Serial 115 – Logopolis 2/2

Recap: The Doctor wants to fix his TARDIS’ Chameleon Circuit and goes to Earth to measure a police box. While there, The Master’s TARDIS gets inside his. And a stewardess named Tegan wanders into the TARDIS, too. Then they go to Logopolis, a planet of mathematicians, to complie the code to fix the TARDIS. The Doctor is inside and activates the code, but his ship begins to shrink…

Episode 3:

The TARDIS ends up being about waist height; the Monitor orders his people to take it to the central registry.

Inside, The Doctor struggles to the console, trying to dematerialise. Through the scanner, he can see the Logopolitans carrying the TARDIS.

As they carry the TARDIS, they pass by The Master, who is sitting and laughing. Oh, yes, full on view of Anthony Ainley as The Master in all his diabolic glory.

“At last, Doctor. At last, I’ve cut you down to size.” Yes, it’s a corny line, but diabolical bad guys with goatees who wear black are cool when uttering corny lines. It’s a rule.

The Doctor sees the large faces of his companions, who are trying to tell him to hold on. The Monitor says they can trace the fault, and Adric offers to help. They begin going through lines of code, checking physical registers. Again, Adric questions why they don’t use computers; the Monitor explains more clearly – their use of numbers changes the physical world.

Sonic projectors are placed around the TARDIS, to create a stasis zone. Inside, The Doctor seems in less dire straits.

Adric and Monitor move into the streets, where the populace works, checking their numbers.

Tegan and Nyssa worry about The Doctor.

Monitor and Adric find a sequence of incorrect numbers and trace it down a side street.

The Doctor gets to his feet.

Monitor and Adric find several TCE’d Logopolitans. Monitor says that interfering in the working of Logopolis is one of the worst crimes in the universe.

The Doctor realises the code has a fault. He begins looking over it and asserts he will not be beaten… but he could do with some help from outside.

Adric wanders the streets, stopping when he sees the ghostly figure. The figure walks off just before the Monitor finds them. They bring the numbers back to the TARDIS, saying they have to get the numbers to The Doctor. Tegan takes them, holding them in front of the TARDIS.

Adric walks out, followed by Nyssa; he still thinks that the white figure is The Master, and says he’s out there. Nyssa says she came to find The Master, she has to know what happened to her father. They set off, watched by Tegan, who is listening in (so much for holding the numbers up.) She walks back to the TARDIS as the two youths set off.

The Doctor reprimands himself for being a fool, saying he can only get help from outside now. Just then, he looks at the scanner and sees the numbers.

Adric shows Nyssa the TCE’d Logopolitans. He tells her he’s seen The Master, but then changes it to, “I think so.” Just then, the ghostly figure passes behind them. Adric seems to sense this and they run off.

Tegan asks the Monitor about the Logopolitans working at the computers, saying at home in Brisbane, they would call that a sweat shop. (BTW, Tegan is from Australia.)

As Nyssa and Adric give chase to the ghostly figure, a voice calls out to Nyssa; it is The Master, whom she mistakes for her father.

Monitor tries to explain that his people are driven by math, not individual need. He brings her back and they see the TARDIS return to proper size.

Nyssa asks her father what his mission is and why he has been changed. “You look younger, but so cold,” she says.

“Logopolis is a cold place,” The Master replies. “A cold, high place overlooking the universe; it holds a single, great secret, Nyssa.” He sends her back to The Doctor, but she doesn’t want to be separated. He says they will not be, and places a bracelet on her wrist. It causes her pain, briefly.

“It will keep us in mind of one another,” The Master says as he puts it on her. He instructs her not to tell anyone that she’s seen him… yet.

The Doctor exits the TARDIS. He thanks Monitor and Tegan, the latter who tells him that Nyssa and Adric have gone looking for The Master. Talk of deaths come up and Tegan figures out that her aunt is one of the deaths.

The Doctor tells Monitor, “The Master is at work on Logopolis. I’m going to stop him if it’s the last thing I do.”

Adric and Nyssa reunite. Nyssa complains about her bracelet. When Adric tries to remove it, he is shocked. Her arm seems to have a mind of its own, but before anything happens, The Doctor shows up.

The Master, dressed in the robes of a Logopolitan, kills two Logopolitans as they wheel away the sonic projectors. He sets the two up in one of the computer halls, putting the Logopolitans in stasis.

The Doctor chastises Adric for going after The Master on his own. They stop when they see the ghostly figure and Nyssa says that’s who brought her there from Traken. The Doctor confirms that the ghostly man is a friend, as Nyssa claims she was told. Adric is confused, as he thought the man was a threat, possibly The Master.

The Doctor says he is prepared for the worst because the ghostly figure is there.

The Master disrobes and wheels a sonic projector into the control room. Monitor and Tegan turn, surprised, and he tells them to remain still, that he has the power to bring Logopolis to a standstill.

En route to the central register (control room), The Doctor wonders why the Logopolitans created a duplicate of the Pharos Project. Nyssa suddenly notices there is no sounds, “Logopolis has stopped,” she says.

The Doctor is shocked, “And I was vain enough to think it was me he was after. Logopolis is his target!”

The Master says he has put Logopolis in suspension. “The silence gives us the chance to discuss its future,” he says to Monitor. The Monitor says there will be no future, that by doing this he is introducing entropy. The Master scoffs.

The Monitor refuses to talk of the secret work or to explain why a duplicate of the Pharos Project was created.

The Doctor, Adric and Nyssa arrive. The Doctor explains to Nyssa that The Master is not her father, he stole Tremas’ body, but her father is dead. The Master begins to gloat and The Doctor and the Monitor try to get him to understand that he’s killing the Logopolitans.

The Monitor says that Logopolis is the keystone of the universe, it is the “causal nexus”. The Doctor tells his enemy that he is interfering with the law of cause and effect.

Adric tries to shut down the sonic projector, but The Master uses a control device to make Nyssa grab and choke the boy. The Master coerces Tegan into replacing the projector.

Still not believing them, The Master shuts the device off, saying the silence is only temporary. But when he does so, there still are no sounds from the city. Everyone rushes out into the streets to investigate.

Monitor says that Logopolis is dead, they will hear nothing.

The Master runs through the streets. The walls crumble and collapse, a result of The Master’s inteference. The Master blames The Doctor, saying he did this to keep him from his goal.

Adric postulates that the numbers kept everything stable; once the silence was imposed, the numbers, no longer chanted/muttered, could not maintain and entropy was accelerated.

The Master turns Nyssa on The Monitor, but she struggles with the bracelet and then the system fails and the bracelet falls apart. The Doctor tells him that this is all because of the entropy he introduced.

The Monitor says that the entropy will spread from Logopolis, throughout the universe. He says that the numbers were holding the universe together, that the universe had long past the point of total collapse.

The Master realises that’s why they copied the Pharos Project, and the Monitor admits it was so they could create voids into other universes, to bleed off the chaos. Adric says those are the Charged Vacuum Emboitments, like the one that the TARDIS went through to get to E-Space.

The Monitor says those were a temporary measure until their advanced projects could come up with a permanent solution, but now it was too late.

They wander through the city, as it begins to collapse about them. Tegan yells at The Master, swatting his arm, saying it’s all his fault. The Monitor says they are beyond recrimination, beyond hope, but The Doctor disagrees.

He leads them back to the common area and turns to The Master, saying they must pool their resources. Nyssa objects, saying he is the creature that killed her father.

“If we do cooperate,” The Master says, “there will be no question of you ever returning to Gallifrey.” “If we don’t cooperate,” The Doctor retorts, “there will be no question of Gallifrey!”

There’s a telling scene; when everyone complains about The Doctor working with The Master, our hero goes on a rant, saying he’s never chosen his companions – Tegan wandered in curiosity, Adric was a stowaway, and Nyssa he accuses of contacting him and begging for help in finding her father.

The TARDIS arrives, and when they question how it could have arrived with nobody within, The Doctor says there is someone within. They realise it must be the ghostly man. Adric tries to argue that they want to help him, but he insists they go inside, that he’s collaborating with The Master now.

Adric pushes Nyssa in, as she still objects, saying The Master is a murderer.

The Master offers The Doctor his hand, almost gleeful, asking, “Together?” The Doctor won’t look at him, just says, “One last hope,” and shakes his hand… and the credits roll.

Wow, I can’t imagine what the viewers thought about that cliffhanger, thirty-one years ago. That’s fucking awesome. I should make y’all wait….but I won’t.

Episode 4:

The Time Lords realise that the Monitor is not with them and head to the central registry to try to find him.

Tegan leaves the TARDIS, arguing with Adric. She says The Doctor is her way back and she’s not going to be separated from him. Adric heads back in and the TARDIS dematerialises as Tegan watches.

The Time Lords struggle through the collapsing city. They find the Monitor at the computer banks in the room. He gives the Time Lords a print out, saying all they need to know about the advanced research project is there.

The begin working to realign the aerial, hoping to reopen a nearby CVE. Tegan bursts in, looking for The Doctor. The Master says they need to withdrawl and take their two TARDISes to create a safe zone.

As they talk, Tegan gasps, directing their attention to the Monitor, who fades from existence. The Master is horrified and says The Doctor is on his own and heads out.

The Doctor says Tegan can help and they start to disassemble the controls.

The Master finds his TARDIS, but the roof of the area collapses on him.

The Doctor takes the memory boards out, saying the program is saved on the chips. When Tegan bemoans not having a computer to run it on, The Doctor says he knows where they can find one – on Earth. They head out, looking for The Master’s TARDIS.

Adric and Nyssa watch as the ghostly figure takes the TARDIS out of time and space.

The Doctor moves a heavy block off of The Master. The Doctor then asks him to take them to Earth.

Adric says they’re hovering outside space and time, but he’s worried that the TARDIS isn’t designed for that. They refer to the ghostly man as “The Watcher,” saying The Doctor said they’d be safe with him. Both agree they’d rather be with The Doctor, though.

The MTARDIS arrives in the Pharos computer room. A technician enters from fetching some coffee and the Time Lords hide. The Master tries to kill the tech, but The Doctor pulls him out of the way, knocking him out in the process.

Nyssa and Adric discuss entropy, how it all started when The Doctor was dealing with his TARDIS breaking down. They’re walking in the vine-covered area where it all started. The Watcher beckons to Adric from across the courtyard.

The Doctor and The Master debate philosophy and entropy as they work on the computer.

Adric speaks with the Watcher as Nyssa watches. He walks back to her, saying it seems that the Watcher knows what’s going to happen. When Nyssa asks what he said, Adric avoids answering, saying they have work to do. They return to the console room, where Adric begins setting coordinates for Earth.

Nyssa turns on the scanner and they see the whole universe. As they watch, a darkness spreads across the universe and they realise it’s the entropy effect. Nyssa pulls up Earth, and though they don’t see it at first, it’s still there. However, when she pulls up Traken on the scanner, she watches it be consumed by the darkness.

MAJOR FUCKING GOOSEBUMPS. I forgot about that scene, until I heard her voice, the dull anguish in it, when she calls to Adric. Wow.

On Earth, Tegan looks out the window. There are security outside and she reports to the Time Lords that the sun is rising and there are security outside.

Adric brings the TARDIS back into time-space and then to Earth, outside the Pharos Project. They see the giant dish, exactly like the one on Logopolis. Exiting, they hide from a patrol of guards.

The Time Lords realise they have to get The Master’s lightspeed overdrive device to the aerial controls, if they are to get it to operate. As they leave, The Doctor stops to peek out a window. He sees his TARDIS, and the Watcher standing in the doorway, watching.

Adric and Nyssa move across the compound, skulking to evade the guards. The Doctor, The Master and Tegan move across the compound… well, you get the idea.

When The Master tries to blast the guards with his TCE, The Doctor grabs it and throws it away; the sound alerts the guards, who give chase. Adric and Nyssa watch all this transpire. They close in and Tegan dashes out, distracting the guards so the Time Lords can head back to the aerial.

On the way, The Master stops to pick up his TCE weapon. He then heads back to the control room, and collecting something from the unconscious technician, and then hops in his TARDIS.

The Doctor makes it to the aerial contols, to find The Master waiting for him. He says he overlooks nothing, but The Doctor says he overlooked the lightspeed overdrive, but The Master tosses it out the door, laughing. The aerial is aligned to the coordinates to the nearest CVE and The Master offers him the privilige of connecting the device.

