Gavin WintersLogopolis: and so the Fourth Doctor goes out with this appropriately sombre story. The ominous presence of the Watcher is a great touch, especially his mysterious conversation with the Doctor on the bridge, that neither Adric or we the viewers are allowed to hear. #DoctorWho
On a brighter note: Tegan! š
The first episode and a half is devoted to her intro, while the Doctor and Adric faff about measuring a police box.
Of the three recent companion additions, this is the only one that makes you think āOh, a proper companion. At last!ā #DoctorWho
The Doctorās plan to land the TARDIS underwater and open the doors to flush out the Master is one of the maddest suggestions heās ever come up with. #DoctorWho
There are some interesting ideas in here but unfortunately Bidmead seems to think that dialogue about mathematics and machine code and subroutines makes for *fascinating*, gripping, edge-of-the-seat drama that will stop viewers switching over to Buck Rogersā¦ š #DoctorWho
āThe Watcher!ā
āHe was the Doctor all the timeā¦ā
Erā¦ okayā¦ take us through your thought processes and logical deductions there Nyssa? Because weād all really like to knowā¦ #DoctorWho
Overall season 18 remains a curious beast, an odd transitional year as JNT remoulds the show to suit himself. Thereās lots of good material, but I just wish they hadnāt felt the need to cut so much of what made the show fun and accessible over the previous six years.
However the themes of death, decay and entropy, leading eventually to renewal and rebirth are worked through the season brilliantly. This probably has the most unique identity of any season of #DoctorWho, Classic or New.
Castrovalva: once more Bidmead gives us a story with great concepts but hampered by technobabble, with no attempt to give the companions natural sounding dialogue.
And just like Logopolis, weāre TARDIS-bound for almost two episodes before we get to the titular planet. #DoctorWho
I think this story more than any other cemented fansā idea of how the TARDIS interior should look. The location filming in Invasion Of Time didnāt really cut it, but here we finally get lots of rooms and corridors with the same roundel pattern as the console room. #DoctorWho
Tomās boots magically regenerate into shoes for Peter. Hmm, clothes that regenerate with the Doctorā¦ what a crazy idea, eh?
And Tomās scarf gets unravelled - heresy! Oh, but itās just the burgundy version, so who cares? š #DoctorWho
Davison is of course immediately great, but then he would be since they filmed this fourth in order.
Couldāve done with a little less of the fan-pleasing impersonations of old Doctors. This was a particular JNT obsession - the idea of a regeneration āfailingā somehow. #DoctorWho
Winner of the All-Time Silliest Hat In #DoctorWho award.
(He had to go one better than Samantha Briggsā¦)
Everyone involved in this gamely tries to get across the whole notion of Castrovalva and space folding in on itself using the sets and visual FX available at the time, but itās one of those ideas you watch now and think: Oh, just imagine how they could do this todayā¦ #DoctorWho
Four To Doomsday: I think they were aiming for a Hartnell-style opening episode for this, with just the crew exploring a strange new environment, but it ends up more like one of those stories youād find in the #DoctorWho annuals. Thereās nothing very substantial to it at all.
Thereās a TARDIS scene with the companions early on thatās pure padding, and just allows Adric to spout some outrageous sexist bollocks to Tegan and Nyssa.
Come, Cybermen, comeā¦
I presume the āhumansā (androids) on Monarchās ship have some built in defence in their software to prevent boredom, otherwise having to endure those same entertainments of dancing and wrestling and Chinese dragons for thousands of years would have driven them all mad. #DoctorWho
The problem with this one is that itās mostly about just wallowing in sci-fi ideas, while forgetting to tell anything resembling an entertaining story that the audience can latch on to.
Particularly with the episode endings - The aliens can change form! Bigonās a robot! Er, yesā¦ and? š¤·š»āāļø
Only part three ends with a traditional āDoctor-in-perilā cliffhanger. #DoctorWho
Kinda: now this is more like it, a clever and poetic script, with one of the most well-thought-out attempts in #DoctorWho to depict a truly alien and unfathomable culture, even if they do look like humans.
The jungle set has been much maligned over the years, but looking at it now from this distance, itās not *that* bad. Once you suspend your disbelief and accept the studio-bound VT nature of how it looks, itās perfectly fine. #DoctorWho
Hindleās descent into madness is undoubtedly done very well, but itās hardly the Oscar-worthy performance that some fans would have you believe. #DoctorWho
Adric falls into his usual plot groove of siding (either deliberately or as a ruse) with this weekās nutcase.
