Day 457: Horror of Fang Rock Part 4

The conclusion of this story features a couple of things. One of them is the revelation of the villains behind the piece: The Rutans. The Rutans are the enemies of the Sontarans, and yet they couldn't be more dissimilar. While the Sontarans are short, stocky, and look like typical alien soldiers, the Rutans are more blob like in nature. This gives some insight into their conflict: a dislike for the unlike, as it is fairly obvious that there is no point of similarity between the two species. Even their mides of attack are different, with the Sontarans preferring all out attacks and strong weaponry while the Rutans take a stealthier approach, knocking out their enemies one by one. However, their love of war is the one thing that they do have in common, with dire consequences for bystanders.

This is evident when you look at the amount of death that surrounds this story. Every single character save for the Doctor and Leela gets killed over the course of this story, it's fairly depressing stuff although it's worth noting the way in which the Doctor and Leela take this in, as they accept it and move on to their nect adventure with barely a look back. They won and there's no time to dwell on the loss. It's interesting to note this because back in the Hartnell era this sort of destruction would be recognised by the TARDIS crew, and we shall certainly see much more mourning in the future, but for now we move on to face new foes, off on another adventure.

Day 456: Horror of Fang Rock Part 3

The above .gif file represents probably the greatest moment ever to occur for the character of Leela. Another character, Adelaide, is getting hysterical at the amount of death that is surrounding her. The revelation that her employer, Lord Palmerdale, may be dead, is too much for her and she begins to scream. Leela clearly decides that this is annoying, and so she slaps her. This moment sums up the character of Leela particularly well. For a start, she refuses to be part of the 'screaming girl' tradition of the series, preferring to take a more active role in proceedings. She's also not afraid to avoid social taboos, hitting someone because they are being remarkably annoying. But this also hints at her upbringing in the tribe of the Sevateem, as she comments later in the episode that she is surprised that Adelaide has not seen death before, showing that her own background is different than those of most characters in the series and reinforcing her own character as one that is interesting and deserves to be paid attention to.

Day 455: Horror of Fang Rock Part 2

In order to spice things up with regards to the plot of the story, a group of new characters has been introduced. They're some quite posh people who crashed their sailing ship onto the rocks near the lighthouse. They bring with them a storyline of their own as well, with one of them trying desperately to get back to London in order to make a fortune on the stock market, causing the ship to crash in the pricess and probably killing most of its crew. What's interesting about this plotline is how pointless it all is. We recognise as viewers that the outcomes of this story will have no bearing on what the Doctor and Leela have engaged themselves with. This reflects on how much importance we give the matter. We care about the safety of the lighthouse, and protecting its occupants from danger. We don't care about the squabbles about money that take place within it, partially because the Doctor and Leela aren't involved with it. This comes across as Terrance Dicks holding a sort of mirror up to society, showing that whilst there may be fighting over money and shares and the like, all of this should be ignored when it comes to the important things such as alien invasions and life or death scenarios, because there are always things that are bigger and better than money.

Day 454: Horror of Fang Rock Part 1

Well, this is awkward. After spending the previous episode bidding farewell to the Hinchcliffe/Holmes partnership, we find ourselves with a new producer: Graham Williams, whose first story could very easily be mistaken for a Hinchcliffe story. This is to be expected, of course. The writer is Terrance Dicks (Robot, The Brain of Morbius), the director is Paddy Russell (Pyramids of Mars), the script editor is still Robert Holmes and even the regulars haven't changed with the Fourth Doctor/Leela partnership still the main focus. The Williams era will make its mark, but its fair to say that it doesn't start its era the same way that the Hinchcliffe era did, with a story unlike anything else in The Ark in Space.

