Story #81 - Planet of Evil (1975)

Harry -
Hmm... I don't think this planet is all that evil, Sarah. Maybe it's just terribly misunderstood, don't you think?


Sarah -
Planet of the Absolutely Amazing Set is more like it!


Harry -
Absolutely! I always forget what a little gem this story is, especially for the set designs.


Sarah -
For all the time we spend cringing at and apologizing for the sets and special effects in Doctor Who, we need to celebrate when things go right. The Zeta Minor set is utterly amazing. I watched the DVD featurette on the production and learned that Roger Murray-Leach only had £3,000 for the entire production and managed to create one of the most detailed sets in the series' history.


Harry -
The Zeta Minor jungle is dank and eerie, and the camera crew did an amazing job making it look like a vast, sprawling place. The switch between video and film made it seem even more vast.

I liked the flying camera effect of the ocular tracker. There really was a lot of sharp camera work in this story.


Sarah -
Another positive aspect of the set is that it distracted from the spaceman-at-the-disco uniforms worn by the Morestran military!


Harry -
True, those blue jumpsuits with the poofy white trim were godawful. Good thing the Morestran ship sets were good too - clean and minimalist and seemingly maze-like, they were the perfect counter to the riotous sprawl of the jungle outside.


Sarah -
I love the control room set, with the multiple levels. And don't forget our few glimpses of the redesigned TARDIS console room!


Harry -
I had to think back to remember when was the last time we'd seen the console room. It was like seeing an old friend again, a friend with some flash new clothes.

There were several neat little moments at the start of part one that I had to jot down. First, the story takes place in the year 37,166. I love far future stories that are set in unfathomably distant times. This one got awfully close to the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Did you happen to notice the young crew member who was with Sorenson at the pit, then got attacked by the anti-matter creature back at base? He looked like a young Robert Shearman. Or am I imagining things in our friends' absence?


Sarah -
The resemblance didn't occur to me at the time, but I can see what you mean. I'm sure Rob would have something delightfully self-deprecating to say about that.

"Planet of Evil" is one of those stories that can be easy to overlook, but gets better with every viewing.


Harry -
I think the absence of a "classic" monster makes it less memorable, and it's surrounded by many other great stories which does it no favours. I'm always surprised by how good it is.


Sarah -
It deserves a better reputation!


Harry -
(Hinchcliffe Horror Homage tracker: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.)

Had no idea how ubiquitous Michael Wisher was in 70s Who. He must have appeared in a record number of stories.


Sarah -
Alas, this is his final story.


Harry -
His long and varied run on the show from 1970 to 1975 might be the single best run of any guest actor in the show's history. Looking forward to hearing what our friends Rob & Toby have to say about him.

The supporting cast is pretty good here too -- they certainly outperformed their costumes.


Sarah -
That wouldn't be much of a challenge...


Harry -
Hah!


Sarah -
...but I agree that they are all excellent.


Harry -
The Doctor looked good too. He seems to have found a big rust-coloured cravat, which stood out in the absence of his scarf for most of the story.

And I wonder if we're seeing another theme being developed in this season: energy, both finite and alternative.


Sarah -
The quest for an infinite source of energy seems to plague all planets, doesn't it?


Harry -
Things also got a bit psychedelic again, with the Doctor plunging through the vortex. It was very Pink Floyd. And just like that, he climbed back out again, having reached an understanding with the planet or its voice - we didn't see that part.


Sarah -
Well, it's all very mysterious, you see -- and far past the limits of the budget, what with the jungle and all. Fortunately, Sarah's there to let us know that he gave his word as a Time Lord.


Harry -
Meanwhile, the bodies are starting to pile up aboard the Morestran ship. The plot of this story was pretty light - base under siege and then spaceship under siege - but the focus was clearly on getting as many frights as possible. It was impressive the way they kept introducing more crew members into the story, essentially for the purpose of killing them off.


Sarah -
My favorite crew member was De Haan. Graham Weston milked the grumbling, put-upon character for all it was worth. I felt quite sad when he was done in.


Harry -
After he perpetrated so many deaths, did you find it odd that Sorenson ended up restored to full health?


Sarah -
Apparently, he was supposed to die in the vortex, but Hinchcliffe was concerned that it was too graphic for the kiddies and changed the ending. After all that death, I don't imagine the tots would have been any less terrorized!


