Day 343: Frontier In Space Episode 6

As we reach the conclusion of this story a few things begin to become clear. Firstly, the major theme behind this story shows itself, being one of fear. Fear is a theme that we have seen throughout the Jon Pertwee era, whether through the Keller Machine using fear as a weapon in The Mind of Evil or the fear of the mutants in The Mutants drawing the worst out of people, several stories have built on the idea of fear being used as a dangerous thing. Frontier In Space continues that trend by showing the two alien races: Humans and Draconians, at war with each other because they both fear the other. The Master capitalises on this by using a machine to imitate their greatest fear and using this to convince each side that the other is attacking them, thus strengthening the fear that each side has over the other, with the intention of leading to all out war.

Of course, this fails because both sides are able to see reason. Both decide to overcome their fears and to engage in conversation with the other, as they learn from their mistakes and try to be better as a result of this. The outgoing message of Frontier in Space one of peace. That whilst fear might instigate hostility and could cause war, it could all be based on misunderstandings, and that we must truly understand the situation at hand before engaging in any rash decisions such as all out war.

Not that my nine year old self paid attention to any of that. Instead, I was far more concerned with the fact that the story suddenly goes off in a new direction at the end. The Master stands at the top of an alien mountain and proclaims to the Doctor that he has some old friends that would like to see him again. Three Daleks suddenly appear out of nowhere and begin to attack them. When I was a kid, I sort of knew what the Daleks were. And by sort of, I mean that my parents had mentioned them in passing when they were telling me about this strange television series. But this took me completely left of field, as these evil metal creatures came forth and began to attack. Instantly, they became the coolest things that I had ever seen before in my life, and laying the kindling for my obsession with Doctor Who.

And this, I should add, really was a surprise. I am possibly the only person to see the VHS cover for Frontier in Space, observe the Dalek, and then be surprised when they turned up at the end, mainly because I assumed that they were just on there for no reason whatsoever aside from they looked kind of cool. There was one more surprise though waiting for me. The conclusion of Frontier In Space features the Master cornering the Doctor, before shooting him and escaping off into the distance. The Doctor gets up, and with the help of Jo goes into the TARDIS and activates the TARDIS's telepathic circuits to send a message to the Time Lords. And then the story ends. I waited to see what would happen next. I waited for a good five minutes until the VHS finished, and then I admitted that it was quite probable that this story would end on a cliffhanger. I didn't know why though. I didn't know how it would be resolved. I needed to get some form of closure to how it would all end. So I looked up what would happen next, resolving that I would watch the conclusion to Frontier In Space as soon as I possibly could. It was a wait that would last another nine years...

Day 342: Frontier In Space Episode 5

The Draconians are a race who appear in this story, and sadly this story alone. They are probably my outright favourite alien race to appear in Doctor Who for so many reasons. For a start, their design is spectacular, being recognisably alien and at the same time able to show the facial expressions of the actors behind them, meaning that they can fully emote and express opinions instead of lumber about the place and shout. Although, they are created by Malcolm Hulke, aren't they, and so we don't really expect them to be lumbering alien menaces, instead we know that they are going to be treated as equally as the humans in the narrative, full of Hulke's shades of grey that he puts into the stories to introduce a sense of morality to the audience watching it. We can see this through their society, built up in a few brief scenes and yet it tells so much about them and what they think. We can see the high respect that they have for the ruling class, as well as their respect for tradition. But we also see that they are willing to listen, and to learn from the actions of the past. It is for these reasons and so much more that I love the Draconians, and every series that I sadly discover that they aren't returning is a tiny bit of disappointment that I have when I look at the excitement that lays ahead for what is to come.

I don't remember much about the Draconians on first viewing. Instead, I was focussed on how weird everything had suddenly become. The VHS copy that we had of this story had decided to forgo the usual theme tune for Episode 5 and instead use the 'Delaware' version of the theme, only heard in a few foreign markets due to a mistake made when creating the overseas print for the story. It was so weird and different to what I was expecting to happen that I was curious to find out more. To find out why this had occurred and what was behind it. This led me to have a hunt through the shelves of Doctor Who books downstairs to discover Doctor Who The Television Companion, a book that went through the history of every episode of Doctor Who up to The TV Movie. I would devour this book for information, to discover more about this strange series that I had been introduced to. And I still do to this day, as can be seen by the incredibly well read copy that sits beside the computer, for when I can't be bothered to use Google to look up something.