But that's not to say that this is bad. The story moves along at a good pace, the darkness and horror elements are good and exacerbated by the claustrophobic nature of the setting: a lighthouse. The direction is good, with some nice POV shots from the perspective of the unknown alien attacker as we see the fear in its victim's eyes. This is all not forgetting the excellent writing from Holmes and Dicks of course, where the characters are allowed to feel realistic with arguments about the lighthouse lamp. So despite the fact that there's not been much change yet, this may not necessarily be a bad thing, and as the old saying goes: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

Day 413: Pyramids of Mars Part 4

I've estimated that this point in the run of the blog marks a particular milestone, namely that I have now reached the halfway point on my journey. It's been a remarkably fun ride so far, with some particularly enjoyable episodes such as Pyramids of Mars Part 4, for example.

There are two major points that come to mind when thinking of this episode. The first is the beginning, which features the Doctor being tortured by the villainous Sutekh. It's a shocking scene as we see the Doctor put under intense pain. We aren't used to seeing the Doctor quite clearly losing, as he is forced to become one of Sutekh's playthings. This shows two things. One is that Sutekh is quite clearly a powerful force, and that we are all going to be doomed if the Doctor cannot prevent him from being set free. The second is that Tom Baker is a marvellous actor, fully conveying the intense pain that he is undergoing and making the audience feel greatly disconcerted in the process.

The second major point is more of a personal one. The majority of this episode concerns the Doctor and Sarah Jane chasing Marcus Scarman through a pyramid, completing little riddles as they go along. To an older eye this comes across as padding, and lacks much of the tension that was present in the first three quarters of the story. But when I first saw it, I loved it. I loved riddles and puzzles as a child, and so this sequence appealed to me, particularly as it showed the Doctor and Sarah Jane using brains instead of brawn to complete each obstacle. And so whilst I may have problems with this story as an adult, I can never take away the joy that it brought me as a child and I always enjoy thinking back on watching Pyramids of Mars and kneeling before the might of Sutekh.

Day 412: Pyramids of Mars Part 3

Laurence Scarman is a lovely character in this story. He represents the typical turn of the century gentleman, a man who believes in what is right. This is exemplified in the cliffhanger for Part 2, where he prevents the Doctor from activating a machine to attack the villainous Sutekh, as it would also attack Marcus Scarman, Laurence's brother and a pawn of Sutekh, arguably already dead according to the Doctor.

Laurence also gets this story's best scene, as his brother finds him working away in a hut. He talks to his brother and attempts to remind him of his past life. For a second, Marcus remembers, and tries to break free from Sutekh's power, but Sutekh takes control again and he moves towards Laurence. Then, in a chilling scene Laurence begs Marcus for mercy, but in a confused state. He can't actually comprehend that his brother has been made evil and he looks on in a state of confusion as Marcus begins to crush him to death. The scene shows that there is no room for lightness in the story, and that darkness has prevailed, with only the Doctor and Sarah Jane standing in its way...

Day 411: Pyramids of Mars Part 2

There's an age old question for Doctor Who stories. Stories that are set in the past can't turn out badly because we know that the future is alright, therefore everything will be swell. But time can be rewritten, as is discovered in the clip above. When Sarah Jane requests to be returned to 1980, she finds that it has become a desolate wasteland. Suddenly, we get a chilling realisation both of the villain's power and of the importance of fighting against evil in all time periods. This is one of the most important scenes in Doctor Who as it reveals that what the Doctor and co. do is not worthless, and that they really do help make history go on the correct course, preventing vast temporal disasters throughout their travels in the TARDIS.

Day 410: Pyramids of Mars Part 1

It's going to be somewhat difficult to comment on this story. As mentioned previously on this blog, I used to play the video game Age of Mythology, and through it I gained an interest in Greek, Egyptian and Norse mythology. Around the same time, I was discovering Doctor Who and thus I sought out episodes where these things were heavily present. One of these was Pyramids of Mars, which I used to watch incessantly, with the end result being that I feel like I know this story like the back of my hand and there's not much that will surprise me.

But that doesn't get in the way of what is a good story. As I mentioned earlier, I was obsessed with Egyptian mythology as a child, reading and learning more and more about this thoroughly interesting culture. And this isn't just restricted to me, as Mummy movies and the like have shown with the Hammer and Universal Mummy pictures. So it makes sense for the series to take something that's popular and put a 'Doctor Who' spin on it, creating something memorable and enjoyable at the same time.

