September 17: Nightmare of Eden Parts One & Two

It's a surprisingly mature thing to do to make a Doctor Who story about drugs (you may occasionally hear people claim otherwise; they can safely be ignored), and the fact that it's not terribly heavy-handed in its use is definitely in Nightmare of Eden's favor.  It also helps that this story isn't just about drug smuggling: we've also got a problem with two ships that have accidentally merged with each other, a matter transmuter that might be unstable, and monsters from somewhere that appear to be roaming the larger of the two ships, the Empress.  It's the collision that first interests the Doctor ("Of course we should interfere!  Always do what you're best at, that's what I say"), and his unorthodox method for separating the ships is what drives the plot of these first two episodes.  The drugs are still present, but they're not always the primary focus of things.

It certainly doesn't hurt that the Doctor seems very serious about what's going on, even when he's making light of the situation; much like in City of Death, here we get someone who's trying to put everyone at ease while he works out what's going on, and thus we get the impression that he really does care about things and isn't just clowning around for the hell of it.  Lines like, "I value my life, and this machine makes me fear for it," while delivered rather off the cuff, still nevertheless convey a sense of gravity.  And the depiction of the effects of the drug vraxoin, or "vrax" for short (presumably analogous to cocaine/coke), is surprisingly chilling; watching the navigator Secker laughing his head off while the Empress crashes into the Hecate is genuinely unsettling, as is the moment where someone spikes a drink with vraxoin that looks like it was intended for Romana but ends up with Captain Rigg instead.

Then there are the monsters of the piece, the Mandrels.  While we don't really see them that much in these two episodes, I have to confess that I've never really minded their design.  They do walk awkwardly, but other than that they seem quite effective to me.  The hands are nicely clawed, and the growling sound they make is pretty scary.  Rather less impressive is the bug that attacks Romana -- well, a "bug" was apparently the intention of the script, but all we get is a white light that could be just about anything, and it takes a number of viewings to work out what's actually meant to be happening.

But really, these two episodes move a long at a nice pace, keeping things interesting with additional discoveries, new problems, and lots of great dialogue (such as, "Work for?  I don't work for anybody.  I'm just having fun," the Doctor tells Rigg).  It may have been a nightmare behind the scenes (more on that next time), but the result on screen is so far very good indeed.

September 16: The Creature from the Pit Parts Three & Four

Part three isn't really too terrible either.  High praise, I know, but the stuff with Organon trying to break the newly-created wall down, and Lady Adrasta trying really very hard to kill the creature, is quite enjoyable.  And I find I don't even mind the creature itself, other than the ludicrous pseudopods that someone's decided to attach to the thing.  It does look awfully padded in places though; the Doctor's attempts to communicate go on far too long (complete with some incredibly rude-looking interactions with the creature), and the group of bandits continue to be both annoying and a bit boring.  That last bit's not strictly padding, since the plot needs them to take the communication device to the creature, but it's not a very engaging scene.

It is nice how things come together by the end of part three (although, how did the Doctor break down the barrier that the creature created?  The given reason feels awfully facetious...) and there's something compelling about watching Lady Adrasta's carefully constructed house of cards collapsing around her -- Myra Frances continues to impress.  It's a weird cliffhanger, though, that wants us to care about her fate more than the Doctor's; why they didn't stop thirty seconds sooner, with Adrasta threatening the Doctor's life, is beyond me.

Erato uses Lady Adrasta's larynx to communicate. (The Creature
from the Pit Part Four) ©BBC

No, the real problems set in with part four.  The natural conclusion of this story happens at about 8 minutes in; Adrasta has been killed, the creature (who's really a Tythonian ambassador named Erato) has been set free, and it looks like things are going to be all right for Chloris.  But there're still 12 whole minutes to fill, so we get a bunch of padding with Lady Adrasta's right-hand woman Karela stealing a bit of Erato's spaceship and negotiating with the bandits, followed by some truly bizarre bits involving a neutron star being flung at Chloris and an aluminium shell being able to reduce its gravitational pull long enough to be redirected.  It feels like pure padding; worse, it feels like stupid padding at odds with the rest of the story.  We couldn't even get some extended characterization scenes or a palace coup or something; just nonsense about missile-like stars instead.  It seems pretty clear that The Creature from the Pit's poor reputation rests squarely on the last half of part four, and everything else that goes wrong is just fuel for that particular fire.

