Day 221: The Invasion Episode 2

And this episode marks a very important addition to the mythos of Doctor Who, with the introduction of UNIT. They're a military organisation who investigate strange goings on, essentially meaning alien interference with the affairs of Earth. Their introduction allows for a sense of organisation with regards to the modern day stories for Doctor Who. Suddenly, stories that are set in the modern day will already have a set of allies in place, meaning that the audience will be able to latch onto new stories more easily. This is something that was explored, again, in The Web of Fear, which had Professor Travers as a recurring character from a previous adventure. This time, there's another recurring character, in the form of Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. How he works as a character we'll deal with several times over the course of the next couple of years, including, perhaps, tomorrow's entry...

Day 220: The Invasion Episode 1

This story is able to push itself away from the previous serial by firmly placing both feet into the realm of reality. It's firmly modern again, with a story based around electronics, a relatively new technology at the time. Indeed, it's worth comparing this to the previous two times that Doctor Who went 'modern'. The most recent such instance was Fury From the Deep, although I would argue that that doesn't count as much, given that it was set in the fairly remote area of an oil rig, wheras the other most recent modern adventure was The Web of Fear, which can be easily compared to this story. Both are set in and around urban areas, and both will concern themselves with monsters roaming the streets, a topic that we will look at later. But the major difference between the two is in terms of the space in which the two stories take place. The Web of Fear took place in a small and confined area, building on claustrophobia within the space, whereas the Invasion is quite clearly more spread out, showing us the full city and drawing upon the fact that it is taking place in a larger area allows for more to be showed off, at the expense of losing the claustrophobic atmosphere that perpetrated Web. It's a change, but what is Doctor Who without change?

Day 219: The Mind Robber Episode 5

And so this episode ends with the Doctor being forced to write, and he writes the story as we see it unfold. It's another example of them leaning on the fourth wall, as the characters take over from the writer, in order to let the story unfold in the way that they want it to. And he's defeated by having the master computer overload, by introducing too many ideas for the piece, meaning that things become too heavy and everything starts exploding. This idea of the enemy becoming defeated because of the way in which the story is unfolding shows great imagination for how the story goes. And that's the key word for this serial: 'imagination'. This story is filled with ideas that stretch the limits of fiction, and show the limits of imagination as well, and tta makes for some incredibly entertaining viewing.

Day 218: The Mind Robber Episode 4

The ending to this episode is that Jamie and Zoe are being crushed by a book, as the Doctor is being offered to become the Master of the Land of Fiction. Given later events within this story, I've read the ending with respect to Jamie and Zoe as them becoming fictional which is the most marvellous conceit behind this entire story. It's based around fictional characters, and yet it ignores the fact that the Doctor himself is fictional, showing us fictions within fictions and making the audience think about what the very nature of fiction is. Do fictional characters realise that they're fictional, for instance. The majority f those whom we encounter here seem aware of a higher power that controls their thoughts and actions, but they don't know exactly why. This entire piece is absurd, and wonderfully so, and it's about to get a whole lot odder

Day 217: The Mind Robber Episode 3

Indeed, this story marks a departure for Doctor Who. This is an adventure set within the Land of Fiction, where we aren't really encountering things like what we had with previous stories, where things had scientific or historic explanations. Here, they're all cast aside as we enter into the realms of fantasy. We can fight unicorns and minotaurs, who can only be defeated by not believing in them. We don't need explanations as to how these things work because we're in a fantasy dream like state, and instead we can just enjoy the story for what it is.

It should be noted that the last time that Doctor Who went into fantasy was for The Celestial Toymaker, which took a similar slant on things. There, everything was indeed possible, but each idea was stretched out to an entire episode, leaving us with the realisation that the story only had a finite amount of ideas. Here, in The Mind Robber, we get to see that each episode has three or four things that could happen within it, each of them absolutely brilliant. We can see that a man can lose his face and come back with a new one, or that characters can read along with things that are happening in other scenes through a device ominously titled "Work In Progress". By showing all of this imagination, we're able to truly enjoy this serial as we go forth on our adventures.

