Story #65 - The Three Doctors (1972-73)

Harry -
With the hype starting to build for this year's 50th anniversary multi-Doctor mega-special, how fitting that we just watched the very first multi-Doctor mega-special from 40 years ago.

This is one of the few classic Who stories that I can watch in one sitting without even shifting on the sofa. What a jolly, breezy romp "The Three Doctors" is.


Sarah -
I absolutely love this story. It will always have a special place in my heart because it was my first glimpse of the First and Second Doctors. I remember seeing it for the first time in the 1980s and being so intrigued by these two new (to me) Doctors.

It's an utter delight!


Harry -
And so utterly light!

Some may argue, but I think "The Three Doctors" is the first time that the show takes a big step over the line into panto territory.


Sarah -
It does get rather broad at times, doesn't it?


Harry -
It's a celebration more than an adventure, almost like a "greatest hits" pageant. The actual plot of the thing is there just so everyone can hang their favourite lines and expressions on it, while hamming it up for the cameras. The bouncy glob monsters are funny, and Omega is so over-the-top even Brian Blessed might have urged him to tone it down.


Sarah -
Stephen Thorne is so wonderful as Omega. I love every moment he's on screen.


Harry -
Do you remember what your first impressions of these other Doctors were?

By the time I got around to watching this, I was already familiar with Hartnell and Troughton from old photos, and I recall accepting the notion that there was always more than one Doctor with childlike ease.


Sarah -
I'd certainly seen photos of the first two Doctors before this, but it was the first time I'd seen them in the series. I'd already been through my first regeneration -- Baker to Davison -- so the idea of many Doctors wasn't new to me.

Because of the vagaries of the broadcast schedule on my local PBS station, Tom Baker was my first Doctor, followed by Davison, and then back to Pertwee. I guess that makes the first and second Doctors my fourth and fifth Doctors!

I remember being so charmed by Troughton and wishing I could see more of him. Hartnell's appearances were so limited, due to his ill health, that I didn't know what to make of him. He seems so stern in the story and it was a delight to eventually discover the lighter sides of his character.


Harry -
Gosh, isn't Troughton's first appearance magical?


Sarah -
It was like being reunited with a long-lost family member! Watching Pertwee and Troughton together highlights how different their Doctors are. The moment when Omega asks the Third Doctor if he's sure that he and the Second Doctor are of the same intelligence is one of the best moments of the story. We know all the Doctors are the same Doctor -- but these two are just so different!


Harry -
It was great to be reminded why we love Patrick Troughton so much. He was diminutive in size, but his Doctor was a big ball of energy. Still excited about going to the beach for some fun, and I forgot he was the first Doctor to offer around some jelly babies.


Sarah -
His way of going about things indirectly and lulling the baddies into a false sense of superiority is one of my favorite things about the Second Doctor.


Harry -
His performance in this story really stole the show. I wish Troughton had broken his own First Rule of Playing the Doctor, and stayed on for another season.


Sarah -
That would have been wonderful, but there's always Season 6B to contemplate!


Harry -
Having Troughton bouncing around like a rubber ball also underscored Pertwee as the tall, serious Doctor with his own physical take on the role. Pertwee was known for doing all his own stunts, and while there wasn't much in the way of dangerous stunt acting here, he did get in a tussle with that pig creature that Omega foisted on him.


Sarah -
That was a trippy scene, wasn't it? As much as I love Troughton, I found that having him there made me appreciate Pertwee all the more. They're both such marvelous actors.


Harry -
The Troughton-Pertwee contrast is why I never side with fans who want a new Doctor to be just like the one before. It's the contrasts from one regeneration to the next that make the character fascinating.


Sarah -
Absolutely. How boring would that be?


Harry -
We haven't really mentioned Hartnell. His limited action in this story was more bittersweet than anything. It was great to hear his voice again, but sad that he wasn't able to appear in the TARDIS in person.


Sarah -
He definitely brought the First Doctor zing, didn't he?


Harry -
He went out with the "dandy and a clown" zinger, one of the show's most lasting quotes.


Sarah -
And one of the series most lasting quotes, too!


Harry -
While we weren't able to see much of the First Doctor, I liked how much action Sergeant Benton saw. This is the second story in a row where he rivals the Brig as the leading UNIT character.


Sarah -
I have such a soft spot for Benton. I love the moment when he enters the TARDIS for the first time and is rendered speechless. And then, we get to see the Brig on his first TARDIS trip -- if he only knew what he was getting into.

