Story #90 - The Robots of Death (1977)

Sarah -
I hope that you don't mind that I'm posting this from behind the Sofa, Harry Old Boy. I have a confession to make -- those robots have always terrified me!


Harry -
This is one of my most-watched Doctor Who stories ever - thanks to its early release on DVD. Despite knowing what's coming, it's hard not to be disturbed by some of the images when the re-programmed robots start rampaging. I can only imagine Mary Whitehouse's reaction to watching Pilot Toos scream at the camera in terror as a robot attacks her. On the other hand we never actually see anyone die, only a mounting pile of corpses and decommissioned robots. There's a blood-covered robot hand, and a robophobic crew member has a nervous breakdown, but the gore is minimal.


Sarah -
This story never fails to disturb me. The body count is staggering for Doctor Who and there's a certain antiseptic quality to the murders that makes them especially terrifying.


Harry -
Before any of that happens, the robots are introduced as quiet servitors aboard the sandminer. They aren't nearly as interesting as the elaborately dressed mining crew, who look like a cross between Cirque du Soleil and Boney M. And they like their downtime - playing chess, getting massages, or lounging luxuriously. It's quite the colourful group.


Sarah -
There is all kinds of 1977 Fabulous going on in that sandminer -- and I love it!


Harry -
Hah!  While watching again, I noted that this is the most 70s looking Doctor Who story of the entire decade. The hair, the clothes, the sandminer model shots, the Art Deco revival sculptures alongside the tigerskin rugs, it's all very Fabulously 1977. The production crew did a whale of a job transplanting a classic Agatha Christie / Edwardian murder mystery into a visually arresting sci fi setting.

I wonder if the Doctor will ever meet the real Agatha Christie...


Sarah -
We can only hope...

As will happen, the Doctor and Leela show up just as the first murder is being committed. Such unfortunate timing, to always find oneself the focus of suspicion, but the Doctor accepts it with his usual good cheer and alacrity.


Harry -
It's amusing how the sandminer crew respond to the initial accusations: no one can agree.  In fact, they go out of their way to disagree.  Rather than questioning the Doctor and Leela, they'd rather question each other. Some make bold assertions, others cast doubts. There's so much going on under the surface, it's delicious.


Sarah -
They waste no time at all turning on each other. From their introduction, it's pretty clear that most of them loathe each other.


Harry -
Uvanov, the leader, eventually manages to have the Doctor and Leela placed in futuristic shackles. But before the Doctor and Leela can get a word in, there's another couple of bodies going cold. Woops! It's almost comedic, were it not played so seriously.

Having watched the story so many times, there's no surprise left, but I can appreciate how the relationships between the sandminer crew get teased out and developed, for example the Uvanov-Zilda connection. When she searches his room and discovers some documents, she suddenly bursts into very-poorly-acted tears, then takes to the comms system to accuse him of murder. Only later will we find out -- from Mr. secret company agent Poul -- that Uvanov was supposedly responsible for the death of Zilda's brother, but it was all hushed up.


Sarah -
It's hard to pick a favorite crew member, but I lean towards Uvanov. He's clearly risen through the ranks and lacks the upper-class finesse of the other crew members, but he's good at what he does and highly valued by the company. When we meet him, he's bombastic and tetchy, and over the course of the story, he's utterly broken down by the situation. The moment when he loses it and has to be carried to safety by the Doctor walks a fine line between amusing and heartbreaking. And, of course, we find out in the end that he actually tried to save Zilda's brother and has been haunted by the loss ever since. It's a stunning performance by Russell Hunter.


Harry -
Uvanov's backstory unfolded nicely. One of my favourite moments is when he slips into a broad accent and says "Oh I seee!" to the Doctor.

Mopey, pouty, poorly-acted Zilda I probably liked the least.

Poul is a puzzling character. He's a company agent posing as a crew member -- but wasn't it rather foolish for him to accept a placement in the middle of a claustrophobic/robophobic setting, knowing that he wasn't too keen on claustrophobic/robophobic settings?


Sarah -
It's certainly an unconventional appointment. Fun fact: referring to Robophobia as "Grimwade's syndrome" was an in-joke reference to production assistant Peter Grimwade who had bemoaned the fact that the stories on which he was assigned to work almost always involved robots.


Harry -
I'm almost certain that Grimwade also wrote a sci fi novel about robots.  A few moments on Google confirms said novel was even called Robot.  Write what you know!

And Poul was named in honour of sci fi writer Poul Anderson. I've read a couple of his books but nothing memorable. One may have been about vikings now that I think of it.

Anyway, we should spend a few moments discussing the titular characters. We've seen robots in all shapes and sizes in Doctor Who, but none as stylish as these. In keeping with the garish theme of the sandminer lounge, the robots are just gratuitously beautiful. One could get lost staring into those classical faces. Until they start slaughtering people, of course.


Sarah -
Their highly stylized faces are exactly what I find terrifying. Robots are less terrifying when they're more robot-y.


