Story #94 - Image of the Fendahl (1977)

Harry -
Wow! This one's chock full o' horror. There's gothic horror, folk horror, even some Lovecraftian horror. Whichever way you classify it, "Image of the Fendahl" is a grand return to Hinchcliffe-style horror - it's practically an homage to Hinchcliffe homages!


Sarah -
A homage to the homages -- well-observed, Harry!

We certainly start with a spot of drama -- a team of scientists, getting up to something that doesn't seem quite right. To be fair, any team of scientists in Doctor Who will very likely be getting up to something that doesn't seem quite right, but things are just a bit more menacing in Image of the Fendahl.


Harry -
Right from the opening shots, we know we're in for a good one. We see the mysterious skull up close, we see the team of scientists at work inside a gothic-looking priory, and there's that overlapped image of the skull and Thea Ransome's face. You can tell director George Spenton-Foster couldn't get enough of that one.


Sarah -
I understand why! It's wonderfully creepy.


Harry -
That grinding organ sound that was used whenever the skull became active was wonderfully atmospheric.

Then there's the cutaway to the hiker murdered in the woods. Great night filming, and a great kickoff to the story. When we finally get to the TARDIS, it felt like we'd already gotten through half of part one.


Sarah -
We're tossed straight into the deep end with this story. The scene in the woods was terrifying. I realized I was holding my breath when he started running.


Harry -
I wonder if Chris Boucher found out that K-9 had joined the TARDIS team well after he'd penned this story. Our new friend is immediately dispatched, in dire need of repairs for corrosion.


Sarah -
I read somewhere that the story was finished before they knew about K-9, hence the repairs.


Harry -
The TARDIS detects a time displacement and it's back to Earth for the Doctor and Leela.


Sarah -
And the chance to, once again, insult Leela's ancestors. Silly humans.


Harry -
By the end of part one, many threads have been introduced. The team of scientists is clearly in two factions: there are Fendelman and Stael, who know more than they are letting on to Thea and Adam. The suspicion is ramped up when Fendelman calls in for a security team to guard the priory.

Meanwhile the villagers are acting like old school villagers, talking about The Old Ways like something out of the folk horror movies of the time. And of course the Doctor and Leela get into a spot of bother trying to sort it out. As the Doctor stands around in the fog-enveloped woods, Leela enters a cottage and shots are fired!


Sarah -
Now THAT'S a cliffhanger.

The cottage belongs to none other than Martha Tyler, brilliantly portrayed by Daphne Heard. Martha is one of my favorite guest actors ever -- she steals every scene. Rock Salt! The Old Ways! What's not to love?


Harry -
Mother Tyler! She's great, and the camera made such great use of her face. Her intensity was off the charts.

I can't go on without pointing out that Thea Ransome is portrayed by Wanda Ventham, who is Benedict Cumberbatch's mum! He definitely has her electric blue eyes.

But my favourite actor of all in this movie is the unnamed tawny owl in the Tyler cottage. I love that owl! When Leela burst into the cottage and loudly threatened Ted Ross, the owl remained on its perch, observing silently. Totally cool. Best guest actor ever?


Sarah -
Best winged guest actor ever, perhaps?

Back to Thea, she starts out as perhaps the most interesting of the scientists, only to find herself transformed into the Fendahl core. I'm not really sure what is with her transformation look, but it's all kids of fabulous! She rocks that head-to-toe golden Medusa look. Fortunately, the megalomaniac scientist Stael has already assembled a team of minions, who are ready to fulfill their destiny when Thea's transformation occurs.


Harry -
Stael amounted to less than the usual cult leader. He kept his white lab coat on the entire time while his minions at least put on some hooded cult robes. When everything went horribly wrong, he shot himself, which was both a timid end and also somewhat shocking to see on Doctor Who.


Sarah -
Even more shocking, the original script apparently had him putting the gun in his mouth on-screen! Stael is just another boring megalomaniac. Are there any interesting megalomaniacs?


Harry -
Thea's transformation was wild, as were the evolutionary theories hinted at by the Doctor.

