Story #149 - The Happiness Patrol (1988)

Sarah -
Are you happy, Harry? I will be so glad if you are happy.


Harry -
Yes, happiness will prevail! What a totalitarian slogan, like something out of North Korea, or Thatcher's Britain.


Sarah -
Helen A was clearly modeled on Thatcher. Sheila Hancock was brilliant as Helen A!


Harry -
Brilliantly grotesque, and always on message.

After a story packed with loads of location and exterior filming, the Doctor and Ace arrive next at a human space colony far in the future. The grim sets and bleak atmosphere belie the utter madhouse they've just landed in.


Sarah -
I don't want to be critical of the sets, but I couldn't shake the feeling that the "Paradise Towers" sets had simply been redressed for "The Happiness Patrol".


Harry -
The sets certainly had that feel. This time, it reminded me of being trapped inside a shopping mall after dark, complete with tinny muzak still playing.


Sarah -
I don't think I was a big fan of the whole aesthetic of the story. The sets, with the exception of the Kandy Man's kitchen, were underwhelming. 

Fortunately, there were some amazing guest actors who managed to sell the story.


Harry -
I'm guessing that they made the colony look extra grey so that the Happiness Patrol would present a more insane contrast when the Doctor and Ace run into them.


Sarah -
I completely agree on that point.


Harry -
Before that, they encounter Trevor Sigma, a census taker played by John Normington (aka Trau Morgus). The census taker is a secretive sort, adding to the mystery of the place. The Doctor decides the only way he and Ace can get to the heart of things is by getting themselves arrested. Enter the Happiness Patrol.


Sarah -
It's hysterical that, after so many years of being detained and arrested, the Doctor is finally trying to do it on purpose.


Harry -
And what a presentation. It's a troop of Amazonian women in candy floss wigs and short coats, carrying huge guns that were probably re-painted after Dragonfire. They march our friends to the Waiting Zone, a kind of prison without walls. There, they encounter Harold V, another non-prisoner who used to write jokes for Helen A. Now, he's condemned and gloomy as hell.


Sarah -
The Doctor's conversation with Priscilla is hysterical. It's not a prison, but you can't leave: 

DOCTOR: Is this a prison? 
PRISCILLA: A prison? Of course not! This is the Waiting Zone. There aren't any prisons on Terra Alpha. Miserable places. 
DOCTOR: So there's absolutely no chance whatsoever that this could be a place of incarceration, and we're free to leave at any time. 
PRISCILLA: Well, yes and no. This isn't a prison, but cross that line and you're a dead man.


Harry -
Meanwhile, Helen A watches with delight as another condemned man is executed by being drowned in liquid candy: the dreaded "fondant surprise" method of death. To complete the circle, it turns out the executed man was Harold V's brother, and Harold V is electrocuted immediately after. Fun place!


Sarah -
It's a laugh a minute in this town. I know the death by fondant is supposed to be gruesome, but I found it kind of funny. Is that so wrong?


Harry -
The executions are carried out by the Kandy Man from his lair in the kandy kitchen. Is this not the most bonkers character in all of Doctor Who?


Sarah -
Oh, he definitely tops the bonkers list!


Harry -
He's a robot with a seriously bad temper, wrapped in giant pieces of confectionary. The look, the voice, all completely mad.


Sarah -
OMG, that voice! It's INSANE! I love when he answers the phone with, "Kandy Man."


Harry -
Perhaps the best satires are the ones that present the most over-the-top parodies? I wonder who the Kandy Man was meant to represent, if this story is a slam on Thatcher's Britain.


Sarah -
It's been suggested that the Kandy Man represents capitalism, which seems appropriate.


Harry -
The Doctor and Ace split up from the Waiting Zone. Ace is brought to audition for the Happiness Patrol, the least Ace-appropriate job one could imagine for her. She befriends one of the Patrol members, who turns out to be as miserable as anyone else.


Sarah -
One of I like about this era is how Ace often ends up making a pal in the course of her adventures. Her friendship with Susan Q is lovely.


Harry -
The Doctor meanwhile makes a friend of Earl Sigma, and they make their way to the kandy kitchen.


