Day 257: Spearhead From Space Episode 4

And I should probably talk about the plot for this episode at some point, shouldn't I? The story concerns a Nestene Consciousness, which is invading Earth by taking over plastics, mainly shop window dummies and the like. What this gives rise to is one of the most iconic scenes in the history of Doctor Who as shop window dummies come to life and begin attacking bystanders. This is at the very heart of what Doctor Who is sometimes claimed to be, a programme for traumatising young children by taking ordinary objects and making them terrifying. Or, to put it another way, to make the ordinary extraordinary. It's a fantastic scene, and one that was brilliantly conceived by Robert Holmes, the writer of this episode. By using these everyday objects in such a way, he is able to show how the series can survive now that it has been trapped on Earth. We are used to seeing alien worlds and alien creatures, but Holmes is able to show us that sometimes what's at home can be terrifying as well.

Day 256: Spearhead From Space Episode 3

One year ago today, I was quite tired. I'd gotten up at approximately 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning to watch a live simulcast of the revelation of the new actor to play the Doctor: Peter Capaldi. This was an interesting decision. Firstly, I knew that the majority of the piece that would be introducing him would be fair at best, aside from the brief interview with the new Doctor at the end. I also knew that I had a Chemistry laboratory later that day, and as we all know, drowsiness and acid go hand in hand. But I watched with anticipation, waiting to see who the new Doctor was, and wanting to speculate on what the new Doctor would be like.

Today, I watched Spearhead From Space Episode 3. After spending much of Episode 1 in a bed, Jon Pertwee is finally beginning to settle into the role of the Doctor (note that I use the word finally because Troughton managed to do it within seconds. But that's just the Power of The Power of the Daleks). His Doctor comes across as more of a charmer than Troughton, but also more serious. There's a distinct lack of playfulness with him, although he is able to give a look that can bring comfort to the most hardened viewer. And whilst he isn;t afraid to be serious, it isn't like the seriousness that plagued Hartnell occasionally, instead being a more warm scientist type, ready to go forth and science. In short, he's different from his predecessors, but the important thing is that he isn't too different. He's still recognisably the Doctor, and thus the audience can trust him. And so this early ability to trust means that we can thus be more willing to accept him in the future, when the Doctor changes a little bit from how we know him, such as fighting with alien monsters using martial arts, or arguing with pretty much everybody. Because at the heart of it, he's still the Doctor.

And in a roundabout way, this means that we can come back to Peter Capaldi. I'm intrigued to see the direction that he will go in, because he'll apparently bring with him so many things old and new to the role. But the important thing can be found in the writing, and in the fact that he's aware of what's come before. The writers are all able to write for the Doctor, and so they will make it recognisable to the viewer. This is why Doctor Who can be successful despite losing its lead actor every couple of years. Because it has the ability to remain constant in character, but building around the theme. This is why Capaldi will be interesting, as Pertwee is as well. Because it's interesting to see how the actors will interpret this theme of being the Doctor. And so when I get up ridiculously early in the morning to watch the simulcast of Deep Breath, I look forward to seeing what interpretation Peter Capaldi will bring to the role. And how he will build on his predecessors, including Jon Pertwee.

Day 255: Spearhead From Space Episode 2

So characters! We've got people old and new in this story. Old is represented by the Brigadier, familiar to viewers from both The Invasion and The Web of Fear. He brings with him a sense of comfort in these strange new times of change. He's also able to take charge with regards to the story, given that the Doctor is in a post-regenerative haze and is out of action for much of the first half. In this role, he performs admirably, showing that at the very least, the idea of UNIT taking over Doctor Who is sound.

New characters come through as well, such as Liz Shaw, the Doctor's new assistant. She's a more professional Zoe, being a scientist employed to be UNIT's scientific advisor. She's got an edge to her, choosing not to take orders from her military superiors, giving the impression that she is quite like the Doctor. It's clear that when Sherwin and Dicks created the character that they decided upon having the Doctor have an intellectual counterpart, as Zoe worked so well in the previous series. In a similar sense, the Brigadier fulfils much the same role as Jamie, being a trusted person by the Doctor and the male action hero. But how these roles will develop will be seen as the series continues.