The Book that formed much of my childhood,
as Old

The Book that formed much of my childhood,
as New

Day 341: Frontier In Space Episode 4

The Master appears in this story, as played by Roger Delgado, sadly for the final time before his unfortunate death. Delgado brings a suave charm to the Master with an ability to walk into a scene and instantly make himself the most attractive character. By this, I mean that the audience is drawn to him and his character. We may not necessarily agree with him or his ideals and yet there is the attraction there that makes us want to watch him. Add to this a wonderful chemistry that he has with Jon Pertwee as the Doctor and Katy Manning as Jo, the Doctor's companion, and we get a character that is truly memorable and it's fairly safe to say that we will miss him greatly.

Not that I was aware of who the Master was at the time of first viewing, of course. Instead, this character was someone else in the story, someone who I had no prior connection to and as far as I was aware, neither did the Doctor. But through the way in which the story dealt with him, and the way in which Manning, Pertwee and Delgado played off of each other. There was the indication that there was a greater mythology behind all of this. Something which would be explored throughout my life as I sought to learn more about the programme.

Day 340: Frontier In Space Episode 3

There's a sequence that I have little recollection of noticing the first time that I saw this episode. Indeed, it was only when I was around 17 or 18 that I fully noticed and began to appreciate this sub-plot within the story. Essentially, the Doctor is sent to a Lunar penal colony to spend the rest of his days, as he is accused of being a spy for the alien Draconians and the evidence seems to back this claim up. Whilst on the colony, he meets like-minded people who have been placed on the colony for political crimes. These crimes are crimes of peace, attempting to prevent war from occurring. It's a revolutionary moment because it inspires in the audience a sense of realisation as to how society truly treats those that search for peace, and hopefully encourages them to join in the fight against war.

As I say, I was around 17 or 18 when I re-watched this story. I'd seen it a couple of times before, most recently about a year or two prior, although that was mainly spent realising that this story was actually quite good, and not noticing the subtleties present in Malcolm Hulke's writing. Watching it as a young adult made me fully realise how political Doctor Who could be, showing themes that reveal and reflect the time in which they were written. It helped to show me how awesome Doctor Who could be, and reinvigorated a love for the programme in my mind.

Day 339: Frontier In Space Episode 2

Frontier in Space is, on first glances, not the best story to introduce a kid to Doctor Who with. There's none of the fast paced action that hooks younger viewers nowadays, instead it is an altogether slower and more thoughtful affair. There is action, but there's also political intrigue and discussions on prejudice and fear, points that I shall delve into later. Ideally, I would talk about how this didn't matter to my nine year old self. That he was still intrigued by this piece of television that looked at the way in which we treat each other. But to tell the truth, I can't remember. I remember that I watched and liked the story, but it wasn't one that I revisited too often so I don't know how much of an impact it made on me.

But hiding in the back of my memory is something. A giant rabbit, a pink elephant, and a purple horse with yellow spots. The Doctor mentions them in an anecdote to Jo about how you shouldn't be afraid of people interrogating you with truth telling machines as long as you tell the truth, even if they don't believe you the first time*. I love this moment, it's a charming moment from the Doctor and endears him to the audience. I can't recall whether he endeared himself to me at nine years old though. But the memory stuck with me for eleven years as I grew older, and began to forget occasional memories from my childhood. The fact that that stuck says something to me about how maybe this magical little moment let me see the inner beauty of the series, and made me think that I should perhaps check out some of the other videos in the cupboard downstairs. But that's another story, as we still need to finish Frontier In Space.

*(I could lie and say that this one moment inspired me to tell the truth always for the rest of my life. However, the truth is that a traumatising moment with Christian vegetables left me petrified of lying. This is a legitimate problem that I have in my life.)

