Serial 140 – The Two Doctors 3/3

 

 

 

Recap: Reunited with Jamie, Six and Peri have followed the trail to Earth, hoping to rescue Two from the Sontarans. However, we learn that Dastari is part of the plot as well and they hope to isolate the symbiotic link of the Time Lords and their TARDIS, so that the Kartz-Reimer time machine might be used by anyone.

 

We leave off with Peri being captured by Shockeye, who wants to cook and eat her.

 

 

Episode 3:

 

Shockeye grabs Peri, who struggles to no avail. He is delighted at how “ripe” she is, and knocks her out. Hoisting her over his shoulder, he laments that she’s not a “jack” (male.)

The Sontarans have taken Jamie and Six captive; Stike sends Varl to inform Chessene that they have another Time Lord. Stike orders Six into the Kartz-Reimer time machine, but he refuses.

Stike threatens Jamie’s safety, and Six reluctantly enters. (The machine has a very THE TIME MACHINE feel to it.) Stike acdtivates it and it leaps several seconds into the future and Six exits. Stike asks if the machine is now primed and Six says it is.

When Stike is about to kill Jamie, the highlander stabs the Sontaran in the leg and the two of them escape. Chessene, accompanied by Varl and Dastari, arrive to find Stike stabbed. Dastari recognises the knife, saying Two’s companion had a knife like that.

Six and Jamie run across the courtyard and into another part of the hacienda, where they find Two. (Yay, finally!) They start to untie Two (who is still in the wheelchair, bound), but when Shockeye returns with Peri, Two feigns sleep and the other two hide.

Stike and Varl seethe taking orders from Chessene; when she leaves, Stike tells Varl that the time machine has been primed and they no longer need the Androgum.

Chessene and Dastari discuss her contingency plan – she wants him to turn Two into a consort for her, by using Shockeye’s genetics to turn the Time Lord into an Androgum!!

As they are discussing this in front of the presumably unconscious Doctor, Two hears this, as do Six and Jamie, who are up the staircase.

Shockeye sharpens his knife, preparing to start cutting on Peri. Chessene interrupts, saying Dastari needs his assistance and the cook reluctantly complies.

Stike sends Varl to contact Sontaran High Command, to report their possession of a functioning space-time machine and requesting permission to use it to rejoin the fleet. Stike plans to set the Sontaran craft to self-destruct to wipe out everyone else there.

Two is wheeled to the operating theatre, protesting he doesn’t want to be turned into an Androgum. When Shockeye begins to question this, Chessene shoots him with a blaster.

Six rescues Peri from the kitchen.

Shockeye and Two are hooked up to each other on beds in the operating theatre. Dastari and Chessene discuss Stike; she says she has no further use for the Sontarans and they will be destroyed.

Six wonders why Stike hasn’t acted, trying to kill the Androgum and Dastari yet. He explains it’s all been his plan – that he knew Stike was sneaking up on them and letting the Sontaran believe that the Kartz-Reimer time machine will work for them – however, Six has removed the “briode nebulizer”, so it won’t work.

Chessene tells Dastari that she prepared three canisters of “coronic acid”, which is lethal to Sontarans, just in case. They leave to fetch it. While they’re gone, Shockeye awakens and is enraged at Chessene’s betrayal.

He finds Two, who is seemingly transforming into half-Androgum already; his face is becoming mottled, and he has pronounced eyebrows, like Shockeye does.

They begin talking food and recipes. Shockeye is delighted to learn that Two knows about the cuisine of the planet. They discuss plans to go eating but Two says they need proper clothing first.

Dastari instructs Varl and Stike to follow him, saying the other Time Lord has returned and they need their help to recapture him. Six and the companions are listening from behind a wall.

“A double double-cross,” Six says to Peri, “it gets more interesting by the minute.”

The Sontarans enter the subterranean tunnel, only to find themselves in a trap. Chessene drops two canisters of the gas, which spark like fireworks, and the Sontarans scream in agony.

Two and Shockeye, dressed in waist coats and top hats, walk out, arm in arm, talking food. Six and the companions see this, startled.

Dastari and Chessene find the operating theatre empty. She says they are “hunting food” and Dastari says they must perform the second procedure within an hour or it will not take. Chessene knows (from the widow’s memories) that there are many restaurants in Seville and says that is where they will be.

