Mastodawn

Gavin Winters Mar 11, 2023

Behold, viewers of 1970, as Dr. Who dazzles you with his incredible futuristic invention of… a remote control garage door opener! Amazing! #DoctorWho

Greg Sutton, clearly a descendant of Za, but this time trying *not* to make fire. #DoctorWho

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

It’s the comedy joke shop teeth that make Benton’s transformation into a Primord so funny… 😄 #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!

#DoctorWho - Terror Of The Autons:

Hooray to both these arrivals! 😃

“We Time Lords prefer not to be conspicuous.” says the one visiting the Doctor, while hovering hundreds of feet in the air dressed as a businessman with his brolly and bowler hat. #DoctorWho

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

The greatest psychological reveal of the Master’s character ever - his biggest fear being the Doctor looming over him and laughing(!) Well, of course it was. Of *course*! 😄 #DoctorWho

Poor old Barnham - he was a dangling loose plot thread at the end so obviously the Master just randomly bumps him off. #DoctorWho

The Claws Of Axos: ah, here come Bob Baker and Dave Martin. Hugely imaginative writers, but it often feels like their imagination stretched the show’s capabilities and budget way beyond breaking point. You would need Hollywood money to pull off some of their ideas. #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

The Axons threaten the Doctor and ensure his cooperation by… ageing Jo into an old woman!

And the Doctor reacts in horror as though it’s the most revolting thing he’s ever seen… For someone claiming to be thousands of years old he can be terribly ageist! 😆 #DoctorWho

In many ways this is the most typical Pertwee era story, with all the requisite elements: UNIT, the Master, a straightforward alien invasion, pompous government bureaucrats, a nuclear power complex… it just all adds up to slightly less than the sum of its parts. #DoctorWho

Colony In Space: you’d forget that Jo hasn’t actually seen inside the TARDIS until now. And once she does she gets to say that it’s bigger on the inside - is she the first companion to use that exact phrase? #DoctorWho

What a treat for viewers of 1971 - many of whom may have got their first colour TV around this time - as #DoctorWho gives us our first alien planet in colour… and it’s the bleakest greyest muddiest shithole you’d ever have the misfortune to see. 😄

At least they try to make the Master’s involvement a bit of a surprise this time, holding his appearance back until the point where you’d think “oh, he’s not in this one.” #DoctorWho

A scene of characters actually standing around drinking and getting pissed! That’s a first. #DoctorWho

At times Colony In Space looks like an ideological battle between Colony of the Hairy Hippies vs the Company of Balding Men with Dodgy Hairstyles.

No wonder Caldwell ends up siding with the hippies, as one of the few IMC guys with a moustache. 👨🏻 #DoctorWho

Plot hole: once the colonists have definitive proof that the ‘giant lizards’ were faked, why do they not suspect Norton is an IMC plant, since he was so adamant they were real and he’d been attacked by them? #DoctorWho

🤢 #DoctorWho

“Don’t bother trying to explain it to him Jo, *he* wouldn’t understand…”

The start of the Brigadier’s character declining into being portrayed as an idiot and the butt of the joke… 😕 #DoctorWho

I’ve usually found this one a bit dull but enjoyed it more this time round. I love the aesthetic of these futuristic Pertwees - 500 years in the future and everyone’s using chunky 70s technology. 😀

A tentative first step towards a return to outer space stories. #DoctorWho

The Daemons: this one’s a bit overfamiliar to me now, having seen it many times over the years, but it’s still very enjoyable with a great atmosphere, especially in the opening episode. #DoctorWho

I wish we’d seen more of this ‘domestic’ side to UNIT, with the Brig dressed up to go off to some fancy military event, while Benton and Yates are watching telly and eating sandwiches. #DoctorWho

When the Doctor’s apparently frozen to death, they put his ‘body’ on a table in the pub with paying customers nearby.

Imagine if they’d had TripAdvisor reviews back then: “Nice rustic pub. Good beer. Quaint little village. Frozen corpse on table put us right off though. (3/5 stars)”⭐️⭐️⭐️ #DoctorWho

Lol at the Master being a gossipy drama queen and revealing all the villagers grubby little secrets. 😄 #DoctorWho

The villagers really are a gullible bunch of prats to fall for the Doctor’s ‘magic’. I know they’ve seen the Master summon Bok, but even so.

And at the end he has a jolly dance around the maypole with them, the same people who wanted to burn him to death an hour ago! #DoctorWho

Anyway, I had to slow down this marathon rewatch for a few weeks to time it so I finished season 8 just as the season 9 set was released. Now to rapidly catch up! 😬 #DoctorWho

Day Of The Daleks: wahey, the metal bastards are back at last. Even if they’re not portrayed at their best here. This is a brilliant story in and of itself, but a not-so-great Dalek story. And they seem to have forgotten how to do the voices properly. #DoctorWho

Pertwee karate-chopping an assailant to the ground then turning to take a sip of his wine is the most perfectly on-brand moment for his Doctor. #DoctorWho

“Now you’ve told me the year…” says the Controller to Jo, “but would you mind repeating it again? Loud and clear. Just to avoid fifty years of debate over UNIT dating. Cheers.” #DoctorWho

Where did the guerrillas get their cigarettes from? Can’t imagine they’re mass-produced in the Dalek-controlled 22nd century. Must’ve taken a quick detour to the nearest shop when they came back to the 20th. #DoctorWho

Love the scene where the Doctor cooly destroys every argument the Controller comes out with to justify his role in this society.