Day 338: Frontier In Space Episode 1

One day, I was watching television. I was nine years old at the time, and easily impressionable. My TV diet consisted almost entirely of the ABC, the Australian public broadcaster. Every day I would wake up to their morning cartoons, and in the afternoons I would return home and watch their afternoon programming, confident in the knowledge that everything went to some sort of order. If a new show were to be broadcast I would see the trailers for it, get from these trailers a feeling of what the show was and whether I would like it, and then decide on whether it would be worth checking out.

Then, one day, there was a trailer that didn't describe the series that was going to be on. All it said was that "It is returning" as weird patterns filled the screen and a wheezing groaning sound came forth from the TV set. I asked my parents about it, they'd seen it too and were talking about what it really was. They said that Doctor Who was coming back. Not new episodes though, the old ones from before I was born. They explained what the show was and took me downstairs. There, I was shown their Doctor Who collection. Books that I had run past rushing through the house were actually novelisations  of these stories. A cassette tape that hadn't been played since a revolutionary time travelling nativity production a couple of years prior was actually the theme to this strange programme. And the video cupboard that only held Mum and Dad's videos was opened, revealing a handful of VHS copies of Doctor Who episodes for me to discover. That weekend, I sat down with my family and watched one of them. That episode was Frontier In Space, and it would be the gateway for me to a whole new world of discovery.

Day 337: Carnival of Monsters Episode 4

We have three of my favourite characters in all of Doctor Who in this episode: Pletrac, Orum and Kalik. All three are functionaries, and are able to play off each other in beautifully constructed ways to make the entire story one to truly enjoy. Kalik is a conniving character, who is trying to overthrow the President of Inter Minor through exposing the supposed weaknesses in his regime. He does this by attempting to set the Drashigs free to wander through, and then reveal that their weapons are useless. He is joined in this venture by Orum, a lesser character who is incredibly worried about how everything will turn out. Orum's easily frightened nature plays off Kalik's quiet confidence well, allowing the two characters to become incredibly memorable and so we as an audience can grow to like these little villains. They can also be easily contrasted with Pletrac, the man who is ostensibly in charge of the operation. Pletrac is quite thick, unable to see what is being done right under his nose, instead focussing on the bureaucracy of the situation. These three characters are all funny, enjoyable and memorable, and show that Robert Holmes, their writer, is clearly one of the best writers working for the series at the moment.

Day 336: Carnival of Monsters Episode 3

The major idea behind this story is that of a Miniscope. A Miniscope, as the Doctor puts it, is a peep show, an ability to put lesser species into a box and have them parade about for the amusement of the greater species that created this device. It can easily be seen as a barbaric invention, one which demeans these creatures on the grounds that they are less intelligent than what surrounds them. This is also a ploy on the part of the writer, Robert Holmes. Holmes has clearly decided here that he shall use this to comment on the way in which our society gets its entertainment. Humanity, as a race, tends to take its entertainment from looking at what is less than us, reminding us of how superior we are. It's a less than charitable habit, and one which reveals the inner problems that humanity has, as a whole. Thus, Holmes can show us this by placing humanity in an oppressed situation, forcing them to realise the ways in which they act and hoping to show that maybe we, as a species, can be better than what we currently are, through using Doctor Who as a somewhat revolutionary piece of television.

Day 335: Carnival of Monsters Episode 2

This episode introduces us to the Drashigs, a new and terrifying monster. Their terror comes mainly from their design, being a far more animalistic design than we're used to, showing us something that is truly consumed with attacking its prey and fighting all that comes in its way. It's relatively unique in terms of the monsters that we've encountered so far in the series, as it is quite clearly not a man dressed up as it. There are no arm or eye holes present in this beast, instead it is just the beast that is present, adding to the animalistic sense that we get from it. This all makes the Drahig one of the most interesting and engaging monsters that we've discovered in the series so far, making it one to truly remember.

