Gavin WintersThe revolving door of companions in season three continues as Steven leaves for… no apparent reason. The only man who can help this society rebuild? Eh, really? Oh well, bye then! 😕 #DoctorWho
The War Machines: a return to contemporary earth, with the world under threat from a megalomaniacal computer, and the Doctor has all sorts of establishment contacts with scientists, the military, government… hang on, are we in the Pertwee era by mistake?? #DoctorWho
The Inferno Nightclub! The most ‘with it’, happening place in town! Where all the teenagers are at least 35! #DoctorWho
Stop calling it ‘VOTAN’ when it’s spelled ‘WOTAN’! Honestly, this is gif and jif all over again. #DoctorWho
Now it’s Dodo’s turn to be unceremoniously dumped in one of the worst companion exits ever, with an offscreen goodbye.
Oh well, at least we’ll now have a bit of stability for a while with Ben and Polly. #DoctorWho
The Smugglers: one of the least gripping historicals. You can see why they started phasing them out. We’ve come a long way from when The Aztecs or Marco Polo would be the highlights in a season. The sci-fi stories are now the far more interesting ones. #DoctorWho
Ah, the old convention of, when in a historical setting, put a woman in trousers and everyone immediately starts going “You there, boy!”
Come on lads, get your eyes tested! 😄 #DoctorWho
The Tenth Planet: Well, after several years of attempting to come up with a creature to rival the popularity of the Daleks, through Zarbi and Mechanoids and War Machines, it finally happens almost by accident as these guys stumble through the snow… #DoctorWho
Twice in recent stories we’ve had the modern convention of seeing news reports on the unfolding events. Long before RTD did it!
In fact everything feels subtly more modern, with the Doctor himself being the only leftover from a previous era that needs replacing… #DoctorWho
These early Cybermen might look cheaply knocked together with bits of tape and plastic and surgical stockings on actors faces, but they’re still one of the most effective designs, with elements of the human being still visible. #DoctorWho
(Just kidding!)
Power Of The Daleks: …and hello Pat! Instantly likeable as the Doctor. Of course some contemporary viewers weren’t happy with the change… 😄
It’s a clever device to have people investigating the Daleks as some ancient and dead curiosity, with only the Doctor (and the viewers) aware of the danger. Immediately puts you on the side of the new Doctor. You can see why they did it again with Tomb Of The Cybermen. #DoctorWho
Is the Dalek capsule meant to be bigger on the inside? Because when we finally see the full extent of it it’s bloody enormous! With a whole Dalek factory inside. How did they drag something that big into Lesterson’s laboratory? #DoctorWho
The rebels in Power Of The Daleks fit the gun-arms back into the disarmed Daleks to use them to overthrow the Governor (and of course the Daleks end up killing them!)
Did they not think to just try figuring out a way to operate the guns themselves? #DoctorWho
The Doctor’s clothes magically changed when he regenerated! Well, let’s hope nothing as silly as that ever happens again… #DoctorWho
Though I always assumed the intention with Troughton’s costume is that it’s a baggy oversized version of Hartnell’s, so people watching on tiny 1960s TVs would think it’s the same clothes and the Doctor’s just shrunk a bit. #DoctorWho
The Highlanders: well it’s the last of the (by now, slightly plodding) historicals. But the best thing is that Jamie’s arrived. 😀
Fair play to Frazer for getting on so well with the cast and crew they took an incidental character and turned him into a new companion! #DoctorWho
I don’t know if they could have kept up this character trait of the new Doctor being a master of disguise and accents over the long term, but it was fun while it lasted. #DoctorWho
The Underwater Menace: Hooo boy! 😆
Atlantis! Mad cults! Even madder Professors! Humans surgically-altered to become Fish-People! (!!) This is #DoctorWho at its most bonkers and comic-strip. Makes the 1960s Batman series look like I, Claudius.
Previously we’ve had “Doc-Tor Whooo isss re-quired!” and ‘Doctor Von Wer’, now he signs off as ‘Dr. W’. They were really leaning into the whole idea of Who as his surname at this point. #DoctorWho
The Moonbase: this feels like the proper debut of the ‘base-under-siege’ story, with The Tenth Planet having been a sort of practice run, before they got it down to a fine art. (Or became repetitive and predictable, if that’s how you feel about them!) #DoctorWho
Three times in about 30 minutes a Cyberman strolls into the sick bay through the back entrance, sees Polly (who screams), then casually picks up a patient and walks out.
Lock the bloody door, guys! 🤪 #DoctorWho
At least Polly gets to be proactive and clever by coming up with the idea of the ‘cocktail’ to dissolve the Cybermen’s plastic parts.
But of course she’s still given the role of making the coffee, and has to put up with Ben’s “Not you Polly, this is men’s work!” 🙄 #DoctorWho
The character of Benoit is visually distinguished as being French by his fancy cravat, in case you couldn’t tell by his Fronch ucksent. #DoctorWho
As an aside, I’d forgotten how good these early animations were. Very rich and detailed compared to the later ones, which seemed to adopt a flatter, more ‘Captain Pugwash’ style. #DoctorWho
The Macra Terror: or ‘ #DoctorWho Gets A Dose Of The Crabs’ or The One With No Villain At All, because as we all know: THERE ARE NO SUCH THING AS MACRA! MACRA DO NOT EXIST!
A similar theme to The Savages (by the same author), with an idyllic-seeming colony hiding a dark secret.
The Macra are comically rubbish at concealing what’s going on, broadcasting an image of a whacking great claw threatening the supposed leader. Doh!
Still, Polly’s response of screaming about how “They’re in control!!” makes a good cliffhanger. #DoctorWho
There’s an official called Officia. The poor sod must have suffered from Nominative Determinism ever since his parents lumbered him with that. #DoctorWho
The Cold War paranoia of the Sixties led to all sorts of ideas about brainwashing and mind control, cropping up everywhere in TV and film. So now it’s Ben’s turn to have his mind reprogrammed. Pretty easily, as it turns out! #DoctorWho
For a crab, the lead Macra has a very distinguished voice, with good clarity and projection.
If the whole evil plan of parasitically controlling space colonies doesn’t work out, then surely a career in the theatre beckons. #DoctorWho
The Faceless Ones: another abrupt companion departure, as Ben and Polly disappear after a couple of episodes. At least they get to come back for a goodbye at the end.
Ah, Samantha Briggs, with her crazy hat and flirting with Jamie. The great lost potential companion. #DoctorWho
The airport commandant getting increasingly frustrated with the Doctor’s antics reminds me of this guy from Airplane! #DoctorWho
Riggio@gavinwinters “Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue”