Serial X20 – The Five Doctors 2 / 2

Recap: Four of the Five Doctors, plus the Brigadier, Sarah Jane, The Master, a Dalek, some Cybermen, Tegan and Turlough find themselves in “the death zone” on Gallifrey, seemingly playing some “Game”. Five has transmatted back to the citadel and is meeting with the High Council, comprised of President Borusa, Chancellor Flavia and the Castellan.

Borusa demands what The Doctor is basing his accusations on. Five replies that the Cybermen were brought along, and even in their “darkest times”, the Gallifreyans never allowed the Cybermen to play the game.

“Like the Daleks, they play too well.”

Five opens the recall device to reveal a homing beacon. Borusa says that the Castellan gave it to The Master, but the Castellan says The Doctor is seeking revenge. Borusa orders his security to search the Castellan’s living quarters and office.

Back in the death zone, The Master struggles to convince the Cyberleader that he can help. He tells them the tower is the stronghold of the Time Lords, but he can help them. The Cyberleader agrees, promising to spare him in exchange (but not planning to keep his promise.)

Turlough and Susan watch One and Tegan’s progress. Suddenly, they realise there are Cybermen outside the TARDIS.

The Brig and Two continue through the tunnel; the Brig complains all the while. They hear the grumbling roar of some creature and hurry along.

Three and Sarah Jane make their way through the mountains towards the tower. Suddenly, a warrior robot appears. It shoots a spear at her from its arm. It seems to disappear from sight, appearing nearby, then jumping about, disappearing again.

The Doctor leads Sarah to the entrance. The robot appears near them, with its back to them.

Turlough asks if Susan can operate the TARDIS, but she says even though she can it will do no good – the forcefield from the tower still keeps them there.

Tegan and “Doc” (Her name for One, much to his displeasure) make their way.

The search of the Castellan’s quarters turns up a box with the seal of Rassilon on it. Within are the Black Scrolls of Rassilon. Borusa says it is forbidden knowledge. The scrolls burst into flame and Borusa closes the box.

The Castellan denies having seen the box or the scrolls before. Borusa orders him to be interrogated, authorising the use of the “mind probe”. As they take him off, there is a shot and a scream. The Doctor exits, to see that the Castellan has been shot down in an attempt to escape.

Borusa says The Doctor has found his traitor and hopes this will allow his other selves to complete their quests. He says Five cannot go back to the death zone, as the President needs him there to advise. Flavia takes The Doctor off to quarters to rest. Borusa is very pensive.

The Brig and Two flee through the caverns, pursued by the creature. They squeeze through a small hole in the wall and find safety there. A large paw tries to reach them, but Two fends it off with the torch.

Handing the torch over, Two searches his pockets for something, finding a firework to spook the creature. In the light, they identify it as a Yeti. The creature, enraged, attacks the opening, causing the rocks to slide down and block the hole they slipped through. Searching their area, they find it leads to a door. The door is unlocked and Two says that “someone…or something wants us to go inside.”

Despite this, they do enter.

The Cybermen are setting up something outside the TARDIS.

A Cyberman trailing Three and Sarah arrives. The robot attacks it, killing it. More Cybermen arrive, quickly dispatched by the robot. EVEN MORE Cybermen arrive (jeebus, how many are there?) Yet again, the Cybermen are killed with ease.

While the robot is distracted with them, Three and Sarah grab the robot’s spare… well, Three calls them “arrows” but they’re more like javelins. Three also grabs some bundles of cable. They move on and find themselves on the mountain facing the top of the tower.

Flavia assures The Doctor that his friends and other selves are safe. He tells her he’s more worried about the High Council, saying that the Castellan was limited and narrow minded, but always loyal to Gallifrey.

Five says the traitor is still at large. Flavia says she will speak to the commander. Five goes off to speak to Borusa.

Three lassos the tower and he and Sarah Jane slide across to the tower, while The Master and Cybermen watch from lower down on the mountain. They, too, find an unlocked door waiting for them, and enter.

Tegan and One stand at the main entrance. The Doctor finds an “entry coder” and opens to the door.

Susan says the Cybermen are setting up a bomb outside the TARDIS.

One tells Tegan to be careful as she approaches a checkerboard floor. He starts tossing coins onto the squares. The death trap doesn’t activate until you reach the fifth row of squares, then electricity arcs all about.

The Master comes up behind them, saying their ancestors were devious. When The Doctor questions who he is, he says they knew each other at the academy. He tells them they need to hide, just before the Cybermen arrive. They do so, just in time.

The Cyberleader questions why the main entrance was unguarded, but The Master says the Time Lords are overconfident. When instructed, The Master strolls across the board, with no repercussions, then skips back. But when the Cyberpatrol crosses, they are all blasted down.

The Cyberleader accuses him of betraying him, and tells him to show him the safe route, or he will destroy him. Despite the route changing each time, The Master seems to know it and leads the Cyberleader.

However, mid-route, the renegade Time Lord turns and shoots the Cyberleader with a Cybergun.

Tegan and One come out and she chastises The Master for his ruthlessness (showing mercy for Cybermen, when they were responsible for Adric’s death? Out of character for Tegan.) He skips across again and says it’s “easy as pie”.

The Doctor remarks, “What an extraordinary fellow. As easy as pie?” Suddenly, The Doctor realises he meant Pi. The Doctor says that the formula for Pi is the key. He walks across and then directs her across.

Five arrives at the Council room, but the President is not there, much to the guards posted outside surprise. Five tells the guard to inform Flavia, and then begins poking about.

Three and Sarah Jane make their way through the dark tower. Sarah Jane stops, saying something is stopping her, some force. Three says it is the mind of Rassilon, keeping her at bay. She sits down while Three goes on a bit.

While he’s separated, Mike Yates shows up, as is Liz Shaw – they say someone else he should know well is waiting – implying the Second Doctor. When Three goes back to get Sarah, they try to stop him.

Three realises they’re phantoms, “illusions of the mind,” and runs back to Sarah Jane. The phantoms call out to him to stop. Three reunites with Sarah Jane and they head onward.

Tegan feels the same as Sarah Jane; One says it’s all mental illusion and to just ignore it. The Master skulks behind them, following.

The Brigadier also feels it. Two explains it much like the first two. They hear a scream and investigate, though The Doctor says it could be a trap. Over and again, the scream continues.

Rounding the corner, they find Jamie and Zoe in the hall, warning them off. They claim there is a forcefield, and if he goes on or tries to free them, it will kill them.

Two realises that when they were returned to their own times, the Time Lords erased their memories. They, too, are phantoms. They move on, engaging in some wonderful banter:

“Trust me, Brigadier, have I ever led you astray?”

“Yes, on many occasions.”

“This will be the exception!”

In the council chamber, Five sees a painting of a harp player. There is also an actual harp. Playing with it, The Doctor realises it is a key to a secret door.

One and Tegan reach the actual tomb chamber. There is an obelisk that One examines while Tegan looks around. Three and Sarah Jane arrive shortly thereafter, and yes, there’s more Doctor on Doctor banter. Fun stuff.

The two Doctors examine the obelisk while Sarah Jane and Tegan introduce themselves and chat. One asks “What happened to the little fellow,” but before Three can answer, Two and the Brig arrive. The three Doctors (aw, yay!) banter and inspect, while the ladies greet the Brig.

Three is delighted to see the Brig and they shake hands. Before the Brig can complain too much, Three dismisses him and heads back to the obelisk. The companions exchange notes.

The three Doctors divine what it is all about, but One says it’s nothing to do with them. They simply need to leave. When the companions demand an explanation, One directs Two to fill them in.

It turns out that whomever takes the ring from Rassilon’s hand will get “the reward he seeks.” However, there is a warning of “to lose is to win and to win is to lose.”

At hearing how to gain the immortality, The Master steps out of the shadows. He rants at them, saying he came to help them, but he was scorned. Now he will help himself to immortality. The three Doctors protest, but he holds them off with his TCE.

The Brig sneaks up behind him and knocks out The Master with a right cross. Yay, Brig!!

(Yes, I know, The Master is my favourite Time Lord. But it’s the Brig, yo.)

Back at the TARDIS, the Cybermen (how many are there?) have set up multiple bombs. Apparently, the Cyberleader is with this crew, not one who went into the tower.

Turlough and Susan fret within, watching as the Cybermen withdraw from the perimeter of the TARDIS.

Five finally sees that the painting of the person playing the harp has a tune in the painting. He plays it, and reveals the gameboard and pieces and controls in a secret room!

Borusa, dressed in black robes, is there. He offers The Doctor his hand. The Doctor confesses he did suspect him, though not at first. The Doctor asks what has happened to Borusa. The President says he will not retire, his work half done. He wants to be President Eternal, to rule forever.

Tegan and Sarah Jane truss up The Master.

Three reverses the polarity of the neutron flow (take a drink everyone!) so the TARDIS will be free of the forcefield. Two attempts to contact the capital.

The TARDIS activates as the Cybermen detonate the bombs.

Borusa goes on, quite madman-like ranty, about following Rassilon’s clues. He says that the secret lies in the tomb. He sent the Doctors to get past all the traps. Borusa says that The Doctor will serve him; Five says he never will.

But Borusa is wearing the Coronet of Rassilon and that amplifies his mind to control others. He demonstrates by making Five bow before him, and then rise and accompany him as he departs the secret room.

The TARDIS arrives in the tower. Turlough and Susan join the others.

Two appears on the videoscreen of the transmat device. Five, under Borusa’s control, tells them not to meddle with anything until Borusa arrives to take charge.

After the conversation is over, Three says that something is wrong. Two mocks him for finding menace in his own shadow, but One agrees with Three.

Borusa and Five appear in the transmat booth in the tomb room. When the companions approach, Borusa compels them to be silent and not move.

One, Two and Three say they will not allow Borusa to win. They join their minds and ask Five to join them. They free him from Borusa’s control and he joins them; the four wills combined are more than the President, even with the Coronet, can handle.

Borusa says they cannot overcome him; Five says that Flavia and her guards will soon arrive. Borusa says that since he is the Lord President and they are an infamous renegade, Flavia will believe him, not they.

Suddenly, a booming voice announces, “This is the Game of Rassilon!”

Borusa moves to the voice, over by the tomb proper. One stops Five from following.

Rassilon (whose face appears in the air above his body) asks who disturbs him, what they seek. Borusa identifies himself, saying he seeks immortality. Rassilon asks who the Doctors are, and Borusa says they are his servants.

Three, Five and Two deny this, but One assures him the President speaks true. He asserts that Borusa deserves “the immortality he seeks”.

Rassilon instructs Borusa to take the ring; the President does so. Rassilon asks Borusa if he is sure, once more, asking if he will turn back. Borusa says “Never!” When instructed, Borusa puts on the ring.

Rassilon says, “Others have come to claim immortality through the ages. It was given to them, as it shall be given to you.” When he says this, stone faces on the side of the tomb become animated, their eyes glancing about helplessly.

There is a blank space. “Your place is prepared, Lord President Borusa,” and Borusa becomes a face in the blank spot. The ring returns to Rassilon’s finger.

The companions recover.

Rassilon asks if the Doctors claim immortality. They quickly deny this, saying they only wish to be returned to their proper place and times. Rassilon agrees to this, as well as to freeing the Fourth Doctor and Romana from the vortex. And The Master, whom Rassilon says “his sins will find their punishment in due time” disappears as well.

Rassilon says it is time for them to say their farewells and depart. He commends them on choosing well, and then he fades from sight. (Well, his floating face does; his body remains there all the while, laying atop the stone.)

Five asks One if he knew all along what would happen, but he says he suddenly realised what the warning meant, the one about winning and losing. He says it was a trap to remove those who sought immortality.

Farewells are said. One and Susan go into the TARDIS, followed by Two (who has to exchange name-calling with Three first) and the Brig, then Three and Sarah Jane go in.

After the others go in the TARDIS, Five says, “I’m definitely not the man I was… thank goodness.”

Tegan ask how they’re all going to travel together, but then each of the Doctors goes off in a triangle from the time scoop.

(That’s funny, I remembered it being separate TARDISes that branched off from Five’s.)

Flavia and several guards arrive by transmat. Five greets her, telling her that the legend of Rassilon is true. She says he has evaded his responsibilities far too long and he must replace Borusa, as the Council has appointed him the replacement.

She says that to refuse this would incur the wrath of the council. He deputises her until his return and (after instructing the companions back into the TARDIS under his breath), orders the guards to escort her back to the citadel.

In the TARDIS, The Doctor explains to his companions that he’s not going back to rule Gallifrey.

Tegan questions this, “You mean you’re deliberately choosing to go on the run from your own people, in a rackety old TARDIS?”

“Why not,” The Doctor replies as the camera zooms in on him, “after all, that’s how it all started,”… and the credits roll.

A fun story. Makes me excited to see the 50^th anniversary special later this year.

Serial X20 – The Five Doctors 1 / 2

The 20^th anniversary special, this is not technically part of the 20^th season, but stands alone. I remember this one well and it’s pretty darn good.

We open with a snippet of The Doctor’s heartfelt speech to his granddaughter, Susan, upon leaving her on Earth. Then the opening credits roll!

An alien landscape. The insides of a fortress seen amongst the mountains.

Then, switching to Turlough walking amongst some ruins. He sits down with a sketchpad and sketches the landscape.

In the TARDIS (looking spiffy, I’m guessing a new set), The Doctor polishes the console. Tegan enters, wearing a different outfit. She asks if he repaired everything, but he argues the TARDIS is more than a machine. However, to her point, he has difficulty opening the door.

He exits, and strolls along the ruins, finding Turlough. He admires Turlough’s sketch. Tegan joins the boys. Apparently, this is the Eye of Orion they spoke of at the end of The King’s Demons. Tegan asks if they can stay and The Doctor agrees they can, for a while, as they’re “due for a rest”.

Elsewhere, a mysterious gloved hand works some controls. We see, on the screen, the edifice from the opening.

The First Doctor is seen strolling along a garden. (Obviously, as William Hartnell had already passed away, the First Doctor is played by Richard Hurndall.) A mysterious twirling triangle of energy zooms down, and though he attempts to run away, he is snatched up.

The gloved hand takes a figure of the First Doctor that has appeared in a lightbox in the wall out and sets it on what appears to be a gameboard of some sort.

The Fifth Doctor clutches his chest, gasping in pain. He explains he felt “a twinge of cosmic angst,” “…as if I’d lost something.”

Inside the UNIT HQ, the Brig is visiting, apparently some form of reunion. He talks to his replacement, Colonel Crichton, and they talk of The Doctor. Just then, the Second Doctor bursts in, greeting the Brig. The Doctor says he read the article on the Brig’s speech in tomorrow’s newspaper and hopes he’s not too late for it.

The Brig and The Doctor go for a walk (the former hoping to get the latter away from his replacement, hoping not to cause any offense.) They reminisce about Yeti, Cybermen, Omega and others.

However, The Doctor says he has to go – he’s not really supposed to be there. However, before farewells can be said, the same force that kidnapped the First Doctor grabs the two of them.

Figurines of the two of them appear and are placed in the board.

The Doctor says, “It’s fading, it’s all fading. Great chunks of my past, detatching themselves like melting icebergs.” He tells his companions that all is well, but then collapses.

The Third Doctor is driving Bessie, when he sees the energy triangle. He tries to avoid it, but he and the car are snatched up by it.

He, too, is added to the field of play. (No figurine for Bessie, though.)

Turlough posits that The Doctor is under some psychic attack. The Doctor says he needs to get back to the TARDIS and the companions assist him. En route, he gasps again. He says he has to find his other selves.

Sarah Jane is leaving her flat, but K-9 tells her there is danger and she should not go out. He cannot identify the cause of danger, only that it is extreme and getting worse. When he tells her that The Doctor is involved, she says he’s imagining things and leaves.

The Fourth Doctor and Romana II are shown in footage from the (then unaired) Shada. The Doctor is piloting their punt, when the force abducts them. (Tom Baker had declined to appear, so the footage from the incomplete serial was used.)

The gloved hands work the controls, frustrated at the inability to manifest figurines of Four and Romana Two.

In the TARDIS, The Fifth Doctor collapses.

At the bus stop, Sarah Jane is abducted. She is added to the game board next to Three.

The TARDIS column rises and falls rhythmically. Turlough is surprised to discover that The Doctor has two hearts. As they watch, The Doctor seems to fade off and on, as the TARDIS materialises.

The gloved hands add three more figurines to the game board.

Turlough says the instruments say they’re no where and no time. When Tegan asks what they do, he says they wait.

Time Lords mill about hallways in the grand city. The Lord President Borusa attends a meeting of the Inner Council and protests involving someone who is awaiting them. They remind him that the Council has over-ruled him and they bring in The Master.

Borusa offers him a complete pardon, including a complete cycle of regenerations – to earn this, he must “rescue The Doctor.”

The First Doctor wanders some halls with crystalline walls. Lightning and thunder crash all about. Suddenly, he sees a shadow of a woman – it’s Susan!!! They embrace, happy to have found each other. She asks him what’s happening, but he’s clueless.

As they question their situation, a Dalek rounds the corner and they rush off. The Dalek pursues, shooting wildly, shouting for The Doctor’s death.

The Inner Council shows The Master the “death zone”, which has recently become active. It is draining energy from the Eye of Harmony, enough so to endanger all of Gallifrey.

When The Master asks if they bothered investigating on their own, Borusa says that two of the High Council went and did not return. They explain that The Doctor has been lifted out of time – only the Fourth can be found, trapped in some limbo.

“A cosmos without The Doctor scarcely bears thinking about,” The Master muses. When he asks why they want him, he’s told that they need someone ruthless and cunning. Again, they ask if he will go.

Five continues to fade in and out, but he becomes mostly rooted. He tells them he’s being drawn into a time vortex, but must find his other selves and be whole.