Sarah -
New friends for everyone!


Harry -
After being threatened and shouted at by the Kandy Man, they escape down to the tunnels underneath the colony. There, they meet the native species of the planet -- a race of anthropomorphic rodents. I hope I'm not alone in saying there was not one line of dialogue spoken by the rodent people that was comprehensible. Did you catch anything that they said, Sarah?


Sarah -
Not a word!


Harry -
Anyway, the rodents did perhaps too good a job of representing "the little people" in Helen A's miserable domain. I just didn't care for them. The misery of the Patrol members, the Kandy Man's abusive relationship with Gilbert, and even Helen A's unshakeable projections of happiness were fascinating for their repulsiveness.


Sarah -
Were they meant to be the miners, crushed by Thatcher's evil policies?


Harry -
Ah yes, that would fit.

Naturally, the Doctor is not impressed by Helen A when they meet each other in her headquarters. Having seen enough, he does the most Doctory thing he could do and stirs up a rebellion. First, he turns the tables on the Happiness Patrol with a (not very well acted) display of over-the-top happiness, making them look like killjoys. As confusion and fighting breaks out among the ranks, the workers of a sugar factory revolt and the colony begins to fall out of Helen A's grasp. If it were only that easy in real life to topple a regime.


Sarah -
I love that the Doctor's reaction to meeting Helen A is to declare he's taking the government down!


Harry -
And he does! The Happiness Patrol falls into disarray, the killjoys emerge from the shadows, and dozens of sugar factories join the revolt. Down in the tunnels, both the Kandy Man and Helen A's hideous pet Fifi meet their doom. Helen A's partner Joseph C steals away in the escape shuttle with Gilbert.


Sarah -
Looks like Joseph C has a new partner for adventures and hijinks! And we thought Dennis would never leave Maggie.


Harry -
Seeing that the gig is up, she packs her bag and makes to split the scene, until a final confrontation with the Doctor. He takes no joy in her overthrow, railing at her regime of fake joy. Poetic justice is served when she find's Fifi's corpse and breaks down in tears.


Sarah -
Right after commenting that she thought love was overrated.


Harry -
The ironic title of this story fools no one. This was a gloomy story about totalitarianism and phoniness. I thought it worked as a quicky three-parter. It was almost too simple on an allegorical level, but I'm hard pressed to think what they could have spent more time on. The rat people? No thanks. At least they'll be happy to get their planet back, and I'm glad that they're happy.

Best Line, from the man at the Forum box office: "We always have a full house because attendance is compulsory."

Favourite Moment: Harold V throws a big phony smile at Priscilla P when he sees her spying on him.

Lasting Image: the Kandy Man!

7/10


Sarah -
Best Line, from Ace : "I want to make them very, very unhappy."

Favorite Moment: Daisy questioning Helen A as things are falling apart about whether or not she just might be unhappy. The forces turn on their leader!

Lasting Image: The Kandy Man, of course!

5/10

Our marathon continues with Story #150: Silver Nemesis...

Story #148 - Remembrance of the Daleks (1988)

Harry -
The 25th season of Doctor Who kicks off with an anniversary episode, taking the Doctor and his new companion Ace back to the place where it all began: Coal Hill School, 1963.


Sarah -
"Remembrance of the Daleks" has always been my favorite story of the McCoy era, and after re-watching it this week, It's still in my top spot. We'll see where it is when we finish season 26, but it will be hard to beat.


Harry -
The Doctor has unfinished business to take care of. Back in his first incarnation, he planted a trap to lure the Daleks, who are now embroiled in a civil war between imperial and renegade factions. In this way, "Remembrance of the Daleks" concludes a trilogy that began with "Resurrection of the Daleks" and continued with "Revelation of the Daleks". I can't begin to express how long it took for me to remember the correct order of those titles.


Sarah -
Ha! I was having this conversation with Mr. Smith and kept mixing up Resurrection, Revelation, and Remembrance. There so much continuity and retconning in this story -- and I love it!

I also love the cold open and the shot of Earth with voices of JFK, MLK, and De Gaulle, signaling the era we're entering. So evocative.