Meanwhile Davisonās scenes with Todd show how his Doctor would really work better with a single, relatively normal and down-to-earth companion. #DoctorWho
If for no other reason, this story holds a special place in the annals of #DoctorWho history for providing fans with the term āNot-Weā. š
If you know, youāre a āWeā.
If you donāt, youāre a āNot-Weā.
The Visitation: this has a very 1970s-style opening, with characters in a historical setting witnessing the light show caused by a spaceship descending through the atmosphere, like The Time Warrior or Horror Of Fang Rock. #DoctorWho
Nyssa is checking the Radio Times listings to make sure sheās fully in it this week. #DoctorWho
The Doctorās taking Tegan back to Heathrow just after she left, so there āwonāt be any awkward questions about where sheās been.ā
Er, apart from the small matter of your Aunt being murdered and miniaturised Tegan. The police might have a few questions about that! #DoctorWho
The Terileptils claim to be a sophisticated and cultured race, but they stretch the 4:3 image on their TV into 16:9, so clearly theyāre a bunch of heathens. #DoctorWho
Richard Mace is a well-written and entertaining character, but then itās hardly surprising since heās Sawardās own personal creation, that heād been writing for years in other productions. #DoctorWho
The early animatronic effects in the Terileptil mask are simple but effective. Just that slight curl of the lip when heās speaking works wonders to add a bit of realism. #DoctorWho
Headcanon: when the Fifth Doctor and crew leave at the end, the Fourth Doctor arrives seconds later, which is why he was blamed for starting the Great Fire of London (and why the Fifth knew he had to get out of there sharpish). #DoctorWho
Black Orchid: as an attempt to revive the āpureā historical, this is only partially successful. Could do with a bigger threat or villain.
Someone once said that 80s fans liked this one because itās ā#DoctorWho you can show your mumā and I think thereās a grain of truth in that.
To be honest, Iām just as mystified as Adric and Nyssa during the cricket bits. Oh, for a Dalek or something to come in and start blasting everythingā¦ #DoctorWho
I love how the butler makes sure to carefully put down what heās carrying before coming to Annās assistance as sheās strangled. Someoneās being murdered, but we mustnāt show a lack of decorum! š
#DoctorWho
Bit lazy of the Doctor to just start showing people the inside of the TARDIS as a way of getting out of trouble. Though I always laugh at the constable who enters and exclaims āStrike me pink! #DoctorWho
Earthshock: this storyās reputation is predicated almost entirely on the two big surprises - the Cybermenās return and the death of Adric. Watching it now outside of that context, it does slightly lose something, but it remains one of the best stories of this season. #DoctorWho
Adricās argument with the Doctor in Part One. #DoctorWho
A lengthy conversation about the fate of the dinosaurs. I wonder if that will be relevant later onā¦š¤
And you can see why Davison struggled to keep a straight face with the overly macho acting of Lieutenant Scott. #DoctorWho
Ah, here we go with JNTās bizarre stunt casting in the form of Beryl Reidā¦
Itās all very well wanting to cast big names in #DoctorWho, the new series does it all the time, but surely it canāt be that difficult to put them in suitable roles? Rather than āOh, this is available!ā
The return of the Cybermen brings with it the return of the āidiot who thinks he can ally himself with themā. What exactly is Ringwayās plan? Do we ever find out? His reveal as a traitor is followed by his death minutes later. Ermā¦ okay, that was a bit pointless then. #DoctorWho
Fair play - Iāve taken the piss out of the little twerp but his death scene is still remarkably well done, and remains a hugely significant moment in the history of #DoctorWho
(Canāt help but still snigger a bit at the imposed solemnity of the silent credits though! š¤)
Time-Flight: I alway say about this one that the opening episode is at least pretty decent, with a good mystery of the disappearing Concorde. Plus all the location filming at Heathrow looks great. Itās only once we go back in time that it all starts to fall apart. #DoctorWho
Itās almost comical - the indecent haste with which they get over Adricās death. āOh he wouldnāt want us to mourn! Letās go do something fun!ā š #DoctorWho
Oh godā¦ the Masterās āArabianā disguiseā¦ š«£
Itās bad enough that he pointlessly does this anyway (just for an āAha! It was me all along!ā reveal) but why does he remain in character even when thereās no one else about?? #DoctorWho
The tiny, cramped set, with its fake sky that looks about two feet away and itās forced perspective view of the model citadel recalls The Keys of Marinus, nearly two decades earlier.
