Overall season 18 remains a curious beast, an odd transitional year as JNT remoulds the show to suit himself. There’s lots of good material, but I just wish they hadn’t 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, we’re TARDIS-bound for almost two episodes before we get to the titular planet. #DoctorWho
Tom’s boots magically regenerate into shoes for Peter. Hmm, clothes that regenerate with the Doctor… what a crazy idea, eh?
And Tom’s scarf gets unravelled - heresy! Oh, but it’s just the burgundy version, so who cares? 😄 #DoctorWho
Davison is of course immediately great, but then he would be since they filmed this fourth in order.
Could’ve done with a little less of the fan-pleasing impersonations of old Doctors. This was a particular JNT obsession - the idea of a regeneration ’failing’ somehow. #DoctorWho
Winner of the All-Time Silliest Hat In #DoctorWho award.
(He had to go one better than Samantha Briggs…)
There’s a TARDIS scene with the companions early on that’s pure padding, and just allows Adric to spout some outrageous sexist bollocks to Tegan and Nyssa.
Come, Cybermen, come…
The problem with this one is that it’s 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! Bigon’s a robot! Er, yes… and? 🤷🏻♂️
Only part three ends with a traditional ’Doctor-in-peril’ cliffhanger. #DoctorWho
Adric falls into his usual plot groove of siding (either deliberately or as a ruse) with this week’s nutcase.
Meanwhile Davison’s 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 ‘Not-We’. 😁
If you know, you’re a ‘We’.
If you don’t, you’re a ‘Not-We’.
The Doctor’s taking Tegan back to Heathrow just after she left, so there “won’t be any awkward questions about where she’s been.”
Er, apart from the small matter of your Aunt being murdered and miniaturised Tegan. The police might have a few questions about that! #DoctorWho
Black Orchid: as an attempt to revive the ‘pure’ historical, this is only partially successful. Could do with a bigger threat or villain.
Someone once said that 80s fans liked this one because it’s ‘#DoctorWho you can show your mum’ and I think there’s a grain of truth in that.
A lengthy conversation about the fate of the dinosaurs. I wonder if that will be relevant later on…🤔
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 JNT’s bizarre stunt casting in the form of Beryl Reid…
It’s all very well wanting to cast big names in #DoctorWho, the new series does it all the time, but surely it can’t be that difficult to put them in suitable roles? Rather than “Oh, this is available!”
Fair play - I’ve 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
(Can’t help but still snigger a bit at the imposed solemnity of the silent credits though! 🤭)
Oh god… the Master’s “Arabian” disguise… 🫣
It’s bad enough that he pointlessly does this anyway (just for an “Aha! It was me all along!” reveal) but why does he remain in character even when there’s no one else about?? #DoctorWho
The tiny, cramped set, with its fake sky that looks about two feet away and it’s 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 Hayter’s dialogue is ‘hallucination!’
Elsewhere we get a lot of rushed, garbled technobabble (and some genuine instances of “I’ll explain later!”, made famous in The Curse Of Fatal Death!)
Oh boy. Next please! #DoctorWho
Arc Of Infinity: season 20 begins with JNT’s 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 Gallifrey’s never looked so dull and beige… 🫤#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:
“Hello, I’m someone you’ve never met, telling you your cousin has mysteriously disappeared in this foreign country. Now if you’d just like to follow me into this creepy crypt where he was last seen…”
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 Doctor’s face as he realises he’s stuck with Tegan again… 😄#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 it’s one of Davison’s best. #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 Doctor’s role in proceedings slowing to a halt. #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 ‘one of the cast’ when he was a regular. #DoctorWho
The Brig’s comment about Ibbotson’s fitness and “disgusting” body is something that has… not aged well… 😬
Quite apart from the fact the actor is clearly not the Billy Bunter type the character is written as, it’s a terrible attitude to give the Brig anyway. #DoctorWho
A big welcome to Turlough, who’s brilliant at being sneaky and devious in these early stories. And Strickson is 1000 times the actor Waterhouse was. (Admittedly not difficult!)
You’d be forgiven for missing the brief hints at the character’s alien origins though. #DoctorWho
Another of this era’s lengthy flashback sequences, which actually works well in context to remind the viewers of the Brigadier’s previous appearances.
Although having Davison later say “reverse the polarity of the neutron flow” is particularly gratuitous and silly. #DoctorWho
“Who is that person?” asks Nyssa, as the Brig enters the TARDIS.
“Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart of course!” replies Tegan.
Yeah Nyssa! I mean, come on, aren’t you a paid-up, card-carrying member of the DWAS, like the audience is expected to be? Honestly! #DoctorWho
Terminus: hard to muster up much enthusiasm for this one, it’s all a bit grey and dull. Only the regulars manage to keep things somewhat interesting.
The first appearance of the Lazars hints at the exciting prospect of a zombie apocalypse story, but no such luck. #DoctorWho
Why does Turlough think Adric’s old room “looks like a kid’s room”, when it’s full of leatherbound books and scientific equipment? Must be pretty advanced kids where he comes from.
And given the size of the TARDIS, why re-use an old bedroom for him anyway? #DoctorWho
I’m greatly enjoying Turlough’s arrival on this rewatch, especially how much his presence is winding up Tegan. 😄
Pity then that they both spend half the story sidelined and crawling around underneath the ship’s flooring. #DoctorWho
Gavin Winters
Gaia