Harry -
They all have the same male human face, which definitely stands out. I found it most unsettling when they moved about silently. The more I think about it, the more I really like Poul's description of them as "walking dead."


Sarah -
Speaking of highly stylized, how about those sets? I love the seventies-fabulous art deco sets. They manage to look fabulous while looking lived in.


Harry -
The lounge was great and I'm glad they spent a lot of time in there at the start.


Sarah -
One gets the impression that the lounge is where they spent most of their time.


Harry -
The long distance side shots of the sandminer corridors were well done. The control room seemed a bit cramped with awkward angles. Overall though, the sets were good.

In the end, as with most ensemble murder mysteries, it's the character we see or know the least about who ends up being the villain. Dask is an important yet quiet member of the crew. He's there in most of the group scenes, but only to utter a word or two. Even when he uses his expertise to keep the sandminer from blowing up, he does so without raising any suspicions. But I have to say, I loved his hooded costume. Like so many of the designs and clothes in this story, it was needlessly over the top. And we barely saw it before he revealed his loony robotic face paint.


Sarah -
Every villain needs a good hood -- especially the crazy ones!

I know we've both seen this many times before, but it always seems so obvious to me who the baddie is. That said, I love his "robot brothers" looniness every time I see it. It's hard to imagine how he kept it together for so long.

Best Line: D84 : "Please do not throw hands at me."

Favorite Moment: The Doctor calling Dask out as a boring maniac who needs to explain his plan in great detail. Ain't that always the way.

Lasting Image: The Creepy Robots!

8/10


Harry -
Best Line:
"I heard a cry."
"It was me."
"I heard a cry."
"It was me."
"I heard a cry."
"It was ME!"

Favourite Moment: Poul's robophobia breakdown.

Lasting Image: Everyone lounging in the lounge.

8/10


Sarah -
"Everyone Lounging in the Lounge" is going to be the title of my first solo album.

Harry -
Jazz flute improvisations?

Sarah -
Exactly.

 


Our marathon continues with Story #91 - The Talons of Weng-Chiang...

Story #89 - The Face of Evil (1977)

Harry -
This one is a bit dull.


Sarah -
It is.


Harry -
So it wasn't just me getting bored watching the same scenes being played out over the first two parts? That's not to say parts three and four were much better.

So much of this story felt like a rehash. The tribe of unwashed villagers looked like castaways from a Jon Pertwee story. Neeva was a pale imitation of the great high priest Tlotoxl. And the Doctor has faced off against a maniacal supercomputer more than once before. It's all been done already, so I couldn't help but find it dull.

The production didn't help. The sets were uninteresting, the costumes were drab, the special effects looked cheesy. Agh! I'm hoping you might have something more positive to say, Sarah.


Sarah -
Well, this Leela lass has all kinds of spunk. Does that count as positive?


Harry -
Ah, Leela! As weak as this story is, it offers us a great introduction to Leela. In her very first scene, we see that she has been condemned by her own people for speaking out, so you know she's not one to fall in line quietly. We also see that her tribe the Sevateem are a suspicious and superstitious lot. Their lack of knowledge of the universe around them leads Leela to have some unintentionally funny moments when she meets the Doctor.


Sarah -
Oh, I've thought of something else! I really like the idea of the Doctor coming back to somewhere he's been before and having to face the impact of his actions. That's a great concept for a Doctor Who story!


Harry -
Yes, I like the idea of the Doctor having to confront the messes that he leaves behind. It's good timey-wimey stuff and has popped up in several novels too.

If there's a Hinchcliffe homage to be had here, I was reminded of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Savages, sterile spaceships, psycho computers. It's Stanley Kubrick on the cheap!

There was something odd about Tom's performance in this one. Maybe it was his breaking-the-fourth-wall soliloquy when he stepped out of the TARDIS. Haven't seen something like that since William Hartnell wished everyone a Merry Christmas, have we? It set an odd tone at the start.


Sarah -
That was an awkward moment.

I'd forgotten that Leela forces her way into the TARDIS at the end of the story -- and I can't really blame her. Can you imagine the misery of staying on that boring planet for the rest of your life. Awful.


Harry -
This rendition of the "come aboard the TARDIS" moment was amusingly awkward, with the Doctor huffing at Leela before she dashes into the TARDIS and activates the console.

The Sevateem and the Tesh were equally boring, so Leela making a run for it is totally understandable.

That hits on the real failure of this story: I didn't care for any of the characters outside of the Doctor or Leela. Neither the superstitious savages nor the hyper-repressed technicians did anything for me. It wasn't really explained how the Tesh could control people with telepathy. I need explaining!

The best thing about the story may have been the freaky Tom Baker faces that Xoanon projected. And if that's the best thing about a story, well... maybe we should just move on quickly.


Sarah -
You've had little to say about this and I've had even less. Let's follow Leela's lead and make a break for the TARDIS door!