The Fendahl as presented is incredibly dark. As the Doctor put it, the Fendahl "eats life" and is "death" itself. There's so much darkness to this story, and yet it doesn't seem particularly notorious among fans. Maybe because the physical manifestations of the evil are either glam gold Medusa, who never speaks, or the giant reptile things that hiss menacingly, but are easily dispatched with rock salt like snails in the garden. The monster's demise even plays out in reverse, the action growing quieter until the final controlled implosion ends the threat. There's no payoff, no memorable big bang. It's very unique for Doctor Who.


Sarah -
The Fendahl itself turns out to be among the most disappointing Doctor Who aliens in the series' history -- and that' really saying a lot.


Harry -
Yeah, I tried really hard to suspend my disbelief, but it's hard not to see the Fendahleen creatures as lumpen lumbering things with yarn streamers blowing out of their mouths.

Still, I do like this one a lot. The story is dark and interesting, the acting is great, the music and camera work are solid, and the way it unfolds is no cookie cutter. The only thing that would have made it better was if the tawny owl hopped onto the Doctor's shoulder and joined the TARDIS crew. Tom Baker once said that he would have loved it if his Doctor had a parrot. I think he might have settled for the owl.


Sarah -
He would have liked an owl better -- it wouldn't talk back.

Speaking of talking back, Leela's character continues to develop in this story. I enjoy Louise Jameson's performance more and more with each story. I'm a little sad that we only have three left.


Harry -
Leela is definitely doing the heavy lifting while Tom arses around making faces and downing jelly babies. I liked how pleased she was to have saved the Doctor's life.

After all that, our friends make a hasty departure and it's off to the next adventure after a stop at the nearest supernova. All in a day's work!

Shall we move on then? Don't forget to put rock salt in your pocket!


Sarah -
I shall never again leave the house without a handy supply of rock salt!

Best Line:
Leela: "He came armed and silent."
The Doctor: "You must have been sent by providence."
Ted Moss: "No, I was sent by the council to cut the verges."
Leela: "Your council should choose its warriors more carefully."

Favorite Moment: Every moment Mother Tyler is on screen.

Lasting Image: The Golden Thea, of course!

7/10


Harry -
Best Line:
"You know summat John? There's goin'a come a time when I'll be too old for this sorta thing."

Never, Mother Tyler, never!

Favourite Moment: the tawny owl plays it totally cool during the hubbub at the cottage.

Lasting Image: the glowing skull double image.

7/10

 


Our marathon continues with Story #95 - The Sun Makers...

Story #93 - The Invisible Enemy (1977)

Harry -
It had been a long time since I'd last watched "The Invisible Enemy." My lasting impression was that this was an important story, but not a very good one.

I still feel the same way. It's a decent sci fi thriller with some good acting and camera work, but it's marred by horrendously bad special effects and set designs.

Most importantly though: K-9!


Sarah -
At the beginning I wasn't sure that I remembered the story, until we got to the foundation hospital. Then it hit me -- "OMG, it's the one where the Doctor and Leela get shrunk down and injected into the Doctor's brain and we meet K-9!"


Harry -
Yeah, I guess it's an homage to "Amazing Journey" or "Fantastic Voyage" or whatever that thing was called.


Sarah -
K-9! Let us contemplate for a moment the many ways K-9 could have gone wrong. On second thought, let's not -- K-9 is far too awesome to imagine any other way.


Harry -
From the moment we meet him, K-9 shows all the traits we came to know and love as youngsters. He's smart, upbeat, loyal and isn't afraid to zap an enemy. He's noisy as hell in this first story, though. I think there were some mobility or control issues with K-9 at first. But still, K-9!

Let's backup to the start of this story. Ho boy, these might be the worst couple of opening minutes in the show's history. It begins with a cheesy graphic of an asteroid field, into which floats a model spaceship. Inside the ship, a crew in very 70s spacesuits work a very 70s control console, and I mean very 70s in a bad way this time. Suddenly, the ship is attacked by lightning shooting out of a giant spider web floating in space. Awful, just awful. What a relief when we switch to the TARDIS and it's back to the original console room.


Sarah -
It's nice to be back in the proper console room, isn't it? The change of pace was nice, but there's no place like home.


Harry -
I think we'll see echoes of the secondary console room during Paul McGann's story, but that's for another time.


Sarah -
The first episode really isn't the most compelling. Was it just me, or did the cockpit of the space ship look suspiciously that the one from "Planet of Evil"?