Susan and her grandfather flee the Dalek. It chases them into a dead end. They hide and when the Dalek approaches, they push it into the cul-de-sac and it fires. It’s beams bounce off the reflective walls and it ends up killing itself.

Part of the wall is blasted open and they recognise the Dark Tower – they both know it and where on Gallifrey they are – the “death zone”. The Doctor says they will find their answers in the tower.

The Brig complains about the wintry rocky terrain they find themselves in, while Two says it’s not his fault.

“You attract trouble, Doctor, you always did,” the Brigadier sums up his complaints.

They seem something moving, at a distance, in the mist, and crouch behind a partial wall. A metallic hand reaches out and grabs the Brig’s wrist, but Two beats at the hand until it lets go and he and the Brig dash off.

The movement in the mist is Three in Bessie. He stops to take in the area, and sees someone moving.

Sarah Jane, wandering in the mist, falls down a slope, crying out. Three, hearing her, calls out to wait and lowers a rope down, tied to Bessie, and drags her out. Sarah Jane is amazed to see that he’s still Three and not Four, and confused when he explains that hasn’t happened yet.

They get into Bessie, so he can explain while they travel.

Five cannot recall what he’s supposed to do; Tegan and Turlough remind him he wants to send a signal to become whole, but before he can do anything, he collapses again.

The First Doctor takes a break, but Susan sees the TARDIS and they go to it. They enter, finding the Fifth Doctor and companions. One demands to know what they’re doing in his TARDIS.

The companions explain that it’s “his TARDIS,” indicating the fallen Five. One asks who he is, and Turlough answers, “The Doctor,” and One seems to ‘recognise’ himself once this is pointed out.

Seemingly revived by his other self’s presence, Five awakens and tries to explain how he got there, but he doesn’t know. One says it doesn’t matter, and is delighted to find out there are “five of me running around.”

Introductions are made; Tegan (having known the Fourth Doctor) understands the two Doctors should not be together. They agree, saying it only happens in the gravest emergencies.

One starts barking orders, saying Tegan needs to fetch some beverages. Before she can go ballistic, Five begs her to play along.

The council gives The Master the Seal of the High Council (to prove his working for them) and a recall for the transmat so they can bring him back when he needs to speak to them.

The Master asks if anyone is going to wish him luck, but Borusa says he will wish him success, “…for all our sakes.” Personal note: when people say “wish me luck,” I always wish them success and I believe this is where I first picked that up.

The Castellan activates the transmat, sending The Master into the death zone. Borusa dismisses Flavia and the Castellan, saying he would prefer to wait alone.

The Master comes across a dessicated Time Lord, musing, “One of my predecessors.” A blast of energy comes near him and he calmly remarks about the inhospitable environment.

Two confirms his suspicions – they are in the death zone on Gallifrey – and explains to the Brig about the history of said place. In the days before Rassilon, his people abused their powers and would kidnap beings from other worlds and times and put them in the death zone. They set off to the Dark Tower, which Two says is Rassilon’s tomb.

One and Five argue whether to send the signal and wait (One’s preferred plan) or to go out (Five’s side.) It’s a classic example of the difference between the Doctors.

They set about setting up the “computer scanner” to see what’s out there.

Bessie moves down a road through a gnarled forest. Three explains that the zone was a setting of “the games”, until Rassilon put an end to it. He stops to get his bearings and indicates the Tomb of Rassilon to Sarah Jane.

The Master steps out and calls out to them. Three stops the car and isn’t sure he recognises him. They drive back and banter, The Doctor presuming The Master is behind it all. His enemy says he’s working for the High Council, presenting the seal as proof.

The Doctor says it’s probably stolen and doesn’t believe The Master is there to help. There’s more banter, but a thunderbolt strikes the ground near The Master. He dashes off, and Three drives off in Bessie, thinking it’s a trap.

One and Five have pulled up a schematic of the Dark Tower (the Stephen King fan in me is loving that name), identifying three entrances – the main, one above and one below.

One argues against Five’s plan to go in via the main door.

Bessie has been disabled by the thunderbolts. Three claims this proves it was a trap.

Borusa orders a technician to stabilise Four in the part of the vortex he is trapped. The Castellan arrives to inquire if there’s any news from The Master.

Two wonders if Rassilon brought them there. The Brig wonders about that if Rassilon was dead. They discuss the legends of Rassilon – The Doctor says that some speak of Rassilon not being a good guy, despite the official history.

Two posits that they could be playing the “Game of Rassilon”. The Brig says he guesses they’re not expected to win. Two frowns and they set off towards the tower again.

Five heads off with Susan and Tegan in tow; Turlough remains in the TARDIS with One.

Three and Sarah see a Cyberpatrol of Cybermen Cybermarching through forest.

In the TARDIS, One identifies the presence of two more Doctors… and wonders what happened to the final one.

Two and the Brig approach the tower, the Time Lord singing a nursery rhyme about the tower, trying to recall how to enter. They find some torches and a brazier and after he lights one, Two leads the Brig into a cave.

Five, Tegan and Susan encounter The Master. When the renegade Time Lord says he knows it will be hard to believe, but he means them no harm, Five replies with, “Like Alice, I try to believe three impossible things before breakfast.”

As the two Time Lords confer, and the companions worry from afar, a Cyberman Cyberspots them and Cyberreports to the Cyberleader. (Ok, ok, I’ll stop.) The Cyberleader orders that they be kept alive and interrogated.

The Master and The Doctor banter and threaten each other. The Master tries to convince him he’s legit, and even says his credentials were taken by another self.

The Cyberpatrol approaches the Time Lords; the companions dash off, and the Time Lords are attacked. The Master is knocked out. The Doctor takes the transmat recall device, and beams away as the Cyberpatrol arrives to take him prisoner.

Susan and Tegan rush off, Susan limping after hurting her leg (which I seem to recall happened frequently during her time with the TARDIS.)

Five arrives where Borusa, Flavia and the Castellan await.

The Master is taken prisoner by the Cybermen, but offers his services to them.

Back in the TARDIS, Tegan inspects Susan’s leg. One suspects that Five escaped via a transmat, but says with “our young friend” gone, he will have to go to the Dark Tower himself. Tegan says she will go with him, though the Time Lord is less than delighted.

Five discovers that he was wrong about The Master; Borusa says if he survived, “I’m sure he will learn to live with the misjudgment.”

When Five wonders who is using the death zone and the time scoop, the Council tells him they were hoping he could tell them. They say if he suspects the time scoop was used, it would be a Time Lord.

Five says he suspects it would be a rather important one, at that, eyeing the three of them. When Borusa asks if he has evidence, he says he doesn’t yet.

And that’s where we’ll leave off until Friday my friends, as this is the halfway point of the story…

Serial 125 Mawdryn Undead 2 / 2

Recap: The Black Guardian has set a trap for The Doctor. He’s stuck in 1983, where he’s met up with the Brigadier! However, Nyssa and Tegan are earlier, and they, too, have met up with the Brig. Also, they think they have The Doctor, injured and regenerating, but it’s some guy called Mawdryn, who is of a people betrayed by the Time Lords.

It’s all rather fun.

(spoiler)

Episode 3:

Still in Turlough’s room, listening to the Brig’s retelling, The Doctor realises that both the TARDIS and the transmat cube arrived six years earlier. The Brig points out that Tegan and Nyssa thought the stranger was The Doctor. When The Doctor questions what the Brig thought, the mental block inside starts fighting back, the Brig begs off, saying he mustn’t remember.

The Doctor suggests that whatever the Brig experienced, what he can’t/won’t remember, might’ve been the trigger for his nervous breakdown. But, just then, The Doctor finds the crystal. He urgently says he must get to Turlough and the transmat sphere before Turlough repairs it – it might be his only way to recover the TARDIS. He dashes out, the Brig following.

Turlough arrives and enters the sphere.

Tegan accuses Mawdryn of not being The Doctor. She claims that the change is too different, but he plays it off as an effect of the transmat. Nyssa and The Brig are unsure; Mawdryn urges them to return the TARDIS to the ship, claiming he needs medical assistance they should find there.

Nyssa brings up Turlough, saying he doesn’t belong in that time period, confusing Mawdryn.

The Doctor and Brig arrive at the sphere, which Turlough has been unable to start.

Tegan challenges that The Doctor should be in 1983, not 1977. Mawdryn claims it was a side-effect of the beam, saying the sphere was rerouted like the TARDIS was. Nyssa agrees that this could be possible.

The Doctor makes some modifications to the transmitter, while Turlough asks some high-tech questions. The Brig watches on stoically.

Mawdryn appeals to his “old friends”, asking for help. The Brig feels they must give him the benefit of the doubt.

The Doctor returns the crystal to Turlough after they all enter the sphere.

Nyssa starts the TARDIS, using coordinate regression (as instructed by Mawdryn) to return to the previous location, but an alarm goes off instead.

The Doctor sends Turlough out to inspect the transmitter; while the boy is gone, the Time Lord asks the Brig if he entered the TARDIS in 1977. The Brig says he can’t remember, but doesn’t feel it’s important. The Doctor points out if he did, they could potentially meet his former self, which would be very, very bad. “As Tegan would say… zap!”

The transmitter explodes.

The alarm stops; Mawdryn demands they dematerialise. Again, Tegan argues that maybe it was The Doctor. Again, Mawdryn insists he is The Doctor and demands Nyssa dematerialise. Tegan yells, “No!”

The Brig tells The Doctor that he did not go with them, that he remembers watching the TARDIS dematerialise. The Doctor says it’s a moot point, that he cannot leave without something to track the TARDIS with. The Brig says that Tegan left her homing device (as seen earlier, though I don’t believe I mentioned it, bad blogger that I am) with him!

The TARDIS materialises on the ship. Mawdryn orders them to stay in the TARDIS, but Tegan and the Brig argues. Mawdryn claims they cannot go with him, their presence would corrupt his recovery. Nyssa seems to believe him, but Tegan is adamant. Mawdryn gets melodramatic and falls to his knees.

The Brig gives the Time Lord the beacon, but it isn’t working. Disappointed, The Doctor hopes to fix it.

The Brig and Nyssa decide to let Mawdryn out.

The Doctor fixes the beacon and heads to the sphere to home in on the TARDIS.

In the TARDIS, the Brig decides it’s time to have a lookaround, but he orders the girls to stay, making them very unhappy.

Back in the sphere, the Brig complains about going up and down the hill for a third time. Both the Brig and Turlough insist on accompanying him to the ship and The Doctor agrees. They arrive there, even before the Brig asks how long the journey will take.

Mawdryn is seen crawling into a room. He speaks, calling out to… someone or something, “I, Mawdryn, have returned… it is time for the awakening, help me!”

The Doctor says the creature would have left the TARDIS by now, and they need to find it. He sends Turlough to find the TARDIS and stay with Nyssa and Tegan. He and the Brig enter a secret room, where they find some regeneration equipment (used in time of need by Time Lords) that he says must have been stolen from Gallifrey.

Mawdryn collapses.

Turlough seems to be speaking to the Black Guardian, though we only see/hear his side of the convo…. oh, he’s calling out for the Guardian to answer him, but the crystal is unlit.

The Doctor speculates that the creature could be undead. The Doctor says that he doesn’t know what the creature is up to, “But you can be sure it’s no good.”

Turlough finds the alcove that Mawdryn was in, calling out to the others. One of the statues speaks to him in the Black Guardian’s voice, and the visage of the BG appears. When Turlough apologises, BG says that all is working towards the “total humiliation” of The Doctor and says Turlough has done well. (I thought he wanted The Doctor dead, not humiliated?)

BG instructs Turlough to hold out his hand; reluctantly, the boy does so, touching the statue face, which opens a secret door. Inside, he finds others like Mawdryn, who slowly awaken from some sleep or stasis. Frightened, Turlough rushes out.

The Brig suggests going back to the TARDIS, but The Doctor is too interested in the equipment. He says that it’s been heavily modified and would do damage to a Time Lord, were they to use it. The Brig is distracted by something he hears outside and slips out. The door closes behind and he walks on, just missing his younger self by moments!

Mawdryn continues to crawl about. In their chamber, his compatriots waken, wondering where Mawdryn is.

The older Brig returns to the chamber, finding Mawdryn, who calls out to him by name.

Tegan decides to go out, saying she’s going to look for the real Doctor, but just then, The Doctor enters.

The older Brig helps Mawdryn, hooking him up to the machine, but confronts him, saying he’s not the Doctor. Mawdryn agrees, and when the Brig threatens to shut off the machine, saying he’ll die, Mawdryn says he cannot die.

The Doctor demands to know where Turlough is and mentions the Brig; when Tegan says they brought the Brig, he gets mad and yells at them. The three head out, hoping to stop the Brigs from meeting.

Young Brig hides from Mawdryn’s people as they march through the halls.

Tegan is left outside the regeneration chamber to stop the Brig.

Turlough enters the TARDIS.

The Doctor and Nyssa rejoin the older Brig in the regeneration chamber, where Mawdryn greets The Doctor, “I am Mawdryn… welcome to my ship, Time Lord.”

At the TARDIS console, Turlough works the controls. On the scanner, the BG appears, saying he cannot work the TARDIS. Turlough says with BG’s help, he can, but the BG says that Turlough will “remain on the ship and witness the nemesis of The Doctor!”

We learn of Mawdryn’s story – he stole the regeneration equipment from Gallifrey, but using it has induced mutation. He and his fellows were banished to the ship as punishment. He says that every seventy years, the ship is guided near enough to a planet that, with the combined mental energy of the other seven, one may go planetside, to take appearance of the locals and to seek help.

Nyssa asks why he stabilised in the TARDIS, and Mawdryn says it’s the atmosphere in there. He says it is the Time Lord’s curse, that they degenerate but can never die. The Doctor says they brought it on themselves, but Mawdryn says they could have given them the missing element.

Tegan enters the regeneration chamber, warning that Mawdryn’s fellows are approaching. Mawdryn asks for the help to die, but The Doctor says that he cannot – were he to give them his energy, it would be the end of him as a Time Lord… and the credits roll.

I like that cliffhanger; not an immediate danger, but a gut punch nonetheless.

Episode 4:

The Doctor explains that he would have to give them his remaining regenerations to help them – there are eight of them and he has eight regenerations left. The Brig and companions urge The Doctor to flee, before they get hostile, but Mawdryn says they have no weapons and that The Doctor can only help if he chooses to do so.

The BG tells Turlough that the double presence of the Brig might threaten his plans. BG orders Turlough to find the younger Brig and keep him away from the older one.

Mawdryn and his fellows argue with The Doctor, saying that they have tried and there is no cure, other than what The Doctor can do for them. Again, he refuses. Mawdryn tells him to “leave now with his friends, but accept the consequences of your actions”, but doesn’t explain what he means.

Turlough finds the young Brig, saying he’ll take him to The Doctor.

Mawdryn assures his friends that The Doctor will soon change his mind.

The Doctor fills in the older Brig about the presence of the younger Brig.

Turlough leads the younger Brig into the room where Mawdryn’s associates were sleeping and traps him in there.

The Doctor instructs Turlough to find the young Brig and take him to the transmat capsule, which has been rigged to transmat to the center of the TARDIS. He tells him to keep the young Brig in there. Turlough sets off, but hides from Mawdryn and his people as they are traveling about again.

Nyssa says she finds the idea that the “mutants” will travel for the rest of time to be terrible; The Doctor agrees, but says sometimes you have to live with the consequences of your actions. The Doctor activates the TARDIS and it dematerialises as Mawdryn and company arrive. Again, Mawdryn assures the others that The Doctor will return.

As the TARDIS leaves the ship, Tegan and Nyssa are stricken by a degernative effect much like Mawdryn and his people suffer. The Doctor reverses their transit, reversing the effect.

Young Brig finds his way out of the room.

The Doctor realises that somehow, though the experimentation, the mutation has taken on viral properties. He doesn’t know why he nor elder Brig have acquired it, though. If they travel through time, it accelerates the degeneration – but they cannot leave the ship and escape the warp ellipse that is part of it without entering the time/space vortex.

In a throwback to the Third Doctor, The Doctor wonders about reversing the polarity of the neutron flow…

Young Brig arrives just in time to see the TARDIS dematerialise again. He confronts Mawdryn and his fellows. Mawdryn’s fellows realise that the Brig is also in the TARDIS, and they rush him back to the transmat sphere.

This time, since they’re traveling in the opposite direction from the ellipse, Tegan and Nyssa turn into children. Again, The Doctor returns to the ship, restoring the ladies to their proper ages. An alarm goes off, letting him know the transmat sphere has been activated, but he says it cannot come into the center of the TARDIS while they’re on the ship, and it will return to its pod – The Doctor assumes it is Turlough and the younger Brig (but he’s only half right.)

Turlough runs about, returning to the chamber to find the young Brig, but discovers young Brig is already gone. He pulls out the crystal, which glows bright. BG chastises him, saying he has failed him. Turlough says it isn’t his fault. BG threatens to destroy Turlough if the boy fails him again.

The Doctor and companions depart the TARDIS; Mawdryn admits that the knew what would happen. He tells the girls that they’ll have to stay on the ship for the rest of their lives. The Brig pleads with Mawdryn to help, but he says there is nothing they can do. The Brig turns to The Doctor, as do the girls.

Reluctantly, The Doctor tells Mawdryn’s people, “Take me to your laboratory.”

Young Brig takes the homing beacon from the sphere (the one older Brig said he got from Tegan, remember?) and departs.

On the way to the chamber, Mawdryn explains to older Brig that once this is complete, The Doctor will no longer be a Time Lord.

Young Brig arrives at the TARDIS, finding it empty.

As The Doctor explains to older Brig what to do, the military man seems lost.. or perhaps remembering something. When asked, he assures The Doctor that he is fine. Nyssa and Tegan are hooked up to the equipment as well – enough of The Doctor’s remaining regenerations will be routed to cure them as well.

The Doctor gives older Brig the order to activate the machinery.

