September 8: The Armageddon Factor Parts One & Two

Five hundred episodes!  That's quite a milestone that The Armageddon Factor Part One has reached.  And it's also my anniversary, which is a different kind of milestone and rather harder to tie in with this story.  I guess there's that couple at the beginning ("Men out there, young men, are dying for it")?  No?  I guess not.

This is another one of those stories that gets a rough ride from fandom, but -- at least on the basis of these first two episodes -- it's hard to see why.  It's no worse than anything else we've seen under Graham Williams's producership, and there's quite a lot to enjoy here.  The propaganda video is honestly a nice touch, juxtaposed as it is with the scenes of despair and destruction we see in the makeshift hospital on Atrios.  I also like the iridescent quality of the braids and such on the Atrian costumes.  I'm less convinced about using an office chair as the Marshal's seat of power though.

See, the thing is that these episodes are structured quite well, and no one really lets down the side on the acting front; people often deride Davyd Harries, but here, at least, he's quite pleasantly understated.  The worst of them is probably Ian Saynor as Merak, and that's only because the script needs him to be all moony over Princess Astra.  And this is probably Mary Tamm's best performance as Romana, as she's finally figured out how to deliver the exposition lines in a way that sounds natural (a problem that she was having in earlier stories).  Plus there's a lot of fun to be had with John Woodvine's performance as the seemingly possessed Marshal of Atrios, constantly fingering his neck and prone to sudden, irrational mood swings.

It's got a decent set design, a good cast, and a reasonable script (well, except for the second cliffhanger, where the Doctor suspects he's walking into a trap and then seems surprised when the trap is sprung).  It's not going out of its way to impress anyone, but so far The Armageddon Factor is a solid, entertaining story.

September 7: The Power of Kroll Parts Three & Four

Kroll emerges to destroy the Swampies' settlement. (The Power
of Kroll Part Three) ©BBC

Actually, these episodes are better than I had remembered them being.  That's not to say that they're undiscovered classics or anything, and part three is definitely the weaker of the two, but they still manage to remain entertaining for the duration.

But man, that join between sky and swamp...

As I said, part three isn't so great, due in no small part to the fact that the Doctor, Romana, and Rohm-Dutt the gunrunner spend most of it being slowly stretched to death as a ritual sacrifice to Kroll.  There are a few moments of fun to be found (such as Romana's exasperation at the Doctor's reaction to their impending demise), but the resolution (giving the Doctor a heretofore unknown superpower of high-pitched screaming that can shatter glass) comes out of left field and is thus rather unsatisfying.

But the emergence of Kroll, join aside, is rather good, and the shot of Rohm-Dutt being dragged away by a tentacle is far better than it has any right to be.  The cliffhanger is rather odd, though, as it hinges on us caring about a nameless Swampie being dragged under the waters of the swamp.  Unless it's simply supposed to represent that Kroll is on the hunt?

Part four has quite a bit going on.  Some of the Kroll shots are better than others -- the one where it's jabbing its tentacles through the shrubbery wall is surprisingly effective.  Meanwhile, Thawn, the leader of the refinery, appears to have gone mad, since he doesn't seem to care about the thought of wiping out the Swampies (and possibly the refinery itself) in his pursuit of destroying Kroll.  He's even willing to kill John Leeson's character to achieve his goals.  This means that things have been accelerated to a fever pitch, and so it's quite exciting when everyone turns up in the refinery for the story's final act.  Ranquin is killed by his god, Thawn is killed by the Swampies, and the Doctor's decisions, first to sabotage the orbital shot that Thawn intends to use to kill Kroll, and then to head out to face Kroll armed with the tracer (he has a theory that the Symbol of Power that Kroll swallowed 200 years ago is the Fifth Segment of the Key to Time) are treated surprisingly somberly.  The latter choice in particular is one that Tom Baker chooses to play very straight.  "Here," he says, giving his scarf to Romana.  "Where are you going?" she asks him.  "To test a theory," the Doctor replies.  "All theories have to be tested some time, and this seems as good as any.  You stay here in case I'm wrong."

Ranquin prays to his god. (The Power of Kroll Part Four) ©BBC

I also don't find I really mind the bit of danger after Kroll is defeated, where the orbital shot is going to go off on automatic and can't be shut down.  Yes, it looks like blatant padding, but it's blatant padding with Philip Madoc at the helm, so it remains highly watchable anyway.