Because the thing is, until the second ending tacked onto part four, this story isn't that bad.  There are some questionable decisions, to be sure (why do the production team want to keep making gigantic monsters?  Do they keep thinking, "this time it'll work"?), but the thing holds together better than you might have heard.  Making Erato not automatically a villain is a good move, and Myra Frances and Geoffrey Bayldon both light up the screen.  If there's a plotting problem beyond the ending, it's that it's occasionally too straight-forward; for instance, the bandits bring the communicator to Erato because the plot needs Erato to start speaking rather than for any other reason.  This, combined with all the other problems mentioned, does mean that The Creature from the Pit isn't an underrated gem or anything like that, but it is rather better than you may have heard; there's enough here to keep you entertained despite these issues.

September 15: The Creature from the Pit Parts One & Two

The Creature from the Pit doesn't start too badly; the jungle set at the beginning is rather nice, and the scene with the Doctor and K-9 reading Beatrix Potter is rather sweet.  And it's also (finally) the debut of David Brierley as the voice of K-9 (since K-9's been absent from the first two stories of this season) -- it's a different approach from John Leeson's, but it still works.

The jungle set, as I said, is nice, and the Doctor and Romana make the most of exploring the odd eggshell that the TARDIS materializes near.  And the wolf weeds are frankly much better than one might have expected; the rolling motion helps sell the effect and demonstrates that they're not just being dragged around with strings.  The other good thing about this episode is Myra Frances as Lady Adrasta.  She's playing the part with very serious intent, and so the danger seems much more plausible than in other stories.  The same can't be said for the bandits who've captured Romana, though; writer David Fisher appears to have made them deliberately stupid for some unclear reason, and so while it's entertaining to watch Lalla Ward command them imperiously, it does make for some rather labored comedy moments later on.

But still, this first episode is quite well done, and the cliffhanger's pretty good too (even if you get a sense that none of the actors quite know how to play the scene leading up to it).  It's in the second part that things start to slip.  Lady Adrasta remains wonderfully straight with her villainy, but the Everest in Easy Stages bit with the Doctor is incredibly lame; at least when they did something similar in Destiny of the Daleks it was an in-joke.  Of course, things improve rather when the Doctor meets Organon, a seer, at the bottom of the pit; Geoffrey Bayldon pitches his performance just right, and he gets some great lines ("Organon, sir. ... Astrologer extraordinary.  Seer to princes and emperors.  The future foretold, the past explained, the present... apologised for").  But then we get our first view of the eponymous creature, and it's... ah... worryingly inappropriate-looking.  It's a bit better when we can see more of this gigantic thing (thanks to CSO shots), but there's still a green fleshy pseudopod probing the air in front of it.  To say it's not realized well is a bit of an understatement.

The realization isn't very good, and there are some misjudged comedic bits (such as anything involving the bandits), but so far there's enough here to keep viewer interest.  It's a nice touch, having the Doctor not be afraid of the creature or consider it evil automatically; if things continue like this, The Creature from the Pit might work out okay.

September 14: City of Death Parts Three & Four

The joyousness continues, as we learn that Scaroth communicates with his other splintered selves across time and has been forcing the human race to progress in order to arrive at a level of technology for his most future self to be able to go back in time and stop his spaceship from exploding in the first place -- only that explosion is what began life on Earth in the first place, as the Doctor seems to realize in his conversation with Captain Tancredi.

There continues to be a great deal of wit on display, such as the Doctor agreeing to tell Scaroth what he knows not because of the threat of thumbscrews but because he can't stand being touched by cold hands, but what separates this from other stories is that the wit goes hand in hand with the threat; the Doctor can make jokes and verbally spar with Scaroth, but he knows what will happen if Scaroth is successful in his goal, and this motivation gives the story an undercurrent of serious intent.  It matters whether the Doctor succeeds, because the entire human race is at stake.

The scenes with Romana and Duggan are also entertaining in their own way, as Duggan continues to act as the slightly blundering muscle, smashing windows and accidentally setting off alarms around the spot where the Mona Lisa used to be.  Duggan works well as Romana's foil, as she slings withering dialogue at him.  "You know what I don't understand?" Duggan says to Romana.  "I expect so," she says loftily.

Scaroth, last of the Jagaroth. (City of Death Part Four) ©BBC

Part four is to date the Doctor Who episode with the highest ever ratings, as 16.1 million people tuned in.  This is partly because ITV, the other British broadcaster, was on strike at the time, but if there was an episode for people to see, this is a good choice.  There are a number of moments in this episode that seem highly influential; the scene between the Doctor and the Countess ("I recognize the handwriting," the Doctor says.  "Shakespeare's," the Countess replies.  "No, mine," the Doctor corrects her; "he'd sprained his wrist writing sonnets") seems to have been a significant influence on Steven Moffat's approach towards Doctor Who.  And there's the oft-lauded scene with John Cleese and Eleanor Bron as the art gallery visitors, admiring the TARDIS on display in the modern art museum.  It's a perfect scene in a story full of fabulous moments. There are serious moments as well: the shots of Scaroth with his true face revealed, but still in a white suit, are potentially ludicrous looking but actually very effective.  And Duggan, who's been criticized by the Doctor and Romana for most of the story for his brute force methods, saves the human race thanks to a well-placed punch to Scaroth's head on prehistoric Earth.  It's a satisfying solution.