Day 216: The Mind Robber Episode 2

A regeneration occurs in this episode. Ish. Frazer Hines, the actor who plays Jamie, caught chicken pox, meaning that he was unable to be present for the filming of this episode. In normal circumstances, this would mean that Jamie would just be off screen for the entirety of the episode, however things can be a little bit different this time. The Mind Robber, as witnessed by the previous episode, is a bit surreal. Therefore, it somehow makes sense in the episode that when the Doctor rescues Jamie, he does it slightly wrong and ends up with a different actor playing Jamie. It shouldn't make sense, but it does because that's the nature of this story. Things aren't meant to make sense, meaning that we can become truly creative with the way that this story is told.

Day 215: The Mind Robber Episode 1

It's an odd day in the Doctor Who production office. They've just decided to cut the previous serial down, from six to five episodes. This means that they've now got an episode spare, meaning that the following serial, The Mind Robber, has now been increased from four to five episodes. This could work, but there's no money for this new 'odd' episode. All they've got are the main cast, a white backdrop, and some old robot costumes that they've dug out. Script editor Derrick Sherwin has now been told that he has to produce a twenty minute piece of television that does not exceed these limits, as well as being entertaining so that nobody turns off in disgust at how cheap it all is. What is produced is one of the finest 25 minutes in the history of Doctor Who.

The TARDIS is taken outside of time and space, creating a strong sense of the other when moving around the featureless white void of the world. It's genuinely disconcerting when Jamie and Zoe are lured out into the void, and we see the Doctor get mentally attacked by an unknown presence. It feels like nothing else that we've ever seen before, and just completely wrong. Even when the companions are captured by the robots, it's not the way that we'd normally expect, by seeing the robots approach our heroes before one of them screams. Instead, the video cuts away from the robots to the vision that the Doctor is presumably receiving, that of Jamie and Zoe beckoning him towards the void with unsettling smiling faces. But the audio is still with the robots, and we hear Zoe's scream overlaid with the image, causing one of the most terrifying things that Doctor Who has produced in a while.

Day 214: The Dominators Episode 5

The ending to this episode now ranks as one of my favourite episode endings of all time. The series up until this point has had episode endings that generally wrapped everything up, before sending the TARDIS on its way. This wrap-up could last anywhere between two to ten minutes, and whilst it's nice to get closure, there's still some annoyance in how time is being wasted just to say goodbye. This doesn't really occur here, however, instead the Doctor gets back to the TARDIS and informs Jamie and Zoe that all has been solved and the only side affect will be a small volcanic eruption. Jamie then points out that this small volcanic eruption will occur within quite close proximity to the TARDIS, causing the Doctor's face to suddenly drop as he realises what a problem he's just created. It's brilliant because it's short and snappy, but still funny at the same time. It provides closure to the episode by telling us that all will be well, and then leads into the next story with an effective cliffhanger.

The Dominators is not looked upon fondly by many Doctor Who fans, and yet there are still small gems to be found within the story. It's quite funny at points, occasionally intentional such as the indecisiveness of the council, and unintentional when considering the phallic nature of the drilling devices used, or the sheer ridiculousness of the Quarks. It's got its fair share of bad stuff, but occasionally good things can come out of it, and watching it has shown me that perhaps The Dominators isn't as bad as its reputation would suggest.

Day 213: The Dominators Episode 4

Already, we're able to clearly see the dynamic that has formed between the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe. Jamie acts as the action hero, going off and fighting the monsters, while the Doctor talks with the bad guys to try and figure out their plan using his wits, and then he and Zoe come up with solutions in which to solve this problem. The idea of having a smarter companion for the Doctor has probably been inspired by Anne Travers, the wonderful scientist in The Web of Fear, who was able to show that audiences are able to take two clever people discussing their work, and so they don't require a 'stupid' character to explain what's going on. Meanwhile, the action based role clearly works for Jamie, as he has already had his character built up in that way, ever since The Macra Terror. By playing to the strengths of the various members of the TARDIS crew, and pairing them off together, we are able to truly appreciate the wonderful dynamic that has been built up between the main cast, and despite the fact that it's only their second story together, we already get a strong sense that they've been travelling together for years.

