Gavin WintersThe 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
“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. 😀
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
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!
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
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!”
or
“JUST because I’m a woman you assume…”
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
The Doctor’s given the TARDIS interior a one-off redesign with the weird ‘washing-up bowl’ roundels. By an amazing coincidence, the Master’s done exactly the same with his TARDIS. Incredible! #DoctorWho
We detour into an Atlantean soap opera for the last couple of episodes, with the Master seducing the Queen. Blimey! #DoctorWho
🎵 BOM-CHICKA-WAH-WAH! 🎵
The Hand of Fear@gavinwinters Eh, Time Monster. It's often quite fun, but jeez it's a terrible script.
The Three Doctors:
Pat! 😃 Billy! 😃 Not much more to be said really.
Watching these in order and seeing these returns in context has so much more impact. Troughton’s return (and Pertwee’s reaction to him) is joyous. Always sad to see Hartnell’s condition though. 🙁 #DoctorWho
So frustrating to watch the way the Brigadier is written here. It’s one thing to be sceptical, but he’s now an utter buffoon who refuses to believe *anything* he’s told. #DoctorWho
Fair play to Nick Courtney though, who makes the best of it and gets some comedy out of the situation.
Meanwhile in Frazier Hines’ absence Benton becomes a bit of a Jamie-substitute for the second Doctor. #DoctorWho
You can’t beat a booming, scenery-shaking performance from Stephen Thorne.
But how does Omega know all about what became of the Time Lords and him supposedly being forgotten, if he’s been trapped in this other universe all these years? He seems very up-to-date on events. #DoctorWho
There’s more than one shot in this story where we clearly see right into the police box prop and even through the gap in the back doors. Don’t spoil the illusion for kids! 😄 #DoctorWho
Carnival Of Monsters: always loved the idea behind this one. One of those stories that has a ‘unique to #DoctorWho ‘ feel to it.
I mean, look at this image. A completely bonkers, mind-expanding concept, presented via slightly dodgy FX.
That’s it. That’s the show. 😀
Jo says they’ve gone “about forty years back in time” after seeing the 1926 newspaper.
Forty?? Either Jo’s maths is terrible or this puts a *whole* new spin on the UNIT dating conundrum! 😵💫 #DoctorWho
The poor old Functionaries. The start of the story gives you the impression it’s going to be about their plight and their struggle for freedom, but by the end they’ve been totally forgotten about and are still slaves. #DoctorWho
Robert Holmes makes great use of his incredibly simple but incredibly effective trick of fleshing out the universe by just… having characters mention stuff.
All these little references to off-screen planets and people and anecdotes of Drashigs eating spaceships… #DoctorWho
The ending is slightly morally dubious though, since it looks as if Vorg is going to turn the gullible Inter Minorans into gambling addicts! #DoctorWho
Frontier In Space: this is another favourite Pertwee of mine. I love the well-thought-out world of the 26th century, with all the political intrigue between the humans and Draconians (another great alien design that stands up well and should be brought back) #DoctorWho
The mind probe they use on the Doctor shows his “memories” from the objective third-person viewpoint of the TV camera that filmed them. Amazing how mind-probes in science-fiction always tend to do that! #DoctorWho
Metebelis Two Podcast@gavinwinters Omega must have a subscription to the Panopticon's Public Register Video streaming service so he can keep up with the Time Lord news.
@Metebelis2 No wonder he’s so irritable, having to watch nothing but Runcible all day.