Day 365: Invasion of the Dinosaurs Part 6

So we reach the climax of this story. Now, the story has fully mutated. It is no longer the Doctor investigating a dinosaur invasion of the Earth, it is a story about the Doctor, Sarah Jane, the Brigadier and Sergeant Benton fighting against a group of extremists. It's relatively tense stuff and works well, although there is still the niggling problem at the heart of this story. It's a story that functions on twists. Having known all of these twists in advance, it lessens the impact and makes for a far more average story on the whole. It's still fun, but I have just a strong sense of regret about being spoiled of what happens.

And yet, there was one moment in this story that surprised me. I won't say what it was, only that I legitimately found it a highlight of my Doctor Who viewing experience. Seeing that moment reminded me that as I continue along this journey of watching Doctor Who, there can still be surprises where I least expect them. And these little moments make the entire journey worthwhile.

Day 364: Invasion of the Dinosaurs Part 5

The plan has finally been revealed! It turns out that the bad giys are going to send a few chosen people back in time to repopulate the Earth and so that we can learn from our mistakes to create a better society. The obvious message that Hulke is trying to make here is one of political extremism, where extremists will go to such strong measures to get the ends that they want, in this case pretty much wiping out most of the human race to start over. We're obviously meant to be sided against them, we can see that this is a horrible move which we as humanity should obviously be against.

And yet I'm siding with the bad guys here. Hulke writes issues of grey morality, inviting viewers to consider both sides of the argument before making the final decision. And in this case, I personally have to side with the idea of rebooting the Earth and starting over. Every day I wake up and look at how the world is going terribly. Climate change and pollution are rampant in our modern world. There are also ideologies that exist that promote hate. That promote fossil fuels over climate action. And we as a society choose these people over people who are arguably going to make our planet better. And it's little wonder that some days I wish that we could go back to the time of the dinosaurs and start over, this time with clever people in charge. After all, we're already surrounded by war-mongering T-Rexes and stegosauruses with walnut sized brains in the modern day.

Day 363: Invasion of the Dinosaurs Part 4

Another twist occurred at the end of the last episode as it was revealed that Sarah Jane had been put on a spaceship and had been on this ship for three months. As an audience, of course, we are pre-disposed not to trust this on the grounds that the episode continues to cut back to Pertwee and UNIT investigating the dinosaurs in the current time period instead of three months hence. Thus, Hulke uninetnionally reveals the truth behind the plot element thathe is currently using. But the motive remains hidden, we are still unaware of how each plot element works together. On the one hand we have dinosaurs roaming the streets of London as part of a massive conspiracy with people involved from science, the military, the government and UNIT. Aside from this, we also have a spaceship filled with prime human specimens who are being reminded of how polluted the Earth is and why they have left to find a new colony somewhere different. Hopefully we shall soon discover how these plot strands fit together, but it's obvious that this is going to make for some more overtly political themes than we're used to in Doctor Who.

Day 362: Invasion of the Dinosaurs Part 3

The villain's plan is still yet to fully reveal itself, so I'll withhold discussion on that for the moment and instead bring up a very important point about Invasion of the Dinosaurs. DINOSAURS! As a young boy I loved dinosaurs. Their majesty and exciting features, coupled with the documentary series Walking With Dinosaurs sparked a youthful obsession with these terrible lizards. Naturally, when looking through Doctor Who: The Television Companion, I found the story with dinosaurs in it and got excited for it, wanting to see what would be presented to me.

The sad thing is that the dinosaurs as presented are not as CGI like the Dinosaurs that I walked with that sparke my interest in the topic, instead they are models. And somewhat poor models as well, which obviously gel poorly with the humans occupying the scenes with them. This makes for a depressing moment, as I can reflect on how I should never get my hopes up for special effects, as they'll always be less than special.

