Sofa of Rassilon EXTRA: Time Crash (2007)

Harry -
Martha has made a clean break with the Doctor to forge her own path. Alone again, he leans on the TARDIS console and chills. 

The moment passes, he turns and pulls a lever. The ship immediately spins out of control and the Doctor briefly flickers like a projection. Pulling things together again, he circles the console and bumps into his former self. The TARDIS has crashed into the TARDIS; it's the ultimate time crash!


Sarah -
I love "Time Crash" so much. Davison and Tennant are absolutely perfect and it makes me cry every time I watch it.


Harry -
Each Doctor plays his role perfectly. The older one is aghast to find an intruder aboard his ship. He's cranky and offended by this younger chap who plays a teasing game of "I know who you are, and you don't know who I am." Funny how the tables will be turned on this Doctor shortly.


Sarah -
It's only fun until YOUR successor shows up. At least he wasn't a dandy or a clown. 

It seems everyone remembers Davison's Doctor as the nice one, but after our last rewatch, what I remember most is how irritable he is most of the time. Davison has stepped immediately back into character for "Time Crash".


Harry -
After some cantankerous back and forth and trying to right the ship, each Doctor realizes that the solution was provided by the other. It all goes self-lovey as the younger Doctor dotes on his older self. The older Doctor is pleased to learn that he has a fun younger self to look forward to.


Sarah -
I can't not tear up when the Tenth Doctor tells the Fifth Doctor, "You know, I love being you. Back when I first started at the very beginning, I was always trying to be old and grumpy and important, like you do when you're young. And then I was you, and it was all dashing about and playing cricket and my voice going all squeaky when I shouted. I still do that, the voice thing. I got that from you. Oh, and the trainers, and (puts on glasses) snap. Because you know what, Doctor? You were my Doctor."


Harry -
Of all of Moffat's specials, this one gives off such warmth you could wrap yourself in it and stay cozy for hours.


Sarah -
It's definitely something we should rewatch more often. It's just delightful. 

I have to give a shout out to my favorite exchange about the Master:
Fifth Doctor: Does he still have that rubbish beard? 
Tenth Doctor: No, no beard this time. Well, a wife.


Harry -
That was sublime on multiple levels.

This special came during a time of great spin-offs in the Whoniverse. We've already seen Captain Jack and Sarah Jane get their own shows. As well, Doctor Who branched out into online and animated adventures. There were a couple featuring the Tenth Doctor and Martha. I remember watching one of them back in the day. Having tried again recently, I don't think they've aged that well. "The Infinite Quest" was interesting, mostly for Anthony Head's voice acting. The other, "Dreamland" suffers from really stilted animation. I couldn't get through it.


Sarah -
There was a lot going on at the time. I had the same experience with "The Infinite Quest", but "Time Crash" is just pure joy!


Harry -
This was the perfect vignette to segue between Martha's departure and the arrival of The Titanic.  What?  What?  Whaaat??  Time for us to refill the gin glasses and embark on the next voyage.

Our marathon continues with Story #188: Voyage of the Damned...

Sofa of Rassilon EXTRA: The Curse of Fatal Death (1999)

Sarah -
Welcome to the Sofa of Reasonable Comfort, Old Boy! Have you been looking forward to this as long as I have?


Harry -
I have watched the opening minute of "The Curse of Fatal Death" countless times in the lead up to this. It's great that we could watch the whole thing again.

After the attempt at re-launching Doctor Who with Paul McGann fizzled, we were back to the wilderness years. BBC Books and Big Finish audios were cranking out content for diehard Whovians, but the show would remain absent from the small screen for the remainder of the 90s and into the 00s. We had to settle for this quirky adventure to fill the void. And how quirky was it?


Sarah -
I was given a VHS copy as a birthday gift and watched it over and over. It felt like this was the only Doctor Who we were ever going to get -- the end of televised Doctor Who.


Harry -
It would have been a great way to go out. An all star cast of Doctors goes on a merry romp against the Daleks and the Master. Jonathan Pryce's Master managed to be campier than Anthony Ainley's -- no easy task!


Sarah -
I adore Pryce's Master! He's clearly having the time of his life. As is Rowan Atkinson as the Doctor.


Harry -
Atkinson played the Doctor as a low-key, BlackAddery type and it was perfect.