Speaking of the Brig, I adored his reaction to meeting up with the Second Doctor again -- "Oh no!"


Harry -
Another great comic turn in this story.

It was probably unintentional, but the Gallifreyan set reminded me of a kind of galactic tech support office. You had these technicians sitting at their consoles trying to resolve the nagging problems of black holes and energy depletion, while their managers bickered over what approach to take. It was all a bit comical, but totally in keeping with the atmosphere of the story.


Sarah -
We’ve seen so little of the actual Time Lords up to this point. Turning them into techies at ground control is a bit disappointing.


Harry -
And it was perfect that Troughton's recorder was the item that overcame Omega and sent him into oblivion, whilst returning everyone back to the universe of matter. Everybody lives! (not including Omega, but was he really alive anymore?)


Sarah -
The Second Doctor always knows what he’s doing – even if he doesn’t know he’s doing it…


Harry -
This story is probably the best of the multi-Doctor adventures in the classic series. It bounces along, keeps things light, and gives everyone a turn to shine. It has certainly stoked my interest to see what a Moffat-era multi-Doctor adventure will be like. Come on November 22!


Sarah -
It will be hard to top this. No pressure, Steven.


Harry -
For now, the Doctors have saved the day, and the Time Lords are grateful enough to give Pertwee a new dematerialization circuit. The Earthbound-era of Doctor Who has come to an end.


Sarah -
Hazzah!


Harry -
Shall we see where the Doctor and Jo will go first?


Sarah -
I can hardly wait!


Harry -
Best Line:
"Well, Sergeant, aren't you going to say it that it's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside? Everybody else does."
"It's pretty obvious, isn't it?"

Favourite Moment: Patrick Troughton first appears and reminds us why we love his Doctor.

Lasting Image: the look on the Brigadier's face when he sees the Second Doctor.

9/10


Sarah -
Best Line: I have to go with the classic, "So you're my replacements - a dandy and a clown!"

Favorite Moment: The Two Doctors confronting Omega together.

Lasting Image: The Second and Third Doctors reaction to being chided by the First Doctor.

9/10

 


Our marathon continues with Story #66: Carnival of Monsters...

Story #64 - The Time Monster (1972)

Sarah -
Well, this is a bit more like it. After the tedium of "The Mutants", we get a snappy six-parter, featuring our old pal, the Master.


Harry -
You know Sarah, with all these DVDs and their extras - the "making ofs" and the "behind the scenes" bits - you know what I'd dearly love to see? A blooper reel.

It occurred to me while watching "The Time Monster" that everyone was having such a jolly time of it. Pertwee and Manning, Delgado and the UNIT crew, the two scientists, even the Atlantean guest stars, everyone was really relishing their roles. And amid all the seriousness, there were so many one-line zingers and moments of silliness (intended or not) that the actors must have been bursting with laughter during shooting. Imagine the hilarious outtakes!

I'd love to have been able to look in on the production of this one.


Sarah -
It’s obvious everyone is having a smashing good time – and it was so much fun to watch!

Having renamed himself Professor Thascales, the Master is ensconced at the Newton Institute, working on TOMTIT – a timey-wimey device he homes to use to control Kronos, a creature who will somehow make him all-powerful.

Working with Dr. Ruth Ingram and Stuart Hyde, the Master is ready for his first test of TOMTIT and some special guests have been invited to watch, including Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. This could get awkward!


Harry -
Especially when Thascales starts yelling "Come Kronos, come!"


Sarah -
Oh dear, that was a bit much, wasn’t it?


Harry -
Not what one would have expected from a prof.  Gosh, it was good to see the UNIT team again, though. I didn't realize how much I'd missed them in the past couple of stories.


Sarah -
Wasn’t it just? Everyone just seemed a bit more crisp and sparkly. The Brig had a twinkle in his eye for most of the story, Yates got to play the action hero, and Benton had some wonderful moments.

One of my favorite lines was when the Doctor asked Benton if there had been any trouble, and he responded with, “I’ve been a bit lonely, that’s all.” Oh, Benton – he was even a beautiful baby!


Harry -
Baby Benton was adorable.

I did want to mention that earlier in part one, I did like that silly bit when Ruth and Stuart celebrated their successful test of the device. They danced around the lab to a merrie tune, then spun into the Master glaring at them from the door. Awkward!

Ruth and Stuart were a fun pair of short term companions for this adventure. You could see old Barry and Terry's rudimentary attempts at writing a strong female character here. Do you think they succeeded?