After they head upstairs, Stike staggers out of the shadows, severely wounded, but still alive. “Treacherous hag,” he groans, “I shall return to destroy this Androgum filth!”

Two and Shockeye discuss whether the locals eat their own. The talk turns to Shepherd’s Pie. They flag down a lorry and assault the driver and take the truck to Seville. As they drive off, Six and the companions run up.

Jamie says he can’t believe his Doctor would let someone be killed like that, but Six says it’s the Androgum changes. He tells them he’s already starting to feel some changes to himself, which means they have to hurry. They run off after the truck.

Stike enters the Kartz-Reimer machine and activates the controls. It shakes violently and electricity crackles all about. Stike collapses out of the machine.

Having caught a ride to Seville, Six and the companions see the lorry. Jamie questions how Six and Two can be the same person; even Peri wonders how they both can be here.

“When you travel around space and time as much as I do, it’s almost inevitable that you’re bound to turn into yourself at some point,” Six explains, then urges them along.

Chessene and Dastari are seen riding around in a horse-drawn carriage, seemingly in no hurry whatsoever.

Two and Shockeye debate hors d’oeuvres; Shockeye thinks there is no need and that “eight or nine” main courses is enough. Two argues, saying it is the custom here and all the great chefs (several of whom he rattles off their names) agree that one should begin with a light dish.

They discuss food and head to the destination.

Six and the companions see Dastari and Chessene and hide in an alcove, then follow them. Six realises they’re checking the local restaurants and wishes he’d thought of that.

As Dastari searches, a local woman throws him a rose.

Even further wounded, Stike staggers out of the hacienda. Before he can make it to his ship, it explodes.

Oscar and Anita (ahah, forgot all about them) are working in the restaurant that Two and Shockeye have chosen for their meal. There’s some silly banter and all. Not terribly amusing, but not horrible.

There’s more walking about Seville as Six and the companions search. Suddenly, Six sees a cat and says “there’s more than one way to cook a cat,” saying they can be good eating. Peri is stupid and doesn’t get what he’s saying.

Suddenly, he realises that he’s changing as a result of Two’s procedure (though I thought it wasn’t going to stick if a further procedure wasn’t performed.) He recovers himself and they set off again.

Apparently, time has passed, as Oscar and Anita are amazed at the bill for 81,600 pesetas (quick google search says maybe about $600); so far, they’ve eaten “lobster, clams, squid, brains in white sauce, two whole suckling pigs, a ham with figs, eight steaks and an entire family paella!”

Plus they ordered twelves breasts of pigeon to go with the twelve bottles of wine. “And they’re still eating!”

Again, Six and companions almost run into Chessene and Dastari.

Anita tells Oscar that she thinks the bill needs to be paid. He gives them the bill, but Shockeye doesn’t understand the custom, until Two explains it to him. Shockeye gives him “a twenty narg note”, but Oscar says it is not acceptable.

Seeing the restaurant, Jamie and Peri recognise it as the place that Oscar works.

In the facility, Oscar demands payment; Shockeye takes offends and stabs Oscar. Anita screams and Shockeye runs off. Just then, Six and companions come in, and again, Oscar thinks Six is a police officer.

Anita says she’s called the ambulance, but Oscar quotes Shakespeare and dies.

Jamie has been checking on Two (who is passed out at the table) and points out that Two’s face is reverting to normal. Six wakes him up and asks if he can walk. Six drags Two out, pretending to be a police officer.

The Two Doctors exit the restaurant and argue. Peri breaks it up and leads them off, but Chessene and Dastari says they will come with them; she has a gun, so everyone complies.

Back at the hacienda, Shockeye has changed back into his clothing. Looking out the window, he sees Chessene and Dastari and their prisoners.

Inside, everyone is startled at the damage. Shockeye comes down, carrying Stike’s leg, saying that it seems the Grand Marshal was the cause of the damage.

Chessene orders everyone down to the cellars and hands her gun to Shockeye.

In the cellar, Dastari examines the Kartz-Reimer module and realises that the nebulizer is missing. Six hands it over, explaining that Stike had forced him to prime the machine. They put it in and, to test whether he isn’t trying to trick them, they put Peri in and send it on a test run.

The module returns, Peri intact. Chessene orders Dastari to chain them up and Six argues, asking where her gratitude for handing her the secret to time travel is.