Sarah -
And there's that up-and-coming writer bloke, S. Moffat. In the bonus material, he's clearly delighted by this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to write Doctor Who.


Harry -
It's amazing that he took his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and produced a female Doctor. Joanna Lumley is a brilliant Doctor. I don't care how many barking fanboys moan about it, I'd love to see a female Doctor next.


Sarah -
It almost feels inevitable. The barkers will be angry no matter what, so we can just trundle on without consulting them.


Harry -
Aye.  Lumley's sassy appearance followed the two handsome Doctors named Grant, and the shy Doctor. Jim Broadbent always manages to create so much out of so little. I love it whenever he shows up in a supporting role.


Sarah -
Jim Broadbent is one of my favorite actors. He's wonderful in everything -- including this! And let's not forget the love Julia Sawalha as Emma, the only companion the Doctor's ever "had." I'll point out that Moffat, who will go on to give us River Song, is the first Doctor Who TV writer to suggest a proper romance in the TARDIS. He also gives Emma the line, "Never cruel, never cowardly," to eulogize the Doctor -- a line we'll hear again in "The Day of the Doctor". Nothing like stealing from yourself!


Harry -
It was "an homage", surely!


Sarah -
But of course!


Harry -
As for the story, you can see the first signs of Moffat's intricate plotting, in the way the Doctor and the Master lay multiple traps for one another by going further and further back in time. And then, knowing that this might be his only opportunity to write Doctor Who for TV, Moffat fills the rest of the story with toilet humour. It's bonkers and fun.


Sarah -
It was a delightful gift to wilderness-era Whovians everywhere!


Harry -
I wonder how much this production influenced the BBC's decision to finally end the wilderness era, just a few years later.


Sarah -
I have to say I've enjoyed our little two-month wilderness era significantly more than the original sixteen-year version.


Harry -
The condensed version was so much better, and with way less youthful angst to work through. Once was enough for that. But I'm glad we made these side trips to appreciate how much the show still meant to so many people after it went off the air. RTD must have been chomping at the bit to revive the show after seeing this.


Sarah -
We could never have imagined where we'd be today. It's a whole new world for Doctor Who and I can't wait to revisit the start. Are you ready, Old Boy?


Harry -
I can't believe what we're about to watch next!

Our marathon continues with Story #157: Rose...

Sofa of Rassilon EXTRA: Dimensions in Time (1993)

Harry -
Wow. Just wow. What the hell was that?


Sarah -
Oh dear. Surprisingly, it was even worse than I remembered.


Harry -
"Dimensions in Time" might be the only Doctor Who story that gets worse on repeat viewings. It's like being trapped inside a John Nathan-Turner fever dream.


Sarah -
I nearly spit coffee all over my monitor just now. That's a frightening thought!


Harry -
Doctors running around willy-nilly, mismatched companions barely getting a word in, East Enders popping up at random, and the Rani stalking around inside what looks like a fan-made mock-up of a TARDIS console room. Wow. Just wow.


Sarah -
Kate O'Mara looks amazing! And she's got that cutie-pie boy companion. (Look at me, focusing on the positive.)


Harry -
The Rani's companion was the best thing about "Dimensions in Time."


Sarah -
Him and Liz Shaw charging the Rani. That's our Liz!


Harry -
This was produced as a Children in Need special, marking the 30th anniversary of Doctor Who. The late William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton were represented as disembodied CGI heads floating around somewhere within the Rani's imprisonment. The rest of the Doctors showed, to put it gently, varying degrees of enthusiasm for the production. After watching Jon Pertwee dive back into the role with relish, I had a dream about sitting near him at a convention as he spoke to everyone around him with the same relish. Dreams upon dreams.


Sarah -
He inhabits the role, wherever he may be!

Tom Baker's appearance is rather odd. He's not part of the action, but serves as something of a narrator, warning his other selves of the danger.


Harry -
I don't know the backstory of the production -- and I'm in no way inspired to do research on this. I'll assume Tom's availability was limited, or he was coaxed into appearing at the last minute, or he saw the script and wrote his own narrator role. He looked strangely shrunken in his costume. Speaking of costumes, I wonder what Lis Sladen's reaction was to seeing the Andy Pandy costume again.