Young Brig walks around, hearing the machinery.

Turlough runs about, looking for young Brig. BG booms in his ear to hurry, they are so close, but the young Brig must be found and stopped!

The older Brig is counting down.

Turlough sees young Bring heading towards the regeneration chamber and tries to stop him, but the Brig shoves the boy aside. He opens the door.

Older Brig is at thirteen and counting down…

Young Brig walks in and sees his older self. Shocked, they both reach out and touch and there’s a great flash of light.

Turlough stops and consults the crystal – he sees that it is cracked!

The Doctor unhooks Tegan and Nyssa from the machinery. He explains that there was a massive discharge of energy at the moment of transfer. Young Brig is unconscious but older Brig is waking. The Doctor instructs Nyssa to take him to the center of the TARDIS and keep him there until he gives her the all-clear.

The Doctor tells Tegan that he is still a Time Lord, that the energy for the transfer came from the time differential being shorted out from the two Brigadiers touching, the crossing of the time lines.

Mawdryn breathes his final breath, dying. The others have already died.

Tegan thanks The Doctor for being prepared to risk everything for her and Nyssa.

Nyssa takes older Brig deep into the TARDIS. The Doctor and Tegan help younger Brig to the TARDIS, as the ship begins to die, now that the mutants are dead.

In 1977, Doctor Runciman stands at the top of the hill (where the Brig instructed him to meet with him), calling out for the Brigadier. The TARDIS arrives (unseen to the doctor, it seems) and Tegan and The Doctor bring out the still unconscious younger Brig, laying him in the grass for the doctor to find. The younger Brig wakes up just in time to see the TARDIS dematerialise.

Older Brig and Nyssa return to the console room now that his counterpart is gone. He remarks on the changes in the TARDIS and The Doctor replies, “One has to move with the times.”

The Brigadier says he hasn’t felt so well for at least six years. The TARDIS arrives in 1983, and the Brig, The Doctor and the girls depart. Outside, they say their farewells, but when the Brig asks where Turlough is, everyone panics, thinking he’s still on the ship, which is soon to self-destruct.

Saying quick goodbyes to the Brig, they rush back in, only to find Turlough at the console, looking over the controls. He asks if he can join them and The Doctor offers his hand, saying, “I think you already have.”

Turlough shakes his hand enthusiastically, much to the disappointment of Tegan and Nyssa… and the final credits roll.

This was a great serial, a lot of fun. I love the crossed time lines and the Brigadiers, and of course, Turlough. I have always liked Turlough – his being intended to kill The Doctor, the darker touch to him. Can’t wait for the next serial, too!

Serial 125 – Mawdryn Undead 1 / 2

If this is the one I think it is, I’m very excited to see this one. Let’s find out.

Episode 1:

THIS IS THE ONE!! YES!!

Several young men at a school admire a 1929 car – not a vehicle of the time period, it seems by their clothing and the discussion about the car being a classic. One of them, Turlough, is unimpressed, but coaxes his friend to go for a ride in it. Turlough gets behind the wheel and off they go as other student watch and cheer.

Turlough’s friend worries, begging Turlough to slow down, to turn back, etc, etc – Turlough seems to delight in his friend’s discomfort. Suddenly, another car comes down the road and they swerve, going off the road.

Turlough has an out of body experience… he sees the car wreck below, people gathered about. The Black Guardian appears, saying he’s a friend. He offers Turlough, whom is very unhappy in his life, the chance to leave Earth. When Turlough seems excited at the prospect, the Guardian says they will have to discuss terms first.

Back at the scen of the wreck, a doctor announces both boys are mostly unhurt. The owner of the car, Brigadier… LETHBRIDGE-STEWART!!! Squee! Flail!… complains that in all his years of soldiering, he’d never seen such destructive capability as he has seen here and now – he’s being melodramatic, of course.

Turlough is reticent to agree to the Guardian’s terms – in exchange for leaving Earth, Turlough will have to “kill one of the most evil creatures in the universe – he calls himself The Doctor!” Pressed for an answer, Turlough agrees as he’s sent back to Earth.

He awakes, to find the Brigadier and others about him.

In the TARDIS, Tegan, still frightened, asks The Doctor if she truly is free of the Mara. The Doctor assures her that she is. Nyssa arrives, wearing another new outfit, which again is unnoticed by The Doctor.

Tegan asks if she can go back to Earth, but before the discussion goes too far, the TARDIS starts having issues.

Back at school, Turlough is put to bed by a school matron. He finds a strange crystal on the table near his bed. She tells him it was found in his jacket. Just then, the headmaster (played by Angus MacKay, the first actor to portray Borusa back in THE DEADLY ASSASSIN) arrives to check on him. Turlough tries to put the blame off on the other boy, saying he wasn’t driving. The matron breaks up the conversation saying Turlough needs his rest and the adults depart. Turlough pulls out the crystal, which begins to glow – and he realises that the Guardian is real.

The Guardian’s voice then echoes, saying, “Waking or sleeping, I shall be with you until our business is concluded.”

The Doctor says there’s a chance that something is on a collision course with the TARDIS; on the scanner, a ship is seen heading straight towards them! The Doctor manages to materialise onto the ship just in time.

The Guardian tells Turlough that he must be patient and sends him to a nearby hill, to an obelisk, to await instructions.

The Brigadier confronts Ibbotson, the boy who rode with Turlough, as he leaves the headmaster’s office. Consulting with the headmaster, the Brig says that he’s sure Turlough is to blame. The headmaster seems to think otherwise. It comes up that Turlough’s parents are dead, that a solicitor in London is responsible for the lad.

Ibbotson checks in on Turlough, saying he’s worried about being expelled. Turlough claims he took all the blame, and jumps out of bed (grabbing his crystal) and heading off.

Tegan, Nyssa and The Doctor depart the TARDIS, examing the extravagantly decorated spaceship. Tegan first compares to it as the Queen Mary, but after finding nobody about, she changes it to the Mary Celeste.

As creepy music plays, they explore the ship. Nyssa remarks everything seems designed for pleasure.

Turlough and Ibbotson dash through the woods to the obelisk.

The Doctor finds a panel that reveals the ship has been in orbit for 3000 years.

At the obelisk, Turlough receives telepathic commands from the Guardian.

Nyssa finds a transmat terminal, still in transmat mode – it seems six years ago it was activated to send someone to Earth.

Following the instructions, Turlough deactivates a screen revealing a transmat capsule, which he recognises and identifies as such, mocking Ibbotson for not knowing what it is. He enters it as Ibbotson calls out for him to keep out of it. As it vanishes, Ibbotson dashes off.

Turlough arrives on the ship, at the very terminal The Doctor and companions had been out shortly before. He exits and approaches the control panel. The Guardian orders him to ignore the ship and go after The Doctor, but Turlough resists, saying he wants to go home – and he’s obviously not talking about Earth!

The Guardian appears, commanding that he will obey the terms of their agreement; Turlough seems to be under a compulsion now.

The Doctor and companions rush back to the TARDIS and enter.

Ibbotson returns to school, calling out to the Brig. He tells him what happened.

In the TARDIS, The Doctor cannot get the TARDIS to dematerialise.

The Brig and Ibbotson head to the obelisk; en route, the Brig chastises Ibbotson for saying a solid object could dematerialise – surely the Brig knows better?

In the TARDIS console room, The Doctor goes beneath the console, trying to sort things out. He exclaims, “I might have known,” and dashes out, followed by Tegan and Nyssa. They leave the door open, and Turlough enters.

They returns to the transmat room. The Doctor says that the capsule could be jamming the signal. He identifies that it’s 1983 on Earth, saying the capsule has been there since 1977. He wonders what it’s been up to, then dashes back to the TARDIS, where he finds Turlough inspecting the console.

The headmaster is informed that Turlough has gone missing. The matron says Ibbotson is missing as well, and she cannot get anyone to find the Brigadier, either.

Turlough plays off as being an Earth native, claiming he got there by mistake. The Doctor and Turlough take the capsule back to Earth, leaving the girls in the TARDIS. The Doctor tells them that once he shuts off the beam back on Earth, the TARDIS will follow through.

Tegan says she doesn’t trust Turlough, but Nyssa seems to think he was nice.

On Earth, The Doctor identifies the source of the beam.

The Black Guardian orders Turlough to destroy The Doctor; the boy hefts a large stone, sneaking up on the Time Lord, as he works on the beam. He lifts the stone up high… and the credits roll.

Oh noes!

Pretty good cliffhanger. And yay, Turlough! And the Brig!!! And the Black Guardian! Exciting!

(spoilers)

Episode 2:

The Doctor finishes working on the beam machinery, but suddenly there’s an explosion, knocking both he and Turlough back, saving The Doctor from being attacked!

In the TARDIS console room, the column starts moving and Tegan remarks, “Here we go!”

The TARDIS appears but only ghostly, then it fades from sight. When The Doctor says something is wrong, Turlough slips up and asks a technical question that an Earthling from the 1980s (or any time in the next couple centuries) wouldn’t know. The Doctor doesn’t seem to notice.

The girls open the scanner, seeing the obelisk, but no Doctor or Turlough.

The Doctor tries to determine what’s gone wrong, and Turlough slips away to consult the crystal, but he hears only the Brigadier looking for him. Ibbotson starts going on about the transmat sphere, but the Brig shuts him up, asking where he’s been, what he’s been up to.

Turlough explains that he’s been with “The Doctor”, but the Brig thinks he means the school doctor. Turlough corrects him and points out our Time Lord, who recognises the Brig and addresses him by name. Of course, the Brig doesn’t recognise him and asks who he is.

The girls look around, hoping to find The Doctor. Suddenly, the transmat sphere appears and the door opens. Tegan and Nyssa go inside, finding a burnt man, who they assume is The Doctor. He wakes, asking where he is, gasping, asking for help. When they mention TARDIS, he seems to react to that and asks them to help him into it.

The Brig apologises, saying he doesn’t recall who The Doctor is (obviously, a proper explanation hasn’t been made), but says he has to get the boys back to school and leads them off. Grinning, The Doctor follows.

Tegan and Nyssa bring the person from the transmat sphere into the TARDIS console room. Nyssa runs off to get some blankets while Tegan tries to console him.

Back at school, The Doctor catches up to the Brigadier. He says he’s regenerated, which does nothing for the Brig’s memory, and neither does the mention of the TARDIS!!! Something is afoot!! When The Doctor mentions UNIT, the Brig is alarmed, saying they can’t talk about UNIT in public. He leads The Doctor to his quarters.

As they tend to the man from the sphere, they suddenly remember Turlough; Tegan rushes off to look for him while Nyssa tends to their patient.

The Doctor and Brig walk, the Time Lord quizzing him, asking if it’s an undercover operation, “I hardly expected to find you at a boy’s school.” The Brig is like stone, unresponsive.

The injured man tells Nyssa that stability was not achieved, before passing out. Tegan returns, saying there was no sign of Turlough. Nyssa posits that he may have been atomised.

At the Brig’s quarters (which The Doctor finds a bit disappointing), the Brig says he doesn’t know what the TARDIS is. The Doctor says he suspects the Brig’s memory loss and the TARDIS’ disappearance are related. The Brig has a great line about his memory, “After all, if I were suffering amnesia, I’d be the first to know, wouldn’t I?”

Tegan decides to go to the building (the school) they saw in the distance.

The Doctor asks about Sgt Benton and Harry Sullivan and Jo Grant and Sarah Jane and Liz Shaw – it’s the women’s names that seem to resonate deep in the Brig’s mind. The Doctor presses the issue, bringing up the Yeti as well.

We see some flashbacks – a young Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart, the Yeti, Cybermen, the Second Doctor, Daleks, the Third Doctor, the First, even the Fourth… and more.

The Brig snaps out of his reverie, turns to The Doctor, “Well, bless my soul… so you’ve done it again, Doctor!”

Tegan runs (it IS Doctor Who, after all) to the school.

The Doctor wonders what happened to make the Brig forget. At the suggestion of treatment, the Brig goes into a tirade, saying The Doctor has been talking to Doctor Runciman (the aforementioned school doctor) and rants about not going to the funny farm, being fit as a fiddle… then he quiets down, becomes apologetic. He says that according to Runciman, he had a “breakdown” some time ago.

Nyssa checks the scanner, looking out. The wounded man wakes and looks around, subtlely.

The Brig explains that he’s retired from the military, but grew bored with the quiet life, so got the job at the school, teaching math and performing other duties there.

Tegan finds a group of students and asks them where she can find a doctor.

The Doctor takes his leave, saying he needs to find his TARDIS, he’s worried about Nyssa and Tegan – the Brig says he knew a Tegan, but The Doctor says she’s after his time. The Brig proceeds to describe her, much to The Doctor’s surprise.

Tegan finds a younger looking Brigadier, explaining she’s looking for a doctor for her friend and possibly one of the students. He takes her inside, where she gives her full name.

The Doctor realises that it was his Tegan that he met – he tells the Brig that he needs him to recall every specific detail so that he can get in touch with them.

The headmaster is visiting Turlough, who’s in bed. He says now that the boy has explained everything, there’s nothing to worry about. Apparently, Turlough has told the headmaster the entire truth – being from another planet, the arrangement to kill The Doctor in exchange for a way home. The headmaster is taking it VERY calmly, and points out that the boy has quite the moral dilemma.

Turlough argues that he hopes that by separating The Doctor from his TARDIS he’s done enough to keep his part of the arrangement, but the headmaster says he can only put it in perspective, the final choice has to be Turlough’s. Turlough decides he’s going back on the deal, as nothing has been done for him.

The headmaster asks if that’s his final decision, if the boy is absolutely sure. When Turlough confirms, twice, the headmaster turns into the Black Guardian, “Waking or sleeping, you can never escape me, boy!” Turlough jumps up, trying to get out, but when he looks back, he sees his body still in bed, sleeping. He begs off, saying The Doctor is not as he said.

The Black Guardian says The Doctor’s good is his evil and he imposes his will upon the boy (again?), who takes a zombie-like attitude and slips back into bed, merging with his sleeping self.

Tegan tells the Brig about the student, Turlough; the Brig, being new, doesn’t remember the name but checks a roster book. He doesn’t find Turlough in the book. Tegan makes mention of coming down on the hill and the Brig thinks it’s a plane crash.

As he prepares to call the police, Tegan mentions the TARDIS, which catches the Brig’s attention. When she says that he won’t understand, he asks if her friend is The Doctor.

Turlough wakes from his sleep and dashes to the door, but it’s locked. He goes back and grabs the crystal, then starts tying sheets together.

The Doctor ponders the amount of coincidence in all the events, wondering if there’s some greater influence. He asks the Brig to focus, to try to recall more.

The Brig sends a boy to collect Doctor Runciman and bring him to the obelisk. He mentions the Queen’s Silver Jubilee to Tegan, who realises they’re in the wrong time!

The matron calls the Brig to inform him that Turlough has disappered again. We see the boy slip off. The Doctor and the Brig inspect his room, finding how he climbed out the window via the sheets. The Doctor says he’ll be heading back to the transmat sphere, hoping to repair it.

Tegan suddenly realises that the wounded man from the capsule is not The Doctor, if they’re in a different year than he was expecting.

(It’s obvious as they’re playing back what Tegan and the Brig are doing that The Doctor is being told the story by his Brig. He coaxes the Brig to continue – but it seems to be an effort for him to recall.)

Nyssa is outside the TARDIS, looking for Tegan, urging her to come on. She goes back into the TARDIS, to find the man she believes to be The Doctor walking. He speaks of regeneration, saying his mind is clouded. He tells her to prepare to leave at once, and when she brings up Tegan, he argues with her. Nyssa exits the TARDIS and he begins to rant, “The Time Lords abandoned us,” and that he, Mawdryn, will be a Time Lord.

Tegan and the Brig show up; Tegan says she doesn’t think it’s The Doctor inside, but Nyssa says it is, that the transmat induced regeneration. The Brig says not to worry, he’s seen it twice and heads in.

When he enters, he calls out, “Doctor,” and Mawdryn turns around, changed – his hair is longer and his brain is visible – the top of his skull is not there… and the credits roll.

Kinda a cool cliffhanger; I almost wish they’d not let us know it wasn’t The Doctor right away, though – kept the bits about The Doctor in the 1980s separate, focused solely on Tegan/Nyssa/younger Brig at first. Ah, well.

Serial 80 – The Terror of the Zygons

Season thirteen opens with an episode I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen – maybe I have, maybe I haven’t. I know it involves UNIT, so that’s a plus. Let’s get started!

Episode 1:

at a drilling platform in the sea, a man is on the radio to the mainland, when there’s a sudden strange interference. One of the pilons of the platform collapses, sending the entire platform into the water, exploding on the way down!

The Doctor, Harry and Sarah march through the brush and wilderness. From The Doctor’s headgear, I’m assuming they’re in Scotland. The Doctor consults a device (early GPS concept, or just a compass?) that leads them to a nearby road, where they flag down a vehicle.

Benton drives a jeep into a small town. My suspicions about Scotland are confirmed by the bagpipes playing loudly. Inside the local pub (or inn?) the Brig has set up and is meeting with a man about his company’s losses and the loss of life. Benton arrives to report no word of The Doctor yet. However, shortly thereafter, he and his companions arrive.

The man who gave The Doctor and his companions a lift turns out to be the Duke of Forgill; he’s come into town to see Mr Huckle, the oil man consulting with the Brig. He’s not pleased with the oil man’s presence, nor with the Brig’s reluctance to discuss UNIT’s presence.

On the beach, a body in a lifesaver has washed up ashore.

The Brig explains that there have been three disasters at sea; The Doctor is irate that he’s been summoned back to Earth for such a paltry issue. He goes into a rant about Earth’s dependence on oil (interesting to note that the same talk about not being dependent on oil goes on today, some 37 years later…)

Reluctantly, The Doctor agrees to help with the investigation. They go to the oil company, where Sullivan is to look at the bodies of the dead men, while Sarah goes to the village to talk to the locals. The Doctor and Brig stay and talk with Mr Huckle, learning that the radio blackouts have preceded each incident.