And bring back the Ogrons in the modern show! Make it happen, RTD. With no complications. #DoctorWho

The Curse Of Peladon: you can see the influence of Star Trek, with a Galactic Federation and a conference of alien delegates. But of course #DoctorWho’s version has the delegates being an array of monsters and grotesques. And all “gween” obviously. Terrance must’ve been happy. 😀

Gavin Winters

The makeup, hair and costume for Torbis and Hepesh makes them look so similar you’d have a hell of a time telling them apart for a whole story. Thankfully one of them is killed off within the first three minutes! #DoctorWho

Nice twist to have a previously established villain like the Ice Warriors turn out to be basically good guys, meaning the Doctor and the audience are immediately suspicious of them from the start. #DoctorWho

I can’t take Peladon seriously in his ‘principal boy’ pantomime outfit. You expect him to start slapping his thigh any moment.

And really, you’re asking the audience to take the piss by having him loudly proclaim “There is no plot!” 😄 #DoctorWho

The cliffhanger to part three, when one of the Ice Warriors shoots Arcturus, is a bit rushed and unclear. Must have had viewers scratching their heads for a week until we get the exposition info-dump starting with “So… Arcturus was behind everything!” #DoctorWho

The Sea Devils: I like the more matey relationship between the Doctor and the Master when he visits him in prison. Would’ve been fun if every story since his arrest had a scene like that where he pops in to see him. “Well, let me tell you all about Peladon old chap…” #DoctorWho

That yellow ‘Venetian Blind’ CSO effect used for the prison monitors doesn’t really work, does it? You’d want your money back if you bought a screen with horizontal lines across it like that! Another of Barry Letts’ experiments with the process. #DoctorWho

Like the Ice Warriors before them, the Sea Devils are named by a random minor character and then very politely allow humans to keep calling them that for the next fifty years. #DoctorWho

Why are all the prison guards dressed like French Gendarmes from a century ago? And is it a stipulation of their contract that they all *have* to grow a moustache? #DoctorWho

“I’ve reversed the polarity of the neutron flow!” 👀

#DoctorWho

The Mutants:

No, I’m not going to say it. Everyone’s said it. It’s an obvious joke that’s been done a million times. I’m going to resist the temptation and will definitely not say that…

…THE OPENING SCENE IS LIKE THE “IT’S!” MAN FROM MONTY PYTHON!!

Goddamnit!

#DoctorWho

Were the Time Lords just bored one day and decided to amuse themselves by dicking about with the Doctor and sending him on this silly mission? They could have just sent the container with the stone tablets directly to where it needed to go. #DoctorWho

Like the other snore-fest of Colony In Space, I’m actually finding this one a bit more palatable this time round. It’s not the best of Pertwee’s but it’s passable. #DoctorWho

It may be unintentional, but the CSO fringing around characters when they’re in the cave helps add to the disjointed, surreal effect they were aiming for.

And I never noticed before that Sondergaard is not just bald, but also has no eyebrows… 👀 #DoctorWho

For once there’s a bit of thought and effort put into depicting a different planet, with an atmosphere difficult for humans to breathe, when most SF just has everywhere being basically Earth-like. #DoctorWho

…but then you get a lack of scientific realism when a hole is blown in the space station wall and everyone just manages to walk out of the room… oh well! 🤷🏻‍♂️ #DoctorWho

Rick James’ acting… yikes 😬 Unfortunately one of the worst actors ever seen in #DoctorWho

Camp rating: Off the scale. #DoctorWho

The Time Monster: what a wacky season finale. This is very typical of Barry Letts’ specific vision for #DoctorWho, with the sci-fi elements blended with all sorts of mystical mumbo-jumbo and ancient mythology. And a particular fascination with Atlantis, for some reason.

Barry and Terrance make a well-meaning but clumsy attempt to address early 70s feminism with the character of Ruth, who’s lumbered with dialogue where every second line of hers begins with:

“Men!”

“JUST because I’m a woman you assume…”

#DoctorWho

I like seeing Benton given a chance to shine in this one, understanding the idea behind TOMTIT (stop sniggering!) better than the Brig, as well as outsmarting the Master. Even if he does get de-aged into a baby near the end! #DoctorWho

Lol at the Brigadier’s exasperated reaction to the Doctor telling him he’d seen the Master… in a dream. “Not half an hour ago!” 😄 #DoctorWho