Harry -
Very similar. It occurred to me just now that while the Beeb was really good at producing period sets and costumes, they were equally awful at producing futuristic space sets and costumes during the Tom Baker era. We'll have to keep an eye on this peculiarity.


Sarah -
Things pick up a bit in the second episode when we find ourselves at the Bi-Al Foundation.


Harry -
...which resembles a giant rotten orange floating in space...


Sarah -
Exactly!


Harry -
For a medical facility, its outer design did not exactly inspire confidence. Inside, we switch to extreme white clinical interiors with odd futuro-phonetic spellings on the walls ("ISOLAYSHUN WARD"; "EGSIT"). There are nurses in green plastic body suits and doctors in all-whites, everyone wearing odd headgear except Professor Marius, a quaint Germanic caricature. It's almost as if this story is a pre-Douglas Adams Douglas Adams satire.

I thought Marius seemed familiar, and in keeping with the Beeb's recycling efforts, Frederick Jaeger was none other than Professor Sorenson from "Planet of Evil." My goodness, Beeb!


Sarah -
Marius is my favorite character in the story. He's just wacky enough to keep things interesting. I mean, the man invented a mechanical dog for company -- how can you not love that? I had that familiar feeling of knowing we'd seen him in another story, but had to look it up. One really comes to appreciate good acting when we see actors in such different roles. He was so gruff and creepy as Sorenson.


Harry -
One acting job that really stood out in this story was by Doctor Who stalwart Michael Sheard, as Lowe. Sheard really gave it his all. Despite the flakey eye makeup, he menaced our friends as good as anyone.


Sarah -
He was wonderful, as always!

How about the trippy trip inside the Doctor's brain? Those were some interesting sets!


Harry -
Oh the psychedelia. The Doctor and Leela tread inside his neural pathways bathed in hues of red, gold, green and pink. These are my favourite scenes of the story. This is where it veers from barely plausible science to total fantasy. Nice nod to The Prisoner in the form of those attacking white bubbles (were they blood cells?).


Sarah -
I had the same thought about The Prisoner. I'm pretty sure they were meant to be white blood cells. I love the Doctor's solution of send them to his liver!


Harry -
When the Doctor finally confronts the nucleus inside his brain, he - like the rest of us - has to endure a long and tedious rant. Boooring!


Sarah -
So many tedious rants to be had in space.


Harry -
Do you know how "The Invisible Enemy" could have been improved, Sarah?


Sarah -
I'm DYING to know, Old Boy!


Harry -
By keeping the enemy invisible!


Sarah -
Can't argue about that.


Harry -
Once the nucleus monster is brought to its full size, we are left to gawk at a giant, immobile prawn that the supporting cast have to drag around the sets, while it continues ranting. It's just ridiculous. By then I was willing to overlook another mass killing perpetrated by the Doctor, just so the damn thing would shut up. Of course, even the payoff was laughably bad, as the explosion on Titan was represented by a row of flames on the model set.


Sarah -
It's one of those moments that makes us all cringe.


Harry -
What a disappointment. I'm so done with this one.

At story's end, the only positive was that Marius survived and he let the Doctor and Leela keep K-9 -- who scooted happily into the TARDIS.

Shall we scoot happily to our next adventure, Sarah?


Sarah -
I'm already happily scooting! See if you can catch up.


Harry -
Best Line:
"I know this brain like the back of my hand."

Favourite Moment: the Doctor and Leela roam through the psychedelic sets.

Lasting Image: the Bi-Al Foundation floating in space.

5/10


Sarah -
Best Line:
Leela : "Why "disease"? I thought you liked humanity."

The Doctor : "Oh I do, I do. Some of my best friends are humans. When they get together in great numbers other lifeforms sometimes suffer."

Favorite Moment: The Doctor dashing past Leela and K-9 into the TARDIS and dematerializing, only to come back for them a moment later.

Lasting Image: The Doctor and Leela on the white brain bridge.

5/10

 


Our marathon continues with Story #94: Image of the Fendahl...

Story #92 - Horror of Fang Rock (1977)

Sarah -
Base -- or, rather, lighthouse -- under siege!


Harry -
It's a refreshing change.


