Story #98 - The Ribos Operation (1978)

Sarah -
I have always and will always love "The Ribos Operation". It's the first Doctor Who story I ever saw, late on a Sunday evening in the autumn of 1983. My dear cousin Rich suggested that I watch the series, which I had heard about but never seen. I stayed up late on a school night and fell immediately in love with every single thing about Doctor Who. Thirty-one years later, I still get a chill when I hear the opening theme.


Harry -
Shout out to cousin Rich! Did you ever imagine where the show would take you and the people you would meet?


Sarah -
Who could possibly imagine? You know what else I never could have imagined? That Doctor Who would be so massive thirty years later -- never could have seen that coming!


Harry -
There's a local shoppe near my home that sells (for lack of a better all-encompassing term) pop culture stuff: t-shirts, toys, souvenirs, etc. The first display when you enter is a massive pile of Doctor Who goodies. Unbelieveable!

As for us here, it's the Key to Time season -- almost a kind of mini-reboot to give the show a kick. New companion Romana, new-old companion K-9, same old Tom, but the Doctor has been given a mission that will take all of Season 16 to complete.

We also learn of the White and Black Guardians, in an opening scene that was a throwback to those times when a random Time Lord would appear to the Doctor. But the Guardians seem much more powerful, possibly omnipotent. The desert scene with the White Guardian was odd -- not sure what they were trying to portray there. He did enjoy sipping that drink, whatever it was (even though it looked like mouthwash!). Maybe someone thought that's what a mint julep looks like?


Sarah -
The White Guardian scene is very odd. Is the life of the White Guardian a never-ending seaside cocktail party? Nice work if you can get it!

I love when the Doctor tells the White Guardian that he doesn't need an assistant; that he and K-9 can handle it. I'm pretty sure Robert Holmes just transcribed a conversation with Tom Baker for that scene. Still, after two seasons of the Doctor explaining things to a "savage," Romana is a refreshing change of pace.


Harry -
The show's writers and costume designers must have been thrilled with the new remit.


Sarah -
A recent graduate from the Academy with a triple first, she's not impressed with the Doctor's 51 per cent ... in his second attempt.


Harry -
She's clearly a carry-over of the character Rodan from the previous story. Haughty but with the smarts to back it up, her distinct lack of awe throws the Doctor for a loop. It's a prickly opening scene for the characters, but enjoyable to watch. It's been ages since someone has made the Doctor so uncomfortable. Perhaps not since Barbara?


Sarah -
The Doctor always has trouble with the smart ones. Liz knew how to get under his skin, before her skirts got short and the character tanked. Zoe was clearly smarter than the Doctor but Jamie was there to balance her out, so things didn't get too difficult. That said, I think you're correct -- no one has challenged him this much since Barbara.


Harry -
At this point I'll add that "The Ribos Operation" is one of my favourites too. As the scene shifts to the curiously Czarist Russian setting on a distant planet, we meet one unforgettable character after another, brought to life by Bob Holmes' dialogue and some fantastic acting (and overacting!).


Sarah -
How fabulous is Iain Cuthbertson as Garron? Talk about a first-class charlatan! Robert Holmes continues his penchant for doubles acts in giving Garron the hapless Unstoffe for a partner. Add Paul Seed as the Graff Vynda-K and no scenery will be left unchewed on the Grade 3 planet of Ribos!


Harry -
It's great how Holmes slowly teased out Garron's plot. It first seems as if he and Unstoffe are conducting a dime-store jewel heist, but it expands into a deal for the sale of a planet involving millions of gold opeks. Garron is a loveable rogue bursting with Falstaffian charm. Unstoffe, with his open and honest face, is a master of voices and storytelling. His yarn about the scringestone was brilliant. I was going to say it was overdone, but nothing in this story is quite overdone as the Graff-- or should I say, THE GRAFF VYNDA-K!


Sarah -
The Graff is definitely all-caps sort of guy. The scringestone scene is a particular favorite of mine. Such an open and honest face!

The award for most endearing performance has to go to Timothy Bateson as Binro the Heretic. The scene when Unstoffe explains to Binro that his theory of the planet revolving around the sun is correct is perhaps one of the most touching in the series history. Poor Binro dies protecting Unstoffe, but happy in the knowledge that he was correct.