Sarah chats with the landlord of the inn, Mr. MacReynold, who claims to have second sight (he’s the seventh son of a seventh son…) Sarah discusses the Duke, how he seems to be odd, and the man says the Duke has changed recently, since the oil company came in.

A creature, alien or monstrous, watches their conversation via a video monitor.

MacReynold relates different stories from the past of men who went missing, saying there are ancient mysteries and evil spirits.

On the shore, the man in the lifesaver rises and staggers out of the water. One of the Duke’s men, patrolling the lands, sees him. The Duke is fed up with people wandering onto his property and even told Huckle earlier that he’d have any men shot.

Harry, driving along, sees the man stagger and fall as he comes down a dirt road from the shore. The Duke’s man watches from afar, hiding. As Harry reaches the man, he talks about it being too late, it came from the sea, but before he can answer Harry’s questions, the armed man shoots both of them.

The inhuman creature(s) work controls on their console, which seems more organic than technological. They talk about making contact.

The sea churns and we hear the strange interference that came on the radio. Something large, under the water, moves.

Huckle is on the radio with another platform, when the interference begins. The man on number three rig and Huckle cannot reach each other.

Harry is in the hospital – the bullet graze his skull and he is in shock. The Brig relates the destruction of another rig, forty men killed. The same pattern – radio blackout, then that sound, then nothing. The Brig and The Doctor leave Sarah to wait at Harry’s bedside.

In the back of the Brig’s jeep, there’s a piece of wreckage from the previous rig. There are some “curious markings” on it that catch The Doctor’s eye, two deep punctures. He sends Benton to get some plaster of paris.

Back at the inn, The Doctor makes a cast of the holes, revealing giant teeth. The Doctor informs the Brig and Huckle they are dealing with a giant sea monster of some sort.

The inhuman/alien(s) watch this conversation and say(s) that The Doctor has already found out too much and be destroyed.

At the hospital, Harry starts to come around. He tries to tell Sarah what Monroe (the man from the rig who washed up) told him, but he’s too weak. Going to call The Doctor, Sarah leaves the nurse to watch over him, but she’s AWFULLY sinister-seeming.

Harry is murmuring, still talking to Sarah (who isn’t in the room, but he’s still not 100% coherent). We hear the strange noise and Harry starts to shriek.

While Sarah is on the phone with The Doctor, one of the creatures attacks her (bet it’s the nurse’s true form) and she screams… and the credits roll.

So far, a pretty solid serial. Alien or inhuman threat, giant monster, preaching about dependence on oil.

Episode 2:

The Doctor dashes off, followed by Benton. There, the nurse says that Harry and Sarah disappeared and she has no idea where they went. She’s totally part of the threat… or at least the writers really want us to believe it.

The Doctor pokes around sick bay, entering an area for the divers to depressurise. In there, he finds Sarah Jane and opens the door to the chamber. She explains what happened, but suddenly the creature that attacked her closes the two of them in the chamber and begins to fiddle with dials.

Harry is brought into the chamber with the alien/inhuman creatures. He meets Broton, the war lord of the Zygons. Broton says their spacecraft was damaged centuries ago but they have since learned their homeworld was destroyed, so now they plan to take over Earth. (So… they waited centuries for rescue? Wow, patience is their strong suit…)

Sarah begins to panic, having difficulty breathing.

Broton shows Harry their giant sea creature, the Skarasen; he tells Harry they rely on its lactic fluid for survival (yeah, sure, tell the human how to defeat you, that’s just fucking brilliant.) Broton claims nuclear missles would be “mere pinpricks” as they have made it a cyborg.

The Doctor hypnotises Sarah so she won’t breathe. Um, okay.

The Brig sits at his desk, making plans to have the coastline supervised. Smoke begins to billow through the door, but it’s locked. It’s a gas, apparently, as everyone quickly collapses.

Benton finds The Doctor and Sarah in the pressure chamber. The Doctor has slipped into a trance but shortly wakes after Benton comes in. He wakes Sarah from her trance as well.

Huckle arrives at the inn, finding the Brig and his two men unconscious. He hears a roar in the distance.

A UNIT soldier moves through the mist, and turns when he hears a roar. The Skarasen is sighted.

Everyone in the village has been gassed. The Doctor, Benton and Sarah return to talk to Huckle about the village. The Doctor sends Benton out to scout about.

On the Zygon ship, Broton receives a report about The Doctor and Sarah arriving at the village. The Zygon who left them for dead is chastised. They watch as Huckle hands The Doctor a “trilactic activator”, whatever that is, Broton is upset they have it. He gives orders for Harry to be “prepared for use”.

The Doctor tells Huckle that it is a signal device for the monster.

Harry is taken to have a body print made. He is led into a chamber, where we see a bunch of people in some sort of suspended animation. The Zygons have the ability to take the forms of those whom they body print. (It seems one of the pods has a nurse in it, so that explains that.) The Zygon demonstrates by becoming “the Caber”, the man who shot Harry and Monroe.

The Doctor posits that the device emits a signal like an animal mating call. Huckle leaves and shortly thereafter, the Brig comes around.

Benton and another UNIT soldier find a dead soldier in the field – it was the one in the mist, I believe. The Zygons watch as The Doctor and Brig leave Sarah behind in the inn to wait for Harry.

“Harry” returns to the inn, saying he escaped. He picks up the signal device and leaves, Sarah giving him a hard time. He knocks her down and runs off, and she gives chase. She stops to get a couple UNIT soldiers to help her give chase.

This is the ubiquitous running scene, apparently.

Sarah splits up from the UNIT soldiers (okay) and finds him hiding in a barn. He attacks her with a pitchfork, but she side steps and he goes over the edge of the loft, revealing his true form of a Zygon (Murdlar being its name.)

Broton orders immediate molecular dispersal of Murdlar before the humans can take the body. Sarah returns to the barn with her soldier friends, but the body is gone.

Back at the inn, Sarah Jane suggests that they are being watched or spied upon. They tell the Brig that any one of them could be one of the creatures, but The Doctor says it could be some form of electronic surveillance. The Zygons watch this and Broton orders that UNIT and The Doctor be destroyed.

Sarah Jane watches the signal device move and begin to signal the creature. The Doctor says their machine guns may not be enough, but he offers to draw it off, while UNIT works on triangulating the source of the signal’s control. He hops into a jeep and drives off.

In the middle of nowhere, the jeep engine dies. Unable to restart it, The Doctor runs off into the moors. The Skarasen pursues. This is the second running scene, it seems. The Doctor tries to get rid of the signal device, but it seems to have bonded to his skin.

He runs off as the Skarasen gets closer. We see a little bit more of it – longer neck, scaly body.

At the inn, they triangulate the approximate location – Loch Ness!

The Doctor collapses as the Skarasen/Nessie gets close. Broton, watching on the video monitor, says, “Die, Doctor, die,”… and the credits roll.

Good cliffhanger. Of course it’s the Loch Ness monster. Of course! (I rather prefer the explanation for Nessie given in… the Colin Baker serial, TIMELASH.)

Episode 3:

Harry enters the Zygon control room and throws himself on the control panel, randomly grabbing controls, disrupting contact with the Skarasen. The Skarasen slams it’s paw down, but The Doctor moves, but the signal device is smashed.

Since the Zygons aren’t getting a trace from the signal device (which they’re calling a “reciprocator” now), they assume that The Doctor was killed. You know, because it’s always best to make assumptions. The Skarasen is recalled, and Harry, who has been subdued, is taken away.

Benton and other soldiers search the inn for bugs, as MacReynold argues the whole time that they’re wasting their time. Benton almost discovers one of the video cameras, hidden in a buck’s head, a gift from the Duke of Forgill.

The Brig and Sarah Jane, searching for The Doctor, find him wandering in the moors. Somehow, he’s back to his usual hat and not the Scottish one. The Doctor tells them that the creature is a cyborg; they tell him that the signal was traced to Loch Ness. The Doctor says they need to visit the Duke in Forgill Castle.

The Duke greets them, though not pleasantly. When they say there’s something about Loch Ness, he makes a crack about the monster, but they say they’re quite serious.

MacReynold notices the eye of the buck head moving as he cleans up.

The Duke finds the idea that aliens are behind things to be as preposterous as the idea that the Loch Ness monster is real.

The nurse shows up and reveals her Zygon nature, attacking MacReynold. Benton and other soldiers hear his scream and run in, finding him dead. The nurse has removed the buck head’s eyes (the cameras.) Benton leads his men into the woods, and they see the Zygon (why it didn’t take human form again, I don’t get) and fire upon it and give chase as it runs off.

The Brig receives a call at Castle Forgill, saying Benton has cornered one of the Zygons (not that they’re known as such.) Sarah is left at the castle to go through the library (with the Duke’s blessing) as The Doctor and Brig head off.

The nurse wanders through the woods and a UNIT soldier sees her. She’s injured, and when the soldier looks to her wounded arm, she attacks him and steals his jeep.

Back at the inn, Benton reports to the Brig about the attack. They then discuss the buck’s head missing its eyes and that it was a gift from the Duke – suddenly, there is concern about leaving Sarah behind with him.

Sarah asks to look at some books and the Duke summons the Caber to have him fetch the steps. The Duke explains that Caber is a nickname, as he is a Highland Games champion – his real name is “very Gaelic” and likely Sarah Jane couldn’t pronounce it.

Sarah climbs the steps Caber brings in and ends up opening a secret door in the bookcase. She goes in to investigate. The Duke sees the open door and quickly departs. Deep inside, Sarah finds an automatic door that leads to… well, I’m going to assume it’s the Zygon ship… and it is!

Skulking about, she finds the room of human bodies in their little pods.

Back in the castle, the Duke and Caber bring the injured “nurse” into the secret area to the ship.

Sarah Jane finds Harry. He begs her to let him out, but she’s not sure it’s really him. When he calls her “old girl,” she realises it is him. They hear the Caber and nurse and hide.

The Doctor and Brig return to the castle; seeing blood on the floor and Sarah’s jacket, they realise that something is wrong. The door opens and Sarah and Harry exit. The Doctor slips in the tunnel and screams. As the Brig, Harry and Sarah move to follow, Brotons and Zygons appear saying they are leaving and taking The Doctor with them. Broton says the “big event” is yet to come. They slip back in the tunnel and close the door.

The Brig and others leave and we see them firing depth charges into the loch. The Zygons power up their ship and bring it out (and I can’t help but notice it doesn’t look terribly different from the platforms, as it seems to be three legged? Maybe it’s four, I can’t tell for sure.)

As it lifts up out of the water and flies off, the Brig and others watch… and the credits roll.

Not the most gripping cliffhanger, but still a good one.

Episode 4:

Broton gives the order for a jamming signal to interfere with any radar. The Doctor nags Broton and the Zygon war lord assures him that the plan is still unchanged and in a few hours, they will not need to hide any more.

Sarah Jane suggests that the Brig let them search the castle, to see if they can find any clues what the Zygons are up to. Sarah and Harry poke about the library, and Sarah finds papers about the Duke being president of the Scottish Energy Commission; Harry says they’re wasting time and they leave.

Broton (played by John Woodnutt, who is also playing the Duke – and it’s worth noting that Woodnutt has four serials he’s been in, or will be in, including this one. He was in two Pertwee serials, SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE as Hibbert, who I think was one of the scientists, and more notably as the Draconian Emperor in FRONTIER IN SPACE. He also later features in the Tom Baker serial THE KEEPER OF TRAKEN, one I enjoy muchly) gives the order to bring the ship down.

Okay, the ship looks to have four legs, not three, so disregard my earlier thoughts on similarity between it and the oil rigs.

Benton reports to the Brig that radar all over Scotland is being jammed, so they’ve lost track of the spaceship. Shortly after, Harry and Sarah show up. The Brig talks about an underwater object being tracked moving south, though the ship has been lost.

Broton approaches The Doctor and takes on the appearance of the Duke. We learn that a great refugee fleet of Zygons are on their way, but not to arrive for centuries. However, they must reshape Earth into a new planet, suitable for Zygons.

The Brig gets a call from the Prime Minister; he speaks to her (the last time a PM got on the phone with the Brig, it was a male PM, back in the Pertwee era. Wasn’t named, and neither is this one. Interestingly, this is before Maggie Thatcher came to the post, so this was rather impressive of the writers of the show to see a woman PM, as she was the only woman to serve that post to current date.) The PM insists that there be a media blackout and the public not informed.

The Doctor uses his body to send a transmission out, a signal to be traced. Running power through his body, he’s hurting himself while doing it. UNIT triangulates the signal, just before they lose it.

The Zygons believe The Doctor to be dead. Broton (still in the Duke’s form) leaves, saying it is good that The Doctor is dead. In the command chamber, he learns that that Skarasen is fifteen (or maybe fifty, hard to tell with the whisper Zygon voices) miles from target. Broton prepares to leave to place the signal device on the target.

In the storage room, The Doctor frees the Duke of Forgill from his pod.

Broton leaves, saying when Phase Two is completed, he will broadcast his demands.

The Doctor triggers a fire sensor, and he and the humans hide in the alcoves; he, the nurse, Duke Forgill and Caber escape and make it to the command room. The Doctor sets the self-destruct and leads the humans out.

Outside, UNIT troops arrive (and Sarah Jane; Harry’s there, too, but he IS part of UNIT) and approach the ship, just in time to see it explode. The Doctor and the freed humans all hide with UNIT as the ship blows.

As everyone starts congratulating him for defeating the Zygons, but The Doctor warns them that Broton is still loose and he’s got the signal device and plans to have the Skarasen attack somewhere in London; the Duke of Forgill fills them in that a world energy conference is going down just off of the Thames.

They dash off to London. Once there, they split up, and The Doctor and Sarah Jane find Broton in the basement. Sarah Jane rushes off for the Brig as The Doctor and Broton struggle.

The Brig and his men arrive, opening fire on Broton. With his dying words, Broton says “the Skarasen will destroy you all.” The Doctor finds the signal device in his pocket and runs off to the roof, throwing the device into the Thames just as the Skarasen shows up and everyone in London is screaming.

After eating the device, the Skarasen heads back home. Back in Scotland, The Doctor and his companions, along with the Duke and the Brig walk through the woods to the TARDIS. We learn all has been neatly wrapped up, as much as a giant monster in the Thames in London can be, at least.

The Doctor invites everyone along for a ride; the Brig declines (imagine if he hadn’t? Imagine the Brig romping around the universe with The Doctor, an official companion? HOW COOL would that have been?) Harry also declines, sadly. Sarah Jane agrees, “providing we do go straight back to London.”

The two of them enter and the Duke watches perplexed as the TARDIS dematerialises.

Not a horrible serial; some clunky writing here and there, but the fun parts more than make up for it. Sad to see Harry depart as a companion, really enjoyed him.  

Serial 75 – Robot

I’ve seen the first season of Tom Baker recently; and I know about half of the Tom Baker serials are ones I’ve seen before (maybe more? I don’t know, I’m not going to skim summaries to find out which I remember/have seen and end up spoiling things for me.)

This is exciting; this is MY Doctor. Though I now believe that Jon Pertwee was the first Doctor I ever saw, I don’t have any definitive recollection. I do recall my first Tom Baker – THE ARK IN SPACE – vividly. It’s always been one of my faves.

Anyhow, enough gushing, I’ll probably do a separate post about Tom Baker’s Doctor at some later point. I do plan on doing some more thinky thoughts about Troughton and Pertwee, first.

On with the show!

Episode 1:

Last season, we ended with the first glimpse of Tom Baker. We start with a recap, as Jon transforms to Tom and the Brig quips, “Well, here we go again.” He gets on the phone calls for Lt Sullivan, the medical officer (Harry!!!)

The Doctor sits up, going on about the brontosaurus; for years, this meant nothing to me. Now I know that it is a reference to INVASION OF THE DINOSAURS. He begins babbling incoherently as Sullivan arrives and orders for The Doctor to be taken to sick bay. Benton, who has just walked in, gets informed that the strange man on the floor is The Doctor.

“You mean he’s done it again, he’s changed? – Benton

“Apparently. I saw it happen this time.” – The Brig

That night we see a fenced facility; looking through the eyes of… well, obviously a robot (and since the title of the serial is ‘ROBOT’, I don’t think I’m being unnecessarily spoilery), we see it approach the fence. A guard stands in the way, fumbling for his gun as the pincer-like hands of the robot grab and disarm him.

The facility is a Ministry of Defense location. Next two dogs run up and we hear yelps of pain. The robot moves on and breaks into a particular building. Inside there is a large vault, which it opens with ease, taking a file marked “TOP SECRET”.

Later, the Brig tells Sarah Jane about the break in – plans for a new disintegrator weapon were stolen. The Brig is telling her because he has nobody else to tell – The Doctor is still unconscious in sick bay, it seems. They both are worried, but both try to put on a brave front.

Sarah Jane asks the Brig for a visitor’s pass to Think Tank, a collection of scientists. He agrees and they head to his office for the paperwork, discussing The Doctor and Lt. Sullivan – Sarah says he seems a bit “old fashioned”.

The Doctor, skulking about in a nightgown and coat, shoes in hand (a nod to Jon Pertwee’s first serial?), avoids them and makes his way to the TARDIS. He checks his pockets for a key, finding it in his shoe (a definite nod to Pertwee’s first serial.)

Before he can unlock the door, Lt Sullivan (he hasn’t been introduced to us as Harry yet) finds him. There’s some banter, all of it delightful, which I’m not going to transcribe line for line, but I will share a wonderful quote:

“No, Doctor, I’m the doctor, and I say that you’re not fit.” – Lt Sullivan

“You may be A doctor but I’m THE Doctor. The definite article, you might say.”

We get the traditional seeing his face for the first time; he likes his nose but not the ears.

