Story #38 - The Abominable Snowmen (1967)

Harry -
This was something unique. Not what I expected, yet even better. Enigmatic, eerie, even downright scary at times.

The story starts off on such a light note. The Doctor is delighted to be back in Tibet. He can barely wait to throw on his outrageous fur coat and go scampering down to the monastery.


Sarah -
I love his enthusiasm and that he's been here before. The snow and screaming at the beginning let's us know that all is not well, but the Doctor is so ready for adventure.

I love the juxtaposition of the Doctor rushing off all madcap with the Ghanta, and Jamie with the feeling that all is not quite right.


Harry -
I was thrilled because it felt like an old Hartnell historical.


Sarah -
It does, doesn't it? I almost expected Marco Polo to show up!


Harry -
As our friend Rob points out, the story moves very slowly, but that's not a bad thing. There are enough varied characters to keep it from feeling as though the story is being padded out. The Doctor is on form, and Jamie and Victoria both have lots of screen time.

Travers is the Edwardian hunter with a squint in his eye. Khrisong is the blunt and bullying monk. Songsten is the mysterious, enigmatic abbot. All three of them threaten to be revealed as the villain at any moment.

And yet... the story keeps leading us on. We wait and wait, but there seems to be something greater at work here. Even the Yeti are not what they seem - the Doctor reveals that they are just robots. That should be a big reveal, but it happens as early as episode two. What is going on here?


Sarah -
Unfortunately, this is one of those stories where the recon got in the way of my enjoyment of the story. I hate to admit it, but there were times when I had absolutely no idea what was going on and which character was which. I stayed with it through the first two episodes, but completely lost track of what the hell was going on for the rest of the story.

Mostly I just focused on the Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria, who all had some nice moments. Victoria seemed to have some especially good plotlines...I think.


Harry -
Rob touched upon the fact that this story did require some serious attention while viewing. Like "The Faceless Ones," it was a more grown up kind of Doctor Who. I liked it, but I don't think it would work on an ongoing basis.


Sarah -
Reading Rob and Toby's discussion, I found myself thinking, "Oh, that's what happened" quite often.


Harry -
In terms of being "grown up", there were several moments of horror that the recon did hinder, but were still effective. The reveal of Padmasambhava - basically an animated corpse kept alive by the power of the Great Intelligence - that was a great moment. His dual voices, his creepy hands, his chilling laugh all made for a memorable "villain."


Sarah -
The voice was definitely the most compelling and creepy aspect of the character.


Harry -
Another scary moment was Victoria's possession. This wasn't the now-standard companion possession, where they lurch about droning some brainwashed messaging. Victoria projected near-frantic levels of fear and urgency as she shouted at the Doctor to take her away. That was incredible!


Sarah -
It reminded me of Dodo's possession by WOTAN. The Doctor's panicked response to this possession made me really worry about Victoria!


Harry -
The story's strong suit seems to be the very uncertainty that it sows. We never know who the true villain is until late in the game. Even then, we never see it because it can only manifest itself in avatars.

Throughout, the Doctor seems to know what he's doing, but is not really convincing. His mental battle with Padmasambhava seems the critical moment - but was it just a distraction, long enough for Jamie and Thonmi to smash the true source of The Great Intelligence's power? We never really find out how much of the Doctor's actions were bluff and ruse, but that seems to go well with the entire story.

It's too bad this one was mostly erased, because in the absence of a big soundtrack, the visuals are critical. At least we got one episode out of six. How many of these damn recons are left, Sarah? I sense you are clutching your abacus with white knuckles over there.


Sarah -
Seven, Dear Harry, exactly seven!


Harry -
Bloody eck! I was hoping for a lower number. Well, let's put this one on ice (foreshadowing!) and press onward, shall we?


Sarah -
It's less than the eight we had going into this story, so that's something.

Onward!


Harry -
Best Line: Padmasambhava's wickedly slow delivery of the line "Come in my child - you have no al... ter... na... tive..."