But the effects don't matter. When I was a kid and watching Walking with Dinosaurs, I wasn't thinking of the impressive effects, I was thinking of the dinosaurs that were in front of me. And the fact still remains that dinosaurs are in Doctor Who and that this is remarkably cool and exciting. We get to see the majesty of the Stegosaurus, the horror of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the beauty of the Brontosaurus. The fact that they're less than convincing doesn't matter as we can still appreciate the meaning behind it and get excited to see Dinosaurs.

Day 361: Invasion of the Dinosaurs Part 2

Captain Mike Yates is a character that we've not really discussed that much on the blog. He's one of the UNIT regulars, a reliable sort who is frequently seen either in an action set-piece or hanging out with Jo Grant. Watching this episode, however, makes you realise that something is different. He's asking more questions than he usually does and you can sense that he's not asking these questions out of curiosities sake, there's an ulterior motive at work. The ulterior motive is suddenly revealed as him actually working for a group of people bringing dinosaurs to modern day London. It's a shocking moment as we see the once reliable character who we could trust instead move to the side of the enemy. Over the course of the serial, we'll discover why this is the case, but it shows bravery that we can put the regular cast out of their comfort zone and into new and different scenarios.

Day 360: Invasion Part 1

You have to feel sorry for this story. The production team goes to all the trouble of trying to keep the fact that it's actually called Invasion of the Dinosaurs secret, and then it's all ruined due to a number of factors. One such factor is that halfway through, we get to see a dinosaur attack. This would be expected in stories featuring dinosaurs, that dinosaurs should appear throughout, and yet it's painfully obvious that it was at some point intended that the revelation of the dinosaur would be a cliffhanger reveal, to shock the audience into tuning in the following week to see the Doctor fight dinosaurs. Instead, it just comes across as a weak cliffhanger.

But there's more to it than just that, because any person who wants to watch this story will immediately be denied the pleasure of having the shock dinosaur reveal. This is because the dinosaurs are emblazoned on the front cover of the DVD. As is the phrase: Invasion of the Dinosaurs. And even a cursory glance at the internet will reveal other spoilers that are to come with the story. It's a sad reflection on the fact that we can't enjoy these stories any more in the ways that they were on first broadcast. We already know what is to come ahead of us and so we aren't allowed to be surprised any more. Some days I wish for amnesia, so that I can forget about what will happen and allow the story to be told to me, but this is just a pipe dream, and we must always continue on, as We've Got Work To Do.

Day 106: Bell of Doom

There are some things that are amongst the most terrible things in the universe, like what happened in this episode: on the 24th of August, 1572, there was an authorized massacre of the Huguenot population living in Paris, after tensions between the Huguenots and the Catholics reached fever pitch, and a series of events sparked the mass murder of about 10,000 people. And meanwhile, the Doctor has found Steven, and sends Steven's young companion, Anne Chaplet, off to leave Paris immediately. We do not know what happens to Anne. We can only assume that she didn't make it. In another story, this would be a hidden detail, glossed over. But today is different. Steven has witnessed a lot over the past couple of stories. People who he has known and grown to trust have been murdered or destroyed before his very eyes, and today he witnessed the Doctor, the man who he trusts more than any other, send a young girl off to certain doom. 

For the fourth story in a row, we witness as thousands of people die before our eyes. For a story that focuses so much on tensions between people of faith, it is interesting that here we lose our faith in the Doctor. He had to let history run its course, and in doing so, he, as well as Steven and the audience at home, are forced to witness the consequences of his inactions, death and destruction. And the death and destruction of a young serving girl. We've had enough, we can't take it any more, we want to leave. And so we do, like Steven, leave the TARDIS, never to come back. We leave the old man in his magic box, as he contemplates the past 106 episodes. He's met two schoolteachers, who taught him compassion, Susan who gave him something to care about, Vicki who brought so much fun, and Steven, with whom he had a strong mutual trust. But that's all over now.