As Dastari complies, Shockeye asks if he might still have the chance to cook a human; she complains that he should have had enough chance to sate his appetite in the city, but he says that was “a mere snack” and points out that she “promised we could have a human before leaving Earth!” She gives in and suggests he have Jamie.

Six, Two and Peri are chained to pillars, but Shockeye drags Jamie off. Dastari taunts them with the key, placing it on a nearby table, before leaving them. The Time Lords discuss the nebulizer and Six reveals that he left “a thin membrane” on it so that it would work once, suspecting that Chessene wouldn’t trust him.

Using a wheelchair, Six flips the table to get the key and they free themselves. Six frees himself but they hear Jamie’s screams, and Two tells him to leave the key and go help Jamie.

Shockeye is using a device to tenderise the meat; Dastari is uncomfortable and tells the cook to kill him first, but Shockeye protests, saying it works best on a live animal. (The writer’s agenda is strong in this episode. Shockeye even uses the “primitive creatures don’t feel pain in the way we do” line.)

As Shockeye is about to cut Jamie, Chessene bursts in, accusing Dastari of failing to properly secure one of the Time Lords. Dastari argues, but she won’t listen and orders him to find and kill the Time Lord.

Dastari argues more, saying that if they kill a Time Lord, it will be the end of all they have worked for, but she is enraged and demands he do it. Dastari leaves and Shockeye begins talking about having Jamie’s saddle and haunches for supper, but she says nevermind that, she orders him to help find the escaped Time Lord.

After they leave, Six slips in to the kitchen and cuts Jamie loose. Shockeye returns and attacks Six, who limps out of the hacienda after being cut in the leg by the cook.

Chessene orders Shockeye to pursue him after he points out the blood from Six’s leg. Dastari watches as, after the cook runs off, Chessene seems overwhelmed by the blood and she collapses, running her hand through it.

Two finally has his and Peri’s manacles freed and as they move to leave, Dastari comes down the stairs, gun pointed at Two. “Chessene wants me to kill you,” he says.

Six limps off into the woods, Shockeye in close pursuit. (Yep, it’s Doctor Who, there’s running involved.) Six finds Oscar’s moth net and kit. He takes the poison crystals (from the container that Oscar would put them in after catching them to kill them) and pours them into a rag, then adds water. The mix begins to smoke.

Six grabs Shockeye from behind, first putting the net over his head, then convering his mouth with the smoky rag. Shockeye goes down, presumably dead.

In the cellars, Chessene confronts Dastari, who refuses to kill Two and Peri. Dastari says there’s been enough killing and it is all his fault for trying to elevate her. She shoots Dastari and when they try to run, she orders Two and Peri to stop.

Jamie, who had been following Chessene, throws his knife as she moves to fire. The gun is knocked from her hand and she jumps in the Kartz-Reimer module to escape.

It begins to shake violently, then explodes. She falls out, screaming, and and falls to the ground, dead. As they watch, her features revert to that of a proper Androgum.

Six hobbles down the stairs to say that Shockeye has been “mothballed”. (No, really, he said it.) When he tells Two that it’ll be a lot of work for him to put the K-R module back together (as Two doesn’t have a TARDIS, and I guess he can’t/won’t give him a ride), Six is dismayed to see that Two has a “Stattenheim remote control”.

Two’s TARDIS appears on command, and goodbyes are said. Jamie steals a kiss from Peri, then says goodbye to Six.

“Do try to keep out of my way in future and in past, there’s a good fellow,” Two says to Six. “The time continuum should be big enough for both of us… just!”

“Do you know, I think I preferred you as an Androgum,” Six retorts as his predecessor departs.

Peri and Six banter as they leave; she asks if they’re going fishing again, and he replies, “No. From now on, it’s a healthy vegetarian diet for both of us.” Peri laughs… and the final credits roll.

I’m sorry, but the heavy-handed message really brings the story down. It could have been so much more. Ah well, still pretty fun.

Serial 140 – The Two Doctors 2/3

 

 

Recap: The Second Doctor and Jamie are sent to Space Station Chimera to demand that the time travel experiments there are put to an end. However, Sontarans attack and kill just about everyone there. The Sixth Doctor, suffering an attack when his earlier incarnation is being tortured near to death, decides to pay a visit to one of the smartest men he knows, Dastari, head of projects at Space Station Chimera.