Harry -
The Doctor and Ace stroll up to Coal Hill. He's curious and she's hungry, bordering on hangry. She heads to a nearby diner, leaving him to investigate a van with a massive aerial. Before you know it, he's popped inside and introduced himself to Dr. Rachel Jensen, who seems bemused but unalarmed.


Sarah -
Don't forget the creepy little girl watching them from outside the school!


Harry -
She's very creepy.


Sarah -
Ace leaps into 1963, seemingly not understanding how anachronistic her clothing and radio are in a era with no "street cred." Her confusion over the pre-decimalization money is a nice touch. These are the sort of things that should be confusing to a time traveler and it's good to be reminded every now and then how extraordinary the companions' lives really are. The monetary system, of course, won't be the only part of 1963 that gets under Ace's skin. 

One of my favorite characters is Rachel Jensen, Chief Scientific Officer to a proto-UNIT-type military organization, who has been drafted into service from Cambridge. She's a precursor to the future Dr. Elizabeth Shaw. I can imagine Rachel and her assistant Allison bumping into Barbara Wright in the not-too-distant future and striking up a fast friendship.


Harry -
So many nods to the past already. Dr. Jensen is totally a retro Dr. Shaw, and Group Captain Gilmore is just as Brigadiery as the Brig himself. It's no surprise this government organization got their own series of audio adventures from Big Finish.


Sarah -
Have you listened to any of the audios? I've not dipped into that series yet, but I've always been intrigued. Simon Williams played Captain James in my beloved Upstairs, Downstairs, so I always enjoying seeing him in this story.


Harry -
Have not heard any of that series yet. Perhaps it's time we took a side trip. The Group Captain doesn't crack a smile during the entire story. He's virtually a parody of the stiff-upper-lipped English officer class. I liked how Rachel and Allison became increasingly sarcastic towards his military ways as the story went on.

I also liked how the Doctor eased his way into their company almost as if they were expecting him.


Sarah -
He really does just insert himself into the situation, doesn't he?


Harry -
He certainly helped out when the military pinned down a hostile inside I.M. Foreman's junkyard on Totter's Lane (squee!). After several futile rounds of fire from the troops, the Doctor destroys the hostile (aka a Dalek) with some of Ace's nitro nine. What a fantastic, action-packed opening scene.


Sarah -
"Ace, give me some of that Nitro-9 you're not carrying." It's a great scene. As many times as I've watched "Remembrance of the Daleks", I still feel a little thrill when that first Dalek reveals itself.


Harry -
It was a jarring moment when the Doctor matter-of-factly noted that the Daleks will eventually conquer Earth. Ace was a bit taken aback by that one.


Sarah -
It would be jarring news, especially having just met your first Dalek.


Harry -
Dusting himself off, the Doctor lets her in on his secret: he has used the Hand of Omega as bait to lure the Daleks. However it seems he's been too successful, and both warring factions are making for Earth quicker than he'd anticipated.


Sarah -
Did he leave it to lure the Daleks or did they just figure out where it was? I was a little confused on this point. The First Doctor hadn't encountered the Daleks before he visited Earth in 1963. Did he come back to plant it? 

It's really brilliant to have the Doctor has shown up not long after he left Coal Hill School with Barbara and Ian. So timey-wimey.


Harry -
I'm sure in the Doctor's timey-wimey timestream, he managed to find a way to return to London 1963 in his first incarnation, finding a funeral home in which to store the weapon. The CGI of the levitating casket was some of the best we've ever seen on this show. It's almost heartbreaking to know that just as the show was shaking off its "wobbly sets" notoriety, it was about to be paused.


Sarah -
I'm afraid we've got loads of fist-shaking over stuff like this in our immediate future. Doctor Who was getting SO GOOD in the Cartmel era.


Harry -
Anyway, in addition to the cracking new Counter-Measures characters, this anniversary story brings back some familiar faces. The Coal Hill headmaster was played by Michael Sheard, who appeared in no fewer than six different Who stories. And it was fantastic that the blind vicar was played by none other than Peter "PACKER!" Halliday.


