Story #137 - Attack of the Cybermen (1985)

Sarah -
Here we are in Season 22. We've come so far, Dear Harry!

It's the first story of Colin Baker's only full season as the Doctor and the only season of Doctor Who to feature 45-minute episodes before the series' return with "Rose".


Harry -
Interesting how the two episode structure cleaved this story into two very different halves.


Sarah -
I had the same thought. The two episodes felt more like a contemporary two-parter than anything we've seen before in our marathon.


Harry -
We'll see how the format holds up over a season. "Attack of the Cybermen" started off strong, but faded late and ended up neither good nor bad overall.


Sarah -
I agree. The first episode is so much stronger than the second.


Harry -
The story lived up to its title almost immediately, as a pair of municipal workers are attacked by an unseen assailant in the sewers somewhere below London. The underground scene is just the first of many familiarities that will be thrown our way.


Sarah -
Poor municipal workers -- doomed from the start!


Harry -
Up in the TARDIS, the Doctor is tinkering with the machinery, aiming to repair the chameleon circuit that has been faulty since the Hartnell era. He appears to have settled down from the manic psycho we met in "The Twin Dilemma". However, Peri is still wary and the two of them can't help acting like the Bickersons in space. Suddenly: console room pandemonium! The TARDIS lurches abruptly and our friends are forced to ride it out, clutching the console to avoid getting thrown around the room. Just like the Davison era.


Sarah -
I thought the opening scenes in the TARDIS were effective in establishing the state of the Doctor and Peri's relationship. I liked that Peri was still wary of the Doctor from their experiences in "The Twin Dilemma".


Harry -
Down in a London street, a quartet of criminals prepare to stage a bank heist. Their leader is another familiar face -- the Dalek co-conspirator Lytton, whom we last saw slinking away from the warehouse of death with his killer bobbies. Unlike "The Twin Dilemma", this story took much more effort to ease the viewer into the universe of Doctor Who.


Sarah -
I really liked the establishing scene with our bank robbers. It really didn't feel like a Doctor Who episode, which made everything so much more effective. Did you notice Terry Molloy as Russell, the undercover cop? He must have been delighted to be on Doctor Who without having to wear the Davros costume.


Harry -
It's always a thrill to see the faces behind the masks. We saw John Leeson playing a human in "The Power of Kroll", and a couple of Davroses (Davri?) have acted outside the chair. Michael Wisher appeared in several Pertwee-era stories before becoming the first actor to play Davros, and the most recent Davros, Julian Bleach, has made appearances as other baddies in both Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures.


Sarah -
The TARDIS rights itself and begins following Halley's comet towards 1985 Earth, only to land at 76 Totter's Lane. It's our first (televised) return visit since "An Unearthly Child". It seems appropriate that this is the moment the chameleon circuit activates, turning the TARDIS into an ornate cabinet of some sort. I have a very strong memory of watching this for the first time and being completely floored by the TARDIS changing its appearance.


Harry -
More fan-friendly throwbacks as the Doctor and Peri both name check some previous companions while pursuing a distress signal.


Sarah -
Tegan, Zoe, Susan, and Jamie name checks -- hooray!


Harry -
After successfully overpowering the bobbies of death, it's down into the sewers, following Lytton and his crew.


Sarah -
I love the scene when the Doctor and Peri overpower and outwit the bobbies. The sight of Colin Baker leaping into the sewer passage is brilliant -- as is his return, wearing the bobby's helmet.


Harry -
All the racket brings the Cybermen out of hiding. Ever the slick player, Lytton immediately ingratiates himself to them. He reveals (or so he says) that he's not from Earth, but from a planet in the future -- Vita 15. Russell legs it and runs into the Doctor and Peri. He reveals that he's a cop and they make a tactical retreat to the TARDIS. Too late! For some crazy reason the Doctor left the door unlocked and the place is crawling with Cybers. Lytton and Griffiths follow them inside and watch as Russell is killed. They turn their ray guns on Peri next, and we get a mini-close up cliffhanger to close out the episode.


Sarah -
What is this, the Davison Era? I don't think Sixie is the type to leave out the welcome mat for everyone who wanders by.


Harry -
Part one was a great episode, and you're right, it did feel like something more contemporary.


Sarah -
I'd rate episode one as 7/10. Unfortunately, episode two will be dragging that rating down.


Harry -
Part one got a happy 8/10 from me for being such a pleasant surprise and better than I'd remembered.

As part two begins, the Doctor talks his captors out of killing Peri.  Thoughtful!


Sarah -
At least none of the Cybermen are putting the moves on her!


Harry -
The Cybermen demand he set a course for Telos, the planet they invaded and took over after the destruction of Mondas.

Down on the surface of Telos, a couple of seemingly unrelated characters are toiling in the work fields. Bates and Stratton have hatched a plan to kill one of their Cyber guards and sneak into Cyber Control, aiming to steal their time vessel and escape. I found their efforts amusing, maybe unintentionally humourous?


Sarah -
Bates and Stratton are an excellent double act. They are desperate men with nothing left to lose, but you're right, Bates' frustration with Stratton's incompetence provides some desperately needed comic relief. Michael Attwell's performance as Bates is a highlight of the story for me.


Harry -
Agreed, he was bursting with energy and determination. There is a seriousness to the duo's presence too. Later in the story, Bates and Stratton reveal themselves to the others as examples of failed Cyber conversions, something we haven't seen before.


Sarah -
How terrifying was that? This story does not hold back, which I kind of love.