 

The Second Doctor is taken to Earth by the Sontarans and their allies, and back on the Space Station, the Sixth Doctor and Peri fall afoul of a trap and a survivor, respectively…

 

 

Episode 2:

 

Peri’s attacker bangs its head. She rushes off, griping, but finds The Doctor unconscious. She tries to rouse him, but he’s slow to respond due to the gas.

 

She tells him that she thinks it’s a human that attacked her, but he says they haven’t reached that part of the galaxy yet. They go back to investigate and discover the attacker is none other than Jamie!!!

 

“It’s Jamie… but how did he get here, he should be with me,” The Doctor explains.

“But he’s not now, Doctor, not any more.”

 

The Doctor realises he must have been there, and wonders where his former self is. Jamie wakes and struggles, but The Doctor sedates him.

 

Mumbling in his drugged state, he says “They killed The Doctor,” and Six says he’s deranged. Jamie keeps asserting that his Doctor was killed.

 

Six begins to put pieces together, recalling his experience earlier in the TARDIS and Peri points out that he did say he was being put to death. Six puts Jamie under hypnosis and questions him; Jamie tells him that Two and Dastari had an argument about the Time Lords.

 

Jamie tells them that the “knights came and killed everyone.” He describes them as heavy-armoured and they had no necks, their hands were just two great fingers. Six recognises Jamie’s “knights” as the Sontarans.

 

Oscar and Anita haven’t found the wreckage. He says they should summon the authorities, but she says people might be dying. She appeals to his ego, suggesting if he plays the hero, he might be forgiven by the British Council.

 

Back at the control center, Peri questions Six as he claims he never thought it was the Time Lords. He says the only thing that gave him doubt was the last entry in Dastari’s journal, but he realises now the Sontarans must have forced him to write that before they killed him.

 

She asks why the Sontarans want to frame the Time Lords. He says he doesn’t know, but posits that perhaps the Sontarans were afraid the Third Zoners were getting too advanced and might end up assisting the Rutans against them in their war.

 

He consults the computer if he’s right, but the computer replies, “No speak.” It seems the computer has a fault, possibly as a result of the tampering he did. He uses the keyboard to access the databank instead.

 

Peri asks who the Rutans are and we get some exposition about the eternal war between the Sontarans and the Rutans.

 

Six pulls up the Kartz and Reimer experiments, talking about how the Time Lords had to be sure that their experiments wouldn’t accidentally cause the end of the universe… and then suddenly realises that he might Two might be dead after all, if he arrived during a time experiment, anything would be possible.

 

When he tells Peri that all of reality could end in a few centuries, she laughs, and leaves to check on Jamie. Six pontificates and waxes poetic about the end of everything, “No more sunsets, no more gumblejacks,” and then sees Peri trapped in a tube being tortured.

 

It’s the same tube we saw Two in earlier. Six sits down, trying to work the controls, frantically. As he watches it changes from Peri to Two, then again to Dastari and finally Six himself. Each of them in the tube, being tortured, in agony.

 

He sits back, and the tube is empty. Peri arrives with Jamie, who says “He’s not The Doctor I know!”

 

“I am so, Jamie McCrimmon. I am another aspect of him, just as he is of me. I was him, he will be me.”

 

Jamie looks confused, “Who will I be?”

 

Six brushes it off and shows Peri what he’s found – the playback of her in the tube. Needless to say, she’s upset by it. Jamie says that’s how they killed The Doctor, but Six says it’s just a fake and that proves that his former self is being held captive.

 

“But why am I in it,” Peri asks, confused. Six explains that the computer scanned her when she looked in the mirror earlier (as did he when he was waxing poetic.)

 

Six says that this is a big conspiracy, one that was centered around capturing Two and Dastari both. He says that Dastari is the only bio-geneticist “capable of isolating the symbiotic nuclei of a Time Lord.”

 

Peri makes the (Sherlockian) leap of deduction that is how he controls the TARDIS, through symbiosis. Six doesn’t dispute this, and says that if the Sontarans learned the secret of unrestricted time travel, they’d be invincible.

 

Six says their only chance to find his other self is through telepathy. He lays down, saying he might be seconds or days, but not to touch him, not even come near him.

 

As he lays down and prepares himself, Jamie looks over at Peri, “I think your Doctor is worse than mine.” I love Jamie so much.

 

Chessene enters a basement level in the estate, where Dastari is attending to an unconscious Two. She asks how he is, and the scientist says, “This will bring him round,” and administers an injection.