Day 212: The Dominators Episode 3

This story was apparently meant to be funnier than it actually is. Originally written as a satire of peace loving hippies, the Dominators was rewritten and the jokes were removed in order to make way for the clearly more exciting prospect of seeing robots explode. There is some interest, however, in trying to figure out what was originally meant to be funny, and what wasn't. There are scenes where discussions are had in which the primary result is found to be 'do nothing' which is clearly meant to be funny, but there are other things as well. The name of the planet, for instance, is Dulkis. Emphasis on Dull there, as it implies that not much happens. But it's difficult to tell whether this is the writers thinking that this is funny, or whether it's just an unfortunate coincidence. Similarly, there is the character of Cully. As written, it is clear that the part is written in the style of a young rebel, clear to show the world that he can rise up and make a difference. The only problem, though, is that the part is played by a man in his fifties, and thus any elements of youth within the character are completely destroyed. But it's once again difficult to tell whether this was intentional or not, because the script doesn't really draw attention to it, nor does the direction which instead chooses to treat this perhaps too seriously, not allowing the humour to come forth.

Day 211: The Dominators Episode 2

This episode's Dalek replacements are the Quarks. They annoy me, half because they're not the subatomic particle that their name refers to, but also because of how poorly set out these creatures are. They lack the excellent design of the Daleks, instead resembling air conditioning units with legs. Their voices are not the harsh metallic tones of the malevolent pepperpots, instead their voices resemble indistinguishable high pitched syllables that occasionally form words. And their major problem is that the production team clearly believed that they were good. There were major arguements about who got the rights to the Quarks, causing this serial's writers to leave the series in a huff (a shame as they wrote The Web of Fear, probably one of the best stories we've had so far) and that means that the production team quite clearly has some problems if they think that what they're putting out id of any sort of quality. This new Bryant/Sherwin era of Doctor Who will bring many things, but consistency in production quality is not one of them.

Day 210: The Dominators Episode 1

So what's created in this story is an idea of a peaceful society that is being invaded by a slightly less peaceful society. What's interesting is that this hasn't explicitly been done before. The major pacifist race that we've encountered over the past 210 episodes has been the Thals, in the original Dalek serial. That story was quite clearly about rising up against the evil forces that lurk elsewhere in the world. This is markedly different, by instead choosing to focus on defence from an invasion, whilst dealing with the fact that the people who are being defended are, rather annoyingly, not going to put up too much of a fight. This change already makes the story feel more action-packed, as we're promised about the action that will occur during this adventure, rather than waiting to see whether it will happen or not. It's also interesting that this serial is a contrast to the first Dalek serial, as we once again have some new Dalek substitutes, who we'll talk about tomorrow.

Day 209: The Wheel In Space Episode 6

And at the conclusion of this story, the TARDIS gains a new crewmember, in the form of Zoe Heriot. Already, I instantly prefer her to Victoria, due to the way in which her character has been presented. Zoe is a futuristic character, who takes no nonsense from either Jamie or the Doctor. She looks down on Jamie due to his poor knowledge, and yet she is able to defer to him in times when more basic human feelings are needed, such as having trust in the Doctor, or alternatively in the things for which Jamie knwos but Zoe doesn't. Already, an interesting dynamic has been set up between these two characters that allows them to be in conflict and still have a strong mutual respect for each other. Likewise, Zoe fails to see the playfulness within the Doctor, and yet she knows thta he is te more intelligent of the two. And we know that by starting this character as someone who is fond of logic, we're going to be able to see their character develop as they break out from the dull world of The Wheel in Space and move onto more exciting times.