Sarah -
In the end, it's a fun little piece of fluff. I'm always happy to see beloved Doctors and companions, even when it's all quite silly.


Harry -
Silly, and rushed and cheap with a weak story. Textbook JN-T, haha.


Sarah -
The true end of an era!


Harry -
It's too bad this was the Rani's final story, as she has not made a return appearance in the new series. She'd be a perfect adversary for Peter Capaldi's Doctor. Imagine her teaming up with Missy.


Sarah -
I'd love to see a Rani regeneration.


Harry -
The anniversary specials of the JN-T era are notable for their "everyone and everything but the kitchen sink" approach. They are amusing larks, but I can't take them too seriously. "Dimensions in Time" marks the finale of the classic era. It was thoroughly panto. The show really needed a clean break and a new team to take it in new directions. The first such attempt was a couple of years away. But we can start watching right away. Shall we?


Sarah -
Yes, let's!


Harry -
I can't be bothered to pick out a great quote or favourite moment from this mess. I'll give it a 3/10 and move on.


Sarah -
I don't think I can even give a rating. For me, it just sits out there as a wacky little piece of Doctor Who history.

Our marathon resumes with: The TV Movie...

Story #140 - The Two Doctors (1985)

Harry -
Sarah, I think we should start by getting this out of the way:

SQUEEEE!


Sarah -
I will happily SQUEEEE for Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines!

Multi-Doctor stories can be tricky affairs, but it's always wonderful to see beloved friends again.


Harry -
What a charming opening scene. The chemistry between Patrick and Frazer is like they'd never been apart. With Victoria off on a side trip of her own, the boys are traveling to a research centre aboard a space station.


Sarah -
Further deepening the Season 6B fan theories!


Harry -
I love how Season 6B has taken on a life of its own in alternate Doctor Who media. Especially how it helps explain away the obviously older looking Doctor and Jamie.

As a 1985 three-parter, "The Two Doctors" is equivalent to a classic six-parter. If these two had spent the entire time talking in the console room, I would have been just fine with that.


Sarah -
I love the black and white opening, with its shift to color.


Harry -
In keeping with the notion of Season 6B, the Doctor is visiting Dastari -- head scientist at the research station -- as an unofficial emissary of the Time Lords.


Sarah -
Oh, the Time Lords and their meddling ways. So much for non-interference.


Harry -
The TARDIS lands in the station's kitchens, lair of the repulsive chef Shockeye, an Androgum savage who feasts his eyes on Jamie's flesh.


Sarah -
Shockeye has got to be the most disgusting character in Doctor Who history. There's really nothing to like about him, is there?


Harry -
As villains go, Shockeye is a triumph. I absolutely, positively loathe him. Bravo to John Stratton on a memorably repugnant performance.

Beating a hasty departure from the kitchens, the Doctor and Jamie find their way to Dastari's office. This is another eye-catching example of 80s future-design. Dark greys and light neons combine in the background, and a large collection of globes takes up almost an entire wall. With his grey combed-back hair, thick white sunglasses and metallic black bodysuit, Dastari looks like some kind of Italian fashion designer.


Sarah -
Doesn't he just? I'm sure I must have been quite impressed by the design back in the day.


Harry -
The Doctor presents him with a cease and desist request on behalf of Gallifrey. The Time Lords are concerned about time experiments being conducted at the station by Kartz and Reimer, who have assembled a nearly-functional time travel machine.

Dastari laughs the request off, suggesting that the Time Lords only concern about the experiments is that they threaten their monopoly on time. He then introduces his own subject of experimentation, another Androgum savage named Chessene, whose body and mind he has augmented to the level of super-genius. After a quick introduction, she departs and sets about her own business: arranging an attack on the research station. Unbeknownst to Dastari, she has been conspiring with an invasion force that suddenly makes its strike.


Sarah -
Sontaran battlecruisers on the scene! Dastari collapses! Jamie runs away at the Doctor's command! The Doctor finds himself facing the business end of a Sontaran gun! Feels like old times!


Harry -
Multiple-villain stories are my favourite. So many rivalries, double-crossings and double-double-crossings, as we'll see later on.


Sarah -
Meanwhile, the Sixth Doctor and Peri are fishing and sunbathing on the shore of a lake somewhere.


