Day 623: The Twin Dilemma Part 1

When I talk about Doctor Who with my friends, I will occasionally remark upon the quality of the episode that I'm currently watching. In particular, if the story is bad, I will go for the hyperbolic reaction of stating "It's the worst Doctor Who story that doesn't feature spousal abuse". In other words, I am referring to the fact that The Twin Dilemma is easily the worst Doctor Who story of all time.

Post regeneration crises occasionally feature the Doctor acting somewhat erratically. Tom Baker's Doctor was a little more zany than usual, while Davison's Doctor became rather unwell and needed rest to recover from the ordeal. And then we reach Colin Baker's Doctor. Here, the decision has been made to make the Doctor completely unlikeable. This is achieved by making him a pompous and arrogant character who occasionally strangles Peri. This is a terrible decision to make, as it immediately starts you off disliking the current Doctor, with no real intention of ever wanting to watch the series again. What makes it worse is that there is virtually no sign that the Doctor will go back to being the normal hero that we're used to, instead he's downright abusive to Peri throughout, who, lest we remind ourselves, this character died to save last episode.

It immediately starts the programme off on the wrong foot, and far worse than that, destroys any of the good reputation that the series has built up over the past 21 years. It is for this reason and so many others that this is the worst Doctor Who story of all time.

Day 622: The Caves of Androzani Part 4

"It feels different this time"

The Doctor saves Peri, but at the cost of his own life. He lies on the floor and begins to die.

Regenerations in the past have been treated in various ways. The First Doctor's was treated as something strange and alien, almost psychedelic. The Second Doctor's was more of a punishment, and something to be frightened of, while the Third Doctor's was a little bit more relaxed, focusing more on the fact that he will renew himself. More recently, the Fourth Doctor's was a little bit more mysterious, but brought with it feelings of finality and the end of an era, before finally transitioning into the start of a new one. The Fifth Doctor's builds on much of the feelings of finality associated with Logopolis, but takes it just a little bit further.

It legitimately feels like the Doctor is dying. We see him fall onto the floor, and remark that he's not that sure whether he'll regenerate or not. He then enters into a strange mental state, as various friends and companions flash before his eyes, encouraging him to stay alive. Adric's appearance at this point reminds us of why the Doctor has been fighting for Peri all of this story, as he's still living with the guilt of Adric's death, and so he wants to make sure that Peri's safe because he may not be able to live with the consequences. The Master's appearance inadvertently solidifies the Doctor's regeneration, as it reminds him that evil is out there, and that he must fight it when he encounters it. The screen slowly fills with more strange patterns until eventually, with an almighty and triumphant noise, we have a new Doctor.

Thus ends one of the truly great Doctor Who stories. Looking back on the Davison era as a whole, it's been somewhat inconsistent, with some truly great things (Kinda, Snakedance), as well as some truly terrible things (Time-Flight, Arc of Infinity). Still, it seems to have found its feet with the last series (Warriors of the Deep notwithstanding) so hopefully Colin Baker will get a more consistent time as the Doctor.

Day 621: The Caves of Androzani Part 3

The Caves of Androzani is the last story to feature the Fifth Doctor. The exact moment when this becomes the inevitable conclusion of this story occurs five or so minutes into the story, when he and Peri fall into a nest of unrefined spectrox, giving them an illness that will end in death, unless a very specific cure can be found. So the story becomes about a man trying to fight for a good, simple thing, by finding a cure to help someone because he feels guilty about putting her into a life or death situation.

But the Doctor's dying, and we get glimpses of this at the start of the clip above. The screen distorts, as strange patterns appear and then dissipate. At first, it's unclear what they are, but by story's end, it will become clear that this is the oncoming regeneration. The Doctor realises this, and now knows that he will die, one way or another. Suddenly, he becomes a full-on action hero, and moves into a mental position somewhat akin to an action hero, making jokes in the face of adversity and doing more rash actions like crashing into a planet with a spaceship.

But Davison plays this slightly afraid. He's legitimately worried that this plan won't work, and that he will die without saving Peri. We hear his voice crack slightly at one point, and he's a little bit more breathless than usual. Even the ending close-up is of his face wearing a fearful expression. But the expression is also determined. It's this determination that will drive the rest of the story, and keep the Doctor alive. Indeed, lest we forget one of the few good moments from Planet of the Daleks, where the Doctor says that courage is "being afraid but doing what you have to do anyway". Here, Davison's Doctor embodies this perfectly, and acts as an excellent lead-in to the final and throughly intense part of the story.

"So you see, I'm not going to let you stop me now!"

Day 620: The Caves of Androzani Part 2

Sharaz Jek is one of the best characters in Doctor Who, ever. Everything about the character draws you towards him, as we learn more about this character and get drawn ever closer into his life.

For a start, it must be mentioned that his costume, as designed by Andrew Rose, is amazingly eye-catching. The mask is beautifully designed with an intriguing black and white design, hinting at the morally complex nature of the character by the way in which the colours interact with each other, never allowing one colour to fully take control of any particular segment of the mask. It's eye catching, and certainly makes up for the fact that, by having the mask, we are deprived of the full performance of Christopher Gable.

And yet, without the benefit of having full facial expressions, Gable creates a character that is instantly memorable. Through use of voice, movement, body posture, and his eyes, Gable creates a thoroughly interesting character. He can go from being a creepy creature who lusts after Peri to a more confident king, who controls all the spectrox on Androzani Minor (spectrox is highly sought after by much of the universe) and is fully in control of his situation, before turning into a frightening monster of a man, shouting suddenly and moving with more threat and violence than before, making him a truly menacing figure. All of these layers give the character depth, and make you want to continue watching the performance, as we need to see where the character will go, not least because he's also got a degree of magnetism in all of these personas, never letting you take your eyes off him completely.

