At least Milo Clancy injects a bit of fun into proceedings. And things perk up a bit in the later episodes.
At one point the Doctor rigs up a booby-trap that electrocutes and kills a random guard. Ruthless! And to think of the crap Colin got over that acid bath… #DoctorWho
The first mention of the Time Lords, and in such a casual throwaway manner.
The SIDRATs are also briefly named, without ever expounding on the acronym (Space and Inter-time Directional Robot All-purpose Transporter, nerdy fact-fans!) #DoctorWho
At least the Time Lords gave the Second Doctor a choice of faces before he regenerated… #DoctorWho
“Oh, he’s too old!”
And now for the very worst thing the Time Lords have ever done… ERASING JAMIE AND ZOE’S MEMORIES! 🤬 Oh, and forcibly regenerating the Doctor too of course… #DoctorWho
BASTARDS
The end of Troughton, Jamie and Zoe… and with them the end of the 1960s and the black-and-white era… always feels a bit like the end of the show’s “innocent” era, with things never being quite the same again. 😕
Next up: Colour! Flares! The 70s! #DoctorWho
Spearhead From Space: my eyes! It’s in colour! 😵💫
The whiplash you feel going from B&W telerecordings to this - colour film, in HD on Blu-Ray… and that’s without even mentioning the huge format changes within the show itself. #DoctorWho
Using a trick that would still be done by showrunners decades later, a familiar face (the Brig!) is brought back to ease the transition into the new era.
And what a version of the character this is: intelligent, capable, non-sceptical…if only they’d kept him this way #DoctorWho
Pertwee in the hospital shower… the closest we ever come to seeing the Doctor’s arse crack…😵
And the tattoo! I’ll go with the fan-canon that it’s the mark of an exiled Time Lord. 😜 #DoctorWho
Peter Miles’ combover in this story is phenomenal in its audacity.
Amazing how it had all miraculously grown back by the time of Genesis Of The Daleks… 👀 #DoctorWho
The scenes of the virus outbreak across London would be impressive in their realism if done in #DoctorWho today, never mind 1970.
When the ticket inspector in the station faints, I still don’t know if those are extras or genuine (bemused) members of the public bustling past him.
The Ambassadors… (TWANG!) …Of Death: (that’s it’s official name, don’t argue.)
This is the epitome of the idea season 7 is a grittier, more adult take on #DoctorWho. So many layers of conspiracy and double-crossing and mystery. Not one to watch and only pay half-attention to.
The crew of the Space Centre are all wearing quasi-futuristic uniforms, makes it look very Troughton-era.
The Doctor is *fantastically* rude to Cornish when he barges in and arrogantly takes over. Honestly, who could blame Cornish if he told him to go f*** himself! #DoctorWho
Some good editing in this story, like the creepy reveal of the blue-faced alien to Liz, which is shot like something from a horror film.
And the cliffhanger to episode six, with the quick cuts of Carrington pointing his gun at the Doctor. #DoctorWho
Inferno: *turns around wearing eyepatch to write this*
One of the very best Pertwees. Parallel universe stories are always fun, seeing alternate versions of the regular characters. Nick Courtney in particular makes the Brigade-Leader an utter bastard. #DoctorWho
The golden rule of sci-fi that no-one every obeys: Don’t touch the weird alien thing with your bare hands! Nothing good ever comes from touching the weird alien thing with your bare hands!
(Characters touch the strange green slime with their bare hands)
I love how it’s basically a glitterball used to depict the transition between universes.
Strange how they just accept the Doctor’s improbable story at the end, especially when they’re all being left to die. The Brigade-Leader’s desperation to live is more believable! #DoctorWho
As interesting and innovative as season 7 was, with its obvious Quatermass influences, I don’t know if #DoctorWho could have continued as long as it did with that format. The pendulum inevitably had to swing back a bit to more kid-friendly adventures with monsters and chases.
And with that in mind, goodbye sensible intelligent scientist Liz and hello ditzy stumbling childlike Jo!
Interesting how at this stage the relationship between the Doctor and the Master is portrayed as just ‘occasional adversaries’.
No hint of the whole later backstory of childhood friends turned bitter mortal enemies duelling forever across all time and space. #DoctorWho
Barry Letts really liked experimenting with CSO, didn’t he? (Greenscreen for you under-40s!)
*Obligatory pisstake of Mrs Farrell’s CSO kitchen* #DoctorWho
The Mind Of Evil: what a surprise, it’s the Master again! Though to be fair, this probably was the one time this season that viewers may not have been expecting him.
Love seeing him as a proper Bond villain - fur-lined coat, cigars, chauffeur-driven limo, the works! #DoctorWho
The least foul-mouthed prisoners you’ll ever see on TV. Even in the middle of a riot there’s not a single utterance of a four-letter-word amongst them. 😆
Also very funny how Jo practically takes down the riot single-handedly. #DoctorWho
Lol at the Brigadier’s frustration when the Doctor ingratiates himself with the Chinese diplomats while he’s ignored.
I wish they’d continued these sort of comedy moments with the Brig’s character but *without* turning him into a complete buffoon, as they later do. #DoctorWho
As much as I admire Barry Letts for everything he did with #DoctorWho, there are stories like this that have a real “Oh, that’ll do…” feel to the production.
So many little moments that could be done better with just a little more care and attention given to them. #DoctorWho
Gavin Winters
Tom Truszkowski
Gaia