Harry -
Confession time: after the brilliant opening with the Second Doctor and Jamie, I was a bit disheartened when they cut to the fishing scene, where the JN-T era played out in microcosm. We see the smarty-pants Doctor in a horrendously over-thought costume, the bosomy companion bored and whiny, and not much else happening. Gah, what a letdown from the first scene.


Sarah -
I'm so glad you brought up the costuming. What the hell is with Peri's? I spent the entire story thinking her breasts should have gotten separate billing, given all their screen time.


Harry -
Not even Robert Holmes could pen a smooth transition between the eras. Of all the Doctors to set up side-by-side with the belovèd Patrick Troughton, it fell to poor old grumbly Colin Baker. His entire time as the Doctor plays out like a series of short straws.


Sarah -
Poor Colin -- how many times have we typed that so far? I think he makes the most of what he's been given in "The Two Doctors" and has some really good moments, even if he has to be cranky towards his former self.

When gumblejacks aren't biting, they pack it up and head into the TARDIS -- where the Doctor collapses. Meanwhile, the Second Doctor is trapped in a glass chamber, being tortured by a Sontaran.

One of the most interesting things about this story is seeing the impact of what is happening to the Second Doctor on the Sixth Doctor. This is the first example of many in this story and each time it happens, I find myself wondering how the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Doctors are reacting.


Harry -
Guessing that the Third Doctor might have felt temporarily woozy before resuming his Venusian aikido lesson. The Fifth Doctor would have collapsed into a coma for sure. As for the Fourth Doctor, maybe it was like those times where he'd go still and stare off into space for a moment, before someone snapped him out of it again.


Sarah -
All those moments are now a permanent part of my head canon!


Harry -
Sixie immediately identifies that a timeslip has occurred, and decides he needs to see a professional, setting course for the research station and his old friend Dastari. What a coincidence! Maybe Dastari's name flickered across the Doctor's mind as an echo of the encounter that the Second Doctor had just had.


Sarah -
Say what you will about Sixie, he's a man of action while those other three can't be arsed to lend a hand to their previous self!


Harry -
The TARDIS arrives, after the events in the Second Doctor's timestream. The station is darkened and cloaked with the scent of death. The Doctor finds Dastari's journal, which recorded the intervention of the Time Lords, but not what happened after.

While Peri and the Doctor set off into the station's infrastructure and deal with an aggressive onboard computer, we see that the Second Doctor has been kidnapped to Earth. The Sontarans, Chessene, Shockeye and Dastari set up in an isolated hacienda in Spain. There is where they will complete the Kartz-Reimer time machine, using the Doctor's DNA to stabilize the biometric thingamajiggy.


Sarah -
How convenient that they should select Spain as their destination -- just when JN-T was in need of a holiday! What were the chances of that?


Harry -
No kidding eh! This story was originally proposed for New Orleans, but the BBC wouldn't spring for the travel budget so they had to settle for Spain. Honestly, it's not until the final chase through the streets of Seville that the location ever really figures in the story. The villains could have holed up in a house in Croydon and it would have been the same story.


Sarah -
Holiday in Croydon? Perish the thought!


Harry -
Back on the research station, the Doctor and Peri spend an inordinate amount of time climbing through the infrastructure piping before Peri is attacked and the Doctor momentarily rendered unconscious by a spray of gas triggered by the computer. Cue extreme close up of the Doctor's unconscious face! When Peri slaps him awake again, they discover that Jamie has been hiding out in the same place. After Jamie gives them the rundown on his Doctor's argument with Dastari and the Sontaran attack, the Doctor forges a mind link with his previous incarnation. After hearing the bell of Seville cathedral, he knows where they must set off in pursuit. It was so easy to figure out!


Sarah -
That's quite the distinctive bell. Peri's initial run in with Jamie is just creepy. He attacks her under a tarp with some awkward rolling around before she knocks him out. It's icky.


Harry -
They did do a good job making Frazer look filthy and he played "disoriented" well, giving an indication of how long Jamie had been hiding out in there.

The TARDIS arrives in a field near the hacienda, where our friends encounter Oscar -- thespian, restauranteur and moth collector -- and his probably very patient friend Anita. Oscar relates that he saw a group matching the villains description carrying the Second Doctor into the hacienda. Our heroes draw up a plan of action. Anita is to guide the Doctor and Jamie to the back entrance, where they will sneak inside through the cellar; Peri is to distract the baddies by knocking on the front door; and Oscar will basically stay put.