Sarah -
For old-school (or just old) Chicago Doctor Who fans, "Horror of Fang Rock" will always be tied to memories of the night Max Headroom broke into the WTTW broadcast with this:

Keep in mind that Doctor Who was shown in omnibus format from 11:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. on Sunday night. When I woke up the morning after the broadcast, I seriously thought I had hallucinated the whole thing!


Harry -
After all this time, no one has stepped forward to claim responsibility for that, have they?


Sarah -
No one has and I love that it's still a mystery!

I have to say, there are some things that One learns to appreciate over time when One is a Doctor Who fan. At the top of my list is that I don't have an unfortunate habit of showing up places when someone has just been killed or gone missing. I don't believe I could handle the pressure of constantly being under suspicion...


Harry -
What a brilliant first episode we got in this one. All dark atmosphere and murky noises -- I mean of course Reuben the ole lighthouse keeper, with his perpetual groaning about electricity. Not the same as oil, nay. T'ain't natural!


Sarah -
I love Reuben!


Harry -
He has a cuddly irascibility about him. My favourite character for sure.

It was nice to see Season 15 start with a continuation of the sci fi historicals, the TARDIS this time landing on a rock smack dab in the Edwardian era. And yes, just in time for poor Ben to become a terribly desecrated corpse within and without the lighthouse on Fang Rock. Leela puts it best early on: "You said I would like Brighton. Well I do not."

Perhaps the most unsettling thing early on was seeing the Doctor wearing a bowler hat. For some reason, people wearing bowler hats make me anxious.


Sarah -
I know what you mean. There's something terribly unsettling about a bowler hat.

It's season fifteen and we've got a new show runner in Graham Williams, but this story continues the tone set in "The Talons of Weng-Chiang". The opening scenes are all atmosphere. I love the lighthouse setting and the introduction of the crew is perfect. "Horror of Fang Rock" maintains the traditions of season fourteen in its high body count. Is there any other story where everyone dies? Every single person we meet in this story is dead by the end. It's so disturbing.


Harry -
Terrance Dicks spreads the slaughter across all classes, sparing neither the humblest seamen nor the poshest toffs, with the Doctor and Leela caught in between.

It was interesting how Uncle Terry arranged this story in comparison to "The Time Warrior." There, he introduced the Sontaran character immediately and kept him front and centre. Here, the alien character mostly lurks in the shadows until emerging in the final episode. The Doctor spends almost the entire story puzzling over who or what the alien menace might be. With the small cast and claustrophobic setting, it allowed for some nice character development.


Sarah -
I love that Dicks introduces us to the Rutans, who were last (and first) heard of in "The TIme Warrior". There's a nice full-circle sense of closure to the story.


Harry -
I have a soft spot for young Vince. He was so heartbroken when Ben died. I also liked his reaction when Leela started removing her Brighton getup and asked for some men's clothes. "I'm no lady!" Haha!


Sarah -
Vince's death is the hardest to bear. He's just so sweet. His scenes with Leela make him particularly endearing.


Harry -
As for the Edwardian Gits as I like to think of them, is there any group of people whose deaths came more as a relief? I know that's terrible to say, but wow did I hate that bunch!

It's fun to imagine Uncle Terry dreaming these characters up. "Let's see, I'll have this arrogant young Lord who bosses everyone around until everyone is pleased to see him die. I'll throw in this shrieking woman who keeps going into hysterics until Leela smacks her in the chops. Then I'll have this slippery old snake of a colonel who'd rather let everyone die than see his reputation sullied. Good. Now I shall kill them all horribly."


Sarah -
They are particularly awful. Palmerdale is clearly hideous from the beginning, but I like what Uncle Terry does with Skinsale. Turning him into the Doctor's ally in the final episode builds some sympathy for him and then BAM! -- he's taken down by his own greed as he attempts to collect the diamonds they've lifted from Palmerdale's corpse. Brilliant writing!

Adelaide has little to recommend her and Leela acts for all of us when she smacks her and tells her to shut up!