Day 208: The Wheel In Space Episode 5

Not much of note happens in this episode, so I'm going to cheat. Big Finish Productions is a company that produces licensed audio adventures about a vast array of series, including Doctor Who. Some of their plays deal with the world of The Wheel In Space, because it's actually an incredibly depressing world. There's a young character, Zoe, who is a genius, created to have perfect recall and a completely mathematical mind. And she's been brainwashed to do this, taken at a young age for the good of the world. A young child has been forced into this life, having pieces of their mind like emotion and irreverence replaced with logic. Big Finish deals with this sort of thing in plays such as The Uncertainty Principle or The Memory Cheats, both of which deal with Zoe trying to fight the world that she has been brought up in, as she has long since realised that this is no way to run a society. To tie this back into The Wheel In Space, we can see that this is a world which has been constructed well, and whilst it's not as well done as Whitaker's previous efforts, such as The Power of the Daleks, it still has hints of something lurking behind the scenes, ideas that were never fully realised. Whitaker remains a good writer, it's just that the good writer is slowly fading away, so we need some more writers to take his place

Day 207: The Wheel In Space Episode 4

Let's have a talk about Jarvis, the Wheel's neurotic controller. He's such an interesting character because of what he isn't, rather than what he could be. He's a small man, who wanders about shouting and generally being suspicious of everything that's happening, yet stubbornly refusing to believe anything that falls outside of the realm of the laws of Physics, meaning that he doesn't believe that there is a Cyber-invasion, choosing instead to spend his time in opposition to the Doctor and all of his new allies whom he has gathered to fight the Cyber-Force. What's interesting though is the fact that he is an anti-Captain Kirk. Captain Kirk represents your stereotypical hero, a man who is intelligent, caring and more than willing to fight if needs must. He's what you think of when you consider a spaceship captain, which indicates that Jarvis has been written such that all of the stereotypical captain traits have been chucked out of the window and replaced with their opposites, to show the differences between what normal writers for television series would do, and what Doctor Who writers can do.

And it is at this exact moment that I suddenly realised: in over half of the stories this series, we've dealt with slightly insane leaders of scientific groups. It's a testament to how well defined each of them are that I didn't realise this sooner, but also worth pointing out that I generally write these quite late at night, showing that my mental faculties aren't really up to scratch at this time...

Day 206: The Wheel In Space Episode 3

Aww, it's destroyed everything that you hold
dear in the cutest way possible

The Cybermen make a return appearance in this story, as do their little friends, the Cybermats. The Cybermats somehow escaped my attention when we first met them in The Tomb of the Cybermen, so I should probably mention them here. They are fundamentally cute creatures, and it's clear that they have been written in this way, in order to create a new sense of horror as these cute little things attack you and kill you horribly. Except they don't really look that cute, instead they look like a toy (almost as if they were created to be toys...). Nor do they look particularly menacing either, meaning that the monsters tend to fail. That said, they're reasonably well directed in this story, or they would be if one of the crew members who was killed by them wasn't one of the hammiest actors that the series has had to date. but it's hard to get past these creatures who were probably just created to act as toys.

Day 205: The Wheel In Space Episode 2

Of note in this episode is the first occasion where the pseudonym Dr John Smith is used to cover the fact that the Doctor's name is not generally told to people. It's used in a hurried fashion, as Jamie has to quickly come up with a solution to the problem that has arisen, and brings up the fact that this whole thing about the Doctor having the pseudonym of John Smith is not an idea that has been meticulously prepared. Instead, it's an idea that's been made up on the fly, to just answer someone as quickly as possible. What's also noticeable is how quickly this idea took off, as it becomes the go-to pseudonym, and given that the previous serial brought the sonic screwdriver, it's becoming apparent that the things that will become pure facts of Doctor Who at the moment are not going to be the monsters as much as they're going to be little details that flesh out the universe that is inhabited by the intrepid crew of the TARDIS.