And tomorrow, in a startling display of me being organised, we're going to take a look at our new Doctor

Day 254: Spearhead From Space Episode 1

Different. That's the major thought that I had after watching this episode. This is not really like anything that we've seen before. The story is set in the modern day, filmed in colour, and introduces a new Doctor. The new Doctor is different, something that we'll look at more once he gets into the swing of things. But one of the important things that I noticed is the freeness with which they discuss the alien nature of the Doctor. After years of hiding away in the shadows of the true nature of the Doctor, suddenly by revealing his race we now find out more details about our mysterious protagonist such as the fact that he has two hearts. But not only that, but there's also the fact that the series is now suddenly set in the modern day, and we aren't encountering science fiction premises at every corner, instead seeing mysteries that are to be solved. It's reminiscent of Quatermass, and shows how the series will be for the forseeable future. Tomorrow, we'll have a look at some of the characters that we'll be encountering in this series.

Day 253: The War Games Episode 10

And so all good things must come to an end. This Doctor, as played by Patrick Troughton, burst into a dying series, bringing it life and energy, completely revitalising it for a new era. But time has caught up with him, time lords to be precise. They have put the Doctor on trial for his meddling in the affairs of other planets, and so he is forced to prove himself. He shows us clips of monsters from the past: Quarks, Yeti, Ice Warriors, Cybermen, and the Daleks. As an audience, we not only see the reasons why the Doctor should continue, but also why this era was so great. All of these memories come flooding back of fun adventures that we've had battling monsters. From The Dominators, which brought so much unintended hilarity to The Web of Fear showing us true suspense. From The Ice Warriors and the instantly memorable and enjoyable character to The Invasion and an instantly memorable villain. And finally we remember Power of the Daleks, where we first met this Doctor, and we learnt the true meaning of perfection, as we got to witness what is probably the best Doctor Who story of all time.

But as the memories flood back, so they must fade away. Jamie and Zoe are consigned to forget about the TARDIS, and their adventures with the Doctor. This is one of the saddest things ever to occur in all of Who. We realise that Jamie won't remember the relationship that he built up with his best friend, or the heroics that he performed by fighting all manner of outer space villainy. Similarly, we realise that Zoe is doomed to return to her vaguely oppressive regime, and that she will have no idea as to what happened with her friends Jamie and the Doctor. I cried at this bit. Because my favourite characters have been forced to stop, and so we lose the friendship that they developed.

And the Doctor is exiled to Earth, forced to change his appearance. If the previous regeneration was all about confusion, this one is about fear. We don't know what will happen now. We don't know who the Doctor will be. All we know is that the show will change completely. But unlike before, where we were ready for a change, this time we were perfectly happy to stay. But times must change, and so does the Doctor, as we remember that We've Got Work To Do.

Day 252: The War Games Episode 9

And things continue to change in Doctor Who as Troughton is forced to call for help. The task has become too large for him and he needs help from these Time Lords to solve the problem which he finds himself in. It's unlike anything that we've seen this Doctor do before, we've known him as the mercurial man who comes around and fixes things, and now he has been forced to call for help. But the Time Lords obviously have problems with the Doctor, which means that they chase him and attempt to capture him. And in one of the most surreal and spectacular cliffhangers in the series, the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe run towards the TARDIS as time begins to slow around them.  Hats off certainly go to everyone involved in this, for realising how this 10 part epic can't just end like any other episode. It needs to be a spectacular ending to reflect the spectacular nature of this story, so well done to Dicks, Hulke, Maloney and Sherwin for their work on this story. It shows the God-like powers of these Time Lords, and sets up what will be an amazing and truly game changing final episode of The War Games

Day 251: The War Games Episode 8

Time Lord. Two simple words that will grow to mean so much, and they're finally uttered here. It's a chilling moment because we get glimpses of the Doctor's past. We realise that the War Chief recognises him as a fellow member of his race. And most importantly of all, the series acknowledges his past. We find out that the Doctor is a fugitive, and that he ran away from his people. This may have been mentioned in earlier stories, but we have to remember the number at the top of this post: 251. That's how long it's been for the series to finally get around to acknowledge the history and begin to explain what happened before we met the Doctor. And this isn't the hints that we'v received in previous stories, this is full on explanations of the sort of things that happened. Clearly, Doctor Who has now crossed a threshold. There is now no going back, and the series will never be the same again.