Harry -
I was particularly struck by how Tom Baker underplayed this story. Sure, there were the odd moments where he lashed out or smiled in the face of impending doom, but for the most part he was subdued, puzzling over the mystery at the lighthouse. Meanwhile, Leela stabbed about a dozen invisible enemies with that knife she picked up. At this point in their partnership, Leela seems happy to be along for the ride. She trusts the Doctor implicitly and very little seems to phase her, apart from giant cuddly rats.


Sarah -
She's definitely all in. It's a testament to Louise Jameson's acting that she makes Leela so strong and endearing. She was ready to leave the series after Season 14, mostly because of the horrible way she was treated by Tom Baker.


Harry -
Remember that video she played at Chicago TARDIS one year? It was a compilation of every time the Doctor had shushed Leela onscreen, and it was a very long compilation. Who wouldn't have gotten tired of that?


Sarah -
I'm glad she stayed on and they eventually became friends. Leela is one of those companions who has been kind of in the middle for me -- didn't love her, didn't hate her. Like Jo Grant, this marathon has made me better appreciate her character development and certainly bumped her up on my list of companions who are awesome!


Harry -
As with the previous story, "The Talons of Weng-Chiang", the production team knocked it out of the park with the set designs and costumes. If the Doctor had been marooned in the Victorian or Edwardian era for a time, I would not have minded more stories like these past two.


Sarah -
Both stories are just about as perfect as Doctor Who can be!


Harry -
Well, season fifteen is off to a cracking start. Let's see who we might meet next...


Sarah -
Best Line:
Vince: "You found the trouble, then?"
Doctor: "Yes, I always find trouble."

Favorite Moment: Leela slapping Adelaide

Lasting Image: The green, glowing Rueben

9/10


Harry -
Best Line:
Doctor: "Ahh! You want to get to London!"
Palmerdale: "Yes!!"
Doctor: "You've no chance in this fog."
Favourite Moment: Reuben grousing about electricity and the positive properties of oil.

Lasting image: the arrival of the Edwardian Gits

8/10

 


Our marathon continues with Story #93 - The Invisible Enemy...

Story #91 - The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977)

Sarah -

You know, Harry, it's almost impossible to decide where to start discussing this story. There's much to say and there are so many reasons for it to be considered one of the greatest in the series' history. "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" was set to be Philip Hinchcliffe's final Doctor Who production and he decided to go out with a bang, approving expenditures that he never would have otherwise -- and it shows. The story just looks so damn good!

 

 

Harry -

This is the BBC at the height of its period-recreating powers. From the moment the TARDIS arrives in a thick London fog, this story oozes Victoriana out of every pore.

 

 

Sarah -

Doesn't it, though? If there's one thing you can count on from the Beeb, it's excellent Victoriana.

 

 

Harry -

The clothes are brilliant, from the retro bobby uniforms to Jago's flashy formal wear, and of course the Doctor and Leela's stylish headwear. I'm glad this was one of the few stories where the Doctor and companion dressed in the manner of the day. I wonder how quickly the production team realized that they would have to adapt Leela's clothing every time she travelled to Earth to avoid causing a stir.

 

 

Sarah -

It is a challenge of the character, isn't it? I couldn't help laughing during the scenes when she was in her underwear. Leela is the only character in Doctor Who history who has been MORE covered up when wearing her small clothes.

 

 

Harry -

The dialogue is infused with now-archaic sounding language from the Victorian characters. Jago in particular delivers one flourish after another, bursting with alliteration and "dash me optics!" exclamations.

 

 

Sarah -

How perfect is Jago, especially when teamed up with Professor Litefoot! They're such fan favorites that they've got their own Big Finish range. Do you have any of their series in your collection?

 

 

Harry -

I have the Big Finish Companion Chronicles story that they appeared in -- "The Mahogany Murderers" -- and broke it out immediately. It's a wonderful little episode and sets up the ongoing Big Finish series nicely. I'm eager to listen to more of these now, dash me eardrums!

Back to Philip Hinchcliffe.  What a run!  One of the show's best producers ever.  For his last hurrah, he gave us his homage to the Sherlock Holmes and Fu Manchu stories.

In the early going, the Doctor and Leela put on their best Holmes and Watson detective routine - the Doctor complete with deerstalker cap. They are immediately drawn into local events when they battle a gang of Chinese youths, one of whom is captured and dragged to a police station for questioning in connection to the discovery of a murdered man nearby. At the station, the Doctor and Leela meet Li H'sen Chang, a cold, mysterious character - one powerful enough to demand the suicide of his captured countryman.