The Brig and Sarah Jane return to The Doctor’s lab, to find Lt Sullivan tied up and in a cabinet. The TARDIS begins to whirr and groan as it departs, but Sarah bangs on the door and it stops. The Doctor pokes his head out and says he hates goodbyes.

Sarah Jane tells The Doctor that the Brig needs his help with an investigation. The Doctor almost leaves again, but then remembers who they are and is curious about the secret weapon.

We next see another facility being approached; again, we are looking through the ‘eyes’ of the robot.

Inside a vault, a guard sits reading, but gets on the phone when the robot enters. It grabs him and tears the phone out of the wall and then goes to collect specific parts.

Back at The Doctor’s lab, Lt Sullivan and the Brig are entertained by a bevy of costumes that The Doctor tries out – first a Viking-ish warrior, then a kingly outfit, followed by a clown/harlequin type thing and finally his coat and scarf.

The three men head to the scene of the second break in; The Doctor realises that the items stolen are what’s needed for the disintegrator gun.

Sarah Jane arrives at Think Thank, though the administrator doesn’t seem terribly enthused at her presence.

The Brig calls in to have his men sent to the next anticipated target for a break-in.

Sarah Jane talks to the director and her assistant, blathering on about the distintegrator ray (which she shouldn’t know about), then opening a door marked “Positively No Admittance” (right, at that point, they’d have grabbed her, had security bar her from the premesis, upon threat of arrest if she returned.) Inside, she finds an old work room labeled “JP KETTLEWELL”, a name she recognises – a scientist who turned his back against the establishment, chasing “alternative science”, whatever that means.

At Emmett’s Electronics facility, the UNIT troops are out en masse. We see all sorts of precautions, as the narrates to The Doctor about the measures taken. The Doctor points out that all directions but one are covered – approach from below.

The robot is seen burrowing up into the bunker containing the desired equipment. A guard hears and enters and opens fire and The Doctor, Brig and others come running, but it’s far too late.

Sarah Jane has left Think Tank and is now visiting Professor Kettlewell; he’s very mousy/nervous. When she asks if anyone could be carrying on his work in robotics at Think Tank, he says nobody could follow his research. He dismisses her and watches as she leaves.

The entrance point of the tunnel is found; at the scene is a large foot print, too big to be a human’s. It is also pointed out that whomever dug in would not have been able to breathe.

Sarah Jane returns to Think Tank, using her pass (still good for another 10 minutes), claiming she left her notebook behind. When the guard goes to call it in, she ends up sneaking in over the wall (which makes using the pass rather stupid) and returns to Kettlewell’s old lab.

There, she sees an oil slick (that she slipped in during her first visit), but then the robot enters and demands to know who she is. It approaches her… and the credits roll.

A good solid start – nosy journalist getting herself into trouble, quirky scientist, giant robot, sinister administrators, the appearance of Harry Sullivan – I’m digging it and so are you! (If you’re not, turn in your Doctor Who fan card.)

(spoiler)

Episode 2:

Sarah Jane runs out from the lab, bumping into the director, who says that she and her assistant played a little joke on Sarah, saying they knew what she was up to when they heard she was back. They offer the chance to see the robot again and she accepts.

The Doctor tells the Brig that whomever is behind the thefts isn’t alien nor enemy powers but “home grown”.

The robot, who towers over everyone, is brought out again. It’s a vaguely humanoid shape, broad torso and shoulders, egg shaped head. It explains to Sarah Jane it is designed to replace people in dangerous tasks such as handling radioactive materials, mining and the like.

When Sarah Jane questions whether the robot is dangerous, the director gives it an order to destroy her, but the robot cannot obey – its prime directive does not allow it to harm anyone. Sarah Jane is concerned about the robot’s conflict with its prime directive.

Sarah leaves, acting indignant at the way she’s been treated; again, since she broke into the facility, she’s lucky she’s not been arrested (remember, this is a scientific establishment with top secret security levels.) It’s hard to swallow this part without complaining.

The director’s assistant complains that Director Winters took a big risk, telling it to kill Sarah. He says there have been problems with the circuitry, even if he had switched it back to the safe programming. So, as is obvious, they’re behind the thefts.

Sarah Jane returns to UNIT to tell them about the robot.

Jellicoe (Winters’ assistant) and Director Winters work on the robot; really, Jellicoe is doing the tech work. As they reassemble it, they discuss the recall instructions not being 100% effective; Jellicoe says that the last time, it was found near Kettlewell’s place. They waken the robot and show it a picture of a dignified older man, saying he is an enemy of the human race and must be destroyed.

Sarah Jane insists that Think Tank is obviously behind what’s going on. They discuss sending in Lt Sullivan into Think Tank to spy about. The Doctor says he wants to speak to Kettlewell; they go to see him and get him to speak about the robot. Kettlewell says the robot was supposed to be dismantled. He says that if the robot has been reprogrammed to go against the prime directive, it would end up driving the robot mad.

The elderly distinguished man is seen in his house, checking on his safe as an alarm sounds. He gets on a red phone, when the robot disintegrates through the wall and attacks him and breaks into the safe, using the disintegrator ray again.

The Brig tells The Doctor and Sarah Jane about the break in and death of Joseph Chambers, cabinet minister. The Brig then goes on to discuss a good number of the Think Tank scientists being aligned with a group who wanted to change the world to operate under scientist-guided principles.

The robot returns to Kettlewell, distraught over its orders; it asks him for help.

Sarah Jane is seen interviewing a member of the Scientific Reform Society, who gives the usual “rule by superior intellect is logical” sort of line. He doesn’t approve of her wearing trousers and is rather offensive.

The Doctor and the Brig are at Think Tank, wanting to see Kettlewell’s robot. Winters says after Sarah Jane’s visit, they dismantled the robot and had it destroyed.

“Doctor Sullivan, from the ministry” is introduced after they leave; he is there to do a check on the staff’s medical records.

Kettlewell calls The Doctor to report the robot having come to the house. After he gets off the phone with him, Jellicoe and Winters arrive.

The Doctor takes Bessie to Kettlewell’s.

Sarah Jane and Benton (who we learn has been promoted to Warrant Officer) find a note from The Doctor in his lab and rush off to get help for him.

The Doctor arrives at Kettlewell’s, entering to find nobody present. When he turns on the light in the workshop, the robot is there and asks him to identify himself. When he does, the robot says he has orders to kill him but does not want him to resist, so he can kill him with as little pain as possible.

The Doctor does resist, scurrying about, trying to avoid him. He tries to get the robot to obey his prime directive, but still he attacks. Finally, he knocks The Doctor down and approaches menacingly… and the credits roll.

The timing of the last scene was a little off; it was like they had to squeeze in an extra minute or two to fill the episode length.

Episode 3:

Sarah Jane pulls up outside, parking next to Bessie. Seeing damage to the door from the robot’s attack on The Doctor, she rushes in and tells the robot not to harm him. He remembers her sympathy and stops. He becomes confused, but then the UNIT boys show up and open fire.

The robot leaves, battling the soldiers when they get in the way. Sarah Jane and Benton find Kettlewell tied up in a cabinet; seems to be a theme with this serial. Kettlewell is brought back to UNIT; he talks about the robot being made of “living metal” and his other discovery, a virus that turns metal weak and brittle.

Kettlewell sees the brochure from the SRS and since they had extended a membership to him, Sarah talks him into going to the private meeting that night and smuggling her in.

The Brig informs The Doctor that the nuclear codes for America, China and the Soviet Union’s nuclear arsenals were kept in Chamber’s safe. (Cuz that makes so much sense.) With those codes, they could launch every missile in the world.

When The Doctor learns that Kettlewell went off with Sarah, he is upset at the Brig for allowing her to go with him.

Kettlewell sneaks Sarah into the building as Winters gives a rousing speech to her followers, talking about their scheme so that they can take their rightful position. As Sarah watches, hiding and taking pictures, Kettlewell is introduced as their inspirational leader. The robot is brought out and ferrets out Sarah Jane from her hiding spot.

The Doctor appears and is grabbed by the guards. He asks Kettlewell why he’s helping them, and he says it is because people are harming the planet and with the SRS’ help, he can make them listen to him. Winters wants to kill them, much to Kettlewell’s dismay, but then UNIT shows up.

With Sarah Jane as hostage, and the robot to protect them, Winters and Jellicoe and the robot get into a lorry and escape.

The Doctor tells Kettlewell’s attack by Winters and Jellicoe and all was faked – the sad thing is we saw them break into his place, and he wasn’t happy to see them, wasn’t allied with them – it was obvious from the body language. So the show lied to us, and that’s not very cool.

Lt Sullivan calls in from Think Tank to report that it seems they’re pulling out, evacuating. He just tells them about overhearing about a place called “the bunker”, but the connection is broken as Harry is attacked by Jellicoe and a SRS guard.

UNIT shows up outside an atomic bunker built by Think Tank during “the Cold War days”. (I know the UNIT serials were set in the near future, but it’s interesting to note they were being optimistic enough to think they’d end that soon, when in reality they lasted another 16 years.)

From within the bunker, Winters contacts the Brig. She says that the governments of the world have been given the ultimatum and have thirty minutes to agree or the destructor codes will be used.

Automated defenses are taken out by UNIT soldiers, then The Doctor sets off some mines around the bunker entrance, using his sonic screwedriver. Using a modification, the screwdriver becomes a sonic lance, and he cuts open the lock on the front door.

Winters bullies Kettlewell into programming the destructor codes, while Jellicoe fetches the robot and fits it with the disintegrator gun. He sends it out to deal with the UNIT forces. As the robot emerges, the UNIT troops fall back at The Doctor’s insistence.

The robot disintegrates a man and a tank and then orders them, “Go! Go now or I will destroy you all,”… and the credits roll.

Episode 4:

In the bunker, Sarah Jane are struggling with each others’ bonds.

Winters asks Jellicoe how long they can last with food. He’s “not really sure”. Really? A bunch of braniacs with a bunker and they don’t know how to inventory their food supplies? On their way to check, they stop by to discuss what to do with their captives; Winters says they’ll have to be “disposed of”, but when Jellicoe pulls out his gun, ready to do just that, she tells him it can wait.

The robot stands guard outside; The Doctor says that the disintegrator gun has a range that could cut a hole in the Moon. Really.

Kettlewell, struggling over what he’s being forced to do, decides to smash the machinery with a chair. Jellicoe, returned from checking food stores, apparently, pulls a gun on him, but Harry shows up to knock him down with a punch (yay, Harry!)

Kettlewell turns off the count down and opens the main doors. As they leave, the robot turns on them. Sarah Jane argues with the robot, telling him that the SRS wants to kill millions. It struggles with its programming. Kettlewell steps forward and the robot disintegrates him, then collapses as its mind can’t handle that it just killed its maker.

Winters finds Jellicoe KO’d, sees the UNIT forces entering on the video. She restarts the countdown, but The Doctor manages to stop it with two seconds left.

As they clean up, everyone realises that Sarah and the robot can’t be found. The robot has her prisoner, in a store room in the bunker, saying it will destroy all of humanity except for her.

“You know, just once, I’d like to meet an alien menace that wasn’t immune to bullets,” – the Brig, talking about the robot. (Though why he called it an alien menace, I don’t get.) Benton reveals what Kettlewell said about his metal virus and that the robot was made of living metal.

Harry and The Doctor take off in Bessie to Kettlewell’s lab.

A UNIT soldier runs across the robot and Sarah but she intervenes on his behalf and the robot spares him. The robot goes to the control room in the bunker and restarts the countdown (at 300 again, why I’m not sure, it was still on ’2′.) The robot says that Kettlewell’s plan must not fail since he killed his maker. The robot plans to kill humanity and replace them with machines.

At Kettlewell’s lab, The Doctor is working on the metal virus in an active solution. When the Brig tells him about the robot still in the bunker, he tells them to contact the world governments to issue the fail safe command. With nine seconds left, the fail safe interrupts the countdown. The robot says he will still destroy mankind.

In Kettlewell’s lab, Harry watches as The Doctor has a successful solution of the metal virus.

The robot leaves the bunker, with Sarah Jane in tow; the Brig grabs the disintegrator and fires it on the robot, but for some reason it just makes it grow in size so that it’s fifty to 100 feet tall! (Because living metal would grow when disintegrated, of course.)

The robot picks up Sarah Jane and walks into town, putting her on a rooftop. The UNIT forces attack the robot but are forced to fall back. The Doctor arrives and dose the robot with the active solution of metal virus, which causes it to shrink down and collapse, ultimately decaying away.

Later, in The Doctor’s lab, Sarah sits, upset. The Doctor comes in and tries to cheer her up by offering her a Jelly Baby (mmm, Jelly Babies…) and offers to take her with him on a trip in the TARDIS. When she says he can’t go because the Brig needs him, he goes on a rant and slams his fist down. She says he’s being childish.

“Of course I am. There’s no point in being grown up if you can’t be childish sometimes.” – The Doctor

Harry walks in as The Doctor and Sarah Jane are about to depart. When they tell him that they’re about to go for a trip in the TARDIS, he says police boxes can’t go gallavanting about. The Doctor asks him to step inside, and he does. From within, we hear, “I… say…”

The Doctor and Sarah enter, laughing. As the TARDIS dematerialises, the Brig walks in, “Doctor, about that dinner at the palace, Her Majesty…” He stops and looks around, seeing the TARDIS is gone. “Yes, well, I’ll tell them you’ll be a little late…” and the final credits roll.

A good story, a few really silly plot points. I really didn’t care for the fake scene showing the hostility between Jellicoe/Winters and Kettlewell. I thought that was poor television.  

Serial 74 – Planet of the Spiders 2/2

We start with episode 4, so it’s a spoiler warning you need.

Episode 4:

The Queen’s guards struggle with the villagers. The Queen says that soon it will be dark and she must hurry away. Sarah Jane hides amongst the villagers, but the Queen has her men take Arak’s father.

Mike watches Lupton’s group enter Barnes’ room and put up a Do Not Disturb sign. He listens at the door.

Sarah Jane begs for the villagers to help; Arak’s brother says it’s almost curfew, they have to go in, but The Doctor begins to stir.

Lupton’s group argues over where Lupton is. As they do, the door knob turns; they open it and find Tommy at the door. Barnes is very rude to him (again). Mike returns to the door, listening.

A bell tolls, signaling curfew on Metebelis Three. To be outside after twilight is punishable by death. The Doctor seems to be getting sicker, they say there is no cure, he should be dead already.

When the Queen returns to the chamber of spiders, Lupton is sitting in her place. Lupton’s spider speaks up against the Queen. They use the crystal as leverage, saying if The Great One wants the crystal, she will have to wait until he and his spider get proper reward.

The Queen tells Lupton he was followed to Metebelis Three by two Earthers – the male was killed but the female is still loose. Because of this, the council is worried and agrees not to listen to Lupton’s demands until the female (Sarah Jane) is found.

Tommy takes out the crystal in his room, sets it atop a bar stool, and pulls out a children’s book and begins to read. He struggles with the words, but then the crystal begins to glow brightly. He stares into it and it sees to affect him, until he collapses. When he recovers, he is able to read easily.

Arak and his siblings talk about trying to rescue their father, Sabor. The two brothers argue. Sarah Jane watches over The Doctor as they do. She tells them if he could recover, he could help. He begins to speak, telling her there is a machine in the TARDIS, in an old leather satchel. He’s weak, can barely speak, but gives her the key to the TARDIS.

Sarah gets the satchel out of the TARDIS, after avoiding some guards. When she exits, Lupton is standing there, waiting for her.

Arak and his brother (whose name I can’t seem to catch) argue over what to do – they see the satchel by the TARDIS (Sarah and Lupton are nowhere in sight, so I’m guessing he took her away.) Arak runs out and retrieves the satchel and brings it back. They pull out a strange device out of the satchel.

The Doctor comes to and asks for Sarah; they explain she’s not there but brought the machine. They had it to him and he uses it to discharge the energy of the attack within him.

Tommy goes into the library at the meditation center and pulls a book off a shelf. He starts reading, “Tiger, Tiger, burning bright…” and so forth, from “Tiger” by William Blake. He stops, saying, “That’s pretty,” in a child-like voice, then, in a more adult voice, “No… that’s beautiful.” He starts grabbing other books from the shelf.

Sarah Jane is brought to the spider’s lair. She sees Sabor laying in a bunk, covered in webs, then she sees one of the spiders, but when she tries to run, she is stunned by a guard.

Mike knocks on the door to Barnes’ room, scaring the conspirators. They hide and when Yates comes in, Moss attacks him as he tells Barnes he thinks they should have a talk, as he’s been listening.

When the sun rises, the morning bell tolls. The Doctor sits up, all chipper, waking the others.

Sarah Jane is seen waking; like Sabor, she is wrapped from shoulders to feet in webbing, like a coccoon. Sabor tells her it’s no good struggling. When she asks what will happen to them, he intimates they’ll be eaten by the spiders.

The Doctor is fed mutton, while he sits with Arak, who gives him a basic history of his people, who arrived over four hundred years ago from Earth. He asks how the spiders got there.

Meanwhile, Sarah has asked Sabor the same, and he responds they, too, came from Earth. It seems the blue crystals of Metebelis Three mutated the spiders, making them larger, giving them great mental powers.

The Doctor asks Arak and his brother to fetch him an assortment of stones and pebbles.

Mike is tied up and gagged on a bed, and he struggles with his bonds.

The Doctor holds up a variety of stones to the machine that cured him. Each time he does, the machine buzzes. He’s looking for a stone that will absorb the energy from the spiders’ attacks. One of the stones registers and he says they’re getting somewhere.

Later, The Doctor leaves the village, the machine in hand. Arak insists he take one of the stones, and he accepts it from Arak. They clasp arms and The Doctor departs.

Sabor tells Sarah Jane to get some rest. He tells her there is no hope of rescue and that is why he’s not afraid.