 

Two opens his eyes, murmuring, “Jamie.”

 

Six cries out for Jamie, murmuring, “Where am I? I am where?” Then he wakes up, asking if he was gone for long. Jamie says just minutes.

 

Six begins making the tolling sound of a bell and jumps up, saying they’ve got to go, but he’s not quite sure where, “Something to do with getting my hair cut,” he says – referring to the location, not far from Seville.

 

The Sontaran ship is seen parked at the estate, a giant sphere. It then fades from sight.

 

Varl brings a case down into the basement, and tells Chessene and Dastari that Group Marshal Stike is placing the ship in ‘clear’ (invisible) so that the locals don’t see it.

 

Dastari complains that they should have chosen a less populated planet, but Chessene tells him that according to the old woman’s mind, nobody comes there. It seems Dastari is part of the plot, not a captive. He asks if there are any defense installations nearby, but Chessene says the old woman did not know of such things, “There was very little in her mind to absorb.”

 

Shockeye, who is nearby, complains that her body wasn’t any better, just bone and gristle.

 

Dastari pays him no mind, complaining that they should have chosen a completely uninhabited planet, as their plan involves “a delicate operation – we cannot risk any interruption.” Yep, he’s seemingly part of it.

 

Chessene says the Group Marshal favours Earth for its location, and she says Shockeye also desired it. She explains, when Dastari questions, that she indulged Shockeye because, as an Androgum herself, “I am aware of the potency of such desires.”

 

“You are no longer an Androgum, Chessene,” Dastari argues. “I have raised you to a superior plane of life.”

 

Chessene turns away from him, “There are blood ties between the Franzine Grig and the Quancing Grig, Dastari.” She is referencing her and Shockeye’s clan/family/bloodlines. She explains that Shockeye does not yet know the extent of her intentions and when he does find out, he will feel she has betrayed their inheritance.”

 

Dastari says she must go on without the trappings of blood and race.

 

Shockeye catches a rat and begins to eat it. Dastari is horrified, but Chessene says all their chefs sample the meat raw before they ever cook it. Shockeye tells her that “rat” is foul, but smoke-dried, “it just might be tolerable”.

 

In the TARDIS, Six has narrowed down the location from the sound of the bells – three miles or so from the city. He realises that the Sontaran ship in hyperdrive would have just reached there.

 

Jamie returns to the console room, dressed in proper highlander regalia. There’s some banter and then The Doctor activates the TARDIS; Peri braces herself, melodramatically, but it turns out wisely so, as there’s a violent start.

 

“My Doctor wouldn’t have done that,” Jamie says after getting back to his feet.

 

“Your Doctor is an antediluvian fogey,” Six replies, slapping away Jamie’s hand as he reaches towards the console. “Allowing himself to be captured by the Sontarans! If anything happens to myself as a result, I will never forgive himself!”

 

BWAHAHAHAHAHAH I Love it!!!

 

Both companions give him a hard time about his switching of personal pronouns.

 

Two wakes up, woozy from drugs. He sees the Sontarans approaching, “Oh, I don’t like the company you keep, Dastari.”

 

Stike and Varl approach, and Two remembers the attack on the space station. He wonders what they’ve done with Jamie. Chessene says he is dead and Two begins frantic, thrashing on his bed, as Shockeye and Dastari fasten restraints on him.

 

Oscar and Anita come across the TARDIS just after it has materialised. As The Doctor and companions exit, Oscar approaches, saying there has been a great catastropher.

 

Oscar introduces himself (as Oscar Botcherby) and Anita. They say there’s been a plane crash, saying it landed near a nearby hacienda and they saw some survivors.

 

Six says they may have seen three fugitives whose trail they’ve been on for a long time and asks for them to take them to the hacienda. There some (supposedly) comical bits that end up with Oscar and Anita leading them to the hacienda.

 

In the basement, Dastari wheels in the Kartz-Reimer time experiment module. Two says he can tell by looking at it that it won’t work. Dastari argues it worked well enough to bring him to them. They banter, argue, Dastari saying that Kartz and Reimer were on the right track, and several Androgums traveled into time, but couldn’t be brought back.

 

He tells them they also know that the Time Lords have a symbiotic link to their time machine. Dastari says he plans to “cut him up” cell by cell or gene by gene until they find it.