Harry -
I'm right behind you!


Sarah -
Best Line: "Now drop your weapons or I'll kill him with this deadly jelly baby."

Favorite Moment: Leela thinking that the Doctor offering her a jelly baby means he's the Evil One and eats babies.

Lasting Image: The Mount Rushmore Doctor

5/10


Harry -
Best Line: "Well yes I suppose I do like you. But then I like lots of people, but I can't go carting them around the universe with me. Goodbye."

Favourite Moment: The Doctor urges Leela to tread carefully, before turning and doing a faceplant.

Lasting Image: the crazed Doctor faces of Xoanon

5/10

 



Our marathon continues with Story #90 - The Robots of Death...

Story #88 - The Deadly Assassin (1976)

Harry -
What? That can't have been all the Sarah Jane stories. Impossible! Do you think maybe we could go back and watch them all again, just to be sure?


Sarah -
We can start planning our second marathon now!


Harry -
Alright, well here we have "The Deadly Assassin", a story that I'd certainly mark down in the "oddities" column. This story is so unlike what we've been watching to this point. It's downright odd is what it is.


Sarah -
It's definitely odd, but its very oddness is what makes it interesting. This is the only non-companion story of the classic era. Apparently, Tom was convinced he could go it alone. Hinchcliffe gave him the one-off and then it was back to all companions all the time!

Having gotten the call from Gallifrey, the Doctor finds himself in the middle of a presidential assassination and coup -- and he's the primary suspect!


Harry -
Philip Hinchcliffe gave a nod to The Manchurian Candidate for this story. The first half of the story paints a political thriller right out of Richard Condon's novel.


Sarah -
I say more than a nod, more like a full body slam!

This is our first trip to Gallifrey and the first time the Doctor has been back since he stole the TARDIS and hit the road, as it were.


Harry -
That's another thing that makes this story stand out as it does in the middle of Season 14. It's a massive dump of Whoniverse continuity. Bob Holmes bombards us with Guards, Castellans, Chancellors and Cardinals, with names that will ring down through other stories. The Panopticon, the Sash of Rassilon, the Matrix, the Eye of Harmony - they are all here for the first time, thrown at us amid a colourful swirl of ceremonial robes.


Sarah -
It's a lot to take in all at once. We've had glimpses of the Time Lords, but this is the most we've learned about their society so far. Some fans contend that spending too much time on Gallifrey unnecessarily domesticated the Time Lords. Where do you come down on this debate?


Harry -
These Time Lords are very different from the stern, godlike characters the Doctor encountered at the end of "The War Games". Here, Bob Holmes gives us an extended look inside the corridors of Gallifreyan power, and it's disappointing for its familiarity.

We see a bunch of fusty old men gossiping amongst themselves, while the ambitious among them play power games. We see Runcible the TV reporter acting like, well, a TV reporter. We see the Chancellery Guards outwitted by the Doctor with alarming ease. Perhaps the familiarity of it all was meant to shock us - to make us realize that unlimited time and power make everyone the same. These are the most powerful people in the universe? Maybe they were, once, but what we see here is an almost stagnant, male-dominated society that mirrors our own, not one that we would dream about or aspire to.

For me, Gallifrey was more magical when it was unknown. This story changes that.

Whew, sorry for the massive dump of criticism. Let's talk about the insane Matrix episode!


Sarah -
What the story does do is make it very clear why the Doctor got the hell out of there!

Oh, the Matrix! That's a trip, eh?

The Doctor battles the Master by proxy in some of the most shocking scenes in the series' history.


Harry -
You have to credit Hinchcliffe & Co. for creating the virtual reality Matrix that would get its own "homage" treatment in a series of films a couple of decades later.


Sarah -
In the bonus feature, Hinchcliffe was quite proud that they had done it first!


Harry -
In real time, the Doctor's mind is plugged into the Matrix for only about five minutes, but what a mad battle he had.

It starts with a series of begoggled characters attacking the Doctor. Evil train conductors, evil Samurai, evil surgeon, evil clown, even a crocodile. The Doctor fends off the many attacks, and is pursued throughout by another mind bent on destroying him.


Sarah -
Can I just say that the railroad scenes were particularly horrifying for me? That scene where the narrow-gage engine is speeding towards the Doctor is the stuff of nightmares!


Harry -
I wonder where part three was filmed. It was an interesting combination of chalky white quarry and swampy woods.

The most shocking scene of them all was probably the part three cliffhanger, where the Doctor is pushed underwater by the now-exposed Chancellor Goth. Mary Whitehouse herself was interviewed for the DVD featurette, cringing at the horror of that scene. In a separate interview, Hinchcliffe shrugged it off as horrific but not too horrific in his opinion. The reality falls somewhere in between, wouldn't you say?


Sarah -
It's definitely a bracing moment for a series with a large audience of children.

