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 505: The Armageddon Factor Part 6

So the Shadow has been defeated, and the Key to Time assembled. It is then promptly disassembled when the Doctor realises that this has all been a ploy by the Black Guardian in order to create everlasting chaos in the Universe. The story then ends with the Doctor and Romana going on the run to escape the Black Guardian, thus ending this series long story arc.

So perhaps we should look back at this story arc, now that all has been said and done. It's got a nice variety of stories within it, and each one in their own way is enjoyable, from the rollicking adventure that is The Androids of Tara to the Hammer Horror of The Stones of Blood. The characters too are all generally memorable and enjoyable, such as Drax, the cheeky Time Lord, or the overacting Pirate Captain from The Pirate Planet. And above all else, the series has a vast amount of fun behind it, with little jokes and gags throughout the series that keep things light, which makes for a much happier time as a viewer.

And for the past four or five years I have sadly viewed The Armageddon Factor as the mark on the otherwise spotless jewel that is this series. A mixture of bad padding, poor acting and poor special effects led me to dismiss this story. But looking at it for its ideas, and the way in which the story is told, I'm able to see that this story has its merits, and I can enjoy it for what it is, meaning that this series, Series 16 of Doctor Who, is now in my opinion the greatest series of Doctor Who we've covered as of this moment, and possibly of all time. But we shall see whether this holds up, as we start a new series tomorrow, and it's got high standards to live up to.

Day 504: The Armageddon Factor Part 5

Looking at The Armageddon Factor, the character of Drax, introduced in Part 5, strikes the audience as one of the more interesting characters that we have encountered in this story. He's another Time Lord like the Doctor, but he represents a different slant on Gallifreyan society compared to what we have seen before. The Time Lords have previously been all powerful beings, and a little bit stuffy and pompus. Drax, on the other hand, would appear to have rejected these views after failing his examinations and going off to explore the Universe, much like the Doctor. Unlike the Doctor, however, he is fairly loose when it comes to criminal activity and has at one point had an extended stay in a London prison. Personality wise, he's a bit silly, and whilst he is technically gifted he is liable to make mistakes fairly often. So we have an imperfect Time Lord introduced within the series. Sadly this is his only appearance, which is a shame as the character works well with the Doctor, providing a voice that both has the intellectual capacity to discuss various concepts with the Doctor, but also the looseness that makes his scenes feel lighter and more enjoyable. That said though, we already have a character who somewhat fulfils those criteria in the form of Romana. Romana, however, still feels a little bit too 'straight' compared to the Doctor's looseness, and perhaps a change may be seen in the future with regards to Romana's character to inject a little bit more fun into the series.

Day 503: The Armageddon Factor Part 4

The titular Armageddon Factor refers to one proposed ending of the war going on in the background of this story. Essentially, the two warring planets consist of one planet with humanoids fighting and desperately trying to win, and the other consisting of a computer that has been programmed to win at all costs, even if the race that created it has died out ages ago. The computer thus decides that if it cannot win then no planet can win, setting off an explosion big enough to destroy both planets if it looks as if it is going to be destroyed. This idea of Mutually Assured Destruction is clearly prevalent in society at the time, being broadcast in the 1970's as the Cold War rages on, which means that the story is able to play on the audience's fears and create a more compelling story as a result.

Meanwhile, in my ongoing quest to approach The Armageddon Factor from a nicer viewpoint, I am a little worried. The major flaw in the story is beginning to show and I'm not looking forward to experiencing it, not least because I've actually been enjoying this story up until this point and am looking forward to seeing how it will continue as we further seek the final segment of The Key to Time.

Day 502: The Armageddon Factor Part 3

There's really not much to say about this episode. Quality wise it is remaining on a level pegging with the previous parts of this story (even if Ian Saynor, the actor playing the young male lead known as Merak, is beginning to become a little annoying), and the story, whilst introducing new characters and new settings, only scratches the surface as far as the true depth of these concepts is concerned, making me somewhat reluctant to talk about them at this present moment. What's interesting then is the fact that we've reached Part 3 of a 6 part story and we're still presented with new questions. this is partly because the writing team have decided to experiment with a new format for 6 part episodes, consisting now of interconnected 2 part episodes. We've had the set-up on Atrios, more set-up and some discovery of the true nature of the plot on Zeos and a final conclusion on an unnamed planet that we will get to in a couple of episodes time. At this moment, this set-up actually seems to be working rather well. For 6 part stories there always seem to be sagging sections where nothing really seems to be happening. This isn't the case here, where new parts of the story can be easily introduced throughout the adventure, ensuring that the audience will never get bored. Or at least, hoping that the audience will never get bored...