Sarah -
Oh, Oscar. Poor, unfortunate Oscar. He's like a poor man's Henry Gordon Jago -- without the charm.


Harry -
Exactly.

So, when Dastari augmented Chessene, she was given the ability to read minds. This sets up the odd scene where the Second Doctor is hauled up from the cellar and wheeled around so that Chessene can observe Peri's reaction. Only, this isn't Peri's Doctor, and Peri decides to depart of her own accord. She had provided enough of a distraction for the Doctor to -- once again -- help himself to tinkering with someone else's time machine. It's like an addiction with him. Anyway, he and Jamie hang around too long, as the Sontaran Stike captures them.


Sarah -
Is it just me or do these Sontarans look a bit anemic? Someone should feed them a proper meal, not that we need to encourage Shockeye with that...


Harry -
I must have seen this story before any of the earlier Sontaran ones, because it was implanted in my mind early on that the Sontarans were tall, lean and wore black, as we see here. In the new series, the short Sontarans in blue armour blew my mind. I wouldn't mind a new non-Strax Sontaran story, especially during the Capaldi era.

Anyway, Peri doesn't get far before realizing that Shockeye is in pursuit, determined to make a meal of her flesh. She stumbles and he looms over her looking disgustingly lecherous. Cue extreme close up of Peri's frightened face! Part three continues the scene, as Shockeye knocks her unconscious and carries her back to the hacienda.


Sarah -
Shockeye is so vile and creepy, but I'm pretty sure he's the first alien who isn't trying to snog Peri. Just, you know, have her for dinner. Ick.


Harry -
He's so disgusting it's unreal. Back in the cellar, a quick stab of the knife by Jamie disables Stike long enough for he and the Doctor to escape the cellar, where they are reunited with the Second Doctor, still stuck in his wheelchair.


Sarah -
I love their first encounter:

Sixie: "I've come a long way for you."
Second Doctor: "Naturally. Don't expect any thanks."

Can you imagine having to have a conversation with yourself? The horror!


Harry -
Here is where the story becomes a runaround through the hacienda. It seems like everyone takes a turn chasing someone, or being chased, or being captured and escaping again while the plot sits there unfurthered. It harkened back to the Pertwee six-parters, where there was a lot of this kind of padding, and repeated cycles of capture-escape-capture. It almost felt like Patrick Troughton had been under-utilized since his kidnapping from the space station.


Sarah -
Despite all the running about, the third episode is by far my favorite episode of the story.


Harry -
But wait, a brain storm of Bob Holmesian proportions!

Chessene suddenly declares that she wants a consort, and demands that Dastari converts the Second Doctor into an Androgum hybrid.


Sarah -
Of course she does, while offering Shockeye as the donor of the Androgum DNA. Such a delightful lady she is.


Harry -
A quick couple of procedures and the transformation takes place. That Dastari is good. Did I mention under-utilized characters? The Sontarans finally get bored of all the standing around waiting for their time machine, so they plot to kill off everyone in the hacienda. Chessene of course hatches a counter-plot and attacks them with poison gas.


Sarah -
A double double-cross!


Harry -
Amid all that mayhem, Shockeye and his new Androgum cousin sneak off to town for a spot of lunch. And so begins one of the most bizarre chases in all of Doctor Who.


Sarah -
The restaurant scene is what I most remember about this story. Patrick Troughton is hysterical and looks like he's having the time of his life, chewing up the scenery.


Harry -
In his final performance as the Doctor, Troughton gives it his all and it's unforgettable. He pulls the maddest faces as an Androgum, marching arm-in-arm with Shockeye to Seville.


Sarah -
They end up in poor Oscar's restaurant, which features my favorite moment of "The Two Doctors":

SHOCKEYE: Do you serve humans here?
OSCAR: Most of the time, sir. Yes, I think I could venture to say that most of our customers are certainly human.
SHOCKEYE: I mean human meat, you fawning imbecile.
OSCAR: No, sir. I'm afraid the nouvelle cuisine has not yet penetrated this establishment.

I was dying over the last line. Only Bob Holmes could have written that!


