Day 525: The Horns of Nimon Part 4

This story always feels a bit bittersweet. For all the fun and enjoyment that it represents, it's also the end of an era. This is the last story to be produced by Graham Williams, producer for the series since Horror of Fang Rock. It's also the last story to be script edited by Douglas Adams, the last contribution to the series by the previous script editor, Anthony Read, and is the last story to have the music composed by Dudley Simpson, who's been doing the music for the series regularly since the start of the 70's, and before then composed the music irregularly from around Planet of Giants onwards.

The reason why I feel the need to mention all of this is that their work has been fantastic, and I've loved every moment of it. They've created so many wonderful worlds, and stories, but the time has come to leave and new blood will enter the series as we enter a new decade: the 1980's. This new blood will demand that the slate be wiped entirely clean, and so only a very small handful of writers and directors who had worked on the series previously will work for it again. So I view this story as the last hurrah for the era of the 1970's. The one where we look back at the past and enjoy what has happened before as we stand on the cusp of a new decade awaiting the future.

And what we get is oddly serious. The Nimon costumes may be laughable, as is the fact that the actors within them decide to gesticulate wildly when they talk, so as to reveal which one of them is talking, but their plan to take over the Universe is actually quite depressing. They feed off other planets, choosing someone to be their herald, setting themselves up as gods, only to get their herald to unwittingly create a gateway for the Nimons to attack in force. We see this in the character of Sezom, an old man who wanders about the previous planet that the Nimons occupied, helpless to stop them. Suddenly, the story seems a bit depressing. This is the way that we're leaving the Graham Williams era of Doctor Who. Not with a great high, but with a slight low.

Enter Graham Crowden. The actor who plays the villainous Soldeed, he has made the decision to overact massively throughout the entire story, and when he comes to die, he makes it into the most memorable death scene in Doctor Who history. Shouting and screaming, with accompanying hand movements (and a far too good performance from Lalla Ward as Romana, who is perhaps the only person on set who has decided to take this seriously), Crowden makes this story fun again.

Because the Williams era of Doctor Who is all about having fun. Whether it's Leela slapping Adelaide, a giant prawn menacing a robot dog, witches fighting archaeologists, overthrowing societies ruled by tax, updating the old classic Greek myths or defeating the attempted invasion of Gallifrey by tin foil. We've met Binro the Heretic, a Pirate Captain (with Mr Fibuli!), Amelia Rumford, Kroll, Drax and of course, the Taran Wood Beast. There are robots caught in stalemate, spaghetti monsters caught in time, a phallus trapped in a pit, cuddly yet deadly creatures with drugs hidden inside their genetic makeup, and the world's hammiest Doctor Who villain.

And I love this era with all my heart, in particular this story. And this story inspired me for one afternoon, late in 2013. I was looking for a title for my new blog, but I wasn't sure what to call it. At first, it was going to be We've Got Work To Do, but then I got another idea. That idea was scrapped the next day, after everyone that I talked to said that my first idea was better, but I still hold a soft spot for that temporary title. So as far as I'm concerned, for today only, I'll choose to think of this blog not as We've Got Work to Do, but as something more celebratory, as we continue on THE GREAT JOURNEY OF LIFE!

Day 524: The Horns of Nimon Part 3

It turns out that, due to some poor planning, I've got work to do tonigt and so I can't really afford to write that long of a blog post. But that's not to say that there aren't interesting ideas within this part of the story. For isntance, there's the idea of the labyrinth. The labyrinth is the crux of the story of the Minotaur, being the lair in which the Minotaur lurks and from which none may return. The Horns of Nimon takes an interesting spin on this, by having it be a massive circuit, the walls of which change as various sections of the circuit open and close. This makes the labyrinth feel more dangerous and unknowable as a result. That said, the direction from Kenny McBain doesn't really help the way in which it is written. Much is made of the fact that the characters can't find their way around, but because the director is restricted to a BBC studio with not much time for recording, we rarely get to see much change in the walls, as this would require extra time to record, which they don't really have. It's a shame, as it's still a fantastic concept and could certainly be very well realised on screen at some point by something or other.