The Doctor skulks through the spiders’ citadel; a guard attacks him and he uses the machine to absorb the blast. They move to hand to hand and the machine falls to the floor. Another shows up and when The Doctor goes for the machine, Lupton steps on his hand. But before any more can happen, a third guard, a superior of some sort, has Lupton arrested and taken to the council. The Doctor, too, is taken away.

Sarah Jane sees The Doctor and rejoices until she sees he’s accompanied by guards… and the credits roll.

They should have left the bit with The Doctor being captured off camera, so when he showed up, the viewer would have thought he was there to save them.

 

 

Episode 5:

Lupton has been brought before the Queen with his confederate (the spider); the council has learned that the crystal is still on Earth. Lupton’s spider tries to turn this against the Queen and several of the council are quick to join in. The Queen says she will go consult The Great One.

The Doctor has joined Sarah Jane and Sabor in the larder. The Doctor tells Sabor and Sarah Jane that Arak is trying to get together a rescue party and begins to tell them that they know how to protect themselves, but he stops when guards come in to cut Sarah Jane free and take her away.

In the village, Arak and his brother and the menfolk of the village prepare to attack. Their mother tries to dissuade them from going, but the brothers tell her they must, not just for their father and the strangers, but for all the villages. The men put on headbands that have the stones The Doctor identified in them.

The Doctor escapes the cocoon by using a trick he learned from Harry Houdini. He leaves Sabor there and goes off to rescue Sarah.

Sarah is thrown to the floor and brought before a solitary spider; it is the Queen, and she pretends that she wants peace with all two legs. She says she has lied to the council about consulting The Great One. The Queen wants Sarah and The Doctor to return to Earth and collect the blue crystal.

The Doctor skulks through the spiders’ citadel, avoiding guards.

Mike struggles with his bonds, as Barnes comes in and takes off his gag. Barnes says they’re waiting for Lupton to come back. Mike talks Barnes into letting him assist them in re-establishing the link, suggesting that Lupton may be waiting for them to do exactly that.

Lupton and his spider argue with the rest of the council; there’s lots of talk of not trusting the Queen, nor trusting Lupton. Lupton and his spider argue and she drops him with a mental attack (seemingly backed up by the council, as this time he cannot fight back.)

The Doctor hears Sarah Jane calling out for him and goes down a tunnel.

Tommy is reading a big book, full of big words, and doing rather well with it. He has a dictionary next to him, trying to understand words he doesn’t know, trying to understand what has happened with him. He decides to ask Yates what is going on, but overhears them talking about the cellar. Tommy remembers Lupton appearing out of thin air, and having the crystal in his hand.

Tommy then decides to ask Cho-Je, but hides the crystal first.

The Doctor walks into a large chamber, where he is told to stop; should he enter further, he will die. The voice of Sarah Jane is an illusion, used to lure him in. He asks who he is speaking to, and she identifies herself as The Great One. He asks why he cannot see her, but she says he will, but not until he brings back the crystal – she says it is “the one last perfect crystal of power.”

He defies her, saying she will never have it. She attacks his mind, forcing him to march about. He struggles against her, to no avail. She orders him to leave and go fetch the crystal and then goes into a cacophony of “go now, I must have it” over and again.

The chanting circle begins chanting and the spider council detects it. Lupton warns them that the group might not be allies and the spiders are sent to Earth, manifesting in secret in the room, not in the mat in the center of the group.

Tommy tells Cho-Je what he knows; the deputy abbot says he will go to the cellar and instructs Tommy to fetch the crystal. Cho-Je is not surprised as the transformation in Tommy. Cho-Je enters the cellar, stopping the men, but they are attacked by the spiders. Cho-Je and Yates are blasted and drop to the ground. The spiders close in on the rest of the men, and Tommy, watching from the stairs (with the crystal in hand) rushes away to go tell K’anpo.

The Doctor and Sarah Jane reunite in the larder room. As Arak and the villagers arrive to rescue Sabor, Sarah Jane uses a trick taught her by the Queen to teleport her and The Doctor to the TARDIS. They enter and head to Earth.

On Earth, the chanting circle seem to be merged with spiders – they are looking at their backs, rolling their shoulders. When the TARDIS materialises in the cellar, they hide. When Sarah Jane and The Doctor exit, they are ambushed; The Doctor has a stone that protects him from their blasts until Tommy helps them escape and locks the cellar door. Tommy is blasted by one of the men, but it has little effect.

When Sarah Jane says, “Tommy, you’re normal – you’re just like everybody else,” Tommy has the best response, EVER – “I sincerely hope not.”

Tommy leads them to meet with K’anpo. The Doctor speaks to the abbot in Tibetan, apologising for not bringing a symbolic gift. The abbot says he and The Doctor have no need for symbols, and The Doctor looks at him curiously at this. Tommy goes out to keep a watch out for the others.

The Doctor begins talking about the blue crystal. He asks if he and K’anpo have met before, and the abbot says, “the recognition of friends is not always easy.” He encourages The Doctor to go on about the crystal.

Outside, Barnes, Moss and the other two of the chanting circle who are now spider-hosts arrive. Tommy stands outside the abbot’s door, protectively. One of the spiders says the crystal is in the room. Barnes steps forward, ordering Tommy to get out of the way. Tommy meets his gaze, defiantly, and Barnes backs away, sensing something about Tommy.

Barnes blasts Tommy with the blue lightning, but again it has limited effect. He fights several of them off physically, but then they attack with the blue lightning in concert… and the credits roll.

I like Tommy. This would have been one pisser of a cliffhanger if I had to wait a week to find out what was going to happen to my boy.

 

 

Episode 6:

K’anpo reveals that he has the crystal. Suddenly, Sarah Jane demands that the crystal be given to her. She blasts The Doctor with blue lightning and he falls to his knees, at K’anpo’s side. The abbot takes The Doctor’s arm and instructs him to see through his eyes, and when The Doctor looks, the Queen spider can be seen attached to Sarah’s back.

Again, we see Tommy face off with Barnes and his fellow spider-hosts, the cliffhanger from last week.

The Doctor and the abbot call upon Sarah to resist the Queen. The Doctor urges her to look at the crystal, to look into the light. The Queen falls from Sarah’s back, landing upside down, her legs curling as she disappears.

The spider-men stop blasting Tommy and link their hands and begin chanting.

Sarah Jane apologises for allowing the Queen to control her. The abbot says that The Doctor’s greed is responsible for all of this – had he not taken the crystal in the first place, none of the events would have happened (though, honestly, I imagine The Great One would have the crystal and that would be worse.)

The Doctor turns to the abbot, saying, “I know who you are, now.” It seems that K’anpo is also a Time Lord.

The two Time Lords explain regeneration to Sarah Jane – this is the first time that it has been codified or named. When the First Doctor “regenerated”, it was just explained that the TARDIS fixed him, healed him. When the Second Doctor regenerated, the Time Lords “changed his appearance”. This is monumental, folks… and, well, just you wait and see.

K’anpo explains that Cho-Je is a projection of his own self and not really a seperate entity.

Cho-Je rouses Yates and they leave the cellar.

The chanting circle chants.

The spider council sends power to their sisters on Earth.

K’anpo says the moment of truth approaches. He asks The Doctor if he knows what he must do, but he says that he does not. K’anpo asks what The Doctor fears most, and The Doctor recalls his confrontation with The Great One. He tells Sarah Jane that he has to go, even if the cave of crystals would destroy him.

The spider-hosts stop their chanting and turn their attacks on Tommy; this time they seem to have more effect, though he still stands. Yates runs up and takes a hit and drops like a rock. The spider-hosts rush into K’anpo’s room as The Doctor disappears. They blast the abbot who falls to his chair.

The Doctor appears in the cellar and hops in the TARDIS. It dematerialises just as the spider-hosts make the cellar. He arrives on Metebelis Three, where he is greeted by Arak and his brother. They agree to show him how to get to the cave of crystals.

Under Cho-Je’s instruction, Tommy picks up Yates to take him to K’anpo.

The Doctor is led into the spider council chamber by the brothers; it seems their attack failed and they are enslaved. The Doctor says the crystal is to be returned to The Great One. Lupton moves to grab the crystal, but the spiders stop him. The spider council tells The Doctor that he has beaten them and it is good that he will die. He turns and leaves.

Lupton begins ranting at the spiders, calling them spiders and they react poorly to that word. He moves to strike the spider confederate, but she blasts him with blue lightning.

K’anpo helps Mike recover. K’anpo then says that his body cannot take any more and his head drops. Cho-Je begins speaking, but in mid breath, he fades. As they watch, K’anpo changes, becoming Cho-Je in form. He says not to concern themselves, he is not dying, merely regenerating.

The Doctor arrives at the cyrstal cave and is allowed all the way in, where he sees The Great One, a giant spider, the size of a small building. The Doctor says that he has brought the crystal, and asks her to leave Earth alone.

She laughs, saying the paltry plans of her subjects are no concern of hers. Her plans are greater than one small planet. When he asks why it is so important to her, she explains that the web of crystal above her in the cave is a replication of her brain, it lacks only one perfect crystal to be complete. When complete, her mind and mental powers will be increased to an infinite level, allowing her to rule the entire universe.

Wow, that’s a pretty big thing, that. That’s the sort of thing that’s going to take some great sacrifice to balance out. What could The Doctor do to make that “payment”? (Doctor Who is the sort of show that, at times, the hero wins because of a sacrifice. Sometimes it’s an ally or innocent who pays the price. Sometimes a companion goes away. Sometimes, it’s a personal cost.)

The Doctor tries to tell The Great One that completing the circuit will only destroy her. She refuses to listen, mocking him, saying he is dying, the cave is destroying his body as they speak, but she will grant him one favour, to allow him to see her ascension before he dies.

The crystal moves from his hand, by the power of her mind presumably, into the spot in the crystal web. She says she is complete and gloats and rants and praises herself. The Doctor begs her to stop, but she’s too busy singing her own glory, telling the stars to bow down and worship her.

The power consumes her, burning her up from within. The Doctor flees as the cave shakes.

The spider council screams as the building shakes – it seems they’re dying. The villagers come to, and flee the building.

On Earth, the spiders fall off the spider-hosts and die.

The Doctor makes it back to the TARDIS and enters as the mountain begins to explode.

In The Doctor’s lab at UNIT, Sarah Jane is holding The Doctor’s coat. She sniffs it and seems melancholy, or at least pensive. The Brig walks in and realises she’s there to see if “the old fellow” has popped up. She says it’s been over three weeks, but the Brig says that’s nothing, “One time, I didn’t see him for months… when he did turn up, he had a different face.”

Sarah Jane says they’ll never see him again, but just then, the TARDIS materialises. The Doctor staggers out, weak and weary. He says he got lost in the time vortex, but the TARDIS brought him there. He collapses and they put a pillow under his head.

The Doctor explains he had to go back, to face his fear. She begs him not to die and cries, while the Brig kneels quietly beside them. He touches her tears and says, “Don’t cry, while there’s life…” but his hand drops and he says no more. Sarah Jane closes his eyes, but before anything else can happen, there’s a strange noise.

Cho-Je/K’anpo materialises in the lab, sitting in a lotus position. “It is all right, he is not dead,” the Time Lord proclaims. He apologises for startling her. The Brig asks for an introduction, but Sarah is confused on how to explain who K’anpo is.

K’anpo says he will give The Doctor’s cells “a push” so he can regenerate. When he explains that The Doctor will become a new man, and look different, the Brig exclaims, “Not again!” I love the Brig.

K’anpo says that the change will shake up his brain cells and they might find his behavior “a little erratic”. He gestures and says good bye and disappears. The Brig and Sarah Jane turn and look at The Doctor. Sarah Jane says it’s starting and the Brig quirks an eyebrow, “Well… here we go again.”

We get a close up of The Doctor and watch as his face changes, is replaced by a darker haired man with a more pointed nose.

IT’S TOM BAKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY DOCTOR! MY EVER-LOVING DOCTOR!!!!!!!!

Yes, this was no surprise, but it still doesn’t change the fact that IT’S MY DOCTOR!!!! I love all the kids complaining about how they miss David Tennant, how Ten was their Doctor and it will never be the same, whine whine whine.

I lost MY Doctor almost thirty years ago, thank you very much. The show goes on and you find things to love about it, regardless.

Next week, we begin the seven season of Tom Baker.

MY DOCTOR. 

Serial 74 – Planet of the Spiders 1/2

I’ve seen this before, a couple times, and as recently as last year. It’s a good one, but not a great one. However, one of the most important ones of all. You’ll see why in a bit, and not just because of the big obvious reason you might know about. (I’m being vague in case there are people who have no idea.)

Episode 1:

We open with Mike Yates, no longer of UNIT, walking along a country path. There are cows in the pasture. He looks around, takes it in and moves on.

The Doctor and the Brig are sitting in the audience at some performance, obviously a comedic one. From their faces, it’s not very funny.

Mike walks along and we see a large house in the distance.

The Brig complains about it being a waste of time, but just then, they introduce a Turkish dancer, and the Brig is no longer complaining.

Mike is inside the house, and seems to be skulking. He opens a door and opens in and we hear chanting from within. He steps in and listens at another door.

A group of men are seated around an ornate rug/mat on the floor. One clangs cymbals together as they chant. Mike opens the door and creeps down, listening intently. He steps into a spider web and panics, making noise, alerting the men as he leaves.

The Doctor tells the Brig that the next act is the one he’s come to see, a mind reader.

The men chanting get up; they decide it’s time to quit for the night, and argue whether someone was there or if it was just the wind. They hear a car depart, and the leader says that only one person there has a car, Mister Yates.

The next day(?), Professor Clegg, the mind reader, is invited to UNIT. The Doctor has interest in things psychic, but Clegg pretends he is just a performer. The Doctor tells him that he knows he has some true gift. Clegg is very upset about having any actual abilities.

The Doctor talks him into demonstrating his psychokinesis, and using his mind, he moves a tray with food on it. The Doctor tells Clegg that he might be able to help him understand his powers, why he has them.

Back at the household, the man leading the chants argues with Cho-Je, the deputy abbot of the… monastery? It seems a female reporter (gee, who could that be?) is coming to visit. The man is not happy about this, but Cho-Je throws out snippets of zen koan in response. He says that it is too late, that Mister Yates has gone to the train station to fetch her.

At the station, Mike picks up Sarah Jane Smith (what a shocker) and they take off, Sarah asking what it’s all about.

Back at the monastery, Lupton, the leader of the chant circle, tells one of his fellow chanters that they’re on to something, they’re making progress, they were tapping true power the night before. He says they cannot afford to pull back and hide because of a visitor.

A simple man interrupts their conversation; Tommy shows Lupton and Barnes a flower he’s found, but Barnes shoves him down.

Sarah quizzes Mike about why he invited her there. Mike tries to play it off that he just thinks a story on their “meditation center” run by a couple Tibetan monks would be a great sell for the paper. He explains he’s there trying to sort himself out after “that Golden Age business” (referring to INVASION OF THE DINOSAURS.)

The chant circle is at it again.

Mike explains that the chant circle is up to something; he thinks it’s a job for UNIT to investigate. He wants Sarah to come check it out and then go to the Brig or The Doctor for him.

The chanters chant, more emphatically.

As Mike and Sarah Jane drive down, suddenly there’s a tractor in their way. They spin out of control, but when they come to a stop, there’s no tractor to be seen. Sarah Jane feels this is evidence that something is afoot.

Clegg is hooked up to a machine with earphones (it’s the same prop from THE GREEN DEATH!) to test his brain pattern. The Brig is asked to give Clegg something personal and he hands over his watch. Clegg does a psychometric reading, saying it was given to him eleven years ago in Brighton by a young lady named Doris, but the Brig interrupts before more can be said.

Another device can translate his thoughts into pictures. The Doctor hands Clegg his sonic screwdriver and on the video screen, we see the Drashig from CARNIVAL OF MONSTERS and The Doctor using the screwdriver to ignite the marsh gases to burn up several Drashigs.

Sarah Jane and Mike sit in a meeting with Cho-Je who is explaining what can be learned through meditation. Cho-Je says that the powers of meditation and powers unlocked through self-realisation could be used for good or evil. He leaves to teach a class.

Clegg apologises, feeling what he saw was not real. Benton comes in with a package from South America, addressed to “The Doctor or the Brigadier or Captain Yates or Sgt Benton”. It seems to be from Jo, and The Doctor asks to see it. Before he opens it, he asks Clegg to use his powers to see what is within it.

He says it is from beyond the stars, and it is a beautiful blue gemstone. The Doctor opens it, and in fact, it is the Metebelis 3 sapphire that he gave Jo.

Mike is showing Sarah Jane about the meditation center. They enter the meditation room, but Mike cautions her to be quiet. A larger group of people sit and meditate, listening to recorded chant. As they leave, Lupton and his crony, Barnes, confront them. Mike makes an effort to get her out of there as soon as possible, much to Sarah’s confusion.

Lupton watches from the window, telling Barnes they won’t be a problem any more, “That young man is frightened.”

Mike drives away, telling Sarah that Lupton knew they were coming and must have been responsible for the hallucination that almost killed them. When Sarah asks why they’re running, Mike’s reply is, “We’re not, we’re just letting him think we are.” He pulls the car over and parks, “We’ll head back on foot.”

The Doctor reads Jo’s letter. The letter says that the crystal is causing problems with their native guides, who say it is bad magic. She hopes they’ll keep an eye on it for her.

Mike and Sarah get caught sneaking back in the house through a window by Tommy, the simple man. He wants to play games with them – he seems rather smitten with Sarah Jane. He tells her the game they’re going to play is called “Secrets” and it’s a secret that she’s there. He is fascinated with Sarah’s lapel pin and she gives it to him to buy his silence.

Mike leads Sarah to the lower basement where the chant circle meets. The mat and their cushions are laid out but nobody is there. They hear voices and the two hide, Sarah getting spider web on her. The men come in and take their seats and begin chanting.