Day 250: The War Games Episode 7

Day 250. "How are you going to spend your post for Day 250?", I hear you ask. Will you do a retrospective on how far we've come? A piece about how you are now beginning to associate moments of your life over the past 3/4 of a year with 1960s Doctor Who episodes? Or are you just going to talk about Philip Madoc?

Well, Madoc is a wonderful actor. Remember when I did The Invasion, and every other entry was about how brilliant Kevin Stoney is as Tobias Vaughn? Well Madoc is possibly better than Stoney, because of the menace with which he operates. Madoc stays still, relying on his ability to stare down anything that comes in his way. He exudes menace, as the audience is left in his complete power. Whereas Stoney was a joy to watch because he was an incredibly enjoyable villain, here we don't so much get enjoyment as we get fear. Pure unadulterated fear from a man staring at you.

Day 249: The War Games Episode 6

There's a remarkably nice scene that features Troughton in this episode. Not that one though, his son, David Troughton. He is holding one of the aliens hostage, and performs his role well. He exists to be used, to be hypnotised and forced to fight his fellow resistance members. It's a well directed and written scene, in particular the end which features him shooting his captive just as his captive has taken control. It shows how tense the story is when the viewer is fully left with the impression that the story will go in a new direction after this point, and the sight of seeing the officer straighten up as he is shot comes as such a relief to the viewer that, even though the plot hasn't moved forward, we still feel just as invested in the story.

Day 248: The War Games Episode 5

This is the episode wherein not much should happen. We're now too far away from the beginning of the story for us to receive set-up and we're too far away from the end to receive much conclusion, meaning that we are instead left with the plot continuing to move along without introducing too much. And yet, whilst the above is true, there is still stuff happening. We get hints of how the villains are carrying out their scheme, about how they are using time travel with the help of someone who apparently knows the Doctor. And most importantly of all, we get to see the War Chief (who has provided them with the time travel technology) and the Security Chief (one of the aliens who has presumably been in this from the beginning) fight it out. Their tension is spellbinding, and it provides the ultimate contrast to The Dominators, where the tension between villains there bordered on the ridiculous. Here, we see these two villains get cross at each other, whilst the audience recognises that they are both powerful. We are so drawn to their fighting that we have to tune in the following week, to just see how their relationship will develop.

Day 247: The War Games Episode 4

We settle, as an audience, into how this is all going to play out. The Doctor and Zoe are undercover listening to a lecture delivered by one of the alien scientists. Lieutenant Carstairs, an ally of the Doctor's, is brought out and re-programmed, essentially being hypnotised again. He recognises the Doctor and Zoe, but not as friends, instead as the enemy, in line with the way in which they were treated when he first encountered them in Episode 1. And as an audience, we expect that this will lead to them being captured and incarcerated for much of the next episode. Instead, it's dismissed. It's a surprising turn in this story and refreshing to see that the villains have enough sense to require sufficient evidence before jumping to conclusions. Hats off again to Hulke and Dicks for taking a plot mechanism and subverting it, keeping The War Games completely fresh.

But something goes wrong. A man, who we've seen previously to appear to be in charge, looks at the Doctor. Recognition goes across his face. Fear goes across the Doctor's face. The true cliff-hanger to this story is not Carstairs holding a gun to Zoe, instead it is this moment. Suddenly, the audience gets a sense that everything is about to change impossibly.

Day 246: The War Games Episode 3

One of the best things about The War Games comes about because of the circumstances under which it was written. Doctor Who's previous producer, Peter Bryant, did not have the best of luck when it came to producing Doctor Who, meaning that several stories fell through and other stories would have to be lengthened to conpensate. Which meant that the new script editor, Terrance Dicks, was left with the commission of a four part serial that was quickly extended to a ten part serial. How does he, along with the other writer of this serial Malcolm Hulke, write such a piece? By eking out the plot such that we are drip fed each new bit of information which changes the entire way in which the story is moving along. Take, for instance, the plot as it stands. We have the Doctor and co. arriving in World War One, then discovering that a General is hypnotising the troops, then we discover that the General has futuristic technlogies, then we discover that there's more than one war occurring in this place ie there's also the American Civil War and a Roman battallion amongst others. And finally in this episode we meet the people who appear to be in charge of the whole thing, but we still don't know their motives or their true powers. This could have all been told in one episode, but by stretching it out to three all of these revelations are allowed to be brought to their true size and we get a strong sense of the scale of the events. It's a strong benefit of the longer form of storytelling and one that puts The War Games in good stead.