When he does, The Master steps out and using the technician’s recording device, records a message to the peoples of the universe. That done, he enters the control area, where The Doctor says the CVE is stabilising.

The Master tries to congratulate The Doctor, but he is leery of praise from his enemy. The Doctor begins to leave to try to help his companions, who are dealing with the guards. As he does so, he makes a comment that one mistake and everything would be ruined. The Master agrees, saying it could happen so easily.

The Doctor recognises the implied threat. When The Doctor tries to stop him, he pulls out his TCE weapon. The message he recorded is then broadcast – they either serve him or the universe dies. The Doctor realises that he’s mad and heads out to disengage the cable.

The Master follows and they struggle. The Master goes back in and enters new coordinates. The array begins moving and The Doctor is in a dangerous situation, crawling along the moving construct.

He makes it to the cable and using a spanner, then pulling on the cable, pulls it loose. However, the Time Lord loses his balance and falls, clinging to the cable, dangling from it. In his mind’s eye, he sees a variety of faces calling his name – the dessicated Master, a Dalek, the captain of the pirate planet, a cyberman, Davros, a Sontaran, a Zygon, the Black Guardian, the latter saying, “You shall die for this!”

He swings back to the support beams of the aerial, but slips and falls!

The Master slips back in his TARDIS and departs.

The companions, followed by the guards, run to The Doctor, who has landed on the ground.

I’m crying now.

The companions surround him, calling his name. In his mind’s eyes, we see Sarah Jane, Harry, The Brig, Leela, K-9, Romana I, Romana II all calling his name.

He looks up at Adric, saying, “It’s the end… but the moment has been prepared for.” He looks over and the Watcher is there. The Doctor reaches out with his hand and the ghostly figure approaches, then merges with The Doctor!

The Doctor’s body becomes ghostly and then changes into a young form with lighter brown hair.

The Fifth Doctor sits up… and the final credits roll.

Oh… oh… wow. Tears. My Doctor. That was MY Doctor. Gone now.

A powerful story – very neat stuff with Logopolis, great performances by everyone. Great companions, great villain (the best, really.)

And my Doctor, gone. Wow. Even knowing, even having seen this multiple times over the years… still so powerful, so hard to watch.

Serial 113 – Warriors’ Gate 2/2

Recap: Stuck between E-Space and N-Space, Romana, Adric, K-9 and The Doctor have gotten themselves into a bit of trouble…

Episode 3:

Romana screams as the figure releases her from the chair.

On the other side of the mirror, The Doctor stares at the men (and K-9), who stare at the mirror, though they cannot see him. He realises Biroc is there with him. Biroc says the time winds touched The Doctor’s hand, which allowed him to do so.

Romana hears the crew looking for the creature and she tells it/him to hide. It does so and Romana pretends to be unconscious.

Rorvik stops his men from breaking the mirror, saying they need to think about this. One of them fires his energy/laser pistol at the mirror, but it bounces off. Rorvik chastises him. Then Rorvik kicks the mirror.

(There’s a very jarring dissonance in the writing – the serial is mostly serious, albeit with the blend of humour that pervades most DW scripts, but the crew are being handled in almost a farcical manner.)

Adric still wanders the grey, still flipping a coin.

Rorvik kicks K-9. He sticks out his gun but then powers down.

Biroc says that K-9 can only be repaired on that side of the mirror. The Doctor asks him about where they are, and it seems they’re still in the gateway area. As The Doctor talks to himself, Biroc walks off.

The two clowns/crew enter the bridge and check on Romana, saying her mind is gone. One of them suggests hooking her up and giving her another dose of energy, but she asks them for answers, wanting to know what the crew is doing to the Tharils (Biroc’s people.) Before they answer, there’s a beeping and she yells at them to answer it.

Adric runs off in the grey.

Rorvik tells Aldo and Royce (the two idiots) to break out the MZ and that he’s sends others back for it. K-9 follows Lane and Packard, asking for orders. Packard keeps yelling at him to go away.

The Doctor wanders about in a black and white environment, following Biroc.

Lane and Packard and K-9 return to the ship. They remark that that distance back to the ship wasn’t as far as the first trip. K-9 says that the microcosm is contracting. Packard throws K-9 out, but Adric sneaks in while he does so.

Romana slips down and hides as Lane and the clowns are looking for her. Packard orders the clowns to get the MZ outside. Packard gives the orders to search the ship.

The Doctor pokes about another building, or perhaps part of the greater building.

The clows move the MZ out of the ship, commenting on how its become heavier; once they leave, we see that Romana and Adric were hiding in it. Romana tells Adric about the gateway, saying The Doctor must be there.

Romana and Adric follow Lane to the motor area. There is significant damage to the craft. Lane reports that the cables are worrying him. Romana comments to Adric that the warp engines are three times larger than they should be for a ship of that size. She tells Adric that the hull is made of “dwarf star alloy”, explaining the need for great motors.

K-9 arrives, shouting of dimensional instabilities and needing orders. Lane comes out and sees Romana. Packard grabs her and she shouts for Adric to take K-9 back to the The Doctor.

A female Tharil encounters The Doctor and takes him by the hand, leading him off.

Romana is thrown into the hold. Lane brings up that it (their evirons) seems to be shrinking around them. Packard acknowledges this and says it’s time they get back.

The other Tharil attacks the man taking Romana to the hold and frees her. Touching hands with her, they walk off and fade away, out of the ship, into the grey.

The Doctor walks with the female Tharil.

The crew moves through the grey with the MZ and even the two clows follow. Adric is hiding in the MZ array.

The Doctor overlooks a dining area – perhaps the same as the cobwebby one, but this one is clean and filled with Tharils eating good food. Suddenly it turns cobwebby and Romana and her Tharil companion are overlooking the scene.

In the real room, Rorvik and others sit about while the MZ is brought in and set up. Rorvik comments how quick it took; Lane comments that it was even faster this time.

Rorvik starts addressing the men, but stops as Romana, led by her Tharil come down some stairs. The Tharil leads her into, and through, the mirror. They walk the same black and white area The Doctor did.

Romana notices that the burns on the Tharil’s face are healed.

The Doctor sits at the table, being served food. He comments to Biroc, “You live like kings,” and the Tharil replies, “We ARE kings.”

The crew eats as Rorvik addresses them about the mirror and the MZ and the situation they’re in. He gets mad that they’re more interested in food and he draws his gun on them.

Biroc explains that the universe is their garden, the universe is theirs, even the people. One of the Tharils slaps the humanoid maid serving them. The Doctor realises that the Tharils were the masters that the Gundan spoke of – the enslavers.

Romana watches from above as The Doctor angers another Tharil, who pulls a knife on him. She rushes down, saying The Doctor is in danger, but just then a bunch of Gundan charge in, attacking.

Suddenly, The Doctor and Romana find themselves seated at the table with Rorvik’s crew, in the ‘real’ room.

Rorvik sees him and says, “Well, Doctor… this IS a surprise…” and the credits roll.

Interesting going ons here. I like the twist about the Tharils being the former masters.

Episode 4:

The Doctor admits it is a surprise for him, too. Romana posits they jumped back over the striations.

Rorvik and his men don’t believe that the mirrors aren’t the way out. The Doctor insists this is true and says they must work together or they’ll be trapped until the crack of doom.

Guns are pointed to The Doctor’s head again, demanding the secret.

K-9 enters (backwards, cuz he’s still not right) asking for orders, saying there is a mass conversion anomaly. The Doctor asks him about it, and K-9 says the area is contracting, warning them of the danger.

When they talk about the space and time contracting, Rorvik scoffs, but Packard says it’s worth hearing out. K-9 says he’s not able to predict how long they have left. The Doctor says they would need a huge mass to cause that sort of collapse and Romana informs him that Rorvik’s ship is made of dwarf star alloy.

The Doctor demands to know what they’re up to, accusing them of being slavers, trading in time sensitives – he says that dwarf star alloy is the only material that will hold the time sensitives from escaping.

Rorvik admits to it, but before too much can be said, The Doctor realises K-9 has moved off, to the mirror. He runs over to the robot, but K-9′s speech is distorted. It sounds almost backwards/reversed.

Lane tells Rorvik that the trip from castle to ship and back has gotten shorter each time. Rorvik says he doesn’t believe it and wants The Doctor to get them through the mirror.

The Doctor turns to face the mirror and through it, he and Biroc talk; the Tharil admits they once abused their power but asks have they not suffered enough. He tells The Doctor they will be free. The Doctor asks him what to do, and the Tharil says do nothing, it already is done.

As Adric points his gun, saying time has run out, Adric yells at them to stop. He’s at the controls of the MZ and says he doesn’t know what it does, but it’s pointed at them. The Doctor grabs K-9 and moves off as the crew back away. Romana takes K-9 and Adric out as The Doctor takes over the MZ, keeping the crew at bay.

The Time Lords and Adric rush off, searching for the TARDIS, entering it when they find it.

Lane says the MZ doesn’t have an automatic and the crew exits in pursuit.

Rorvik orders the men back to the MZ and powers it up. There’s a big explosion, but the crew walks out mostly unharmed, just covered in dust and smoke.

In the TARDIS, the Time Lords yell at Adric when he suggests just dematerialising and leaving, saying there are slaves on the ship.

The ship fires up the engines, shaking the entire gateway and the TARDIS (and all else within.) Romana says the ship won’t take off in the state the warp motors are. The Doctor says he’s trying to use the engines to back blast the mirrors.

Romana says that would just destroy everything and accelerate the shrinking. Adric argues for riding the blast back into N-space, but Romana says they have the slaves to think about.

Adric brings up the exposed part of the engines, saying they could short out the power to the engines. The Doctor orders them to stay, but Romana argues that he needs her to find the cables. They leave Adric and K-9 on the TARDIS, with orders to dematerialise in thirteen and a half minutes if they’re not back.

Rorvik orders the ship set down outside the castle, near the TARDIS. They start the backblast procedure, saying there’s about ten minutes to power up. Rorvik orders for the cargo to be revived en masse, hoping at least one will survive.

Rorvik checks on the progress, but is told three for three haven’t been revived. Biroc and the other male Tharil are seen skulking about the ship.

The Time Lords make it to the outer breach on the ship, and The Doctor goes in to find the cables, Romana staying back to keep watch. After he goes up, she slips off on her own.

The Doctor encounters Rorvik and tells the captain the back blast will kill them all. Rorvik kicks the Time Lord and attacks them. They struggle. Romana shows up and grabs the clipboard and hits Rorvik on the back, to no avail.

Romana grabs the manacles and uses them to short out the engine. Rorvik kicks The Doctor down again. The engine smokes and catches on fire. When The Doctor gets to his feet, Biroc is there.

When The Doctor asks what he’s doing, Biroc says to do nothing. Romana says it makes sense, and The Doctor agrees, saying, “If it’s the right sort of nothing.” Biroc touches both of their hands and they fade away.

Rorvik has the manacles, watching from above, and says, “Run, Doctor, scurry off back to your blue box!” He goes on a rant about lily-livered deadweights and goes into maniacal laughter. He’s gone around the bend.

Sagan keeps trying to raise more Tharils, to no avail. The other loose Tharil arrives and kills him. The Tharil then begins to awaken the other prisoners.

Biroc and the Time Lords make it back to the TARDIS, but Romana says she’s not going with him. She says she has to be her own Romana, she’s tired of taking orders. Biroc says they need a Time Lord. The Doctor gives her K-9, saying he’ll be okay on the other side of the mirrors and she promises to take care of him.

Hurried goodbyes are said and Romana leaves with Biroc as The Doctor calls out, “You were the noblest Romana of them all.” Biroc leads her back to the mirror and they walk through.

The TARDIS dematerialises as the ship fires its back blast, destroying the outer edifice of the gateway. The ship catches fires and explodes.

The TARDIS appears, briefly, in the black and white of the land beyond the mirror. K-9 says he contains all the schematics for duplication of a TARDIS. She says she will help Biroc free his people, who are enslaved on many planets.

Tharils exit the smoking remains of the ship and enter the smoking remains of the edifice.

In the TARDIS, Adric and The Doctor regard the scanner as it fades and shows nothing. The Doctor says that if the E-Space image translator isn’t working any more, that gives him hope they’re back in N-Space.