Harry -
Binro the Heretic, Ribos' very own Galileo. He's a throw-in character without much impact to the overall story, but very endearing and tragic. The same goes for the Seeker, hauled out to do the Graff's bidding only to lose her life too. Her costume is one of my favourites.


Sarah -
It's a good look. Who doesn't like a good bone shaker?


Harry -
The Captain of the guards was a familiar face -- none other than Prentis Hancock, making his fourth and final appearance on Doctor Who. I liked the smug satisfaction he projected, right up until the end when he decided to fire a cannon and bury everyone in the catacombs. That escalated quickly!

One thing I really like about this story is that despite the old Russian look and feel of Ribos -- with state jewels and curfews -- we never see or even hear about the ruler of the place. Yes, there are some fur-hatted guards stomping about, but aside from them we only meet the lower denizens who dwell in the Concourse, like Binro, or the Seeker, who gets panned for her "primitive mumbo jumbo".


Sarah -
I like that the ruler is irrelevant to the story. The Graff doesn't need to meet the ruler to buy the planet, he'll just deal with the broker and take control.


Harry -
I wonder if Paul Seed was directed to play the Graff over the top, or if it came naturally during filming. That's got to be the second-shoutiest character in all of Doctor Who.


Sarah -
To your point about things escalating quickly, I always feel that the story escalates quickly and then ends far too quickly. Every time I see it, I have that moment where I'm surprised it's over. It's a quick wrap up for a jaunty story.


Harry -
By the time we get to part four, everything is moving at breakneck speed, even though everyone is just running in and out of the catacombs. Ultimately no one gets what they were after except the Doctor and Romana. Binro too, I guess. He died, but sort of happily.


Sarah -
Poor Binro. The Doctor does pull a nice double-switch on Garron when he tries to pocket the scringestone...I mean Jethryk...or, rather, the disguised Key to Time.


Harry -
What a romp! I fear it might be all downhill after the first story of Season 16.


Sarah -
Oh dear. I'm trying to watch it with fresh eyes and take it as it comes.


Harry -
What do you think of the "Key to Time" set up? The White Guardian didn't really indicate what would happen to our friends once it was fully assembled.


Sarah -
It's all so unclear, isn't it. "Go find the pieces of the key, assemble it, you have no choice, here's an assistant." Thanks White Guardian, we'll get right on that.


Harry -
I still cringe thinking about that green stuff he was sipping.

Best Line:
Garron: "There's no comfort in dying. I've always said it's the last thing I want to do."

Favourite Moment: the slapstick glove-slapping exchange between the Doctor and the Graff.

Lasting Image: Romana's all-white ensemble.

9/10


Sarah -
Onward to the second segment of the Key to Time!

Best Lines:
The Doctor : "I'll call you Romana."
Romana : "I don't like Romana."
The Doctor : "It's either Romana or Fred."
Romana : "All right, call me Fred."

Favorite Moment: Unstoffe telling Binro that his theory is correct.

Lasting Image: Everyone listening to Unstoffe's Scringestone story in the reliquary.

8/10

Our marathon continues with Story #99 - The Pirate Planet...

Story #97 - The Invasion of Time (1978)

Harry -
After the awfulness of "Underworld", I was quite looking forward to "The Invasion of Time." There's so much on the surface to recommend it: it's a season-ending 6-parter, it's set on Gallifrey, it features a double alien threat, and there's also a double companion farewell. We also get to see much more of the inner TARDIS. So much win!

And yet when I watched it all in one go, it wasn't all that satisfying. Maybe I should have watched it in smaller portions?


Sarah -
I hear what you're saying, but I have a very different reaction to the story. Yes, it has its weaknesses. The story was written at the 11th hour and designed to be as inexpensive as possible, but I can't help loving the story. It's so much fun to watch -- as long as you don't think about the actual story too much.


Harry -
The most interesting thing here might be that we've finally found a story we don't completely agree on.


Sarah -
It had to happen eventually, I guess.


Harry -
I think this is one where the memories of it are better than the story itself. The opening scenes were intriguing, as we see the Doctor plotting an invasion of Gallifrey with some unseen cohorts. These are echoes of his erratic behavior in the opening of "The Deadly Assassin," but we know the Doctor too well to believe he'd get in league with anyone against his own people, doddering old fools they may be. And gosh there's a lot of doddering here.