Harry -
The restaurant scene is like a crazy-ass mashup of Doctor Who, Fawlty Towers and Are You Being Served?, quite literally. It was worth it for JN-T to finagle a vacation in Spain, just so we could get to watch the madness at Las Cadenas.


Sarah -
Alas, things don't go well when poor Oscar has to demand payment. Still, he performs the most over-the-top death scene in the entire history of Doctor Who, so that's something.


Harry -
Oscar's death scene is the best, no exaggeration. His self-absorbed pathos and flair for language leads to one of my favourite quotes, ever:

OSCAR: I'm afraid this is Botcherby's last curtain call.
ANITA: Oh, no!
OSCAR: No one will ever see my definitive Hamlet now.

Rolling on the floor laughing, every time.

Like I said, it was worth it for JN-T to go abroad if we were able to enjoy the death scene of all death scenes.


Sarah -
It's absolutely perfect.


Harry -
After all that, Shockeye leads everyone in beating a retreat to the hacienda for a final showdown. After trying -- and failing -- to slaughter Jamie, Shockeye finally meets his "just desserts" when the Doctor murders him with some of Oscar's bottled cyanide (another very convenient thing). In a last minute face-turn, Dastari declares regret for his attempts to put Chessene above the gods, and she responds by shooting him dead. She then dives into the Kartz-Reimer time machine to make a run for it, but thanks to Sixie's earlier tinkering it blows up and takes her with it.


Sarah -
Anyone who believes the Doctor can't be violent has clearly never seen "The Two Doctors". It's all in self-defense, but he's fairly ruthless about the whole thing.


Harry -
And ready with a quip of course.  The Doctor's capacity for murder is glossed over in this era, despite the particularly violent examples of it. 

So with all the baddies destroyed, the Doctors and companions make their farewells. I think this model is a better example of how to do a multiple-Doctors story. Instead of cramming every living Doctor into it, Robert Holmes crafted a fun adventure featuring the current 80s Doctor and a loveable favourite from the 60s. I wish we could have this kind of pairing in the new series. Smith and McCoy, Capaldi and McGann, Tennant and Davison... oh wait we did get that one, however brief!


Sarah -
I've love to see McGann get some more screen time -- especially with Capaldi!


Harry -
Padding and runarounds aside, I could watch this one over and over.


Sarah -
While I'm a huge fan of Bob Holmes' work, I think he worked best under a strong script editor. I imagine Eric Saward just telling him to have at it and Holmes feeling like a kid in a candy store. The script has a lot of problems that I can't get past, despite all the delightful moments with old friends.


Harry -
Best Line: "No one will ever see my definitive Hamlet now." Always!

Favourite Moment: the Second Doctor's ineffectual ranting while confined in the cellar. "Oh my giddy aunt. Oh crumbs."

Lasting Image: the Second Doctor and Shockeye at the restaurant.

8/10


Sarah -
Best Line: "No, sir. I'm afraid the nouvelle cuisine has not yet penetrated this establishment."
Oh, but imagine when it does!

Favorite Moment: The Second Doctor and Shockeye in the restaurant.

Lasting Imagine: The Second Doctor and Shockeye walking into town.

6/10

 



Our marathon continues with Story #141: Timelash...

Story #129 - The Five Doctors (1983)

Harry -
It's the twentieth anniversary special -- we have watched 20 years' worth of Doctor Who. Time for a celebraish! Pop that champagne, Sarah!


Sarah -
Hang on, Chuck. The cork is sticking. *POP* Ah, there were go. Cheers, Old Boy!


Harry -
Cheers ducks.

Well, when it came to producing a fitting tribute to mark two decades of Doctor Who, JN-T followed the impulse that most of us would have, and he threw absolutely everything into it. He asked the legendary Terrance Dicks to pen the adventure and Peter Moffatt to direct it, and he managed to cram almost every Doctor and companion up to that point into the thing.


Sarah -
We Doctor Who fans do love to complain, but there's something here to make everyone (at least a little bit) happy.


Harry -
It continues the template from "The Three Doctors" and would be emulated in future anniversary specials. The story serves as a vehicle for a seemingly endless round of cameo appearances, each one delightful. So good to see characters like Jamie and Zoe, and Liz and Yates, even if just for a moment. Characters like Susan, the Brigadier and Sarah Jane get bigger billing in the story and Carole Ann Ford, Nicholas Courtney and Elisabeth Sladen step right back into the Whoniverse with ease.