Adric asks if Romana will be all right. “All right,” The Doctor answers, “She’ll be superb.”

Biroc, K-9 and Romana walk off in the black and white… and the final credits roll.

An interesting farewell to Romana and K-9. I like the idea of her having a direction, a purpose to her departure… and the set up of there being an eventual return to Gallifrey, should she want it – with the ability to make a TARDIS of her own.

A pretty good serial, a little too much farce for my liking to say more than pretty good. I liked the nuances and double-play to the story.

Sad to think that there are only two more serials of Tom Baker…

Serial 113 – Warriors’ Gate 1/2

I’m pretty sure that I’ve not seen this one – certainly not the end of it, at least. Geronimo!

Episode 1:

Hirsute men lay in seemingly suspended animation/cryo sleep/something along those lines. They are chained and manacled and attached to machines and IV systems. Over a PA a voice counts down, “80… 70…” The camera pans out of the room into an area with different lighting. Graffiti on one wall reads “KILROY WAS HERE”. Everything is metallic, like a ship or a bunker. “50… 40.. 30… 29…28…” the countdown continues. Two men in orange worker suits and black skull caps sit, listening to the countdown.

Others sit about, some in grey, some in orange. One is a rather hirsute man like the sleepers, but he is strapped into a chair. The countdown reaches zero. A man in a grey military uniform shouts “hit it, hit it!” but one of the men in orange says that “he’s not visualising.” The military man turns to look at the hirsute fellow strapped in the chair.

He orders the men to jump, but the man in orange argues that you can’t jump the timelines blindly. The grey man walks over and hits the controls, saying ignition. The ship rumbles and shakes and lifts off.

Grey military dude walks over to the hirsute man, whom he addresses as Biroc, telling him to show them where they’re going. Nothing comes up on the monitor. They increase the energy into the hirsute man’s chair.

One of the men says they’re heading for a time rift. The ship shakes and time slows down as everyone is cast about. A coin tossed in the air stops then falls. On the screen attached to the hirsute man, we see the TARDIS briefly. A close up of Biroc’s eye shows an electronic outline of the TARDIS spinning.

In the TARDIS control room, the Time Lords and Adric hold on to the console as the time capsule shakes. Romana insists on one more go, saying it’s not her, it’s a time rift. The Doctor says to let him have a try, but he says it’s jammed, he’s lost control and they’re adrift in E-Space.

The Doctor posits that drifting might be the way out.

On the ship, men start to recover. One man reports that the readings report no space, no time, just as before. The grey man chastises Biroc, saying they’re back where they were after months of the same.

Damage reports come in. The hull seems to be okay, though there are rips inside and lots of damage to the electrics.

Romana insists that The Doctor doesn’t know what he’s doing, and he admits it, that he’s just following his intuition. They argue over coin tossing, The Doctor bringing up the I-Ching. Adric asks K-9 about the I-Ching. Adric starts tossing a coin.

Lane reports to the bridge that the warp drive is “shot to hell”. They lose communication shortly after that. The Commander (grey dude) starts blaming Biroc for what happened. Biroc sits there. Packard says they have to patch up Biroc and two men are ordered to do that.

Biroc is carried by the two men, but he seems to be aware. He knocks them down and staggers away. Lane sees him and tries to call it in to the bridge.

The Time Lords continue to argue. Romana brings up if they do escape E-space, they’d be taking Adric away from his own universe. The Doctor says the boy would love it on Gallifrey.

Adric tosses a coin and K-9 quotes from the I-Ching. Adric walks to the console and presses buttons.

Biroc runs through nothing, grey all around. Afterimages follow him.

The Doctor demands to know what Adric has just done. K-9 says the boy did non-determinate activity, following what The Doctor was theorising previously. The Doctor says that’s all right, but then the TARDIS shakes, the humanoids all fall and the doors open.

The TARDIS console begins to smoke and sputter, as does K-9. The Doctor says, “Ah, Time Winds,” and Biroc appears in the console room.

The commander complains they have a busted engine and no navigator. One of the men reports something on the short range scanner – an image of the TARDIS is visible. They determine the ship is coming into land.

Romana realises that Biroc is out of phase, and The Doctor agrees, saying that’s how he got in – he’s in a different time line. Biroc works the controls, almost in a trance like state.

Packard and the commander speculate that the crew of the TARDIS might be able to help them. They argue about reviving another to replace Biroc as navigator.

Lane is given orders to lead the way to approaching the TARDIS.

Biroc comes into phase, though he seems somewhat in a trance. Romana asks his name, he says he is Biroc. He warns them others follow and not to believe what they say, they are not Biroc’s kind. Romana asks what he is, and he replies, “the shadow of my past and of your future,” and then steps out, running back through the greyness.

The Time Lords determine that their coordinates are all at zero.

K-9 seems to be out of service.

The Doctor departs the TARDIS, leaving Romana and Adric to discuss the zero coordinates – if N-Space is positive and E-Space is negative, they’re stuck in between, at the intersection – or near it.

Biroc moves through the greyness again.

Romana tries to repair K-9. Adric says he’s looking forward to going to N-Space with the Time Lords, but Romana asks what if she and The Doctor went different ways.

The Doctor moves through the greyness.

K-9 is operational again. He detects three humanoid forms approaching the TARDIS. In the grey, Lane, Packard and the commander move, led by a device, a portable mass detector. Romana and Adric see them on the scanner.

K-9 babbles on, it seems he’s not quite right.

Biroc finds a part of a wall, like from a castle or such, with a door, in the grey. He pushes the doors open. The Doctor follows him inside. Inside, there is a castle filled with dust and cobwebs, and a skeleton in a chair at the cobwebby table. He seems to approach a mirror and steps into his reflection, passing through.

The crewmen find the TARDIS, walking around it. The commander gives the order to bust it open.

The Doctor enters the castle, exploring. He inspects two skeletal guards in armour, replacing one’s helmet, and dusting the other off. As he walks off, the second one turns and follows. The Doctor doesn’t notice, kneeling to inspect something and in the mirror (presumably the one Biroc walked through), we see the reflection of the guard come up behind him, raising an axe to strike… and the credits roll.

That’s a great cliffhanger, and I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen this serial at all.

Episode 2:

At the last minute, The Doctor sees it and moves as the axe comes down. He runs off, dodging a second attack and the skeletal guard staggers after him. He assumes a position next to two other guards, holding an axe, but the creature attacks, splitting The Doctor’s axe in half.

Romana and Adric argue about whether to go out and speak to the men. Romana tells Adric to watch as she goes outside to speak to the men. They ask her questions and she asks them questions. There’s lots of talk and double talk. She ends up going to their ship with them.

The Doctor realises that the guard is a machine. He asks it questions, but stops when another shows up.

Adric and K-9 leave the TARDIS to find Romana.

Romana and the crew make it back to their ship, which the commander says is a bulk freighter.

The Doctor tricks the two guards into attacking each other.

Adric and K-9 move through the grey. They get lost, K-9 admitting that his operational efficiency is piss poor.

Romana is brought to the bridge; she keeps trying to find out what sort of operation they have, but the commander keeps avoiding answering. We find out that his name is Captain Rorvik. They grab her and force her into the navigator’s chair.

Packard and Lane discuss that if Romana isn’t a time sensitive, she’ll be burnt to a frazzle.

Adric helps K-9 triangulate their destination.

With Romana attached, an image begins to form on the monitor behind the navigator chair. Rorvik says it isn’t going to work, so they’ll have to start using the cargo – Biroc’s people.

On the monitor, the image comes in better – it seems to be the place The Doctor went into. Rorvik orders some men out to investigate.

The Doctor takes apart the guards, taking memory wafers from them to repair K-9 with. Suddenly, a distorted voice can be heard saying, “Know thou shall outlive the day of the feast.”

The men head out, leaving Romana in the chair. Rorvik orders two to stay behind and get one of the ‘cargo’ ready for revival.

The Doctor quizzes the guards, who refer to themselves as Gundan; they were made by the slaves to kill the brutes who rule. The Doctor finds out about a gateway, but cannot get the guard to tell him more about it. K-9 shows up.

The two crewmen left behind enter the sleeping room.

Adric wanders in the grey, by himself.

The two buffoons (crewemen) set up the revival equipment. Despite orders to wait, they start the process. The creature screams and yells and they shut it off.

The Doctor hooks up K-9 to the Gundan guards, using him to power the guard to ask it about the gateway.

The crew find the door and enter.

The Gundan says there are three gateways and the three are one. “The whole of this domain, the ancient arch, the mirrors.” The crew enters as The Doctor quizzes the guards.

Rorvik pulls a gun on The Doctor, demanding he make the guard repeat the recital. The robot is about to reveal the secret of the gateway, but the other robot suddenly chops off its head and runs through the mirror, disappearing.

On the ship, the awoken ‘cargo’ gets off the bed.

The men check the mirror, but it seems solid to them. Rorvik realises that The Doctor has slipped off. They see him carrying K-9 and give chase.

The cargo moves about the ship.

Backing away from the crew, The Doctor passes through the mirror, leaving K-9 behind.

Romana struggles to get out of the chair, but she is strapped in.

The creature moves through, getting closer to the bridge. Romana seems to be aware of it and is frightened. It enters the bridge and sees her, approaches her and reaches out to her.

Romana screams… and the credits roll.

Pretty effective cliffhanger there, and the one you get until Wednesday.

Serial 111 – Full Circle 2/2

Recap: They’re ONLY spiders.

Episode 3:

Inside the TARDIS, Adric tries to figure out what’s going on.

The Doctor and Dexeter examine the marsh creature in the lab. The Doctor sees that Dexeter has taken some tissue samples from the creature. They discuss the embarkation being the prime purpose for the citizens… which makes The Doctor question why Dexeter is devoting so much time to the marsh creature.

Login arrives and overhears The Doctor talking about leaving. He asks The Doctor to show him how he gained access.

The youths in the TARDIS argue. It’s compelling tv, yo.

Romana is prone, barely stirring; multiple spiders rest on her.

As Login and The Doctor head towards the entrance, they pass some maintenance workers. The Doctor realises they’re replacing a perfectly fine circuit and asks Login about it. The new Deceider says that he does not know of these things, but says they are following the manuals.

When The Doctor points out that at this rate, it will be years before the starliner launches, Login says it will be generations. This horrifies the Time Lord.

Login offers to help The Doctor find his ship, in exchange for help finding Keara. The Doctor agrees and Login orders the men guarding the door to unseal it. As they argue, the TARDIS appears in the gallery, right next to The Doctor.

The Doctor is surprised when Keara exits, not Romana, and then the rest of the Outlers. The Outlers are grabbed by the guards and Login tells his daughter there will be an inquiry; meanwhile, The Doctor (and Adric who never fully exited the TARDIS) slip back in and try to reverse the trip to go back to Romana.

The TARDIS returns to the outler cave. Romana is sitting and says she’s fine, but has no recollection of who The Doctor is.

Dexeter speaks to the first two Deceiders; Dexeter is preparing to do some procedure and says he would prefer to have a fully grown marshman. Nefred asks Dexeter what he hopes to learn and the scientist says he wants to know the nature of the creatures.

Nefred says that he knows of the creatures from his secret knowledge of the system files. He instructs Dexeter that the experiments must be kept secret. Dexeter agrees, and Nefred tells him also to postpone the procedure while he and Garif confer.

In the TARDIS, Adric is tending to Romana who is laying down. The Doctor says she’s in some sort of coma. Adric says that K-9′s head was not in the cave.

The Outlers (including others who were not on the TARDIS) are brought to the Deceiders’ hall and told to wait. When Varsh says that this is all just mind games, a ploy to control them, Tylos brings up that Varsh said the same about mistfall.

Garif and Login meet with Dexeter, saying that the First Deceider has explained “something of the position” to them. Early tradition had kept any research into the origins of the marshmen from happening, but Nefred has given the okay for Dexeter’s experiments on one condition – that the Deceiders supervise and there is to be “complete secrecy”.

Nefred is in the chamber, reading from the system files, while the Outlers spat amongst themselves. The other two Deceiders arrive and Nefred begins speaking of the vow the original inhabitants of the starliner gave to repair the ship and to return to Terradon. Each generation renews that vow and the Outlers have forsaken that. Login says that the Outlers are children, seemingly asking for lenience.

Nefred says there is no punishment, that they are to rejoin the community and the work towards embarkation.