 

 

Sarah -

Unfortunately, there's also an uncomfortable connection to the Charlie Chan film series. It's surprising that it was still acceptable for white actors to be cast as Chinese characters in 1977 Britain. John Bennett's performance as Chang is excellent, but I always find it a little uncomfortable.

 

 

Harry -

John Bennett was excellent as Chang, but for obvious reasons such a performance would just not be on today. The original broadcast drew complaints about the casting, so imagine the uproar if someone tried it now (in a non-ironic/deliberately-provocative way).

It's interesting that the passage of time not only lets us revisit the Victoria era, but also how TV producers in the 70s sought to portray the Victorian era. Several of the characters, including the Doctor, make racially-tinged comments about Chinese people. As I watched each episode, I wondered how much of it was an attempt to present the attitudes of the times, and how much of it reflected contemporary attitudes that were still around.

 

 

Sarah -

This is yet another story that gives us some gruesome images -- Weng-Chiang having young women kidnapped so he can literally suck the life out of them to keep himself alive, knife fights in the alleys, bodies being pulled from the river, and scary giant rats. OK, OK, the rats are a bit weak and not at all scary, but it's the only weak point in the entire story, so I'll let it go.

 

 

Harry -

The rat was too cuddly for its own good, and Louise Jameson put on a hell of an acting effort to appear terrified of it.

 

 

Sarah -

I'm pretty sure this is the only time Leela actually screams.

"The Talons of Weng-Chiang" is a great story for Leela. She gets to play dress up (Oh, look, another homage! Hello Pygmalion!), being coached by the Doctor and Professor Litefoot. My favorite moment of the entire story is when she's offered dinner by the Professor. He leads her to the side board, where she promptly picks up a hunk of meat and digs in. Not wanting to embarrass his guest, Litefoot grabs a chunk and tucks in. It's one of my favorite scenes in all of Doctor Who.

 

 

Harry -

The cold collation - another lovely historical bit.

It was amusing how often Litefoot's residence was besieged by the forces of evil. Mr. Sin popping out of the laundry to terrorize Leela was especially creepy. I lost track of how many times I wrote down "Litefoot attacked," "Leela attacked," and "Doctor attacked." There was a lot of personal violence done to our friends in this one.

Stereotypes aside, the baddies were particularly nasty. Chang was lizard-like throughout, and I always have a moment of panic when he points that pistol at the Doctor while onstage. Mr. Sin was an unpleasant little beast. It's almost like an afterthought when Magnus Greel is unmasked and his story revealed at the end.

 

 

Sarah -

I always appreciate the misdirect of thinking Chang is the baddie, only to discover that he's nothing more than a pawn. His passing was even a bit tragic. How shocking to have an opium den in Doctor Who!

Also shocking is the fact that this is the only story in which Tom Baker does not wear a scarf! Insanity!

 

 

Harry -

Speaking of Tom, this story marks the end of his third season as the Doctor. Imagine if he had followed Patrick Troughton's famous advice and left the show at this juncture. Would the Tom Baker era still be considered the greatest? I believe so.

 

 

Sarah -

It's amazing how much he did in just the first three seasons. I agree that his legacy would be assured on the strength of these three seasons alone.

 

 

Harry -

To this point, Tom's Doctor has echoed some of the characteristics of each of his predecessors, but he's added his own unique sense of manic eccentricity. He's especially added a wild unpredictability to the character and made him much more alien. He lashes out at people over inconsequential things, then smiles broadly in moments of anxiety. You never know what this character will do next. He's taken Jon Pertwee's "man of action" and made him even more of a dominant personality.

 

 

Sarah -

His Doctor certainly fills the room, doesn't he?

 

 

Harry -

He's had two companions, like Pertwee, with whom the Sarah Jane era was shared. There's Harry Sullivan too, but looking back now he's almost a kind of tag-along from UNIT who didn't want to stick around with the Doctor and Sarah - remember his season with the Doctor is presented as one continuous timeline and he returned to UNIT at the first opportunity.

 

 

Sarah -

Good Old Harry Sullivan, that lovable imbecile!

