Gavin WintersActual footage of me watching Frontios back in 1984. #DoctorWho
Resurrection Of The Daleks: hmmm, the epitome of Eric Saward’s vision for #DoctorWho - a grittier, nastier version where characters pointlessly snipe at each other and the body count is through the roof.
Even the Doctor starts waving a gun about when hunting the Dalek mutant. 😐
On the plus side it’s at least somewhat successful in restoring the Daleks as an effective threat, with none of the shoddy production values of their last story - new shiny props and a new mask for Davros that makes him more horrific than ever, like a rotting corpse. #DoctorWho
A summary of Resurrection’s plot:
*characters enter a set/location*
ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! AARGH! (they all die).
*characters enter a different set/location*
ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! AARGH! (they all die).
*characters enter another set/location*
ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! AAR…you get the idea.
This is just trying too hard to be big and epic and significant. The Daleks’ scheme is bloated to the point of ridiculousness. Recovering Davros and curing the Movellan virus and invading Gallifrey to kill the High Council AND having human duplicates on Earth… 😵💫 #DoctorWho
And Tegan doesn’t even get much to do in her final story. At least with Nyssa they focused on her and her skills to give her some motivation to leave. This just feels tacked on. #DoctorWho
On top of everything else, Victor Lewis-Smith and TV Offal have ruined this scene for me forever…😆
(If you know, you know…) #DoctorWho
Planet Of Fire: this is like a mixture of Face Of Evil (primitive culture bases a religion on alien visitor and leftover bits of technology) and Brain Of Morbius (volcanic flame channeled into a chamber produces a life-restoring substance that even cures Time Lords) #DoctorWho
The Lanzarote filming all looks great of course, but it was perhaps a mistake to use it as both itself and the planet Sarn. Anyone watching this for the first time would be forgiven for initially thinking it was all supposed to be the same place. #DoctorWho
The guy playing Howard is terrible. Pity Kamelion wasn’t able to replicate some decent acting skills when he takes on his form… 🫤
Ah yes, Kamelion. You’d have almost forgotten he was in it. Brought back just to bump him off as part of a clearout before Davison goes. #DoctorWho
Costume changes for everyone. Davison dispenses with his coat, Turlough finally gets out of that public school uniform and the Ainley Master gets his best ever look wearing a plain black suit. (And the irony that it’s not even really him, it’s Kamelion) #DoctorWho
Turlough’s whole backstory gets revealed at last, just in time for him to leave too. He’s been one of the most interesting companions we’ve had, when Strickson is given the material.
Anyway, hello Peri! Love the bit when she’s chasing the miniaturised Master around. #DoctorWho
“Won’t you even show mercy to your own… AAGH!”
And thus a million fanfics were spawned… #DoctorWho
The Caves Of Androzani: this is so good and so well-written it actually makes you annoyed that JNT initially had a stupid “no old writers” rule. If only Davison had had scripts this good from Robert Holmes or other experienced old hands throughout his run. #DoctorWho
And again Holmes employs his effortless worldbuilding and makes it look so easy. The way that in the first few minutes the Doctor deduces from marks on the ground how a spacecraft landed and a vehicle disembarked is better than anything similar in the last few years. #DoctorWho
Graeme Harper’s direction is top notch too. Underground tunnels shot with low-lighting and lots of dry ice to create atmosphere. Shame about the Magma creature but even that’s kept mostly in shadow. #DoctorWho
I thought Marriner in Enlightenment came across as an obsessed stalker but he’s got nothing on Sharaz Jek’s all-consuming fixation on Peri. A fantastic performance. Best villain ever? #DoctorWho
As many times as I’ve seen it, part four still has an intense, edge-of-the-seat desperation, as everyone’s plans fail, they all die, and the Doctor barely gets out alive.
The TARDIS has never seemed more like a beacon of hope as he staggers towards it carrying Peri. #DoctorWho
The Twin Dilemma: NEXT!
Attack Of The Cyb… oh alright, I’d better say something about The Twin Dilemma then. 😬
Never been as much of a contrast between two successive stories as Androzani and this, and never as much of a contrast between Doctors either. #DoctorWho
The budget seems to have drastically run out at the end of the season. Everything looks cheap - the sets, the props, the alien designs.