 

Apparently the plan is to give Chessene the power of time travel; Two is horrified, saying it will give her great power for evil, but Dastari won’t hear it. He seems completely smitten with the idea of making Chessene a goddess.

 

After Dastari leaves Two to go back to his equipment, Stike approaches the scientist, demanding to know why time is being wasted. Dastari tells him that careful preparation is being made. They argue, Stike saying that this should have been done in advance, but Dastari says they could not have done so.

 

Stike says every hour is precious, that his forces await him. Dastari gets Stike to wheel the cart of tools over to the operating theatre. Reluctantly, the Sontaran does so, and Two mocks him for it, but it goes over his head.

 

“Just as well,” Two quips some more, “a face like yours wasn’t made for laughing.” There’s some banter and then something weird happens.

 

Somewhat out of character for a Sontaran, Stike volunteers that he might have “made a tactical error”. He talks about the loneliness of being in charge, and Two suggests that he retire. “When I die, it will be alongside my comrades on the front.”

 

So… I have no idea what that was all about.

 

Six leaves the others behind to scout out the hacienda.

 

Stike appeals to Two to let Dastari know where to find the symbiotic link, so time won’t be wasted. Two laughs at him for trusting the word of Chessene, saying she is an Androgum, lying and betrayal comes as natural to them as it does Sontarans.

 

Stike slaps Two, saying, “That is for the slur against my people!” This is apparently exactly what Two wanted, as he demands satisfaction for the slap, and he challenges him to a duel.

 

Stike refrains, even when Two says, “You are not only without honour, but you are a coward as well!” Stike turns on him, seething, “As you are not a Sontaran, Doctor, you cannot impugn my honour!!!” The Group Marshal storms off.

 

“Well, that didn’t work out, did it,” Two asks himself, dejected.

 

Six skulks around (yeah, right – even without his gaudy coat, he sticks out like a sore thumb) the hacienda, hiding as he moves about.

 

Shockeye is reading some cookbooks. Chessene is surprised that he could learn anything from the humans, but he waxes on about that humans hunt just about every animal on the planet for food and even raise animals specifically for eating, talking about how they’re force-fed and kept in small areas to fatten more quickly, saying it’s fascinating. (It’s worth noting that the writer of the serial, Robert Holmes, was a vegetarian and this was part of the theme involved.)

 

Six continues to sneak up to the hacienda and peers into the window, apparently into the kitchen where the Androgums are speaking. Shockeye says he cannot find any recipes for cooking “the human animal” and Chessene points out that some species do not eat their own kind.

 

Six is precariously perched on a stool outside the window, which gives way beneath him. He lays down, out of sight of the window, as Chessene looks out, but not seeing him. She tells Shockeye she heard something, but he says he did not. “You were too busy talking about your favourite subject,” she replies. He goes on to wax poetic about eating a human and she promises him they will find him one to eat and she will even join him, as she, too, is curious about the experience.

 

Oscar, Anita and the companions are chatting; Oscar says he’s between roles so he’s managing a restaurant for a friend. Six returns to the them, saying he didn’t find anything, but he knows the Sontarans are there.

 

As they talk, it comes about that aliens are there and Oscar is startled, thinking that the “officer” (he thinks The Doctor is an Interpol agent) is “joshing” him.

 

Jamie asks if the woman The Doctor saw was dark haired, wearing a long grey frock. He says that she was at the space station. They talk about Dastari’s alterations on her, and Six agrees with Two’s summation of how stupid that was.

 

When Six says they need to find a way in without being detected, Anita says she knows a secret way into the cellars. He tells Peri to knock at the door and play lost tourist. Everyone but Oscar heads off.

 

When Peri knocks at the door, Shockeye, who is upstairs, looks out the window. Seeing the succulent, young human, he begins licking his lips and making other almost obscene gyrations.

 

Dastari apologises to Two for not giving him a full sedative, saying he must be at least minimally conscious for the procedure. Stike yells for them to hurry up, as he feels it’s a delay for his “war effort”.

 

Dastari snaps at the Sontaran, telling him that if he wants this to be done properly, it will be at his pace. The Doctor passes out and Dastari is about to start cutting on The Doctor’s skull, when we hear Peri calling out, “Hello, is anyone there?”