Harry -
Well, having sorted out all that business and put Sorenson on a different research track, the TARDIS goes spinning off. I wonder if the Doctor and Sarah make it back to England next.


Sarah -
Best Line: "You and I are scientists, Professor. We buy our privilege to experiment at the cost of total responsibility."

Favorite Moment: The Doctor plunging into the vortex

Lasting Image: That glorious jungle set!

8/10


Harry -
I'll have to agree with your choice of Best Line. The Doctor's conversations with Sorenson were moments of calm sobriety in a scary monster chase story.

Favourite Moment: Sorenson's transformation scenes.

Lasting Image: Sorenson becomes Anti-Man.

7/10 

 


Our marathon continues with Story #82: Pyramids of Mars...

Story #80 - Terror of the Zygons (1975)

Sarah -
The thing that struck me the most about "Terror of the Zygons" is how much the series has changed in just one season of the Fourth Doctor. The return to UNIT really highlights these changes. The mood is darker, continuing the gothic horror theme of the era, but there’s also a change in the way UNIT is presented. In his last few appearances, the Brig teetered on the edge of buffoonery, but he’s treated more seriously in this story. Times are grim, but faithful UNIT is standing by!


Harry -
There's a warm feeling of familiarity as this story gets going and we find ourselves back in a Pertwee-era Earthbound adventure with UNIT. It does make sense, though, since all of the stories in the previous season were presented as one continuous story. So when the Doctor, Sarah and Harry return to present-day Earth for the first time, there's UNIT waiting for them.


Sarah -
UNIT is always there, waiting for him! Good Ole UNIT!


Harry -
It was good to see a serious UNIT again, sans buffonery. But we are in Scotland after all, so everyone camps it up Scottish style, with a flurry of tartan and kilts and rrrrolling of the "R's". Then we get down to business.


Sarah -
The tam o'shanter on the Doctor, while Harry and Sarah wore his scarf and hat, was hysterical. Nice way to set the scene.


Harry -
A group of oil rigs in the North Sea have been destroyed and UNIT is on the case. The Brigadier is determined to protect the vital means of oil production, much to the Doctor's disdain. There was a definite sense early on that the Doctor has gotten tired on being on-call for UNIT all the time.


Sarah -
The Doctor is not at all pleased to be called back, snapping at the Brig, "When I left that psionic beam with you, Brigadier, I said that it was only to be used in an emergency!"

The Brig asserts that it is an emergency, to which the Doctor responds, "Oil? An emergency? Ha! It's about time the people who run this planet of yours realised that to be dependent on a mineral slime just doesn't make sense."

He has got a point, you know. Still the Zygons are utterly fabulous. Pity the Beeb wouldn't spring for some more costumes. I'm pretty sure we never see more than two Zygons in any shot.

I love the texture and creepy sucker-like things on the Zygons. Their organic technology is reminiscent of the Axons, but somehow the Zygons make it darker and less psychedelic. The other side of the 70s is showing here!


Harry -
The Zygon design is amazing. A testiment to its greatness is that when they were brought back in 2013, the contemporary Zygon design was virtually identical. Remember the uproar over the new Silurians?


Sarah -
I remember all too well. There's really no way to improve on the Zygons.


Harry -
The organic console aboard the Zygon ship, and the way they have to squeeze and manipulate the controls - there's something wonderfully gross about it all.


Sarah -
It's brilliantly disgusting!


Harry -
I have to give a shout out to Mr. Huckle of Hibernian Oil - is Huckle the first Canadian character in Doctor Who? His accent and demeanour both suggest there's a hoser in our midst. And this exchange totally set off my Canuck-dar:

HUCKLE: Yeah, well, if there's anything I can do?
DOCTOR: No, thank you, Mister Huckle. This could be very valuable. You've done enough, thank you.
HUCKLE: Okay. Well, watch yourself, Doctor, eh? You too, Miss Smith.

You go, Huckle!


Sarah -
Ha! I was wondering if he was meant to be Canadian, until the "eh?" confirmed it for me.


Harry -
I wonder if this story was written during the Pertwee era then plucked off a shelf by Hinchcliffe. We haven't seen Tom Baker do this much running and tumbling and fighting - everything seems to have been set up with the Third Doctor in mind. Once again, the male companion is relegated to a minor role. However, Ian Marter gave a chilling performance as Zygon Harry, especially that scene where Sarah chased him to the barn.


