DoctorWho | the m0vie blog

Doctor Who: Black Orchid (Review)

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Darren

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the longest-running science-fiction show in the world, I’ll be taking weekly looks at some of my own personal favourite stories and arcs, from the old and new series, with a view to encapsulating the sublime, the clever and the fiendishly odd of the BBC’s Doctor Who.

Black Orchid originally aired in 1982.

Why would I attack you? Have you done me any harm?

No!

No, then I’ve no reason to harm you. And besides…

Besides what?

Well, it wouldn’t be cricket.

– the Doctor, Ann Talbot and Muir

Black Orchid is pretty damn frustrating. There’s a lot of interest here, but sadly it’s mostly from a technical point of view. This is the first two-part adventure since The Sontaran Experiment. It’s also the first historical story told with no science-fiction elements excluding the TARDIS crew since The Highlanders. It’s also the penultimate adventure starring this version of the TARDIS crew, and the last Fifth Doctor serial before his world is turned upside down in Earthshock. So there’s a lot that should be interesting here.

Unfortunately, the writing is at best generic and at worst actively crap. Black Orchid feels exactly like the sort of thing that the BBC was doing without countless television shows other than Doctor Who, so Black Orchid needs to be able to do it to a reasonable standard. Instead, it feels like a murder mystery written by somebody writing with an Agatha Christie adaptation on in the background. It’s frustrating, because there’s a lot of potential here, but the end result is just disappointing.

Clowning around…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: arts, bbc, Black Orchid, Dalek, doctor, DoctorWho, Earth, Nyssa, Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, science fiction, second doctor, tardis, Unearthly Child, William Hartnell | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who: The Visitation (Review)

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Darren

The Visitation originally aired in 1982.

It’s survival, Doctor. Just as these primitives kill lesser species to protect themselves, so I kill them.

That’s hardly an argument.

It’s not supposed to be an argument. It’s a statement!

– the Terileptil is in no mood for debate with the Doctor

As far as writing débuts go, The Visitation is not a bad first script. Writer Eric Saward had experience writing for radio, but The Visitation was his first live action script to be produced. It’s a pretty solid piece of Doctor Who, even if it’s not anything exceptional. Then again, Robert Holmes’ first script was the perfectly average The Krotons. So there’s room for improvement, and The Visitation is not a bad place to start from.

Of course, Holmes feels like the appropriate comparison here. Not only was Saward a massive fan of Robert Holmes, with the treatment of the ailing Holmes during The Trial of a Time Lord serving as one of the reasons for his departure from the show, but it also seems that The Visitation was very clear attempt to emulate Holmes’ approach to Doctor Who. In fact, it feels like an attempt to update Holmes’ Third Doctor story, The Time Warrior.

Death stalks the countryside…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Adric, arts, bbc, Dalek, doctor, DoctorWho, Eric Saward, Holmes, Jon Pertwee, Nyssa, Robert Holmes, science fiction, tardis, Time Lord, Time Warrior, Tom Baker, Unearthly Child, Visitation | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who: Kinda (Review)

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Darren

Kinda originally aired in 1982.

My dear, you can’t possibly exist, so please go away.

– a figment of Tegan’s imagination… or is it?

Every once in a while, there’s a story that undergoes something of a critical reappraisal among Doctor Who fans, as particular fans champion a forgotten story as a classic, attack the assertion that a given story is a classic or even suggest a stinker is in serious need of reevaluation. I actually like that, even fifty years after the show originally aired, there are still discussions to be had around what the good, bad and indifferent stories are. I think Kinda has cycled through this process quite a bit – a story initially overlooked in Peter Davison’s “much better than you remember, if you can get past the cheesy production values” first season, but one that has been somewhat re-appraised in the decades that followed.

A hot-shot colonist...

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, Christopher Bailey, Doctor (Doctor Who), DoctorWho, DVD, Kinda, mara, Peter Davison, snakedance, tardis, Tenth Doctor | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who: Four to Doomsday (Review)

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Darren

Four to Doomsday originally aired in 1982.

Come along, children. Not in front of our hosts.

