Day 404: Terror of the Zygons Part 3

The design of this story is rather splendid, with thanks going to Nigel Curzon the designer, James Acheson the costumer and Douglas Camfield the director. The titular Zygons, for instance, look wonderfully distinct, with their enlarged heads and blobs covering them, to increase the 'frighten factor' as they look rather weird and alien.





This then continues to the design of their spaceship, as seen to the right. Everything is consistent with the design of the Zygons, giving an organic look as the ship feels like it was grown by the Zygons on their home planet, making the entire thing feel memorable.

The same, sadly, cannot be said of the spaceship exterior, which looks rather generic after seeing the wonderful design work through the rest of the story. However, this can be forgiven as the rest of the design is memorable enough that we can look over forgettable spaceship designs and focus on the important things in the story.

Day 403: Terror of the Zygons Part 2

The Zygons are shape-changing aliens, able to take the forms of any human that they have stored with their body-print. This is nothing new, it's a classic idea that we've seen tonnes of times before in various pieces of media, even in Doctor Who with The Faceless Ones. This time, however, the story is being produced by Philip Hinchcliffe, script edited by Robert Holmes and directed by Douglas Camfield all of whom have shown that they can make things truly terrifying. This is no exception, as a Zygon takes the form of Harry, one of the Doctor's companions. Sarah Jane, his other companion, sees that he is acting oddly and chases after him. He ambushes her in a barn, and we get a frightening sequence as Harry, the character whom we have grown to trust over the past series, becomes a figurative monster as he attacks her with a pitchfork. All of this horror comes from the writing of the story, by Robert Banks Stewart, however it gains an extra dimension on screen, thanks to the direction of Camfield.

The scene is set up such that we have two camera angles, one focussing on Harry and the other focussing on Sarah Jane. We cut back and forth from Harry menacing her with the pitchfork and Sarah Jane's reaction. This creates a strong amount of tension, particularly as the two are rarely in the same shot and so we see the action of the pitchfork stab before we see the reaction of Sarah Jane. It also means that the viewer gets to gain the perspective of Sarah Jane in the situation and feel her fear as Harry attacks the (from that camera's perspective) unseen figure. This comes to a head as the sequence ends and Harry lunges towards her. For a split second, it appears that he has actually hit her, due to the pitchfork moving towards the camera with some force, before we swap to a third camera angle where we see Sarah Jane dodge the attack and Harry fall off the platform that they were fighting on. The scene is frightening, tense and well created by all involved from the writing to acting to direction, showing that this team can and have produced great things.

Day 402: Terror of the Zygons Part 1

This story sees the return of an old favourite to Doctor Who. I'm not referring to UNIT though (although they are certainly welcome and we will look at their role later), instead we are looking at the director Douglas Camfield. Absent from the series after heart problems that afflicted him during the filming of Inferno, he has now returned and brought with him an amazing eye for suspense. Take, for instance, the revela of the titular Zygons. He starts by having close-ups of their eyes, holding on them for longer than normal as they stare into ypur very being, making them seem intimidating as a result. Then, we move onto the hands, allowing the audience to form a pucture in their minds of what the creature looks like, showing them the other-worldly nature of the aliens and creating more suspense. This is helped by the dissolves between shots of the hands working, creating more of a sense of unease, due to this being an unfamiliar technique on the programme. Finally, when the decision is made to reveal the Zygon fully, it is done at the very end of the programme, present for only a handful of seconds thus leaving much of it as an imprint of fear in the audience's mind and not allowing them to pick flaws in the costume (which is actually incredibly good). All of this goes to show that Camfield knows how suspense works and is very good at using it. It's been a while Mr Camfield, but we're glad to have you back for a little while.

Day 401: Revenge of the Cybermen Part 4

Despite being written by their co-creator, it is blatantly obvious that the Cybermen are very poorly written in this story. The problems behin with the title: Revenge of the Cybermen. The Cybermen are supposed to be emotionless beings, and yet here they are taking revenge on something or other. Their emotions do not stop there, with the Cyberleadr being very expressive for someone wihh the emotions drained out of them.