The TARDIS returns to the gallery, startling the maintenance unit there.

Dexeter speaks to the Deceiders, who watch from their hall over a video link. The scientist is about to cut open the creature (who is awake now) to examine its brain. I don’t like Dexeter very much any more.

The Doctor and Adric storm into the Deceider’s hall, angry that he’s going back on his word not to harm the creature. As Dexeter cuts into the creature’s head, Romana, who has strange markings on her face, wakes and screams.

The Doctor pleads for Dexeter not to go any further, but suddenly the creature breaks free of its restraints and attacks Dexeter. It goes on a rampage, smashing the laboratory. Seeing The Doctor’s face on the video screen, it approaches it, touches the screen, then smashes it… the creature is seemingly electrocuted as a result.

The Doctor sends Adric back to the TARDIS. The Time Lord chastises the Deceiders, who assert they were within their rights. He reprimands them as the leaders and says that if Nefred is First Deceider, he is responsible. Nefred admits he is responsible for the community, but The Doctor shouts, “No, no!”

He then asks Login if they’ve let him in on the secret and the fraud of perpetual movement, the endless tasks going in circles, the same components being replaced over and again.

When Login says that the manuals promise them a return to Terradon, and Garif says that the ship must be made ready first, The Doctor scoffs. He tells them it’s been made ready for centuries, it could take off in half an hour.

Login is astonished and asks the other Deceiders if this is true. Nefred says that The Doctor understands much (to which he replies, “True,”) but not everything. (The Doctor agrees to this, as well.) Nefred says they are standing in the Great Book Room. The books are manuals on how to repair and replace every inch of the ship.

However, there is one secret that has been kept from them – nobody knows how to pilot the ship!

The Outlers are brought to several locations in a hall and run through the maintenance work. They seem incredibly unhappy.

The Doctor uses Dexeter’s lab to examine a spider; Login tells him that the spiders only appear at mistfall and nobody has ever examined one before. The Doctor puts it under the microscope and says everything looks as expected, but then says he recognises a certain cell shape… or at least that he’s seen it before.

When he asks Login about the mistfall, whether anyone’s ever examined it, the Deceider says yes, but the information is priviliged. He does tell The Doctor that every fifty years, another planet takes Alzarius away from its sun, and the cooling process inevitable. The Doctor says this is what causes the mistfall.

The Doctor suddenly realises that Dexeter had a slide of the marshchild, and while he begins to look for it, Adric bursts in, saying Romana is gone. The Doctor takes off with the boy. They return to Romana’s room in the TARDIS, to find it demolished.

Adric says it must be marshmen, but The Doctor scoffs.

We see Romana walking down some stairs, somewhere deep within the starliner.

The Doctor and Adric follow a trail of clothing parts through the ship.

Romana opens a hatch, letting in the marshmen… and the credits roll.

Nicely done cliffhanger there. Whatever will happen!?!??!?!!?

Episode 4:

Over the PA, a security alert is issued as a dozen or more marshmen enter; the last marshman and Romana rub hands in some greeting.

The marshmen make their way into the ship as Romana opens another hatch, letting in more marshmen.

The Outlers are trapped in the gallery by the marshmen. Varsh throws a bag of components down and the marshman start picking them up. As the Outlers slip off, one of the marshman threatens the maintenance man they were with and Tylos goes back to save him, only to be attacked and left behind by the maintenance man.

The Doctor and Adric wander the corridor; when The Doctor realises they’ve been walking in circles, he says, “I think we’ve come full circle,” and this triggers Adric’s recollection of Draith’s last words – “Tell Dexeter we’ve come full circle,” which he passes on to The Doctor.

Suddenly, The Doctor asks Adric about his knee, but Adric says that was hours ago, he’s fine – old people can take longer to heal, apparently, “sometimes a whole day”! (Sign me up, maybe?)

The Doctor sees great significance in this, saying that rapid cellular adaptation settles it. They head back to the science unit, but stop when the PA announces that everyone should stay in their quarters. Varsh and Keara show up and The Doctor sends the three youths to hide in the science unit.

More marshmen come in, presumably through a third entrance?

The three Deceiders confer, trying to figure out how the marshmen entered, whether The Doctor betrayed them. Nefred says he doesn’t think so. When Login asks what they’re going to do, Nefred turns it back on him, asking him the same.

The Doctor returns to the TARDIS in the gallery, finding Tylos (or his body, at least). A marshman shows up, weilding the club that took out K-9, which still has the robot dog’s head attached to it. The Doctor snatches the head off the club, holding it in front of his face to intimidate the marshmen.

Romana arrives, her face having pulsating patterns on it. This startles The Doctor.

Varsh, Keara and Adric hang out in the science lab. Adric swaps out the broken image translator from the TARDIS with one from the microscope.

The Doctor tries to talk down Romana, as she takes swipes at him. He coaxes her to stay by the TARDIS.

The Deceiders and citizens go through books, maps, trying to figure out how to close off the marshmen and protect the citizens. Login is amazed as the other two Deceiders say they must reference other books before they can agree with his plan.

Adric argues with Varsh and Keara, as the latter two leave the science lab.

Nefred says that the marshmen will adapt to whatever they choose to do and so they must do nothing. Login is horrified, offended. I like Login. As they argue, the marshmen force their way into the hall.

The Doctor encounters the three Outlers and tells them that Tylos is dead.

The marshmen go on a rampage, knocking down books, smashing things, attacking Deceiders and citizens alike.

Back in the science lab, The Doctor tries to use the microscope, but the burnt out circuit won’t work. Adric gives him the one he took from it and The Doctor chastises him for stealing it for the TARDIS.

The Doctor plugs it into the microscope, but says if it works in the TARDIS, it will prove they’re in E-space – the Exo Space-Time Continuum. He powers of the microscope and has a look at the marshchild sample.

The Deceiders carry Nefred, who was injured by a marshman, into the area Romana let the marshmen in. Login gives orders to citizens with them to close the bulkheads.

The Doctor has worked up some solution to “put Romana to rights”.

Nefred seems to be dying. He speaks weakly to the Deceiders, saying they have procrastinated too long. He says The Doctor must teach them to fly the ship, it is his wish that they leave Alzarius. Garif adds, “And return to Terradon,” but Nefred says they cannot return there – they have never been there. And with that, the First Deceider passes away.

The marshmen break into the science lab.

Garif begs Nefred’s corpse to tell them what to do. Login says they must find The Doctor.

The Doctor tells the youths to avoid all contact with the marshmen. Adric grabs the serum before a marshman grabs it. Using oxygen cannisters, they force the marshmen back, making it too rich for them.

As the youths force the marshmen out, The Doctor works on the slides some more, until Romana arrives. He backs away from her, but when she collapses, The Docotr tells her to get the serum.

Login and Garif and two citizens come across the marshmen being forced back by Adric and Varsh.

In the lab, The Doctor and Keara work on Romana. He asks her how long the ship has supposedly been there, the girl says forty generations. The Doctor says that can’t be right. He says evolution goes in quantum leaps, but not that fast.

He goes back to the microscope, studying slides. Romana begins to stir. The Doctor says he needs to determine the evolutionary process from spiders to marsh creatures… and beyond.

Romana recommends trying gel electrophoresis, which The Doctor thinks is a great idea. Romana smiles, her face back to normal.

In the gallery, Varsh/Adric/Deceiders/etc see Tylos’ body, which has the markings on the face like Romana’s did. Adric’s cylinder is starting to run out of oxygen and Varsh sends him ahead. He stays behind to keep a marshman at bay.

Romana says it’s been more like four thousand generations since the starliner crashed. (That’s like, what, ten thousand years.) They show Keara the samples of Dexeter, the spider and the creature – the cells are all the same!

Adric runs in to get another cannister, saying Varsh is trapped.

Varsh continues to blast the marshman with the oxygen – seems to me he could have run off at any point now. Since he didn’t run off, another one shows up and Varsh runs out, but he is grabbed and pulled through as the security door closes.

By time Adric opens it, Varsh is dead. The Doctor tells Login to flood the starliner with oxygen.

The marshmen flee the ship to get away from the oxygen. Garif worries that if they adapt to the oxygen they could break the ship. The Doctor says they could, but they could learn to read and repair the ship, just as they did 40,000 generations ago. (I thought it was 4000.)

Oh, that’s so cool. I remembered this about an episode ago, but still, major goosebumps.

Login realises that was what Nefred meant. Garif is horrified at the idea that they descended from the marshmen.

The Doctor has a great quote, “We’re all basically primeval slime with ideas above its station.”

Login points out that if they learned how to get out, they can learn to get back in.

Adric is hanging out by the TARDIS and slips in when he hears the Time Lords and Deceiders approaching. When The Doctor points out that the marshmen somehow know that the inhabitants are descended from them, and that’s why they’re aggressive to them, Login asks The Doctor to fly the starliner.

Romana appeals to The Doctor, too, saying that if they stay, generations will die. The Time Lords set up the launch sequence and leave the rest to them – they have a manual that is complete enough to do the rest.

Login says they must decide together, but Garif says it requires more thought, whether to launch the ship or not.

In the TARDIS, The Doctor tells Romana (who is finishing putting K-9 back together again) that he was invited to be a Deceider, but he decided not to accept.

Romana finds the image translator that Adric left on the console. He plugs it in, and it works – this confirms they are in E-Space, or as she calls it Exo-Space.

Using the scanner, they watch as the starliner takes off.

Romana says they’re trapped, unless they can find another CVE (Charged Vacuum Embointment – the event they passed through on their way to Gallifrey.) K-9 affirms this… and the credits roll.

Well, for the most part, one of the best serials in a long time. I really enjoyed the plot twists. Excellent fun, good characters, just the right amount of silly.

And, well… no, I shouldn’t say anything just yet.  

Serial 111 – Full Circle 1/2

I believe this is the beginning of the E-space sequence of serials; I don’t believe I’ve seen this one – in fact, I think I’ve only ever seen one E-space serial. Maybe I’m wrong, we’ll see.

Episode 1:

In the TARDIS, a very nervous Doctor tells K-9 to set the coordinates (not sure why he can’t do it) – when Romana hears the coordinates, she turns around, obviously unhappy about something. He says they cannot resist a summons to Gallifrey and starts talking about seeing Leela and Andred and the previous K-9. While he talks, and has his back to Romana, she slips off, deeper into the TARDIS.

He finds her pouting in her personal quarters. She’s upset that the Time Lords want her back – she doesn’t want to spend the rest of her life on Gallifrey. He tells her “You can’t fight Time Lords, Romana,” but she points out that he did. He points out that he lost.

The TARDIS spins through space (not the vortex) – K-9 detects something beyond his comprehension and says he’s lost control of the TARDIS. The Time Lords rush to the control room. K-9 says he has regained control but cannot explain what happened.

Romana says they’ve materialised and they open the scanner; The Doctor says it’s the wilderness outside of Gallifrey, but when they step outside, it most certainly is not Gallifrey. They’re in a lush forest.

In a nearby stream, a group of people harvest melons while others swim and play. Several others, dressed differently, sneak into the encampment and start to steal the melons, but they’re noticed and there’s a chase scene.

The would-be thieves narrowly escape. Their leader, Varsh, is berated by another (named Tylos) who said that he promised it would be easy. A young lady calls their attention to look back at the encampment, where Deceider Draith and his acolyte Dexeter are seen. The would be thieves are worried at the presence of the two men.

Dexeter cuts open one of the fruits, and tells Draith that there is a trace.

Back in the TARDIS, The Doctor checks the scanner screen – it still shows Gallifrey’s desolate wilderness. K-9 asserts the coordinates are correct and Romana confirms it from the console.

The Deceiders talk of signs and theories from fifty years before – each “incident” is preceded by “unfamiliar insect life” and they have found what may be insect eggs in the fruit.

When Dexeter asks if Deceider Draith can confirm the speculation with his sacred knowledge of the system files, Draith chastises Dexeter for asking too many questions, saying the procedure must be obeyed.

In a cave, the thieves, who call themselves Outlers, are approached by a young man who wants to join. His name is Adric and they tell him that he belongs on the starliner. The young woman from before says to ask him the “embarkation question”.

The leader, Varsh, asks Adric, “When the starliner leaves Alzarius, where will you be?” Adric says he believes the starliner will take off, but he won’t be on it, nor will he be on Alzarius, but somewhere else. He says he cannot explain it.