Day 334: Carnival of Monsters Episode 1

This episode has a very interesting structure. When it begins, we see an alien world with a society reasonably different to our own (which will almost certainly be looked at in a future entry). There, a showman and his glamorous assistant arrive to put on a show for them. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Jo arrive on a ship in the Indian Ocen in the 1920's, and discover a plesiosaurus as well as some incredibly odd behaviour coming from the occupants of the ship. These two plotlines have no connection to eachother so far in the story, being completely independent of one another. This allows for a stronger mystery to be built up for the audience, as we now not only have the fact that there are strange goings on in the ship in the 1920's, but there is also the fact that we can expect that the two plotlines will have to converge at some point and therefore the audience is in a state of wonder as to how the writer, in this case Robert Holmes, will be able to pull this off. We'll find out over the coming episodes as we look at this veritable Carnival of Monsters!

Day 333: The Three Doctors Episode 4

This reason also has Omega, an example of the fantastic ideas which Bob Baker and Dave Martin can bring to Doctor Who. Omega is the man responsible for creating the Time Lords, giving them the power of time travel. As a reward for this, he was chucked into a black hole to another universe, where he lives in solitude, going clearly insane due to his isolation. This is a fantastic idea as it draws into the past of the Doctor Who mythology, showing us what happened before the series began and giving glimpses into the universe in which the Doctor inhabits, showing us that it has been working for far longer than ten years. But it's also a fantastic idea at the heart of it, a man who has been given the power to be a God in his own domain and it has driven him mad.

This is also followed up on by two key parts of Omega. One is the performance given by Stephen Thorne, the actor behind Omega's mask. He fully conveys the insanity and strong emotion at the heart of this character, shouting and screaming his way through the dialogue showing his full madness. The other key part of Omega comes when he removes the mask which has covered him for the entire serial, revealing that his entire body has been eroded away and that the only thing keeping him alive is his will to live. This reveals both the strength of the original man that he was able to keep alive through will and will alone, and yet his insanity, as it is shown that there is nothing concrete that remains of his self, only the shadow that holds the very fibre of his being together (and even then that is fading). It's a fantastic idea and shows that Bob Baker and Dave Martin are clearly the people to turn to for some fantastic and truly insane ideas.

Day 332: The Three Doctors Episode 3

One of the best things about The Three Doctors is to be found in the character of the Brigadier. We know this character well, as the military man in charge of the situation. But what happens when he isn't in charge of the situation? This story examines that, having a direct attack on UNIT HQ to cause him some degree of unhappiness then he is faced with the Doctor changing his face again and to top it all off he is sent to an entirely new universe. It's hilarious to see this unflappable man completely out of his comfort zone as he desperately tries to make sense of everything. In a way, we can see this as revenge for the fact that we were forced as viewers into the Brigadier's world when Doctor Who became Earthbound. Now we have been sent back to the more surreal, mystical and wonderful way in which Doctor Who used to be and the Brigadier is unable to take it all in. It shows, in the 10th anniversary story, both the way in which Doctor Who used to be and the way in which it is now coming together in a cataclysmic crash of ideas.

Day 331: The Three Doctors Episode 2

Also appearing in this episode is William Hartnell. As scripted, he appears as the wiser old man to guide his two replacements to the right answers. However, it's sadly apparent that age has not been kind to Hartnell. You look at him and you don't see the energy that was present when he was the Doctor, the ability for him to dash about with his wits and remain on top. Instead, we just see an old man appear on a television screen, obviously unwell and trying to recapture the spirit of the Doctor, but not entirely succeeding. It's a sad reminder of why Hartnell left, he was sadly fading and would not have been able to carry on as the Doctor for this time. Fans can praise Hartnell for returning for the 10th anniversary special, but for me it's somewhat depressing to see what was once so great be so diminished due to illness and age.

Day 330: The Three Doctors Episode 1

Patrick Troughton makes a return to Doctor Who in this serial. To say that I was looking forward to this would be an understatement. I was practically bouncing off the walls with joy at the thought of seeing Troughton again, it's not that I dislike Pertwee, it's just that I like Troughton far more, due to his sense of fun and lightness that he brings to the role. Take, for instance, the second half of this story which brings Troughton and Pertwee into conflict, showing the base differences between their portrayals of the Doctor. Pertwee remains serious throughout the situation, whereas Troughton has an element of fun with the situation, playing his recorder and generally being happy about the situation that he finds himself in. These two personalities immediately come into conflict providing some of the best moments in the history of Doctor Who as they play off eachother perfectly, making this a serial to remember throughout the years as we hit the 10th anniversary of Doctor Who.