Let's speak shall we of the brilliant Bernard Horsfall? Last seen as Taron in "Planet of the Daleks", he was perhaps most memorable as one of the Time Lords responsible for exiling the Doctor to Earth at the end of "The War Games". And, of course, before that he was Lemuel Gulliver in "The Mind Robber".

I'm delighted that his bio at tardis.wikia.com informs us that all these appearances have been tied together in various ways: tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Goth

Whovians are just the most wonderfully obsessive people ever!


Harry -
Some excellent connectivity going on there.  And a tip of the cap to Bernard Horsfall, another great repeat guest actor.

Again, all of part three took only a few minutes of real time, and we are reminded of this by the occasional cuts to Castellan Spandrell and Coordinator Engin. They hover over the Doctor's body like a pair of nurses, exchanging more continuity-loaded dialogue about Artron Energy and such.

We've seen George Pravda before, as the perpetually harried scientist who was lorded over by the megalomaniac Marshall in "The Mutants". Here, he plays the perpetually harried Castellan, and seems perfect for this unsmiling, security-type role. He's aided by the amiable Eric Chitty as Engin. This is one of my favourite guest teams.


Sarah -
They were brilliant! Every moment of their screen time was a joy to watch!


Harry -
All this plotting and virtual reality battling has been fascinatingly watchable, so much so that we've overlooked the driving force behind it all: the Master!


Sarah -
The Master! Things have not been going well since we last saw our favorite evil Time Lord. He's now at the end of his regenerations and little more than a walking corpse.


Harry -
That gelatinous skull face was gross-tastic!


Sarah -
As we know, Barry Letts and Roger Delgado had planned to retire the Master in a final epic battle with the Doctor, but Delgado's untimely and tragic death kept that from happening. It made sense to bring the Doctor back for "The Deadly Assassin", but he just doesn't pack the same punch in this story. The joy of the Doctor-Master relationship has always been their sparring. The story tries, but just doesn't quite get there.


Harry -
Yes, the Doctor-Master relationship only works when they are equals. The Master's reduced physical state holds it back. While the skull mask was wonderfully gruesome, it and the heavy black cloak prevented Peter Pratt from acting with anything but his voice.


Sarah -
And what a voice!


Harry -
Dripping with bile.

He is capable, however, of manipulating Goth into becoming his puppet, leading Goth to his own death. He's also more than willing to use the ol' Tissue Compression Eliminator to kill a couple of people (poor Hilred!).

Ultimately, the Master is undone by his megalo-ambitions. He takes the Sash of Rassilon and intends to use The Eye of Harmony to destroy Gallifrey and become Master of all matter or some such thing. As in the previous story, the villain's timely plunge into a deep hole saves the day.


Sarah -
Those deep holes come in handy, no?


Harry -
The Master is thwarted by the Doctor and Cardinal Borusa quickly formulates a cover story to paper things over. The Doctor is free to go and he departs in the TARDIS... along with a second rather obvious TARDIS that was sitting right there. Oh those Chancellery Guards! Spandrell's going to have to have a word with them.


Sarah -
Hard to imagine how the Time Lords got to be such force in the universe, isn't it?


Harry -
Best Line: "No answer to a straight question. Typical politician."

Favourite Moment: Borusa delivers a searing rebuke to Runcible in the Panopticon.

Lasting Image: The Time Lords in their ceremonial finery.

7/10


Sarah -
Best Line: "I deny this reality. The reality is a computation matrix."

Favorite Moment: The Doctor stealing the Time Lord's gear.

Lasting Image: The rail engine closing in on the Doctor.

7/10

 



Our marathon continues with Story #89 - The Face of Evil...

Story #87 - The Hand of Fear (1976)

Harry -

I kind of didn't want to watch this one so soon, Sarah. We've raced through the first couple of Tom Baker seasons and it's been great fun. But it's brought us so suddenly to that moment: the call from Gallifrey.

Pass the gin.


Sarah -

When I look back on all the slogging we did in the Recon Era, it's hard to believe that we're at the end of Sarah Jane Era so quickly. As wonderful as "The Hand of Fear" is, it always leaves me feeling so very sad. I can't even cheer myself up with a few rounds of "Eldrad must live."

Here's the gin, Old Boy.


Harry -

As companion farewell stories go, Jo Grant and now Sarah Jane Smith both went out with classics. You and I both raced through "The Hand of Fear" in a single sitting. The story bounces along and never lets up, and the location filming gave it a real cinematic quality. The sets, the story, the acting are all brilliant.

How many blasted quarries has Sarah had to crawl through in her time with the Doctor? This time out, she got the biggest quarry scene of them all. The camera work on the detonation was amazing, as was Elisabeth Sladen's acting when Sarah found herself buried alive. Hell, she was amazing through the whole thing. So many great moments.


Sarah -

I imagine it's a challenge to act possessed without being cheesy. Lis is so perfect in these scenes. She almost underplays the scenes when she's being controlled by Eldrad; not every actor would have made that choice.