Day 245: The War Games Episode 2

I'm a great believer in the proverb that states that when you embark on a great journey, you do not look ahead to what you are yet to complete, instead look at what you have already achieved. It's something along this lines that we'll be dealing with here. The character of Jamie has certainly developed since we encountered him for the first time all the way back in The Highlanders Episode 1 He's become a far more well rounded character. Previously, he would jump into fights and that's it. He was a simpler character, essentially bound within the confines of the four episode story in which he was introduced. and yet he is able to break free of these bonds and join the TARDIS. In doing so, he becomes far more likeable, as well as clever. When he meets a Redcoat in this episode, his primary function is not to fight him but to interrogate him to discover more about his predicament. Similarly, he doesn't get out of his gaol cell by just fighting the guards, he uses cunning to escape. All in all, it's a remarkable development for this McCrimmon, showing that as far as Highlanders go, there can be only one.

Day 243: The Space Pirates Episode 6

"No bug-eyed monsters!" I am grateful and no not just because Facebook has recently undergone the spam email plague that I though would have passed by 2005 and hence suggests that I should (mini rant over), but because this command, these mere three words has dramatically augmented my life.

This instruction by Sydney Newman ordered that "Doctor Who" move from sludgy cesspit of 50's pulp sci-fi into what we genre nerds refer to as "The Golden Age". But how, you ask, has this changed my life?  Whilst this rule was quickly transgressed with the introduction of the Daleks, the tone set here was for the writers to write sophisticated and mature stories; essentially minus femme fatales, strong male heros and minority inspired villains; and this is why the Space Pirates exists and yes, despite the fact I've attempted to drag it through a lot of mud and faeces (I'll leave it up to you to figure out what faeces I'm referring to) I am truly grateful it exists.

In this, the last episode we see a far more engaging side of the story in which real characterisation shines through and the characters such as Clancey, Madeleine and our beloved Doctor begin being people and not rigid, bumbling, expositionals that have been set up so far (mind the neologism). Watching (well mostly listening) Madeleine performing a functional role other than the previously discussed standard 'I will do anything for X, but I won't do that' morality crisis changes the dynamic and evokes some genuine emotion from both the other characters and the responder. Yes Milo remained a bumbling idiot but the man performs under pressure, he is capable of shifting the tone of the story into action and forces the Doctor back his continually innovative, deus ex machina-y self, having to fix a spaceship, and defuse a nuclear war head all in under an hour (yeah I'm pretty sure that's more than the sum total of the previous 5 episodes) . I seriously believed the writers didn't want to write this or felt that a shorter format may have been  better with such and adventurous tale.

Now back to being grateful. The dialogue we see here is of the calibre that make a decent Doctor Who episode, the suspense is held well in the music and the characterisations are comparitive to other more modern narratives of the same thread such as the previously mentioned "Firefly". For I feel this episode may have been the inspiration, well the base inspiration came from some absolute tripe pulp sci-fi but this story told in this much more mature format is, as far as I can find, the earliest big example of a space western. The Space Pirates sets the tropes of the subgenre, it has taken trash and made it gold, so I can now go and read "Neuromancer" whilst watching  the Serenity blast across one screen and a Zurg rush occur across the other all because of the critical foundations set by this story, in part inspired by those three words.

Some of the greatest (and my favourite) exemplars of science fictions are at least in part space westerns, the genre as it is today and my love for it (including Doctor Who) would not have congealed in this way had it not been for the development of this particular subgenre, which is why this story annoyed me so much at the beginning, but as it progressed and it's strengths appeared I could see the importance of this story. It's kind of funny how Doctor Who inspired me to watch Doctor Who, how very fitting.

Unfortunately all this must be disregarded for I was wrong, I was terribly, terribly wrong...

 ...For Clancy is a far better analogue to Jar Jar Binks.