Unless The Armageddon Factor ends up being significantly worse than I remember it being, The Power of Kroll will still end up being the weakest story of season 16.  But other than a bad choice regarding the masking of the camera, the effects of this story are better than I remembered them being.  The Kroll model itself is nicely done (and the shots of it attacking the refinery are pretty good), and the scenes of its tentacles aren't too bad either; in fact, the close-ups of its body as the Doctor goes out to face it with the tracer are surprisingly good.  The worst thing about this story is that it's a bit dull; there's too much focus on the Swampies (who look great but are rather more questionable as characters) at the beginning and the refinery plot remains too unconnected to everything else for too long.  But it does manage to bring things together in a reasonably satisfying way at the end, which is more than can be said for a number of other stories.  It's not the best, but it's better than its reputation.

September 6: The Power of Kroll Parts One & Two

Poor Norman Stewart; first he's tasked with directing Underworld, and now this.  He does the best he can with what he's given, but the problem seems deeper than what he can do.

No, the main mystery with this is why Robert Holmes, a man who worked on the production side of things and was around for stories like Invasion of the Dinosaurs and Robot, was unable/unwilling to convince Graham Williams and script editor Anthony Read that a story about a giant monster was a bad idea.  But no, instead we get a story with gun-running rogues, green natives, and a truly gigantic squid (the realization of which in part two is a hell of a lot better on the picture-stabilized DVD than on the original).

To be perfectly honest, though, these first two episodes aren't that bad.  All the swamps and high reeds do make this looks like an alien moon, and it's nice to have one that's not in a quarry.  And Tom Baker seems a bit more reined in on these two episodes (slipping cups of liquid into his pocket aside), which does sell the threat a bit more.  And the green makeup on the native "Swampies" is surprisingly effective.  And somehow, they've managed to put together a top-notch cast, with Philip Madoc, Neil McCarthy, and Glyn Owen.  They've even gotten John Abineri as Ranquin, the leader of the Swampies.  This is a talented cast, to be sure.  The problem, though, is that these two episodes are a bit dull.  There's some stuff about sending guns to the Swampies that looks like it was meant to both give the Earth colonists a reason to kill them all and discredit a troublesome organization at the same time, but it's handled in such a way that it's difficult to care.  The scenes in the methane refinery are slightly more interesting, but they're just tracking the strange movements on the sea bed that turn out to be Kroll, a gigantic squid who happens to be waking up after a 200 year slumber -- there's little else going on.  Really, it's only the scenes with the Doctor that are really watchable, and he spends a good deal of time being captured.

Any good bits?  The Kroll monster costume that turns out to deliberately be a costume is a nice touch, and the model of Kroll is actually rather good -- it's simply the mix between the effect and the film that doesn't work (and even if the cameraman hadn't physically masked off the top of the shot while shooting, thus making a very obvious straight line across the screen, it's unlikely this would have really worked).  And it's nice to actually get to see John Leeson, the voice of K-9, for a change.

Like I said, the worst thing about these two episodes is just that they're a bit dull -- even the usually reliable Philip Madoc seems to have trouble delivering lines in an interested manner.  But the cliffhanger to part two, where a rather unconvincing rubber tentacle breaks through a pipe and pulls one of the refinery workers inside, might be a worrying sign of things to come...

September 5: The Androids of Tara Parts Three & Four

Happily, these two episodes are just as wonderful as the first two.  The third episode is primarily concerned with a deal between the Doctor and Count Grendel to get Romana back.  The Doctor, naturally, suspects a trap ("They always want you to go alone when you're walking into a trap, have you noticed that?"), and the Count doesn't plan to disappoint him.  But his villainy is so satisfying -- making an android assassin version of Romana and willfully stringing along his assistant, Lamia (who is hopelessly in love with him) -- that it's genuinely distressing when Lamia is accidentally shot down by the Count's men, as it seems cruel and unexpected rather than just desserts.

Zadek and the android King, along with the Doctor, listen to what
Count Grendel has to say. (The Androids of Tara Part Three) ©BBC

Of course, these two episodes also highlight the continuing shift in Tom Baker's performance, to make the Doctor less serious than before.  The third episode has the scene where the Doctor exits the little house where the exchange for Romana is to take place after the Count tells him that he has "my word as a Gracht you will not be harmed," only to be shot at by the guards' men, whereupon he ducks back inside, sticks his head back out to yell, "Liar!" and then ducks back in.  It's a fun scene, but it does require us to take the Doctor as a more comic figure than before.  There's also the start of the swordfight between the Doctor and Grendel at the end of part four, which has more clowning from the Doctor -- he might be doing it deliberately to provoke Count Grendel, but it still looks like Tom's not taking things seriously.