Harry -
It was good to be reminded that the Cybermen are not just robots stomping around in space. Having hijacked the TARDIS (another rarity!), they contact Telos, where the Cyber Controller delights in learning that they have acquired the best time vessel in the universe. He all but drools "bring them to me."

The Doctor would never surrender that easily, and he tweaks the flight path so that they land inside a network of tombs rather than right in the Cyber Controller's lap. Things get hairy from this point. Another defective Cyber conversion bursts out of a tomb, going haywire. Everyone scatters, and the Doctor is separated from Peri as Lytton and Griffiths head for Cyber Control. Lytton hopes to continue ingratiating himself with the ultimate goal of stealing a time vessel for himself. He and Griffiths hook up with Bates and Stratton to pursue this purpose.


Sarah -
And this is where the story goes off the rails. It was kind of exciting to see the tombs, before the plot started to get in the way.

I do have to say that Brian Glover is absolutely brilliant as Griffiths. He’s one of those great characters who carries the weight of his back story – even if we don’t know what that back story is. In the commentary, Colin Baker mentions that he was a wrestler before becoming an actor. He certainly looks the part, but went on to have quite an impressive career.


Harry -
His is one of those faces that kept popping up in British telly throughout the 80s & 90s.

Meanwhile, Peri and the Doctor both encounter the native inhabitants of Telos, who were thought to have been compleletly annihilated by the Cybermen. The Cryons look like icy versions of the Fish People, with their buggy eyes and swanning movements. Best hand acting since William Hartnell for sure.


Sarah -
In a series know for naff aliens, the Cryons have to be among the most naff. I couldn’t understand half of what they were saying. Maybe that’s why the story made no sense.


Harry -
The revelations come fast from Flast, the Cryon leader. She tells the Doctor that they had been in contact with Lytton, and he was working on their behalf to lure the Cybermen to Telos. This seemed strange since they were already there. Flast also reveals the Cyber plan: to use a time vessel to go back, redirect Halley's Comet, crash it into the Earth and prevent the destruction of Mondas. Easy peasy!


Sarah -
Really, quite a simple plan.


Harry -
The Doctor suspects that it was the Time Lords who manipulated his TARDIS into landing where it did on Earth, so that he'd have no choice but to prevent its destruction. He gives Flask a sonic lance, a tool with which she will be able to ignite the convenient storehouse of explosive material the Cybermen had locked her up with.


Sarah -
The Doctor gets all shouty at the Time Lords, but it’s not clear that they’re listening. The sonic lance was an interesting touch. I started to wonder how they got it past JN-T and then realized he was probably planning for his next American convention and didn’t know about the lance.


Harry -
Writing it all out, the story seems to make a lot more sense.


Sarah -
I’m not so sure about that!


Harry -
Okay, maybe it was "better on paper", but watching it was another matter. By the end of part two, everything unravelled. Lytton and his group enter Cyber Control, but the Cybermen turn on them. Bates, Stratton and Griffith escape while Lytton is seized, has his hands broken, and is tossed into a Cyber conversion chamber to meet his fate.


Sarah -
Talk about not holding back! Lytton’s hands being crushed may be the most horrifying thing we’ve seen so far – so much blood.


Harry -
The other three are gunned down not long after.


Sarah -
I found that moment especially heartbreaking. They came so close to escaping, to be gunned down when it was finally in their reach.


Harry -
Having learned that Lytton was on the side of the Cryons, the Doctor makes a last ditch attempt to save him, triggering a gun battle inside Cyber Control. It's a particularly wild gun battle with the Doctor blasting away. There's yet another rare sight.


Sarah -
The Doctor is so remorseful about having misjudged Lytton that resorting to firearms almost makes sense.


Harry -
So much chaos at the end, I just wanted it to be over.


Sarah -
The story winds up with one of the most awkward endings I can think of. The Doctor and Peri escape into the TARDIS just as cyber-control explodes and have this exchange:

DOCTOR: It didn't go very well, did it?
PERI: Earth's safe. So is history and the web of time.
DOCTOR: I meant on a personal level. I don't think I've ever misjudged anybody quite as badly as I did Lytton.

What? All this death and destruction and this is the takeaway. Good grief!


Harry -
The Doctor's first line that you quoted sums up how many of us must have felt by the end. "Attack of the Cybermen" started off surprisingly well, but it got bogged down in too much continuity for its own good, and it became a noisy mess by the end. At least the Cybermen did a lot of attacking, so it lived up to its billing in one respect.

Best Line:
DOCTOR: Unstable? UNSTABLE?! This is me, Peri. At this very moment I am as stable as you will ever see me.
PERI: Oh dear.

Favourite Moment: Bates and Stratton assemble their own Cyberman cosplay.

Lasting Image: the freaky looking Cryons.

Part one 8/10
Part two 6/10
Overall 7/10


Sarah -
Best Line:
DOCTOR: I have perfect rapport with this machine.
PERI: I hope the TARDIS knows it.

Favorite Moment: The TARDIS changing into a cabinet and organ.

Lasting Image: The Doctor smugly emerging from the sewer passage wearing the bobby's helmet.

Part One 7/10
Part Two 5/10
Overall 6/10

 




Our marathon continues with Story #138 - Vengeance on Varos...

Story #136 - The Twin Dilemma (1984)

Harry -
Pass the gin, Sarah.


Sarah -
Brave Heart, Old Boy. And don't worry, I bought the extra-large bottle.


Harry -
After the sad demise of the Fifth Doctor, one might have hoped that JN-T and crew might have eased us into a new Doctor. No such luck. It's regeneration crisis times a thousand with this new bloke. If he was any more in your face he'd come right through the screen.


