Story #106 - The Creature from the Pit (1979)

Sarah -
Going into "The Creature from the Pit", I found myself trying to remember the story, to no avail. It all came back to me as soon as I saw the Lady Adrasta's headgear -- which made me realize how much time we've spent talking about hats during this marathon. It's hard to beat a good hat, isn't it?


Harry -
It's turbans a-go-go in this story. And whomever wears the grandest turban, leads them all.


Sarah -
The Doctor and Romana receive a distress call, which leads them to Chloris, a verdant world lacking metal resources. The planet's ruler, Lady Adrasta, rules with an iron fist and seems to enjoy hurling her perceived enemies into a deep pit, which contains -- believe it or not -- a creature.


Harry -
It's all very literal in the early going.

There's a giant shell in the jungle which seems to be the source of much study. The Doctor suspects it might be alive, and the source of the distress call (or more like a scream of pain).

The pit's functionality is quickly demonstrated to the Doctor and Romana. Ever-curious, the Doctor decides to leap in and learn for himself about this so-called creature.


Sarah -
The Doctor jumping into the pit is a wonderful moment. Adrasta assumes he's crashed to the bottom, while he's hanging on to the side teaching himself Tibetan. Not to be too much of a picky fan here, but doesn't the Doctor already speak Tibetan?


Harry -
That scene probably came from the funny bone of Douglas Adams.


Sarah -
I suspect you're correct there. In any case, the Doctor eventually makes his way to the bottom of the pit, where he encounters the delightful soothsayer, Organon. Organon was tossed into the pit by Adrasta for predicting that she would receive a visitor from beyond the stars. He's managed to survive in the pit for many years off of the scraps tossed down by Adrasta's guards. After a quick encounter with the creature, they begin exploring the caverns to find a way out.


Harry -
By that point, we were already halfway through this four-parter. I noted that this was a slow moving story, as in, not really all that much had happened by the midway point.


Sarah -
It is a bit on the draggy side.


Harry -
We see that Adrasta is a kind of metals oligarch, owner of the only mine still operating on Chloris. One assumes her riches buy her a legion of turbaned and hockey-masked guards with which to wield power. She also seems very consumed with the desire to have the creature in the pit killed. Seeing that hurling people down into the pit has had no effect, she tries to utilize Romana and K-9 against the creature.

Could we pause here to freak out over K-9?


Sarah -
Yes, let's. I almost went with K-9 as my lede, but was overwhelmed by the power of the turban.


Harry -
His voice! His voice is all wrong! I try to rationalize the sudden casting of David Brierly in the role as perhaps K-9's vocal cells being botched up by the Doctor during his latest repair job. But for me this is the best example of why characters in the Whoniverse should never be played by replacement actors. Every time K-9 spoke it pulled me out of the story and made me wonder where John Leeson was. It's too much of a distraction/freak out.

Am I overreacting? Did K-9's voice bug you?


Sarah -
You are not overreacting. I was disturbed every time K-9 spoke. First he's left behind for multiple adventures in a row, now this. What is the point of having a faithful robot dog if you're going to treat him like this?


Harry -
There would have been countless outraged online discussions about this were it happening today.


Sarah -
Ha! Can you even imagine?


Harry -
Also a distraction was the shaggy horde of bandits who kidnapped Romana. Taking a cue from her, "The Hirsutes" might be a good name for them collectively. Led by the avaricious Torvin, their sole purpose it seems is to steal metals from anyone, anywhere. Later in the story, they serve a surprise purpose, but everytime we cut to them, the story flagged a bit. Romana's attitude towards them kind of mirrored my own.


Sarah -
That was a bit of local color, no? Romana knew exactly how to play them, although I suspect anyone could have managed to thwart those dolts.

Ambling along, it turns out that the creature is actually an ambassador from the planet Tythonus, which has a lack of chlorophyll but an abundance of metal -- the exact opposite of Chloris. He arrived with the offer of a trade treaty for the Adrasta when she chucked him into the pit. Now that's awkward!


Harry -
The story picked up in the second half, as we learn of Erato and his plight in the pit these past 15 years. Erato is something like a gigantic brain protected by a cerebral membrane, and can communicate through the pentastar-shaped device that the Hirsutes deliver to the pit in a sudden trancelike state. Handy!


Sarah -
And it gives the Hirsutes a reason to be in the story!