Day 329: The Time Monster Episode 6

A couple of days ago, I was having a chat with my Dad. Over the course of the conversation, I mentioned the relatively poor quality of The Time Monster, pointing out the terrible special effects and plot in particular. I was then surprised to learn that my Dad is actually quite the Time Monster fan, as he attempted a defence of this rather poor story. This inspired me to try and find some more good points to talk about with regards to The Time Monster, which was actually easier than I thought. What follows, then, is Three Good Things About The Time Monster (Specifically Episode Six)

1. Kronos. Kronos is of course a poorly regarded monster, because of a remarkably conceived design. However, the conclusion to this story has Kronos as they were always meant to be. An all powerful and inconceivable figure that appears to exist outside of any sort of normal reality itself. They're something odd and strange, able to change their shape at will. To become a destroyer or a creator. A monster of fear or a dominating figure of beauty. This is showing the true power of the original Greek Myths, and shows that there was perhaps some respect paid to the original source material.

2. The Daisiest Daisy. Sometimes there'll be padding like we looked at in Episode 4. It doesn't really do anything to advance the plot and leaves you with a feeling of boredom. But sometimes there can be beautiful and joyous padding, such as this. It's a simple little scene that survives purely because of Jon Pertwee's charm as the Doctor, telling us a beautiful story about perspective and dark days. This scene may come from a less than spectacular episode, but it does have its charm and certainly forms a highlight of the entire series so far.

3. NAKED BENTON! Sergeant Benton also turns into a baby previously in this story, such that when he is returned to his proper age he is found to be naked. I don't think I need to elaborate on why this moment is a highlight of The Time Monster

Day 328: The Time Monster Episode 5

The major reason why The Time Monster is so disappointing, in my opinion, is somewhat personal. When The Time Monster was aired on Australian TV as part of a repeat run of Doctor Who episodes, I did not watch it. I can't remember the exact reason, but I have a strong feeling that it was because I was more interested in a video game known as Age of Mythology. The game was a Real Time Strategy based adventure where you would take a Civilisation and through using their Gods you would be able to crush your opponents. This game instilled in me a love for mythology, and I would spend the next couple of years obsessed with Egyptian Gods, the Norse Legends and in particular, Greek Heroes. I don't think that I knew then, that The Time Monster dealt with these themes otherwise I would have watched it with keen interest, but I can't help the feeling that the story would have been massively disappointing to my young self. For someone who had this idea of Kronos as the destroyer of worlds and Atlantis as a great lost civilisation, I could have only been let down by the less than stellar ways of The Time Monster. It's a shame, as this idea of looking at Greek Mythology is certainly a good one and hopefully it will be dealt with better as the series progresses.

Day 327: The Time Monster Episode 4

There's a moment in this episode where the Doctor and the Master essentially try to outwit eachother for about ten or fifteen minutes. It is annoying, as it means that the plot essentially comes to a standstill as we focus on this piece of padding, thus making the story feel dull as a result. It also reveals one of the crucial problems with the Master, being that we have become comfortable with him as a character. Seeing him engage in battles of wits with the Doctor is now commonplace and we always know the outcome. Even when the Master appears to win, we know that the Doctor will secretly win anyway, because he's done so for the past however many times the Master has appeared. So by having an extended scene where the Master and the Doctor essentially have a chat about who is the one in control of the situation, it allows the audience to suddenly realise that they are growing slightly bored of this Doctor/Master relationship, indicating that perhaps something needs to be done to change things for the future.

Day 326: The Time Monster Episode 3

Kronos appears in this episode. In Greek mythology, he is one of the Titans, the father of Zeus. He is the god of time and one of the true all powerful beings in mythology. This is how he is portrayed when he first appears in The Time Monster. It is, to be perfectly honest, one of the most laughable creatures in Doctor Who. To take an extremely powerful being and reduce it to a man dressed as a budgerigar is a times frustrating and hilarious. But as if this were not hilarious enough, imagine seeing it flap about rooms trying to be menacing but failing horrifically. It's one of the great failures in terms of monsters in Doctor Who and also represents the moment when The Time Monster crosses the line and becomes a truly poor Doctor Who story.