 

Anita shows Jamie and Six where the entrance is. Six tells her to collect Oscar and get off the property to safety. There’s a (sightly) comical bit where, after Anita shakes hands with The Doctor, she gives him a kiss on the cheek, and Jamie offers her his hand, hoping for the same, and gets a less warm handshake.

 

Peri is talking to Chessene, pretending she’s an advance scout for a program to send American students over in the summer. As they talk, Shockeye is seen descending the stairs in the background. Chessene steps away to consult with Shockeye, who wants to eat her.

 

Chessene tells him he might get his chance, but she was trying to read Peri’s mind and kept finding “The Doctor” in it. She tells him to have Dastari wheel Two near her, to see if she gives herself away.

 

Jamie and Six have a comic moment when, descending a ladder, Six falls. Man, the laughs just don’t get any better than this.

 

(That’s sarcasm, in case you weren’t sure.)

 

Stike argues with Chessene’s orders to bring Two upstairs. Dastari pulls the “if you kill me, you won’t have the results you wish for” card. Stike gives in, but threatens them that they have until the end of the day before he kills them all and leaves, if the operation is not completed by then.

 

Shockeye and Dastari get Two into a wheelchair, as Six and Jamie, having entered through the passage, sneak behind them and watch. Though Jamie wants to rush after them, Six tells him to hold back, saying they need to look around first and warning that the Androgum (Shockeye) could break them both in half with one hand.

 

When Two is wheeled by, Peri doesn’t seem to have any reaction to her. Chessene instructs Shockeye to show Peri around. She begs off, saying that her friends are awaiting her. Shockeye gives chase.

 

Six examines the Kartz-Reimer time machine, saying it’s almost perfect, but it wouldn’t work for anyone but a Time Lord… unless they could inject the bio print into the machine, then anyone could use it.

 

Varl and Stike have been listening all the while, and interject themselves into the conversation at this point.

 

Peri runs from the hacienda, pursued by Shockeye. She slips and falls, of course, and he catches her. He looms over her, “Pretty, pretty, here my pretty one…”… and the credits roll.

 

Pretty (hahahahahhah) good cliffhanger there, what what?

 

Serial 140 – The Two Doctors 1/3

Oh! Oh! I’m excited for this one. I recall the general storyline and the fact that I loved this serial (and why not), but I haven’t seen it in so long!!!

Episode 1:

We open with The Second Doctor (Two from now on) and Jamie (in black and white) looking at a large space station on the scanner. The view becomes coloured, as Jamie says that isn’t “a wee laboratory” but more like “twenty castles in the sky”.

He razzes The Doctor for not always being able to go where he wants, and Two points out that he got Victoria where she wanted to go. (Now there was a useless companion. Pretty, but goodness, did I loathe her.)

They keep talking and it becomes apparent that this is during the time that Jamie and Victoria were Two’s companions; that’s a shame, I wish they could have gotten Wendy Padbury (Zoe) to reprise her role. I really enjoyed the original chemistry she, Jamie and Two had.

Two says they have other things to worry about, pointing a device on the TARDIS console that has never been there before, a “teleport control”. He yells at the ceiling, “You think I’d never flown a TARDIS solo?!?!?” Jamie looks about, properly confused.

Okay, I know a lot of people bitch about how this story breaks canon, by having Two working for the Time Lords, when it was his final story that revealed he was as much on the run from the Time Lords as anything else.

I suppose the writer(s) could have worked harder to come up with a better way of working him into the story. But this show has constantly evolved, often changing past things – after all, the First Doctor was a HUMAN, not an alien, albeit from the future and NOT from Earth. But he had one heart, did not regenerate.

Hell, when One regenerated into Two, first off, it wasn’t called regeneration (that didn’t come about until the FINAL serial of Pertwee’s run as The Doctor) and secondly, it was the TARDIS that did it, it wasn’t a biological/physical feature of The Doctor himself.

So, to everyone complaining about this, or about the John Hurt bit from the current run, shut the hell up.

Anyhow, rant over, back on to the show!

Two tells Jamie that the devices gives the Time Lords “dual control” over the TARDIS. He then sets the controls to quietly slip in to the laboratory complex they were viewing on the screen. When Jamie questions why he’s being sneaky, he says he doesn’t want to draw attention, saying he’ll be mobbed for autographs, and just wants to speak to “Dastari, Head of Projects.”

After a rocky landing, Two takes the recall disc (from the new addition to the console panel) and tells Jamie not to stray.

“Do I ever,” Jamie asks, one brow quirked.