Seriously, City of Death is one of the best things ever.  The whole thing fits together beautifully, and there's a sense of a cast and crew having fun with a superb script.  There's often an awkward tension between drama and levity in this era of the show, but City of Death is the story that strikes the perfect balance between the two.  It's got a cracking plot and tons of quotable lines, and a self-assured production with a cast that knows how to walk the line that the script by David Agnew (aka Douglas Adams and Graham Williams) is asking them to walk.  What more could you possibly ask for?

September 13: City of Death Parts One & Two

In the interests of full disclosure, I should inform you that City of Death is my all-time favorite Doctor Who story, so don't expect a lot of harsh criticism this time around.

It certainly doesn't hurt that they've gone and traveled to Paris for the location filming this time around.  That slow pan across the flowering trees to show the Eiffel Tower is a fabulous shot, and it's clear that the Doctor and Romana are having a great time.  The scenery is pretty, and I at least don't have a problem with the production team indulging themselves with shots of the Time Lords exploring Paris, given how great it all looks.  And the script sparkles, with tons of fabulous lines (such as describing 1979 as "more of a table wine", rather than as a vintage year) and some really striking imagery: the sketch of Romana with a cracked clock for a face is imaginative (and illustrates the problems with time very well), and the shot at the very beginning, of Scaroth's ship taking off and exploding, is really nicely done.  Scaroth himself is a suitably interesting villain -- both in visual and characterization terms; Julian Glover exudes sophisticated, charming villainy, and he's a joy to watch.  Plus that first cliffhanger, where he rips off his fake human face to reveal the Jagaroth underneath, is certainly memorable (though it's not quite clear why he's doing so; maybe he needs to let his real face breathe).

Part two is even more wonderful.  It's chock full of great dialogue ("I say, what a wonderful butler, he's so violent"; "Now, while we're here, why don't you and I find out how they're going to steal it and why.  Or are you just in it for the thumping?"; "You're a beautiful woman, probably..."; "Duggan, why is it that every time I start to talk to someone, you knock him unconscious?"; and scores more), but it's also plotted very cleverly.  The scene with the Doctor talking with Professor Kerensky is fascinating, and the idea of raising money by stealing the Mona Lisa and then selling seven different copies of it is marvelous.  I also love how the Doctor and Duggan are having a conversation in Scarlioni/Scaroth's cellar while Romana is in the background investigating why one of the rooms isn't as big as it should be.  It's all simply gorgeous.

And another great cliffhanger: the Doctor pops back to Renaissance Italy, only to find that Scarlioni is also there...

September 12: Destiny of the Daleks Episodes Three & Four

It's a bit unfortunate how much things go down in episode three, and most of the issues can be blamed on Davros.  David Gooderson doesn't have the same intensity as Michael Wisher did, and the result is that he frequently sounds, well, bored.  And any time he's not required to deliver dialogue he just sits there -- it could be a mannequin in the chair for all the interactivity he displayes; he doesn't rant, he doesn't rave, and he doesn't object when the Doctor wheels him around the ruined Kaled base.  Maybe Gooderson doesn't have much experience with mask work and it's affecting his performance, but nevertheless it's a problem.  And it doesn't help that when Davros has to move under his own power (as opposed to being pushed around), Gooderson is shuffling so furiously that his upper body wobbles back and forth alarmingly.

This might not be as huge an issue if the episode wasn't devoted to the rematch between the Doctor and Davros, but the result is that this epic showdown feels small and inconsequential.  It culminates in the Doctor's decision to destroy Davros (only thwarted because some Daleks remove the explosive from Davros's chair before the bomb goes off), but because the preceding scenes were so limp this isn't the shocking choice that it should have been; it's just an incident along the way.  Oh, and then there's something about the Movellans (as the Doctor somehow learns the silver-haired humanoids are called) turning evil and placing an unconscious Romana inside a glass cylinder with a huge bomb.

