great moments of suspense & dialouge. The line "your leader will be angry if you kill me, I'm a genius" is one of the most oft quoted in the history of the show & deservedly so. It is a marvellous synthesis of the 2nd Doctor's manner & wits into one small moment.
The 'T-Mat nerve centre' prop & daft costumes are the obvious cons, but they are just cosmetic. The Pat, Frazer & Wendy team are in smashing form & Seeds is a big cut above the underachieving drabness of the 'The Dominators' & 'The Krotons' from early in the uneven 6th season. Dudley Simpson's frantic, percussive incidental music is stunning; it adds hugely to the tension & drama. Perhaps the finest of the Troughton era bar the marvellous score for 'The Invasion'.
Seeds is a great pulpy romp, certainly lacking the depth & finesse of a true classic, but a super example of 'monster invasion/ base under seige' Doctor Who. Never self importantly absorbed in excessive exploration of characters or sci-fi/fantasy wank, it purely sets out to be entertaining action/ adventure. The 'wrong signal' ploy to see of the Ice Warriors is a simple & charming conclusion. Nice one Seeds!
2) 'Death To The Daleks' (Pertwee/1974)
Sure it looks a tad shabby at times, but it has a palpably tense & sinister feel to it. That's what I'm after in Doctor Who dammit! Part one is superb; the promise of sunny, effervescent 'Florana', the TARDIS being drained of all power & then the Doctor & Sarah both wandering alone in the darkness…shivers & tingles! The unnerving stillness & sense of impending trouble in these scenes & in the moments before the Exxilon arrow attack is fantastic.
The startling incidental music in 'Death' probably bows only to the 'Sea Devils' in the whole of the Pertwee era. It is marvellously evocative & has been unfairly maligned by some over the years. The sound the city beacon makes & the moment Sarah first sees it are indelibly stamped on my memory. The Doctor's 'wonders of the world' line as the city crumbles at the end is a lovely touch.
The Daleks losing power renders them vulnerable & allows us to see their true resourcefulness & cunning; perhaps more than ever before. The sweet Bellal is sensitively played & quite charming. He has a touching rapport with Jon as they explore the city. Dr #3 is marvellous when he meets new beings such as Bellal for the first time. He shows great sensitivity & respect. His first meeting with a Silurian in the cottage in 'The Silurians' is another fine example.
There is clearly more inspiration & effort in this script than 'Planet Of The Daleks'. 'Death' is gritty, atmospheric, involving, tightly plotted & full of wonderful moments. A few flat guest performances & lack of overall production polish aside, criminally underrated.
3) 'Leisure Hive' (T. Baker/ 1980)
'Leisure Hive' marks the brilliant beginning of the greatest re-invigoration of Doctor Who in the show's history. Only 'Spearhead' comes close, though it's 'new stylings' were foreshadowed by 'Web Of Fear' & 'Invasion'. The new series you might say? Well that only really hit its stride with 'Unquiet Dead'. This amazing about-turn in Leisure was surely a huge shock on the heels of Season 17 dross like 'Nightmare' & 'Nimon'. It was an immediate & self assured creative success (if not a success in the ratings up against 'The A-Team').
The new title credits & Peter Howell's new version of the theme tune are striking. One can only imagine how exciting it must have been for long term fans to have seen them for the first time back in 1980. After 6 seasons with unchanging credits, it must have been a wonderful surprise, up there with the unheralded revelation of the Cybermen after a 7 year absence in 'Earthshock'. These credits still excite nearly 30 years on.
All of a sudden the show seems to have become 'adult' again. It has an invigorating urgency about it & has regained the earnestness it had so palpably lacked through the Williams reign. The new production team seems to be hungry & eager. There is innovation & ambition evident in every department. JNT is widely criticised for the way the show developed (some say degraded) during his reign, but at first & throughout the whole of season 18 he got it mostly right.
The design & production polish throughout season S18 are so far superior to S17 it is mind boggling. The scripts generally were several cuts above as well. JNT also pulled off the seemingly impossible & pulled the by now almost unquestioned & dictatorial TB back from the lazy self parody & excessive humour that had contributing hugely to eroding all the credibility the show had. In 'NOE' & 'CFTP' I would go so far as to say it had none.
JNT's team gave the Doctor a sumptuous new look & his vision of the Doctor is that of a quite grave & world weary man with a sparing dry & melancholy humour about him. This major shift in the Doctor's mood & manner gave us back a true sense of his long history; hundreds of years of experiences, littered with more than his share of death & loss. You wouldn't have known it from the scene chewing silliness that prevailed from '77 to '79. Good riddance to the casual flippance that had no relation to the Doctor we knew! Tom is a brilliant & charismatic actor & he was using his full range once again.