Harry -
You mentioned Organon earlier, and Geoffrey Bayldon's performance was wonderful. The old soothsayer is a bit of a charlatan but hard to dislike, unlike the Hirsutes, for whom I had no time. An appreciative nod goes to Eileen Way, for her portrayal of Karela. Her body language and dubious glances whenever Adrasta started up with one of her tantrums said it all -- Karela was content to serve her tyrannical boss, but only because there was no better option for her on Chloris.


Sarah -
Speaking of Eileen Way, we last met her as Old Mother in "An Unearthly Child". I'm sure she never imagined she'd be back on the show thirteen years later!


Harry -
She probably gave her agent the same dirty looks.

The theme of the story is communications in its many different forms. Beyond the obvious example of verbal communications and body language, we see the Doctor give a couple of silent cues to Romana before taking action. Then there's the Doctor's first attempts at communicating directly with Erato, through gesture and touch. It was an interesting theme that carried through the story.


Sarah -
I say, Old Boy, your English degree is showing!


Harry -
This is why I went to university!


Sarah -
I liked the detail of Erato speaking with the voice of whomever touched his communicator. It led to Adrasta's downfall when she had to listen to an accounting of her abuses of Erato in her own voice.


Harry -
That Adrasta sure was a Chloris leach, man.


Sarah -
You're killing me over here, Harry.


Harry -
Glad she got her just desserts, smothered to death by the wolf weeds and Erato.


Sarah -
So, speaking of Erato, the monster was a bit um, well, you know...phallic in those early scenes. The featurette on the DVD was kind of hysterical as everyone tried to explain as delicately as possible the changes they had to make to the creature. But I digress.


Harry -
Oh my word.

Tom must have been roaring inwardly during his attempt at communicating with one of Erato's phallic bits.

Anyway, once Adrasta was dispatched with and Erato rescued from the pit, there was 10 minutes of story left, so why not concoct a giant star that threatened to destroy Chloris' entire solar system. Yoiks! Activate the tractor beam!

Okay...


Sarah -
That was not the most effective bit of padding, but the time was filled and the day saved, so we're off to our next adventure. Hurrah!

Best Line: 'Stands to reason.' Stupid expression. 'Stands to reason.' Why doesn't it 'lie down' to reason? Much easier to reason lying down.

Favorite Moment: The Doctor leaping into the pit

Lasting Image: The Doctor teaching himself Tibetan

6/10


Harry -
Best Line:
Doctor - "Did you hear what I said just now?"
Romana - "About this being a frightening experience but don't be alarmed?"
Doctor - "Yes. I didn't say that."
Romana - "You didn't?"
Doctor - "No. I was too busy being frightened and alarmed."

Favourite Moment: the Doctor crashes through the shell in the pit. (Lots of action for Tom in this story.)

Lasting Image: Adrasta's power turban.

7/10

Our marathon continues with Story #107 - Nightmare of Eden...

Story #105 - City of Death (1979)

Harry -
Oh la la! The TARDIS randomizer has landed the Doctor and Romana in Paris, 1979. As the Doctor says, that year is not the best vintage, but our friends' sightseeing is soon halted by intrigue and danger.


Sarah -
The Doctor describes the vintage of 1979 as more of a table wine, but it can't be all that bad if it's given us this cracking story. I love Paris in the Springtime...and I really love "City of Death". The story is consistently rated as a top fan favorite and it's easy to understand why. From the first moments of the story, we know we're in for something special. "City of Death" just doesn't feel like any other Doctor Who story. We should be eternally grateful to Producer Graham Williams and Production Unit Manager John Nathan-Turner for jiggling the budget and finding money for a location shoot. Paris is a gorgeous backdrop and Baker and Ward look like they're having the time of their lives!


Harry -
"Marvelous, just marvelous." The external shots were very marvelous, and immersed the Doctor, Romana, and us the viewers in that unique Parisian atmosphere.

Things take an odd turn at a local café. First, our friends both experience a funny sensation, which they suspect is a crack in time. Then at the Louvre, they encounter a couple of mysterious characters: a woman in possession of a bracelet made of alien technology, and an armed man in a trenchcoat who pursues them back to the café. To top it off, a couple of pistol-wielding thugs quickly arrive to seize the bracelet (which our friends had snatched), then haul the entire company out to the elegantly sinister château of one Count Carlos Scarlioni.


Sarah -
Ah, Count Scarlioni! Julian Glover returns to Doctor Who, having played Richard the Lionheart in "The Crusade" in 1966, and earns his place as one of the series more memorable humanoid baddies. He's so wonderful as the handsome and charming Scarlioni -- and that white suit! Welcome to 1979.