One of the Outlers says there are no Elites allowed in, even for brothers – apparently, Varsh and Adric are brothers, but Varsh says he’s broken all family ties. The young woman mocks Adric, saying he expects special treatment, pointing out his star badge, which he has earned for mathematical excellence.

When she tries to take it from him, he wrestles her to the ground, telling her not to boss him around. When he points out the Outlers can’t even steal fruit, Tylos challenges him to do better.

Two Deceiders and Dexeter are in the lab, examining under a microscope samples from the fruit. The Deceiders say that Dexeter is too young, but one of them says he was a boy when the mists last came.

Adric swims in the water as the Outlers watch from hiding. Adric sneaks into the camp from the water.

Suddenly, the water in the river stars burbling and mist rises up out of it. The people gather about, excited and worried. Deceider Draith and his acolyte arrive, and he pronounces it is mistfall.

Two men swimming in the water thrash about and others rush in to rescue them. Draith calls the citizens together, announcing the coming of mistfall; he assures them there is no need to be alarmed as long as they follow the procedure. He dismisses them, telling them they have two hours.

Adric crawls through the camp sneaking over to the melon pile. Deceider Draith sees him and gives chase. The Outlers split up, heading back to their cave.

Draith chases Adric into the woods. Adric steps into a small hole, falling down. Draith catches up to him, saying he must come, they are closing the starliner. Adric struggles with him and the Deceider is knocked to the ground.

The citizens board the starliner, carrying their possessions. Citizen Login asks if anyone has seen his daughter or any of the Outlers. The two Deceiders from the lab overhear this and approach him. He asks if there’s anything they can do, but the Deceiders say that the Outlers have made their choice. The law cannot be changed for anyone, not even Draith, who has not shown up yet.

Adric tends to the injured, nearly-unconscious Draith. Something in the water pulls Draith in, though Adric struggles to stop it. His last words before being pulled in are, “Tell Dexeter we’ve come full circle!”

The order to sound the siren (a last call for boarding, it seems) is given. The two Deceiders discuss that Draith still has not arrived. If he does not make it, then one of them will be First Deceider, taking Draith’s place. That man says they will need a third and they both regard Login across the room.

Adric rushes through the woods, but stops when he sees the TARDIS.

Inside the TARDIS, Romana hears a banging on the door and opens it, letting Adric in, who collapses.

Back at the camp, Varsh argues with the others, saying mistfall is a myth. Tylos and the girl (who must be Login’s daughter) say the others believe in it, but Varsh scoffs. He claims that the Deceiders have “taking these things and twisted them to their advantage”.

Tylos says if he’s wrong, they’re dead.

The Doctor tends to Adric’s wound. Adric stirs, saying he has to warn them… mistfall isn’t a myth, he has to warn the Outlers.

On the ship, the Deceiders give the orders to seal the doors. Login protests, worried about his daughter. The Deceiders tell him that the air out there cannot support life, they must seal the doors. Reluctantly, Login acknowledges the wisdom and states they must redouble the embarkation efforts.

The new First Deceider applauds his sentiment. The two Deceiders tell Login they thought of seeking his advice on choosing a third Deceider.

The Time Lords discuss the oligarchy of Adric’s people. Romana then mentions that maybe Adric was hallucinating about the mist. Adric wanders into the console room, talking about the blue box.

The Doctor talks about the coordinates, suggesting they’re in negative coordinates. This idea horrifies Romana, who says if that were true, they were out of “real space” altogether.

The Doctor and K-9 go outside to examine the outside; K-9 says the composition of the fog seems to be non-toxic.

When Adric says he must go warn the Outlers, Romana gives him a homing device so he can return to the TARDIS and asks how his knee is. He says it is healed, which Romana questions, until he takes off the bandage to show her – there’s no sign of injury at all!

At the river side, K-9 alerts The Doctor to something. As they watch, humanoid creatures rise up out of the water, looking like Creatures from the Black Lagoon… and the credits roll.

I vaguely recall Adric’s brother, so I must have seen this before, or at least parts. A rather enjoyable one so far, lots of mystery and an interesting set up. And, of course, a rather fun cliffhanger, especially for a Creature of the Black Lagoon fan such as myself.

Episode 2:

The creatures lumber out of the river onto the shore, hissing and making gutteral sounds. The Doctor and K-9 move out of sight.

Adric has made it to the Outler cave, warning his brother and Tylos about Deceider Draith’s death. The girl arrives, confirming that the starliner has been sealed. Varsh says maybe he was wrong, and they’ll have to go to the TARDIS. Adric tries to make excuses to prevent that, even claiming he doesn’t know what it is, but Tylos holds up the beacon that Adric had JUST given him to prove his story. (Adric’s kinda dumb for a smart kid.)

The creatures move about, having some difficulty breathing, and The Doctor speculates that they are acclimatising, and noting they seem to be doing so rather quickly. He sends K-9 to follow them.

Back at the river, a straggler creature comes out of the water and encounters The Doctor. The Time Lord greets the creature, who turns and runs away.

“How odd… I usually get along terribly well with children,” The Doctor comments as the creature flees.

Romana works out some figures on paper, murmuring about negative coordinates. The Outlers and Adric arrive, Varsh telling her that they’re taking over her ship.

On the starliner, the new First Deceider, Nefred is approached by by Garif. Nefred has just seen the system files and the knowledge he holds now is overwhelming. (Quick note – Garif is played by Alan Rowe. This is his fourth, and last, appearance in Doctor Who – first seen as Dr. Evans in THE MOONBASE, Edward of Wessex in THE TIME WARRIOR, and most recently as Colonel Skinsale in THE HORROR OF FANG ROCK.)

Garif says that Login would be a great choice for the third Deceider. Login enters just then and says that he accepts the post as Deceider. He confirms that his first responsibility to the community and the embarkation.

K-9 follows the… school? Tribe? Herd… not sure the proper term of creatures.

On the TARDIS, Romana struggles with Tylos, who is trying to force her at knife point to comply with their demands. Adric steps in and struggles with Tylos, the knife falling to the floor. Romana picks it up and hands it to Tylos. She asks them what they want, and Varsh says it’s the mistfall.

Concerned for The Doctor, she steps to the console, and flips a switch, but suddenly, they’re all cast about wildly. Romana seems uncertain of what happened.

The Doctor arrives, to find the TARDIS gone. A creature watches him from afar.

Romana says that something has picked up the TARDIS.

The Doctor walks to the starliner, finding the doors sealed. He presses a doorbell (on a space ship, really?) and knocks. Using his sonic screwdriver, he opens the door and enters. The first gallery is empty, but he finds a fruit and a knife and sticks the knife in the fruit.

He then wanders down corridors, looking for anyone. The creature follows him in and takes the knife. When The Doctor returns to the gallery, he finds the knife missing from the fruit.

First Deceider Nefred speaks to an assemblage, talking of their ancestors journeying from Terradon, saying that they are enclosed in the ship as their forebears once were. He says that though they have lost the planet, they are not of it and the ship is their truest home. His message is broadcast throughout the ship to various groups of citizens who listen and he talks of redoubling their efforts to achieve embarkation.

The Doctor flips through a large tome before deciding to go wandering again. This time he closes the outside door before heading down a corridor.

The TARDIS seems to have come to a stop. Tylos says he wants to get out. Keara, the girl (Login’s daughter), quotes the legend of mistfall, speaking of the giants of the swamp. Romana opens the scanner, but it still shows Gallifrey (though the scene there has changed, too.)

Romana says they’d need a local image translator to see what was outside, but Adric suggests looking out the door. (Yeah, she’s pretty slow at times, too.) When she does, she finds the TARDIS is in a cave, filled with a group of the creatures.

The Doctor moves through the ship, evading a group of citizens. The creature follows him, and The Doctor senses (and smells) it, and finds the dropped knife, but doesn’t see the creature.

A group of citizens see the creature and recognising it as a “marsh creature”, they corner it, but The Doctor tells them to be gentle, that the creature is terrified. The Doctor makes progress with the creature, but one of the citizens attacks him, striking him on the back of the head and then they grab the creature.

The Doctor is brought before the Deceiders and the creature is brought in, trapped in a net. Garif says it should be taken to Dexeter for study, but again The Doctor pleas for treating it kindly. The Deceiders introduce themselves, saying they have to questions for The Doctor.

The marsh creatures bang on the TARDIS, seeking entry. When K-9 arrives, they stop. Romana opens the door and watches as one of the creatures knocks K-9′s head off.

Keara asks why the creatures chose that cave – and Varsh confirms that it was the Outler cave. Romana had made a guess that the marsh creatures think the TARDIS is some sort of boulder. When Romana asks why the Outlers chose that cave, they said because it had a great view of the valley and they could keep an eye on the starliner.

Romana and Adric realise the creatures want to use the TARDIS as a boulder to roll into the starliner.

The Deceiders ask The Doctor about Draith’s death. The Doctor says that Draith was dragged into the marsh (though he doesn’t say how he knows that.) He asks them why the creatures bear the citizens ill will and the Deceiders say they are investigating that but suspect because they are intruders to this world.

It comes about that The Doctor was exposed to the mists; Login questions how this could be if the mists are fatal. Nefred says that, as First Deceider, he knows the mists are not lethal, but he also knows why the citizens must believe that they are. Login realises that Keara may still be alive.

Dexeter enters and they question if he has examined the marsh child. Dexeter says it is useless, it doesn’t demonstrate any of the typical traits – no aggression. The Doctor says he begs to differ and offers a second scientific opinion.

Adric asks how they can operate the ship from within a cave, but before Romana can try to explain, Keara says the creatures are leaving. Romana and the youths exit, seeing a large spider that has frightened the marshmen. As they watch, more hatch out of the river fruit stored in the cave.

The youths run back in the TARDIS, as Romana (rather stupidly, these are the size of housecats) says, “They’re ONLY spiders…” repeatedly. Inside the TARDIS , the youths press buttons until the TARDIS takes off.

Romana meanwhile, suddenly doesn’t feel they’re ONLY spiders, apparently, and starts to panic as one approaches her. She picks up a river fruit to use as a weapon, but a spider pops out and bites her on the face.

She collapses… and the credits roll.

Well, that would be a great cliffhanger, but they’re ONLY spiders…

See you tomorrow for the second half!

Serial 64 – The Time Monster 2/2

And, once more, it’s spoiler time.

Episode 4:

The convoy is hit by the bomb, though there are survivors. A local shows up, saying that’s the exact spot, more or less, where “that doodlebug fell, back in ’44”. I’m guessing that same bomber is the one The Master pulled out of time just now.

The Master celebrates his victory, telling that the TARDIS cannot be destroyed, but people can.

The Doctor, Brig and Jo tend to Yates as the UNIT boys try to free the TARDIS.

Benton gets word that Yates is okay (seems like there weren’t much casualties, just injuries) and then interrupts Stuart and Ingram arguing. Benton is so cool and he gets a great line when he gets off the radio and hears them arguing – “Hey, hey, is this is a private fight or can anyone join in?”

When Benton hears what Ingram wants to do (go to the lab and try to get The Master), he says it’s a good idea. When Stuart protests, Ingram makes a crack about men being spineless, and Stuart gets a great retort.

“Lovey, I’m not men. I’m Stuart Hyde, registered card-carrying, paid-up coward!” He finally agrees to go with them.

The Master and Krasis go inside The Master’s TARDIS, and we get the classic companion/associate line, slightly differently: “So vast a space inside so small a box!”

The Master’s TARDIS has a different console – instead of the crystal column in the center, it has a silver spinning column.

Jo tells The Doctor that the time sensor is picking up activity; The Doctor realises that it’s too low to be actual activity, so he deduces The Master has to power up before his TARDIS can take off. He tells the Brig that he’ll have to use his TARDIS there. He plans on using the time sensor to lock his TARDIS to The Master’s.

When Jo and The Doctor enter the TARDIS, Jo notes that the TARDIS looks different; he says it’s a “spot of redecoration” and then warns her what he’s doing is going to be dangerous. There’s a cute bit of banter/dialogue between The Doctor and his companion as he explains the risks and she says it’s her job to tag along.

Benton, Stu and Ingram skulk about the campus, approaching the building where the laboratory is located.

The Doctor talks about the TARDIS’ mood. Her refers to the TARDIS as a “her”.

