A tear, Sarah? Me too.
Sarah -
A tear? I don't know what you're talking about. *grabs a tissue to wipe face*
Harry -
I always take regeneration stories hard. We watch the Doctor die, and because of the way the classic endings are structured, we only get a moment's glimpse of his new self. It's always so sad. They've addressed that in the new series, giving the new Doctor a minute to introduce himself before the credits roll. It's a little easier to swallow that way.
Sarah -
I was trying to imagine watching this back in 1974, not knowing who this mysterious new Doctor will be. It's bittersweet, but also quite exciting.
Here we are at the end of the Third Doctor Era, which seemed so far away when we started this project. Disappointingly, the Third Doctor doesn't get a story as smashing as the first two Doctors to end his era. There are things I like about "Planet of the Spiders", but, overall, the story gets a bit bloated and tedious.
Harry -
This is the weakest regeneration story so far. I thought we might have a row over this one because I found the story itself to be a pile of cockamamie hogwash, pardon my language!
Sarah -
I was trying to stay positive with bloated and tedious.
It starts off interestingly enough, with good old Mike Yates visiting a Buddhist monastery to help himself cope with the fallout from the events of "Invasion of the Dinosaurs". Something not-quite-right seems to be going on, so Mike calls in Ace Reporter Sarah Jane Smith to do a bit of investigating for Metropolitan Magazine.
Harry -
It was an interesting start, but I really disliked how Buddhism was presented as something mysterious, sort of creepy, and maybe even downright evil. Some shady looking characters sat around a mandala and employed chanting as a means to achieve not peace but power. No explanation, no backstory. Chant until a giant spider appears. Oh dear, what will the kiddies think?
Sarah -
I can only agree about the beginning of the story, but things are slightly more nuanced by the end.
While Sarah and Mike are investigating, The Doctor and Brig are attending a variety show -- apparently with the aim of studying ESP. Do we actually even find out why they're doing this, or is it just a way to move the plot along?
Harry -
We did get to see the eternally harried Cyril Shaps make a brief appearance before snuffing it, so there was that.
Sarah -
There is that.
Harry -
Once the unfortunate Professor Clegg is removed, the blue crystal from Metebelis III becomes the driving force for the rest of the story. What a timely coincidence that Jo Grant popped her wedding present into an envelope and returned it to the Doctor.
Sarah -
One can't have that bad JuJu around when One is hunting for fungi!
Harry -
It's quaint how back in the 70s, returning companions didn't simply stroll back in front of the cameras, they wrote letters.
Before we really dive into the heart of the Metebelis III story, Lupton steals the crystal from a rather shabbily defended UNIT HQ, and we get the most incredible chase scene in Doctor Who history. A glorious 12-minute epic involving the Whomobile, Bessie, a gyrocopter, a police car, a powerboat and a hovercraft. Wow! It's as if Barry and Terry had promised all these toys to Jon Pertwee and had to deliver in his final story. Pertwee must have loved filming this sequence.
Sarah -
Watching this sequence, all I could think about was how much Pertwee must have loved it. It's so long that it becomes silly, but he looks like he's having such a wonderful time, and I was inclined to forgive Barry and Terry -- until we saw half of it repeated in the next episode.
Was it just me, or did we have the longest-ever cliffhanger reprises in this story? Yet another six-parter that could have been told in four weeks.
Harry -
So it wasn't just me who was fast forwarding through the ridiculously long reprises?
Sarah -
They were infuriating!
Harry -
It didn't help that after the breathtaking chase scene in part two, and everyone making their way to Metebelis III in part three, the story suddenly ground to a halt in part four. I mean seriously, everything stopped.
Sarah -
The humans on Metebelis III were clearly the result of too many generations of inbreeding. There's no other possible excuse for being that boring.
Harry -
After being zapped by one of the spider queen's guards, the Doctor spends the entirety of part four lying unconscious, rousing himself long enough to sip some broth with the locals and analyze some stones. Sarah spends most of the time stuck in a cocoon. The real highlight of part four was watching the blue crystal transform Tommy (did you think Flowers for Algernon?) I liked how the first thing Tommy did was race to the library and read William Blake.
Sarah -
From nearly illiterate to Blake in under a minute! I have to say I was rather fond of dear, loyal Tommy.
Harry -
Meanwhile, Sarah's still in that cocoon and the Doctor has finally roused himself to visit. Oh, and he's brought some guards with him. Calmest cliffhanger ever?
Sarah -
There was very little hanger in that cliff. I don't think we even got near the edge.
Harry -
BAHAHA!
I fear it didn't get much better in the final two episodes. The treachery among the eight legs became uninteresting, Lupton's whingeing became tedious, and we still had to sit through the longest start-of-episode reprise to start part six.
Sarah -
I'm pretty sure half of part six was a reprise. I started to wonder if everyone had collected their final paychecks and headed home by then.
Harry -
As you said, the Buddhism became a little less spooky once the Tibetan characters came to the fore - only for us to discover that K'anpo is a Time Lord and Cho-je is a projection of himself. Say what?
Sarah -
Oh, those wacky Time Lords -- the things they can do!
Harry -
My last gripe because it feels like I'm doing nothing but...
Sarah -
Please, continue your rant...
Harry -
The Doctor being killed by exposure to the Metebelis crystals didn't seem to be explained beyond one quick line from the Great One. Over time, it's become accepted that the Doctor suffered fatal radiation exposure, but it wasn't explained clearly. Or maybe I'm just thick.
Sarah -
If you are, that makes two of us!
Harry -
You'd be forgiven for expecting Jon Pertwee to bounce back to normal health as in the previous story, explaining that he'd shut down his skin pores or something.
Instead, he suddenly collapses and dies. Quite a gut punch to end the Pertwee era.
Sarah -
Jon Pertwee deserved so much more, but even he seems a little done with the whole thing by the end.
Harry -
A disappointing finale to an action-packed era. Let's delve into the Pertwee era in more detail in our next post.
Sarah -
I look forward to it!
Harry -
One last thing: did you feel a surge or adrenalin when those dark, curly locks appeared?
Sarah -
Oh, did I! Doctor, My Doctor!
Harry -
Best Line:
"Doctor, he's got away."
"No he hasn't."
Favourite Moment: the 12-minute chase scene.
Lasting Image: the assembly of the eight legs on Metebelis III.
6/10
Sarah -
Best Line: "The old man must die, and the new man will discover to his inexpressible joy that he has never existed."
Favorite Moment: It can only be the epic chase!
Lasting Image: The spider on Sarah Jane's back.
5/10
Our marathon continues with Story #75 - Robot...