Day 501: The Armageddon Factor Part 2

Edit: So whilst watching some special features on The Armageddon Factor DVD, I noticed that they were mentioning the fact that Part 1 of this story was the 500th broadcast episode of Doctor Who. This perplexed me, mainly because I had this down as the 500th episode. I then consulted my backlog and discovered that I had made a mistake when noting down episode numbers around the time of The Deadly Assassin. So whilst I fix the episode numbers so that this won't happen again, I'll leave this entry standing as is except with the relevant numbers changed. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

501 episodes. On this blog we've covered 501 individual episodes of Doctor Who. We've visited junkyards, ancient Egypt, oil refineries, small English villages and distant alien worlds. And through all of that time the series still produces some truly great moments.

Take, for instance, this episode. The Armageddon Factor concerns two warring planets: Atrios and Zeos. For the first section of the story we are stranded on Atrios, and we see the destruction and damage that the war has brought. But then we reach the point that the episode has been building up to: the battle between the two planets' respective fleets of spaceships. We view this battle from afar, looking only at a monitor screen revealing the ships and their movements. We wait and see the battle to take place, only to see Atrios' fleet be utterly demolished by their enemies.

Looking at the scene from a production point of view, it's incredibly low budget. We're confined strictly to one set, which is used to have the main characters commentating on the events. There's also not enough money to afford spaceship models either, meaning that our only representation of the warring fleets is by a series of dots on a screen, which flash brightly and then disappear when they get hit. But despite the lack of production values, it still comes across well. This is mainly due to the performances of the people watching the events, in particular that of John Woodvine as the Marshal, a man who desperately hopes that his fleet will survive. He pleasingly remarks on every hit with a quiet glee, only to be continually reminded of how the ships being hit are his own, and that he is losing badly. It helps the situation come across as a desperate one, and makes us empathise with their hopeless cause.

And this scene is just another great scene that we've covered over the past 501 days. It makes up for a lack in budget with strong acting, some excellent direction and some very well made sets, thus making for some incredibly good television. But there are still 300 or so episodes left, which can only mean that We've Got Work to Do!

Day 500: The Armageddon Factor Part 1

Before we begin this story, I should probably talk about the context with which I'm currently viewing this story. I first saw the Key to Time series four or five years ago. The Ribos Operation stunned me, The Pirate Planet enthralled me, The Stones of Blood provided much enjoyment, The Androids of Tara was a lovely surprise and I even admired the underrated The Power of Kroll. Then I came to The Armageddon Factor. I didn't enjoy this story. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I hated it. That opinion has been stuck within my mind for several years. So, whilst I try to come to each story with a relatively open mind, I'm not sure whether that will be possible in this situation.

That said, the first part of this is actually pretty good. It begins with a post-modern piece where we look at two hammy actors in front of some dodgy blue-screen effects, only for the camera to pan out and reveal that this is just a drama, and our real set is revealed, looking far more realistic as a nuclear bunker is bombarded and we see the destruction that past attacks have wrought on the populace, lying on the floor moaning for help as nurses hurriedly rush to their aid.

Indeed, the entire episode feels rather dark, with death destruction and the constant barrage of explosions being a constant presence as events continue. But, thanks in part to Tom Baker's performance as the Doctor, and also a romantic sub-plot from Bob Baker and Dave Martin (the writers), it never feels overtly dark, and we can grow to enjoy the story. So maybe I was wrong about it the first time around, and The Armageddon Factor is just another underrated gem that we've encountered on this voyage through time and space.