Day 325: The Time Monster Episode 2

Sergeant Benton is one of the regular members of the UNIT family. He's characterised as a loyal and dependable man who will pop up in every other story and just lend the Doctor a hand. He works as a character because secretly, behind all of this facade of him being competent, he is actually rather thick. We feel sorry for this character as he consistently fails at understanding the plot or fighting alien menaces or whatnot. It makes his occasional successes all the more exciting because we realise that this is actually a rare occurrence for the series, and that we can enjoy Benton getting a good moment for once, such as in this episode when he successfully captures the Master. Of course, this fails almost instantly revealing that in the end, Benton is just as incompetent as ever.

Day 324: The Time Monster Episode 1

This story begins with something reasonably unique in the history of Doctor Who. We get a glimpse of one of the Doctor's nightmares as he envisions the Master standing over him and proclaiming himself to be the Master of all, while volcanic eruptions and earthquakes go off in the distance (cf Inferno). This is unique as we get a glimpse into the Doctor's inner thoughts. We begin to see what goes on behind this man of mystery's mind. This is unique as normally we see the Doctor through the eyes of normal people, mainly his companions as we travel through time and space. Despite the fact that he is the protagonist of the series, we actually spend very little time seeing things from his perspective, preferring instead to keep an air of mystery about this centuries old alien being. Which is a good thing as it keeps the series fresh, but yet there is still the inner hankering to know more about what makes this Time Lord tick. This is why we can cherish this scene as something unique, something that we only see on special occasions, and brought out on occasion - most recently in Listen - because it's a glimpse at a whole world that we cannot even begin to comprehend.

Day 323: The Mutants Episode 6

The major theme of The Mutants is race. It's a story that quite clearly looks at the way in which racism occurs and what is done because of this fact. The racism is between that of the humans and the Solonians, the Solonians being maltreated because they are less civilised than the humans, but also because they are different. These differences are something that the humans fear, and so they torture and attack the Solonians, segregating them from the rest of their civilised society and keeping them at arm's length.

The racism is generally perpetuated by the Marshall, who keeps everything in check with his climate of fear and anger against everything that comes in his wake. He is a man with a narrow-minded view of the universe. A universe fit for humanity and not much else. The important thing, however, is that there are two sets of people with repect to his orders. Those that obey them without question and those that consider the consequences of the actions and realise what is being done, that this must not perpetuate. The former of these two is a regrettable fact of life. There will always exist people who do not question their way of life and these people deserve to be educated to receive opinions about what they do and believe to get a fuller understanding of life in the universe. The latter of the two represents the hope that we have. That people will rise up against their superiors and realise that sometimes what is being passed on to you may not be right and that sometimes it is best to let go of inhibitions of fear and to see what is out there in the universe.

It's worth noting as well that this sentiment of race is something that is clearly shown in the production as well. People of colour populate the background of this story in a way that we've never really seen before, showing that diversity can exist and also allowing for the humans to be shown as hypocites, given that they show diversity in their crew and yet they can't show diversity with respect to the Solonians. We must therefore realise that issues such as race will always continue and we will need to work hard in order to help overcome this problem.

Day 322: The Mutants Episode 5

It's worth talking about another character within The Mutants: Cotton. Cotton is an unremarkable character, the friendly soldier who we've met tonnes of times before in various guises across fiction. There is one thing, however, that differentiates Cotton from his peers. He is portrayed by one of the most appalling actors in the world. Every line that comes forth from his mouth is completely unbelievable. Every time he is in a scene your eyes are drawn to him, not because he's got anything interesting to say, but instead because he defies all human acting abaility and you desire to see more of him to see just how badly he will perform.

And in a way, Cotton sums up The Mutants. Because there's nothign wrong with the idea of Cotton. We've seen characters like him before and they've worked somewhat well. It's just that somewhere between the ideas stage and the transmission of the programme something went horribly wrong and we end up with something that could have been better. The ideas of The Mutants are sound, it's just that thye get lost in a sea of things not turning out the way that they should have. And there's one very important idea that we've yet to touch on, that we'll look at as we approach the conclusion of The Mutants.