And then a young girl bursts into the TARDIS, full of energy and stupidity. She doesn't realise where she is, she doesn't realise what the hell is going on, but she doesn't care. And Steven returns, because to warn the Doctor of the fact that some policemen are coming to inspect the police box shaped TARDIS and the Doctor is forced to leave, with Steven and this impossible young girl. The young girl's name? Dodo Chaplet. Like Anne Chaplet. There's a possibility that Anne survived. There's hope that things turned out for the best. There is hope that the Doctor isn't a man who sends young girls to their death, instead he sends them to their life. For the first time in what feels like an age, we have hope. And that is one of the most beautiful things in the universe.

Day 105: Priest of Death

The Doctor, as mentioned in the last entry, is not present for these two episodes. This isn't the first time that this has happened, we've had the Doctor be off-screen before, but they've normally featured an absence of William Hartnell as well, however he is present throughout this story. He doesn't play the Doctor, instead he is the villainous Abbot of Amboise. It's a shame that this episode is not currently present in the BBC archives, as it would be a joy to observe Hartnell's performance in another role, and to see how he made the two characters distinctly different, because Hartnell is a good actor, and he would have made them both distinct characters. But the key thing to notice here is the way that the issue of the doppelgänger is addressed. The audience knows that the Doctor is not the Abbot, however Steven doesn't and believes that they are one and the same. So this means that the audience is one step ahead of Steven, and this changes the way that the story is told, allowing for more focus on Steven as he reaches conclusions that are already known, instead of just making it a normal historical adventure. It does have the nasty side effect of changing the impact of this episode's cliffhanger though, which features the body of the Abbot, now deceased, as Steven realises that the Doctor must be dead. But we know that the Doctor isn't dead, and so the shock of this is no longer present, we instead look at Steven's reaction and know that he is wrong, and move on with our lives. But there's another dimension to this, as people are getting blamed for the murder and the Huguenots may be in trouble very soon...

Day 104: The Sea Beggar

This story is a bit Doctor-lite, (we'll focus on what Hartnell is actually doing tomorrow) and as such Steven is forced into the role normally taken by the Doctor. He is the one who is going out and meeting people, and getting himself into historical hijinks. He's even got himself a companion, in the form of Anne Chaplet, a young serving girl. But the problem is, and this is quite a big problem, he's not very good at being the Doctor. There are two reasons for this, one is that he doesn't know things. The Doctor is a man with universal knowledge, and while there are always points where he is able to learn things, he still tends to wards having strong ideas as to what is happening around this time. Steven, on the other hand, comes into this completely blind, with no real idea of what is happening around him. All he knows is that he needs to find the Doctor, but he's not sure of how he's going to do that. The other point of why Steven can't be the Doctor is that he lacks authority. When the Doctor, particularly Hartnell, walks into a room, he is able to take full control, and become a trusted figure quickly. Steven, on the other hand, is losing allies left, right and centre. Everyone that he has met is turning against him because they fell that he is acting against their interests, and whilst he is trying his best to explain to them the truth of the matter, he is failing. Behind the scenes of this period of Doctor Who, it is becoming far more apparent that Hartnell's health is rapidly deteriorating, and the production staff is trying to write him out and find a replacement. If anything, this is showing to them that they can't just promote any character, you need to be special in order to be the Doctor.

Day 103: War of God

We've arrived in 16th century France, a period that is not one of the more commonly known spatial-temporal periods in history, at least to my understanding, but the basics are uncomfortably familiar. The Huguenots are being oppressed by their Catholic overlords, due to them believing slightly different things to eachother. The natural defense to this is subjugation. Which would be funny, if it weren't true, because we know that people all over the world are being subjugated because of their beliefs, their lack of beliefs or indeed just their general way of life. But sometimes, we can find hope. Charles Preslin is a character who was almost certainly invented for this story, but he is important nonetheless. He's an apothecary who is being ridiculed for his work in discovering little creatures that cause illnesses, and he is being shamed for his work. So when he meets the Doctor, he does not wish to see anyone, but upon discovering that work is being done in Germany in order to further develop his research, and that these things will soon have a name, germs, he finds hope. Because sometimes, even in the darkest periods, hope can still be found. Whether it will stay is another matter entirely.