And that brings me onto the next point. The Cybermen were created as a warning of the dangers of science going unchecked, such that eventually our whole bodies will be replaced with mechanical parts until nothing that makes us human remains. This is at the core of the Cybermen, and is what makes them scary. This has also been forgotten, as these Cybermen seem to operate just as robots, with no hint of their true modus operandi, to make everyone else like them. This shows that time has not been kind to how the writers remember the Cybermen, and perhaps a new start is needed for them. But we will have to wait a very long time before we get that new start...

Day 400: Revenge of the Cybermen Part 3

Day 400. Time to look back on how far we've come. Except unfortunately things have, shall we say, gone a little differently to how I'd like. Revenge of the Cybermen is a story written by Gerry Davis, former script editor from the Troughton era and co-creator of the Cybermen. It was commissioned by the previous production team of Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks to draw in viewers with a returning monster. Thus, its difficult to say how far we've come when the story is surrounded by the way in which we used to do things.

That said, we can still see some elements of change. The show isn't afraid to be scarier (c.f. yesterday's entry on the Cybermats) and it isn't afraid to try new things (such as the score by Carey Blyton which provides an interesting atmosphere to the piece). But this is all held back by the fact that this story isn't that good. It's not horrendously bad, just forgettable. It's disappointing that this had to be the story that we celebrate 400 episodes for, but this still shows that there is room for improvement and that we can look upwards as Doctor Who continues for around 400 more episodes.

Day 399: Revenge of the Cybermen Part 2

Cybermat circa The Wheel in Space

Cybermat circa Revenge of the Cybermen

The Cybermen have made a return this story after about 6 and a half years. So far they have been minor players in the plot, hiding away in their spaceship and having very little contact with the rest of the characters. However, the Cybermats have also returned after a slightly longer period of absence. In this time, they have clearly changed, as can be seen through the comparison above. Before, they were once like deadly toys, hiding a destructive power against a cute exterior. Now, they have become sleeker and more functional, and arguably scarier as they have the power to leap up and attack you with some force, giving you a deadly plague in the process. The change in design also reflects the changes that Doctor Who has undergone in the years that have passed. Before, Doctor Who was able to be a children's show, secretly better and scarier than you thought it was. Now, it is still for children but it has also come to terms with the fact that it can be scarier outright as it appeals to a larger audience. And what is Doctor Who if not a little bit scary for a larger audience?

Day 398: Revenge of the Cybermen Part 1

The past few stories have been very interesting, in that they are all sequential. To explain: Robot ends with the Doctor, Sarah Jane and Harry going off into the TARDIS as per normal. The Ark in Space then immediately begins with the repercussions of these actions as we learn that Harry, on his first trip in the TARDIS, accidentally meddled with the controls. After this, The Doctor and co. make a brief trip to Earth using the Nerva beacon's teleporter, and are then captured by the Time Lords to carry out a pre-emptive genocide of the Daleks, before finally arriving back on Nerva Beacon. It's an interesting experiment for the show to go on, as it all lends a sense of continuity to the series, as well as allowing for the series to save a bit of money by re-using the Nerva Beacon sets. However, the story neglects to make much of the fact that we are essentially watching a prequel to The Ark in Space by having this story take place in an earlier time frame, which is a bit disappointing, but you can't win them all as we continue to see why the Cybermen want Revenge.

And incidentally, a Happy Christmas to all of you at home!

Day 397: Genesis of the Daleks Part 6

Of course at the end of the day the Daleks survive. It's actually quite shocking to see their actions at the end of the story, as Davros first orders them to turn on the traitors to the Dalek cause, then later when Davros realises that the Daleks are taking over from him he attempts to stop them, only to be exterminated himself. He begs for mercy and pity, to be acknowledged as a being higher than the Daleks, however these terms are all alien to a Dalek, ones which he specifically had removed to make them better at killing. It's a dark moment for the series and a reminder that the evil metal pepper-pots are legitimately evil.

But this is not a sad ending. The Doctor at one point finds himself with the power to destroy the Daleks once and for all, and yet he can't quite bring himself to do it. He questions whether he has the right to destroy an entire intelligent species, even if that species is the Daleks. He knows that for all the suffering that the Daleks have brought, they have also inspired civilisations to go forth in peace, to protect others from the Daleks' menace. Alliances have been formed and friendships created all because of the Daleks.