Add the tiny Concordes and this really stretches credulity beyond breaking point. #DoctorWho
At times it seems like every second word of Professor Hayterās dialogue is āhallucination!ā
Elsewhere we get a lot of rushed, garbled technobabble (and some genuine instances of āIāll explain later!ā, made famous in The Curse Of Fatal Death!)
Oh boy. Next please! #DoctorWho
Arc Of Infinity: season 20 begins with JNTās penchant for fan-pleasing continuity now in full flow, with a Time Lord story full of mentions of Romana, E-space, Leela, Bio-data extracts, the Matrix, etc.
Unfortunately Gallifreyās never looked so dull and beigeā¦ š«¤#DoctorWho
I like how the Time Lord have random sofas in corridors. Perhaps they occasionally need a lie down due to being overcome with the boredom of all the beigeness. #DoctorWho
While the Gallifrey sequences are a bit of a chore, at least all the Amsterdam stuff is more interesting. Itās a bit of a cosmic coincidence how Tegan gets involved and ultimately ends up back in the Doctorās life, but weāll let that pass. #DoctorWho
Colin Baker inadvertently livens the whole thing up, not just due to the amusement of seeing the future Sixth Doctor here, but also because of the general pompous nature of his character.
And his stupid hat. #DoctorWho
Tegan is very trusting of Robin, when you look at it objectively:
āHello, Iām someone youāve never met, telling you your cousin has mysteriously disappeared in this foreign country. Now if youād just like to follow me into this creepy crypt where he was last seenā¦ā
We get a handwave explanation from the Doctor of why this all occurs in Amsterdam: āOf course! The Arc of Infinity had to be below sea level to, er, maintain pressure for fusion conversion, or somethingā¦ therefore completely justifying JNT having a little holiday!ā #DoctorWho
Overall not the greatest Time Lord story, and too reliant on expecting the viewers to know the lore about Omega and so on, but it has its moments.
Plus the final shot is hilarious - the look on the Doctorās face as he realises heās stuck with Tegan againā¦ š#DoctorWho
Snakedance: This is an excellent sequel to Kinda, just as good as the original but told in a much more accessible way.
I always get the impression this is a bit underrated in fan-opinion. A shame, as for me itās one of Davisonās best. #DoctorWho
Nyssa finally gets a full change of clothes after two years (she must have stunk!) leading to a funny bit where the Doctor spectacularly fails to notice, despite her repeated attempts to show him. #DoctorWho
In his first TV role, Martin Clunes is great as the spoiled, arrogant Prince. Not really a villain, just misguided and taken over, but with an eminently punchable face. š #DoctorWho
Ambril really must be particularly thick not to get the whole āsix faces of delusionā thing and need the Doctor to explain it to him. #DoctorWho
The Doctor spends the whole of episode 3 locked up, with no sonic screwdriver to free him (even mentioned in the dialogue)
RTD must have had moments like this in mind when he decided to bring the sonic back, to stop the Doctorās role in proceedings slowing to a halt. #DoctorWho
For the final ceremony, Lon wears the 1980s BBC weather map. Just off camera Michael Fish is reassuring the Manussans not to worry, there isnāt a hurricane on the wayā¦ #DoctorWho
Mawdryn Undead: the Brig! Two Brigs even! They did a good job making the younger Brig look just how he did when we last saw him.
This is where the Brigadier starts to be seen as a legendary, iconic character, rather than just āone of the castā when he was a regular. #DoctorWho
And hello, UNIT dating conundrum! As the previous, vague, āoh, they take place somewhere in the near-futureā idea gets totally buggered up by the 1977\1983 setting, giving fans headaches for the next 40 years as they try to make it all make sense. š #DoctorWho
The Brigās comment about Ibbotsonās fitness and ādisgustingā body is something that hasā¦ not aged wellā¦ š¬
Quite apart from the fact the actor is clearly not the Billy Bunter type the character is written as, itās a terrible attitude to give the Brig anyway. #DoctorWho
A big welcome to Turlough, whoās brilliant at being sneaky and devious in these early stories. And Strickson is 1000 times the actor Waterhouse was. (Admittedly not difficult!)
Youād be forgiven for missing the brief hints at the characterās alien origins though. #DoctorWho
Neil Corry@gavinwinters The curtains they wear are VERY heavy.