– the Doctor finally manages to strike the right tone with his companions

Four to Doomsday is an interesting story, if only because it’s so rarely discussed. The second story of a particular Doctor seems to set the tone for their era. William Hartnell’s second story, The Daleks, introduced the iconic pepperpots. Patrick Troughton’s second serial, The Highlanders, introduced the companion Jamie, who would remain with him for the rest of his tenure. Jon Pertwee’s second story, The Silurians, saw Barry Letts taking over the role of producer. Tom Baker’s second story, The Ark in Space, is one of the most memorable and definitive instances of horror in the history of the show. Colin Baker had the misfortune to have Attack of the Cybermen as his second story, an adventure that set the tone for his time in the TARDIS. Sylvester McCoy didn’t really develop until his second season, but he’s probably the exception that proves the rule.

Peter Davison’s Four to Doomsday, on the other hand, just sort of… is.

Ground control to Major… dammit, why couldn’t I get this image a year earlier in the show’s run?

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Adric, arts, bbc, doctor, DoctorWho, doomsday, Faceless Ones, Jon Pertwee, Keeper of Traken, Matthew Waterhouse, Nyssa, patrick troughton, Peter Davison, science fiction, Stratford Johns, Sylvester McCoy, tardis, Tegan, Tegan Jovanka, Tom Baker, Unearthly Child | 2 Comments »

Doctor Who: Castrovalva (Review)

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Darren

Castrovalva originally aired in 1982.

Welcome aboard. I’m the Doctor. Or will be if this regeneration works out.

– the Doctor greets Adric

Tom Baker did seven years of Doctor Who. That is impressive. No matter which way you look it, and no matter how cynical you might be, it’s hard to argue that Baker’s departure wasn’t a fundamental and radical change to the series. In fact, his influence is so great that Castrovalva even opens with a rare pre-credits sequence, just to make sure that the viewers know that Baker is gone. (Despite the fact that John Nathan Turner apparently asked that the scene be shot so that the new season could open without having to show Tom Baker.)

Baker was going to be a tough act to follow. In fact, to many people, Tom Baker is still the Doctor. I don’t mean that in a sort of “stubborn fans refusing to acknowledge change” sort of way. I mean that in a “when The Simpsons make a Doctor Who reference they use Tom Baker” sort of way. He cast one hell of a shadow, and it’s hard to truly fathom how daunting it must have been to try and step out from that show.

That Peter Davison manages to do so is nothing short of amazing. Equally impressive is the fact that Castrovalva manages to be its own story. While it suffers – as with so many Bidmead scripts – from the fact that the technical limitations of the show can’t keep pace with his ideas, there’s still a lot to love here. And not just Peter Davison. Though he helps.

“Oh! The brainy specs!”

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Adric, arts, bbc, Castrovalva, doctor, DoctorWho, Fifth Doctor, Keeper of Traken, Master, Nyssa, Parting of the Ways, Peter Davison, Portreeve, russell t. davies, science fiction, steven moffat, tardis, Tom Baker, Unearthly Child | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who: Logopolis (Review)

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Darren

Logopolis originally aired in 1981. It was the second instalment in the “Master” trilogy.

It’s the end… but the moment has been prepared for.

– the Doctor finally figures out what this year has been about

I don’t think the departure of a Doctor has even been a bigger deal than it was with Tom Baker. Sure, Christopher Eccleston’s first season was so fixated on death that his departure seemed preordained, even in the episodes written before his decision to leave. Similarly, Peter Davison’s final year seems designed to demonstrate that the universe is no longer suited to this particular iteration of the Doctor. Maybe David Tennant’s final year is focused on his passing, but the episodes are so spaced out that it makes little difference. However, we’ve just spent an entire year focused on the idea of entropy and decay, the inevitably of change and the notion that death is just a nature part of the cycle of things.

When the Doctor assures his companions that “the moment has been prepared for”, he may as well be looking at the camera, assuring those of us at home that the past year has been spent readying them for the unthinkable: the time when Tom Baker might not be the Doctor.

Final destination?

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: arts, bbc, christopher eccleston, Colin Baker, doctor, doctor who, DoctorWho, fiction, Fourth Doctor, Janet Fielding, John Nathan Turner, Keeper of Traken, Logopolis, Master, paul mcgann, Peter Davison, Romana, science fiction, Sylvester McCoy, Tom Baker | 4 Comments »

Doctor Who: The Keeper of Traken (Review)

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Darren

The Keeper of Traken originally aired in 1981. It was the first instalment in the “Master” trilogy.

He dies, Doctor. The Keeper dies!