"The Hand of Fear" also features one of the most-recognized costumes in Doctor Who history -- who doesn't remember Sarah Jane in her Andy Pandys?


Harry -

Adorable.

After grasping at the petrified hand and falling under the sway of Eldrad's ring, the possessed Sarah Jane is totally devilish! She was as unsettling as Zygon Harry, maybe more so because Lis played it with just the faintest of twinkles in her eye. The selection of the Andy Pandy costume was brilliant, because it created the image of sweet Sarah in a cute costume, wreaking utter havoc at a hospital and a nuclear complex. Lots of bang in such a tiny package. In the DVD featurette, Lis confirmed that she couldn't get into an elevator without fans asking her to recite "Eldrad must live." It is one of her signature lines.


Sarah -

I love the variety with which she delivers it: "Eldrad must LIVE." "Eldrad MUST live." "ELDRAD MUST LIVE."


Harry -

It really is the line of the story, as we see others fall under the influence of the ring. That includes Dr. Carter, played by Rex Robinson with the same gentlemanly enthusiasm that he delivered in "The Three Doctors". I really like his work.


Sarah -

Poor Dr. Carter. There's barely a moment given to morning his death or that of Driscoll. Yet another story with a large body count.


Harry -

Let's drink to Driscoll and Carter. To Driscoll, for being there to set up Sarah's immortal zinger: "Careful, careful. That's not as 'armless as it looks." To Carter, for his sudden, shocking death. That moment was filmed with a series of wild camera angles. First, Carter barges past the Doctor on the stairwell, to turn and look back down at him. Then there's the Doctor with his face practically against the lens, going "What?" and the great shot of Carter's body flying past as the camera looks up from the ground.


Sarah -

It was a wonderfully executed scene. I felt quite dizzy by the end of it.


Harry -

We've barely touched on the reason behind all this mad behavior: Eldrad. At first he's identified as a traitor, sentenced to obliteration by his people on Kastria. Only his hand survives, having fallen to earth 150 million years ago. The hand needs radiation to regenerate and bring Eldrad back to life. That hand - I love the moment when it suddenly comes alive.


Sarah -

It's a great moment. My favorite moment is when the newly regenerated Eldrad emerges from the reactor. I know Eldrad is played by a woman at this point, but every time I see him/her emerge from the reactor, I can't help but think that Eldrad's gone a bit camp. Seriously, every time, this is my thought.


Harry -

I know for sure that I never saw this story as a kid, because Eldrad would have given me nightmares for years. Judith Paris crackles with intensity, always seemingly on the verge of exploding with rage and violence. It's all in the eyes and voice (which I'm convinced got some electronic treatment, but I can't find any evidence online). That crystalline skinsuit and crown probably inhibited a lot of movement anyway.


Sarah -

It's quite the costume, isn't it? I wonder how much it weighed.


Harry -

Eldrad cons the Doctor and Sarah into going to Kastria, so that the regeneration process can be completed and Eldrad can become ruler of the planet. The male Eldrad who emerges at the end is much more shouty and somehow less terrifying.


Sarah -

Much less terrifying. Once it becomes clear that Eldrad's civilization on Kastria is long-dead, he tries to force the Doctor to take him back in time, but the the Doctor has no trouble outwitting shouty Eldrad -- and sends him hurtling into a seemly bottomless pit.


Harry -

All that waiting, and then all that soaking in of radiation, just to spend a few minutes barging around before falling into an abyss. Too bad so sad.

Kastrian Eldrad's costume looked quite burdensome too. I didn't realise until the DVD featurette that he was played by another guest actor from "The Three Doctors": Stephen Thorne, who did lots of shouting as Omega.

I've seen several online reviews panning the end of this story, claiming that the plot unravelled and/or Eldrad was too easily dispatched. I quite liked how Bob Baker and Dave Martin created the world of Kastria - one reliant on Eldrad's engineering brilliance to prevent solar winds from destroying all life on the surface of the planet. When it turns out that Eldrad himself destroyed the barriers in a mad act of sabotage, his evil genius is revealed, and his con is exposed. The Doctor was perhaps too trusting this time around, and should have been more suspicious of Eldrad's motives. But it all ended well and the trusty scarf saved the day.


Sarah -

With Eldrad dispatched, it's on to the next adventure...or is it?

Safely back in the TARDIS, Sarah is giving the Doctor a piece of her mind about all she's endured with him, demanding that he take her home. Unsurprisingly, he's not listening -- and then the call comes from Gallifrey.


Harry -

Apparently several members of the production team had a crack at writing this scene, so in that sense it belongs to everyone. I've watched it so many times over the years, I want to shout "Careful what you wish for!" as Sarah begins her rant about going home.


Sarah -

It's such a bittersweet moment that nearly makes me cry every time.


Harry -

The special effects of the call from Gallifrey were awful. Just some flashing pixellated overlays and a close up of Tom's face. It would have been nice to have another smirking Time Lord pop into the secondary console room while Sarah packed. But as we all know, time/budget/etc.