Sarah -
We do agree on the doddering. The portrayal of the Time Lords in stories like "The Deadly Assassin" and "The Invasion of Time" is my preferred way to see them. In earlier stories, they're portrayed as god-like beings. Seeing the petty politicking of Gallifrey makes it easy to understand why the Doctor would choose to get the hell out of there.

Perhaps the story's greatest plot weakness is that we don't know why the Doctor is helping the Vardans in the first place. We don't know who they are, and neither does he. There's no indicating how or why they contacted him, we just sally forth into the story. I mostly chose to ignore the questions and enjoy the ride.

Fun fact: Mr. Smith has threatened for years to cover himself in plastic wrap and cosplay a Vardan at Chicago TARDIS. I should double-dog dare him to do it this year.


Harry -
That costume would be easy to make, and imagine how many people would ask him who he was!

When I started watching the story, it felt like we'd skipped an episode and walked into the middle of something already well underway. For a six-parter, the whole thing felt stitched together from odds and ends. There was the Doctor-betrays-Gallifrey angle, the Doctor-becomes-president angle, the Vardan invasion (which wasn't much of an invasion, as they got zapped away the moment they let their guard down) and finally the Sontaran runaround two-parter.


Sarah -
Yes, but: the TARDIS swimming pool, endless corridors, Storeroom 23A, Ancillary Power Station disguised as an art gallery!

Oh dear, I think I'm starting to talk myself down from my enthusiasm...


Harry -
Never curb your enthusiasm!

The TARDIS swimming pool was great, as was the art gallery. I wasn't as enthused by the corridors and staircases -- they seemed too grungy compared to the pristine white console room.


Sarah -
You're not the only one. There are plenty of disparaging comments about the Doctor's upkeep of the TARDIS from the visiting Time Lords.


Harry -
The show-runners also had to prepare a suitable exit angle for Leela. Now, I'm intrigued by a man in red tights as much as anyone, but was there enough in this story to make Leela's bonding with Andred believeable? I say nay!


Sarah -
It's one of the worst companion exits in the history of the series. Still, those were some tight tights.


Harry -
I wonder how much lead time "David Agnew" (hah!) got before he had to write Leela's departure. I know Louise had been clear about wanting to leave the show. Do you remember that video she played at our first Chicago TARDIS? It was a compilation of every time the Doctor had shushed Leela. And it went on and on! Who wouldn't have grown tired of that gig?


Sarah -
I do remember that. It was hysterical. Apparently, there was hope among the production team that Louise Jameson would stay on for another season, so they kept the ending open in case she changed her mind. She and Andred did manage to work in a few moments that at least hint at attraction, but they certainly don't lead the audience to expect her to stay with him.


Harry -
It would have been way more amazing had Leela chosen to stay and bond with Rodan. Their relationship was truly a case of opposites attract. I did like how Rodan evolved from being all haughty in her sheltered life inside the Citadel, to being shattered by the world outside, to donning animal skins and joining the Vikings as they stormed the Citadel.


Sarah -
I really like Rodan. She's more flexible in her thinking than the rest of the Time Lords. She should be the next president!


Harry -
Funny enough, we are about to meet another Gallifreyan character who does just that!


Sarah -
I did find myself wondering if Rodan was the inspiration for Romana. I believe she's the first Time Lady we've met, so why not introduce another?


Harry -
Back to the story, I can't think of those "outsiders" as anything but Vikings. There was a strong vibe of recycled costumes going on there.


Sarah -
I love that "dropping out" of Time Lord culture involves becoming shaggy warriors!

Can we at least agree that Milton Johns' performance as the obsequious Castellan Kelner is a delight? Such a toady collaborator -- Johns milks it for all it's worth!


Harry -
Oh, Milton Johns! That Castellan was so oily I wanted to wash my hands after each of his scenes. Epic toadying.


Sarah -
He had me giggling through the entire story.


Harry -
Equally reptilian was John Arnatt as Borusa. What a cold lizard he was, although his "running through corridors" moment with the Doctor was hilarious.


Sarah -
He was perfect. The caliber of the actors in this story often put me in the mind of Shakespearean drama -- minus the brilliant writing, of course.