Sarah -
It's like a school reunion!


Harry -
Best of all...five Doctors! Squee!


Sarah -
Well, five(ish).


Harry -
Technically, it was three actual Doctors. The late William Hartnell appears in a brief prologue, reciting his famous "One day I shall come back" speech. For the main story, his Doctor was played by Richard Hurndall. Tom Baker -- recently departed from the show -- chose not to appear in the story, so the producers made use of the punting scene from "Shada", which had not yet been broadcast. Both moves worked out for the best. Hurndall captured Hartnell's cantankerous feistiness, and the Doctor-Romana punting scene is one of my favourites. It's so sublime. We need to go punting sometime.


Sarah -
I'm game. Have you punted before? Do I get to lounge and read while you do all the hard work, or will we have to fight it out?


Harry -
We'll figure it out as we go, Doctor & Romana style.


Sarah -
That's the spirit! I love, love, love that the story opens with the Hartnell clip. It's reassuring to have the First Doctor inviting us into the adventure, isn't it?


Harry -
One of the best moments in Doctor Who's history, despite its sad context.


Sarah -
Only if you consider being abandoned by your grandfather on a planet that had been invaded by Daleks, after having lost your shoes, to be sad. Richard Hurndall really did a wonderful job. It was so good that Mr. Smith -- who is admittedly a casual viewer but has also been watching the show with me for more than 25 years -- didn't initially realize that it wasn't William Hartnell.

It sounds like there were weeks of back and forth between Tom Baker and JN-T -- he was coming back, he wasn't coming back, he was coming back, no he really wasn't coming back. Using the "Shada" footage was a brilliant way to have the Fourth Doctor in the story without having Tom Baker in the story.


Harry -
Once we've made the rounds and watched the first four Doctors getting scooped out of their time streams with varying degrees of success, the fifth and present Doctor collapses in pain. "I am being diminished," he says. Tegan and Turlough drag him back into the TARDIS, where he lies prone and fades in and out as if he himself is dematerializing. The TARDIS lands in a foggy wasteland. Whomever has been kidnapping the various Doctors has been plunking them down in the Death Zone. It's Gallifrey! It's time for another Time Lord conspiracy!


Sarah -
Oh, those Time Lords and their conspiracies!


Harry -
The high council of Gallifrey has been observing these events. In a strange turn, the Master is brought before them. President Borusa asks the Master to go to the Death Zone and rescue the Doctor in exchange for a new cycle of regenerations.


Sarah -
I quite like Anthony Ainley in this scene. He’s so wonderfully smarmy – like the class smart-ass called to the principal’s office. “What makes you think I want your forgiveness?” His reaction when they ask him to save the Doctor is priceless: “A cosmos without the Doctor scarcely bears thinking about.” This is probably Ainley’s best performance so far.


Harry -
Meanwhile, the various Doctors team up with their companions and head to a tall tower in the middle of the Death Zone -- the tomb of Rassilon.


Sarah -
The First Doctor and Susan get to dash down some quite stylish corridors, trying to evade a Dalek, before finding the Fifth Doctor’s TARDIS. I love when the companions all sit down to fancy drinks and snacks in the console room while the Doctors work out the problem.

Don’t you love the moment when the Third Doctor and Sarah meet the Master and the Doctor doesn’t recognize him? He’s so dismissive of the Master and even steals the seal from him. He gets the same reaction from the Fifth Doctor, who steals the recall device when they are attacked by Cybermen. The Master can’t catch a break when he’s trying to be good, which leads him to an faux alliance with the Cybermen.


Harry -
The First Doctor and Tegan take the high road, straight into the tower. The Second Doctor and the Brigadier take the low road, entering from beneath but not before a couple of scary encounters: first with a Yeti, then with Zoe in a bubble wrap costume.


Sarah -
Don’t forget our dear Jamie, who’s looking quite fetching in his kilt – sans bubblewrap – and Mike Yates and Liz Shaw!


Harry -
Great to see Liz Shaw get one more appearance after her abrupt departure from the show. After lifting Sarah Jane Smith from a perilous ditch of death, the Third Doctor takes her all the way to the top of the tower via zipline and they enter from above.


