DoctorWho | the m0vie blog

Doctor Who: Meglos (Review)

Posted on April 29, 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.

Meglos originally aired in 1980.

To control the output, it will be necessary to increase the violence of the emissions.

Then you’ll be in danger yourself.

Well, hardly. I’m a Time Lord. Having lived in the future I can hardly die in the present.

That can’t be true. That’s a philosophical paradox.

No, it’s merely beyond your comprehension.

– Meglos and Deedrix get their “parody” on

Meglos is one of those stories that has undergone something of an alternative interpretation among Doctor Who fans. Much like The Web Planet went from “a brave attempt to realise a truly alien world” to a “complete and utter embarrassment”, Meglos has gone from “that episode where a talking cactus tries to take over the universe” to “that parody where a talking cactus tries to take over the universe.” In fairness, looking at the serial, it is very hard not to see Meglos as an intentional and subversive parody of a bad Doctor Who story, but I have to concede that it doesn’t stop the adventure from being a bad Doctor Who story itself.

Okay, not every review this week is going to open with a close-up of Tom Baker in distress...

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, cactus, decay, doctor, doctor who, DoctorWho, entropy, Gallifrey, Jon Pertwee, Meglos, parody, Romana, tardis, Time Lord, Tom Baker, Web Planet | 3 Comments »

Doctor Who: The Leisure Hive (Review)

Posted on April 28, 2013 by Darren

The Leisure Hive originally aired in 1980.

Look what you’ve done.

What have I done?

You’ve got the century wrong, you’ve got the season wrong and you’ve got K9’s sea-water defences wrong.

Well, I can’t get everything right.

Just something would be a help.

– Romana and the Doctor really do seem like an old married couple, don’t they?

The Leisure Hive represented a bold new beginning for the show, as it saw John Nathan-Turner move into the role of producer, very quickly putting his mark on the show with a new theme tune and opening sequence, a stronger emphasis on science-fiction and arguably a very “gimmick-y” approach to the show itself. Nathan-Turner would go on to be the longest-serving – and most controversial – producer of the show, serving in the role until the series’ untimely cancellation in 1989. It really is quite tough to discuss The Leisure Hive without getting side-tracked on to any number of tangents, isn’t it?

Is Baker getting to old for the role?

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Androids of Tara, bbc, Brighton, Caves of Androzani, David Fisher, decay, doctor, doctor who, DoctorWho, Douglas Adams, entropy, John Nathan Turner, Leisure Hive, Romana, The Leisure Hive, Tom Baker, Twin Dilemma | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who: Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS (Review)

Posted on April 28, 2013 by Darren

“Good guys do not have zombie creatures. Rule one, basic storytelling.”

– Clara understands the way the universe works

And here our big theory that this anniversary season is a “greatest hits” collection runs into a bit of bother. Okay, Cold War was definitely a Troughton-era throwback. And Hide had a definite Hinchcliffe-and-Holmes feeling to it. (“The Baker Street irregulars” in 1974.) Maybe you could stretch it a little bit and argue that The Bells of St. John is a tribute to the Pertwee era by way of Russell T. Davies; and The Rings of Akhaten definitely feels a little like a classic bit of Hartnell-era world-building.

Making the case for The Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS is just a little bit harder. After all, The Crimson Horror is another throwback to Hinchcliffe and Holmes, while Nightmare in Silver is another “base under siege by classic monster” tribute to Troughton. So there’s only one missing piece here. If that “greatest hits” argument holds, then Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS must be one gigantic shout out to the John Nathan Turner era.

Hear me out.

A shining beacon of light…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Alchemy, Clara, Clara Oswald, Dalek, Deadly Assassin, doctor, doctor who, DoctorWho, Invasion of Time, Jenna-Louise Coleman, journey, matt smith, neil gaiman, Shopping, Suranne Jones, tardis, Tom Baker, Unearthly Child | 2 Comments »

Doctor Who: The Armageddon Factor (Review)

Posted on April 27, 2013 by Darren

The Armageddon Factor originally aired in 1979. It was the sixth and final part of The Key to Time saga.