Sarah -
Marter was absolutely brilliant in that episode. The moment when he hides in the hayloft, peering around the hay bale with one eye was terrifying. I loved the moment when Sarah found the real Harry later in the story. She was wary of him, but knew he was her Harry when he called her Old Girl. I wanted to hug them both!


Harry -
I can't decide if the Zygon chameleon technology is brilliant or wonky. The fact that the templates needed to be trotted out every few hours lest they become corrupted was either brilliant realism that reflected the fragility of the system, or just the kind of plot hole that you could drive a UNIT Jeep through.


Sarah -
Plot hole? Surely you jest?


Harry -
All the Zygon humans were creepy - did this render them ineffective to sharp-eyed observers? Sarah noticed right away that Harry was cold and distant, and not his usual affable self. Can we assume the same of Zygon Forgill, Zygon Caber, and Zygon Nurse Helga?


Sarah -
Perhaps the Zygons were careful about selecting particularly unpleasant humans for their task. I did enjoy Sarah sticking her tongue out as the Zygon Caber left the library. A fruitless gesture, but an endearing moment.


Harry -
What were these people really like? Maybe the real Forgill is a wry, humourous sort -- quick with a quip, as we saw at the end. And maybe beneath that burly, shaggy exterior, Caber loves nothing more than to cuddle puppies and bunny rabbits. And maybe the real Nurse Helga likes a song and a brandy in the evening. We'll never know... but there's probably a fan fiction for that.


Sarah -
Now you're frightening me.

Speaking of frightening, we've not yet discussed Nessie! At last, the mystery of the Loch Ness Monster is solved!


Harry -
Does the Skarasen qualify as a prehistoric monster?!

(Hinchcliffe Horror Homage Tracker: Godzilla.)


Sarah -
She's got prehistoric props, so I say yes!


Harry -
The Doctor Who show-runners of the mid-70s were suddenly fascinated by gigantic monsters. There was T-Rex and pals in "Invasion of the Dinosaurs", Professor Kettlewell's giant robot last season, and now the Skarasen. Admirable efforts, all of them, but the awkwardness of the effects kept pulling me out of the stories. Most annoying was when we had to watch the actors watching the Skarasen in the Thames, relying on their dialogue to learn what was happening.

Still, Nessie seemed kind of cute.


Sarah -
No one understands her good points.


Harry -
And so, once the Zygons had been routed and Nessie returned to the deeps of Loch Ness, there's the closing scene back in Scotland. Were viewers supposed to know at the time that this was Harry's farewell as a regular companion? It's implied that he preferred to travel overland back to UNIT HQ, rather than in the TARDIS. We'll see how that worked out for the Doctor and Sarah shortly.


Sarah -
It's hard not to imagine the kiddos waiting for him to be back next week. Imagine their disappointment.


Harry -
As it turned out, that was it for Harry Sullivan. He started off as someone who would do the heavy lifting, and was unceremoniously written out of the show just a handful of stories later. We've seen this kind of off-screen, after-the-fact companion departure happen before with Liz Shaw and Dodo Chaplet. But never mind Dodo - she's insane, let her be.


Sarah -
Leaving Dodo be, both Liz's and Harry's departures annoy me. They were both excellent companions and deserved a good send off. Harry was smashing. I can imagine him as the perfect companion for the First Doctor.


Harry -
Farewell Harry! You were never an imbecile!


Sarah -
Cheerio, Old Boy!


Harry -
Well, I'm ready to put a wrap on this one. At the same time, "Terror of the Zygons" puts a wrap on the UNIT era of Doctor Who. Yes, we'll run into the Brigadier and Co. again from time to time, but UNIT won't figure this much in the Doctor's adventures again until the new series.


Sarah -
I'll miss the Brig, and, of course, my dear Benton.


Harry -
Nor shall we see the Zygons again until the new series. Broton had told the Doctor that his people's refugee fleet would take centuries to arrive at Earth. Turns out, it won't take that long until the Zygons square off against the Doctor and UNIT again. The more things change...


Sarah -
I was so glad that the Zygons came back for the 50th. They are excellent!


Harry -
Best line: The Doctor mocks Broton: "You can't rule the world in hiding. You've got to come out onto the balcony sometime and wave a tentacle."

Favourite moment: everyone reacting to the Brigadier's kilt.

Lasting image: the Zygons at the controls.