Sarah -
Adios, feckless charm -- it's time to strangle the companion! I remember all too well my complete shock the first time I watched this regeneration. It's still a bit shocking, but I was able to appreciate the subtleties in Colin Baker's performance. There are so many bombastic moments that overwhelm the contrite moments when he's overwhelmed by the guilt of his actions. Peri is not far off when she diagnoses him as having a "manic depressive paranoid personality." This is the most bipolar regeneration crisis we've seen so far.


Harry -
It's notable that Peri's initial reaction to the new Doctor is negative, guiding us the viewers to take the same position early on. I don't know if any of the Doctor's lines were meant to be humorous, but everything is lost in Colin Baker's overwhelming delivery. There's definitely a lot of Colin here. Nicola Bryant is practically flinching during some of his outbursts.


Sarah -
We've seen companions dismayed and suspicious after a regeneration, but we haven't had anyone look like they want to throw themselves out of the TARDIS before now.

Colin's camp delivery of the Doctor's assessment of his new look made me laugh: "A noble brow. Clear gaze. At least it will be, given a few hours sleep. A firm mouth. A face beaming with a vast intelligence. My dear child, what on Earth are you complaining about?" He clearly was trying to bring something to it. Can we blame poor direction by Peter Moffatt?


Harry -
As with all regenerations, it's time for a new wardrobe. Oh yes, the new wardrobe.

I'll get the tonic and ice. Lime or lemon, Sarah?


Sarah -
Screw the mixers -- just pass me the bottle!

Is there anything left to say about the coat? It's dreadful and ridiculous. The only compensation is that we get to riffle around in the TARDIS wardrobe a bit. Look, it's the Second Doctor's coat and trousers! The Third Doctor's jacket and Tegan's coat! Ah, the memories of better days...


Harry -
There isn't much left to say about the coat. It's one of the worst decisions ever made by a Doctor Who showrunner. There's an interesting theory floating around that JN-T (who was no stranger to loud, tacky attire) essentially created the Doctor in his own image. I hate the coat. You hate the coat. Everyone in the universe hated the coat, except the one person that mattered.


Sarah -
There are several clips in the bonus DVD footage of Colin on chat shows, wearing the coat and gamely answering questions about it. Knowing how much he hated the costume, it's impressive that he was able to defend it. That's why they call it acting, eh?


Harry -
This is a unique story in that we got a mid-season regeneration. Well, there was one story to go, anyway. What I would have loved was if everything in this story was a one-off, reflecting the Doctor's regeneration fits. The clothes selection, the manic behaviour, the rudeness! Wouldn't it have been better if the next season started with the Doctor having settled down -- a less bombastic, less arrogant Doctor, dressed in muted shades -- and everything about this story just a momentary abberation before we got to the good stuff? Like David Tennant spending a story in his jim-jams before getting down to it. Unfortunately, this was the template that the following season's writers had to work from, so they continued with the Doctor that was set down in this story. JN-T was very wrapped up in the convention scene at the time, and might have been convinced to take that alternate path had someone offered it up, but alas. Oh, what might have been.


Sarah -
So, what did you think of the actual story?

Regeneration crisis aside, I was dreading "The Twin Dilemma", which may have turned out to be a good thing. It could almost only be better than expected. My memory of the story and everything in fan culture made me expect that it would be unwatchable, but it's certainly not the worst Doctor Who. My one-sentence review: "The Twin Dilemma -- at least it's not Time-Flight!"


Harry -
As a Doctor Who story -- especially for a post-regeneration story -- it's not bad at all. While the tempest rages aboard the TARDIS, we see cutaways to a futuristic household. A pair of twin teenage boys behave like a pair of teenage boys, dissing their dad before he steps out for the night. The twins play video games when an old man suddenly materializes in the middle of the room. The boys seem more impressed than alarmed by the feat. I mean, that sort of occurrence happens to all of us at some point, no?


Sarah -
Perhaps it only happens to maths geniuses? That would have left the two of us out.

On a side note, remember the sisters dressed as the twins at Chicago TARDIS a few years back? Those were amazing costumes.


Harry -
They do an impressive job every convention. 

The old man who has appeared calls himself Professor Edgeworth, and promises to return when the twins' dad is home. But he suddenly seizes the twins and they all dematerialize, landing on a ship in outer space. Cue the feather-headed alien pilots! They looked like something out of the Hartnell era.


Sarah -
I love the Jacondans! Those are some seriously impressive alien costumes -- absolutely classic.

The twins' father returns home to find them gone and traces of Zanium, a residue of transmit, in their room. Realizing they've been kidnapped, he alerts the authorities and Lieutenant Hugo Lang is dispatched to track them down.

I'm not going to lie, Harry, I found Hugo to be quite a dish back in the day. He looks a proper rude boy with those suspenders and Ian Curtis haircut -- exactly what my teenage self was after.


Harry -
Hugo Lang, Space Cop. I like. We'll see plenty of handsome and hunky males in these stories as the JN-T era rolls on, and that's perfectly fine with me.


Sarah -
We've got to take what we can get.


Harry -
As the Colin Baker era rolls on, we'll see something I always found highly amusing: the extreme close up cliffhanger. There are three of them in this story alone!  At the end of part one, Lang's spacecraft is shot down on Titan 3. The Doctor and Peri rescue him and bring him aboard the TARDIS. When he comes to, Lang pulls a gun on the Doctor, proclaiming him a murderer. EXTREME CLOSE UP ON COLIN'S FACE OF SHOCK, AND ROLL CREDITS!