I'm writing this at 11:42 on Christmas Eve. Watching Genesis of the Daleks in the lead up to Christmas has been interesting. I've not been able to feel as festive, knowing that each night I will see more destruction and death from this story. But in the end, it does oddly represent Christmas. It shows that even in the darkest places, there can still be hope and there can still be light. Even the Daleks, the most evil beings in the universe, can create hope (even if this may be unintentional), and through hope, the universe can be a little bit of a better place.

Day 396: Genesis of the Daleks Part 5

The scene to the left says an awful lot about the character of Davros. He can come across as a perfectly reasonable character, willing to engage in scientific discussion. But he's also a character that is insane, and has hidden that insanity away, only to reveal itself when he gets too emotional. He seeks power above anything else, and will achieve this by any means necessary. It's quite apt that towards the end of his rant he begins to sound like a Dalek, as he reflects his own creation, showing the influence that this God has had on his creations.

Day 395: Genesis of the Daleks Part 4

The underlying theme of this story is one of preventing a great horror. The Time Lords have seen that the Daleks will become far more evil and have thus decided to send the Doctor to either destroy them or introduce a weakness to be exploited in the future. This is a remarkably interesting move, as it portrays the Time Lords as uncharacteristically willing to change the course of history. Granted, they have done this sort of thing before in the Pertwee era, but never on this scale. This is the dark side of the Time Lords, the side where they are willing to use their god-like powers for the benefit of what they see as right.

The move is also rather interesting as it allows the series to play with the concept of time travel. Now more than ever we are confronted with the fact that time can be rewritten, for better or for worse. Indeed the cliffhanger to this episode is Davros forcing the Doctor to tell him of every single Dalek defeat, so as to prevent future Dalek defeats. Other cliffhangers feature the Doctor in danger, or a significant plot element being revealed. This time, it's history that's in danger, and the Doctor is powerless to stop it.

Day 394: Genesis of the Daleks Part 3

Lurking in the shadows of the story so far is Davros, the creator of the Daleks. Aside from his disfigured appearance and apparent lack of care for anything other than the Daleks, he has not had much worth commenting on so far. At this point in the story, however, we begin to truly see the way in which Davros operates. We first begin our suspicions when Davros is called for an inquiry and told to shut down his experiments within 12 hours. He accepts these terms and goes off on his merry way. But through all of this acceptance of terms, there is the underlying current that he is lying, and that he will have some other way to continue these experiments. Indeed he does, as we see that he has leaked valuable information to the Thals in exchange for his survival, and the survival of his experiments. We now truly get the measure of the man. He is someone who puts his dedication to his experiments above all else, even the survival of his own race. He is a nasty piece of work, but he is also an inherently interesting character, and one who we look forward to seeing through the rest of this story.

Day 393: Genesis of the Daleks Part 2

This story, being set on Skaro the home planet of the Daleks, features both the Kaleds (the race that creates the Daleks) and the Thals (who we have previously seen in The Daleks and Planet of the Daleks). We expect the Kaleds to be ruthless and evil, ad they are the ones who will create the villainous Daleks. The script generally follows these expectations, although there is some revelation that there are moderates who only wish for war to end between the Thals and the Kaleds, giving us hope amongst the bleakness that there are people who are on the side of good in even the darkest of places.

It should also be noted that the treatment of the Thals is not in line with our expectations. Previous encounters with the Thals have shown them to be on the side of good, but here they are as ruthless as the Kaleds, using slave labour in roles that will kill them, gunning down people before our eyes, they are just as bad as their enemies. But this is actually to be expected. In their first appearance in The Daleks, the Thals speak of how they used to be more war-mongering, but they eventually settled into a more peaceful role in life. We now get to see what they used to be and we can see why they changed. These Thals are horrible, and show the corruption that war and fighting brings to a race, bringing the notion forward that there is no good side in a war, only people trying to ensure that their side wins.