Harry -
Glover's clothing stands out as something that would be worn by someone who doesn't give a damn what people think. Like, for instance, an alien willing to wipe out all of human history to save his own skin. That kimono thing he put on midway through the story was an odd, sudden costume change. I wonder if the white suit had gotten stained and dashed off to the cleaners.


Sarah -
I really kind of love that white suit and would like you to take it under consideration for future cosplay.

"City of Death" is filled with great characters. Tom Chadbon's Duggan is the eternal bull in a china shop, always ready to smash down a door or knock someone out before asking any questions.


Harry -
Duggan is a classic supporting character, one of the all time best. Imagine a Duggan spinoff series!


Sarah -
I would definitely watch that. I especially enjoy his scenes with Romana, when they're separated from the Doctor. She's irritated with his behavior, and treats him like a overactive child in need of redirection. A favorite Duggan moment is when he asks Romana, "You know what I don't understand?" and she responds, "I expect so."

The story is filled with pithy exchanges, which is what we expect from the pen of David Agnew -- a witty bloke whose work bears a striking resemblance to Douglas Adams.


Harry -
Another great spontaneous Doctor Who writer in the footsteps of Robin Bland!


Sarah -
I love the image of Adams and Williams holed up for the weekend, downing black coffee and desperately reworking the script. "City of Death" is the pinnacle of Adams' work on Doctor Who and it's a pity his name isn't actually on it.


Harry -
Tom Baker's Doctor continued to be somewhat restrained in this story - having the comedic Duggan tagging along probably influenced that. Tom still produced an amazing performance when our friends were first hauled into the château's drawing room, then down into the cellar.


Sarah -
I love the scene in the drawing room. Tom is at full throttle, but it's all in service to the story and works so well.


Harry -
That was quite the cellar. A space hundreds of years old, containing a gloomy cell, a bizarre art stash, and an overworked scientist. David Graham's Professor Kerensky was another great piece of the story. Poor fellow thought he was saving world hunger. Little did he know he was working for a multi-era alien with zero concern for the future of humanity, or its past.


Sarah -
It's so easy to get those two things confused. Happens to me all the time!


Harry -
Speaking of the past, I loved Glover's shock appearance as Captain Tancredi in Renaissance Florence!


Sarah -
You have anticipated my favorite moment of the story. No matter how many times I watch it, that moment always catches me by surprise.


Harry -
The best part is that Tancredi knows all about the Doctor. It's a mind-bending cliffhanger.


Sarah -
What did you think of the Countess? It's hard to imagine not knowing that you're married to an alien, but I guess he'd had a lot of practice by that time. I have to admit I was horribly distracted by her cigarette holder for the first half of the story. She took occasional puffs, but clearly wasn't smoking. Perhaps it was an attempt to make her more of villain, but in the end she was just another victim of Scaroth.


Harry -
Yes, Catherine Schell's Countess was reduced to being just another piece of furniture in the Count's château. She wasn't terribly villainous, more like a pawn in Scaroth's grand scheme.


Sarah -
Her death is so sad.


Harry -
Jumping back to Florence for a moment, did you notice Tancredi's joyless, world-weary henchman? It was none other than Peter "PACKER!" Halliday. Perhaps he's one of Packer's ancestors.


Sarah -
PACKER! I was thinking he looked familiar, but didn't think to look him up. Shouting "PACKER!" is still one of my favorite things to do!


Harry -
My overall impression of the story is that everyone is having a whale of a time. As you mentioned earlier, Tom and Lalla are enjoying themselves immensely. The villains relish their villainy, Duggan is hilarious, and the story literally ends with a bang. Make that two bangs, as Scaroth finally meets his end when Kerensky's machinery is destroyed by Hermann.


Sarah -
It's a satisfying ending all around!


Harry -
But wait, there's more! A cameo appearance by John Cleese!


Sarah -
And Eleanor Bron!


Harry -
I must confess that I'm unaware of Eleanor Bron, although she will return to Doctor Who with a larger role in a coming story. Tom Chadbon and Peter Halliday will also make a return, so we haven't seen the last of them either.

Anyway, what a classic, Douglas Adamsy touch.


Sarah -
Do you remember your reaction the first time you saw this scene? I shouted, "WHAT!" at the screen. A wonderfully delightful surprise. Their observations on the TARDIS as a work of art are priceless.