Sarah -
It's fortunate Colin can bring the shock. Unfortunately, theses cliffhangers just made me laugh.


Harry -
Fortunately the space cop is subdued and the threat comes to nothing. While the TARDIS had come to Titan 3 so that the Doctor could take up a life of contemplation as a hermit, Lang was there in pursuit of the Jacondan ship. Edgeworth and the twins landed there and the boys were immediately put to work on some calculations for a powerful energy source. Their taskmaster is Mestor, who needs their genius to advance his ambitions.


Sarah -
I thought the whole "I'm going to live a life of contemplation and you will be my disciple" scene was amusing. Peri's "WTF?" response was hysterical.

DOCTOR: Titan Three. Thou craggy knob, which swims upon the oceans of the firmament. Receive this weary penitent.
PERI: I think I'm going to be sick.


Harry -
HAHAHAHAHA!

The Doctor and Peri go for a recce underground, eventually running into Edgeworth. Only the Doctor recognizes "Edgeworth" as Azmael, a fellow timelord.


Sarah -
Azmel's reaction to their arrival is just as amusing as Peri's

DOCTOR: We came to Titan Three of our own free will.
EDGEWORTH: Who in their right minds come to Titan Three of their own free will?


Harry -
HAHAHAHAHA!


Sarah -
I love the scene when the Doctor realizes Edgeworth is his old friend Azmael. His memories of their drunken night around the fountain sound exactly like something the Fourth Doctor would have gotten into.


Harry -
Can totally see that. Actually, any of the first four Doctors might have had that wild night at the fountain.


Sarah -
It's hard to imagine it happening after that.


Harry -
True.

Back on the TARDIS, Lang wakes up again and does what any of us would do: he enters the wardrobe of a total stranger and changes into the loudest shirt he can find. Who among us can say we haven't done that?


Sarah -
We've all been there. And who hasn't been tempted to hide a gun's powerpack in the loudest shirt we can find?

The Doctor is horrified by Azmael's plan to use the twins to do Mestor's bidding and implores him to stop. Not believing that he has a choice in the matter, Azmael locks the Doctor and Peri in the base and hightails it out of there with the twins and Jacondans. What he doesn't know is that Noma has set the base to self-destruct. The Doctor starts out trying to break the combination lock on the base, until Peri alerts him to the self-destruct mechanism. He immediately starts to work on modifying the transporter, sending Peri to the TARDIS, where Hugo is waiting. She expects the Doctor to arrive after her and can only think the worst when the base explodes.


Harry -
PERI: Oh no, Docterrrrr!

EXTREME CLOSE UP ON PERI'S FACE OF GRIEF, AND ROLL CREDITS!


Sarah -
I can only imagine Nicola hated that final shot.


Harry -
It turns out that Peri's grief was premature. The Doctor fades back into existence, having set the transporter slightly ahead of time before correcting it. I did like his comment to Peri immediately afterward: "You know, I'll never understand the people of Earth. I have spent the day using, abusing, even trying to kill you. If you'd have behaved as I have, I should have been pleased at your demise." This line anticipates something of Peter Capaldi's Doctor, who is made aware of his appalling rudeness and uses cue cards to help him overcome it -- or at least to be less appallingly rude to people.


Sarah -
It's a good moment and Colin plays it well.

My absolute favorite moment of the story is in episode 3 -- when the Doctor bursts into Azmael's lab, shouting, "Villain! Murderer!" I laughed so hard I had to pause the DVD and then rewatched it twice. There was no scenery left for Colin to chew after that moment!


Harry -
The chase continues, as it's on to Jaconda! We soon discover that the planet is a paradise rendered to dust by the giant gastropods who have taken over, and whose ambitions stretch far beyond it. Here is where we learn of Mestor's incredible ambition. He wants the twins to calculate a means of moving entire planets into the orbit of Jaconda, providing the wasted planet with a new source of supplies. It's celestial engineering on a mind-bending scale. We won't see this kind of madness again until Davros tries to pull it off in "The Stolen Earth / Journey's End".

Ourtraged, the Doctor turns on Azmael. Lang gets clubbed. The Jacondans seize Peri, meaning to kill her.

DOCTOR: No! Periiiii!

EXTREME CLOSE UP OF THE DOCTOR'S FACE OF GRIEF, AND ROLL CREDITS!

It's amazing. Three straight cliffhangers with extreme close ups.


Sarah -
Well, at least it's consistent.

The Doctor rediscovers his compassion and springs into action when he thinks Peri's in jeopardy. The Doctor convinces Mestor that he can help with the planet moving project.

Meanwhile, Mestor decides not to kill her because he likes the way she looks -- yet another creepy alien putting the moves on Peri.


Harry -
NOMA: Why don't you kill her?
MESTOR: I find her pleasing. Pleasing!

My entire body cringed. So awful.


Sarah -
We're going to have to withstand a lot of sexual harassment of Peri in the coming weeks.


Harry -
Turns out, Azmael is not so hot at celestial engineering. The Doctor points out that if two smaller planets are moved into orbit around Jaconda, they will eventually be pulled away and crash into the sun. Double facepalm for Azmael.  Woops!


Sarah -
D'oh!


Harry -
At least this helps foil Mestor's master plan, which not only involved feasting on the resources of the two smaller planets, but then propagating the gastropod race by scattering with millions of extremely durable eggs across the universe. All rather brazen.