With love and it's been great, Mitch.

Day 244: The War Games Episode 1

Well, I'm back. I'd like to begin this entry by thanking Mitch for all that he did over the course of the couple of days. Readers of this blog will not be aware that for reasons that I won't go into, Mitch was called into the same Robogals trip that I was at short notice, meaning that he was watching The Space Pirates in hotel rooms with poor internet (hence why he wasn't able to post episode 5 on the right day and is still yet to post something about episode 6). So once again, thanks Mitch, although The Phantom Menace is still a criminally underrated film.

So, The War Games. There is so much in here that I feel that any attempt to speak about how excellent episode 1 is will pale in comparison to the sheer brilliance of the actual product. Scene setting is done through actions, not through words. We know that there's some mystery occurring but we've got too little of it to actually know what it is exactly, meaning that the viewer has to tune in next week to find out what's going on, especially given the shocking cliffhanger at the end of the episode.

But there's one thing that caught my eye in this. Written on a wall, barely noticeable, is the phrase "Roll on death, demobs too far away", roughly meaning that the soldiers in the WW1 trenches in which this story takes place are ready to die, because of the fact that no help is going to come and they're never going to get out of this mess. It perfectly illustrates the climate in which this story is set and serves as a premonition of the story that is to come...

Day 242: The Space Pirates Episode 5

I open this evening with two apologies. The first is my failure to post last night which occurred due to some extenuating circumstances that have transpired over the past few day. The second is an apology to Thomas for what you're about to read.

To my amazement today's instalment reminded me more of an episode of a favoured TV show and less like observing the paint on a freshly painted blue locomotive dry. We are plunged into immediate and thrilling action of murder, that's right murder, I speak nonchalantly merely as a matter of perspective. Here we have what now is a third party post murder morality crisis cliché whereby character A entrusts character B for personal gain only to later regret said decision with something along the lines of "No, I can't let you do this." There is a certain juxtaposition I can make within a certain children's television programme, but I'll get to this later.

Here I feel much more comfortable, the Doctor, when imprisoned, leaps into the usual Macgyver-esque solution whilst supplying us with that old-timey Brit wit and humour. I say this is comforting because it is the one part of the episode that whilst being samey is different. The quirkiness of the doctor actually forced a smile and made the dwindling fire flicker a little brighter and seeing that superconducting brain strategies is close to pure beauty, let's be honest. Unfortunately this does not correct the problem at hand, this continue to build on the aforementioned correlative where a Mr Hatt supplements the story with cute British quirks, more on this in a moment.

The final point I'd like to raise is the villains scheme, which sees the Doctor once again being placed in mortal cliffhanging danger, yep sounds like we have all the pieces in place for an episode... another generic episode. The train of progression is stunted by the box car of the expected, which I feel is the key here, as stated this may be a matter of perspective but alas I feel this may not be the case. Again this simile to tank engines inspires a further comparison in regards to the generic, a how to in the creation of standard and repetitive fictions.

So now on my the big moment, my concluding comparison, as whilst this episode present a change from the set standard of "Not a lot" (self quote boom!), the resounding ehh that results draws me to analogue with  Thomas the Tank Engine. For the severe lack of repeatability and lack of any emotion makes me feel like the writer just didn't care and this trickles down the production line. Which is, OF COURSE, the antithesis of Thomas the Tank Engine. Perhaps in my last guest appearance I'll get down to proper analysis, though alas I feel the un-inspiration of this narrative is somewhat contagious and the continued lack of innovation is infectious that may continue to plague me, but hey, I'm trying here!

With love, Mitch.

Day 241: The Space Pirates Episode 4

Hi everyone!

Having to write on a story from part way through is much like... So on that note I shall try and avoid comparison to Firefly, so instead I shall rely on somewhat of a stretch comparison to a wonderful piece of extended, albeit unnecessary, exposition that some would like to call a refer to as a movie (It's at this point that Thomas has let out a large sigh, followed by the phrase "here we go") "The Phantom Menace". This episode featured probably 3 comparisons of merit, so shall we?

1. When we have Troughton offering some needless comic relief with the playful line "I like drawing pins" I cannot help but think "Mesa caused mabbe one, two-y lettle bitty axadentes, huh?" Uhhmmm... Sorry was just clearing my throat.