As the the TARDIS “comes in for a landing”, The Master’s TARDIS appears inside The Doctor’s. When he steps out the door, he enters the console room of The Master’s – both TARDISes are inside each other.

The Master and Krasis are back in the laboratory. Krasis sees “alien warriors” – UNIT trucks rolling up to the campus, but The Master puts them in the time field, slowing them down. He tells Krasis to go in the TARDIS.

Just after the priest does so, Stu and Ingram burst in, distracting The Master, while Benton comes up from behind. The Master manages to slip past them and runs into his TARDIS, where he discovers The Doctor’s TARDIS is waiting. He laughs and activates his TARDIS.

Ingram and Stu watch as the computer bank disappears.

After a rough transit, The Master contacts The Doctor and Jo over the external sensor.

Stu and Ingram and Benton argue about switching off the machinery, after they see the Brig and troops are stuck in the time field. However, even with the machine off, they’re still stuck!

The Master and The Doctor banter and penis-wave at each other about who has whom trapped. The Master turns off the sound, telling Krasis that The Doctor cannot bear not to have the last word.

This is, of course, so very true.

The Doctor finally realises that The Master isn’t listening, but still wants to persuade him of the folly of his plan. The Doctor begins fiddling about with components.

Ingram says that TOMTIT must have created a permanent gap and she begins flipping circuitry in the hopes that it will do the trick. They run it up and back down, and it has no effect on the troops. Benton, who was standing nearby, is accidentally reverted into a baby.

The Master finds a way around the way The Doctor found around the lack of communication, forcing The Doctor to step out. He explains to Jo that the TARDISes are telepathic (I think this is the first time this is blatantly established, though it has been hinted at before.)

The Doctor steps out, where he is introduced to Krasis. “Any friend of The Master’s is an enemy of mine.”

The Doctor accuses The Master of being mad, paranoid. The Master’s reply is gold – “Who isn’t? The only difference is that I’m a little more honest than the rest.”

The Master unleashes Kronos, commanding him to devour The Doctor. The chronovore engulfs The Doctor and then The Master compels him back to the crystal. The Master tells Jo that The Doctor is the time vortex, trapped for all eternity.

The Master then says he is getting rid of Jo and The Doctor’s TARDIS; when Jo says she doesn’t care, just get it done with, The Master says, “Your wish is my command,” and presses a button. Jo is shown rocking back and forth and we hear the TARDIS dematerialise as The Master laughs… and the credits roll.

I’m not really sure this is a great cliffhanger. I think having it end where Kronos appeared would have been much better.

 

 

Episode 5:

The two TARDISes seperate in the time vortex. Jo, collapsed on the floor, wakes, hearing The Doctor, who is in the time vortex. The TARDIS is relaying his thoughts to her. He tells her that the TARDIS can help free him, and he directs her in what to do. She does so and he appears in the console room.

In ancient Atlantis, trumpeters sound their horns as the King and Queen enter the… throne room? Though I think it’s meant to be outside. One of his courtiers, Hippias, is instructed to speak plainly, and does so, criticising the king over the lack of crops.

The Master works out the exact landing coordinates, planning to arrive in the temple.

The king says he will speak plainly. He tells them that the power of Kronos was a curse, not a blessing. He says that with the good came much evil.

The Queen says she hears strange music – it is the warbling of the TARDIS, which appears, still a computer bank. The Master exits and says he is an emissary of the gods. Krasis steps out after him, testifying that he has seen Kronos. The king says the must speak privately with them and they leave, but The Queen and The Master make eyes at each other. She seems rather smitten.

The Doctor is again using the time sensor to follow The Master. They arrive at the temple, where Krasis awaits, with guards.

The Master tries to use his force of will on King Dalios, who is too strong and wise to succumb. He tells The Master that he knows he is no emissary and denies him the true crystal. He tells The Master, “When you find the true word to speak, I shall listen.”

The Master storms out, as The Doctor and Jo are brought to the king. The look of complete shock on The Master’s face is priceless.

The Doctor and Jo meet with the king. Jo is taken to meet the Queen while The Doctor and Dalios meet.

The Queen talks to her handmaiden; she seems quite smitten with The Master. Their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Hippias, who has brought Jo to her. The Queen has Jo taken to change her garb. It seems that Hippias was used by the Queen to make his challenge in open counsel today.

The king explains that they tried to destroy the crystal of Kronos, but it is indestructible. He asks The Doctor for help in saving Atlantis from destruction.

Meanwhile, the Queen has invited The Master to come to her, using the word “Kronos” to entice him to come.

Jo finds out that The Master is in counsel with the Queen and she endeavours to overhear their talk. She and the handmaiden hear the Queen tell The Master that Krasis has a key to where the true crystal is kept, but there’s a guardian.

The king tells The Doctor about the guardian – a minotaur (though the king knows not that name.) It seems that once, the minotaur was a man, a friend of the king’s. He was transformed by Kronos into the creature he is now.

Jo sees Krasis taking Hippias to where the crystal is, and she follows trying to stop them. Krasis throws her in the chamber, and we hear the roar of the creature… and the credits roll.

Definitely a better paced cliffhanger than last episode’s.

 

Episode 6:

The Queen’s handmaiden interrupts Dalios and The Doctor’s conference, telling them about Jo and Hippias and Krasis.

Jo runs from the minotaur.

The Doctor finds Krasis and takes the key.

Hippias challenges the minotaur as it chases Jo. The minotaur throws Hippias through tin foil, which is supposed to be a mirror or mirrored metal. No, really.

The Doctor plays matador with his jacket/cape. No, really. He sidesteps the minotaur when it charges, breaking down the wall to the crystal of Kronos (which doesn’t look that much bigger than the ‘shard’.)

After The Doctor says that the game is over, Krasis arrives to say that it has only begun. When The Doctor demands to be taken to the king, he is brought before The Master, who, along with the Queen, inform them that there has been a palace coup.

The Master foolishly pisses off the Queen, though, telling her to do as she is told, basically. Really rather stupid of him.

Locked in the dungeon, The Doctor relates a story from his childhood, about living on a mountain, and about a hermit who lived there, too. On the “blackest day” of his life, the young Doctor went to see the man, to seek his help during his black time. The story is rather daft and not worth repeating here.

The king is brought into the cell, all but thrown in there by the guard, not treated as honourably as said. The guard strikes down Dalios and they leave. Dalios says The Doctor is “the only one” to save Atlantis, and then dies.. or may just passes out, I’m not sure.

In the temple, court is held. Queen Galleia addresses the council, saying they no longer fret beneath the hand of an old king and introduces his holiness, the venerable Lord Master. The Doctor, tied near by, makes a snarky comment, but is yelled at to keep his tongue.

The Master promises that Kronos, the most terrible, will be brought before them. Jo and The Doctor tell the Queen that Dalios is dead, which she did not know. She demands to know if this is true, and The Master admits to this. She has the guards seize The Master, but Krasis throws the switch, and Kronos comes forth.

Everyone screams and runs. The Master realises that he cannot control Kronos and grabs the true crystal and runs for his TARDIS; Jo leaps on his back and is dragged in. The Doctor is freed and runs into his TARDIS, giving chase.

Atlantis is left to ruin after the destruction at the hands of Kronos.

The Master gloats, believing The Doctor dead in the rubble of Atlantis. As he rants and gloats, The Doctor contacts The Master’s TARDIS and threatens to “time ram” The Master’s TARDIS.

The Master calls The Doctor’s bluff. “Do you think I’m going to dance to The Doctor’s tune, like some performing poodle?” The Doctor can’t do it, but Jo reaches over and toggles a switch, forcing time ram?

There’s a… something. The two TARDISes arrive… nowhere? Nowhen? Jo wakes, The Master unconscious on the floor. She rushes out to The Doctor’s TARDIS and wakes him. She believes they’re all dead and in Heaven, “…or somewhere.”

The Doctor exits and says he doesn’t think they’re in Heaven. A woman’s face, larger than all of them, appears and speaks to them. She is Kronos. She says she was released from the crystal at the moment of impact and will grant them what they wish.

Jo says she wants to go home, The Doctor qualfies, “in the TARDIS,” and Kronos agrees. She says that The Master will stay and suffer torment for what she has suffered at his hands. The Master comes out, begging The Doctor for his help.

The Doctor asks Kronos to spare The Master, to free him. She does not understand, but agrees to it. The Doctor says that he is taking The Master back to Earth, but The Master manages to escape – Kronos does not stop him as The Doctor had asked for his freedom.

Stuart and Ingram run the TOMTIT again, freeing the Brig and troops from the time field. The Doctor and Jo arrive in the TARDIS as this happens, and the TOMTIT explodes. The Brig and crew burst in, demanding to know what’s going on and where Benton is, who stands up, having returned to his adult age, completely naked, asking if anyone will tell him what’s going on.

Everyone has a good laugh… and the credits roll.

A few too many silly plot devices and such for me to really have enjoyed this. Even with The Master, this one falls flat for me. It wasn’t bad, just not very good.  

Serial 45 – The Mind Robber

I’m leery about this one; I saw it last year and seem to recall not really liking it much. After “The Dominators”, that’s not a promising sign for this season.

Episode 1:

 We open with The Doctor and Jamie rushing into the TARDIS. Zoe is already inside, watching the eruption on the scanner. The console room begins to fill with smoke and The Doctor isn’t able to get the TARDIS to dematerialise.

 Things are getting too hot and The Doctor is forced to use the “emergency unit”, which moves the TARDIS out of time and space altogether. The TARDIS is completely enveloped by lava (which looks more like milkshake to me) as they activate the emergency unit. The ship moves but it seems differently. 

 Zoe asks why the scanner isn’t showing anything if they’ve landed and he responds that they’re “nowhere”. The Doctor goes off to the power room while his companions change their outfits. Zoe goes to The Doctor, curious to what might be outside the TARDIS. He warns her that they must stay inside, that there’s no way of knowing what is out there.

 Meanwhile, Jamie is in the console and on the scanner there are scenes of Scotland and the sound of bagpipes, until Zoe walks in. They argue if he saw it or not, but Zoe then sees her home on the screen, “the city”. But when she points it out to Jamie, the screen is blank.

 “Anyway, we’ve both seen something, so that proves we landed, doesn’t it?” – Zoe, using horrible logic for such a brainiac.

 Jamie goes to fetch The Doctor, and again “the city” appears on the screen. Zoe opens the doors and exits, not waiting. Outside, there’s nothing but mist and she disappears into it. When The Doctor and Jamie come into the console room, they discover she’s gone. Jamie ignores The Doctor’s warnings and runs out after her, while the time lord (still a term not yet introduced into the series, though we know it will be by the end of this season) fights mentally against some force.

 Outside, Jamie finds Zoe. They’re surrounded by opaque nothingness. They quickly discover that they’re lost in the nothingness. They wander, calling out for The Doctor. The image of the city appears and Zoe can’t help but believe it’s real… until Jamie shakes her and drives home the point. Then, Jamie is under the spell, hearing bagpipes, seeing Scotland, until she slaps him out of it.

 They turn and encounter what appear to be robots or some form of mechanoid life.

 The Doctor, sitting in the TARDIS, fights the urge to go and save his companions. A voice whispers in his head, “Follow them… follow them and save them!”

 The Doctor exits the TARDIS, where Jamie and Zoe, their clothing transformed to all white are accompanied by the robots. He grabs them and pushes them into the TARDIS (and their clothing is back to normal) and they’ve snapped out of whatever influence they were under.

 The Doctor activates the TARDIS, and says it is motion. There’s still concerns about whether they’re free of whatever force was trying to effect them. The Doctor and Zoe discover that the TARDIS is using more energy than it is recharging and they work to boost it back up, while Jamie fitfully sleeps. He wakes to tell them of a dream he had about a charging unicorn, but The Doctor seems to fall into a fugue state of some sort.

 There’s a deep hum that affects the there of them. The Doctor proclaims that it is alien. They find it hard to concentrate and they try to fight it, but it seems to be too powerful.

 We see the TARDIS spinning in darkness, then it explodes, leaving only the console, to which Jamie and Zoe cling to in the void. Zoe points to The Doctor and begins to scream. We see a close up of The Doctor, his eyes closed, as he spins. Then the console spins into a bank of mist… and the credits roll.