Sarah -
Mr. Smith was more than a little startled when I shouted "PACKER!" Fortunately, he's mostly used to this sort of behavior from me. 

I hadn't made the connection to "Remembrance of the Daleks" when the Series 8 story "The Caretaker" aired in 2014, but appreciated Steven Moffat's continuity link. I'd forgotten about the headmaster assuming that the Doctor was at Coal Hill to apply for the Caretaker job -- and I love that he showed up 51 years later to accept the position.


Harry -
Mindblowing, era-linking continuity is wonderful.


Sarah -
Isn't it?


Harry -
After snooping out a Dalek transmat machine, and eluding death at the hands of another Dalek, there's a quirky pause to the story as everyone splits up for the night. Ace departs with Mike Smith, whose mum runs a boarding house. The Counter-Measures team goes to regroup, and the Doctor slips into the same diner from before. There, he has a philosophical conversation with a man behind the counter. It was a strange few minutes, but it let everyone catch their breath after a breakneck first episode.


Sarah -
I absolutely adore the diner scene. Apparently, it was nearly cut for time, but McCoy insisted that it stay in. It's a wonderful moment and I'm glad it survived. John's meditation on how the desire for sugar led to him being British, rather than African, is a perfect fit for a Doctor Who story. It made me think of the First Doctor's lecture on how they must not change one thing in history while time traveling. The Doctor's conversation with John is an amazing way to remind us of the consequences of choices. "Every large decision creates ripples."


Harry -
At daybreak, the Doctor buries the Hand of Omega in a nearby cemetery, while human operatives of the two Dalek factions look on. The headmaster was clearly under control of the imperial faction, but here's a big bombshell: Mike Smith is in league with the renegade Daleks and their fascist human cronies. Oh Mike how could you!


Sarah -
Cutie pie Mike is not the good guy he seems -- in league with the Daleks and a racist, to boot! 

Doctor Who doesn't always succeed when trying to deal with social issues, but Ben Aaronovitch's script does a great job of equating human racism with the Dalek's obsession with racial purity. Ace is there to most effectively call out everyone on their BS.


Harry -
Her reactions to the casual racism of Mike and his mum were perfect. The 60s were not all that long ago for a person from the 80s, but Ace still found the open-faced intolerance shocking. It's incredible to think this was only Sophie's second story, yet she's nailed the character. Ace comes at us as a bundle of emotions, conflicted feelings, strong opinions and bold moves; the average teenager, in short.


Sarah -
She is absolutely amazing! It's so refreshing for a companion to be given so much to do and Sophie gets everything right. The scene where she confronts Mike about his betrayal is amazing. I want to stand up and cheer every time. 

"Remembrance of the Daleks" also features the ultimate Ace scene -- the one that will always be shown to represent her character -- when she beats up a Dalek with a baseball bat. It's one of the most lasting images in the entire history of Doctor Who and makes Ace the baddest badass to ever travel in the TARDIS!


Harry -
The contrast between Ace and Mel is like night and day. You can't imagine Mel swinging that baseball bat, or leaping through a glass window, or telling Mike to his face that she wished he was dead. I love Ace's badassery.


Sarah -
I can't even conjure up that image. Mel could never call anyone a toe rag!


Harry -
Somewhere between Revelation and Remembrance, was there a switcheroo between the identities of the Dalek factions? Here, the renegade faction -- led by a mysteriously Davros-esque controller -- is actually the original gunmetal grey Daleks of Skaro. The imperial Daleks are now the gold and white ones, led by the round-domed emperor Dalek. This confused me for the greater part of an episode before I figured out which side was which.


Sarah -
I had the same reaction, trying to figure out which faction was which. I imagine there are a dozen audios and books to fill in the gaps in the televised storyline.


Harry -
It would be no surprise to learn that Davros' renegade faction had become the dominant one.  Either way, the human collaborators end up as so much detritus under the onslaught of Daleks that mass in London. Radcliffe's men are all gunned down, and Radcliffe and Mike end up getting betrayed.


Sarah -
Radcliffe was a slimebag from the beginning, but you couldn't help but hope that Mike could be redeemed. Alas, we reap what we sow. 