And oh god, the “acting” from the twins. Come back Adric, all is forgiven! 🫣 #DoctorWho
Poor Colin, getting lumbered with this as his debut, with the Doctor being written as completely deranged for most of it. JNT always seemed to want regenerations to go wrong somehow.
By the time he’s strangling Peri even the most loyal fan’s patience was being tested. #DoctorWho
Never mind Kevin, wait a few decades and you’ll get a much better role in #DoctorWho.
Attack Of The Cybermen: this at least starts off much better than The Twin Dilemma. The bank heist plot leading to the discovery of Cybermen underground is very good, but would’ve been even better as an Earthshock-type surprise by not having their name in the title. #DoctorWho
Colin’s pompous, self-aggrandising Doctor can be very entertaining in the right circumstances. His leap into the garage pit with the fake policeman, followed by lots of off-screen thumping sounds is very funny. As is him later casually ordering Peri to shoot Russell(!) #DoctorWho
Who are Lytton’s fake cops anyway? Hired human mercenaries, or aliens like himself? We never find out.
And since they barely even saw each other in Resurrection Of The Daleks, why does the Doctor act like he knows Lytton well? #DoctorWho
The second half is where it all starts to unravel. A pointless continuity-fest designed to please members of DWAS who read Doctor Who Bulletin or other 1980s fanzines.
And the sub-plot with Bates and Stratton goes nowhere as they just get killed in the end. #DoctorWho
These twitchy, gesticulating Cybermen are more expressive than ever before.
Also a *hell* of a lot of them are blown up, decapitated, shot, etc. As if there’s an influence of 80s “video nasties” starting to creep in, which leads neatly into the next story… #DoctorWho
Vengeance On Varos: finally, a decent story for Colin, although not without its flaws.
Sil is one of the best original monster creations of the decade. He has that ‘kids-imitating-his-voice-in-the-school-playground’ factor not seen since the Daleks. #DoctorWho
Like many stories of this period, the TARDIS takes just too bloody long to get there and get the Doctor involved in the action.
And while he’s calmed down a lot, there’s still the issue of how he treats Peri. Why the hell does she want to keep travelling with him? #DoctorWho
Is the Doctor too violent here? You could argue the laser that kills the guard was set up as a warning, and he didn’t intend to kill him. And the infamous acid bath scene is clearly an accident.
But he then blatantly kills the bad guys at the end with poison vines…🤷🏻♂️ #DoctorWho
So the story is kind of trying to have its cake and eat it with the subject of violence. Criticising the idea of people watching it while simultaneously indulging in it.
The meta-commentary by Arak and Etta is a highlight of the story though. #DoctorWho
Quillam is a boring and pointless panto villain. An unnecessary addition when you already have Sil and the Chief. #DoctorWho
When you see how Varos deals with its Governors you’re torn between thinking “What a terrible vision of the future” and “Hmm, there’s actually some politicians I wouldn’t mind seeing that done to!” 😄 #DoctorWho
The Mark Of The Rani: a worthy debut for Pip and Jane Baker. Whatever you think of their stories (and there’s early examples here of their florid, unnatural dialogue) they wrote solid, straightforward scripts, and knew how to write well for the Sixth Doctor. #DoctorWho
So the Master dresses as a scarecrow and stands in a field like a twat, just to wait for the Doctor so he can gawp at him as he goes past?
He’s not quite right in the head, is he? #DoctorWho
Later he does the most evil thing he’s ever done - zapping and killing a dog! It’s hilarious in its ‘1980s TV not giving a fuck’ kind of way. I’m trying to imagine the uproar if a modern #DoctorWho showrunner had him doing that…
I like how the Rani is basically just annoyed at being caught up in the Doctor and the Master’s feud and sees them both as irritating idiots.
And her kneeing the Master in the bollocks will never not be one of the funniest things ever to happen in #DoctorWho
I’ve always liked the design of the Rani’s TARDIS interior. Those two silver rings on the console that fluctuate when in flight is such a simple but convincing practical effect. #DoctorWho
*record scratch*
*freeze frame*
“Yup, that's me. You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation.” #DoctorWho
SvenI think Ewoks would eat a Time Lord.