Sarah -
Mestor was really playing the long game with this plot.


Harry -
I said at the beginning that this story was not bad, but it gets let down by a sham ending. His plans exposed, Mestor attempts to telepathically take over the Doctor's body. Some conveniently bottled acid comes in handy. The Doctor hurls it and it shatters over an exposed Mestor, who proceeds to bubble, gurgle and melt in a very satisfying fashion. Sadly, Azmael dies too.


Sarah -
But not before a trip down memory lane with his old friend, the Doctor.


Harry -
Then, we get treated to an unexpected panto scene featuring Mestor's feathery Jacondan chamberlain, who bows and scrapes and begs to come aboard the TARDIS. It was so stupid but I loved it. The Doctor shoos him away, says something rude to Lang, then barges into the TARDIS with Peri on his heels. That scene was like the entire Colin Baker era in microcosm.


Sarah -
Fasten your seatbelt, Old Boy, it's going to be a bumpy couple of seasons!


Harry -
DOCTOR: "I am the Doctor, whether you like it or not!"

We're going to need a lot more gin.

Best line: "Something's very wrong. Oh no, has it come to that? Regenerate, yet unregenerate."

Favourite moment: the panto chamberlain scene at the end.

Lasting image: The Doctor, Peri and Lang in the TARDIS, wearing the loudest clothes in the universe.

6/10


Sarah -
Best Line: "I am the Doctor, whether you like it or not!"

If that's not a mission statement, I don't know what is.

Favorite moment: "Villain! Murderer!"

Lasting image: The Doctor bursting into the lab shouting "Villain! Murderer!"

6/10

Our marathon continues with Story #137 - Attack of the Cybermen...

The Peter Davison Era - Final Thoughts

Harry -
The Peter Davison Era marks the end of an era for me. His early stories were the last ones I watched on TVOntario as a kid. After that, I lost track of the Doctor for a time, as he wandered to other channels and my teenage interests wandered elsewhere. I wouldn't catch up with the Colin and Sylvester eras until years after their original broadcasts.


Sarah -
I did not know that. Perhaps it was a wise time to stop! Peter Davison was my second Doctor. I started watching Doctor Who with "The Ribos Operation", which was just chance, but is an excellent story with which to start. Fortunately, I had been primed by my cousin on the concept of regeneration (and the fact that WTTW would get back to showing Tom Baker again so I could catch up on the rest of my Doctor's stories).


Harry -
There will always be a warm glow about this era for us. I remember Adric as this amazing starchild who travelled with the Doctor. I didn't have any standout memories of the other companions, but I always remember this Doctor as "the friendly young one". Watching all the stories again in order certainly brought a whole new perspective.


Sarah -
In the years I was regularly watching Doctor Who, I would have had the chance to see all of the Fifth Doctor's stories at least twice. I've watched some random stories in recent years, but this is the first time I've watched them all through in order since the the 80's. I concur on having a whole new perspective.

While I loved the Romanas in the Fourth Doctor's era, the Fifth Doctor's tenure is when I really emotionally imprinted on the companions. I immediately understood Adric. I was around the same age and, yeah, he was annoying -- but I was surrounded by annoying teenage boys, so at least I could understand where he was coming from. As I've mentioned, I liked Adric so much that I named my cat after him. I've only named one pet in my entire life and I picked Adric. (So suck it, haters!) I'm still devastated every time I watch Earthshock and had forgotten that the Fifth Doctor's last word was "Adric."

Like all the companions in this era, he only had a few chances to shine and his best moments were with the Fourth Doctor. I’d like to see some Big Finish stories featuring Adric and Nyssa, with whom he always had the best chemistry.


Harry -
Both the novels of the wilderness years and the Big Finish audios have done well in filling the gaps between televised stories.


Sarah -
It was great to have Matthew Waterhouse join the TARDIS team for some stories. I'm hoping there will be more.

Nyssa has never made a strong impression on me and this rewatch made me understand why – she’s constantly being left behind in the TARDIS or shunted to the side. I need to make time to listen to the Nyssa-Fifth Doctor Big Finish stories to develop a better understanding of Sarah Sutton’s portrayal.


Harry -
I concluded that it was a lack of discipline on the show-runners' part at the time that writers were able to boot characters they weren't interested in into the TARDIS for an episode or two, or three.


Sarah -
And then there was Tegan. I loved Tegan and adored Janet Fielding's performance when I was a teenager. As an adult, I am so frustrated by the way the character was treated. Mister-Nice-Guy Doctor is surprisingly hostile towards her far more often than I remembered. While I appreciate the friendship between Tegan and Nyssa, I would say Turlough is her best match of all the companions.


Harry -
I very much enjoyed following Tegan's journey. She stood out from all the other companions by the force of her personality (and her accent). In addition to the far-too-many times that the Doctor dismissed her, it was sad that in the end she decided that she couldn't handle the violence and death that accompanied the Doctor wherever he went.


Sarah -
She suffered some brutal moments during her time in the TARDIS.

As for Turlough, he may be the most neglected companion of all. Once he stopped trying to kill the Doctor, there was almost nothing for him to do. Some of his scenes with Tegan stand out for me, but little else.


Harry -
One thing we got in these three seasons was a lot of returning monsters. Daleks, Cybermen, Silurians, Sea Devils. Of the new monsters, I liked the Terileptils most and would love to see them return. Other than that, we got a lot of slow-moving, sad-looking props.


Sarah -
It was good to give some of the classic foes a break so we could appreciate having them back.