Day 523: The Horns of Nimon Part 2

One of the most joyous parts about The Horns of Nimon is the co-pilot. He only appears in the first half of the story, but he's easily one of the best parts. For a start, he makes a clear decision to shout every single line that he's given. This includes a line which he whispers, which you may not have thought was possible and yet the actor portraying him, Malcolm Terris, finds a way. This is compounded with the fact that the character feels a need to shout "Weakling Scum!" every time he encounters the sacrifices sent to appease the Nimon from Aneth, as if he's inviting the audience to say it along with him. There's also the fact that, infamously, when he's killed at the end of this episode, he falls down and rips his trousers visibly. In other stories, we would look on this as an embarrassment, but here we look on it as just another thing to laugh at in this story.

But there's one thing that sets the co-pilot apart from any other character in this story for me. In Part One, he wears a helmet, as shown below:

This makes him feel authoritative, and a bit of a menace to the various characters. But then, once he removes the helmet, it reveals a man who is quite clearly balding, with white hair. No longer is it the imposing co-pilot that we once saw, instead just a lightly wet character who is trying desperately to survive, through shouting and shouting alone. It's just another reason to outright adore The Horns of Nimon.

Day 522: The Horns of Nimon Part 1

I love The Horns of Nimon. It's perhaps the ultimate comfort Doctor Who story, one that you can just sit back and laugh with/at. We'll get into the unintentional humour in the next couple of days, but for now we'll have a look at a particular reason why I love it.

As has been mentioned previously, as a child I became mildly addicted to the Real Time Strategy game Age of Mythology, which sparked an interest in Greek myths and legends. Now, The Horns of Nimon is loosely based on the legend of the Minotaur, a beast that hid in a labyrinth to kill all prey that came forth, namely sacrifices given to the people living on the island Crete. It's an engaging story, and was good enough to make me want to see this story. So I watched it when I was about eleven or twelve, on a video borrowed from my local library. I don't remember much about watching it for the first time (which given later events in the story feels like a massive disservice to my memory), but I do recall watching Soldeed, the villain of the story who brings a whole new meaning to the idea of an over-acting Doctor Who villain, meets with a man who we shall refer to as Sydney Opera House man.

As I watched this, I laughed at the ridiculous costumes, made fun of the dialogue, and began to slowly see that Graham Crowden's performance as Soldeed was something special. And that sums up my first memories of The Horns of Nimon: having a lot of fun whilst watching it and getting the sense that this is something special.

Day 521: Nightmare of Eden Part 4

The third point about the Mandrels is the crux of the whole story. When they decompose, they decompose into the drug vraxoin. Now, vraxoin is one of the most dangerously addictive drugs in the Universe, and its appearance in this story marks a slightly different direction for the series. We're used to the series dealing with simple adventure stories, with occasional high concept ideas. The most politically charged stories have been fairly common issues, like war or the environment. But now, Doctor Who is looking at drugs. It's a remarkably adult issue, and the series should be commended for not being afraid to use it as a plot device. Its appearance means that the audience is allowed to be educated about the dangers of such drugs, in particular younger viewers, as they witness the horrifying effects of it, driving people either insane or to suicide. And more than that, the main villains are drug smugglers, taking advantage of these creatures for monetary gain.; It's all surprisingly dark stuff, that's hidden behind the jokes and bright lighting that epitomise Doctor Who of this era. But that's one of the benefits of doing this blog, that we're able to look at Doctor Who episodes and occasionally see them for what they truly are, instead of what they appear to be on the surface.

Day 520: Nightmare of Eden Part 3

So we get to know the Mandrels in this story, in particular this episode. They're fairly mindless beasts, wandering about and trying to kill various people. There are three main points to be made about the Mandrels, one of which we'll look at tomorrow, but the rest are fair game for today. The first is their design. They're not the most menacing of beasts, with far too large eyes, and bell-bottom legs that make them appear vaguely endearing. This is combined with the fact that they grapple their opponents, and almost hug them to death makes them some of the less monstrous monsters that we've seen on the series.

But this is at odds with the way in which they're directed. Frequent jump scares are apparent with the Mandrels, and we often see their destruction, such as a particularly harrowing scene where they're let loose into the passenger cabin and begin to kill various innocent people. There's clearly an attempt to make them a threat, and yet the design holds things up, making things worse for the story as a whole. But, we can still appreciate what they try to do with them, and the third point, which we look at tomorrow, will certainly change things completely.