The Two Doctors: one last hurrah for the second Doctor and Jamie? Ah, why the hell not. Yeah, so they both look older. Yeah, the console is wrong and the continuity’s messed up (leading to the whole season 6b thing) but it’s still a huge joy to see them again. #DoctorWho
Troughton and Hines slip back into their roles easily, despite some awkward bits where their characters have been altered to fit the mid-80s style - the Doctor criticising Jamie’s accent (total opposite of The Faceless Ones) and Jamie actually stabbing with his knife. #DoctorWho
Likewise Colin continuously snapping at Peri for her Americanisms is getting a bit tiresome. What on Earth is supposed to be wrong with the perfectly normal (and universally used) term “framed”?? #DoctorWho
Um… why exactly does Jamie degenerate into a growling, shuffling zombie lurking in the space station’s infrastructure? #DoctorWho
Plenty of violent deaths in this story, but Shockeye murdering Oscar seems the most misjudged.
And to make things worse, after their initial reaction the extras playing customers in the restaurant go back to acting like nothing has happened. #DoctorWho
Dud (Mx)@gavinwinters They must have been in Haringey.
@gavinwinters I tried to join a library there once. The guy said "You have to prove you live in Haringey!". So I stabbed him. #JOKE
Never noticed before that the 10th (14th?) Doctor crosses his own timeline to make a cameo in the restaurant scene… #DoctorWho
Timelash: oh dear. 😬 Okay… maybe not quite as bad as it’s reputation, but still the worst of this season. Lots of clunky dialogue and painfully obvious exposition.
And the Doctor and Peri’s relationship has taken a backward step to Twin Dilemma levels of snappiness. #DoctorWho
Paul Darrow gives one of the most preposterous performances in the entire history of #DoctorWho. Equal parts appalling and hilarious. Really needs a hunchback or a cape or an eyepatch as the finishing touch.
Still, at least he’s having fun. I’m glad someone is!
The makeup for the Borad is one of the few positive elements, which still stands up against anything you’d see today.
And they show great restraint in holding back the full reveal for as long as they do. #DoctorWho
I quite like Herbert too, and how he provides some funny moments where he’s oblivious to how much he’s irritating the Doctor. I was convinced at the time he was going to be a new companion! #DoctorWho
Every time I see the blue-faced androids they remind me of how we were all trying to do those robotic dancing/movements in the 80s. #DoctorWho
The ending’s bloody awful though. After the total cop-out of “I’ll explain one day” as to how they survived the missile, the Doctor then lambasts the Borad for his “grotesque, ugly excuse for a body”. (Lovely message to send the kids who are watching, Doctor. 😐 )
And then he says that if Peri doesn’t scream when she sees the Borad’s face, he’ll consent to their marriage (!?!)
Jesus Christ, was this written in the 1950s?? Right, we need the Daleks as a palate cleanser after that! #DoctorWho
Revelation Of The Daleks: one of Colin’s top stories. Eric Saward does a decent job of channeling Robert Holmes, with plenty of gothic atmosphere, effective world-building, and of course everyone’s paired up in ‘double-acts’. Graeme Harper’s direction is top-notch too. #DoctorWho
Although it would be nice if Saward was actually interested in having the Doctor star in his own show. Once again it takes until nearly halfway through before he and Peri join the main story. Can’t the TARDIS ever land closer to the action? #DoctorWho
The nightmarish image of Stengos - a barely human, mutated lump of flesh growing inside a glass Dalek is a memorable one. I think even the modern series would balk at this as being a bit too much for kids. #DoctorWho
Bit unfortunate that we had two stories in a row where the villain is killed… only for it to be revealed that it was just a decoy clone and he’s really still around.
I love the black humour of Davros’ fingers scattered on the ground after his hand is shot off! #DoctorWho
Where? Where, damnit! I could tell it was somewhere beginning with ‘B’, and after the long wait for the next season I was very disappointed to discover I was apparently wrong… #DoctorWho