By the time Sarah returns, both arms loaded with her belongings, the Doctor is clearly troubled. Tom underplays the goodbye splendidly, holding back with his head bowed. Sarah is surprised at first, then accepts her departure. She doesn't realise it's a permanent farewell. Knowing what we would find out later - that she waited for him - makes this scene all the more painful.


Sarah -

While this scene nearly makes me cry, the scene in "School Reunion" when they meet again ALWAYS makes me cry.


Harry -

Oh yes, there will be tears during that one.

Damme, we've drained the gin bottle!


Sarah -

Damme. Pass the hankies.

Best Line: "Until we meet again, Sarah."

Favorite Moment: Eldrad emerges from the reactor.

Lasting Image: Sarah's final smile.

8/10


Harry -

Best Line:

"Wait a minute, Sarah. Maybe we should try and communicate with Eldrad."

"How? Use hand signals?"

Favourite Moment: The "I worry about you" exchange between the Doctor and Sarah.

Lasting Image: female Eldrad.

9/10

 

Our marathon continues with Story #88 - The Deadly Assassin...

Story #86 - The Masque of Mandragora (1976)

Harry -
Welcome to Season 14! The show titles have got a new font, the Doctor has got a new coat, and the TARDIS has got more rooms and corridors to explore. Huzzah!


Sarah -
Love that coat!


Harry -
The opening minutes of "The Masque of Mandragora" are a veritable squee-fest for us viewers. Our friends the Doctor and Sarah Jane are the focal point, strolling through the TARDIS corridors -- both with a much more pleasant attitude than at the start of the previous story.


Sarah -
I have such vivid memories of seeing this story for the first time. It's rare to see the TARDIS past the console room and always very exciting.


Harry -
Inside the secondary console room, the Doctor finds one of his old frilly shirts and Sarah has a go on the Doctor's old recorder. For viewers who had waited months for a new episode it must have been a warm, comforting opener. For you and I though, it's only been a couple of days.


Sarah -
The secondary console room is so warm and cozy, isn't it?


Harry -
Very comforting.  I would love to see Peter Capaldi barge in there sometime.


Sarah -
I'll let Moff know. Still, watching this scene, all I can imagine is the Third Doctor's horror at his shirt being used to dust off the console!


Harry -
No sooner are we settled in among the wood panelling and stained glass roundels, than the TARDIS is pulled into the Mandragora Helix, a kind of black hole controlled by an intelligence no one understands.


Sarah -
While the scene where the Doctor and Sarah step outside the TARDIS inside the Helix is relatively simple, the production crew did a great job of creating an uncomfortable otherworldly feeling. It felt so dangerous!


Harry -
Meanwhile, in the Italian Renaissance, Count Federico and his thugs terrorize the local peasantry. This is one of my favourite periods of history and I've been looking forward to watching this one again!


Sarah -
A fun fact: "The Masque of Mandragora" is the first historical since "The Gunfighters" not to be set in Great Britain. Fortunately, no one has to affect an American Western accent in this story, Pardner.


Harry -
The only odd note was the pair of extremely cockney guards who chickened away from the catacombs.


Sarah -
Everyone else brought out their best RSC accents.

The excellent production design continues in the Italian scenes. The exterior scenes shot in Portmeirion are gorgeous -- who needs to go to Italy when you can head to Wales!


Harry -
Wales has it all, it seems.


Sarah -
Wales does have it all and I'm pleased you've finally noticed.


Harry -
The studio sets were fantastic too, in particular that in-between area between the temple and the outdoors. It was tough to tell whether it was a studio set or part of Portmeirion.

In the DVD featurette, Philip Hinchcliffe indicates his Horror Homage was based on the Vincent Price/Edgar Allan Poe film Masque of the Red Death, and how Portmeirion was a ready-made set for this historical.


Sarah -
This was likely one of the easiest studio sets for the designers to pull together. If there's one thing the BBC can do well, it's historical drama.


Harry -
It definitely had the look of the BBC Shakespeare productions of that time. The story itself is a classic clash between science and superstition. It is the dawn of the Renaissance, and people like Prince Giuliano seek truth and knowledge from scientific discovery. They are up against reactionaries like Hieronymous the astronomer, who looks to the stars for horoscopes and bogus omens to justify his and Federico's crimes.


Sarah -
Prince Giuliano has it all -- looks, curiosity, intelligence, a plotting uncle, and very tight breeches.


Harry -
...and a hot blooded "companion" named Marco. Oh my! He provides a steely reserve when Giuliano has moments of uncertainty, and is always faithfully by his side. Doctor Who's very first same sex couple? I say yes!


Sarah -
I've never thought otherwise. They make a lovely couple...in their tight breeches.