Day 519: Nightmare of Eden Part 2

It's interesting to note how this story plays out as well. Consider the character of Captain Rigg. He's one of the first characters that we encounter on the ship, plays himself as an authority figure, and although he is not exactly trusting of the Doctor, he still acknowledges that he is someone who will be able to get the job done. He comes across as the secondary protagonist for the story, the sort of character that we'll wave goodbye to once the story is conpleted, never to see again. It's odd, then, that he is rendered indisposed halfway through Part 2 of this story. He accidentally ingests a drug, causing him to be 'high' for the rest of the episode, and if memory serves, will finally be completely disposed of later in Part 3. It shows once again that this story is evolving over time, and that we can never fully expect how the conclusion shall fully manifest itself in this Nightmare of Eden.

Day 518: Nightmare of Eden Part 1

From the outset, this story appears somewhat mundane. Two ships have collided with each other, albeit in extraordinary circumstances, and now that the Doctor has arrived on the scene it is his job to find a solution to their problem. It's an interesting start to the story then as it chooses to start with a small accident, but this is used as a springboard to other plot elements. Soon we see that a futuristic zoo has been set up on the ship, keeping animals not in cages but in crystals, and we also discover that a highly illegal drug can be found on the ship, with criminal implications for anyone who has it on board. So slowly but surely we begin to become more invested into the plot thanks to the ideas inserted by Bob Baker, the writer, and Douglas Adams, the script editor. So whilst Nightmare of Eden may seem mundane, it is soon clear that it is anything but.

Day 517: The Creature from the Pit Part 4

The fantastic thing about this story is the way in which it deals with our preconceived notions of villains. When the story begins, we can easily see that Lady Adrasta is the designated villain, shouting her way through scenes and ordering her minions about. When she throws the Doctor into the Pit to be eaten by the Creature, we therefore assume that the Creature is also on the side of evil as well. But throughout the rest of the story, we slowly come to realise that the Creature, otherwise known as Erato, may not be as evil as first thought, just a misunderstood beast that was taken advantage of by Lady Adrasta, who actually came to help the planet that the story is situated on. So when Lady Adrasta is killed at the beginning of Part 4, we're left with a vacancy for the position of villain within the story. For a moment, we suspect Erato of being up to no good, but we then realise that this is another misunderstanding, and that it is quite a decent creature when it comes down to it. This is all fantastic because the story is about slowly figuring out the motivation of Erato, and it's not afraid to avoid the cliché of having Erato be evil all along, and the Doctor to join forces with the humans to stop Erato's scheme, and instead go out and form its own story. There's actually quite a good story here, provided that you can look past the giant phallus that is Erato.

Day 516: The Creature from the Pit Part 3

When I look back on the stories that I've watched over the course of this blog, one frequently comes to mind: The Smugglers. It is perhaps the only story that I can remember virtually nothing about, due to a combination of factors including doing Uni work at the time, it being a reconstruction, and the fact that it's actually not a very engaging story.

So why do I bring this up when I'm talking about The Creature from the Pit? It's because when I look at the blog entries that I wrote for The Smugglers, it becomes obvious that not only do I not remember anything about The Smugglers now, it would appear that I did not remember anything about The Smugglers five minutes after I'd watched it as I started to write its blog entry. So there's not really any personal record of me watching The Smugglers, and any number of interesting things could have happened in it that I missed because of some overarching factor.

All of this is build-up to say that we've got a similar scenario with The Creature from the Pit. Unlike The Smugglers, I can enjoy this story, and several things stick out, such as a few side characters, the unique position that the 'monster' is put in, and the cliffhanger which will deserve a strong mention in my eventual cliffhanger analysis piece due to its framing of whether we are looking at someone in peril or a major plot development.

But all of that falls by the wayside. Because all that will be remembered about this episode is the fact that Tom Baker grabbed the 'monster' by the phallus and, in an attempt to communicate with it, blew into it.

Tomorrow, when I raise what I did over the storm-induced break with my friends, this will probably be the first thing that I shall mention. In a months time, when I complete the Tom Baker era and am looking back on highlights from each of his stories, this will be the major moment that springs to mind when thinking about The Creature from the Pit. In a year, when I look back on Doctor Who as a whole, my mind will only remember The Creature from the Pit's phallus and not the intricate story that has been woven around it.