The Doctor and Romana stage an argument for the Movellans.
(Destiny of the Daleks Episode Four) ©BBC

Episode four is a little better -- David Gooderson is better when he's giving orders to Daleks than when verbally fencing with the Doctor -- but there are some unsatisfying moments nevertheless.  The motivation behind the Movellans turning "evil" (they actually just want to hold on to the Doctor at all costs) makes sense (sort of), but it happens so suddenly that it's still jarring.  Everyone (even the Doctor) seems to believe that the Daleks are now completely inorganic for some reason (is this the "destiny" referred to in the title?).  And rock paper scissors is used to illustrate the logical impasse that the Daleks and the Movellans find themselves in, even though there's no logical reason for the Daleks and the Movellans to be picking the same moves (unless the idea is that the Daleks and Movellans think identically, but that's not really made clear at all).¹⁰⁹

Of course, there are some nice moments to make up for this: making the Movellans androids in the first place is an interesting move, and to his credit Terry Nation does follow through with this idea a bit (the logical impasse, the power packs).  The Daleks advancing toward the Movellan spaceship, all loaded down with explosives, is a distinctive scene, and Ken Grieve does a good job with the direction -- their eventual detonations are impressive as well.  And the prisoners' raid on the Movellan ship is also well directed.

But it's not enough to save Destiny of the Daleks.  There's definitely some promise here, and Terry Nation (in his final script for the series) provides some interesting ideas, rather than just rehashing old scripts.  Making the Daleks purely robotic may be a daft move, but it shows that he's at least thought about things somewhat.  But the two central problems (Davros, and the fact that there's not quite enough incident to fill up the four episodes satisfactorily) hang over the production, and a scene like the Doctor confronting Davros after all these years -- which should have been iconic, and looks like (for Nation, at least) the crux of the whole story -- fades into the background.  Not even Ken Grieve's direction (which tries to stay engaged with the action) can save things, and the non-serious material at the top and tail of the story don't help at all.  If they'd had Michael Wisher back as Davros, or if they'd done this a couple years earlier, they might have pulled it off.  But as it is, Destiny of the Daleks ends up being a story that just fades into the background, with nothing to sustain it -- which, given this is a return for the Daleks after four years, is frankly inexcusable.







¹⁰⁹ One "error" that isn't, though: About Time wonders how the Dalek that's wearing the Doctor's hat explodes in episode four, but it seems they didn't notice the explosive that the Doctor grabbed and planted on the Dalek right before.

September 11: Destiny of the Daleks Episodes One & Two

That's right, for one story only we're back to calling them "episodes" instead of "parts".

It doesn't open very seriously, does it?  It's slightly surprising to see Romana regenerated for no obvious in-story reason, and the manner in which the regeneration is treated is at odds with how it's been treated before.  In the past, regeneration has been treated as a last resort, with one body essentially dying and being replaced by another, but here it's a much more casual affair, with various bodies being presented in the same manner as which Tom Baker presented various costumes in Robot.

Yet after this opening scene (which also features K-9 with laryngitis, somehow¹⁰⁸), Destiny of the Daleks is a surprisingly serious affair.  The scenes of the Doctor and Romana clambering over the ruins of Skaro (not that they know it's Skaro yet) are very atmospheric, and there's a sense of dread that pervades everything.  Well, almost everything; the bit with the Doctor trapped under a pillar and reading a book about the origins of the universe (complete with a Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy in-joke from new script editor Douglas Adams) is pretty jokey.  And since this is a Terry Nation Dalek story, we have to wait until the cliffhanger for the Daleks to make their appearance, as they threaten Romana.

The second episode is just as serious; the Doctor appears to be taking the threat of the Daleks very seriously, and he keeps making noises about how he thinks he knows what it is the Daleks are searching for in the ruins of the Kaled city, but he won't actually tell us what that is.  "I'll tell you when I find out," he says.  And while he's investigating the ruins, trying to find whatever the Daleks are looking for before they do, Romana is subjected to an interrogation by the Daleks (and looks suitably terrified by them -- you can even see a tear on her face when they finally stop questioning her) and then forced to help them excavate the ruins.  It's honestly pretty brutal, and the atmospheric direction from Ken Grieve (helped by this new technology they're trying out called "Steadicam") helps a lot with this.  And while there's another jokey moment in episode two (the famous bit with the Doctor taunting a Dalek: "If you're supposed to be the superior race of the universe, why don't you try climbing after us?"), for the most part this somber air pervades the whole thing.  Oh, and look: we get our first localized extermination effect (as opposed to the whole picture going negative) -- it's quite a nice effect.

And it turns out that the Daleks are looking for Davros (even though it looked like they killed him at the end of Genesis of the Daleks -- and was the Kaled bunker really under the city in that story?) -- who, the cliffhanger shows, apparently isn't as dead as you might think...

And incidentally, full marks to whoever pulled out the background sound effects from the first Dalek story for use in this story.







¹⁰⁸ The real world reason being that John Leeson has left as K-9 and has been replaced by David Brierley -- but still, they couldn't come up with a better reason than laryngitis?