Leisure has many evocative & memorable moments. The Doctor ageing in the Tachyon machine...all the Pangols marching out...The story itself is merely good, but the whole of 'Leisure' is executed with such style, swagger & joy that I can forgive its minor shortcomings & silly plot holes. The guest cast are generally strong too; no more of the season 17 cardboard extras! The incidental music is absolutely gobsmacking; at turns marvellously rousing & at others tender & almost tear inducing.
Lalla & Tom are absolutely wonderful together. With the lead duo taking things seriously again, the sense of drama & our interest return with full force. 'Leisure' is a bold & wonderful first step by the JNT regime.
4) 'Mysterious Planet' (C. Baker/ 1986)
This story will always have a special place in my heart. For a long time it was the only Dr Who story that I had on tape (I'm mystified as to why that happened?) & for an even longer time it was the only Colin Baker story I had in my collection full stop. Colin's stories were not repeated in Australia until 1993 & even then were on at 4.30am!! Despite the nostalgia factor, I actually would pick this story if I could only have one Colin Baker story in my collection now. I honestly believe it is the best Colin Baker story of all. Better even than the patchy & flawed 'Revelation OTD' (more on that another time) It is also the only story that my sister, a devout non-fan, actually asked if we could watch one day! Go figure!
There are flaws certainly, the Humker & Tandrell silliness, the mystery of the planet being all but solved in the first 10 minutes, some sketchy design choices; but on the whole it looks polished & is pulled of with a fair amount of style. The story barrels along at a cracking pace & never forgets it primary duty to entertain. Robert Holmes script gives Colin some lovely passages that he delivers well; "planets come and go, stars perish, matter disperses, coalesces & reforms into other patterns, other worlds, nothing can be eternal" etc. There are also lovely touches such as the sacred texts. I thought the 'UK habitats of the Canadian Goose' scene blushingly daft as a child, but now I think it is brilliantly quirky & inspired.
The shifty double act of Glitz & Dibber are a treat. I adore their casually sinister banter as they peice together their guns in the first episode. It is a shame though that Glitz is rapidly softened from unconscionable thug at the start of the story to (almost) loveable rogue by the end (& in subsequent appearances). The season 23 'more comedy' mandate seems to have come into effect HALF WAY THROUGH the first story. This change is most evident in the court scenes, initially unsettling & credible, they rapidly degenerate into panto-ish silliness & repetition despite the valiant efforts of Jayston & Bellingham.
I can't state strongly enough how wonderful the first few minutes are, in fact most of the first episode. It is genuinely mysterious & engrossing & there is very little to fault. The stupendous first shot of the spacecraft & the time scoop, the TARDIS being dragged down the beam, the Doctor's first chilly exchanges with Michael Jayston's exquisitely malevolent Valeyard in the half light. All wonderful stuff that could stand proudly against any era of the show. I couldn't say that about many other episodes from season 22 or 23 sadly.
A crucial factor in the ultimate success of the story is that Colin is the most 'Doctor-ish' we have seen him to this point & more sympathetic & likeable than ever before. He is genuinely concerned for others, endearingly curious & generally dry humoured rather than the often cringeworthy buffon of prior stories. Colin gives the most relaxed, assured & natural performance of his reign. The same can be said for Nicola. Even when Col does slip back into mugging arrogance; "this is my best side", (delivered to Drathro's security camera), it is mercifully brief.
The rapport between Colin & Nicola has vastly improved from season 22. Their scenes together wandering through the forest & exploring Marble Arch are their finest bar none. There is genuine affection & SUBTELTY in the performances! It is such a shame that just as they were finally building a mature & believable rapport, they struck the craggy 'shitberg' that was 'Mindwarp' & that was that. In this though, albeit briefly, most of the the childish bickering & over acting is gone.
Gone too are the indescribably bad stabs of synthesizer incidental music that had made their wretched tiffs seem even more forced & painful ('Timelash' & 'Attack Of The Cybermen' being just two of many examples). In fact, the incidental music is the finest of Colin's era. It is generally tasteful & suitably dramatic at the right points. It responds appropriately to the mood of each scene. Genius! You'd think it was rocket science looking at its forebears.
Of the other support cast, Joan Sims gives the most uneven performance; wavering from tender & subtle in her scenes with Peri in the hut to awkward & OTT in her 'rousing' battle speeches. Probably she was miscast. It was almost another 'Beryl Reid', but she actually copes pretty well in comparison. Tom Chadbon as Merdeen is very laid back (some might say too laid back), but I would say his performance is dry & laconic rather than wooden. Merdeen lives a shitty existence in underground tunnels ruled by an megalomaniac robot, so I think his performance is quite apt. The naive, dorky Balazar is also quite well realised.
'Mysterious Planet' is a qualified success & began 'Trial Of A Timelord' with great promise that was all too quickly squandered. As Robert Holmes last contribution to the show, it is a solid if not spectacular farewell, with Colin & Nicola at their all too brief peak.