And there is good stuff in this story. It just so happens that the Creature from the Pit has a large object that distracts our attention. Hopefully things will improve tomorrow though, as this story reaches its climax.

Day 515: The Creature from the Pit Part 2

This wasn't going to be like this. Yesterday was my first day back at Uni, after two weeks of holidays. There was a fair amount of rainfall that accompanied the entire day, but I thought nothing of it. This morning, however, I awoke to radio announcements that the storm had increased to a cyclone, being the biggest storm in at least eight or so years. So my day was increasingly spent listening to emergency forecasts, occasionally doing bits and pieces of Uni work on the home computer, and watching the destruction unfold via images on social media.

So when I watched The Creature from the Pit, my mind wasn't exactly in the right mood to engage with the story itself. I was left wondering about what would happen if we lost power, if the Uni remained closed for the week, if the tree in our backyard fell down onto the house. It's a testament to the writing of the story that I was able to vaguely focus on what was happening, with the combination of Fisher and Adams providing some incredibly witty dialogue. But there's still an overarching sense of something else distracting me.

And then this happened. I was half tempted to just post this image without any explanation as my entry for today. Because it stands firm and upright amongst everything else that's around it. It erects a position for itself in the middle of the story, being a member of the cast to come into the story with a strong amount of spunk, blowing an air of life and energy into its surrounds. It's a beast that just wanders into shot, phallus first, provoking so much fun and laughter that it provided a little bit of escapism from the storm raging outside. It's a nice moment of happiness, and is clearly enough to arouse a little bit of joy in this blogger's heart.

Day 514: The Creature from the Pit Part 1

There are a few things that immediately strike me about this story. One such thing is the fact that this is the first story of the series to be produced, something which normally wouldn't be worth mentioning, except that in this case it means that we are watching Lalla Ward's first performance as the new incarnation of Romana. It's not the performance that we normally associate with this version of the character, being aloof and looking down on everyone that she comes across, as opposed to the slightly more fun version that we're more used to. It's particularly odd because she gets a much firmer grip on the character in stories that were produced later, but shown earlier, meaning that we're getting a bit of character inconsistency that doesn't entirely work well for the story.

Another thing that strikes me about the story is the fact that it's the first story since The Robots of Death that I haven't seen before. It's odd to come to a story and have everything be unfamiliar again, with no prior impressions guiding my thoughts. That said, there is a certain 'reputation' about theis story that makes me a little bit nervous as we continue on to meet the Creature from The Pit.

Day 513: City of Death Part 4

The story comes to its natural conclusion here. It's worth mentioning that beneath all of the banter, there is a story here, and one that is actually quite interesting. It revolves around an alien creature that, whilst trying to take off in their spacecraft from Earth 400 million years ago, accidentally exploded, giving both the primordial ooze on Earth the spark to create life (and thus creating all human life), and splintering the alien creature through time. Naturally, he's a but miffed about this and spends much of the story trying to return back to that point through using a time machine of his own devising to save both himself and his species.

This is all a fantastic idea, and reveals much of why City of Death is so good. Yes, the direction, music, performances and dialogue are all fantastic, but they're useless without a good story at the heart of things. Adams succeeds in ideas as well as dialogue, providing something that's fun, unique and interesting, and then constructing a story around it. And it just so happens that everything that was constructed around this story worked perfectly well for the story that Adams had written, giving us something that was truly exquisite.

Day 512: City of Death Part 3

I mentioned before about the way in which the story is presented. The location is Paris, a beautiful city which the director Michael Hayes is able to clearly make the most out of, choosing shots that have a busy city within them, but also a city with style. Take for instance, one of the scenes in this episode where the Doctor runs through the streets trying to reach his destination. It's shot from a distance, with just the Doctor running, allowing us to soak up the beauty of the location. This is why Hayes is perfect for this story, he is a director who is content to just let the location speak for itself, making the story feel nicer as a result.

A similar way in which this is done is through the music, as composed by Dudley Simpson. It's mainly a relaxed piece, with occasional bursts of excitement as we hear car horns and the sound of movement, only for us to return to the original melody, and feel relaxed again. It reinforces the lightness of the story, accentuating the mood of the story perfectly. It's certainly one of Simpson's best scores for Doctor Who, and remains a highlight of the story.