Speaking of art, we've not yet touched on the Mona Lisa. What a clever plot for Tancredi to force Michelangelo to paint copies of the Mona Lisa and brick them up in a cellar so Scarlioni can steal the Mona Lisa from the Louvre and then sell all the copies off as the stolen copy. It's a whole new definition of playing the long game!


Harry -
Scaroth was playing the longest game ever, and I imagine he had other investments scattered throughout history. I loved that moment when he whipped out a thick stack of francs and handed them over to Kerensky without batting an eye.


Sarah -
Wouldn't you love some follow-up stories about Scaroth's other selves at their points in time?


Harry -
"City of Death" is bursting with potential spinoffs:

- The Jaggaroth Enigma: a sci fi thriller about an alien splintered across a multitude of time eras

- The Duggan Files: the case files of a hard-nosed detective who isn't afraid to smash chairs or mash noses... whether or not it's even necessary

- PACKER!: a Black Adderesque romp through history, through the eyes of a family of hapless henchmen

- Exquisite Art Korner: a hilarious candid show in which John Cleese and Eleanor Bron laud the artistic merits of everyday objects


Sarah -
Get the Beeb on the phone, stat!


Harry -
We've not yet touched on Romana's outfit either. When I first got the DVD of this story, I remember Tom Baker was on it expressing surprise that he didn't get arrested by French police for running around Paris with a woman in a schoolgirl uniform.


Sarah -
I have to admit that, as fetching as Lalla is, that schoolgirl uniform really annoys me. She's a Time Lady of Gallifrey -- not a child.


Harry -
Do you recall anyone ever cosplaying schoolgirl Romana? I can't remember seeing any over the years. I'd rank it at or near the bottom of all companion costumes. It's the only sour note in this classic Doctor Who story.


Sarah -
Thankfully, I don't recall seeing that costume. The pink suit and scarf is still my favorite Romana costume.


Harry -
Season 17 is off to an amazing start. The TARDIS randomizer is already proving bothersome for the writers. The Doctor had to override it to get to Florence and back. I wonder if that's the last we'll hear of it. Shall we see where our friends will land next?


Sarah -
I imagine they'll manage to get into plenty of scrapes, with or without the randomizer. Let's see where the randomizer takes us next!

Best Line:
The Countess: "My dear, I don't think he's as stupid as he seems."
Count : "My dear, nobody could be as stupid as he seems!"

Favorite Moment: The Doctor meeting Tancredi in Florence.

Lasting Image: It's a tough choice, but I'll go with Scaroth in the white suit.

9/10


Harry -
Best Line: "I say, what a wonderful butler. He's so violent!"

Favourite Moment: Duggan opens the wine bottle.

Lasting Image: The Doctor, Romana and Duggan running down the Champs Elysées -- the most stylish corridor ever.

9/10

Our marathon continues with Story #106: The Creature From the Pit...

Story #104 - Destiny of the Daleks (1979)

Harry -
Doctor Who's seventeenth season -- and Tom Baker's sixth -- roars into action with this amazing story. "Destiny of the Daleks" is one of my favourites. Great story, great cast, great production, direction and sound. I'm ready to watch it again right now!


Sarah -
I've been looking forward to "Destiny of the Daleks" since we started this little marathon of ours. It's one of my favorites, as well.


Harry -
First off, it's a regeneration episode, only this time it's Romana! She never explains why the regeneration is happening, but her ability to "try on" new bodies was a groundbreaking moment.


Sarah -
Romana's regeneration was the first I'd ever seen, so I rolled with it at the time. In subsequent viewings, it's always bothered me. First, regeneration is always presented as a traumatic event, but it just seems like "another day, another body" for Romana. Perhaps it's the Doctor's renegade lifestyle that leads to his dramatic regenerations, but Romana's is still all too calm and ordinary. Second, it's annoying that she's trying on bodies like new outfits and seeking the Doctor's approval. As much as I love Lalla Ward, it's hard to imagine Mary Tamm's Romana giving a damn about the Doctor's opinion of her regeneration.


Harry -
Unless I'm forgetting an obvious example, this was also the first time a guest actor returned as a regular cast member. Would Peter Purves count? He played two different characters in "The Chase", but I'm not sure if he'd already been cast as a new companion at the time of his first appearance. Casting decisions seemed to be way more fast and loose back then.