The Key to Time was perhaps the first conscious attempt to tell a season-long story in Doctor Who. Sure, we’ve had elements of an arc before. The first season, for example, gave the Doctor himself a character arc where he evolved from cowardly curmudgeon into an unlikely heroic figure. Jon Pertwee’s second season was given the Master as a linking element. Tom Baker’s Doctor embarked in a pretty much unbroken series of adventures from Robot through to Terror of the Zygons, with the ending of one serial seemingly leading directly into the next. None of these were necessarily that ambitious and you could argue they evolved more by chance than by design.

So, The Key to Time represented a bit of a learning curve, an attempt to tie a season’s stories together using an over-arching concept. As I’ve discussed quite a bit in my reviews of the season, the result was a little clunky, with those concepts seemingly clumsily shoe-horned into a separate bunch of adventures. That leaves the finalé, The Armageddon Factor to do the heavy-lifting with regards to The Key to Time saga. Unfortunately, the pay-off feels a bit jumbled, over-wrought, disorganised and non-sensical, as it juggles a wealth of elements that never add up to more than the sum of their parts.

While a great many Doctor Who six-parters suffer from being too long, too padded, too stretched for their story and concepts, The Armageddon Game feels curiously over-stuffed, lacking a tight focus on the interesting elements and too many distractions clogging up the story.

The problems are crystal clear…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Armageddon Factor, arts, bbc, Black Guardian, Cold War, doctor, DoctorWho, fiction, Jon Pertwee, Key, literature, Power of Kroll, science fiction, Story arcs in Doctor Who, tardis, Time Lord, White Guardian | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who: The Ribos Operation (Review)

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Darren

The Ribos Operation originally aired in 1978. It was the first part of The Key to Time saga.

Your name!

What about my name?

It’s too long… by the time I’ve called out “Look out Romanadv…” – what’s your name again?

Romanadvoratrelundar!

By the time I’ve called that out you could be dead! I’ll call you Romana.

I don’t like Romana!

It’s either Romana or Fred!

All right, call me Fred!

Good! Come along Romana!

The Key to Time was a rather ambitious project for the time – the idea being that an entire series of the show would centre around one core arc, suggested in the first story, developed through the rest of the season, and tied up at the end of the year. It helps, when you’re doing something like that, to have an experienced hand at the reins. While The Ribos Operation doesn’t stand as Robert Holmes’ finest contribution to the series, it’s a suitable introduction to the adventure.

Time Lord and Lady...

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: arts, bbc, Doctor (Doctor Who), DoctorWho, Douglas Adams, Fourth Doctor, Iain Cuthbertson, Pirate Planet, Robert Holmes, Romana, russell t. davies, tardis, The Key to Time, The Ribos Operation, Time Lord, Tom Baker, White Guardian | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who: Hide (Review)

Posted on April 20, 2013 by Darren

Say we actually find her. What do we say to her?

We ask her what she is, how she came to be.

Why?

Because I don’t know and ignorance is… what’s the opposite of bliss?

Carlisle.

Yes, Carlyle. Ignorance is Carlyle.

– the Doctor and Clara

Hide is the best episode of Doctor Who to air since The God Complex, almost two years ago. Writing an affectionate tribute to gothic horror Doctor Who, Hide allows even the most skeptical member of the audience to forgive writer Neil Cross for his somewhat clunky script for The Rings of Akhaten. It’s a nostalgic and atmospheric trip back in time, and a reminder of just exactly what this show is capable of, offering a creepy haunted house horror that manages to morph into an epic love story by the time the credits have rolled.

What lies beyond?

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: alex kingston, bbc, Carlyle, Carlyle Group, Clara, Deadly Assassin, doctor, Doctor Who fandom, DoctorWho, God Complex, Jenna-Louise Coleman, matt smith, Neil Cross, Philip Hinchcliffe, Planet of the Spiders, Pyramids of Mars, River Song, steven moffat, tardis, Tom Baker | 2 Comments »

Doctor Who: The Last of the Time Lords (Review)

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Darren

The Last of the Time Lords originally aired in 2007.

I just need you to listen.