Day 511: City of Death Part 2

Hopefully, the above clip should start at around 1:20. It runs for about 4 minutes, and is probably the single funniest scene ever to be produced in Doctor Who. Each line of dialogue is superbly witty, and is helped supremely by the performances of the actors. Baker chooses to play the Fool, wandering around and being a little bit silly throughout, choosing for the character of the Doctor to have some fun in this situation. The others play things relatively straight, allowing for the humour of the situation to be magnified.

But the scene also plays an important role in the plot as well. It shows the Doctor meeting the villains, and reveals that he is actually quite keen to be captured by them such that he can learn more of their plot. Adams makes this worth watching by adding banter, which also has the benefit of us growing to enjoy the company of the characters more and more. This sort of thing is a common thread throughout the story, such as in a scene towards the end of this episode, wherein the Doctor and co. are found by the villainous Count Scarlioni, which features an absolutely beautiful pun about throwing light onto the situation. It's all just another reason to adore City of Death.

Day 510: City of Death Part 1

The last story had three somewhat opposing views as to how the story should be produced. The same cannot be said for City of Death, which stands out as one of the most lovely Doctor Who stories of all time. It's written by Douglas Adams, working from a script by David Fisher. Both writers are some of the lighter writers that we have encountered on the series, with Fisher writing the adventurous romp that was 'The Androids of Tara' and Adams the joke filled 'The Pirate Planet'. The script is filled with wit which we shall definitely look at in more detail tomorrow. The script is also edited by Graham Williams, who provides a guiding hand to Adams, ensuring that it doesn't get too carried away with itself and that it keeps track of the story that is trying to be told. And there's more too. The direction and music, which we shall look at in further detail over the next few days, is well done, and there are other little moments that will shine throughout the story. But for now, it's sometimes best to appreciate the bouquet of this story.

Day 509: Destiny of the Daleks Episode 4

We last left our look at Destiny of the Daleks contemplating how the three main voices, being Douglas Adams, Ken Grieve and Terry Nation, the script editor, director and writer respectively, could work together considering that they have such differing things that they bring to the table. The answer, I suppose, can be found by dividing them into pairs. By doing this, each voice is able to come together with the other, using their respective strengths to create something worth engaging with.

So, first let's look at the combination of Adams and Grieve. Adams brings comedy, and Grieve is able to use his eye for a more interesting looking programme to make the jokes work in a way that wouldn't necessarily be expected from other directors. Take, for instance, the botched escape from the Movellans halfway through this episode. Essentially, the Doctor gets up, feels a Movellan gun on his shoulder and immediately sits back down again. Grieve shoots all of this in close-up, both giving the set-up to the escape attempt a tension that makes the end-game more rewarding as a joke, and also adding the new joke that we, as an audience, are only focussed on the Doctor's face and not necessarily on the Movellan behind him, thus making the sudden appearance of the gun an unanticipated event and creating a joke out of that as well.

Adams and Nation work surprisingly well together as well. Nation has provided the bare bones of a simple adventure plot-line, leaving Adams to fill in the rest. Adams takes the simple adventure and, by adding jokes and the like to keep the audience interested, is able to make up for the fact that the adventure plot-line is fairly basic. But the plot-line is still fun, and has some interesting ideas within it, so it can provide flesh to Adams' simple little jokes throughout. Take for instance, the fact that we have two computers fighting each other, and they can't defeat each other because each is able to accurately predict the others' move. The way in which this is illustrated is through a simple game of scissors-paper-rock, which the robotic Movellans are hopeless at, whereas the more intuitive Doctor is able to win at the game fairly regularly. It's a simple and fun way to look at the larger idea, and is one step of allowing us to see past the flaws of the story and have some fun with it.

Grieve and Nation are also a strong pairing. Nation is writing a 1960's adventure story, and Grieve is able to at least make it look interesting.

Take, for instance, the above shot. The use of Daleks in foreground, middle and background helps give the impression that there is a far larger Dalek fleet, much as Nation would have wanted. The sole Dalek in the foreground makes the shot feel imposing, and injects an amount of menace into the shot, making the Daleks something to be feared. This is a director who is able to take Nation's work and modernise it, making it feel more exciting as a result. Another example can be found in the deactivation of the Nova device, shot with a handheld camera, and with a particularly shocking shot of a dismembered Movellan arm at one point, which is a very exciting sequence.