Day 392: Genesis of the Daleks Part 1

Doctor Who has been dark on occasion, particularly over the past few episodes. But it hasn't really been bleak, aside from a few exceptions (The Massacre, Inferno and select sections of The Daleks' Master Plan and The Myth Makers). This story is different. Despite being written by Terry Nation whose past few stories have been simple adventures, we get something which appears to be unrelentingly bleak. Death is everywhere, whether through old corpses or machine guns being fired with the intention of making some new ones. The bright corridors of Space Station Nerva seem light years away, as we are instead given shadows and black corridors, even the location of a traditional Doctor Who quarry comes across more as a wasteland than ever before, thanks to some well placed props and some excellent direction from David Maloney. All in all, this lets the audience know that we aren't going to be in for a fun sort of adventure, and that things are going to be different this time.

Day 391: The Sontaran Experiment Part 2

This story is entirely set on location. Instead of being confined to the studio, we get to see the Doctor and co. dash about on the desolate wasteland that is Dartmoor. This works incredibly effectively, as we never doubt for a second that this is the Earth and that it is in the process of regaining the ability to sustain life, due to it being a region on Earth which isn't ideal for sustaining life. It just goes to show that not all Doctor Who locations are quarries and that this experiment can be deemed a success.

Speaking of experiments, it's probably about time that we mentioned the titular experiment run by the Sontaran Field Major Styre. Styre is in the process of capturing humans and subjecting them to the limits of their abilities to observe what their weaknesses are and how to overcome them. This is achieved through torture, as we see people dying of thirst, Sarah Jane being subjected to mental torture through exploiting her fears and two men forced to hold an ever incresing weight so as to prevent the death of another man. It's gruesome stuff, showing that Doctor Who is no longer afraid to go into these dark places. It also fits in well with the Sontaran psyche, exploiting their military point of view, which is to be expected as is story is script edited by the Sontarans' creator: Robert Holmes.

But coming back to the point that was made yesterday, the shortened length of this story means that we don't get as much time to develop the characters, as plot strands are introduced and then dropped as quickly as they came. Cases in point are traitors amongst the humans, as well as the conclusion in which the Doctor defeats the oncoming Sontaran battle fleet by telling them that if they try to invade, they will be destroyed. It's anti-climactic, and lessens the overall impact of the story. All of that said though, this story wasn't that bad and shows great promise for stories of a similar length (although it will be a long time before we enounter another one), and it should also be noted that the art of writing 45 minute episodes will be honed in future years as the series continues.

Day 390: The Sontaran Experiment Part 1

This is going to be a quick one. The Sontaran Experiment is a rarity in Classic Doctor Who, as it is do e and dusted in 45 minutes. Thus, there's not as much time for character development, or having a longer and more detailed plot, however there's no danger of this outstaying its welcome meaning that we'll get a half decent story at the end of the day. All of that said though, this episode still feels like a Part 1 of a four part story. We're introduced to the guest cast and get a sense of the mysterious goings on. The monster, in is case a Sontaran returning from The Time Warrior, is also kept hidden from view, to increase tension and pad out the story. This implies that Part 2 will feel more rushed, as it struggles to conclude the plot strands that have all been built up whilst expanding on the actions of Part 1 at the same time. But this is all me hypothesising, and we still have Part 2 to come of this Experiment.

Day 389: The Ark in Space Part 4

The other thing that Holmes has brought to the series, along with new producer Philip Hinchcliffe, is horror. The series has become far more terrifying over the space of the past four episodes, in thanks due to intelligent lighting, a surprisingly effective jump scare in this episode, and a dreadfully dark idea at the heart of the monsters. The Wirrn are creatures that infect their host and then take them over, slowly destroying every last part of what makes them human both physically and mentally. It's horrible to think about, and even more horrible to witness as we see Noah, the station's leader, overcome by the Wirrn. This is all remarkably frightening, and whilst I cannot comment on what younger audiences must think of this due to this actually being the first time that I watched this story (although I can say that ratings wise, this was the highest charting single story until Voyage of the Damned came along in 2007), but I can say that as an adult this was an incredibly tense and watchable experience. Any doubts about what direction the show will go in can now be laid to rest. The script editor and producer have a strong vision for the series, we have two excellent companions in the form of Sarah Jane and Harry and above all else we have Tom Baker as the Doctor, a part he was seemingly born to play.