Clegg is still holding on to the crystal, and has been, while The Doctor reads the letter. The crystal glows and as he finishes the letter, the room begins to shake, papers and small items are cast about. The Doctor makes it to Clegg and pulls the crystal from his hands, but the psychic is dead.

Sarah and Mike watch as a spider materialises in a blue-green light in the center of the chant circle… and the credits roll.

Yay, Mike Yates! (Having seen what went on with Yates, it makes more sense why he’s here, etc.) Mystery, stranger spiders, an alien crystal – it’s a good one thus far.

Episode 2:

The men react in fear as the spider manifests; one man rises and flees, but the spider strikes him down with blue lightning. The spider addresses Lupton, saying it has come bring him “the power you seek”. It tells him to turn his back to it, and he reluctantly does so. It leaps and lands on his back and disappears, seemingly phasing into his body.

The Doctor plays back the machine that records thoughts, to see if Clegg’s dying thoughts were visualised. They were, and they see spiders.

Lupton dismisses the men, telling them to return to their rooms, not to tell anyone.

The Doctor says the only thing to do would be for him to look into the crystal; Benton offers to do it, as he’s expendable, but The Doctor says he’s already got one death on his conscience.

Mike sends Sarah out the window, and hides, as Lupton and Barnes discuss the spider; Lupton says it didn’t go away, it’s still there. He says their minds are joined together. Lupton dismisses Barnes, telling him not to worry.

The spider tells Lupton about the crystal, saying they must find it. Lupton is bid to concentrate, and he does. He says he sees a man staring into a blue crystal.

The Doctor is seated, staring into the Metebelis crystal. When Benton brings in a cup of coffee, the aroma of which brings The Doctor out of his trance. (It seems that, at least according to The Doctor, Benton makes the second best cup of coffee in the world.)

The Doctor starts talking about the old man hermit on the mountain (the same hermit he told Jo about when they were locked up in the dungeon in episode 6 of THE TIME MONSTER), saying that when he looked into the crystal, he saw the face of the old man, who had been the teacher who taught him how to look into his own mind.

Tommy stops Yates, as he tries to go upstairs to see K’anpo, the senior Tibetan monk. Tommy is distracted by Yate’s medallion, which he gives to the simple man. As Tommy walks off, he admonishes Mike to go to bed, and Lupton appears moments later, to reinforce the advice.

Sarah Jane has been telling The Doctor about the events, but he’s more interested in the crystal. When she mentions the spider, however, he is very, very interested, and makes her start over from the beginning.

Lupton arrives… presumably at UNIT HQ, as there’s a car lot with Bessie and a man working on The Doctor’s new car, the hovercrafty one. He asks to speak to The Doctor and the mechanic gives him directions, before asking for Lupton’s pass. Lupton blasts the man with blue lightning from his hand, just the same as the spider did to the one man in the chant circle. (No idea if he was killed or what, nobody seemed to note.)

The Doctor explains to Sarah Jane where he got the crystal from. He explains the crystal can be used to clear a mind and amplify it. When Sarah asks about the giant spiders on Metebelis Three, The Doctor says there weren’t any there when he was there.

Benton comes across Lupton, who does the lightning blast on him. Lupton peers into the lab, seeing the crystal. The spider in his mind tells him to concentrate.

As Sarah Jane dithers on about things, the crystal disappears and we see Lupton come out of a trance, holding it. He runs off, but Benton tries to stop him, so he punches him in the gut.

The Doctor, Benton and Sarah Jane give chase. Lupton encounters the Brig, who sees the others chasing Lupton, and he opens fire multiple times, missing completely – I’m horrified that the Brig is such a bad shot.

Lupton steals the hovercar, while the others take Bessie. They drop The Doctor off at the airfield and then pursue in Bessie. The Doctor takes a one man helicopter to pursue by air. I guess this is the running scene for the serial. The Doctor radioes directions to the Brig on how to catch up to Lupton.

A local cop sees the three vehicles and gives chase. I can’t help but think this is completely unnecessary. Eventually, after shenanigans, they find the hovercar parked. The Doctor lands and confers with the Brig and Benton and Sarah Jane as they argue with each other and the copper.

Lupton, who was hiding in the weeds, steals the helicopter – the spider says it can pilot it. The Doctor and Sarah Jane hop in the hovercar, which The Doctor takes into the air after him.

The copper radioes in that there was nothing to report.

The Doctor and Sarah Jane give chase, but the spider tells Lupton that fuel is low and they have to land. Lupton runs around some farmland while the hovercar lands. Again, what is the point of all this. None of this makes any sense, doesn’t add anything to the story whatsoever. It’s like padding.

Lupton steals a boat, blasting one of the men. There’s a hovercraft (the water kind) and The Doctor hops in it to give chase.. what? ANOTHER chase? Oy vey.

After a bunch of whatever, we get to the end of the chase, when The Doctor leaps from his hovercraft into Lupton’s boat. Just before this, Lupton is told by the spider to concentrate, and when The Doctor makes the boat, there’s nobody on board… and the credits roll.

Really displeased with the silly chase(s).

Episode 3:

Lupton is nowhere to be seen, and The Doctor is very confused.

In the meditation center, Tommy watches as Lupton appears out of thin air. He sees the crystal in Lupton’s hand and is fascinated by it. (Tommy likes pretty things, as likely you’ve noticed.)

Lupton returns to his room, soaking wet from his fleeing. He pulls out the crystal and asks the spider about it; the spider says it can give them more power than he could dream of. The spider tells him to shield his thoughts from her sisters on Metebelis Three.

On Metebelis Three, we see a group of spiders sitting about on tables. One of them is the queen. They communicate with the spider with Lupton, but he is privy to the conversation and demands to know what will become of him. Lupton’s spider argues that he has served them.

There is talk of “The Great One” and her plan, involving the conquest of Earth, their rightful home.

Communication ended, the spider tells Lupton to sleep and he lays down, falling asleep immediately. The spider separates from him and phases through the door.

Cho-Je meets with Sarah Jane, Mike and The Doctor. Cho-Je argues whether Lupton could have been involved with the theft of their equipment, when he saw Lupton in the house at the same time they say they were chasing him.

Barnes overhears this and wakes Lupton to tell him what he heard. Barnes wants to leave, especially after learning that the spider isn’t currently there. Lupton goes into a spiel about how he gave his company twenty-five years, but when the company was changed, he was thrown out. He tells Barnes that he came there for power, not peace of mind, and he’s not going to leave now that he has a chance to get it.

The spider eavesdrops on The Doctor’s conversation with Cho-Je.

While Lupton and Barnes talk, Tommy reaches in through an open window and steals the blue crystal. He takes it to his room under the stairs and puts it in his box of baubles. His “pretties”.

The spider returns to Lupton’s room, telling him to expect a visit from Cho-Je who will want him to speak to The Doctor. Lupton says he will not talk to The Doctor, but the spider uses their link to twist his mind, causing him pain. Lupton reverses it on the spider – seems he’s a rather quick learner.

Lupton and the spider make their plans to help each other – power for Lupton on Earth, and for the spider on Metebelis Three. They merge again and then realise that the crystal is gone.

Tommy calls over Sarah; he wants to give her a present and leads her off.

Cho-Je continues to utter rather silly zen things.

Barnes and Lupton argue over the crystal’s whereabouts. Lupton tells the spider they’re going to bluff the queen, but the spider says it will never work.

Tommy leads Sarah to his access beneath the stairs. He goes in, telling her to wait, and she overhears Lupton talking about going to their ritual area by himself. Moss, sent to bring Lupton to The Doctor, arrives but Lupton says to tell him that he couldn’t find Lupton. Lupton and Barnes depart for their rooms.

When Tommy returns with his box of pretties (including the crystal, which I bet is the present he wants to give her), Sarah Jane is dismissive to him, almost rude. She asks him politely to go tell Yates that she’s going after Lupton to the cellar.

As she leaves, Tommy holds out the crystal, saying it’s her present, but she doesn’t look. She goes down below, hiding before Lupton can come down with his mat and cushion from his room.

In the cellar, Sarah Jane watches as Lupton disappears into thin air while chanting. She runs over and steps on the mat, and cannot move from it.

The Doctor runs down and yells at her to get off it. As he runs to her, she disappears, appearing on Metebelis Three. She sees Lupton in the distance and follows him, hiding behind rocks. A pair of hands grab her from behind.

The Doctor tells Mike he’s going to Metebelis Three after Sarah Jane. When talking about the TARDIS, Mike says, “You talk about it as if it’s alive.”

The Doctor smiles, “Yes, I do, don’t I?”

On Metebelis Three, Sarah is brought to a village of humanoids. She’s accused of being a spy by the man who caught her. They argue amongst themselves, some wanting to kill her, others not.

Hearing the queen of the spiders’ retinue, the villagers hide Sarah. The queen is brought on a cushion bore by “two-legs”. One of them speaks of an assault by Arak on another. If Arak does not surrender himself, they will take one male from each family as punishment. Arak is one of the ones hiding Sarah Jane.

Arak’s father, Sabor, comes forth to explain why Arak struck the guard. Sabor lies and says that he helped his son escape to the hills. The queen says that Sabor will take his place. When Sabor’s wife comes forth, she is struck down, but Sarah Jane is being a busybody, watching through an open door and the queen sees her. Sarah Jane surrenders herself to protect Arak.

The Doctor arrives on Metebelis Three, appearing in the village just as Sarah Jane is being taken by the queen’s guards. The queen says they both will be taken in for questioning, but The Doctor fights her guards. One of them blasts The Doctor with the blue lightning and he falls at the TARDIS, reaching for the door… and the credits roll.

That’s a most excellent cliffhanger, and one we’ll leave you with until Friday.

Interesting note – one of the spider voices is done by Kismet Delgado, the widow of Roger Delgado, The Master.  

Serial 71 – Invasion of the Dinosaurs 2/2

We’re mid serial, so it’s time for a spoiler warning.

 

Episode 4:

General Finch storms in, demanding an explanation about “this latest fiasco” from the Brig. The Doctor tells Finch that there was sabotage, much to the displeasure of Captain Yates, who, after The Doctor and the Brig step out, confronts Finch about his agreeing to sabotage The Doctor’s machinery, but not agreeing to murder – seems Finch is, after all, a part of their little conspiracy!

The Doctor checks out his “new car”, a hovercraft looking thing – horribly silly looking, honestly. Bring back Bessie! He goes for a ride, with his portable tracking device on board.

Sarah Jane, on the “spaceship” (I’m guessing it’s a big farce) is greeted by others, who introduce themselves as “the Elders”. She recognises them, a novelist, an anti-pollutionist activist and the man who first woke her up is an athlete.

They tell her they’re on a ship on the way to “New Earth”, a simpler world, unspoiled by man’s technology. They explain there are over two hundred sleepers on the ship – Sarah Jane was the first to awaken of the sleepers… and there are other ships as well, seven in all, on their three month journey. (Yeah, totally a sham.)

The Doctor follows his device’s readings down below the streets of London; he hides as labcoat blondie accesses a lift hidden as a wardrobe closet. When the lift comes back down, The Doctor takes it back up.

Labcoat blondie reports to Professor Whitaker, but notices the blue lift is in operation from a flashing signal on a map. The Doctor exits the blue lift and wanders down the hallway.

On the security screen, blondie and Whitaker watch him as he makes his way to the reactor powering the facility. A metal door slides down, blocking him off at one point, then another behind him as he passes along another hallway. Penned in eventually, he has no choice but to enter the lift again.

Whitaker operates his device, finding a pterodactyl on the viewscreen, then using the device to pull the creature out of the past, depositing it at the exit of the lift. It attacks The Doctor, who fights it back with a mop from the lift. He manages to escape back up the stairs to the street level.

Sarah Jane debates the way things “were” on Earth – the Elders talk about how bad things were, but Sarah Jane speaks up for the good things. Her talk is very disturbing to the Elders. They decide that she has to be “re-educated”.

The Brig and The Doctor return to the location in a jeep. (No soldiers with? Really?) They go down the steps to the Underground location, but when he shows him the lift, it really just seems to be an actual mop room.

They go to Grover’s office and he pretends there’s no such place, that when Sarah Jane came, she found the file showed the project was abandoned. Grover calls in his chauffeur who claims he took her back to UNIT HQ.

Sarah Jane is subjected to video documentary about the horrors of what man did to the Earth. She’s given a sparse meal of bread, with the promise of better food when she learns her lesson.

The Elders discuss having Sarah Jane killed if she “doesn’t respond to re-education”.

Professor Whitaker, Captain Yates, General Finch and Minister Grover have a pow wow in the lab. They talk of the “colonists” on their spaceship. Whitaker says in a matter of hours they’ll be ready to start the countdown. They discuss discrediting The Doctor as a way to neutralise him.

The Doctor and the Brig argue over what to do. The Doctor feels Grover is part of whatever is going on. After the Brig leaves, The Doctor receives a call from Professor Whitaker. Whitaker says that he’s been tricked into working for Grover, he thought he was working for the government. He makes arrangements for The Doctor to come to the hangar where the t-rex was held, but to come alone.

When The Doctor arrives, they beam in a stegosaurus. Moments later, General Finch, leading the Brig and soldiers, walks in, saying The Doctor is “the monster maker, caught in the act,”… and the credits roll.

Oh, really, if the Brig buys into this, I’m gonna call bullpucky.

 

 

Episode 5:

The Brig tells The Doctor that he’s under arrest.

Sarah Jane is still subected to more of the propaganda. The athlete, Mark, comes in to warn her about the Elders’ plans for her if she doesn’t get in line. Suddenly, the gravity of her situation becomes obvious, and she plays the role of penitent, using it to distract Mark, elbow him in the gut and escape the room.

The Doctor is brought in; General Finch insists that The Doctor is to be locked up and not to be interrogated until later. He insists that the Brig accompany him when he reports to Grover.

Captain Yates ignores The Doctor’s appeal for assistance, ordering Benton to lock him up and not let him talk to anyone. The Doctor realises that Mike was the mole in the operation the entire time. When Yates leaves, Benton sends the two soldiers to fix up a room as a temporary cell. With them gone, Benton asks The Doctor what’s going on.

See, this is why I love Benton. He’s a simple, straightforward guy. He’s a good egg. He’s a loyal soldier, but he knows right from wrong. The Doctor tells him that Yates is the man working against them, and though he doesn’t want to believe it, he knows he can trust The Doctor.

Ah, man… I just stood up and applauded Benton. Had to stop the playback and rewind and watch it again. Benton listens to The Doctor’s story and says, “Right then, Doctor, you’d better get busy.” When The Doctor looks at him, puzzled, he explains, “You’d better start overpowering me, hadn’t you?”

He allows The Doctor to knock him out with his Venusian karate, using a nerve pinch. The good Sgt drops like a rock and The Doctor takes off.

Grover returns to the lab to tell Whitaker and blondie that The Doctor is under lock and key. He says it doesn’t matter how long they’ll keep The Doctor locked up, as “Soon, The Doctor and his associates and everyone on this planet, except for our chosen group, will never have existed.”

Wow, that’s pretty heinous and massive!

Whitaker uses the time field to demonstrate how it can reverse time and we see a cup smashed by blondie leap back up into his hand. They seem well to small in scope to do what they’re planning, though… I would think demonstrations like this would have been done months ago.

Sarah Jane sneaks about the “spaceship”, accessing a control room, and flipping a switch, but nothing happens. She starts randomly punching buttons, but again, nothing happens.

She goes back and finds Mark, and when he grabs her, she begs him to listen.

General Finch tells Benton he’ll be court-martialed. Yates seems very uncomfortable about the whole situation. Finch orders Benton to be placed under arrest and leaves, with Yates in tow. The Brigadier asks Benton where The Doctor has gone off to, Benton says he believes he went to “that underground place”.

The Brig tells Benton to ready the men, they have to get there and find him before Finch and his men do – Finch has said The Doctor is to be shot on sight.

Sarah Jane argues with Mark, trying to show him some proof that all of this is a fake. Finally, she realises that she has to go to extreme measures, and goes through the airlock as he watches.

One of the Elders talks of talking to her, but Mark tries to dissuade him. It doesn’t seem it’s going to work.

The Doctor drives about London, trying to avoid military patrols, on his way to the underground lair. He is pursued and has to hide his jeep in a dilapidated warehouse until his pursuers pass by.

Sarah has left the “spaceship” and finds the laboratory. She overhears Whitaker and blondie talk (argue, really) about checking the reactor power levels. Poking about, she finds the lift and triggers the door. She finds herself back in the “file room” lift that leads to Grover’s office and slips out.

A helicopter flies over The Doctor and radios his activity to a patrol in a jeep. They get on his tail quickly and pursue. They find his jeep, but he’s nowhere in sight. The four soldiers get out and begin to search the woods, while The Doctor watches from hiding.

He grabs their jeep and calls in to the helicopter, pretending to be one of the patrol. He tells them they’ve caught their prey and are bringing him in. The ‘copter pilot says he’ll call off the other patrols. The Doctor drives off as one of the patrol men returns and fires on his jeep. Hopping in the other jeep, the soldier finds that the engine won’t start.

Sarah Jane argues with a guard at the school room over her not having a pass, over The Doctor being responsible for the monsters. General Finch shows up and Sarah Jane says she’ll tell him everything, as she knows what’s going on. Finch dismisses the guard and Sarah Jane tells him Minister Grover is behind it all. He plays skeptical but says they must go and investigate.

They arrive at Grover’s office and she leads him to the file room. After she activates the lift, Finch pulls out his gun and takes her prisoner and leads her to the lab room where Grover and Whitaker are. Grover gives Finch orders to withdrawl all the soldiers, including UNIT and the general leaves Sarah Jane with Grover.

Grover explains what they’re doing, that they’re going to “roll back time”.