In a interesting twist, the little girl is possessed by the renegade Dalek controller. The Doctor explains that the Daleks need a creative mind to allow them to be non-rational -- and there's nothing more creative than a child's mind. She manages to escape the carnage, because a child could never be killed in Doctor Who.


Harry -
The Doctor performs an often hair-raising balancing act, trying to keep the military at bay, trying to make sure the right Dalek faction captures the Hand of Omega, trying to keep the collaborators from bungling things up, and trying to keep Ace out of trouble. He pulls it off, just barely.


Sarah -
And look, there's our old pal Davros! After "Genesis of the Daleks", it feels like you're not a proper Doctor if you don't get your scene with Davros.


Harry -
Davros has to be there to wrap up the Dalek civil war trilogy, and to be the one who seizes the Hand of Omega at last. While Dalek factions continue battling in the streets (including the Special Weapons Dalek, squee!), Davros faces the Doctor again via the teleport that the Doctor rigged up with sound and video. Terry Molloy was extra greasy as Davros this time out. It looked like there was actual black goo coming out of his mouth. So grotesquely gothic!


Sarah -
This version of Davros has been through the wars and Molloy makes you feel every bit of it. The moment when the Emperor Dalek is revealed to be Davros is epic. I've seen this story so many times, but I still had a brief moment of surprise. That's some good storytelling!


Harry -
The Doctor provokes Davros into activating the Hand of Omega, not realizing that it is about to trigger a supernova that will anihilate all of Skaro, then return to destroy the imperial Dalek ship. The last minute turnaround that Davros always pulls at the end is somewhat ridiculous. One minute after raging like a maniac about total power and the oblivion of Gallifrey, he's reduced to mewling and begging the Doctor for pity. 

Hey Davros, it's so transparent don't bother! You really are a terrible actor.

Skaro blows up real good, and so does the imperial ship.


Sarah -
And Skaro is no more...for now.


Harry -
The explosives crew must have had the time of their lives working on this story. The explosions throughout were massive.


Sarah -
Good work by everyone on the crew in this story.


Harry -
It was curious that they showed Davros' escape pod getting away from the exploding ship. I wonder if that meant that they planned to bring him back again soon, or maybe it meant the opposite?


Sarah -
We'll never know, I guess.


Harry -
After the Doctor talks the final suriving Dalek into self-destructing, the creepy little girl is freed from the mind control under which she had been held, and that's that. Presumably the Hand of Omega was destroyed. I can't recall hearing about it in any other stories since.


Sarah -
I expect it to show up in the 13th Doctor's era -- after Peter Capaldi's 27th series ends.


Harry -
If only!

What an amazing story. Perhaps the only disappointing thing was the rather abrupt ending. We didn't get a final scene of the Doctor and Ace with the Counter-Measures group, unless you count the very brief funeral procession. As we discussed above, I'd be keen on checking out some of the group's audio adventures.


Sarah -
It is a bit abrupt, but I love the final exchange: 

Ace: We did good, didn't we? 
Doctor: Perhaps. Time will tell. It always does.


Harry -
For now, the Doctor and Ace quietly take their leave and Coal Hill School can go back to normal... for now.

Best Line:
MIKE: Ace. 
ACE: Go away. 
MIKE: Ace, I didn't know it was the Daleks. I was just doing Mister Ratcliffe a favour. 
ACE: Do me a favour and drown yourself. 

So blunt, haha!

Favourite Moment: Ace bashes a Dalek to smithereens.

Lasting Image: the Counter-Measures team.

8/10


Sarah -
I've been looking forward to this story since we started this project, but wouldn't allow myself to watch it before now. I'm happy I don't have to wait to rewatch it again!

Best Line: 
ACE: But this is Earth, 1963. Well, someone would have noticed. I'd have heard about it. 
DOCTOR: Do you remember the Zygon gambit with the Loch Ness Monster? Or the Yetis in the Underground? 
ACE: The what? 
DOCTOR: Your species has the most amazing capacity for self-deception, matched by only its ingenuity when trying to destroy itself.