Day 388: The Ark in Space Part 3

The new script editor is Robert Holmes, a man who has written several times for the series before. This story is one which he has written himself, and thus we can get a feeling for what he is like off the leash, writing Doctor Who as he sees it. There are two major things that come across: horror and world building. We'll deal with the horror element tomorrow, but for now let's take a look at the world building that is in place here. The world of The Ark in Space is well constructed, with various details hidden away through technobabble and audio addresses from a lead politician thanking the crewmembers of the space station, but it's mainly through the dialogue between characters that we get a sense of a world that is inhabited. Take for instance the two technicians (Lycett and Rogin) who have been woken up from their 10,000 year slumber. They bicker about how they could have stayed on Earth (thus avoiding their current problem by being dead for several millenia), as well as express their fears about the risks that they undertook when they first went on this mission. They don't appear for very much lf the episode, but they become memorable characters and help to create the world that the Ark in Space inhabits.

Day 387: The Ark in Space Part 2

This story is remarkably good so far. The story is tense, the characters are both well drawn and performed well by their various actors, in particular Noah, as played by Kenton Moore. He is a man who at first refuses to trust the Doctor and co. as per normal Doctor Who stories. However he begins to deviate from the norm when he blatantly ignores the Doctor's advice and gets infected by the aliens attempting to invade Earth, meaning that he begins to metamorphose into an alien being. His manner changes and he confuses his fellow crew-members as he behaves more and more erratically. This comes to a head when he shoots a fellow crew-member with a stun gun and reveals his already changed hand to both himself and the audience in a state of horror. However there is one small problem with this. Depite the fact that the actor is clearly performing the scene extraordinarily well, and they have use the best special effects they had available at the time, there is the large issue that Noah's hand is quite clearly made of bubble wrap. Granted, at the time it would have been seen as terrifying, but to a 21st century audience this comes across as cheap and takes you out of the story, which is a shame, as the story is remarkably good and it's disappointing to be let down by such a small special effect.

Day 386: The Ark in Space Part 1

The series has now undergone a rebirth. We have a new script editor, a new producer, a new companion and a new Doctor. We'll look at each of these in due course, but for the moment let's have a look at our new companion, Dr Harry Sullivan. He's a character from an earlier age, not necessarily in time (he comes from aroundabouts the modern day) but in behaviour. He acts as a gentleman (especially around women), is quietly perplexed by everything that is happening around him and is able to act as the straight man. This makes him work well with Tom Baker as the Doctor, who is significantly more loopy. It's a Doctor/companion relationship that feels brand new and exciting, although it should be noted that it's a relationship that we've seen since the early days of the programme with William Hartnell and Ian Chesterton. However, the fact that we have a new production team and a new approach to the series manages to make this all feel fresh, and ensures that we shall be able to look forward to the adventures of the Doctor, Sarah Jane, and Harry for the next little while.

Day 385: Robot Part 4

This episode marks the end of an era. It is the last story produced by Barry Letts, and is written by his long time script editor Terrance Dicks. Both will make contributions to Doctor Who in the future, but now is as good a time as any to reflect on what they brought to the series.

Both brought a sense of consistency to their respective fields, for a start. Stories up until they took over could wildly vary in tone, as well as quality. Both were able to ensure that what was put out adhered to a certain tone, and that it was of some quality. Granted, this did not always occur, but the overarching effects can be seen throughout the series.

Terrance Dicks as well brought with him an ability to write stories, or at the very least improve them. He can add necessary action, reign in unachievable ideas and enhance themes of various stories. This can be seen in Robot, as we get a reasonably action packed climax that also has at the heart of it a Robot struggling with a crisis over its function as orginally programmed, due to it harming various humans, not least its creator. This crisis is able to engage viewers who are looking for something more substantial than just a Robot attacking humans, as we can see that this Robot has thoughts and struggles with its life.

Letts as well brings new technologies such as CSO, or Green Screen as it is commonly known. This allows for new effects to be produced, occasionally enhancing what can be achieved in the environs of a TV studio, but also occasionally bringing with it yet more effects that age particularly poorly. And yet this sort of thing is to be commended, as it broadens the scope of what Doctor Who can do, as can be seen by the Giant Robot in this story.

But as the TARDIS dematerialises at the end of this story we can look forward to a new team, and see what ideas they will bring to the infinite table that is Doctor Who...