Harry -
In terms of the look and feel of the show as we moved deeper into the 80s, you could hear a much more "synthy" soundtrack in more stories. By the time we get to "The Caves of Androzani", the scenery is dominated by the pastel neons that are so much a part of that decade. Everyone suddenly grew giant shoulders and hair too.


Sarah -
It was a glorious time to be alive!


Harry -
After two consecutive "man of action" Doctors in Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, Peter Davison gave us a quieter, more affable Doctor. He was certainly one who was content to hold back and let others do some heavy lifting for him. I'm reminded immediately of Tegan and Nyssa hauling his zero room coffin up to Castrovalva!


Sarah -
There's something telling about a Doctor spending much of his first story in a box!


Harry -
One thing that struck me as we were reviewing "The Caves of Androzani": we both loved how much the Doctor returned to his "man of action" persona. It presented me with a bit of a conundrum. Because we liked the most Pertwee/Baker-esque of Peter Davison's stories, does that present an indictment of the entire Davison era? Was this Doctor too content too often to let the action happen around him, rather than driving the action himself? Did he force his companions to do too much, resulting in burn out, or in the most tragic case, loss of life? Having watched the entire era in order, I can't help wishing this Doctor had been more assertive in these stories, to stop events from spiralling out of control. Not sure if that makes sense. Am I being completely loopy here Sarah?


Sarah -
I think you've hit it on the head. I was really looking forward to reaching these stories and spending time with this version of the TARDIS team. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but it felt like a series of disappointments. Poor character development, sloppy scripts, some really, really sketchy sets and monsters -- and this on a series beloved for its sketchy sets and monsters!

There are some high points -- "Earthshock", "The Caves of Androzani" -- and low points -- "Time-Flight" -- but most of the stories are just mediocre. The blame is usually laid at the feet of JN-T and Eric Saward and I can't disagree. No one was taking care with Doctor Who. While devoting himself to the preservation of the series, it feels like JN-T wasn't paying much attention to the actual product. Doctor Who's history is filled with strong producers and script editors who made the show a success Doctor after Doctor.

If you had asked me my opinions of the Third and Fifth Doctors' eras at the beginning of this project I would have said that the Third Doctor's era was OK and the Fifth Doctor's was brilliant. Having rewatched all their stories, the Third Doctor's era has become one of my absolute favorites. I've gone back to rewatch many of John Pertwee's stories since we discussed them because there's so much there. We have Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks to thank for that.

Will rewatch any of Peter Davison's stories as we move along in our marathon? Maybe Earthshock and Caves, but I can't imagine wanting to see anything else for a long while.


Harry -
Knowing what's ahead, this era was the calm before the storm. Onscreen, the Doctor is about to become louder, brasher and more openly manipulative. Less sensitive, less likeable, I guess. As for the show itself, it is about to be plunged into troubled waters, as behind the scenes anxieties influenced the product on the screen.


Sarah -
It will be a big change from Peter Davison. How do you feel about his performance as the Doctor?


Harry -
Peter was only 29 when he signed on to play the Doctor -- the youngest by far to that point. He was bound to be different from the preceeding Doctors for that reason alone. After Tom Baker's larger-than-life portrayal of the character, the new Doctor was calmer by design -- a deliberate shift in character. In various commentaries Peter has said that he would have played a certain scene or a certain story differently, but everyone says that when looking back on their work. What stands out most about his Doctor is the very fact that he stands out. He's not in-your-face, he's more likely to draw you in towards him. He's affable, not bombastic. He's more likely to slip into a room than burst in. When he raised his voice it was in annoyance, not arrogance. Quite simply, he was nice. And that's a nice Doctor to be able to revisit once in a while.


Sarah -
Peter Davison is such a good actor and he's had perhaps the most successful career of all the actors to have played the Doctor. There are so many times when the script gives him nothing to do and his talents feel wasted. It's a pity he wasn't give more to work with.


Harry -
Not to keep harping on it, but knowing what's ahead, we will miss these, calmer, quieter days. Very soon I should think!

Shall we?


Sarah -
Brave Heart, Harry. I'll be right by your side through it all!

Story #135: The Caves of Androzani (1984)

Harry -
The saddest thing about viewing all the Davison era stories in succession has been watching all our friends depart the show, one by one. And now, the Fifth Doctor.


Sarah -
I find this departure particularly painful because Davison goes out on the highest note of the Fifth Doctor's era -- and one of the highest notes in the series' history. "The Caves of Androzani" regularly tops lists of best Doctor Who stories with good reason. It's absolutely brilliant and Peter Davison gives one of his best performances as the Doctor.


Harry -
What a contrast from "Planet of Fire", where the Doctor was practically a tourist as the story played itself out around him. Here, he explores, climbs, gets captured, escapes capture, runs, carries, gets executed, crash lands a spaceship, saves his friend's life at the expense of his own, and finally, he regenerates. WOW.


Sarah -
Imagine if he'd been given this much to do over the previous seasons!


Harry -
It was fitting that Davison's most Pertwee- and Baker-esque performance came in a story that felt so much like a Third or Fourth Doctor adventure. And look who wrote it -- hello Bob Holmes!


Sarah -
I was getting a drink during the opening, so I missed the writing credits. Halfway though episode one, I thought to myself, "This has got to be a Robert Holmes story." You can't miss the mark of the master!

"The Caves of Androzani" is also Graeme Harper's directorial debut in Doctor Who, having previously served as assistant floor manager and production assistant. His direction breathes so much life into the story, which is attributed to his direction from the floor, rather than the production booth.