7/10


Sarah -
Best Line: The Doctor to the Duke of Forgill: "I'm not a party to any sort of nonsense, Your Grace."

Favorite Moment: Sarah finding the secret passage. I LOVE secret passages!

Lasting Image: Harry peering around the hay, watching Sarah from the loft.

7/10

 



Our marathon continues with Story #81 - Planet of Evil...

Story #79 - Revenge of the Cybermen (1975)

Harry -
I'm going to gush a lot about this one and here is why: "Revenge of the Cybermen" is my first Doctor Who story!


Sarah -
Huzzah! How exciting to start with the Cybermen!


Harry -
I can even narrow it down to part two, which stands out vividly as the first episode I ever saw. If you look at part two on its own, you can see how it would blow the mind of a first-time, 5-year-old viewer.


Sarah -
I can't imagine what it would have been like for me to watch Doctor Who as a child. Because my local PBS station showed Doctor Who at 11:00 p.m. on Sundays, there was no way for me to see them before I was in high school.


Harry -
Part two jumps between several interesting settings: the murky underground caverns, where a couple of nice humans encounter some wild looking aliens with flowing white hair. Then there's the control room on a space station, where this wild eyed man with a funny scarf and a yo-yo is doing sciency stuff. Then there's a spaceship coming to invade, and it contains giant silver robots with scary robot voices. Nonstop excitement. By the end of this episode, my young eyes must have been wide as saucers.


Sarah -
And so your Whovian fate was sealed! My eight-month-old nephew was at my house while I watched "Revenge of the Cybermen" yesterday. While he's still a wee lad, I'm hoping it made an impression on him!


Harry -
Maybe some of it got caught deep in his psyche.  He'll thank you for it someday, assuming he didn't watch only part one. Because for all the exhuberance I feel for this story, it has a dreadful opening.


Sarah -
Well, there is that.


Harry -
If they still gave individual titles to episodes, part one could have been called "Let's Remove All Suspense From This Story Immediately."


Sarah -
Running that at the beginning of an episode might have a slight impact on ratings. Hard to say.


Harry -
Our friends finally return to Nerva, but it's thousands of years too early. A plague has wiped out most of the crew, but right away we meet Professor Kellman, the most obvious villain ever. A mysterious ship approaches Nerva, only it isn't so mysterious. If the title of the story didn't give it away, the appearance of the Cybermen before the cliffhanger certainly does. And for anyone who really missed the obvious, the Doctor himself declares that it's the Cybermen, having reached that conclusion by uttering the word "Voga" a couple of times. Then Sarah gets attacked by a Cybermat, because why not.

What a weak opening.


Sarah -
Cybermats aren't as cute as they used to be, are they?


Harry -
Cuteness factor zero.


Sarah -
My favorite thing about this story is how utterly bonkers Tom Baker is throughout. He's been madcap for the entire first series, but takes it all over the top in "Revenge of the Cybermen". He truly is a mad man -- who really needs to find his blue box!


Harry -
It really does feel like the Doctor is just making it up as he goes along in this one. When the console he was rigging blew up in his face... well at least now we know how he lost his eyebrows.


Sarah -
One thing I will say for this episode is how perfect the Nerva crew are. The three of them all look like they've been cooped up on the beacon for ages and it's clearly wearing on them. If anyone is working it in this episode it's the three of them -- even if they're quickly whittled down to two.


Harry -
After part one and its pageant of obvious plot set ups, part two suddenly screams into life. The Doctor ingeniously expells the toxin from Sarah by sending her and Harry down to Voga via transmat. That was brilliant.

From there, the story becomes a rollicking adventure. I've already gushed about it above, so let me take this moment to point out the convergence of several guest actors beneath those Vogan masks. Kevin Stoney as Tyrum, Michael Wisher as Magrik and David Collings as Vorus. All three have made multiple appearances on Doctor Who over the years, and they were great as the squabbling Vogans.


Sarah -
Kevin Stoney is my single all-time favorite Doctor Who guest actor -- the man who brought us both Mavic Chen and Tobias Vaughan! It's a pity that he's hidden behind a mask, but it's a small price to pay to have him in the story.

The Voga location filming is brilliant. Better than any quarry, Wookey Hole Caves has to be one of the best location sites ever. The settings lends a certain verisimilitude to all the Voga scenes.