Favourite Moment: Caught in a trance, Victoria frantically begs the Doctor to take her away.

Lasting Image: Those recurring shots of characters running up or down the mountainside. Wales looks so lovely!

8/10 (probably higher than it deserves, but I really liked the scary bits)


Sarah -
Best Line: The Doctor pulls out bagpipes while searching for the Ghanta:

Jamie: “I can fix these easily.”
Doctor: “Yes, I was afraid so.”

Favorite Moment: See above. It made me laugh out loud. What a team!

Lasting Image: Jamie and Victoria coming down the mountainside, looking for the Doctor. Ah, Wales!

6/10

Our marathon continues with Story #39 - The Ice Warriors...

Story #37 - The Tomb of the Cybermen (1967)

Harry -
We did it, Sarah! We finally reached the first full Troughton story. No missing episodes! No telesnaps nor subtitles! Let us revel in the moving pictures!


Sarah -
I cannot tell you how much I've been looking forward to this day!


Harry -
And yet, for all the enjoyment of the camera angles and wordless moments, this is such a simple story. Heck, the first two episodes could have been compressed into about ten minutes:

- Victoria receives her TARDIS orientation session
- TARDIS lands on a planet and our friends meet an expedition of archaeologists
- They break into a mysterious city and have a look round
- Cybermen!


Sarah -
Swap out the Cybermen and it could be so many other stories, don't you think?


Harry -
Hopefully not too many.


Sarah -
The opening scene in the TARDIS is refreshing. It feels so long since we were inside that Victoria’s introduction to the TARDIS is almost our reintroduction. We even get to find out the Doctor’s age – 450 years old!


Harry -
That was an unexpected revelation - I'm so used to the 900-something-years being tossed about by subsequent Doctors.


Sarah -
Time flies when you’re having fun, and all that…

I was amused at Jamie playing TARDIS tour guide for Victoria. He was just a bit too eager to help her find the wardrobe department, don't you think?


Harry -
Oh my word!


Sarah -
A quick slip into one of Polly's left-behind frocks and she's ready for adventure. I found myself wondering if a Victorian gal might not feel a wee bit exposed in 1960s clothes, when she commented on the shortness of the skirt. What do you think she's carrying in the purse? She can't have brought much with her from Skaro.


Harry -
Perhaps a paper fan and a bottle of opium?


Sarah -
One does want to be prepared. Also, it’s a handy place to store a cybermat!

In any case, we soon find ourselves in a quarry – and, as any Doctor Who fan knows, there’s nothing like a quarry to set the mood. All we need to complete the scene is a multinational team on a mysterious scientific mission and we’ll be set for adventure. Unfortunately, the one thing you can count on when a large team is introduced is that there are going to be casualties. A lot of casualties.


Harry -
A bit morbid, but in my notes I started tracking when and how people were getting killed off. It was "ten little Indians" at first, and I was really looking forward to Cyril Shaps' inevitable demise. Oh I love Cyril and his recurring performances as The Frazzled Neurotic Who Soon Meets His Inevitable Demise. I haven't seen what Toby had to say about him, but I hope he likes Cyril as much as I do!


Sarah -
He nailed the part, didn’t he? Cyril was clearly doomed as doomed could be.


Harry -
I checked.  Turns out neither Toby nor Rob had anything to say about Cyril.  Alas...


Sarah -
We’ll find out more about the rest of this band of adventurers as the story progresses, but I’d like to give a special shout out to Captain Hopper for giving what just may be the broadest performance in the series thus far – and that’s saying something!


Harry -
CERtainly the BROADest aMERican ACcent we've heard so FARRRR.

I love BBC Americans.


Sarah -
It may be the novelty of a complete episode, but Troughton is especially delightful in this story, isn’t he? Despite the danger, he just can’t resist adventure. Neither can he resist demonstrating how smart he is, helping Klieg open the doors to the tomb even when it’s clearly not a good idea.