Favorite Moment: Ace telling Mike off. 

Lasting Image: Ace beating on the Dalek like a boss!

9/10

 


Our marathon continues with Story # 149: The Happiness Patrol...

Story #147 - Dragonfire (1987)

Harry -
Imagine a Whoniverse in which JN-T signed off on a 25th season of Doctor Who featuring Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor with his companions Mel, Sabalom Glitz, and Ace.

The face-pulling Doctor, the loveable rogue, the angry teen and her super-thoughtful surrogate big sister. What a motley crew!


Sarah -
I would sign up to watch that TARDIS team in action. Alas, all we have is "Dragonfire" to show us what could have been.


Harry -
This is one of those "watched it once ages ago" stories, so it was practically brand new to me. All I remembered was that there was a companion switcharoo at the end, and the villains wore immaculate white uniforms.


Sarah -
I had the same reaction. I remembered little about it other than it being Ace's first story, Mel's last, and Sabalom turning up again. And the milkshake. I remembered Ace dumping the milkshakes over the customer's and her boss's heads. Who hasn't wanted to do something like that?


Harry -
It's quite the look the ruling corps have going on Iceworld. Kane and his minions march around in pristine whites complete with high boots and spiked helmets. An interesting mishmash of imperialist styles.

I must have missed the detailed explanation behind it, but Kane literally holds the touch of death in his hands.


Sarah -
There was some exposition in there from the hologram lady, but it kind of went past me. The upshot is that the dragon is Kane's jailer, but also his only means of escape. He needs to get the crystal in the dragon's head to be able to activate his ship and escape. Somehow, he hasn't managed it yet, but he's found time to launch a refrigeration sales empire.


Harry -
The sudden cut to a freezer store was odd.


Sarah -
Kane is a big creepy creep of the type we tend to find on remote planets in Doctor Who, but I was really confused by this planet. Why does an ice planet need a refrigeration sales store? Why is there an ice cream parlor that feels like a spinoff of the Cantina on Tatooine? Why is it taking so long to meet Ace?


Harry -
"Dragonfire" is the first story in the Andrew Cartmel era to feel like a Cartmel-era story.


Sarah -
It really is. I've been reading Cartmel's Script Doctor and he addresses the challenges of coming into his first season with so many scripts already in progress. "Dragonfire" is very much his vision of where the show was going.


Harry -
The big reveal of who and what Kane is doesn't come until the end, with a surprising finish. Early on, all we know is that he is a ruthless tyrant and he's after a treasure hidden deep below Iceworld -- the aforementioned dragon. Glitz happens to have his greasy paws on a map to said treasure, and it doesn't take much to coax the Doctor's curiosity into joining the hunt during the cantina scene.


Sarah -
Dragons! Maps! There was really no way he could resist.


Harry -
And there she is: Ace! Swept onto Iceworld by a time storm and earning her keep as a cantina waitress -- don't you hate when that happens?


Sarah -
It's really such a bother.


Harry -
While the boys are off on their treasure hunt, Ace and Mel do some bonding.


Sarah -
The Doctor and Glitz are an excellent double-act in their scenes together. Bringing Tony Selby back to play Glitz was JN-T's idea. Ian Brigg's original script had a similar character, so it seemed to make sense to slot Glitz in. The problem is that when we meet Glitz, he's just sold his entire crew into slavery, which really diminishes the "lovable" part of the lovable rogue. (Or bilge bag, as Ace would have it.)

Mel immediately falls into the big sister role. I love that they follow the Jo Grant approach when being told to do something they don't want to -- nod and smile and then go off and do what you wanted to do anyway.


Harry -
In Outside In Volume 1, there's a great analysis of Mel's character in the review of "Dragonfire". In her short time as a companion, she came off as confident, intelligent, assertive, thoughtful, patient and friendly. It's a shame that she's remembered mostly for her screaming. That was certainly the memory I had of her before we re-watched her stories. My opinion is much more favourable towards her now.