At the end of the day then, Destiny of the Daleks isn't that bad. It's well directed, and the plot is able to have its weaknesses accounted for by the script editing. It is interesting to note though, that we have a story where the voices involved with making it are seemingly in opposition. One wonders what it would be like if everyone were on completely the same page...

Day 508: Destiny of the Daleks Episode 3

The final major voice in this production is that of the writer, Terry Nation. Nation, is of course, a familiar writer to Doctor Who, and has been writing for the series since it began. His stories tend to be generic science fiction adventure stories, and Destiny of the Daleks is no exception. The story features the Doctor and Romana landing on an alien planet, meeting the local slave workers, and fighting the Daleks. There's some engagement to make this story different from the others, such as the robotic race of Movellans, but on the whole the story, as conceived, feels like something that we could have easily seen in William Hartnell or Jon Pertwee's tenure as the Doctor.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in Nation's treatment of the companions, in particular Romana. 2 of the 3 cliffhangers that this story has focus directly on Romana being placed into direct danger. Now, by my count, in the previous series, 5.5 cliffhangers focus on Romana being placed into direct danger out of 20, giving a percentage of around 25%, compared to Nation's percentage of Romana in danger of 66%.

So what does this tell us? It indicates that the way in which Nation is writing the companion is as a character to be rescued by the Doctor. In normal circumstances, we wouldn't bat an eyelid about this, however the companion in question is Romana. Romana is a Time Lady, someone who is just as competent as the Doctor, if not moreso. Nation is doing her character a great disservice by reducing her to a character to be rescued.

So we're left with an editor inserting jokes, a director who makes things feel modern and realistic and a writer who comes direct from the 1960's. Tomorrow, then, we'll look at how the story concludes and whether these three distinct voices can come together as a whole.

Day 507: Destiny of the Daleks Episode 2

The second voice that I want to look at is that of the director, Ken Grieve. He too is new to the series, but he quickly makes an impression, through his innovative use of cameras. For instance, there's a scene partway through this episode where a Dalek advances down a corridor. He makes the decision to have this be a tracking shot, but shot directly from the ground, looking up. It makes the Daleks feel far more oppressive, and the fact that this is a tracking shot gives the sensation that the Daleks are constantly advancing to overpower you. It's a far cry from the normal shots of cutting back and forth between characters speaking.

Similarly, he uses the new technique of Steadicam. This allows for a film camera to used in a handheld fashion, giving the camera operator more freedom of movement. It also means that the film sections of the story gain a somewhat more realistic feeling to them. The slightly shaky nature of the handheld combined with the already rough ground of the quarry that they are filming in makes us feel like we're on the planet Skaro with the Doctor and Romana. This realistic feeling can also be attributed to the soundscape, which is minimal, focussing mainly on background sound effects and having little to no music.

So we have a story that's got jokes and gags in it, and is filmed in an innovative and realistic fashion. Tomorrow, we'll look at the third voice, and see what he brings to the table of Destiny of the Daleks.

Day 506: Destiny of the Daleks Episode 1

When viewing an episode of Doctor Who, you can see the influence of four key voices: the producer, the script editor, the writer and the director. In the case of viewing Destiny of the Daleks I suddenly realised that three of those key voices (writer, director, script editor) were slightly at odds with one another, and that each one of these voices is interesting in their own way. So, for the next three days, I'll look at these three voices and see what they bring to the table in Destiny of the Daleks.

Let's begin with the script editor, Douglas Adams. One of the most recognisable names in science fiction, he is world famous for his work on such series as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He's also written for Doctor Who before with last series' The Pirate Planet and he contributed some minor editing work to The Armageddon Factor as well. This is his first full story as script editor though, so it's nice to see what a fresh faced young writer will bring to the table as he looks over this script.

The answer is jokes. This story is filled with small jokes, such as the Doctor openly criticising a book on The Origins of the Universe whilst being crushed by a large pillar, or the two minute scene at the start of the story where Romana decides to regenerate and goes through a charade of trying on different bodies in much the same way as someone would choose some clothes. It certainly makes the story feel more fun, and it helps to magnify the on-screen chemistry between the Doctor and Romana, thus relieving any tensions that new viewers might not accept the new Romana but it also raises questions about whether these jokes are right for this type of story...