Classic Who Catch Up

I have been a big fan of Doctor Who since it’s revival in 2005 but was too young to have watched the original series. On this blog I shall be recording my thoughts on every story from 1963 onwards!

33: The War Games

“All these evils I have fought, while you have done nothing but observe. True, I am guilty of interference. Just as you are guilty of failing to use your great powers to help those in need”

Format: 10 episodes, each 25 minutes long

Team TARDIS:

• Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton)
• Jamie McCrimmon (Jacobite Rebel from 1746)
• Zoe Herriot (Librarian from the future)

Story: The TARDIS arrives in the middle of what appears to be WWI. Turns out an alien race is taking humans from their own time zones and putting them on their own planet to simulate warfare. They have the help of a time lord and it is because of this the Doctor is forced to call upon his race and ends up being taken to trial for interfering with other worlds.

What I liked: 

• The whole idea of the war games. A horrible idea really but great for a story. A bit like a Matrix kind of thing.
• The sonic screwdriver appears for what I think is the first time
• The Time Lords are named and they visit Gallifrey (which isn’t named!)

What I disliked:

• The final episode did feel tacked onto the end just for the regeneration

Overall thoughts:A cracker of a story which has become my fave 2nd Doctor story! Many say ten episodes is too many but apart from the last one they were all entirely justified for the story. Bringing together wars from across time onto one planet was a horrific yet brilliant idea. Seeing the Time Lords is a delight but it’s sad to say goodbye to Zoe and Jamie. Their leaving scene is done wonderfully and brought a tear to my eye. And then all that’s left is for the Doctor to be told he will be exiled on Earth and is forced to change his appearance. It ends in the middle of his regeneration! A fantastic ending of a fantastic era. The trio of Two, Jamie and Zoe are one of the best TARDIS teams I’ve seen so far. This story must have been incredible in 1969 and it’s still pretty amazing now. Goodbye Two, you were awesome and bring on Three!

Next Time: New Doctor! Autons! UNIT! IN COLOUR! 

I have been a big fan of Doctor Who since it’s revival in 2005 but was too young to have watched the original series. On this blog I shall be recording my thoughts on every story from 1963 onwards!

32: The Space Pirates

Team TARDIS:

• Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton)
• Jamie McCrimmon (Jacobite Rebel from 1746)
• Zoe Herriot (Librarian from the future)

Only one episode out of six remains of this story so I won’t review it as normal. The remaining episode is on the rather brilliant “Lost in Time” boxset. The story is essentially Doctor Who does Star Trek. The Space Corps police space in the Space Western, as people rush to go mining. Apparently the Doctor and his friends play a minor role and it’s the conflict between the space corps and the pirates which is the main focus, which seems a bit odd. Still, thanks to some great models it looks rather brilliant and though a bit long-winded was probably a decent story. Though the American accents are awful!

Next Time: It’s the end of the road for the Second Doctor as we finally meet the Time Lords in a ten part epic. Yep it’s Troughton’s final story and the last appearance of both Zoe and Jamie. It’s going to be emotional (and long!).

I have been a big fan of Doctor Who since it’s revival in 2005 but was too young to have watched the original series. On this blog I shall be recording my thoughts on every story from 1963 onwards!

31: The Seeds of Death

Format: 6 episodes, each 25 minutes long

Team TARDIS:

• Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton)
• Jamie McCrimmon (Jacobite Rebel from 1746)
• Zoe Herriot (Librarian from the future)

Story: On a future Earth where T-mats transport people instantly the Ice Warriors want to invade. They do so from a moonbase, sending seeds which multiply quickly and take oxygen out of the atmosphere. The Doctor and friends must stop them but with T-mats out of action and the TARDIS useless for short range they have to use a space rocket, something which hasn’t been used in a long time.

What I liked: 

• The introduction of T-mats, sometimes called transmats, something which appears  later in the Whoniverse
• The Ice warriors have a pretty good plan and don’t tell us it like most aliens seem to.

What I disliked:

• The Ice Warriors have Lego people hands. How impracticable. 
• Another moonbase? Can’t we have bases somewhere else?

Overall thoughts:A return to form, with the Doctor and companions fighting alongside a group of humans. The format again works brilliantly and the Ice Warriors are fearsome monsters. I lost track of the number of people they actually killed but it was a lot for one story. A brilliant story!

Next Time: The reaming episodes of The Space Pirates. Pirates! In space! How exciting!

I have been a big fan of Doctor Who since it’s revival in 2005 but was too young to have watched the original series. On this blog I shall be recording my thoughts on every story from 1963 onwards!

30: The Krotons

“Zoe is something of a genius… It can be rather irritating at times” 

Format: 4 episodes, each 25 minutes long

Team TARDIS:

• Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton)
• Jamie McCrimmon (Jacobite Rebel from 1746)
• Zoe Herriot (Librarian from the future)

Story: The humanoid race known as the Gonds have been ruled over by the mysterious Krotons for thousands of years. The crystalline Krotons regularly take the smartest of the race and it’s up to the Doctor and his companions to free the Gonds from the tyranny.