 

 

Harry -

As for Tom, he's spent far less time on Earth, which has been a welcome change. He's fought classic baddies and met new ones who will return later. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see if we can identify the point in his tenure where Tom may have overstayed his welcome - or if we end his era still wanting more.

 

 

Sarah -

I have to admit I've been starting to think about this, as well. I always think of the Barry Letts and Peter Hinchcliffe Eras being the Golden Years of Doctor Who. The coming seasons have a lot to live up to!

Looking back, it took us a year each to get through three seasons of Hartnell and Troughton and less than a year to tackle five seasons of Pertwee. We seem to be flying through the Baker years. How long we looked forward to getting to "Our" Doctor!

 

 

Harry -

Shall we venture into season four of the Tom Baker era, and see what awaits?

 

 

Sarah -

Yes, Let's!

Best Line:

The Doctor: "Do you know what this is?"

Leela (with a smile): "You ask me so that you can tell me."

Favorite Moment: Leela's dinner with Litefoot

Lasting Image: Leela and Litefoot chomping their dinner

10/10

 

 

Harry -

Best Line:

Jago: "You've been drinking."

Casey: "Not a drop, sir."

Jago: "Well it's time you started."

Favourite Moment: Jago bullshitting Casey about being an undercover sleuth working with the Doctor.

Lasting Image: Chang points his pistol at the Doctor.

9/10

Our marathon continues with Story #92 - Horror of Fang Rock...

Story #90 - The Robots of Death (1977)

Sarah -
I hope that you don't mind that I'm posting this from behind the Sofa, Harry Old Boy. I have a confession to make -- those robots have always terrified me!


Harry -
This is one of my most-watched Doctor Who stories ever - thanks to its early release on DVD. Despite knowing what's coming, it's hard not to be disturbed by some of the images when the re-programmed robots start rampaging. I can only imagine Mary Whitehouse's reaction to watching Pilot Toos scream at the camera in terror as a robot attacks her. On the other hand we never actually see anyone die, only a mounting pile of corpses and decommissioned robots. There's a blood-covered robot hand, and a robophobic crew member has a nervous breakdown, but the gore is minimal.


Sarah -
This story never fails to disturb me. The body count is staggering for Doctor Who and there's a certain antiseptic quality to the murders that makes them especially terrifying.


Harry -
Before any of that happens, the robots are introduced as quiet servitors aboard the sandminer. They aren't nearly as interesting as the elaborately dressed mining crew, who look like a cross between Cirque du Soleil and Boney M. And they like their downtime - playing chess, getting massages, or lounging luxuriously. It's quite the colourful group.


Sarah -
There is all kinds of 1977 Fabulous going on in that sandminer -- and I love it!


Harry -
Hah!  While watching again, I noted that this is the most 70s looking Doctor Who story of the entire decade. The hair, the clothes, the sandminer model shots, the Art Deco revival sculptures alongside the tigerskin rugs, it's all very Fabulously 1977. The production crew did a whale of a job transplanting a classic Agatha Christie / Edwardian murder mystery into a visually arresting sci fi setting.

I wonder if the Doctor will ever meet the real Agatha Christie...


Sarah -
We can only hope...

As will happen, the Doctor and Leela show up just as the first murder is being committed. Such unfortunate timing, to always find oneself the focus of suspicion, but the Doctor accepts it with his usual good cheer and alacrity.


Harry -
It's amusing how the sandminer crew respond to the initial accusations: no one can agree.  In fact, they go out of their way to disagree.  Rather than questioning the Doctor and Leela, they'd rather question each other. Some make bold assertions, others cast doubts. There's so much going on under the surface, it's delicious.


Sarah -
They waste no time at all turning on each other. From their introduction, it's pretty clear that most of them loathe each other.


Harry -
Uvanov, the leader, eventually manages to have the Doctor and Leela placed in futuristic shackles. But before the Doctor and Leela can get a word in, there's another couple of bodies going cold. Woops! It's almost comedic, were it not played so seriously.

Having watched the story so many times, there's no surprise left, but I can appreciate how the relationships between the sandminer crew get teased out and developed, for example the Uvanov-Zilda connection. When she searches his room and discovers some documents, she suddenly bursts into very-poorly-acted tears, then takes to the comms system to accuse him of murder. Only later will we find out -- from Mr. secret company agent Poul -- that Uvanov was supposedly responsible for the death of Zilda's brother, but it was all hushed up.