2. The story continues along the now established path of not a lot. I counted at least 5 scenes that were essentially useless; providing us with everything from some of the slowest dialogue progression I've seen in my life to a set of scenes spanning nearly a third of the piece depicting the pursuit of one of the pirate craft only to have it end in a simple re skinning dupe on the pirates behalf. Now surely this sort of wasteful use of screen time and hiding in a terrible disguise past intelligent beings  would never make it into a Lucas film? Oh, that's right it did, three times, in one movie... Oh well, moving on.

3. Here we have a story which sees the Doctor and companions take on a bit of a minor part in the narrative, now I am not opposed to this, "Blink" for example is a truly exemplary piece of television and this  feature is used effectively. Here however, much like The Phantom Menace, we have characters which are otherwise strong and well establish plot pieces of the extended arc just loosely tossed aside to the betterment of no one and who are more or less there to nibble at the ankles of the protagonist. Yes that's right I just compared the Doctor to a piranha, well time to go have a nice cold shower...

Overall I feel like I am being harsh as this is as Thomas has address quite a dull narrative but is not nearly as bad as The Phantom Menace (I think the sledging is out of my system now, well the next 3 days) and alas I feel this narrative can be better analysed through comparison to the now well establish character archetypes, tropes and motives of Sci-Fi Westerns most notable firefly and perhaps I'll reach something of this tomorrow. But as implied earlier this comparison appears like something, that at this stage is rather superfluous, kinda like writing this entire post in the HTML composer.

With love, your temporary blogger Mitch.

Day 240: The Space Pirates Episode 3

So, where does Firefly succeed where The Space Pirates fails? It's clearly in the dynamic that makes up the series. Firefly has inside of it a rag-tag bunch of people, all of whom are instantly likeable. They feel like a family aboard the ship, and Joss Whedon has created it such that the viewer feels as if they are part of their family as well. There's a strong sense of belonging associated with the series that makes it what it is. This isn't present in The Space Pirates, which decides to leave people on their own for the most part. Milo Clancy, the product of a one night stand between Mal Reynolds and Foghorn Leghorn, is on his own in his little ship, which means that we don't really have the warmth that exists with Firefly, only awkwardness as we see a man wander about complaining about his solar powered toaster. The funny thing is that Doctor Who clearly knows the secret of Firefly. Think of all the base under siege stories that we've seen over the Troughton era. All of them featured an ensemble group of characters that we grew to enjoy the time of. The power of the ensemble is not to be underestimated, which makes me think that maybe even this blog needs a bit of ensemble in it...

Day 239: The Space Pirates Episode 2

Dullness continues as the viewer comes to a sudden realisation. Not the viewer at the time, but the viewer in the present. It's because this story concerns a society where some people went out into space to find wealth, only for the Space Corps to come out and introduce law and order. These people who went out in the first place remain untrusting of the Space Corps, but continue on their business in their ramshackle ships. It's essentially the same plot as Joss Whedon's Firefly. Seriously, Robert Holmes created Firefly before Joss Whedon! It's not the same as Firefly though because it's unsufferably dull. So tomorrow, I'm going to look at why Firefly succeeds where The Space Pirates fails, as well as introduce a new element to this little blog.

Day 238: The Space Pirates Episode 1

You want to know why Troughton is so good? Why Jamie and Zoe are some of the best companions that we've ever had, and will ever have? Because they can make things interesting. The Space Pirates takes an interesting way of starting the adventure, by waiting 15 minutes for the TARDIS to arrive. Those 15 minutes rank as some of the dullest in the history of Doctor Who. It doesn't help that this epsode no longer exists in the BBC archives and I'm watching a reconstruction to compensate for this fact, but it just draws to attention how unexciting this episode is. Things happen but there's a lack of emotion that can engage the audience making it dull. So very, very dull. When Troughton and co. turn up, they're able to inject some life into this story, but it's too little too late as we realise just how dull this is going to be.

And now, the drinking game! I don't like to talk about episodes before I've watched them, however reputation states that The Space Pirates is going to not get more interesting. So take a drink every time you read the word 'dull' over the next six days. I'm sorry in advance for your liver.