Harry -
Also in San Martino, there is a not-particularly-secret secret cult -- the Cult of Demnos, a bunch of hood-wearing, temple-lurking, power-craving mystical nutters. Their leader Hieronymous seems to have advance insight into the Mandragora energy that travelled with the Helix aboard the TARDIS. The Doctor is aware of this menace too, but there's the rub: how can the Doctor convince a people on the cusp of scientific awareness that there is something very scientific threatening them all? And just how many horses will he need to steal?


Sarah -
It is a bit of a kerfuffle, isn't it? Fortunately, the Doctor doesn't hesitate to use his recently dormant Venusian Aikido skills when needed. There's quite a bit of action in this story, still, I can't help but wish that they'd gotten a better wig for Tom Baker's stunt double -- it's positively ginger!


Harry -
The mismatched hair colours were very noticeable as Tom Baker and his stunt double swapped in and out. Another thing I noticed during the swordfight scene: Federico's personal army seemed as inept in battle as a troop of UNIT grunts. Not one of them could lay a swordtip on either the Doctor or Giuliano.


Sarah -
So, it wasn't Giuliano's expert swordsmanship that vanquished them? I guess they're not used to fighting anyone who fights back, having made quick work of a passel of peasants early on in the story.


Harry -
We haven't had much to say about Sarah Jane. Writer Louis Marks didn't give her much to do except get captured repeatedly. She was also somehow hypnotized, hundreds of years before there was such a thing as hypnotism. The Doctor explained it away with one sentence. The Doctor did a lot of explaining things away in this story and we'll get to that shortly. As for Sarah, the lasting memory I have of her in this story is when she eagerly bit right into an orange. Can't say I've ever!


Sarah -
That was quite the moment wasn't it? I don't recall ever having seen an orange eaten that way!


Harry -
Maybe she explained it away while the Doctor was explaining everything else away. Okay, here's what I'm getting at. We learn that Hieronymous is using his cult as a front for the Mandragora intelligence, so that it can halt the Renaissance and prevent the development of human society. That's very far-sighted and a bit omnipresent, but the intelligence sees humanity as a threat that will spread across the universe, and wants to keep it locked in the dark ages.

The Doctor erupts in a torrent of technobabble, acting very manic in a way we won't really see again until the Tennant/Smith eras. Leaving Sarah and the others to attend a kind of inaugural ball, he creeps back to the temple and rigs up some wiring around the "sacred stone." A confrontation with Hieronymous follows, during which the Doctor gets zapped by energy bolts.

Later, we see Hieronymous and the brethren all get zapped, but it's actually the Doctor, and his rig seems to have worked, and, honestly, I'm not sure what happened exactly. Other than the Doctor explained it all away with a flurry of technobabble. The befuddled looks on everyone else's faces mirrored my own. Was this our first real "technobabble" ending?


Sarah -
Well, I feel better knowing it wasn't just me. I was just as befuddled.


Harry -
When watching the new series, we have occasional moments where it's like, "Oh, the Doctor just acted like [name of previous DW actor] used to in the past. Charming!" This time, I definitely had a moment where it was like, "Oh, the Doctor just went all hyper and rapid-fire like Matt Smith will in the future. Charming!"


Sarah -
Everyone seemed happy at the end. Well, except for everyone who had become a corpse -- but, look, fancy dress!

In the end, the Doctor tells Sarah that Earth will not have any more trouble with Mandragora for the time being. Alas, the constellation will be in position again in 500 years, at about the end of the 20th century…but, look, fancy dress!


Harry -
Forza, Dottore!  Job well done, whatever it is you did, before enjoying your salami sandwich. I'm sure once the TARDIS faded out of sight, everyone helped tidy up the palace, removed the unfortunate corpses, put on another smashing ball, and neither Giuliano nor Marco let each other out of their sight again.

And so ends the great Hinchcliffe Historical. Huzzah!


Sarah -
I love happy endings!


Harry -
Best line:
"You try my patience, Hieronymous. You can no more tell the stars than you can tell my chamberpot."

Favourite moment: The Doctor steals a horse. Then another.

Lasting image: Hieronymous in full cult leader garb.

7/10


Sarah -
Best Line: "Save me a costume. I love a knees-up!"

Favorite Moment: The masque! Fancy dress!

Lasting Image: The secondary console room.

7/10

 



Our marathon continues with Story #87: The Hand of Fear...

Story #85 - The Seeds of Doom (1976)

Sarah -
Well, this was a bit of a surprise, Harry. I have no memory of ever having watched this story before.


Harry -
Me neither. The images of the Doctor and Sarah Jane creeping around the grounds of Harrison Chase's estate were familiar, but maybe from still photos.


Sarah -
I'm sure I would have remembered it, what with the killer plants and all. By the end of the story, I found myself looking nervously around the room, waiting for my houseplants to attack.


Harry -
While watching part one, it felt as though we'd missed an episode. We first see the Doctor propping his eccentric golf shoes up on Richard Dunbar's desk at the World Ecology Bureau, having been referred there by UNIT. From there, he and Sarah travel to Antarctica, where a strange alien pod has been discovered. There was a disjointed feeling to the opening of the story, as if some scenes had been cut out.