But honestly, those are minor complaints, and it helps enormously that this is the sort of story where such behavior fits in: the Doctor is playing the role of the charming hero, and so his actions are broadly in the same vein.  And that climactic swordfight, once it gets going, is one of the best we've seen on the whole series so far; it has an energy and drive that a lot of swordfights on the show have lacked (due, presumably, to safety concerns), and it helps that it's recognizably Tom Baker (and not, say, Terry Walsh) for a lot of it -- it gives it that sense of verisimilitude.

The whole story is really one whole bright and charming tale, full of life and fun.  It's also nice to have a story with such "slight" stakes: only one kingdom is at stake.  Yes, obviously it's a take on The Prisoner of Zenda, but it's done with such style that it's hard to care -- and it's not like Doctor Who hasn't plundered other sources for stories before.  It's not an Important tale, and there are a couple duff moments here and there, but overall The Androids of Tara is a breezy, entertaining yarn.

September 4: The Androids of Tara Parts One & Two

There might not be a Doctor Who story that is better described by the word "charming" than The Androids of Tara.  From the moment it begins, there's a sense of cheerful effortlessness that pervades the entire piece.  Compare, for instance, the chess game here with the one in The Sun Makers: the Doctor is still losing here, but he seems far less aggrieved about it than he did last season.

There's also something marvelous how David Fisher (who, as the author of both this and The Stones of Blood, becomes the third writer credited with back-to-back stories) chooses to deal with the fourth segment of the Key to Time almost immediately, by having Romana locate it in the first ten minutes of the story while the Doctor's off fishing.  Of course, this is also the moment where the infamous Taran Wood Beast appears.  There are a number of stories that have a token monster to (presumably) keep the kids happy (The Talons of Weng-Chiang, The Caves of Androzani, and Ghost Light spring to mind), in which said monster is actually quite decent but still receives criticism from fandom just because it's in the story at all.  While the Taran Wood Beast is another token monster, it deserves all the criticism it gets; it's clearly a man in a fur suit with an appallingly poor mask to complete the ensemble.  Surely they could have spent a little time on that face?

But other than this brief blip, it's a delight all the way, as Romana is captured by the wonderfully villainous Count Grendel (who makes no attempt to hide his ambitions but doesn't insist on being a vile and twisted man as well), while the Doctor is grabbed (at electrified swordpoint -- "Do you mind not standing on my chest?  My hat's on fire," the Doctor tells his assailant) by the other side: those working for Prince Reynart, who establishes himself as the obvious "goodie" of the story -- note the way in which he accepts the Doctor's word with a smile on his face, to show that he's a just and reasonable man.  And since the Doctor knows about technology and the Prince and his men don't -- knowledge of such things being a peasant skill (one wonders if Fisher is making a sly comment on the sorts of upper class people who, say, don't know how their car works, just that they need to call a mechanic when it breaks down) -- Reynart knows that the Doctor will be useful in helping him being crowned king, thanks to an android replica of the Prince.  There's also some stuff about how Romana is a very close lookalike for the Princess Strella, and so Grendel at first thinks she's an android and then decides he'll use the resemblance to his advantage.  It's all pleasingly entertaining.

Obviously complications are introduced in part two, with Reynart being kidnapped by the Count and the Doctor having to use the android to fool everyone at the coronation, but this same feeling of charm runs through these events as well, and you can't help but smile as they happen.  It's a well-balanced tale so far, and everyone in the cast seems to be having a good time making this -- there's not a misjudged performance among them.  If things continue like this, The Androids of Tara will be a winner.

September 3: The Stones of Blood Parts Three & Four

Part three, it must be noted, is a somewhat awkward blend of horror and "space" (for lack of a better term describing the more futuristic, gleaming white walls approach).  While the script still wants to throw in some scares here and there (most memorably with the Ogri killing the two campers, which is a very effective moment), the production itself seems more comfortable dealing with the SF aspects: they certainly seem far more confident and self-assured when screwing around making a hyperspace portal device and discussing Einstein's theory of special relativity than they did talking about Celtic goddesses and Druid sacrifices.  Meanwhile, the actual hyperspace ship itself is also a nice model, and it's kind of fun to see a couple old monster costumes in the cells.¹⁰⁶  The cliffhanger is incredibly lame, though: oh no, the Doctor and Romana are trapped on the hyperspace ship.