Sarah -
I was about to remind you of at least two notable instances of a guest actor being cast as a regular, but then realized that they are still to come in our timeline and it would be bad form to bring them up now. While Peter Purves was the first a guest actor to be cast as a regular (I'm counting him because I said, "Oh look, it's Peter Purves" when he appeared in "The Chase"), I also remind you of Space Agent Bret Vyon in "The Daleks' Master Plan" -- portrayed by none other than our beloved Nicholas Courtney! So, it turns out Lalla Ward's casting is less revolutionary than it may seem at first glance.


Harry -
Ohhh, I knew I was forgetting someone! Anyway, new Romana! We've probably seen and enjoyed most if not all of Lalla Ward's stories, so it's not really a shocking development, is it? The behind-the-scenes stories from this time period will always be juicier it seems.


Sarah -
Who doesn't love a bit of gossip -- especially when it involves the Doctor and his companion's off-screen tempestuous relationship and doomed marriage! Still, in the end, being on Doctor Who worked out well for Lalla. She developed a close friendship with Douglas Adams (who is making his first appearance as Script Editor in this story), who eventually introduced her to her second (and current) husband, Richard Dawkins.

Gossip aside, let's get back to the Daleks and their destiny! In an effort to elude the Black Guardian, the Doctor has installed a randomizer in the TARDIS. They find themselves on a rocky, mysterious planet that feels somehow familiar...


Harry -
Whoever scouted out the quarry and the ruins for the external shots picked a winner. A quick spin on Google reveals it to be Winspit in Dorset. The "ruins" we saw were two old stone cottages fallen into disuse there. Instant, cost effective ruins!


Sarah -
"Cost effective" -- no other two words can so quickly warm the heart of BBC accountants! Skaro on a budget!


Harry -
The sights of Winspit and the ominous notes of Dudley Simpson create a post-apocalyptic atmosphere for the Doctor and Romana explore, having ditched K-9 in what is becoming an increasingly unfortunate routine. Poor tin dog.


Sarah -
It's so sad to see K-9 left behind with his brain outside his body.


Harry -
The movie-like quality of the exterior filming gives us a grander scale of things and the opening episode was great. The Doctor and Romana observe a group of ragged individuals bury a dead body, before they go underground to investigate the ruins. Elsewhere, an unidentified ship lands and burrows itself into the ground. At the end of part one, our friends are separated and each is seized by either the Movellans or the Daleks, and the story kicks into high gear.


Sarah -
And it really never slows down after that! Romana manages to escape her Dalek captors by stopping her hearts and being carried out for dead, while the Doctor discovers what the Movellans (with their Rick-James-Fabulous look going on!) are really after -- our old pal Davros!

It's been a while since we've seen Davros and the intervening time has not been good to him. Left behind after the events of "Genesis of the Daleks", he has been in suspended animation for centuries. While he's been sitting around in the Kaled City, the Daleks have been busy spreading violence and misery throughout the galaxy. For the first time, I found myself thinking about when this story was occurring in relation to other Dalek stories. Of course, I was not the first to contemplate this question. Feast your eyes on this, my friend and prepare to have to your brain explode with possibilities: Timeline - Daleks.


Harry -
If there is a list to be made, a Doctor Who fan will make it!

I had poor memories of Davros in this story, and they were renewed, mostly because he was portrayed by someone new (David Gooderson) wearing the old costume that Michael Wisher had made famous. I don't know if there was a dramatic size difference between the two actors, or a matter of physicality or what, but the cold menace of Wisher's Davros was missing. Instead, this Davros came off as a pissed off Aussie, madly piloting his chair from room to room and bumping into things as if he was having a seizure. Even his megalo-rants were less than terrifying.


Sarah -
Davros is a bit of a disappointment, isn't he? Perhaps we can interpret it as a sign of his diminished importance to the Daleks to staunch our disappointment.


Harry -
I rationalized the weaker Davros as the result of him having just awakened from a lengthy period of stasis, and not up to his usual megalo-haha standards.


Sarah -
He just needs some time to work it up to an appropriate megalo-level and be less, well, boring?


Harry -
The Daleks, meanwhile, were all over this one. Thanks to the brilliant direction of Ken Grieve, we see them smash through walls, rumble across dusty fields, ascend hills and blow up with great gusto. Thanks to the vocal talents of Roy Skelton, they menace pretty much everyone in the story. So many nasty Daleks helped make up for Davros' deficiencies.


Sarah -
Loads of Daleks doing Dalek-y things! I love how they look like battered, old WWII tanks.