Harry -
It begins quietly. Having departed the desert planet Sarn, the TARDIS lands in another desert, this time on Androzani Minor. Intrigued by some tracks left in the sand, the Doctor leads Peri towards some caves. These fleeting moments are the only stress-free time they will have together. Before long, Peri slips and tumbles down an opening in the caves. She lands in some webby muck that burns her skin and that of the Doctor when he examines her. Little do they know it, but their clocks have just begun ticking.


Sarah -
The moment when Peri slips is almost played for laughs and it really is quite unexpected when she topples over. We have no idea, of course, that she's stumbled into unrefined Spectrox and spread it to the Doctor.


Harry -
It's the unrefined stuff that will get you. Little do they know it, but they are also about to stumble into the middle of a hostile situation involving a business conglomerate that's mining the planet, some renegade gunrunners, and a mysterious saboteur and his band of android soldiers -- all battling over the life-enhancing drug Spectrox.


Sarah -
I love the political drama in this story. So many factions, so much double-dealing and backstabbing. Such Bob Holmes brilliance!


Harry -
Episode One might be one of the fastest moving episodes in all of Doctor Who. Once the Doctor and Peri plunge into the middle of things, we meet the various antagonists in rapid succession. Trau Morgus is the devious businessman who monitors developments from the safety of his headquarters on Androzani Major. (I love the glowing pastel shades of his office set -- so futuristically 80s.) Stotz is leader of the gunrunners who lurk in the shadows, alternately attacking the soldiers sent to flush them out, and fighting off the monstrous bat creatures that inhabit the caves. Last, and most creepy of them all is Sharaz Jek. He first appears as a Phantom of the Opera kind of character, but he takes a very unpleasant turn before long.

Oh, before we even get there, the Doctor and Peri are executed by General Chellak's soldiers. How very Bob Holmes!


Sarah -
Fortunately, Sharaz Jek managed to swap out the Doctor and Peri with a couple of androids, who take the bullets while the real Doctor and Peri are whisked off to Jek's lair. What seems like a rescue soon turns creepy. Jek becomes the first in a long series of characters to become obsessed with Peri. His scenes with Peri are some of the most uncomfortable endured by a companion since the attempted rape of Barbara in "The Keys of Marinus". Poor Peri.

The Doctor and Peri discover that Salateen, Chellak's right-hand man, is also being held captive by Jek, which means Chellak has an andoid double agent on his team. The plot thickens!


Harry -
I can't think of another Doctor Who story where we meet so many different villains all at once.


Sarah -
I'm not sure I would classify them all as villains. They're each serving their own interests, none of which line up with those of the Doctor and Peri.


Harry -
True. Interestingly, it will be the "military" characters Salateen and Chellak who turn out to be the most sympathetic to the plight of the Doctor and Peri. I can't say much for the acting of Robert Glenister or Michael Cochrane, who deliver some terribly panto laughs and screams as the story plays out.


Sarah -
Gleister's performance is confusing. His android Salateen is perfect. Even before he knows it's an android, Chellak seems unsettled by Salateen's too-perfect anticipation of his needs. The "real" Salateen starts out panto and morphs into a hero by the end of the story.


Harry -
However, John Normington and Christopher Gable were casting masterstrokes as Morgus and Jek. Normington's smooth, unblemished face is perfect for a Spectrax fiend. His opposite, Jek, is hidden under a mask, but the disgustingness of his character comes out in Gable's voice and the spidery movements of his hand as he strokes Peri. Total creep out.


Sarah -
Brilliant casting on both counts.


Harry -
And those asides by Morgus. I love them! He's so rich and powerful he can break the fourth wall if he damn well pleases.


Sarah -
Those are some of my favorite moments in the story. Morgus is just so reprehensible! We know, like all robber-baron villains, he will eventually get his comeuppance, but he gets so many opportunities to be the baddest baddie in the story!


Harry -
Jek is obsessed with Morgus. He and his androids collect and control access to the Spectrox. In exchange for it, he demands the head of Morgus. They were once partners in the conglomerate, but Jek was betrayed, disfigured in a mudburst and abandoned to die. Deep inside the caves is where he established his lair, plotting revenge. The arrival of Peri set him off. When she and Salateen escape back to Chellak's headquarters, he goes mad with rage, then kidnaps her back like a total psycho.


Sarah -
A lesser writer would just make Jek a ranting psycho. Holmes gives him a backstory that makes the character so much more interesting, and almost sympathetic.


Harry -
Almost, but not quite.

I have to mention here that Nicola Bryant delivered an amazing performance in this story. Her discomfort and distress as she was menaced by both Jek and the Spectrox toxemia were very realistic.


Sarah -
She really is so good. A few days ago Peri was on the beach and now she's facing death on another planet while trying to negotiate her way between a series of extremely disturbing situations and characters. Bryant captures the chaos of the situation while maintaining a strength of character. It feels like a long time since we've seen a companion given such strong material to work with.


Harry -
I'm getting angry thinking about it!

Meanwhile, the Doctor has slipped away ahead of everyone, crawled through a gun battle between the gunrunners and the cave bats, and gotten himself recaptured by Jek. He is handed over to Stotz, the leader of the gunrunners and they depart for Androzani Major.


Sarah -
We haven't talked about Stotz yet. How good is Maurice Roëves? He feels so dangerous -- threatening his crew to keep them in line, playing all sides, and not hesitating to kill anyone who gets in his way.


Harry -
He played the gunrunner role perfectly, throwing in a dash of rogueish charm, but not too much.