Romana and Professor Rumford prepare the repaired hyperspace
projector while K-9 stands guard. (The Stones of Blood Part Four)
©BBC

Part four is probably the most entertaining episode: it certainly seems to be the one where Tom Baker perks up.  Donning a barrister's wig, he seems to be in his element as he defends himself against the Megara, the justice machines that he set free in the last episode who now want to execute him for releasing them without authorization.  The Megara, as an effect, are nicely realized, and the concept of a completely unyielding sense of justice is frustrating and scary in its own way, seeing how it taps into that sense we all have of no one listening to the important things we have to say.  And there are some comic moments too: "I am Vivien Fay of Rose Cottage, Boscawen," says the silver-skinned woman on the hyperspace ship.  "Ask anyone in Boscawen, they will identify me."  It takes some trickery to get the Megara to finally scan Miss Fay and verify that she is in fact a criminal who's been posing as a Celtic goddess for the last 4000 years, but they get there in the end -- thanks to the Doctor grabbing Miss Fay's hand at the moment of his execution, thus preventing the Megara from using the full strength of the deadly beam (I think; it's a bit confused what's going on) and then needing to scan her brain to make sure she's all right.  Of course, this means that Romana is too late with her own evidence proving Miss Fay isn't human: "Stop! I have new evidence," Romana cries.  "Too late. I've just been executed," the Doctor replies.

And so sentence is carried out on Vivian Fay (in reality Cessair of Diplos), as she's turned to stone -- though not before the Doctor grabs the Great Seal of Diplos (aka the third segment) from around her neck.  With Cessair taken care of and the Megara sent back to their hyperspace ship before they can successfully execute the Doctor, our heroes are free to continue their quest for the Key to Time.

It's only been a season since the show was content to scare the viewers with tales of horror and death, but Doctor Who has now become completely uninterested in trying to make terrifying monsters and dark, brooding situations.  There's been a growing sense for a little while now that Tom Baker is more interested in romping across the screen and having a good time than he is in scaring the kiddies, and this is the story where it becomes clear that the production team agrees with him.  The difference in quality and commitment between the two styles The Stones of Blood tries to pull off is rather striking.  This is thus the crossroads between the Gothic horror of Hinchcliffe's producership and the whimsical SF of Williams's: from here on out, the rest of the 70s are going to see the programme move further and further into the "light entertainment" category of television shows.







¹⁰⁶ Entertainingly/bizarrely (delete according to preference), the half-second shot of a dead Wirrn is enough for Wikipedia to count this as a "Wirrn story" in their template at the bottom of this story's entry.  No love for the Kraal android, though.

September 2: The Stones of Blood Parts One & Two

It's the 100th story for Doctor Who, as well as being broadcast near the show's fifteenth anniversary.  That's quite the milestone to reach, but nevertheless it's business as usual for everyone here.¹⁰⁵  And so these two episodes present the last stab at horror for 70s Doctor Who -- this time with Druids and Druid sacrifices.

The only problem is that the show has already run into problems with showing things that have deemed too scary for younger viewers, and so this is a horror story that's had all the terror taken out of it.  It's about as spooky as a dirty tea cup, and whether it's by accident or by design, the cast seem much more invested in the fun aspects of these episodes than the scary ones.  Witness, for example, the (admittedly rather wonderful) discussion between the Doctor and Leonard de Vries of the three missing paintings, where they regard each blank space where a painting used to be in turn, talking about the subjects that were portrayed in each.  Tom Baker and Nicholas McArdle seem far more engaged in this scene than in the one where de Vries is preparing to sacrifice the Doctor to the Cailleach, which feels like it's being played more for laughs than with any serious intent (at least from Tom Baker's point-of-view).  And even the idea of the Cailleach posing as the Doctor in order to try and kill Romana has been softened to avoid upsetting viewers -- so now we just get an off-screen voice and Romana telling us about it afterwards (once she's decided to trust the Doctor again).

All that said, there are some good moments here.  The use of the crows is really good, and the screen lights up any time Beatrix Lehmann is on it as Professor Amelia Rumford -- while Susan Engel also does a good job as Vivien Fay and is a good choice as the true villain of the piece (even if those three separate paintings of her are clearly all painted by the same artist).  And you can't help but wonder what the relationship between de Vries and Martha is: how close were they?  Did they go to school together?  Has she been supporting him all these years, perhaps out of a sense of love?  Oh, and the decision to shoot everything on video also lends the proceedings a welcome sense of visual uniformity.  And I don't even mind the moving killer stones that much (even if there's no way they left those indentations in the ground near the TARDIS).

But despite the good moments, this simply isn't engaging enough to maintain interest.  The neutering of any real threat in these two episodes leaves them without anything substantial to fill the void, and the net result feels like an hour of running around, rather than anything of note.  It's an entertaining enough run-around, but it's also a lightweight one.







¹⁰⁵ Actually, the cast and crew realized at some point that this was going to be the show's 100th story, so a scene was inserted where Romana and K-9 present the Doctor with a surprise birthday cake and a new scarf for his 751st birthday; however, producer Graham Williams nixed this scene on the (sensible) grounds that it was too self-indulgent.