Sarah -
I just reread that essay and mostly agree with it. I disagree that "real girls" don't carry baseball bats and always fold their laundry, but I very much agree that Mel is the sort of person you want to have as your best friend. She's absolutely lovely and I've always liked her, despite her character never really allowed to develop. Also, I adore her outfit in "Dragonfire". I want that jacket she's wearing right now!


Harry -
Did you recognize who Belazs was? It was driving me nuts until I googled it.


Sarah -
I did -- and I found myself taking a jump to the left and a step to the right! Patricia Quinn is just the right combination of evil and tragic in her performance. If you haven't heard it, do have a listen to her Gallifrey One interview on Radio Free Skaro on which she's brilliantly wacky.


Harry -
It was interesting how Kane was presented as this utterly cold, emotionless character, and whenever there was something tactile involving him, it was painful or deadly. Belazs and Kracauer may have looked the part of Iceworld stormtroopers, but they were little more than pathetic puppets at Kane's behest. Their attempts at thwarting their master's influence ended tragically.


Sarah -
They really weren't the best conspirators, were they?


Harry -
There was another thing I remembered about "Dragonfire". The cliffhanger. No, literally, the cliffhanger, where the Doctor inexplicably positioned himself on the edge of a cliff, then hung on for his life. What in the hell was that all about? Clever wordplay rendered in action? The Doctor falling victim to his own enthusiasm? I don't know. It was just silly. Good thing Glitz came along to haul him out of that dilemma.


Sarah -
There was no good reason for him to climb over that cliff. It's an amusing image -- and was iconic enough to make it into "The Name of the Doctor". Are we to assume that Clara found a way to get Glitz to the cliff to save the Doctor?


Harry -
We must have just missed her!


Sarah -
This brings me to another small, but annoying, thing. While Sylvester McCoy is sliding all over the place on the faux ice, everyone else is just walking normally. Was Chris Clough even paying attention at this point?


Harry -
Maybe everyone else's footwear had rubber soles.


Sarah -
The story does have it's charming moments. I love the Doctor's philosophical conversation with a guard he's distracting while Glitz sneaks onto the Nosferatu: 

DOCTOR: Excuse me. What's your attitude towards the nature of existence? For example, do you hold any strong theological opinions? 
GUARD: I think you'll find most educated people regard mythical convictions as fundamentally animistic. 
DOCTOR: I see. That's a very interesting concept. 
GUARD: Personally, I find most experiences border on the existential. 
DOCTOR: Well, how do you reconcile that with the empirical critical belief that experience is at the root of all phenomena? 
GUARD: I think you'll find that a concept can be philosophically valid even if theologically meaningless. 
DOCTOR: So, what you're saying is that before Plato existed, someone had to have the idea of Plato. 
GUARD: Oh, you've no idea what a relief it is for me to have such a stimulating philosophical discussion. There are so few intellectuals about these days. Tell me, what do you think of the assertion that the semiotic thickness of a performed text varies according to the redundancy of auxiliary performance codes? 
DOCTOR: Yes. 

It's brilliant. I can only hope the guard survived the coming bloodbath.


Harry -
That was a great moment.  Ian Briggs must have loved seeing that come to life.

When our friends finally reunite and encounter the dragon, they discover its secret and the rest of the story devolves into a series of chases as Kane closes in. In my notes I commented again how these quickie three-parters remind me of contemporary two-parters. There's a late flurry of action as Kane rallies his troops, they storm the cantina, blow up the Nosferatu filled with fleeing citizens, then Kane corners our friends, seizes Ace and forces a standoff. He demands the dragon's treasure in exchange for Ace.


Sarah -
The massacre of the citizens is awful. And then we get an odd, and occasionally amusing, series of scenes with Kane's lackeys, McLuhan and Bazin, and their very large guns as they hunt the dragon.


Harry -
The ridiculously oversized guns were wonderful, like something out of a video game.


Sarah -
Things don't turn out so well for them, what with the energy bolts killing them after they kill the dragon and try to remove his crystal. 

This is the second time Ace has encountered Kane and she's just as brilliant as she was the first time, when he offered her a coin in exchange for entering his employ.