– Tremas heralds the end of an era

Of course, the entire season has been less than subtle about the point, but The Keeper of Traken is the point at which Tom Baker’s final season builds to critical mass, and reaches the point of no return. Entropy, decay and death have all been crucial ingredients in the year’s collection of adventures, but The Keeper of Traken is the point at which it seems like our character has set himself on an incontrovertible course, a path from which he cannot diverge. Baker’s approaching departure gives The Keeper of Traken a great deal of weight, and helps balance a story that might otherwise seem excessive or overblown. There’s melodrama here, but it feels strangely appropriate.

Lawrence Miles has argued that Logopolis was the funeral for the Fourth Doctor. If so, The Keeper of Traken is his wake – and it’s fitting that Irish poet and writer Johnny Byrne should provide this strangely lively (if morbid) celebration.

Hell of a wake…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: arts, Barry Letts, bbc, christopher h. bidmead, Deadly Assassin, doctor, doctor who, DoctorWho, Fourth Doctor, Gallifrey, Keeper of Traken, Master, Nyssa, science fiction, tardis, Tom Baker, Unearthly Child, William Hartnell | 2 Comments »

Doctor Who: Warriors’ Gate (Review)

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Darren

Warrior’s Gate originally aired in 1980. It was the third instalment of the E-Space Trilogy.

We found it.

Yes, well, that’s one of the advantages of living in a rapidly shrinking micro-universe.

What are the others?

Other what?

Other advantages?

Ah, well, it’s difficult to say.

– Adric, the Doctor and Romana discuss modern living

I’m actually very, very fond of Warriors’ Gate. It’s a piece of bold science-fiction that actually manages to accomplish what a lot of these stories in Tom Baker’s final season try to do. It offers an effective bit of speculative fiction while playing to the theme of entropy, decay and collapse. Both Stephen Gallagher’s fine script and Paul Joyce’s direction come together to produce a very thoughtful and clever Doctor Who story that manages to avoid a lot of the problems facing this era of the show.

More than that, though, it turns some of those disadvantages into advantages. After all, when else is the show’s tiny production budget going to produce something this beautiful?

Shades of grey…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: arts, bbc, christmas, doctor, DoctorWho, fiction, Graeme Harper, John Nathan Turner, Lalla Ward, literature, Online Writing, Romana, science fiction, Stephen Gallagher, Story arcs in Doctor Who, tardis, Warrior, Warriors' Gate | 2 Comments »

Doctor Who: State of Decay (Review)

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Darren

State of Decay originally aired in 1980. It was the second instalment of the E-Space Trilogy.

You are incredible.

Yes, I suppose I am, really. I’ve never given it much thought.

– who says Romana and the Doctor weren’t meant for one another?

Just when it seemed that the John Nathan-Turner era was going to be all about hokey pseudo-science concepts and galaxy-conquering cacti, State of Decay comes along and offers a good old-fashioned gothic science-fiction adventure from long-time writer Terrance Dicks. It feels like a very conscious throw-back in the midst of an otherwise new and distinctive season, but I honestly don’t mind this story about vampires on an alien world, if only because it feels right that Baker should get to do one last gothic horror before he finishes up in the lead role.

Towering over the locals...

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, Brain of Morbius, Dick, doctor, doctor who, DoctorWho, E-Space, e-space trilogy, John Nathan Turner, Romana, State of Decay, Stones of Blood, terrance dicks, The E-Space Trilogy, Tom Baker, vampires | 5 Comments »

Doctor Who: Full Circle (Review)

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Darren

Full Circle originally aired in 1980. It was the first instalment of the E-Space Trilogy.

Why can’t people be nice to one another, just for a change?

– the Doctor is still an optimist at heart

I have to admit, I’m kinda a bit frustrated with these “arcs” that Doctor Who was so fond of in the late seventies and into the eighties, with themes like The Key to Time, or The Black Guardian Trilogy or even Trial of a Timelord serving as an excuse to tie a bunch of distinct stories together with a few shared elements, mostly confined to intrusive opening and closing scenes rather than anything especially substantive. In particular, The E-Space Trilogy feels especially odd, because it’s located inside a larger arc exploring the final year of Tom Baker’s tenure, with entropy and decay evident everywhere. Being entirely honest though, it does help that Full Circleis a solid and clever little story, which genuinely feels like something quite different than the typical Doctor Who adventure.