Harry -
It could be argued that this story demonstrates the prototypical Troughton Doctor. He's often quiet and thoughtful, sometimes skittish and anxious, yet always in control. Rather than leaping into the fray, he lets others do what needs to be done, and throws the odd switch when necessary. A manipulative little clown, that fellow!


Sarah -
Manipulative and funny! His pun about the cybermats having a complete metal breakdown and Jamie’s pained reaction will be one of the moments I’ll remember from this story. What a team!


Harry -
As I said earlier, there isn't much to this story, but there isn't that much character development either. A lot of time gets taken up in just giving so many characters something to say.

The Cybermen's resurrection scene is iconic, of course, as the familiar timpani-woo-woo Cyber theme fades in.


Sarah -
Now that was cool. The cybermen stirring in their tombs was wonderfully creepy!


Harry -
Something new to this story, unless I've missed it before, was the addition of the sounds that Cybermen make when they attack someone. They all make a kind of gremlin noise, which is both fun and decidedly odd. After all, they are so proud of having eliminated fear and yet there they are trying to spook people with their boogedy-boo noises.


Sarah -
Even super-villains need to move with the times, My Friend. Can’t sit around waiting to be out-done by the Daleks!


Harry -
The Cyber Controller is particularly menacing here. He is both physically imposing and frighteningly single-minded. He constantly utters the "We will survive" refrain, and it was chilling when he stated: "Now you belong to us - you will become like us."


Sarah -
Well, at least his agenda’s on the table, I guess.


Harry -
We haven't said much about Klieg and Kaftan, but as secondary villains go, they were terribly predictable.


Sarah -
Oh, they were awful – futuristic versions of Maxtible from the Evil of the Daleks. Klieg’s attempts to rationalize the Cybermen’s behavior and reframe his plan to control them whenever he’s thwarted was pathetic. Kaftan is just odd. She looks mad as a hatter with those crazy eyes, and what’s with her “servant” Toberman? The relationship between the two of them was uncomfortable to say the least – and just a bit too reminiscent of Kemel and Maxtible’s in the Evil of the Daleks.


Harry -
Toberman's character is very dated. I was appalled when, after he sacrificed himself to stop the Cyber Controller, everyone went their separate ways and left his body lying in the dust. Appalling!


Sarah -
“Thanks, Buddy. Catch you later. No really, we’ll see you soon enough, marching around St. Paul’s. Until then, it’s been a laugh riot. Byeeeeeee.”

Victoria was actually the nicest surprise of this story. I was prepared for panicked screaming from her, but she was funny, smart, and kind of endearing. Her scenes with ship’s crew were particularly good.


Harry -
Victoria is delightful! The Doctor has clearly found a new surrogate grandchild to watch over. Their private conversation was wonderful to watch.


Sarah -
It was so touching. I felt all warm and fuzzy on the inside.


Harry -
And so we come to the end of a story that wasn't really about anything. Some folks found a tomb, some Cybermen got loose, then they got put back again. The end. This might have worked better as a more energetic two-parter.

The story rates highly among fandom, but a lot of that is probably because it's the earliest surviving Troughton story and the act of watching it is a joy in itself. There have been better Troughton stories before this one, and better ones to follow.

This one does have its moments, so I can't be all down about it.


Sarah -
It definitely benefits from having survived, but has some wonderful moments for Troughton and the companions. Also, Cybermen are cool.

Best Line(s):
Klieg : "How did you know in the first place?"
Doctor : "Oh, I used my own, special technique."
Klieg : "Oh, really, Doctor... and may we know what that is?"
Doctor : "Keeping my eyes open and my mouth shut!"

Favorite Moment: The Doctor consoling Victoria on the loss of her family and explaining how he deals with the loss of his.

Lasting Image: The Cybermen emerging from their tombs.

7/10


Harry -
Best Line: "I think perhaps your logic is wearing a little thin."

Favourite Moment: Toberman hurls "the Cyber Controller" into the main control panel. Classic BBC props work.

Lasting Image: The Cybermen emerging from their tombs.

7/10

Our marathon continues with Story #38 - The Abominable Snowmen...