Sarah -
Speaking of Sarah Jane, what the hell is she wearing? That jacket makes her look hugely pregnant. It’s an absolute relief when she takes it off.


Harry -
The fashions of the 80s are something we shall never understand, even if we did live through them.


Sarah -
They weren’t all bad. I distinctly remember wanting Tegan’s dress when I watched this for the first time.


Harry -
In addition to the Master, there are brief encounters with some classic monsters (Daleks, Cybermen) and a new one: a Raston Warrior Robot, the most perfect killing machine in the universe. Is it terrible to admit that I get a kick out of imagining Terrance Dicks saying "Raston Warrior Robot" out loud?


Sarah -
It seems you haven’t watched the featurette, where you get to hear him say it! It’s brilliant!


Harry -
Hah!

I guess we could spare a moment to talk about the actual story here. "The Five Doctors" completes the informal Borusa cycle. We have seen Borusa four times over the years, each time played by a different actor. His rise began in "The Deadly Assassin", when he was a Cardinal. In "The Invasion of Time" he was Lord Chancellor and teamed (loosely) with the Doctor to combat the Vardans and Sontarans. In "Arc of Infinity" he was finally Lord President of Gallifrey, but something of a tired character while someone else's conspiracy played out around him. Finally, here in "The Five Doctors", Borusa's ambitions have been rekindled as he seeks the secret of true immortality and ultimate power from Rassilon himself. Thankfully, Philip Latham was not required to act with his hands for half the story.


Sarah -
Lantham is really brilliant as Borusa. The scene where he frames the Castellan, leading to his death, is chilling. What a bastard!


Harry -
Borusa was cool, calm and collected throughout the story. This is one of my favourite Borusas.


Sarah -
He's the most cunning Borusa, that's for sure.


Harry -
Eventually, everyone arrives at the tomb of Rassilon and the slow-moving story comes to a rapid conclusion. Borusa is unmasked as the conspirator du jour, having used virtually everyone else in the story as a dupe for his ambitions. He seeks the ring of Rassilon and the promise of immortality and never-ending power. Rassilon appears and offers it up without hesitation.

Naturally, Borusa is undone by his own wickedness and becomes imprisoned in the tomb for eternity. Having sorted that out, Rassilon gives a Brian Blessed-like laugh and fades away again.


Sarah -
Say what you will about the silly Great and Powerful Oz-like appearance by Rassilon, Borusa's entombment is horrifying. I feel absolutely claustrophobic just thinking about it.


Harry -
It's all in the eyes. Horrible fate. An eternity of living entombment is a chilling prospect.

Sadly for Borusa, no one felt too bad about what happened to him. That leaves our Doctors and their friends to make a big series of goodbyes as the story wraps up. I say "story" but "The Five Doctors" is more of a celebration, a greatest hits or whatever cliché you want to attach to it. This would be one of the first stories I would encourage new viewers to watch, just because it gives you a sampling of all the eras from the first 20 years of Doctor Who.


Sarah -
The story is a bit of an afterthought, which makes sense when you consider all the rewriting Terrance Dicks had to do as actors dropped in and out during the planning. Still, it's a delightful romp and a moment to pause and feel the love.


Harry -
Well, looks like the champagne didn't last very long. Shall we move on to Peter Davison's third and final season?


Sarah -
Final season? It feels like we just got started!


Harry -
I know, it's crazy!

Best Line:
SECOND DOCTOR: "And, er, and who is this?"
BRIGADIER: "That's Colonel Crichton, my replacement."
SECOND DOCTOR: "Ah. Yes, mine was pretty unpromising, too."

BAM! HAHA!

Favourite Moment: Really, every cameo was a favourite.

Lasting Image: The Doctors all congratulating themselves at the end.

8/10


Sarah -
Best Line: There are so many, but I have to go with the closer,

Tegan: "You mean you're deliberately choosing to go on the run from your own people, in a rackety old TARDIS?"
The Doctor: "Why not? After all, that's how it all started."

Favorite Moment: The Second Doctor meeting up with the Brig.

Lasting Images: All the Doctors together!

8/10

Our marathon continues with Story #130: Warriors of the Deep...