What I liked: 

• Patrick Trougton puts on a great performance here, making me laugh out loud several times.
• Another stunning outfit from Zoe. Phwoar!

What I disliked:

• The idea behind the Krotons is pretty good but the execution couldn’t be worse.
• Another alien race which are basically just humans. Yawn.

Overall thoughts:This story is often said to be one of the worst of the era. I’d probably agree, but bear in mind that it’s only because the other stories are almost all crackers. This one is OK and has some good elements but ultimately the two alien races in it are uninspiring and the story never really gets exciting. It’s not as bad as say, “The Gunfighters”, but is certainly the worst Troughton story I’ve seen. At least they didn’t drag it out too long. 

Next Time: The return of the Ice Warriors.

I have been a big fan of Doctor Who since it’s revival in 2005 but was too young to have watched the original series. On this blog I shall be recording my thoughts on every story from 1963 onwards!

29: The Invasion

“You’re an evil man, Vaughn. You’re sadistic. You’re a megalomaniac  You’re insane- I pity you. But if I get half a chance, I’ll kill you” 

Format: 8 episodes, each 25 minutes long

Team TARDIS:

• Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton)
• Jamie McCrimmon (Jacobite Rebel from 1746)
• Zoe Herriot (Librarian from the future)

Story: Aided by the head of a multi-national corporation, the cybermen attempt to invade Earth. It’s up to the Doctor, his companions and the newly formed UNIT team to stop them.

What I liked: 

• UNIT! In this format the small UNIT team had all the good things that made the first two series of Torchwood so good.
• Animation is the best way to replace the missing episodes. They are great.
• That scene with the cybermen in front of St. Paul’s. Wow.
• Zoe is a great companion in ever way. As is Jamie but we already knew that. It’s a perfect combo of Doctor and companions.

What I disliked:

• There’s not very many cybermen appearances considering it’s an eight episode story.
• The whole “don’t trust the cybermen” thing has been done before.

Overall thoughts:A great story about a team out of their depth still managing to win against all the odds. The fact there was so few cybermen in the story is slightly frustrating but that meant when they did appear they were more scary. It’s a great story and it’s clear why the production team looked at this one when they re-formatted the programme.

Next Time: Crystal aliens in “The Krotons”.

I have been a big fan of Doctor Who since it’s revival in 2005 but was too young to have watched the original series. On this blog I shall be recording my thoughts on every story from 1963 onwards!

28: The Mind Robber

“We may be in a place where nothing is impossible”

Format: 5 episodes, each 25 minutes long

Team TARDIS:

• Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton)
• Jamie McCrimmon (Jacobite Rebel from 1746)
• Zoe Herriot (Librarian from the future)

Story:The Doctor is forced to leave the universe to escape the lava on Dulkis. The trio end up in The Land of Fiction, where nothing is as it seems and characters from literature roam free.

What I liked: 

• The appearance of characters from literature was great.
• The Doctor having a “fiction-off” was funny and a great fight.
• Zoe’s sparkly costume. Phwoar! 

What I disliked:

• Several of the cliffhanger resolutions were a bit lack-lustre.
• The actress who played Rapunzel was dreadful.

Overall thoughts:A very odd story but a good one. It mostly sees the Doctor show is strength of mind and has some fine performances from Patrick Troughton as ever. I like his Doctor all the more after this story. The scene where the Doctor and the Master (not the Time Lord one) fought each other through fictional character’s was clever, funny and exciting. Frazer Hines got chickenpox? It’s ok, we’ll just replace him with an actor who looks vaguely like him and manage to fit it into the story. It shouldn’t have worked but it did. All in all a great but weird little story.

Next Time: Cybermen invade Earth! UNIT first appear! 

I have been a big fan of Doctor Who since it’s revival in 2005 but was too young to have watched the original series. On this blog I shall be recording my thoughts on every story from 1963 onwards!

27: The Dominators

“A Dominator must be obeyed. Your leader means nothing to me. I respect only one thing- superior force”

Format: 5 episodes, each 25 minutes long

Team TARDIS:

• Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton)
• Jamie McCrimmon (Jacobite Rebel from 1746)
• Zoe Herriot (Librarian from the future)

Story:On the planet Dulkis two aliens called Dominators arrive with their robots (quarks) and plan to destroy the planet just to use as fuel. The Doctor tries to convince the peaceful locals to fight back but it’s down to him and his companions to save the day.

What I liked: 

• The Quarks are amusing robots.
• There were some impressive explosions.
• Having few locations was great for the story.

What I disliked:

• Neither the Dominators nor the Dulkians were inspiring races.
• The story dragged on a bit.

Overall thoughts:This story gets slated a lot but I quite enjoyed it. It’s certainly one of the worse Second Doctor stories but could have perhaps worked better if it had been condensed to two or three episodes. It’s Jamie that makes this story though as he casually shoots, throws rocks at and blows up the quarks as well as being the one who creates the planet-saving idea. Not a great story but an OK one. And at this point in proceedings I think Jamie is Best Companion Ever!

Next Time: A whole story which might have been a dream. It’s The Mind Robber!