Harry -
As for the Movellans, wow! What a look. Without looking it up, I'm tempted to say that they must have sought out dancers or gymnasts to play these robot characters. Their movements were always smooth and graceful -- the complete opposite of the stomping Cybermen of today.


Sarah -
It's a pity you don't see more Movellan costumes, but I imagine your average cosplayer doesn't have quite the right build to pull it off.


Harry -
It was great that the Movellans and Daleks had been at war for centuries, but not a shot had been fired in all that time because both sides kept stalemating each other strategically. Leading us to the jist of the story: find Davros and bring him in as the tiebreaking factor. Failing that, press the Doctor into similar duty.


Sarah -
In which, the Daleks and Movellans begrudgingly admit that humanoids may have a purpose after all -- other than being exterminated, of course.


Harry -
As the Doctor put it, the Movellans were just another race of robots, no better than Daleks. They abused Romana and used her as bait to lure the Doctor into their grasp, and then they were perfectly willing to incinerate the entire planet of Skaro in order to destroy Davros. That's super-freaky!


Sarah -
I am so overwhelmed with admiration for your super-freaky comment that I'll just keep quiet for a moment here.


...


Harry -
My favourite moment in the story is the paper-rock-scissors demonstration that underscored the logical impasse between the Movellans and Daleks.

My least favourite moment had to be the fact that this brilliant race of robots could be disabled by plucking away their power pack. Their power-winding-down actions were graceful, though.


Sarah -
It does seem like a fatal design flaw -- kind of like being blinded when a hat is tossed over your eyestalk. It's no wonder these two races couldn't defeat each other.


Harry -
Romana couldn't be bothered with that, as she royally kicked Sharrel's arse before he could activate the Nova device. Hurrah!


Sarah -
Romana's not afraid to bust out with the fisticuffs when she needs to!

We end with the Movellans deactivated, the Daleks exploded, and Davros cryogenically frozen. The freed slave workers are taking him to Earth on the Movellan ship to hold him accountable for his crimes.


Harry -
They never did explain how Davros was basically sitting in a room gathering cobwebs for hundreds of years, and magically came back to life when people entered the room. Was he locked down by some kind of motion sensor? Anyway, he's on ice for the foreseeable future, hopefully enough time to lose the Aussie accent.


Sarah -
That is the largest plot hole in the story. If there's one thing Doctor Who prepares you for, it's the ability to gleefully scamper past glaring plot holes!


Harry -
As for our friend Tom Baker, dare I say he was minimized in this story? First off, the new Romana settles in wearing not so much a new set of her own clothes but rather a feminized version of the Doctor's attire, right down to the cut of the coat and the overlong scarf. Thus the show is suddenly no longer about a lone Time Lord, but a pair of Gallifreyans roaming through time and space together as a team. Davros was slightly less "Davrosy" here it's true, but his mind matched up against the Doctor's equally. The Movellans and Daleks menaced the Doctor in equal measure, leaving him little room for hamming. Even the story's supporting character Tyssan brought the Doctor down a notch, because in Tim Barlow the producers found an actor who was taller than Tom. The Doctor is still the lead character in the story, but I don't remember him being surrounded by so many equals before. Tom was really restrained here. Even his few hammy moments felt like they were written in by Douglas Adams, rather than sparks of spontaneity from the actor.


Sarah -
Excellent observation, Old Boy. Everyone gets a piece of the smarty-pants action in this story. I have a fondness for the Romana Era, especially the Second Romana Era, because she and the Doctor really are a team of equals. By this point in their story, Romana is a more seasoned traveler and confident adventurer. The chemistry between Baker and Ward is so delightful and I'm excited to have finally reached season seventeen!


Harry -
We're off to a cracking start. Shall we roll on?


Sarah -
Oh yes, let's!

Best Line: "If you're supposed to be the superior race of the universe, why don't you try climbing after us?"

Favorite Moment: The Doctor delivering the line above after crawling up a shaft.

Lasting Image: The Movellans, without a doubt!

8/10


Harry -
Best Line:
Doctor: "Make mistakes and confuse the enemy."
Romana: "Brilliant."
Doctor: "Yes."
Romana: "Is that why you always win?"
Doctor: "Yes. What?"
Romana: "Because you always make mistakes."

Favourite Moment: Paper-Rock-Scissors

Lasting Image: The Movellans!

8/10

Our marathon continues with Story #105 - City of Death...