This is where we find out that Morgus is playing all sides -- funding the gunrunners, betraying (and murdering) the president, and assigning emergency negotiating powers to none other than... Trau Morgus. He announces that he is going on a mission to Androzani Minor to personally negotiate a settlement with Jek. It's all coming to a head fast and furious -- especially when the Doctor hijacks Stotz's ship and sends it hurtling back the other way.


Sarah -
Now THAT"S a cliffhanger!


Harry -
I have a bit of a quandry about this. A conundrum if you will. I don't want to derail us on a long analysis, so maybe I'll save it for our Davison era recap post. Please remind me to remember!


Sarah -
Oooo, a conundrum. I can hardly wait!


Harry -
Back to the crash scene. Actually, we never see the crash scene, or the crash itself. Clearly a massive hole in the production budget there, but we do get a good chase scene over the hills and dunes of Androzani Minor.


Sarah -
Chases are much easier on the budget than crashes, no?


Harry -
It was a lovely set of sand dunes. I wonder where that was filmed.

There's a final gun battle in the caves as all sides converge once again. Under the obvious sham of a peace negotiation, Morgus arrives with Stotz's troops to steal Jek's Spectrox store -- but not before finding out he has been deposed as head of the conglomerate by Krau Timmin (haha Morgus!).


Sarah -
Krau Timmin is awesome. She appears to be Morgus' faithful assistant, but she's just biding her time until he's exposed. Brilliant!


Harry -
I loved her feet-on-the-desk punctuation mark.

As well, Morgus has just been indicted by the presidium and faces a lifetime on the run from justice. What a turnaround. In the mayhem that follows, Jek and Morgus have their final showdown, which proves fatal for both of them. They didn't really explain the device that (presumably) killed Morgus, but after being shot, Jek draped himself over the arms of the android Salateen for a poetic visual.


Sarah -
Jek's final words -- "Salateen, hold me" -- are almost heartbreaking, as he collapses into the android's arms.


Harry -
Jek had been tending to a dying Peri when the Doctor arrived. With everyone dead or dying, our hero races down to the lowest levels of the caves in search of the milk of the queen bat -- the only known antidote to Spectrox toxemia. Carrying Peri back to the TARDIS, the Doctor looks like he's been through hell. The blood on his forehead, the mud and filth on his clothes, and his weakening state as he just manages to give the antidote to Peri. It was a thrilling race against time and I loved it.


Sarah -
Did you realize that the two women in the story -- Peri and Timmin -- are the only ones who survive?


Harry -
I didn't realize that Holmes knocked off everybody but the ladies.


Sarah -
Not a good day for the blokes. Everyone else is dead as the Doctor stumbles into the TARDIS with Peri in his arms. Unfortunately, there is not enough antidote for both of them and this Doctor's time is up.


Harry -
And then, regeneration.


Sarah -
Our first mid-season regeneration since 1966!


Harry -
"It feels different this time." It looks different too. The Davison changeover gives us a hint of the loud, fiery regenerations that will be standard in the current era. The Doctor's memories come flooding back -- Adric's death haunting him to the end, and a flurry of voices ring through his mind as his body regenerates. Everything builds up to a cacophonous climax that was inspired by the finale of The Beatles' "Day in the Life." BOOM! It's the end of an era. Farewell to the gentle, smiling, ever-so-affable Edwardian cricketer. At least we finally found out what the celery was about.


Sarah -
It's heartbreaking that his final word is "Adric."


Harry -
And then, Colin Baker sits up... and within seconds, he makes me miss Peter Davison already.


Sarah -
It's hard to erase all the Sixth Doctor baggage and try to remember how we felt when we first saw Colin Baker sit up as the regenerated Doctor. I have to admit that this time I found myself thinking Colin was quite handsome...until he opened his mouth to chastise Peri.


Harry -
The greatest of Fifth Doctor stories ends on such a sour note, with a new, arrogant Doctor snarking at Peri from the get-go. Ugh. It's a shame that Peter and Nicola couldn't have more adventures together. But that's where Big Finish comes in!


Sarah -
Thank you Big Finish! Now please take all my money!


Harry -
We'll have plenty to gripe about in the coming weeks, so let us raise a glass to Bob Holmes, Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant, all of the guest cast, Graeme Harper and all of the crew -- you produced one of the all time classics of Doctor Who. This might be the closest I'll ever get to a 10 rating. If every adventure was as brilliant as this one, the show would never have gone off the air.


Sarah -
I raise my pint to them all!


Harry -
It's hard to let go, knowing what's ahead. Perhaps we could have one more toast for Peter.


Sarah -
If we keep toasting, can we stop it from happening?


Harry -
Wouldn't hurt to try.

Best Line:
STOTZ: You'd better turn this ship around Doctor!
DOCTOR: Why?
STOTZ: Because I'll kill you if you don't!
DOCTOR: Not a very convincing argument actually, Stotz, because I'm going to die soon anyway...

Favourite Moment: the action packed chase scene after the offscreen spaceship crash.

Lasting Image: Sharaz Jek being utterly creepy.

9/10


Sarah -
Best Line:
SHARAZ JEK : "Don't mock me, Doctor. Beauty I must have, but you are dispensible.
DOCTOR: "Thank you."
SHARAZ JEK: "You have the mouth of a prattling jackanapes... But your eyes... they tell a different story."

Favorite Moment: Morgus breaking the fourth wall

Lasting Image: The Doctor carrying Peri back to the TARDIS

10/10

 


Our marathon continues with Story #136: The Twin Dilemma...