Sarah -
It's hard to pick a favorite crew member, but I lean towards Uvanov. He's clearly risen through the ranks and lacks the upper-class finesse of the other crew members, but he's good at what he does and highly valued by the company. When we meet him, he's bombastic and tetchy, and over the course of the story, he's utterly broken down by the situation. The moment when he loses it and has to be carried to safety by the Doctor walks a fine line between amusing and heartbreaking. And, of course, we find out in the end that he actually tried to save Zilda's brother and has been haunted by the loss ever since. It's a stunning performance by Russell Hunter.


Harry -
Uvanov's backstory unfolded nicely. One of my favourite moments is when he slips into a broad accent and says "Oh I seee!" to the Doctor.

Mopey, pouty, poorly-acted Zilda I probably liked the least.

Poul is a puzzling character. He's a company agent posing as a crew member -- but wasn't it rather foolish for him to accept a placement in the middle of a claustrophobic/robophobic setting, knowing that he wasn't too keen on claustrophobic/robophobic settings?


Sarah -
It's certainly an unconventional appointment. Fun fact: referring to Robophobia as "Grimwade's syndrome" was an in-joke reference to production assistant Peter Grimwade who had bemoaned the fact that the stories on which he was assigned to work almost always involved robots.


Harry -
I'm almost certain that Grimwade also wrote a sci fi novel about robots.  A few moments on Google confirms said novel was even called Robot.  Write what you know!

And Poul was named in honour of sci fi writer Poul Anderson. I've read a couple of his books but nothing memorable. One may have been about vikings now that I think of it.

Anyway, we should spend a few moments discussing the titular characters. We've seen robots in all shapes and sizes in Doctor Who, but none as stylish as these. In keeping with the garish theme of the sandminer lounge, the robots are just gratuitously beautiful. One could get lost staring into those classical faces. Until they start slaughtering people, of course.


Sarah -
Their highly stylized faces are exactly what I find terrifying. Robots are less terrifying when they're more robot-y.


Harry -
They all have the same male human face, which definitely stands out. I found it most unsettling when they moved about silently. The more I think about it, the more I really like Poul's description of them as "walking dead."


Sarah -
Speaking of highly stylized, how about those sets? I love the seventies-fabulous art deco sets. They manage to look fabulous while looking lived in.


Harry -
The lounge was great and I'm glad they spent a lot of time in there at the start.


Sarah -
One gets the impression that the lounge is where they spent most of their time.


Harry -
The long distance side shots of the sandminer corridors were well done. The control room seemed a bit cramped with awkward angles. Overall though, the sets were good.

In the end, as with most ensemble murder mysteries, it's the character we see or know the least about who ends up being the villain. Dask is an important yet quiet member of the crew. He's there in most of the group scenes, but only to utter a word or two. Even when he uses his expertise to keep the sandminer from blowing up, he does so without raising any suspicions. But I have to say, I loved his hooded costume. Like so many of the designs and clothes in this story, it was needlessly over the top. And we barely saw it before he revealed his loony robotic face paint.


Sarah -
Every villain needs a good hood -- especially the crazy ones!

I know we've both seen this many times before, but it always seems so obvious to me who the baddie is. That said, I love his "robot brothers" looniness every time I see it. It's hard to imagine how he kept it together for so long.

Best Line: D84 : "Please do not throw hands at me."

Favorite Moment: The Doctor calling Dask out as a boring maniac who needs to explain his plan in great detail. Ain't that always the way.

Lasting Image: The Creepy Robots!

8/10


Harry -
Best Line:
"I heard a cry."
"It was me."
"I heard a cry."
"It was me."
"I heard a cry."
"It was ME!"

Favourite Moment: Poul's robophobia breakdown.

Lasting Image: Everyone lounging in the lounge.

8/10


Sarah -
"Everyone Lounging in the Lounge" is going to be the title of my first solo album.

Harry -
Jazz flute improvisations?

Sarah -
Exactly.

 


Our marathon continues with Story #91 - The Talons of Weng-Chiang...