5) 'Happiness Patrol' (McCoy/ 1988)
Why does this divide people so? I am happy (& glad!) to see some champions for it amongst the Gallifrey One reviews, but a hell of a lot of people still seem to think it is embarrassing rubbish & the finest (or worst?) example of the daft camp & pantoesque leanings of the late JNT era.
The best way I can tackle reviewing this story is to first mention the way I saw it on first viewing as an 11 year old kid. I thought it was horribly gaudy, woefully overacted, painfully unbelievable & much too bizarre. The way I saw it then is pretty much the way a lot of people still see it now. It has taken several further viewings, several years more experience & an understanding of Graeme Curry's intent to change my perspective. I now feel it is an unfairly maligned (by some) & widely misunderstood minor classic. I should also point out that I am no push-over for the mid to late McCoy era. I feel that amongst its contemporaries, 'Rememberance' is very good, but overrated (thanks Keff!) & 'Silver Nemesis'is absolute rubbish.
There is much to applaud in 'Happiness'. There are lovely (gulp) 'Kafka-esque' touches such as the 'Waiting Zone'; where pointless, head spinning beauracracy prevails ("You're not under arrest but... step over that line & you're a dead man") & also in the impersonal & dehumanising doling out of letters to denote rank & worth (the icy, iron fisted Helen 'A' & the ambitious 'heavy' Priscilla 'P' for example). The scene where Silas P attempts to grovel his way up the alphabet is fantastic, as is Helen A's swift, clipped retort "Not quite, the very top, I hope, Silas P?". In this society, your worth ultimately comes down to your letter. Climbs up & slides down the alphabet ladder are desperately desired & fearfully dreaded respectively. As an 11 year old I had no idea what beauracracy was let alone being able to tell when someone was satirising it. I just thought it was all far too odd. Several years on though, I feel the 'clever social satire' credentials are in good order & I enjoy the story very much on this level.
Although the McCoy/ Aldred team is on fine form & has some lovely moments (could have done without McCoy's singing & "laughing" victory though!) I find the Doctor & Ace to be the least fascinating players in this most curious grotesque. They are sidelined somewhat by a wealth of intriguing, well written & finely textured support characters. The troubled, melancholy Susan Q, the droll, theatrical & shifty Gilbert M, the seemingly dotty & submissive but ultimately duplicitous Joseph C. Were he & Gilbert M on together for years? They seem to have had a lot of practice with their little barbs at one another. All three characters are beautifully played with nuance & delicacy. The distinction between the artifice that each character is forced to maintain under Helen A's regime & their true inner selves is intriguing to watch played out in these & many other characters.
What I read as over-acting as a young whippersnapper, I now see as characters either valiantly struggling with the artifice & fearing death for failure in maintaining it (Susan Q) or on the other hand, so practiced at it that they have forgotten how sickeningly false they appear (Priscilla P, Daisy K). The same goes for the design. Yes, clearly it is hideously colourful & garish. Surely that's the point though? The artifice of the design is ugly because all true emotion has been sucked out & it is presenting what is really fake, uninspired happiness.
The Kandyman is a joy to watch "It's all in there somewhere; caramel, sherbet, toffee, marsipan". Never did a list of sugary sweeties sound so terrifying. He is genuinely intimidating & his voice drips with malice. His demented nursery rhyme 'theme' adds to his impact too. All the "Fondant Supreme" stuff is marvellous. The Co-Pilot & I are big suckers for it. It makes us giggly school girls. I also really like the overhead pipe design in the Kandy Kitchen.
Sheila Hancock is just superb. I hang on every poisonous word that falls from her pursed lips. She can change gears in half a blink. Her rants about the miserable drones & such are masterfully delivered & perfectly cold & callous. Helen A sets the tone for the whole story. Hancock has the gravitas in this central performance to give the whole thing a big shot of credibility. If she hadn't taken it seriously & played for laughs, the whole thing could have fallen apart. The rest of the cast follow her lead & thankfully for the most part play it straight. Helen A is no cardboard villain. She has incredible depth & mystery to her. The final scene of her cradling her beloved Fifi in her arms as the incidental music swells is a gem & I genuinely feel for the twisted, misguided old bitch.
A fourth episode could have allowed for fleshing out of the Pipe People side-story a little, but in three parts it may have been wiser ultimately to excise them all together. With the brisk way they are brushed over & their drab design & muffled voices it is hard to engage with them in their plight. Despite a few dubious design choices (not all of them can be excused as 'for effect') & mercifully brief silly moments, this is captivating & intriguing to watch. Intelligent & innovative Doctor Who that is stretching for new ideas & new frontiers.
So that's it, thanks for reading!
The Lucozer
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