Day 384: Robot Part 3

Taking a look at the story of Robot reveals some interesting ideas. Once again, we have an invasion of Earth not from aliens, but instead from political radicals. This time, they wish to replace all politicians with scientists, who will then choose what is best for humanity in all aspects of life. This is an interesting concept, as it is a cause that is not too hard to sympathise with until you realise that in effect you are taking away the freedom of humanity. But then again, you would achieve the best for humanity, even if this is at the cost of freedom. Much like with Invasion of the Dinosaurs, I am somewhat swayed by the villains argument and I'm pleased that it got at least some airing, even if it were in the context of evildoers plotting to take over the world.

Day 383: Robot Part 2

Tom Baker is the Doctor. It's actually shocking to see how both how quickly he is able to settle into the character of the Doctor and how quickly his characterisation of the Fourth Doctor forms. He is a bit erratic, a bit wild, and instantly more fun than the more stoic Pertwee. And we can see all of this within his first episode. This is in part due to the way in which Terrance Dicks, the writer, has written him. But it's also in part due to the performance of Tom Baker, who is able to instantly prove to audiences that he is the Doctor, and the series will never be the same again.

Day 382: Robot Part 1

The new Doctor has arrived. Much like Spearhead from Space before it, the decision has been made to surround the Doctor with familiar faces (in this case Sarah Jane and UNIT) in order to ease the transition. This certainly helps, because it allows for an immediate acceptance of the new Doctor, to help audiences accept him as well. It also helps that Sarah Jane has been built up as a character in her own right, as we can follow her adventures whilst the Doctor comes to terms with his new body, and we come to terms with the new Doctor. Although that said, we don't really need that long to come to get used to the Fourth Doctor, as we'll discuss tomorrow.

Day 381: Planet of the Spiders Part 6

"I had to face my fear". The Doctor who has been defined as a man of courage, a man who is full of action, is afraid. But what is he afraid of? The way in which this story states this means that it could read that he is afraid of the Great One, the enormous spider which can control people with a single thought. But it can also be read another way. The Doctor set all of these events in motion by stealing the crystal on Metebelis 3. Now, there has been much death and destruction as part of his greed for knowledge. So is he perhaps afraid of seeing the consequences of his actions? This is something that we will see in the future, when the Day of the Doctor approaches.

But that's the future, and we are focussing on the present as the Doctor collapses to the floor. Death has overcome the Doctor. But with death comes life, at least for some people. The concept of regeneration is introduced for the first time in this episode, as we see the Doctor become reborn. We do not know what he will be like, but can look forward to seeing how this new man shall perform. The end for the Pertwee era may be nigh, but there's still a future, meaning that We've Got Work To Do...

Day 380: Planet of the Spiders Part 5

There's a nice sequence that occurs about halfway through this episode. The Doctor is running to help Sarah Jane, when he encounters a voice. The voice tells him not to come any closer, because the radiation levels near it would kill him. It also tells him to return the crystal that he stole, all the way back in The Green Death. As described, it doesn't sound too intimidating. But actions speak louder than words, as the voice then forcibly takes control of the Doctor, making him turn around on the spot, to show the power that it has over him. This causes the Doctor great pain as he encounters something which has true power over him. His face is contorted into a face of fear as he tries to fight it but can't. It's disturbing to see Pertwee's Doctor like this, in particular as he is the Doctor that is the most cool in deadly situations, as he comes up against a foe that frightens him, and surely cannot beat. Well, maybe he can beat them, but at what cost...

Day 379: Planet of the Spiders Part 4

The Pertwee era is defined by two types of story. Those which are set on Earth, and those which are set on another planet, which generally concern Earth colonists. This story somehow manages to weave the two together. It's achieved by having the Doctor and Sarah Jane, as well as the main human villain, investigate goings on on Metebelis 3, while we follow the actions of the characters that we've met previously in the story on Earth as they come to terms with the plot. It's nice to have this ability to leap between spaces in such a way, and takes full advantage of the spacetime travelling mechanic at the heart of the series. However, there is one small problem, being that half of what happens on Metebelis 3 (through mixture of writing, acting and direction) is incredibly poor. This drags down the overall quality of the story, which is a shame as there are some good things here, but we forget about them as we focus on the negative that it surrounds. Still, we have much to look forward to as we enter the final days of Planet of the Spiders.