Day 321: The Mutants Episode 4

The contents of the package that the Doctor delivers to the Solonians is a collection of stone tablets. Ky, the Solonian for whom the package was intended, sees little point in these tablets as there is no way to fight with them, they are not weapons which can be used to defeat the Overlords. But in a way, they are weapons. They represent knowledge, one of the greatest weapons imaginable. One can underestimate the power of knowledge and fail to realise its true potential. It can be used to realise what people can be capable of, as it reveals secrets of the entirety of the universe's history to whomsoever happens to learn it.

In this case, the knowledge refers to the life cycle of the Solonians, revealing that they are the titular mutants and that they will mutate into new beings, coinciding with the seasons on Solos. This is an immensely powerful piece of knowledge as it not only shows to the Solonians that they have the capabilities to be something more than what they are currently (whether that by represented through a cockroach type creature or something else entirely), but it also reveals that the Mutations that the Solonians have been experiencing are in fact normal (much like puberty) and that perhaps the humans aren't to blame for this (as was conjectured by the Solonians) thus opening the door to some form of peace between the two races.

Day 320: The Mutants Episode 3

In this time of the series, the Doctor has been exiled to Earth. This was deemed to be not a very good idea by the production team as it meant that the potential for variety in storytelling was reduced, as there were only so many stories that you could tell about attempted invasions of Earth. So therefore, the proposal was given that the Doctor would fulfil errands for the Time Lords, in order to give the show a chance to utilise the idea set forth in the premise: of a box that can go anywhere in time and space as opposed to being stuck in 20th century Earth.

The mission that the Doctor is fulfilling in The Mutants is the delivery of a package to one of the residents of Solos. Pleasingly, Baker and Martin cholse not to stretch out the package delivery process, which would stretch the credibility of the story, instead they restrict this to half of the story, leaving the other half to discover what the contents of the package means, which means that the story is able to have room to breathe and develop ideas over the course of the 6 episodes that it takes up. Tomorrow, we'll have a look at what the contents of the package mean, and how they relate to the world as we know it.

Day 319: The Mutants Episode 2

Jaeger is a very interesting character when we look at The Mutants. He's a scientist, who works for the benefit of humanity, trying to figure out how to save the humans who inhabit Solos from the atmosphere which requires them to wear Oxymasks to prevent themselves from dying of asphyxiation. Indeed any scientific knowledge that he sees the Doctor utilise, he realises can be used for humanities benefit. The only problem is that it is quite clear that Jaeger only sees benefits for humanity, and not for the wider populace of Solos. Jaeger represents a scientist with a closed mind, one who has been influenced by Empire at little too much and does not realise the wider concerns of his actions. This shows to the audience that perhaps their scientists too are affected by closed-mindedness, only focussed on the solutions for the people within their immediate vicinity and with little concern for the people who just don't matter in their world-view.

Day 318: The Mutants Episode 1

This story is clearly about Empire. It concerns a planet where Earth has occupied and looked after it for several years, degrading the natives in the process. However, as their Empire is waning, they must consider which colonies are worth keeping and which could stand to have humanity removed from them. Thus the story begins with the humans being informed that they will be ordered to leave this plan and to reposition themselves on some other world. It's obviously comparable to the way in which England was in her heyday, keeping control of vast quantities of the Earth only to realise that this power is not going to last forever. The only problem is that this is a theme that we've seen countless times in Doctor Who before and that Bob Baker and Dave Martin are going to have to do something special to differentiate themselves from what surrounds them.

Day 317: The Sea Devils Episode 6

The Sea Devils is ostensibly a sequel to Doctor Who and the Silurians. Both are by the same writer and concern the same idea: what if there was a race of intelligent beings who occupied the Earth before humanity? There are issues, however, with this approach. For a start there is the large risk of Malcolm Hulke, the writer, repeating himself with these themes, something which he manages to avoid by barely raising them. But by doing this, he doesn't give himself the opening to have the concept of individuals of different morals within the species as he's been forced to instead rely on the prior occupation of Earth as a means to justify the ends of monsters wishing to invade Earth and destroy humanity.