Day 495: The Androids of Tara Part 4

Towards the climax of this story we get a swordfight. We sort of expect this to happen, given that the story has been exactly the rip-roaring adventure that requires a swordfight to top it all off. What's interesting though is how the swordfight is directed. When it begins, the fight is entirely in studio, meaning a cramped area to fight in that somewhat increases tension. Tom Baker as the Doctor diffuses some of this tension by making a few jokes throughout the fight, but the tension still remains, in part due to the fact that there is no music, leaving us to purely focus on the action and become sucked in by it. It is only when it becomes clear that the Doctor has the upper hand that we can allow ourselves to relax, and to know that the Doctor will win in the end. The music is restored, we go onto location with film, meaning that the fighting gains a bit more space, and all is generally well. But the direction in the first half of the fight remains good and tense, standing out in the story as a highlight. Much kudos must then go to Michael Hayes, the director of this story, and I look forward greatly to his next story in Doctor Who. But that's for another day as we've still got 2 more segments of The Key to Time to find as the ongoing adventure continues...

Day 494: The Androids of Tara Part 3

A fun part of this story is the character of Count Grendel. Played by Peter Jeffrey, he is the villain of this story. The character is clearly evil, making no attempts to hide this fact. He wanders around the story, making attempts to become the King by killing various people and acting like a villain straight out of children's cartoon. This can be seen, for instance, in the ending to this episode which features him wandering into the Doctor's hideout under a flag of truce, in an attempt to get the Doctor to change sides, then leaping over a bench to capture Romana and ride away on horseback. In other stories, this character would be a little disappointing, as we might want a little more nuance in the role of villain, such as those found in the stories of Malcolm Hulke. But in this story, we can excuse this, because we've already bought into the idea of this being a simpler, lighter story. In this case, the Count falls perfectly into the role for which we expect him to, being your typical cartoon villain. Essentially, we allow the villains to have fun in their role because we're allowed to have fun watching it. And what's a fun adventure serial without a clearly evil villain to face?

Day 493: The Androids of Tara Part 2

So this episode revolves around doppelgängers. We have the fact that Romana is the spitting image of the Princess Strella of Tara, hence she is captured for nefarious purposes. We also have the titular androids, who are constructed to be living doubles of various people to perform various tasks when their original is otherwise indisposed (read: incarcerated). This is something that should be nothing new to the audience, this sort of story is relatively common (indeed much of this plot is lifted directly from the novel The Prisoner of Zenda), and it's nice to see Doctor Who take a science-fiction spin on the tale.

It's also important to note that The Prisoner of Zenda is hardly a dark piece. But the series realises that, and so we get a lighter, simpler adventure story, instead of the terrifying Hammer Horror style tale that we got with The Stones of Blood. This can be seen on location, for instance, as the sun brightly shines through the countryside portraying a far happier story than what we've previously had.

This brings me to the major point that I want to make about Graham Williams and to an extent his current script editor, Anthony Read. Both bring stories to Doctor Who. They don't necessarily have to be dark stories, or stories to send the kids scurrying off behind the sofa, instead, they just have to be well crafted stories. More often than not, these stories are fun as well, being filled with great characters, razor sharp dialogue, and can easily be remembered by the young children watching. For these reasons, I count the Graham Williams era as one of my personal favourites throughout Doctor Who and you can find no better reason to enjoy it than in The Androids of Tara.

Day 492: The Androids of Tara Part 1

So a new story starts today. I could write about the design work, the search for the Key to Time, the costumes, the acting or all manner of things. But this opportunity will only come around once in this entire voyage, and I need to talk about it. So today, we're going to look at the Taran Wood Beast.

The Taran Wood Beast only appears once in Doctor Who, in the opening section of The Androids of Tara. Its role in the story is small: menace the Doctor's assistant, Romana, and then be shooed off by the evil Count Grendel. So, for an appearance that small, why do I want to dedicate an entire entry to it?

The reason is simple: the design is one of the most unintentionally funny monster designs in the history of Doctor Who. It straddles the line between cute, and vaguely terrifying, whilst remaining somewhat unconvincing throughout. The fact that it only appears once in the story seems to reinforce the fact that the production staff realised that they had a bit of a failure on their hands and so they had to shoo it away as quickly as possible.

And yet I love it. It's something that makes me smile, mainly because it comes out of nowhere and fails to completely menace the audience, instead making them burst ought into unintentional laughter. It's for that reason that my twitter profile (@ComeOnAce) is an image of the beast, as is my iPad's wallpaper and various other bits and bobs. I even fondly remember waking up and realising that I'd had a nightmare about the Beast a couple of years ago, and smiling to myself that my subconscious chose one of the least frightening Doctor Who monsters to terrify me. And above all else, I'm fairly certain that it appears in the music video for Always by Erasure. Why not see for yourself?