Day 378: Planet of the Spiders Part 3

The villains of this piece are over-large spiders. This is a fantastic idea as it brings forth one of the basic foundations at the heart of Doctor Who: the ordinary made extraordinary. Spiders are commonplace in society, and a common fear for several people. So by having Doctor Who involve them in its universe, we can make them even more frightening, giving thrm extra powers such as the ability to jump on people's backs and telepathically control them, which us builds on the pre-existing fear and amplifies it for the audience. In a way it harks back to Pertwee's first story, which took the mundane shop window dummies and made them something terrifying, using the fact that surrounding objects can be easily recognised to amplify the fear for the purpose of the story.

Day 377: Planet of the Spiders Part 2

This episode makes the interesting decision to dedicate half of its running time to an extensive chase sequence involving Bessie, the Whomobile, a gyrocopter, a police car, a boat and a hovercraft. It sounds excessive, mainly because it is. The entire thing feels remarkably poor, much of which can be given in hindsight due to the fact that the enemy is teleported away at the end of the chase rendering the entire thing worthless. But, it does celebrate the Pertwee era. It shows us that it was all about action and cool stunts, something which hadn't really been covered in previous eras of the show. It comes across as fun, if a little overlong, and aims to excite and entertain the audience. This is one of the things that the Pertwee era brought: a renewed focus on excitement with bigger stunts and the like to both compete with other programmes and provide something new for the audience.

Day 376: Planet of the Spiders Part 1

And so the end begins. Pertwee had decided that it was time to leave the series, making Planet of the Spiders his last story. As such, it begins with what feels like a reunion. The Doctor is back working for UNIT, the Brigadier and he are exploring strange goings on with a clairvoyant, while Mike and Sarah Jane are investigating a Buddhist monastery which is being remarkably suspicious. Benton's there as well fulfilling the role he always has of being in scenes and being likeable. There's even a letter from Jo Grant, and references to Metebelis 3. All in all, it feels like everyone coming together for the last hurrah, going through the motions one last time. There are some indications of the theme behind this story, and we shall delve into that later, but for now it feels comfortable and safe. This is, of course, one of the things that the Pertwee era brought to Doctor Who. Instead of being uneasy about each new story or location, we grew to know that we were always safe with these characters, and that we can just oet everything fold out in front of us. But then again, sometimes it's nice to be able to get something truly unexpected and out of this world. And who knows what the future will bring...

Day 375: The Monster of Peladon Part 6

Much like Planet of the Daleks, as a child I somewhat wanted to see The Monster of Peladon above other stories. I'd already seen and enjoyed The Curse of Peladon, so The Monster of Peladon was high in expectation as something to look forward to. Unfortunately, in the 9 or so years between watching Curse and watching Monster, I discovered the reputation of certain stories. The Monster of Peladon, it is fair to say, does not have the best of reputations. This all meant that when I watched it, I wasn't allowed to fully engage with the story, instead I was already in a mood to criticise and poke fun at its flaws. I could make a comment here about how wrong I was, and how the story is actually incredibly good. But it isn't. That's not to say that I don't like it though. The fact that it chooses not to hide its flaws makes for some incredibly fun viewing, and I'm actually kind lf glad that I knew this story was going to be poor before I watched it, because it meant that I wasn't going to be let down again, like I was with Planet of the Daleks.

Day 374: The Monster of Peladon Part 5

This story sees the return of the Ice Warriors. I rather liked the Ice Warriors in their last appearance due to them being on the side of good and adding another dimension to their role in the series. The same, however, cannot be said of their appearance in this serial. Here, they are clearly the villains of the piece, taking advantage of the Pels of Peladon, attacking them often with their advanced weaponry and planning to take over the universe. This is disappointing, to be brutally honest. I enjoyed the fact that by having the Ice Warriors as goodies in the last story, the story was able to play on the audience's prejudices as well as giving the characters something more to do. But here, they are reduced to lumbering around the place which makes them weaker as a result because we lose all the hard work in character development that we had seen before. That's not to say that this doesn't go unacknowledged though, people comment that they are a breakaway group, and that this is entirely unexpected. But it is still disappointing and adds to the list of disappointments that go with The Monster of Peladon.