Thus, Hulke is forced to go other places to put through his trademark of morally ambiguous characters. The Master's allies and stuffy politicians take these places but they lack the certain fierceness that can be brought out normally with these archetypes, instead reduced to wandering around and spouting off ideas that we've heard before. So we are faced with a story that, whilst good, treads water with respect to ideas raised. One can hope that the next couple of stories will be full of ideas as we continue on this journey.

Day 316: The Sea Devils Episode 5

Amongst a certain type of person, there is one thing that distinguishes The Sea Devils to most other stories of its time, being the soundscape. The music is normally done by Dudley Simpson, however for this story the director instead utilised the talents of Malcolm Clarke and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop to provide a more electronic score. The result is incredibly interesting, as it uses sonic elements that don't normally get heard in places outside of experimental music venues.

The electronic mix is something new, vibrant and different, and is able to inject life into this series as it provides something completely different from what surrounds it. But it adds a strong dissonance to the story itself as we are used to the way in which these stories are normally told. Whilst electronic music has been creeping into the series since Terror of the Autons (and arguably since the series itself began) there's still some unease about this new-fangled technology. And to inject it into the ears of unsuspecting viewers makes for a bit of a shock, and could turn some people away. That said, the story is the main focus here and it is hopefully interesting enough to keep viewers interested in the series, as The Sea Devils approaches its conclusion.

Day 315: The Sea Devils Episode 4

The sonic screwdriver is an object that is viewed with some humour these days due to its magic wand like properties whereby it can appear to solve any problem whatsoever. This hasn't always been the case though. The screwdriver itself has mainly been used to either unscrew screws or as a lockpicking device since it has been introduced, keeping true to the way in which the device was originally intended and not stretching the credibility of the use of it as a tool. However, in this episode we begin to see it approach more unbelievable territories as it is used to explode mines across a minefield to distract the titular Sea Devils from crossing it. It stretches the credibility somewhat this device and yet it also allows for a very memorable visual moment, sticking in the hearts and minds of young viewers watching the program, showing that sometimes it's OK to not stick to the rules provided that it will produce something cool in the process.

Day 314: The Sea Devils Episode 3

As this is a Malcolm Hulke script, the characters are fantastic. In today's blog, we'll have a look at Colonel Trenchard. He's a stock character whom we're familiar with, the blustering upper class type who wanders around and has things happen to him. He's more concerned with golf games than with actual work, but there's a degree of comfort associated with the character as we see him as a buffoon. But behind that buffoonery lies a pawn to be used by The Master. He willingly goes along with The Master's plans, openly helping him as he goes about his evil business. This makes us feel intense dislike for the character as it reveals that the people who are often in charge can be easily swayed and often end up on the side of bad rather than good. This holds up a mirror to our society, in the way in which Hulke stories often do, and encourages a young mind to actually think about the world in which they live, showing that Doctor Who can be an incredibly intelligent programme.

Day 313: The Sea Devils Episode 2

Well, I'm back from SINE. I'd first of all like to thank Elizabeth for taking over for me whilst I was away, and also for taking over for me with regards to The Sea Devils, as I had spent almost 30 hours awake when I got home and was in desperate need of sleep. Regarding the conference itself, much fun was had as I met people from across the world, and at one point watched Doctor Who in a small room surrounded by fellow fans desperate to watch 'The Caretaker'. But that's for a later point, now we have to deal with The Sea Devils.

The most obvious thing to notice about The Sea Devils is that it features the return of the Master. It's been a while since we've encountered him and so it feels very much like encountering an old friend when we see him again. We feel a degree of sadness seeing him locked up in prison, and can't help but feel happy when we discover that this is all a ruse and that the Master really is in control of everything. The return to the norm is refreshing, and creates a feeling of belonging to the audience as we show the show returning to the way in which things normally run (even though this is only a recent development, with the Master's first appearance being just over a year before the broadcast of The Sea Devils). One can also see an example of how much we've missed the Master in watching the video above, which is a remarkably fun sword-fight that shows how fun the Doctor/Master relationship is to viewers, something we'll continue to enjoy as this serial continues.