 Okay, so far not as bad I remember from last year. Still have four more episodes to go, so it’s early yet to to be relieved.

 And, wow, that was bad.

Episode 2:

 Jamie wanders through a… forest?… and hears Zoe’s voice. He tries to find her, but sees a Redcoat prowling about. He draws his knife and moves to attack, but the British soldier shoots him and he’s transformed into a life-sized photograph.

 Zoe keeps calling out for Jamie, but he doesn’t respond, because photographs can’t talk. She suddenly finds herself surrounded by walls and bramble, but there’s a large door, like a castle or ancient estate. The door opens on its own and she enters (really smart, that) and suddenly falls down, screaming.

 We see three monitors, one showing Jamie. Two voices talk, one harsh, one gentle, talking about The Doctor, though we only see on figure on screen. Apparently he is not quite under their control just yet…

 The Doctor wakens, calling out for his companions. He hears Jamie and Zoe calling out for each other and for him (but their voices don’t sound quite right). He runs about the ‘forest’, while the figure with the monitors watches. Both the gentle and harsher voice seem to be emanating from the one figure.

 In the forest, The Doctor hides from large bulky robots, though they’re very different looking from the ones from the first episode. The figure in the room gives orders (in both voices) to the robots, telling them to track down and find The Doctor.

 A man with a gun tries to speak to The Doctor in various languages, though the two men settle on English. Eventually the man puts his gun away, as they seem to realise they’re in like circumstances. The Doctor says he must find his friends, but the man says it is forbidden by The Master (no, but I do wish… I know we have to wait another couple seasons still…), that there are articles of impeachment against The Doctor for treason and other capital crimes.

 The man takes his leave of The Doctor, but when the time lord follows him around the bend, the man has disappeared. Then, six children (boys and girls) surround The Doctor, asking him riddles. After answering their questions successfully, a sword is rearranged into words, and The Doctor ends up with a dictionary.

 Again, he hears the voice of Jamie (still not sounding quite right), and finds the photograph of Jamie, with a safe, a wishing well and some letters. It’s a puzzle, which he solves to be “Jamie is safe and well”. Suddenly, Jamie’s face disappears from the photograph and The Doctor must choose from an assortment of eyes, noses and mouths to “reassemble” it. But he does it wrong and Jamie is reanimated with a new face (and a different actor, obviously).

 It seems that it is Jamie, though he looks different. They hear Zoe calling out and find the door she went through – but it’s a brick wall with a door painted on it.

 “When is a door not a door? When it is ajar!” – The Doctor. The door transforms into a large jar that Zoe is in. They rescue her from the jar.

 Jamie climbs one of the trees to discover that it’s a letter. The forest is a forest of words. From his vantage point, Jamie reads them – “Slow but sure… in for a penny, in for a pound… look before you leap”, though that’s all he can read. He thinks he sees a way out and climbs down to leave.

 They run into the man The Doctor met earlier. The man’s replies are phrased in curious ways – answering them but not always directly, as if he’s quoting something to give them a near-answer, or as best an answer as he can. “The Master” is brought up.

 They hear the robots approaching and hide in the trees, though the man does not. The robots arrive and the man doesn’t seem to see them and addresses the travelers, giving away their hiding places to the robots.

 The man in the monitor room gives them orders to bring in The Doctor and companions. On the screen we see one of the robots and it looks like a toy soldier from the Nutcracker. They lead the travelers away and we see they have wind-ups in their backs.

 They take them into a dark area and stop. Jamie says he feels he’s been there before. They hear the galloping approach of a horse, but it’s a unicorn, like from Jamie’s dream. It charges at them and The Doctor admonishes them to stand still but they cry and whine… and the credits roll.

Episode 3:

 The Doctor talks them into saying out loud that the unicorn isn’t real, it doesn’t exist and this results in the unicorn turning into a photograph. The Doctor says that a fantastic mind is behind this all, and as the figure in the monitor room watches, the kindly voice praises The Doctor’s intellect in kind. Presumably addressing the other person/voice (the harsh one), the kind voice says, “You were right to choose the good Doctor.”

 The soldiers return to the travelers, but the harsh voice orders them to let them go, saying the trap is set, they will walk into it.

 The Doctor and companions move through thick sninewy strands of some form of webbing or overgrowth. They find a house, but outside is a redcoat, the same one perhaps, who shoots Jamie again. Once more, Jamie is a photograph and his face must be rebuilt – this time, The Doctor gets it right. (I understand that Frazier Hines had chickenpox and that’s why that was all done, so another actor could play him.)

 They enter the house and find some twine and a bunch of tunnels – obviously a maze and an invitation. Zoe states the obvious that whomever is behind this is aware of where they are, they know they’re coming.

 The figure watches a screen, a map of the maze, with three lights indicating the travelers.

 The thread runs out and Zoe and The Doctor leave Jamie to wait at the end of the twine while they move onward. On the map, we see they’re almost at the center of the maze. The harsh voice coaxes them on.

 Zoe and The Doctor make it to the center; he’s disappointed that there’s nobody waiting to greet them. They see human bones and hear a roar. Zoe brings up the story of the Minotaur. Again, there’s a roar and they see a shadow of what must be the minotaur.

 Jamie encounters one of the soldiers and throws his coat over its head to escape.

 Again, by proclaiming that the minotaur is mythical, they escape danger – the beast just vanishes. They return to where Jamie was, and they run into the man they’ve met before. By listening to his phrasing, The Doctor determines who he is – Lemeul Gulliver, the hero from Gulliver’s Travels, and he’s been speaking in passages from the stories.

 Jamie is outside in a rocky terrain, on the run from the Nutcracker soldier. He climbs the rocks to evade the soldier, who obviously cannot climb. He gets about halfway up his climb, but the rest is too steep to make it unaided. As he’s about to say he needs a rope, a rope is tossed down from above.

 He makes it up to a castle, with the rope coming from out a window. It turns out the rope is attached to the head of a lovely lady named Rapunzel. She tries not to admit him, once she finds out he’s not a prince or a son of a woodcutter, but when he appeals to her, she lets him in.

 Once inside, Rapunzel is nowhere to be seen and Jamie quickly realises that it’s no princess’ castle but a scientific place full of technology. He finds a machine printing out a narrative of The Doctor and Zoe. The printout says that The Doctor and Zoe returned to the minotaur’s cave.

 There, we see that they have returned there. There’s a statue of a figure with snakes for hair. The Doctor quickly determines that it is Medusa. He tells Zoe they have to say she doesn’t exist, though once more she argues the point. Medusa approaches and despite his admonitions, Zoe turns to look at Medusa… and the credits roll.

 Being someone who lives in the 21^st century, I find it hard to accept that Zoe (also from the 21^st century) is so easily to believe in the mythological creatures as real.

Episode 4:

 The Doctor uses a mirror so Zoe can look without being turned to stone. Medusa becomes a statue once more and the printout machine reports CANCEL CANCEL CANCEL. Jamie moves on, triggering an alarm, and a PA announces that there is a stranger to be apprehended. Gulliver shows up and speaks to Jamie.

 Jamie hides in a room and Gulliver stands at guard, but he doesn’t see the robots (the ones from the first episode, this time), nor do they acknowledge him. After they move on, Jamie comes out and asks Gulliver for help on getting out, but Gulliver says it is impossible.

 Jamie and The Doctor are below the citadel, when they encounter the Karkus, a comic strip superhero type from Zoe’s homeworld, in the year 2000. (Home world? In the year 2000? Really.) By declaring the Karkus’ weapon (an anti-molecular ray disintegrator) as “scientifically impossible” the weapon disappears. However, the Karkus (wearing a really dumb muscle suit), who has the strength of many men attacks them, though Zoe single-handedly defeats him and he submits to her.

 Really?

 The Doctor and Zoe gain entrance to the citadel, where they meet up with Jamie and Gulliver. The latter advises against them seeking out The Master. He advocates them settling in and living peacefully under the rule of The Master.

 Gulliver departs and Jamie shows them the machine that was printing out the story. Zoe stupidly triggers the alarm. The Doctor says that they will not run and hide, but will wait for the robots, who show up. The Doctor demands an interview with The Master, whose voice comes over the PA and invites them through an open door.

 Reluctantly, they enter. They find themselves in the control room. A man in spectacles and suit and tie greets them. Obviously the man who has been observing all the while – he speaks in the gentle voice we’ve heard before. Turns out he’s a writer of a pulp story from the late 1800s. He’s connected by a wire to a machine – his brain, his imagination powers all that transpires.

 While The Doctor and the man speak, Jamie and Zoe slip off into a library filled with books. The Doctor has been brought there to take the man’s place – since The Doctor is “ageless”, he is a better substitute. 

 When The Doctor refuses, the man speaks in the harsher voice – obviously the computer attached to him is speaking through him now. He shows The Doctor the ‘script’ that Jamie and Zoe have been captured and makes the deal – his acceptance for their lives.

 On the monitor, Zoe and Jamie are herded by robots into a giant book which closes on them… and the credits roll.

 Only one more episode, thank goodness.

Episode 5:

 The Doctor refuses and leaves, encountering Jamie and Zoe, but he discovers they keep repeating the same sequence of dialogue – they’ve been turned into fiction!

 The Doctor sees the mastertape of the fiction, but he cannot get in. Out loud, he wishes for the strength of Karkus (because, obviously, the power of a man who can be OUT-WRESTLED by a ninety pound fifteen-year-old girl is to be desired), and Karkus appears to help him. He tears off the sky light, then Rapunzel shows up to let The Doctor use her hair to climb down into the room.

 He sits at the table and starts to write, “The enemy had been defeated by The Doctor,” while The Master (so weird writing that and not meaning my favourite character from the entire franchise) coaxes, “Yes, go on!”

 The Doctor stops, realising that he cannot say that – if he had done that, he would have turned himself into fiction. He leaves, climbing back up. The Master, watching says no more games will be played.

 Up above, Jamie and Zoe are gone, but Gulliver and the children show up. They pester The Doctor, while The Master writes that Jamie and Zoe realise that The Doctor is evil. Robots bring the companions to him and they repeat what he has written in regards to The Doctor.

 The Doctor mopes while the children dance and play. Suddenly, the TARDIS appears, and Jamie and Zoe pop out, beckoning him within. He enters and they stay outside, closing the door on him. The face of the TARDIS falls forward and it’s revealed to be a trap.

 We next see The Doctor trapped in the machine in the control room. The Master reveals they want to use The Doctor to take over Earth, move everyone there and have the planet to theirselves.

 … this just seems kind stupid to me.

 But, anyhow. The Doctor is attached to the master computer, directly. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

 The Doctor says he’s not under the control of the master brain – now he has equal power with The Master and he will take control from there. The Master and The Doctor battle with their minds and their creativity, summong and manipulating characters to fight each other. Cyrano de Bergerac, D’Artagnan, Karkus, Nutcracker soldiers, Blackbeard, Sir Lancelot all are thrown at each other. It’s really stupid, no matter how cool it might sound.

 The master brain voice dictates that The Doctor be destroyed; The Master pleads, he doesn’t want to do this forever. The robots march on The Doctor and remove him from the master brain. Zoe and Jamie (who The Doctor helped free from fiction earlier) are in the room, hiding.

 Zoe has an idea to overload the master brain… by pressing all the buttons on the console for the master brain. Because that’s how you overload a computer.

 The Doctor breaks free of the robots (cuz, well, I guess robots don’t know how to hold on to someone) and after The Master gives the order to destroy, he removes the wires from his head. The robots begin to fire and destroy the computer.

 They rush off with The Master, and stand in a black area that gradually fills with mist. There’s massive explosions nearby as the robots destroy. We see the TARDIS reform… and the final credits roll.

 What a horrible serial. Stupid, insipid, not remotely clever and just plain stupid. Guh. Ugh.

 Horrible.

Serial 24 – The Celestial Toymaker

(the first three episodes only exist in stills and video fragments) This serial is noteworthy for guest starring Michael Gough as The Toymaker.

E1 “The Celestial Toyroom”

 After the TARDIS arrives, The Doctor is rendered invisible by some outside force. Dodo pretty much whines and asks stupid questions while The Doctor barks orders to Steven, who tries to use to the scanner to see outside, to no avail. It seems The Doctor is intangible as well as invisible and needs Steven to activate the switches on the TARDIS console.

 Despite his protests, Steven opens the doors and they exit.