In an attempt to drive out the last remnants of people in London, Whitaker brings in a bevy of dinosaurs all over London. The Doctor is forced to stop his jeep when a t-rex appears just in front of him… and the credits roll.

 

 

Episode 6:

I’m enjoying this immensely, but like many of the earlier serials, I think some tighter writing/editing, cutting out one episode, would make for a better story.

The appearance of the dino has killed the engine of the jeep The Doctor was driving and he’s forced to leave it. The t-rex and another dino get into a fight. It’s really, really bad puppetry/animation. Laughably bad. Ouch.

As The Doctor runs off, he comes across a jeep with Finch and two guards in it. Just then, the Brig and Benton come up behind The Doctor, claiming The Doctor as their prisoner (since Finch had, in fact, turned The Doctor over to UNIT earlier, the Brig is 100% correct.) Reluctantly, especially after Benton points a gun at them, Finch agrees and leaves.

Sarah Jane is thrown in a store room by blondie, who tells her she’ll be coming with them when it’s time to go.

The Brig, Benton and The Doctor return to the school room base to learn that the troops have been ordered by Finch to evacuate. The Doctor explains that Finch is part of it, along with Grover. The Doctor and Benton also try to convince the Brig that Yates is as well.

The Doctor finds a note from Sarah, saying she has proof Grover is behind it all. The duty private says she left the note “very early this morning” and left with General Finch. (The timing and pacing of these episodes is always uneven.)

The Brig says he’s going to contact Geneva, but The Doctor says there’s no time for that. When Benton gets Geneva on, the Brig is handed the phone but Yates comes in with a gun, stopping them.

Sarah Jane struggles and removes vent grill from a duct and climbs in.

Mike explains Whitaker’s plans. Mike seems willing to not exist, should they not be within the protective field – the base is on the edge of the expected field of protection from the time roll back. When the duty private comes back with tea, Mike is distracted and Benton kicks his gun away and grapples him.

On the spaceship, the Elders and Mark are waking up others, when Sarah Jane sneaks back on. She explains to Mark what’s going on.

The Doctor and the Brig head off to the tube station; Benton is staying behind to rendezvous with any remaining patrols and then bringing back up to help.

Sarah Jane and Mark try to convince the Elders and the awakening “colonists” the truth of things. However, they won’t listen and drag her and Mark away. Adam, one of the Elders seems to see some truth in their words. He begins fiddling with the controls, contacts spaceship one, asking to speak to Charles Grover.

The Doctor and the Brig head towards their destination, at one point driving the jeep under a brontosaurus. They arrive at their destination, to find a stegosaurus outside the entrance and have to scare it off with explosives.

On the spaceship, Charles Grover boards, having come over by shuttlecraft. He goes through the process of pressurising the air lock before entering. Then he takes off his space suit and asks Adam what the problem is.

The Doctor and the Brig make their way into the tube station.

In the “reminder room”, Grover confronts Sarah Jane and Mark, as Adam (the Elder) listens in from outside.

A triceratops comes near where The Doctor and the Brig are and Lethbridge-Stewart lights a flare to try to scare it off. The Doctor wires up some explosives while the Brig holds it off.

Adam frees Sarah Jane and Mark.

The Doctor blows the explosives, blowing a hole in the mop room, exposing the lift shaft. (Surely those below would have heard/felt the explosion?) The Doctor readies to scale down while the Brig goes back to the jeep to call in to Benton.

However, Finch has Benton at gun point. Benton makes a grab for the gun and the men struggle.

Sarah Jane shows everyone by exiting through the air lock that they’re not on a ship.

The Doctor has gained access to the bunker and takes out blondie with his Venusian karate.

Whitaker and Grover discuss Finch not being present; Whitaker says the timing is crucial they can’t wait. Grover says he must be on his way and should be in the protective area. As Whitaker moves to start things, the “colonists” arrive and Mark grabs him. Grover appeals to them to let go ahead. As he gives his speech, The Doctor, then shortly after, the Brig and his troops, arrive.

In the distraction, Whitaker grabs the lever and pulls it. The time effect begins, but The Doctor manages to move through the field and return the lever upwards, stopping it. He starts flipping other switches and toggles, but Grover leaps forward, grabbing the lever again. Whitaker tries to stop him, saying, “No! He’s reversed the polarity,” and as the two men struggle, Grover gets the lever down and both of them and the computer bank are sent back into the past.

The Doctor explains that because he was a Time Lord, he was able to move when nobody else could, saving the day. We get a pretty little speech from The Doctor about pollution (the moral of the story, I guess.) The Brig says he has to write a deposition for General Finch’s court-martial, and Benton asks about Captain Yates.

The Brig says he put Yates on extended sick leave and he’s been given the chance to resign quietly. “The best I could do,” the Brig says, somewhat disappointed.

As the Brig walks off, calling for Benton to follow, Benton leans over the table to address The Doctor and Sarah Jane. “Still, I’ll say one thing, not many Sergeants get the chance to punch a General on the nose!” They laugh, but when Benton turns, the Brig is standing right there.

“Just don’t make a habit of it, Benton,” the Brig says as the two soldiers depart.

The Doctor and Sarah Jane banter about the TARDIS; she says it’ll be a long while before she gets in, but The Doctor gives her a speech about a planet named Florana, one of the most beautiful planets in the universe. She keeps saying no, he keeps doing the hard sell… and the final credits roll.

A fun serial, again, could have used some tighter writing/editing. Shame about Captain Yates (I knew he ended up being a bit of a traitor, but never knew the specifics about it.)  

Serial 71 – Invasion of the Dinosaurs 1/2

Another serial I’ve not seen before/know nothing about. Looking forward to it!

Episode 1:

We open on what appears to be modern day London, the River Thames. But the streets are empty, devoid of people! London has become a ghost town. A few dogs roam the streets, picking through trash, but that’s it.

The TARDIS materialises in a park and Sarah Jane and The Doctor exit. Sarah seems uncertain that they’re in the right time period – she’s very suspicious of his getting her back to the right time and place, which suggests of some other adventures between THE TIME WARRIOR and now.

They find a telephone booth, but the line is dead. They decide to try catching a bus at the nearby stop.

A man carrying a duffel bag departs a building, looking about. Seeing the coast is clear, he starts descending the flights of metal stairs (it’s like a factory or warehouse), but lays down on one landing when he hears a jeep approaching. Soldiers in the jeep drive by, not seeing him and once they pass, he hurries down to his car, parked around the corner. He gets in and drives off.

Waiting at the bus station, The Doctor remarks there are no vehicles, pedestrians, bikers. They set off walking as a car comes down the road; they step out, trying to flag him down (seems to be the man we saw leaving the warehouse) and he almost runs them over.

He pulls up to a storefront, looking about, before grabbing the duffel bag and running it over to one of the storefronts.

The Doctor and Sarah Jane come down the street, as if following his car. They find it parked out front, door open. The Doctor sees an open door and enters, but the man has a gun pointed at them. He leaves them there, driving off, telling them to find their own places.

Sarah Jane tries calling the police, but there’s no answer.

Outside, they hear a car crash and a strange roaring. They dash out and down the street, to find the man dead, and his car totaled.

UNIT troops are in a room with a map of London, tracking sightings of something. The Brig is on the phone and Sgt Benton moves a push pin on a map to indicate the latest sighting. Captain Yates reports to the Brig about the looters becoming more organised, but the Brig is more concerned about the sightings.

At the police station, The Doctor and Sarah Jane try to get it, but it’s locked up. They have the looter’s duffel bag with them. They hear a vehicle and see a jeep roll by, but hear it slow down out of sight. They hurry to find it, but it’s already backed into a garage by time they get there.

Entering the garage, The Doctor calls out, “Hello,” and further in, we see the men scatter and hide. The Doctor encounters one of them and fights, but is attacked from behind. The men rush off after they hear the sound of automatic fire.

As The Doctor and Sarah Jane try to open the garage door, to drive the jeep they heard earlier, a pterodactyl flies down into the garage and attacks. They manage to get into the jeep and drive through the door to escape.

The Brig argues with a superior officer over firing on looters; the Brig feels it is wrong for his men to fire weapons at civilians. Talk of The Doctor comes up – the Brig is waiting for him to show up, any day now. The general(?) gives the Brig extra men for patrols, but with the caveat that any looters who do not surrender immediately will be shot.

The Doctor and Sarah Jane encounter a patrol who fire into the air and demand they raise their hands. They comply and are searched while the vehicle is searched and the loot is found inside. The Doctor realises there’s no point in arguing.

They’re brought into the processing location and are taken for mug shots. They seem to think it’s a big lark. One of their fellow captives tells them the military are in charge because of “the monsters”.

A tyrannosaurus rex burst through a building as army troops fire upon it. Using grenades, they chase the dinosaur off. Back at UNIT HQ, upon hearing the report, during which the radio cuts out, the Brig and Benton discuss the issue with the radio and how it must be related to the dinosaurs.

Upon reviewing the latest batch of looters, Benton comes across the pictures of The Doctor and Sarah Jane. The Brig orders Benton to send someone.

The Doctor and Sarah Jane’s fellow prisoner tries to get them to make a break for it. The Doctor says thanks but no thanks. An officer shows up and a trial (for lack of a better word) is held for their fellow prisoner. He’s declared guilty (it’s really that simple) and sentenced to be locked up during the course of emergency, to be turned over to civil authorities after the emergency has ended.

Sarah Jane tries to tell the officer they didn’t steal the items, but since that was the same story the guy before them gave, he’s not remotely believing it (and likely one he’s heard a hundred times before.) The Doctor tries to explain that he’s an associate of the Brig, but again, the man doesn’t buy it (not that I expect he’s heard that one before.)

The officer sentences them to the same sentence as the previous man. The officer leaves and the other prisoner gives them the “I told you so” line. The Doctor is more interested in the man’s escape plan. They fake a fight until the guard comes over and The Doctor immobilises him. The other prisoner turns the gun on them, but The Doctor takes care of him and he and Sarah Jane run off.

However, as they find a jeep and try to find the keys, the soldiers arrive and take them prisoner again. As they’re being transported (in the very vehicle they were trying to steal), the truck comes to a sudden halt. Looking out, they see the tyrannosaur… and the credits roll.

Okay, the dinosaurs are kinda shoddy, but if you can look past that, it’s a pretty fun serial so far. London under seige, abandoned, and dinosaurs? Yes, please.

Episode 2:

The soldiers exit the jeep and open fire on the rex. Using the distraction, Sarah Jane and The Doctor (handcuffed to each other by one wrist) slip out the back and run off. They find shelter in someone’s workshop and The Doctor rummages about for a tool or something to free them of the handcuffs.

The soldiers return to the truck to discover their prisoners are gone.

As The Doctor and Sarah Jane talk, trying to figure out how the dinosaurs got there, they encounter a man who seems to be from King Richard’s time. He attacks and during the struggle, a strange effect envelops him and he disappears.

Soldiers arrive and The Doctor and Sarah Jane try to bar the door, but there’s nothing to do so with. The door opens and The Doctor moves to attack, but it’s the Brig! He’s oh-so-thrilled to see his scientific advisor.

Back at UNIT’s HQ, the Brig fills in The Doctor and Sarah Jane what’s been going on; it started shortly after they left in THE TIME WARRIOR. The temporary HQ appears to be in a class room, from the children’s artwork on the walls. The Brig informs them they’ve evacuated eight million people from London.

It turns out that not only are the dinosaurs appearing and ravaging the streets, but they are also disappearing. General Finch arrives, wanting to hear The Doctor’s answers for what’s going on. The general thinks that some mad scientist has been breeding dinosaurs and lost control of them.

A dinosaur has been spotted and the Brig and The Doctor go off to see it. It’s a stegosaurus! I love stegs!

Back at the HQ, Yates and Sarah Jane are talking. He’s summing up “that business in Wales” and needing a holiday for a bit (referring to the events in THE GREEN DEATH and the mind control he underwent). They discuss London without people – Sarah Jane is bothered by it, but Yates rather prefers it.

As the Brig and several soldiers are about to give The Doctor a hand in trying to catch the stegosaurus, there’s another time eddy and it disappears.

Back at the schoolroom, The Doctor argues with Finch and tells everyone that whomever is responsible is in central London, despite it being evacuated.

We see several men in lab coats (and one of them is Nyder from GENESIS OF THE DALEKS – I mentioned this back in DOCTOR WHO AND THE SILURIANS, where Peter Miles played Dr. Lawrence, the head of the nuclear facility in that serial. I can’t wait till GENESIS OF THE DALEKS, I’ve always considered that my favourite of the original run) discussing the next time transference.

They discuss keeping the authorities off balance – whatever they’re up to, it has more to do than with just bringing in dinosaurs.

There’s a bit of “comic relief” where The Doctor is trying to work quietly but everyone keeps bugging him. It’s kinda cute, mostly for Sarah Jane’s part, but in the end, is ruined by Pertwee’s googly eyes of frustration.

The lab coated men receive a visit from Mike Yates – seems he’s in league with them!

Sir Charles Grover, the Minister with Special Powers (what about one with Super Powers, that’d be cool) arrives at the military HQ. The Doctor is still working on a device to KO a dinosaur. The Doctor recognises Grover as a staunch anti-pollutionist, and a man whose work he admires.

The main lab coat (Nyder’s actor, they haven’t named him in story yet) isn’t impressed with Yates’ opinion of The Doctor’s threat to their operation. His associate says if Yates is right, “Operation Golden Age” could be at risk, all their plans would be for naught. They tells Yates to deal with The Doctor, but he says he won’t harm him, nor allow any harm to be done. “If we descend to that sort of thing, we’re no better than the society we intend to replace,” he tells them.

It seems Mike is definitely in cahoots; he doesn’t seem blackmailed or under control. This is shocking to me, as I rather like Yates.

The Doctor tells Grover that he suspects the dinosaurs are merely being used to clear out central London for some greater purpose. A brontosaurus has been spotted, and the Brig, The Doctor and Benton go off to try out The Doctor’s stun gun. Grover is left behind and he has an odd look on his face (from his politics and ecological view point, I wonder if he’s part of the plan with the scientists and Yates.)

Lab coat boss guy gives Yates a small device to put on the stun gun, which will disable it.

At the location with the brontosaurus, they prepare to use the stun gun. Yates has arrived on scene and fetches the gun for him, placing the device given to him on it. He gives it to The Doctor who approaches the dinosaur and takes aim. He seems to have issues working the gun and the brontosaurus disappears in a time eddy.

Suddenly, behind The Doctor, a tyrannosaurus appears! The Brig orders for his men to fire… and the credits roll.

That’s a pretty good cliffhanger there!

Episode 3:

The troops fire on the t-rex, and the blast stuns The Doctor. Afraid for The Doctor’s safety, Yates rushes in, removes the disabling device, and uses the gun to stun the t-rex.

Later, Yates confronts the lab coats, accusing them of intentionally bringing in the t-rex, knowing it would kill The Doctor. He asks them permission to tell The Doctor what is going on. They say no and say he must go back and sabotage The Doctor’s instruments so he can’t track them.

After he leaves, the lab coats discuss Yates’ loyalty, fearing he’s too concerned with “this precious Doctor of his”.

The t-rex has been brought back to a warehouse, where it has been chained down. The Doctor says they must wait for the temporal energy to fade, upon which the dino will return to its proper time and he can trace the energy.

Sarah Jane says she’s been doing research into time travel experts and a man named Whitaker seems to be the leading scientist in the field. The Brig recognises his name and Sarah Jane says he’s disappeared about six months ago, after being refused government funding.

The Doctor and Sarah Jane catch a ride with the Brig back to the temporary UNIT HQ; The Doctor needs to get some equipment from the TARDIS, which has been brought back there. Once there, Minister Grover tries to put off any suspicion about Whitaker, saying he’s just a harmless crank.

General Finch is the only person who seems interested in Sarah Jane’s theory about Whitaker. When she complains about not being allowed to take pictures of the dinosaur, Finch gives her a note to take to his driver, saying he’ll take her to his HQ where she can get a special pass allowing her to photograph the dino.

After consulting with Grover, The Doctor and the Brig return, to find Sarah Jane gone. The Brig discovers that she left in the general’s car.

Sarah Jane returns to the warehouse, with her camera, so one assumes she got her pass. She begins photographing it and the flash starts to waken the sleeping dino. It begins to rise and Sarah Jane runs out, but cannot get past the office door, as it is locked. As she tries to get out, the dino’s tail starts smashing everything, knocking a piece of the wall down onto Sarah Jane. (Seems to me this would have been a great cliffhanger to end an episode on.)

The Doctor arrives in the nick of time to save her and they run out. The t-rex breaks through the warehouse wall as they drive off.

Back at the school room, Sarah Jane is being tended to by The Doctor. She says she was locked in on purpose, someone tried to kill her. Benton shows the Brig one of the chains – it was cut through. He says they were all like that. The Doctor’s machinery was sabotaged, as well.

Sarah Jane wants to track the power source and corrals Sgt Benton into assisting her. She goes to visit Minister Grover. He takes her into a file room and there’s a sinister air. He plays along with her and they find records of an underground bunker, built under that very building! It turns out that the file room is an elevator and has taken them below to the very bunker.

Benton tells The Doctor that Sarah Jane has gone out; The Doctor finds her behavior baffling.

Minister Grover and one of the lab coats (not Whitaker) leave Sarah Jane in a room, saying they won’t find her where she’s going. Lights begin to flash in the room and there’s a strange alarm-like sound. She begins to react adversely to the lights, entering an almost trance-like state.

She wakes on her back on a bed in a futuristic chamber. A man looms over her, welcoming her, talking about being on a spaceship heading to the planet that will be their new home. Looking out a window (or on a viewscreen perhaps) she sees outer space. The man says, “We left Earth three months ago,”… and the credits roll.

Okay, that’s a much better cliffhanger than the dinosaur bit. Wow. And that’s the cliffhanger you guys are going to get until Thursday!

See you then!