But that's perhaps because of his story. He used to work with Morgus as a young, successful and handsome scientist, until Morgus betrayed him and left him for dead. Jek survived, but all of his natural beauty had been taken away from him. He therefore swore revenge on Morgus, taking control of the spectrox and only saying that he will accept surrender when Morgus is dead. It's a tragic story, but it reveals the inner madness of his character, that he seeks revenge because he has lost his beauty, and that his two purposes in life are to find beauty and kill Morgus. And yet, we're still drawn to him, and so we need to keep watching The Caves of Androzani to see how this character develops.

Day 619: The Caves of Androzani Part 1

In 2009, Doctor Who Magazine published a poll ranking all Doctor Who stories. In the number one spot was The Caves of Androzani, Peter Davison's final Doctor Who story. I looked on it with a bit of interest. I'd never really seen Androzani before, and so I wondered how it could possibly be good enough to be considered the best Doctor Who episode ever. Wary of my expectations being too high, I watched it a couple of years later, and I realised why it can be considered so good.

You see, almost every single aspect of this episode works perfectly, and stands out amongst everything around it as something worth watching. Take, for instance, the direction by Graeme Harper. Harper, unlike almost every other director working for the program, goes for an approach that's more realistic than one would normally expect on the series. The camera feels far freer under Harper's direction, as can be seen, for instance, in a scene where we observe the Doctor and Peri from the point of view of some gun-runners, with the camera almost resting on one of their shoulders, putting us in the position of the gun-runners for this portion of the scene. Another great example is where Morgus has a conversation with General Chellak over a futuristic monitor. At first, we see both Morgus and Chellak in shot, but then Morgus gets up and wanders around the room. The camera then switches angles, and we only see the back of Chellak's head, with Morgus in full view. This exerts his dominance over the story and the plot, showing him to be a powerful man, with only the camera telling this.

But the main point of why the direction is so good, as I mentioned earlier, is that it stands out. Whilst the direction so far on this series has been rather good (Warriors of the Deep notwithstanding) Harper goes that extra step to make his story more memorable, and better all around. Matthew Robinson went for realistic action in Resurrection of the Daleks, but Harper has more of this, providing his team with machine guns, giving a stronger sense of power and realism than what a simple laser pistol can give. Fiona Cumming has a rocky wasteland in the form of Lanzarote, and yet it never feels quite as strong as the conventional quarry that is found here, feeling just that bit more barren and lifeless. And whilst Pennant Roberts may have made the best he could out of the rather poor Myrka costume, Harper shows that there could certainly have been more that he could have done, taking the unimpressive Magma Beast and shooting it in a darkened studio, making it feel far more dangerous than the costume would have you believe.

These are all just some of the reasons why this story is so fantastic, and why I am really quite looking forward to the next four days as we watch The Caves of Androzani.

Day 618: Planet of Fire Part 4

So Planet of Fire has come to an end, and so too have some companion's trips in the TARDIS, namely Turlough and Kamelion.

Turlough's leaving comes as we learn more about his history. We discover that he had been exiled to Earth on the grounds that he was a political prisoner. But, through this story, where he encounters other people from his home planet of Trion, he learns that he has been granted a pardon, and that he is allowed to return home. It's one of the quieter companion departures we've had (and can easily be overlooked after the heart-wrenching departure of Tegan in the previous story and the departure of another character in the next story), but is a little sad nonetheless, not least because Turlough isn't leaving because he wants to, but instead out of some feeling of duty. It's a shame to lose the character, as he's actually been rather good to have on the TARDIS, and has been consistently written as well, something that you can't say for all those who have travelled in time and space.

Kamelion's departure, on the other hand, is altogether different. After spending almost the entire story under the control of the Master, he lies on the floor and begs to be killed by the Doctor. The Doctor then picks up the Tissue Compression Eliminator and shoots him, killing this weird robotic companion. It's a moment that's actually rather shocking, not least because it actually happened. Whilst Kamelion may have been a bit of a mistake, and he never really appeared much beyond a few scenes, he was still someone who travelled aboard the TARDIS, and still someone who worked to help the Doctor. To see the Doctor pick up a gun and kill this creature is shocking, and completely out of character for the Doctor, in my opinion.

Still, the new companion, Peri, promises to be a breath of fresh air. She's the first companion in a while to actually want to travel aboard the TARDIS, and she's filled with youthful energy and excitement. How long she keeps that view, however, will be found out over the course of the next couple of stories.

Day 617: Planet of Fire Part 3

The Master is in this story, playing a duel role. He takes control of Kamelion, for unknown reasons, and projects his likeness on Kamelion as a show of dominance over him. We then get two slightly different portrayals of the Master from Anthony Ainley, reflecting his current form.

When being the Master, he is forceful, and occasionally angry. We get a sense of a man who is driven to do something, of someone who is projecting all of their power into this one task. It can be contrasted with Kamelion, portraying the Master. Here, the character is far more jovial, laughing away as he exerts dominance over the Doctor at various times. As a side note, his costume is actually rather good as well, being a simple business suit that reminds the viewer of the suave nature of the Master, making him one of the cooler enemies that the Doctor faces. But getting back to the performance, it' hard to tell why there is such a difference between the two, until the cliffhanger at the end of Part 3.

At this point, it is revealed that the Master has been shrunk, and is currently living inside a small box, attempting to use Kamelion as a way of helping him escape his torment. And suddenly, the performance makes sense. We see a man who is trapped in a prison, yearning for freedom and driven by his urge to get out, then when he is granted the small freedom through Kamelion, he relishes it, laughing away as he is able to enjoy the ability to be a normal size. It's not a large part of Planet of Fire, but I think that it's certainly one of the story's main highlights, and I thought I'd mention it as we reach the conclusion of this story.