 We see a man in ornate robes sitting in a chair. He rises and moves to a dollhouse, removes two clown dolls from the house. He sets the dolls on the floor and they grow to life size.

 Outside the TARDIS, The Doctor is visible and tangible. Steven looks around and asks where they are. The Doctor isn’t sure but he says it seems familiar. Dodo wants to leave, but The Doctor says they have to face up to what is here – that what happened to him was an attack of sorts, and they were meant to come here.

 Steven points at a screen on a giant robot toy, where he sees himself on the planet Kembel, but Dodo sees nothing. This prompts The Doctor to announce he believes he knows where they are – the realm of the Celestial Toymaker, and the screen is a hypnotic tool trying to control Steven.

 The Doctor informs his companions that the Celestial Toymaker is “a power for evil”. While they talk, the TARDIS disappears, and in its place, the Toymaker appears. It seems they know each other, or are at least familiar.

 The Doctor warns Steven and Dodo that nothing is “just for fun” here and to be careful. While the companions are distracted by the “memory screen”, which shows hundreds of TARDISes, the Toymaker and The Doctor disappear. Steven and Dodo go searching and encounter the two clowns.

 The Toymaker appears and tells them they have to play games if they want to leave. He leaves them with the clowns to play their games, and we see the Toymaker and The Doctor talking. The Toymaker tells The Doctor that he is bored and seeks entertainment, and that he must play, and win, if he wants to leave. The first game is a trilogic game.

 Steven and Dodo are playing against the clowns. Clara, the female clown talks in an obnoxious voice and you can barely stand listening. Sigh. They’re taken into a booth and Joey (the male clown) is blindfolded and has to cross a game board without falling. Clara can only guide him by beeps from within the booth.

 The Doctor sends a communique to The Doctor to warn his companions, but The Toymaker cuts him off before his warning is complete. They return to their trilogic game. To keep The Doctor from contacting his companions again, he makes The Doctor intangible, except for one hand, os that he may keep playing.

 Joey has made it across the board safely and easily. It’s Steven’s turn to cross, with Dodo giving directions via the booth. Steven had memorised the board, but Joey moves things around on it. Steven ends up taking off his blindfold, and the clowns celebrate their victory, but Dodo finds Joey’s blindfold and discovers it’s see-through, so the game starts over with Joey using a real one. Joey falls, and Clara (in the booth) slumps over, and a TARDIS appears. They enter, but it’s a fake, inside is only a riddle and another exit. They pass through and the credits roll.

 I’m really not feeling this, despite Michael Gough being in it. Maybe it’ll get better. I do hope so.

 It does get better at the end, but it’s nowhere near a favourite of mine, even with the wonderful Michael Gough in it.

E2 “The Hall of Dolls”

 The companions come to a door with a series of locks and bolts. They open it and pass through.

 The Toymaker and The Doctor banter; The Doctor tries to warn his companions again, and The Toymaker punishes him for it by taking away his voice and accelerating The Doctor’s game – if The Doctor beats his game before the companions find the TARDIS, they all still lose.

 The companions meet their next opponents – The King and Queen of Hearts from a playing deck. They are looking for a throne. Steven and Dodo discuss the riddle, which obviously speaks of a chair, at least in the first half. They move on to the next room, thinking the playing cards are just there to distract them.

 The Joker and Knave show up as well, and there’s entirely too much silly banter between the four playing cards. The King and Queen hurry after Steven and Dodo, who have arrived at another throne room, with four chairs, and three in the previous room – the riddle clues them into that six of the chairs are dangerous, possibly deadly.

 In large cupboards, they find mannequins/life sized dolls. Dodo suggests using them in the chairs – there’s a total of seven. They see a counter and realise that The Doctor is over halfway through his game.

 The King and Queen of Hearts arrive. Dodo tells them what their plan to figure out the safe chair, which is really stupid of her. The King and Queen explain that they were once real people, like the companions.

 Dodo is a fucking idiot. Steven and the King and Queen agree that each gets one doll to use to help weed out which chairs are dangerous. The playing cards are unaware that there are seven dolls, they think there are only four, and the thought is one per person. Dodo keeps trying to say “what about the other three?” and Steven has to REPEATEDLY tell her to shut up. Gah!

 Steven and Dodo take their dolls back to the first room, leaving the King and Queen in the second.

“Charming couple, aren’t they, hmm?” – The King

“It isn’t very charming to be told that you’re not real. We were NOT amused.” – The Queen. (Love it!)

 Steven and Dodo return to the first room, eliminating two of the three chairs using the dolls. The King and Queen have used up their two dolls as well, and decide to get The Fool to sit in a chair for them, and return to the first room.

 Dodo sneaks back to get the other dolls, but the cupboard won’t open. The King and Queen overhear and take the Joker back to room number two. Stupidly, Dodo sits down in the last chair when Steven isn’t looking. (I said she’s stupid.)

 The Toymaker is seen gloating to The Doctor that Dodo has chosen “the freezing chair” to sit in.

 She complains of getting cold, of freezing, and she can’t stand up. Steven tells her to stand up but she can’t. He tells her to fight the cold, she has to get out. (Yes, because concentrating will fight off extreme temperatures. This is proven science.) Finally he manages to pull her out of the chair, before the damage is done.

 Back in room two, the King and Queen ask which chair The Joker prefers. He picks chair six and they tell him to sit in it. The Knave starts laughing, and The Joker sees what is going on and runs off. The King turns on the Knave, who rushes off as well. The King and Queen try to trick each other into sitting in the chair, end up sitting in it together, and the chair collapses on them. Steven, having arrived with Dodo to see this, sits in the last chair and they win the game. A TARDIS appears, and Dodo starts celebrating (like an idiot), but it’s another fake.

 The phone in the fake TARDIS rings and they answer. Over the line, The Toymaker gives them another clue/riddle and the line goes dead. They go down a passage, calling out, “Dolls, dolls, wherever you are, come out!” and the credits roll.

E3 “The Dancing Floor”

 Urgh… I’m really not enjoying this serial. Had to take a break between episodes two and three.

 We start with the Toymaker congratulating The Doctor on his companions, having beaten two of the Toymaker’s teams thus far. He chooses two new characters to oppose Steven and Dodo.

 Dodo and Steven are at the next door; Dodo is worried because they’re being pursued (albeit slowly) by three ballerina dolls, the three from the cupboard that they could not find earlier. The dolls spread out to keep Steven and Dodo from turning back, so when the door opens on its own they must enter.

 They do so, to find themselves in a kitchen, where Mrs. Wiggs and Seregeant Rugg await them. Dodo gives them the clue (… really?) Mrs. Wiggs points her to a keyhole. Sgt Rugg tries to set Steven right, but he stands up to the Sgt.

 Steven gets irate with Sgt Rugg’s constant military talk of “the Iron Duke” and “shaping [Steven] up”, “turning [Steven] into a real man” and the like.

 The Doctor stops playing, hoping to give his companions more time, but the Toymaker advances the game to move 770. He still isn’t playing fast enough and the game is advanced again to 813(or 830?)

 Back at the kitchen, Dodo points out the kitchen boy, who looks like the Knave of Hearts. Dodo butters up Sgt Rugg, flattering his uniform, and he agrees to help, but for her, not for Steven. Rugg and Wiggs argue as he’s making a mess helping hear search for the key.

 “Soldiers never apologise. It’s a rule.” – Sgt Rugg

 The kitchen is turned into a complete mess, and Dodo finds the key in Mrs. Wiggs pie. The companions leave and the Toymaker appears, telling them to clean up and get to the dance floor to stop Steven and Dodo from getting to the TARDIS.

 On the dance floor we see a TARDIS. There are three ballerina dolls on the dance floor, dancing. Steven and Dodo watch as the dolls stop their dance and assume mannequin-like positions. The second part of the clue warns of escaping the rhythmic beat or being trapped forever moving their feet. When they near the dance floor, music begins, when they back away, it stops.

 Sgt Rugg and Mrs Wiggs show up, all friendly with each other, and talking of dancing at the ball. Steven steps onto the floor and begins dancing, unable to control himself.

 Meanwhile, The Doctor’s hand keeps playing. The Toymaker turns on a monitor, and Steven is shown dancing.

 One of the ballerinas begins dancing with Steven. As Rugg and Wiggs get on the dance floor, dance partners change, eventually so that Dodo and Steven are dancing together, and dance into the TARDIS, which is another fake.

 Dodo and Steven argue – he thinks they’re just phantoms, where Dodo sees them as individuals. Outside the fake TARDIS, Sgt Rugg and Mrs Wiggs are shrunk down to doll size. The Doctor is apparently laughing as he and the Toymaker watch on the monitor, and the Toymaker tells him he is laughing too soon.

 The Toymaker throws the clown dolls, playing cards in a chest, and then chooses “the most deadliest character, because he seems so innocent – a fat, jolly schoolboy”. And then we see The Doctor is already on move 900.

 Inside the fake TARDIS, they find a clue on paper and one of the walls gives way. They’re spooked by Cyril, a school boy who offers Steven his hand. When Steven shakes his head, he’s shocked by a buzzer.

 In a video scene, Dodo notes that The Doctor is on move 902; they ask Cyril where the next game is, and he points the way, telling them that “this time it won’t be so easy – because you’ll be playing against me.” the last words in a menacing tone… and the credits roll.

E4 (Oh, thank goodness, it’s) “The Final Test”

 (And the one episode that still has video)

 The Doctor is up to move 905 now.

 Cyril leads Dodo and Steven into the next game chamber; a TARDIS is visible on the opposite side. The game is TARDIS hopscotch; the floor is electrified and they have to jump from number to number for safety.

 The Toymaker taunts The Doctor, then speeds it up to move 930.

 Cyril didn’t explain all the rules to Steven and Dodo, of course. Steven is sent back to the start, and Cyril is right behind Dodo. Of all the games, this one actually is really neat.

 The Doctor has only 72 moves left. The Toymaker gloats some more.

 Steven gets frustrated with the game – he claims Cyril is making up rules as they go along. He decides to head to the finish line, and Dodo follows, but they encounter an invisible barrier that prevents them from going any further, and an image of the Toymaker appears and he informs them they must play by the rules.

 Cyril is defeated when he slips on a slippery powder he left on one of the tiles, intending for Steven or Dodo to slip and fall. He tumbles to the floor and is killed. Dodo rolls the right number and makes it to the TARDIS, Steven behind her, but fears it’s just another fake.

 The Doctor has made it properly, but before his final move, he checks to see that Steven and Dodo have made it to the TARDIS. The Toymaker agrees that The Doctor and his companions have won their games. They reunite at the TARDIS, but the Toymaker appears on a screen to say that they may still lose.

 The Toymaker appears and Steven tries to punch him, but the Toymaker’s mind turns Steven’s strength against him. The Doctor sends his companions into the TARDIS, and the Toymaker offers The Doctor power and the chance to be at his side. The Doctor dismisses him and steps inside, saying the Toymaker has lost.

 “We shall see, old man. The game is not yet over. We shall see.” – The Toymaker.

 The Doctor storms out of the TARDIS – because he has not made the final move in the trilogic game, he cannot leave. The Doctor is about to make the last move when he says he must not – if he does and wins, the place they are in will vanish, and everything inside included – especially they and the TARDIS!

 He returns to the TARDIS and tells Dodo and Steven what will happen. The Toymaker will survive and build a new world. The Doctor tries to get him to let them go, but the Toymaker is adamant.

 “I’m bored with this (world). But I’m a bad loser, Doctor. I always destroy the destroyer!” – The Toymaker

 The Doctor refuses to make the move; Steven offers to make the move so Dodo and The Doctor can escape in the TARDIS, but The Doctor refuses. Steven says they can’t just talk their way out of it, but The Doctor is inspired and says they can.

 He tells Steven to present for dematerialisation, and he calls out “Go to move 1023!” and orders Steven to throw the switch. The Doctor reveals that he used the Toymaker’s tone of voice to give the command to the game to forward to the final move.

 Dodo suggests celebrating with the sweets she got from Cyril, and The Doctor takes one, then cries out in pain and falls into Steven’s arms. The last shot we see is the candy scattered on the floor and the credits roll.

 It ended better than it was through most of it, but it’s just a terribly silly story filled with too much nonsensical claptrap, I feel. I’m glad it’s over.