Harry -
I'm glad that the show runners deliberately sought out locations that were "not quarries" when it would have been so easy to fall back on that standby throughout this season.

The Vogans were interesting in that they weren't the villains in the story, but Vorus' scheming almost led to everyone's undoing. I like when the Doctor encounters alien species and steps right into the middle of an internal conflict.


Sarah -
To be accurate, he usually leaps more than steps. While there's often an obvious good and bad side in the internal conflict, things are murkier on Voga -- but we all know the Cybermen are the baddies.


Harry -
I also like when the Doctor and his friends have to deal with multiple enemies. In this one, we get the truly irritating Kellman, the suddenly emotive Cybermen and their charmless Cybermats, and the baton-wielding Vorus.


Sarah -
Kellman nailed the sci-fi villian look, didn't he? Gotta watch the guy in the turtleneck.


Harry -
Turtleneck = bad news.

Admitedly, this story is a bit wonky. The whole thing about gold being fatal to the Cybermen never made sense, nor did Kellman perpetrating mass murder on Nerva just to destroy the Cybermen. Then there was the suicide bomb plot that no one really believed (thought it did allow the Doctor to deliver poor Harry's eternal epithet). But on pure action and drama alone, this story is still great viewing.


Sarah -
There are loads of holes in the plot, but it's extremely watchable.

Poor Harry, he started out as Ian Chesterton and ended up as Bertie Wooster. Most wasteful use of a companion since Liz Shaw.

If I can register one more complaint -- the music was unbearable. Apparently, the producers thought they should take a break from Dudley Simpson, so Carey Blyton was brought in for one story. I can't help but think the story would have been stronger with Dudley's steady hand on the wheel.


Harry -
You're right about the music. For a moment, we could hear a bit of Pertwee-era electronica when the Cybermen were down in the caves, but then the score switched back to that hokey stuff that played throughout. Not a fan.


Sarah -
Speaking of Doctor Who stalwarts, Michael Briant's direction played up the action and helped us forget all those bits that didn't quite make sense.


Harry -
The atmospheric caverns made a great setting for all those shootouts and skidoo getaways (Go Sarah go!). As a one-time thing, this troop of over-the-top Cybermen were fascinating baddies. And I really loved the design of the Vogans and their internal strife.

The suspense and action of part four made it easy to forgive the weakness of part one. There's Sarah charging the Cybermen as they prepare to detonate their Cyberbombs on Nerva. "Detonation now" was a great moment of expectation. When that fails, the Cyberleader and Vorus move to bomb each other to oblivion, and the countdown to the thrilling finale is on.


Sarah -
Things did get a bit tense there in part four, but it all comes right in the end -- and the TARDIS finally arrives at Nerva! Huzzah!


Harry -
People are going to think I'm nuts when they see what I rate this story, but that final sequence was heartracing stuff. Who will bomb who first? Will it be mutually assured destruction? Will the TARDIS and her crew be lost forever?

When Tyrum shoots Vorus, Stevenson is forced to control the rocket. With the Doctor's help, he manoeuvres the rocket away from Nerva and crashes it into the Cybership. Awesome!

Then, seconds before Nerva crashes into Voga, the Doctor pilots it away and safely into open space. Awesome!

Everyone is reunited and the TARDIS arrives safe and sound. Awesome!


Sarah -
I've peeked ahead and have to admit that I'm surprised by your generous rating, but emotion is an important part of Doctor Who and I never mind sentimentality.


Harry -
I'll always be that wide-eyed 5-year-old when watching "Revenge of the Cybermen." 

Before anyone can take a breather, the Doctor picks up a tickertape message from the Brigadier, our friends are off once again, and one of the best seasons of Doctor Who comes to a close.


Sarah -
It's really just about a perfect season, isn't it? Having torn through in a couple weeks, it's almost hard to imagine having to watch it over months. I was getting impatient when I had to wait a day for the next episode.


Harry -
What a wild ride that was.  Forgive me Sarah, I need to stretch out and catch my breath!


Sarah -
Just don't step in any giant clams while you're stretching.


Harry -
Best Line:
"Why don't we just wait here?"
"I think my idea's better."
"What is your idea?"
"I don't know yet. That's the trouble with ideas, they only come a bit at a time."

Favourite Moment: the thrilling finale.

Lasting Image: Cybermen and Vogans battling in the caves.