Day 204: The Wheel In Space Episode 1

It's a return of David Whitaker to the writing fold, and a realisation of just how much Doctor Who has changed since Whitaker first wrote for the series. It's because he's writing it very much in the traditional sense of how Doctor Who used to be, a first episode that consists of the regular cast (in this case the Doctor and Jamie) exploring their surroundings, with not much else in it. And back in those days, it was OK, because we were able to appreciate that it takes time to tell a story and that we need to set the scene before we can begin. But now, we've realised that there are other ways of doing this. We can, for instance, allow for the situation to be discovered through taking part in the situation and using this as a springboard to meeting characters and discussing the problems that are occurring. This can be seen in 'The Ice Warriors', which begins with the Doctor meeting the crew members, and discovering about the world that he's landed himself in through expository dialogue. Here, on the other hand, we're treated to the Doctor and Jamie landing on a ship, and then exploring the empty sip for 15 minutes. There's a brief stab at action when a pitifully slow robot attacks them, and Troughton begins to fall unconscious towards the end, but aside from that, it comes across as a very dull piece of work. But the odd thing is, that this wouldn't have seemed as dull 200 episodes ago, giving us a concrete example of just how much the show has developed over the course of the five or so years that it's been on the air. It's an interesting to think about, but not so much to watch.

Day 203: Fury From The Deep Episode 6

The weed creature is defeated, and for once, everybody lives. It's a story that deserves it, because it is based entirely on people being taken over, innocent and ordinary people being forced to do things by a malevolent weed. By allowing everyone to live, it allows for the audience to feel legitimately happy at the end of a story, because we've finally moved away from the dark and gritty feeling that has overshadowed the series, because people are finally allowed to have a good time for once.

But that's all over because Victoria has realised that all she's required to do is scream. And she doesn't particularly like screaming at every monster that comes her way, so she's decided to leave the TARDIS crew. I'm not particularly fond of the character myself, but her departure here is remarkably well done. It's not a snap decision, instead one that has been strongly considered over the course of the story, and the last ten minutes become purely devoted to her decision as to whether she should stay on the TARDIS, or leave. It's disappointing that we can't see this episode, as it would be lovely to see Deborah Watling (the actress who plays Victoria) give her performance as one gets the feeling that she is able to fully carry the weight of this decision on her. I'm not a fan of the character, but it's still slightly sad to see her leave as there was always the feeling that more could have been done with Victoria that could have occurred over her period on the show.

Day 202: Fury From the Deep Episode 5

So in this episode, it's implied that the bad guys want Victoria, and Victoria specifically, because they see her as a threat. At this point, you're probably thinking that it's because she's incredibly clever, and that she's sorted everything out already. Except it's actually because they're affected by sound waves, and that Victoria's screams are hurting them. So to recap, Victoria's primary function in this story is to scream, and that becomes an advantage. It's disappointing that this is her 'time to shine' because the female companions that have preceded her have generally been incredibly strong willed, intelligent women, who provide a good role model for the little children who are watching the proceedings. And while Victoria may react to things in a realistic way, it doesn't do much for showing kids someone to look up to. It's a disappointing route that Victoria has gone on, when we discover that all that she's truly good for is screaming her head off.

Day 201: Fury From the Deep Episode 4

One of the things that characterises this point in the history of Doctor Who is the use of the formula of 'base under siege'. The premise of this is that monsters are attacking a closed room that is filled with some stock characters. The audience grows to know these characters over the month or so that they spend in their company, and also to fear the monster as it forms a presence over all that proceeds over the course of the episode. An example of this can be seen in The Ice Warriors, for instance, where a group of scientists were being held hostage by the evil Martians. Another example is here, where some oil rig technicians are being held hostage by weed. It's a nice set-up, because it allows for money to be saved on sets and actors, and it's also an effective way to create tension, by focussing not on simple scares of seeing monsters in front of your eyes (like has been done in previous episodes such as The Web Planet), but by instead keeping the monsters to a presence that controls the episode, the tension is able to be shown through the performances, writing and directing, which feels more realistic instead of relying on weird creature designs to see you through the remainder of the story.