Sarah -
I quite liked Ruth and Stuart. Unfortunately, Our Barry and Terry couldn’t quite get their heads around strong female characters. A tip, lads: to write a strong female character just make her strong – think Liz before you started making her wear short skirts. In hindsight, we know Ruth is massive foreshadowing for our next companion, but I don’t want to jump ahead of ourselves.


Harry -
Barry and Terry seemed to think all a female character needs to do is talk about women's lib all the time and presto! Strong female! Ruth could have skipped all those lines, honestly.


Sarah -
Exactly.

Stuart, being a young, hip bloke, is a better fit for Ruth than all the old men in charge. Poor Stuart, from his 20s to his 80s in just a few moments. While we, as viewers, could be pretty sure he would be back to his 20s before the story was over, it still felt a little heartless when Ruth told him to try not to be too bitter. Aging 60 years seems like a perfect opportunity to be bitter to me!


Harry -
Another interesting character was Krasis, who arrives on the scene at the end of part two. I liked how he delivered all his lines in that stilted BBC Shakespeare style of the day. Actually, all the Atlanteans spoke in their own idiosyncratic way. A fascinating culture, to contain so many accents.


Sarah -
The whole little Atlantis interlude was fun. I imagine the sets were already together for some Shakespearean drama and the Doctor Who crew was able to just move on in.


Harry -
All the extras were already in costume.

I wonder if the palace intrigues in Atlantis were tacked on to pad out the story. I liked it though, it added more depth. It was as if the previous story had ended and we were suddenly watching a new one. Jo certainly got into the spirit of the place.


Sarah -
That was quite the getup she adopted in Atlantis, wasn’t it? The scenes did feel a bit like padding out the six-parter, but they were more successful than some other stories had been. The characters were interesting and fairly well-developed for being not the focus of the story.


Harry -
One letdown, and Barry Letts spoke to this in the DVD featurette, was how Kronos was realized. An actor on wires, flapping around in an all-white bird costume did not exactly instill terror. Even the actors seemed to find it hard being frightened.


Sarah -
I don’t think I was meant to be laughing at Dr. Percival’s reaction to Kronos’ arrival, but I couldn’t help myself. I’m sure it’s not what the creators were going for, but it had that endearing, low-budget Doctor Who charm about it.

What did you think of the TARDIS within a TARDIS conundrum?


Harry -
I'd forgotten about this scene. Right away I thought of the TARDIS within a TARDIS scene in "Logopolis", but that hasn't happened yet.


Sarah -
It was certainly fun to step inside the Master’s TARDIS, but disappointing to see that the Doctor’s TARDIS had been “redecorated” to match the Master’s. The tight-fisted BBC budgetary overlords are at it again.


Harry -
But they did manage to hire a knight and horse, a squad of Roundheads and a B-1 bomber. The story briefly turned into a reprise of "The War Games."


Sarah -
My thoughts exactly!


Harry -
I liked the Master's blinged-out 3-D roundels, but yeah, it was a lame coincidence for the Doctor to have spontaneously redecorated the same way. It's been a while since we've had so much action in the TARDIS control room.


Sarah -
I imagine them getting the same issue of “Better Homes and TARDISes” and not being able to resist copying the groovy cover look!


Harry -
Later on, Barry Letts even found a way for the Doctor to tell his own version of the Buddhist Flower Sermon. So much going on in "The Time Monster," is this story a secret gem or a crazy hallucination?


Sarah -
That was one of my favorite moments of the story. I’m going with secret gem!


Harry -
I don't know what the prevailing opinion of this story is among fanhood, but it really is a wild one. It begins in that tiny lab, spills over into ancient Atlantis, and the final battle is played out somewhere outside of time itself. It was, as Jo put it repeatedly, "groovy!"


Sarah -
Super Groovy!

Best Line: Doctor to the Brig - “It’s not meant to be anything. It just is.”

Favorite Moment: The Doctor telling Jo the story from his youth.

Lasting Image: The bloke in the Kronos suit swinging around the lab.

9/10


Harry -
Best Line: "This is not a picnic. One moment you're talking about the entire universe blowing up, the next you're going on about tea." The Brigadier at his exasperated best.

Favourite Moment: The Master attempts to hypnotize King Dalios, who laughs it off and proceeds to mock him.

Lasting Image: Baby Benton. So cute!

8/10
 

 



Our marathon continues with Story #65 - The Three Doctors...