Harry -
Something I have noticed cropping up -- especially in this story -- is Tom looking and acting directly into the camera. These moments create a kind of hammy self-reverence that I'm not wild about, because they make it seem like it's "The Tom Baker Show" and not Doctor Who.


Sarah -
Tom was very TOM in this story, wasn't he? The first one is amusing, but it gets tedious very quickly.


Harry -
Okay that's enough grumbling from me. Let's talk about the Sontarans!

...oh dear.


Sarah -
So disappointing. Could the costume department not manage to design a helmet that allowed the actor to look out both eye slots at the same time? At first it was awkward. Eventually, it became so distracting I couldn't look at anything else!


Harry -
The one eye through the helmet was creepy. I don't know what happened here. Was it really that hard to reuse or replicate the look of the original Sontarans? They are a race of clones after all. Stor, with his two black eyes, bad teeth and cockney lisp, was a pale imitation of Linx and Styre.

Let's not spend this entire review whingeing, Sarah. Surely there's some good in "The Invasion of Time." The title is cool. There's that. It's always fun to get a glimpse at Gallifrey, because it reinforces why the Doctor left it and never wanted to return. The show-runners obviously wanted to throw everything into this season finale. On paper it probably sounded great. For a six-parter it's one of the fastest-moving ones, even if the final product left me feeling a bit meh.


Sarah -
Considering some of the six-parters we've endured, there's a lot to be said for "The Invasion of Time". It really never drags.

Sadly, it's time to say goodbye to another companion. What do you make of the Leela Era?


Harry -
For the longest time I believed that Jo Grant spent her entire time with the Doctor as just a one-dimensional stock companion. As we saw earlier in our marathon, that was not the case. Instead, the one-dimensional stock companion mantle may fall upon Leela. She didn't really show much character development from her introduction in "The Face of Evil" to her departure here. It may have been a term of endearment, but the Doctor never rose above calling her "Savage" in most stories -- and that seemed to cement her status. She did a lot of heavy lifting and showed a lot of personal strength, but I wish we could have gone deeper into the character. In the end, she runs off unexpectedly with a man in red tights. Did I mention I was quite fond of those tights?


Sarah -
I can only agree that Andred knew how to rock those tights!

I disagree about Leela's character development, but only a bit. I would say that there was some growth in her character, but I suspect the bad feelings between Louise and Tom kept them from developing the rapport that he had with Elisabeth Sladen. I often found myself admiring Louise Jameson's performance when it was clear that she was doing all she could with subpar material. The writers often seemed unsure how to handle her character, but Jameson made the best of it and never allowed Leela to be anything other than a strong savage warrior.


Harry -
The fierce loyalty she had for the Doctor is what I will remember most about Leela.


Sarah -
She never lost faith in him -- even when he had her thrown out of the citadel!


Harry -
Best Line:
Vardan - "We have suspected the Doctor since we first made contact. We shall deal with him soon."
Doctor [elsewhere] - "Well at least they don't suspect me."

Favourite Moment: Castellan Kelner bowing and scraping before the Vardans.

Lasting Image: Stor's loony face.

6/10


Sarah -
Best Line:
Borusa : "You have access to the greatest source of knowledge in the universe."
The Doctor : "Well, I do talk to myself sometimes."

Favorite Moment: The Doctor's induction as President

Lasting Image: The Doctor, wearing the Sash of Rassilon, holding the Rod of Rassilon, and sitting on the Sofa of Rassilon! Wait, I think that last one was just my imagination...

7/10

Our marathon continues with Story #98 - The Ribos Operation...

Story #96 - Underworld (1978)

Harry -
Um... did we just accidentally watch a fan film? That couldn't have been proper Doctor Who, surely?


Sarah -
I have no idea what that was, Old Boy. Now I understand how I've never seen this story before -- it has to be the nadir of the Tom Baker era.


Harry -
It's certainly a low point. [*laff track*]

One of the story's first images -- Leela standing at the TARDIS console looking utterly bored -- should serve as a warning to anyone venturing into this one.


Sarah -
She looked a little too bored, in fact. "The TARDIS -- so simple, a savage can fly it!"