No, it’s my turn. Revenge!

– the Doctor and the Master

I like quite a lot of The Last of the Time Lords. I think, for example, that Russell T. Davies does an exceptional job creating a version of the Master that manages to remain true to the character’s pantomime roots, while also seeming a credible threat and dark mirror to the Doctor. I also think that Martha’s character arc has a fairly logic and fluid conclusion. On the other hand, there’s a great deal about the resolution to The Last of the Time Lords that feels a bit rushed, a bit convenient, a bit tidy.

I’m quite fond of Davies’ writing style, but I’ll concede that he tends to favour theme and character over plot and structure. The Last of the Time Lords does an excellent job illustrating this, providing a bunch of fascinating thematic and character-based moments, but positioning them in a plot that doesn’t really work.

You know, for once I actually feel sorry for the Master…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: christmas, Davies, doctor, doctor who, DoctorWho, Eleventh Doctor, john simm, Jon Pertwee, Last of the Time Lords, Lucy, Martha, Master, matt smith, Parting of the Ways, russell t. davies, Sound of Drums, tardis, Time Lord, utopia, Wilfred Mott | 3 Comments »

Doctor Who: Planet of the Daleks (Review)

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Darren

Planet of the Daleks originally aired in 1973.

You know, for a man who abhors violence, I must say I took great satisfaction in doing that.

– The Doctor on demolishing a Dalek

The combined Frontier in Space and Planet of the Daleks serials were intended to mark the tenth anniversary of Doctor Who with a twelve-part epic that could be measured against the lost Daleks’ Master Plan. I’m quite fond of The Frontier in Space, and I’d argue that it stands as the best space-opera of the Pertwee era, but I’ll concede that the story is severely weakened by the links it shares with this little adventure, which is conclusive proof that Daleks were quite stale long before Davros was invented.

Not all Dalek stories are gold…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, Carnival of Monsters, Dalek, Dalek Invasion of Earth, Davros, doctor, DoctorWho, Frontier in Space, Jo Grant, Planet of the Daleks, Skaro, tardis, Terry Nation, Time Lord, timelords | 1 Comment »

Doctor Who: The Deadly Assassin (Review)

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Darren

The Deadly Assassin originally aired in 1976.

I deny this reality.

– the Doctor

The Deadly Assassin is a rather boldly experimental episode of Doctor Who. It’s the first story told without a companion character, and it also ventures quite forcefully into the realm of surrealism. It offers a rather bold deconstruction of the Time Lords, a rather cynical depiction of the aliens who had seemed all-powerful in stories like The War Games or The Three Doctors. More than that, though, The Deadly Assassin feels – appropriately enough – like a treatise on the inevitable death of Doctor Who.

Located in the middle of the fourteenth of twenty-six seasons, and broadcast thirteen years from both the start and the end of the show’s initial run, The Deadly Assassin seems to be positioned at the very heart of Doctor Who.

A rough outline of what’s going on…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Assassination of John F. Kennedy, bbc, Celestial Intervention Agency, Charles Curran, Deadly Assassin, doctor, DoctorWho, Dudley Simpson, Flash Gordon, Gallifrey, kennedy, Mary Whitehouse, Master, russell t. davies, science fiction, tardis, Time Lord, Unearthly Child | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who: Frontier in Space (Review)

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Darren

Frontier in Space originally aired in 1973.

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the show, the four-part serial The Three Doctors was produced. However, it was also decided that Jon Pertwee’s fourth season in the role should also contain something quite a bit grander than the average Doctor Who serial. Clearly intended to rival the epic (and lost) Daleks’ Master Plan in terms of scale and scope, an epic twelve-part adventure was conceived that would run across two back-to-back serials. It would open with Frontier in Space, before easing gently into Terry Nation’s Planet of the Daleks.

Unfortunately the adventure was never quite able to measure up to the series’ earlier Dalek epic, primarily due to problems with the second serial. Still, though somewhat weakened by the necessity to dovetail into the story directly following, Frontier in Space remains a rather wonderful example of the series on its largest scale, offering epic space opera with large-scale consequences.