Yes, the story is goofy, but it was well placed to follow the gloom of "Genesis of the Daleks." Riding a wave of old memories and warm feelings, I have to give this one...

9/10


Sarah -
Best Line: Sarah - "Well, we can't just sit here glittering, can we?"

Favorite Moment: I'll concur on the thrilling finale!

Lasting Image: The Doctor with his yo-yo and the Cyberman as the transmat lands him on Voga.

7/10

 


Our marathon continues with Story #80 - Terror of the Zygons...

Story #78 - Genesis of the Daleks (1975)

Harry -
Here it is, classic among classics. So dark, so riveting and so perfect in every way.

As soon as I'd finished part six, I watched the hour-long DVD featurette to soak up every drop of this story. It's that good. The featurette is great too - literally everyone gets interviewed.

Even though "Genesis" had its genesis in the kinder, gentler Letts/Dicks era, the harder edge that it got from Philip Hinchcliffe made it a true classic.


Sarah -
Genesis of the Daleks is my favorite Doctor Who story ever. There is a reason why it always tops the list of fan-favorites. It's absolutely perfect and there's not one thing I would change.


Harry -
Six-parters are cool again.


Sarah -
The opening scene is the most graphically violent we’ve seen so far – soldiers on a foggy battlefield being shot down by gunfire, made all the more horrifying by the use of slow motion.


Harry -
Something about gas masks always unsettles me. That and bowler hats.


Sarah -
I'm with you on both counts.

The Doctor, Sarah, and Harry are on their way back to Nerva from their Sontaran adventure on earth when those pesky Time Lords interfere again. They intercept the transmat, diverting our heroes to the middle of a battlefield on Skaro. The Kaleds and Thals are locked in a war of attrition, while the Kaleds work on developing a machine that will hold the creature into which they will eventually evolve.

The Time Lord charges the Doctor with preventing or altering the development of the Daleks. The Doctor resists initially, but relents when the Time Lord reminds him that taking on the occasional assignment is the price he pays for his freedom.


Harry -
That nameless Time Lord was rather cheery about the whole thing. What a funny lot.


Sarah -
Equipped with a time ring that will get him back to the TARDIS, and joined by his companions, the Doctor sets off to find the Daleks.


Harry -
Skaro is a miserable place. Blighted by war, its people mutated by chemical weapons, its scientists devising new and horrific ways to kill the enemy. The Kaled military officers stomp around in fascist uniforms giving each other Hitler salutes. At the centre of it all is Davros, the most brilliant and most evil scientist in all of Doctor Who.

What can we say about Davros that hasn't already been said? He's physically and morally repulsive, prone to megalo-hysteria and willing to kill his own people so that his work on the Daleks might continue. His ravings are offset by the lizardlike coldness of his right hand man, Security Commander Nyder. Michael Wisher and Peter Miles both created unforgettable villains here.


Sarah -
Just when the Daleks were on the verge of becoming boring, Terry Nation finds a way of making them interesting again! The Daleks' approach to the universe makes a lot more sense after we meet their creator. Wisher and Miles are absolutely brilliant in their sociopathic portrayals. How much fun must that have been?


Harry -
One thing I noticed is that our heroes keep encountering the scientific elite in this season. There was the Scientific Reform Society on Earth, there was Vira on Nerva (thought not a baddie), there was Styre with his torture experiments, and Davros and his minions on Skaro. An interesting cluster. I wonder how many kiddies in the 70s wanted to grow up to become maniacal scientists.


Sarah -
A friend of a friend, who is a scientist, was annoyed at all the mad scientist costumes at Halloween, wondering why kids didn't just dress up as run-of-the-mill scientists. I guess they're just more interesting when they're maniacal!

The Nazi imagery and comparisons are obvious in this story, which can only have made a stronger impact on contemporary audiences.


Harry -
Another note I jotted down when the Doctor and Harry ventured into the jungle wasteland between the cities was: "Island of Dr. Moreau." Here we see (or at least hear) many of Davros' early experiments on animals. Harry of course steps right into a killer clam and the Doctor has to rescue him. I wonder if they ever made a killer clam action figure? I want one.


Sarah -
I'm not sure we should have one of those around the Sofa, Old Boy, given your habit of stepping into deadly experiments!