Harry -
As the episodes rolled by in a ceaseless repetition of cavern chases and awkward closeups, I became astonished that the BBC allowed this to air. The production is shoddy beyond belief. Some effort was made to make the flight deck of the spaceship R1C somewhat different. Those cushy lounge chairs seemed out of place, and yet totally suitable for a 70s Sci Fi set. We meet another unremarkable space crew clad in ridiculous foil uniforms. Had I not written down their names I'd have forgotten them already.


Sarah -
You wrote them down? Overachiever!


Harry -
Once our friends arrive in the TARDIS (heard but not seen), things get a bit interesting. There's the usual suspicion and drawing of weapons, but at least the Doctor and Leela aren't accused of murder right off the bat.


Sarah -
That's a change of pace -- and perhaps the only surprise in the entire story. From there we head into a fairly literal retelling of Jason and the Golden Fleece, which somehow manages to make the story even less interesting than I remember from high school.


Harry -
Some of the concepts in "Underworld" were brilliant, like the Miniens who have regenerated a thousand times, the pacifist beam used to subdue hostile people, and the lost ship P7E which was the core of a still-forming planet on the edge of the cosmos.


Sarah -
The regeneration was particularly interesting, given the Minyan connection to the Time Lords. The Minyans recognize the TARDIS as the technology of "the gods" and we learn that helping the Minyans evolve faster and the the disastrous results lead to the Time Lords adopting a policy of non-interference. This may be the most interesting part of the entire story.


Harry -
It's got the makings of a fascinating story, but all we see for most of it is a bunch of unenthusiastic people running around in front of a blue screen, wearing awfully cheap costumes. We first saw the use of primitive blue screen technology during the Pertwee era. It was obvious onscreen, looked awkward more often than not, but at least they used it sparingly. Here, the entire underworld is blue screen. It looks okay for a few seconds, but it just wasn't capable of supporting prolonged visuals. The technology wasn't good enough yet.


Sarah -
The color separate overlay is an obvious cost-saving measure that cheapens the entire look of the story. Apparently, the budget was so tight that canceling the entire story and allocating its entire budget to "The Invasion of Time" was considered.


Harry -
The Trogs looked like unused extras from the live-action Flintstones movie. And what the hell were all the hooded security guards wearing? It looked like creepy mediaeval fetish costumes. Tom and Louise looked like they hated every minute of this one.


Sarah -
There's a great piece of footage in the bonus features where Tom's prattling on to one of the guest actors about how he was really born at the wrong time and should have been born during the Victoria Era...blah...blah...blah... Louise looks so epically bored that she's spending her time watching the tech who's just outside the shot with great absorption. I understand exactly how she feels.


Harry -
There was that one moment when Leela dragged Idas from the caverns into the body of the ship, and I wondered if they cast a particularly skinny actor so that Louise could haul him around easily. Wondering about casting decisions - that's how uninterested I was in the story itself.

The production was a letdown, the camera work was jarring, the acting was wooden, the overuse of repeat footage was terrible. The reprise at the start of part three clocked in at over two minutes. General awfulness throughout. Would you say this Doctor Who's Plan 9 From Outer Space?


Sarah -
This has to be our most disappointing viewing since "The Space Pirates" -- and that at least had the excuse of being a recon!


Harry -
In the end, our friends outwitted possibly the most dimwitted antagonists in all of Doctor Who, and they returned to the TARDIS. Calling Jackson "Jason" as they departed was sort of like breaking the fourth wall and pointing out to the viewers precisely which mythical retelling we'd all been through. By that point, I just wanted this hot mess to be over with. 

The final disappointment was that we never got to see the painting that the Doctor was working on.

Best Line:
DOCTOR: "Have you ever heard of the Flying Dutchman?"
LEELA: "No."
DOCTOR: "Pity, I've often wanted to know who he was."

Favourite Moment: the Doctor bursts into the console room wearing a painter's smock and hat.

Lasting Image: the cushy lounge chairs on the R1C's flight deck

2/10


Sarah -
Best Line: Re: the bombs
Jackson: What are we going to do
Doctor: I think I’d better get rid of them, don’t you?

Favorite Moment: The Doctor getting caught up in the moment, chanting, “The quest is the quest” along with the crew.

Lasting Image: The Doctor in his painting gear.

2/10

Our marathon continues with Story #97 - The Invasion of Time...