Day 200: Fury From the Deep Episode 3

Day 200! Hurrah! I was only just looking at the date today and I realised how I never actually thought that I'd make it this far in. But enough shock at how far we've made it, let's look back at the last 100 episodes and see what changes have been made. Episode 100 was in the middle of 'The Daleks Master Plan', a 12 part epic adventure that featured the Daleks flying off through time and space as they fought the Doctor. It was nice and fun, but with a horrifically dark ending, a characteristic of the production era of the time to feature horrific endings to stories, be they reasonably pleasant or otherwise. It was also firmly within the realms of science fantasy, focussing on the joys of seeing alien worlds and the horrors that lurked within, instead of searching for realism. The current story, 'Fury From the Deep' is remarkably different, as despite the fact that the Doctor and co. are fighting a weed-like menace, the story is far more realistic, featuring a setting that is more 'real' than outer space, or Ancient Egypt, being a simple oil rig. The characters have changed as well, the Doctor becoming more of a heroic figure as the actor changes from William Hartnell to Patrick Troughton. The current production team have their hearts currently set on producing some simple terrifying little science fiction adventures with a realistic tone. It's thoroughly different to what we've had 100 days previously, and it just goes to show what difference 100 days can make.

Day 199: Fury From The Deep Episode 2

As can be seen in the video to the left, this episode features one of the most horrifying scenes in the history of Doctor Who. Every aspect of this scene feels disturbing, even if the stuff that it consists of may seem fairly incongruous, which is due to how well this scene has been constructed by the direction. I'd go into this entry more, but I genuinely feel that this one clip will suffice for this entry so just watch and be terrified.

Day 198: Fury From the Deep Episode 1

It's an odd thing, when you find the beginning of a well known joke, the first moment when you see something and you realise that it works differently to how you thought it would. Such a point arrives here when we see the introduction of the Sonic Screwdriver. It unscrews some screws and is then put away, treated as a little space-age tool that the Doctor carries around with him. We're used to it being a joke nowadays, but back when it was introduced, it was just a throwaway remark. They couldn't have known how well known this little object would become, and it's funny that of all the things that Doctor Who is trying to make into a household name, it is this that sticks the most in the minds of people, with this little sonic device. It'll detonate mines, disable Cybermats and be used as a metaphor for the Doctor's love life, but it all began with a pen shaped object that unscrewed screws, sonically.

Day 197: The Web of Fear Episode 6

So the serial comes to an end and with the end we discover who the Great Intelligence has been possessing. It turns out that it's been possessing the Staff Sergeant, Arnold, who was killed a couple of episodes ago, and has now returned as a zombie possessed by an alien being. Which, while a nice idea, doesn't actually gel well with the story as it has been progressing. The story has been built on a climate of mistrust and fear, and the audience has been guided to believe that it was someone else who was possessed by the Intelligence, namely someone who has been more active throughout the plot. Indeed, I was fairly certain that it was going to be the comedy Welshman, Driver Evans, and whilst a portion of my disappointment with the resolution is with the fact that I was incorrect, there are larger issues that I have with this.

One of these is in the background to Episode 4. Episode 4 is the action based around the Yeti attacking, and it occurs due to small Yeti statues being placed in major characters' pockets, drawing the Yeti towards them. This leads to the assumption that they were planted there by someone not acting on their own will, which leads the audience to suspect other members of the cast of being possessed by the Intelligence. This means that by revealing that the Intelligence came into the story later than expected, a small plot hole has been created which draws to attention the flaws within the script.

But the script is still good though, in particular with how it deals with the Doctor. He uses his brains to defeat the Intelligence, but his plan is foiled when Jamie goes forth and uses a plan of his own, stopping the Doctor from defeating the villain. This draws to attention the way that the Doctor operates, using his mind to defeat evil, whereas those whom he travels with prefer to use their fists, a stance that he is not particularly pleased with, particularly when they aren't as effective as using the mind. But he forgives Jamie, and continues on his travels with him because he recognises that Jamie had the right idea. 

And so the story ends on a high note, with the villain mostly defeated, and everyone free to move on their way. I should also point out at this moment that The Web of Fear was also recently rediscovered, and that I doubt that I would have been as positive about the story had I not been able to admire the strong directorial output from Douglas Camfield. Of all that we've covered so far, this is certainly one of the stories that I'd recommend watching the most, for some wonderful direction and a great story that keeps tension rising in a climate of fear.