Harry -
And finally, Briggs lets us in on Kane's secret. He and his partner Xana (whom he immortalized in sculpture) were criminals. She committed suicide and he was exiled from their home planet, swearing that one day he would escape his prison and get his revenge. When the Doctor informs him that his planet was obliterated 2,000 years ago, Kane sees that his wait has all been in vain. Defeated by time itself and swept up by a final destructive urge, Kane opens a screen and allows himself to be bombarded by rays of sunlight, which kills him. The "melting" shot was icky fun.


Sarah -
It really was gruesome.


Harry -
So with Kane no more, the remaining people of Iceworld can piece together their lives. Our fantastic four repair to the TARDIS for what turns out are some final farewells. At first, it seems that Glitz is about to set off in a new ship with Ace, promising to return her to Perivale. The Doctor doesn't seem too keen on that idea, then Mel suddenly jumps in and announces that she's departing with Glitz.


Sarah -
What the What? It's like Leela all over again!


Harry -
Did not like this at all. You'd think that after all these years JN-T would have gotten better at the art of companion goodbyes. Mel teaming up with Glitz might have sounded like an intriguing concept, but the presentation fell flat onscreen. It came off as a tacked on resolution. Don't get me wrong, Doctor Who companion goodbyes more often than not feel like a tacked on resolution. Wouldn't it have made more sense if Mel took it upon herself to help the people of Iceworld get back on their feet again. If that cantina manager might have survived, I could see Mel joining up with him to re-open a new, improved cantina that offered a healthy assortment of juices and smoothies. For once, the "I'm staying behind" departure would have been believeable. Instead, she's off with Glitz of all people. For Pete's sake! Glitz sold his own crew!


Sarah -
Sex. I've decided that's the only reason Mel would go off with Glitz. She's tired of being a good girl and wants to get in his pants. Exhibit One -- well, really the only exhibit I have to offer -- is this racy dialogue:

MEL: Well, I was thinking of going a bit further. 
GLITZ: How much further? 
MEL: How much further are you going? 

Oh yeah, Mel. You go as far as you want!


Harry - 
I'm sure there's some fan fiction out there...

As for the Doctor, he invites Ace to join him in the TARDIS and she readily accepts. Anywhere but Perivale, it seems. Perivale must be a total dump.


Sarah -
It doesn't seem to be a place one would want to be.


Harry -
Overall this was a story with potential, but the production seemed to fall flat. Too much skittering about those Iceworld sets that looked like a department store at Christmas. Kane and Belazs were brilliant and I would have like to see more of the conflict between them, but too little time. "Delta and the Bannermen" worked pretty well as a romping three-parter, but "Dragonfire" felt short changed.


Sarah -
It's an interesting idea with some great performances. It's unfortunate the direction was so flat.


Harry -
It's neat that we enter the Ace era, just as Bill has been introduced as the current Doctor's new travelling companion. Comparisons have been drawn, and hints have been made that Bill might even be from the same time period as Ace. We've yet to find out for sure, but for now I'm looking forward to two more seasons of the Sylvester McCoy years.


Sarah -
I look forward to getting to know Bill, and am delighted that we finally get to spend some time with Ace. I was an 80s punk-rock girl when Ace stepped into the TARDIS, so she's always been a favorite.


Harry -
Best Line: 
DOCTOR: Hello. Not interrupting anything, am I? 
BELAZS: What are you doing here? 
DOCTOR: That's a very difficult question. Why is everyone round here so preoccupied with metaphysics? 
GLITZ: I think she's going to kill us, Doctor. 
DOCTOR: Ah. An existentialist. 

Favourite Moment: when the dragon mimics the Doctor doffing his hat.

Lasting Image: Kane and Belazs in their pristine uniforms.

5/10


Sarah -
Best Line: That's right, yes, you're going. Been gone for ages. Already gone, still here, just arrived, haven't even met you yet. It all depends on who you are and how you look at it. Strange business, time. 

Favorite Moment: The look Ace gives Mel when she suggests they and Glitz pass time by playing I Spy. I laughed so hard I had to rewatch it several times. 

Lasting Image: Ace in full gear with her Nitro-9

5/10

 


Our marathon continues with Story #148: Remembrance of the Daleks...