Sarah -
It really was a strange start to the story, but things picked up from there.


Harry -
And what's up with the Doctor and Sarah? They both seem distant and cold, as if they'd just had a row. The Doctor is in a particularly pissy mood, barking at people like an angry dog.


Sarah -
I imagine there's a missing adventure in there somewhere that explains everything.

While the beginning of the story is a bit awkward, things pick up once they get to Antarctica. It’s sort of a base-under-siege-from-the-inside situation, with overtones of The Thing, just to get the classic horror reference in there.

When the researchers find what appears to be a rock, we know it’s not going to be that simple. Soon enough, the rock proves itself to be a pod, which opens and infects the first human it encounters. Hello Krynoids -- intra-galactic weeds with a hunger for animal life! This can’t possibly go well.


Harry -
Even though the "frozen base under siege" thing has been done so many times, there's always something wonderfully creepy about it. Maybe it's because these bases are the most isolated places on Earth and there's no cavalry about to arrive over the hill.


Sarah -
I know what you mean; I never get tired of these stories. Fortunately, the Doctor and Sarah Jane are on the case – flying into Antarctica on a helicopter. Unfortunately, they’re not the only ones interested in what’s going on at the base. The misguided Dunbar alerts plant-obsessed Harrison Chase of the goings on and he dispatches his minions Scorby and Keeler to Antarctica.

How utterly brilliant is Tony Beckley as Chase?


Harry -
At first, Chase is presented as an eccentric millionaire plant preservationist, snapping at Dunbar about the plight of bonsai trees.


Sarah -
Oh, the horror of bonsai torture! That piece of character development was a nice touch.


Harry -
The discovery of alien pods attracts his interest, perhaps as a collector at first. But with each subsequent episode, as we learn more about the destructive power of the Krynoids, Chase concurrently becomes more and more of an utter loon, determined to help them destroy all animal life on the planet.


Sarah -
His spiral from plant lover to plant avenger is brilliant.


Harry -
In part three, as the Doctor and Sarah looked around Chase's greenhouse, I thought we were hearing a Pertwee-esque snippet of electronica as part of the score. But no! It was Chase's own synthesizer composition, performed just for them. "The Hymn of the Plants" is one of the most supremely insane moments ever!


Sarah -
I couldn’t stop laughing!


Harry -
I snickered for hours.  That was followed immediately by "The Floriana Requiem." Whew, what a loony!

I'd have to say that the casting and performances of the supporting actors keep this story from being dull. There really isn't much to the story: alien pods discovered and mishandled, alien menace spreads, greedy humans get in the way as the Doctor and Sarah race to save the day. They had to find a way to fill six episodes, and yet each episode was fast-paced, partially because the characters were interesting. Sir Colin Thackeray, Amelia Duckat ("That's Doo-KAY"), even Scorby the stock henchman came to life thanks to the great work by the actors.


Sarah -
Amelia Duckat is an utter delight. I wish she had gotten her own spin-off series. She could solve a new mystery every week with the help of Sir Colin!


Harry -
She clearly took delight in her minor acts of espionage. Sir Colin was the classic exasperated civil servant who just wants to return to the safety of his desk.

What is up with UNIT this season? With the Brigadier in Geneva, UNIT sends in not just a replacement Brig, but an entire B-squad, giving us a UNIT story without any familiar faces. That lent itself to the weird atmosphere that was part of this story from the beginning.


Sarah -
The UNIT aspect of the story was definitely the most disappointing. They just become faceless soldiers without the Brig and Benton around. Season thirteen has been a slow but steady move away from the UNIT family and this story is clearly the final nail in the coffin.

Still, it’s a solid story with excellent performances and excellent direction by Douglas Camfield. It’s a nice ending to one of the most memorable seasons in Doctor Who history.


Harry -
Let's raise a glass to the special effects crew, for their realization of the house-smothering Krynoid, one of the most gigantic monsters in the show's history. And it blowed up real good too!


Sarah -
Best Line:
Doctor: “I’ve got a pistol.”
Sarah: “But you’ll never use it.”
Doctor: “True, but they don’t know that, do they?”

Favorite Moment: The Doctor crashing through the skylight to save Sarah Jane.

Lasting Image: The Doctor standing behind Sir Colin holding a chair over his head. I had to stop the DVD for a moment because I couldn’t stop laughing at this moment.

7/10


Harry -
Best Line:
Sir Colin: (into phone) "Yes, yes. This is Sir Colin Thackeray. I am aware that the Brigadier is in Geneva. I must speak to a senior officer. This is a matter of national security. Yes, national security."
Amelia: "Invent a codeword. They love that. What about Operation Nuthouse?"

Favourite Moment: The Hymn of the Plants!

Lasting Image: the Krynoid smothering Chase's home.

7/10

 


Our marathon continues with Story #86: The Masque of Mandragora...