Addendum (27/6/2014): I was reading a review of this story when it pointed out that Arnold was actually dead all along, and he was always possessed by the Great Intelligence, meaning that I had catastrophically misread this part of the plot. I apologise for any inconvenience caused, it all makes perfect sense now.

Day 196: The Web of Fear Episode 5

Rather annoyingly, my plans for today's entry have been scuppered. The plot hasn't advanced as quickly as I thought it would and my research into both the new producer (Peter Bryant) and new script editor (Derrick Sherwin) has brought up nothing much in terms of a distinct manifesto of concepts that they wish to bring to the series, beyond telling some fun science fiction stories, and that they're going to keep the show afloat for the next little while. (If anyone has anything that actually links towards one of them actively wanting to introduce something to the series beyond what their predecessors have done, please let me know, I would quite like something to fill the space here on slow episode days).

All of this is building up to the fact that I'm going to discuss the sets of The Web of Fear (I know, you're excited!). The episode takes place in the London Underground, and the sets are amazingly realistic (realistic enough that they fooled the actual London Underground into thinking that there had been some secret filming happening without their knowledge). It lends to the realism of the story, by having a recognisable location as the backdrop for all of the action that is occurring. Also, the lighting of the sets is wonderful, bringing out the intense shadows that exist throughout the piece and lending the serial a darkness that hasn't been seen for a while. Again, this comes back to the director, Douglas Camfield, whose ability to create atmosphere and tension makes him ome of the best directors working on the series at the moment, and someone who we will definitely admire for several more serials to come.

Day 195: The Web of Fear Episode 4

I suppose that I should probably mention the monsters for this serial. It's the Yeti again, and they make a good impression. Part of this is due to being directed by Douglas Camfield, who has a good eye for action and making sure that what appears on screen is both axciting and tense. But it's also due to their location as well. Jon Pertwee once famously said that the scariest thing about Doctor Who is that it happened in the real world, not on some distant alien planet. The exact phrase that he used was a "Yeti on the loo in Tooting Bec". This is because we're able to see the unfamiliar in the familiar, and there is a strong air of terror to be found in watching the army fight hordes of monsters through the streets of London, as we realise that this is a threat that could happen in our backyard, not something that's removed from the real world by virtue of being set on some distant alien planet.

But a really interesting thing about the Yeti is their weaponry. Previously, they worked with just mauling people to death, but now they've taken to firing Web guns at the hapless soldiers. Because the Yeti and webs have a long connection through history, as every little child knows. Future showrunner, Russell T Davies, stated in an interview that this is the sort of thing that would never get past a modern meeting, because it doesn't actually make any sense. But it's a testament to the production of the episode that it doesn't have to make sense, because so much else is happening that we don't necessarily care that the Yeti have web guns.

Day 194: The Web of Fear Episode 3

One of the best aspects of this story is the constant climate of fear that surrounds it. Each character is not to be trusted, as we continue to suspect that people may have been taken over by the Great Intelligence. This is in stark contrast to The Abominable Snowmen, where the identity of the Great Intelligence was pretty much known from the start, and everything pretty much proceeded from there. But by having the villain be not only a faceless entity, but also an unknown character within the story, then this allows for the piece to take on a more claustrophobic mood, and improve the tone of the story.