Harry -
Watching all of Season 12 in order like this, Harry's role seems to diminish with each story. By this point, he's comically putting his feet in all the wrong places, making the occasional clothing swap, and generally standing beside the Doctor silently while Tom gets all the good lines. Unless I missed it, he didn't even get in a "Right-o" in this story.


Sarah -
Not even an "Old Thing!" Poor Harry, we hardly knew ye.


Harry -
You know you're watching a Terry Nation adventure when our heroes have to journey from one place to another, back and forth, repeatedly. It allowed for Sarah to become separated from the others, and set up that cliffhanger where she plummets off a scaffolding... only to land safely a couple of feet below, having somehow twisted her body so as to hit the deck beneath. Oh those Terry Nation cliffhangers.


Sarah -
A minor detail, which in no way detracts from the perfectness of the story!


Harry -
Overall though, this story is so grim. The death count is probably the highest of any in Doctor Who. People are constantly being gunned down. Lunatic Davros arranges for the bombing of the Kaled city - a holocaust that wipes out his own people, just so he can continue his work on the Daleks. Even Sarah and Harry are briefly thought to have died in the bombing. At the very end of the story, the Daleks wipe out the remainder of the scientific elite, including, apparently, Davros.


Sarah -
I almost -- almost! -- felt pity for Nyder and Davros, being turned upon by their creations. But, as we've learned time and time again, trying to control and outmaneuver the Daleks is never successful.


Harry -
It's no surprise that Hinchcliffe kept the humourous moments far and few between. The Doctor, Sarah and Harry are limited to one or two quips over the entire story. The Doctor also finds himself faced with the ultimate moral dilemma: what to do when given the power to kill someone he knows will perpetrate untold millions of deaths in the future. At first, he can't do it, but changes his mind later in the story. By then, the Daleks can no longer be wiped out entirely, only set back a few years in their development.

Was the Doctor's initial indecision the greatest tragedy of the story? Or was it Davros' unchecked power -- the legacy of which has reverberated through every season of Doctor Who since?


Sarah -
The Doctor's hesitation to commit genocide gets to the heart of what this series is about -- reason and compassion in the face of fear and hate. If the Doctor exterminated the Daleks without thought, he wouldn't be the Time Lord we know and love. It's a brilliant scene and Tom Baker makes us believe completely.


Harry -
Sarah and Harry didn't seem as torn over the question, but then again they weren't holding the two wires.


Sarah -
Exactly. They also don't have the same sense of time as the Doctor, which makes a difference.


Harry -
We've mentioned the brilliant performances by Wisher and Miles, but in this story, the supporting cast were outstanding overall. In particular, I liked Dennis Chinnery and James Garbutt as Gharman and Ronson, two defiant members of the science elite. Although this was Garbutt's only appearance on Doctor Who, Chinnery had a very brief appearance aboard the Mary Celeste in "The Chase", and he will return once more in the Colin Baker era.


Sarah -
The Doctor and his companions leave Skaro with the Thals and Daleks as the only inhabitants. We know what will happen down the road -- the Daleks will continue to develop within the city while the Thals evolve into to tall, sexy, blond, and peaceful farmers, who will eventually be visited by an old man in a blue box. And so it goes...


Harry -
In the DVD featurette, Letts and Dicks shared a chuckle over the fact that they sent Nation back to the drawing board after he'd come to them with a story they felt he'd already done twice before. What he came back with this time turned out to be one of the best Dalek stories ever.

"Genesis of the Daleks" is gripping and relentless. Every character in the story has their conscience tested, even tortured. It's tragic that so few people get out of this one alive, but that's the power of it. You can almost hear William Hartnell's lament from the end of "The Daleks' Master Plan": What a waste. What a terrible waste…


Sarah -
An absolute waste, but brilliant television.

Should we try to get back to Nerva?


Harry -
We'll get there, one of these tries.


Sarah -
Best Line: "Do I have the right? Simply touch one wire against the other and that's it. The Daleks cease to exist. Hundreds of millions of people, thousands of generations can live without fear... in peace, and never even know the word 'Dalek'."

Favorite Moment: The Doctor's moral dilemma.

Lasting Image: The Doctor holding the two wires.

10/10


Harry -
Best Line: We are agreed on this one!

Favourite Moment: The Dalek's chilling final tirade, roared right into the camera.

Lasting Image: Davros crushes the hypothetical vial between his fingers, setting himself above the gods.

9/10

 



Our marathon continues with Story #79 - Revenge of the Cybermen...