But this is ruined because of one key thing, one of the characters whom we are meant to expect as the Great Intelligence clearly isn't. It's Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart, soon to become the Brigadier, an ally of the Doctor for decades to come. Because we already know the character, it removes the sense of mistrust that makes the story so tense, because we know that he's one of the good guys. It's a depressing fact of the story that it's been ruined by an unavoidable spoiler. But that's OK, because it's still quite good

Day 193: The Web of Fear Episode 2

As a sequel to The Abominable Snowmen, this story feels the need to include recurring elements from the previous story. Here, we're going to discuss one major element, being Professor Travers. In this story's predecessor, he came across as a fairly one note character, a man driven to find the Yeti, and who was at first against the Doctor, but then grew to admire him as an ally. But here, fighting the Yeti again, he's a far more interesting character. he's older for a start, meaning that we get to see the effects of time travel on people who aren't in the TARDIS (something not often discussed in the early years of the show). But also, by being older he's been able to develop off screen. Were it not for the fact that they were played by the same actor, it would be impossible to tell that the two characters were the same, that's how different they are. And whilst the older version of the character is good, and brings another strong element to this story, it's also noteworthy that he exists as a 'second try' at his younger version, one that is better characterised and comes across as a more well rounded character.

And all of that seems to me, as I write it, as somewhat negative, so I'll redress the balance by saying that him discovering Jamie and Victoria is one of the loveliest scenes that we've had so far in the series, and it's a pleasure that we're able to see it today.

Day 192: The Web of Fear Episode 1

A sequel story has begun to The Abominable Snowmen, a story that I was rather lukewarm about when we covered it. Fortunately, however, things have changed such that it becomes somewhat more bearable. For a start it's directed by Douglas Camfield, one of, if not the, best director that the series has had so far. But also, new characters have been introduced which spice up the return of the Yeti.

One of these is Anne Travers, who is now one of my favourite characters in the entire Doctor Who universe, for one particular scene. A soldier is asking her how she got caught up in the work that's being done with regards to the invasion of London which is taking place, to which she responds that when she was a little girl, she wanted to become a scientist. So she became one. It's wonderfully simple, and gives a fantastic message to all the young little girls out there that science isn't just a boy thing, and that there are other career oppurtunities besides screaming at Yeti. I should perhaps state my bias towards this character, due to the fact that I'm currently Training Manager for a group called Robogals, which goes out and inspires young girls, just like Anne does, by showing them that science and engineering are achievable career options, rather than just being a secretary or an artist, they can want to be scientists when they grow up. And then become one.

Day 191: The Enemy of the World Episode 6

And as this serial comes to an end, the Doctor and Salamander finally come face to face. It's an encounter that takes place in the TARDIS, something which feels inherently wrong as, and I'm fairly sure that I'm right about this, no other character that wasn't either the Doctor or a companion has fully entered the TARDIS before (although a Zarbi did walk through the doors, it was forced out again rather quickly). This is able to show just how serious things have become with this villain, that they have been placed in a position that only the good guys have previously had, being in control of the TARDIS.

It doesn't last long though, as there's a brief punch-up between the Doctor and Salamander culmunitating in Salamander being thrown out of the TARDIS doors whilst the ship is in flight. A lesser director would have handled this badly, but Barry Letts has an eye for action, using some impressive quick cuts to keep things pacy and ensure that it feels like no other episode before it. Letts is a name that we will definitely return to in the future, and it's wonderful to see that his first impact on Doctor Who came off so well, being a wonderfully directed action thriller that clearly shows him as a name to keep an eye on.

And someone making their last impact on Doctor Who is the producer of this serial, Innes Lloyd. He brought with him a serious science fiction style to the series, moving it away from the fantastical adventures that the Doctor would have into the enthralling and slightly more realistic adventures that he encounters. As well as that, he cast Patrick Troughton, who has quickly made the role his own, to such an extent that it's hard to imagine anyone else being the Doctor besides him. Lloyd also had a good eye for finding things that people would be interested in, bringing us terrifying monsters such as Cybermen and Ice Warriors to frighten small children so that people had a reason to watch the program beyond it being a nice little story, it was also a nice little story that would send you running behind the sofa. When he came into the series, I will admit that I was skeptical of his work, because I had quite enjoyed the fantasy that had been brought by his predecessors in the role, but he proved me wrong by showing that serious science fiction can be just as enthralling, and although some lightness of touch was required to make everything bearable, it still comes across as a wonderful piece of work that is definitely worth checking out. So this blog says thank you to Innes Lloyd for giving us so much to the history of Doctor Who.