“It has been known,” Two replies. “And let me do the talking. All you have to do is stand in the background and,” and Jamie says the rest of the sentence in perfect harmony with Two, “admire my/your diplomatic skills.”

A man in garish clothing, with a large scimitar and a bandolier, is offended as Two and Jamie exit, asking how dare they “transmat that object into my kitchens?!”

Two asks how dare he speak to him like that. The man grabs a kitchen knife (why, I wonder – he’s got a FUCKING SCIMITAR on him) and introduces himself as “Shockeye o’ the Quancing Grig,” whatever that means.

Two says he’s not interested in the pedigree of an Androgum and says he is a Time Lord. This puts Shockeye in his place, who apologises vehemently. Shockeye is delighted to learn that Jamie is a Tellurian (human from Earth) and wonders if he is a gift for Dastari.

Shockeye wants to buy Jamie, saying he would be a succulent meal. Two and Jamie do their best to get out of the kitchen ASAP.

Two explains that Androgums are the servitor class there. As they walk off, they hear the TARDIS dematerialising.

Back in the kitchen, a woman says that will not make their allies happy, as she promised the “Group Marshal” he could have the Time Lord’s vehicle. Shockeye asks if it will make any difference, and she says not to her, as she has the “Kartz-Reimer module”.

She says this proves the Gallifreyans are suspicious and supports her choice to lay the plans she did. They discuss the plans, and she says that Stike is already moving; Shockeye is upset, saying that “the calgesic won’t have affected the scientists yet.”

This is fascinating as I do recall Shockeye, and to a lesser extent the lady. I know who their allies are, but not what they’re up to.

She assures him it will have by the time Stike’s forces arrive. Shockeye then asks if the scientists enjoyed their meal and she confirms that Dastari praised the chef’s work, saying he had outdone himself. This brings great pleasure to Shockeye.

The Doctor and Jamie confer with Dastari. Two explains that he’s fallen from favour since the first time they met, when he was an emissary of Gallifrey. Two confirms that he does act on the Time Lords’ behalf, as price for the freedom he has. (Okay, so that does vehemently fly in the face of the story of the regeneration from Two to Three, so I can see some of the nerd rage over this being warranted.)

When Dastari complains that they have received no help from the Time Lords, Two argues that he cannot expect much help, due to their policy of “strict neutrality”. Dastari says there has been much displeasure amongst the Third Zone governments.

Two says not to chide him, he’s just the messenger. “Officially, I’m here quite unofficially,” he says.

Dastari, not missing a beat, replies, “You’ll explain that paradox, I know.”

Two reminds him that he’s a pariah, an exile, so the Time Lords can always deny having sent him. Dastari asks why has he been sent, and Two answers that the experiements in time travel by professors Kartz and Reimer need to be stopped.

Dastari questions how the Time Lords can equate their demand with their policy of strict neutrality, and again, Two brings up that he is persona non grata and can be denied.

(Okay, another tangent here. I know a lot of people like the new run because there aren’t a plethora of other Time Lords, that The Doctor isn’t bouncing about and “on call” for Gallifrey, but I miss that. I really do. I love Gallifrey and the Time Lords and all that associated.)

Chessene, the woman who had been talking to Shockeye, arrives to inquire if Dastari’s guests require refreshment. Two stops Jamie from answering in the positive, though it’s been a day since they ate. (“One meal a day is sufficient,” the Time Lord tells the highlander.)

It comes up that Chessene is an Androgum who has been augmented to genius-level intellect. The Doctor does not approve of such experiments and warns Dastari, “She’s still an Androgum, you can’t change nature.”

Dastari argues that he has in her case. They continue to argue, Two arguing against meddling with things like that, Dastari saying that their races have become weak and effete and if the Androgum could apply their “boiling energy” (apparently they are an energetic race?) to pursuits of sciences, there is no telling what might be achieved.

A man sits at a screen, almost bored, when suddenly three Sontaran battlecruisers show up on the screen. The computer identifies them and says they’re hostile (that’s kinda redundant), but before the man can initiate a red alert, Chessene zaps him with something (killing him or rendering unconscious, I’m not sure which) and tells the computer to maintain standard scanning procedures.

We see The Sixth Doctor (whom I’ll refer to as Six frequently, especially when the two are together) fishing, while a bored Peri throws rocks into the water.

After some banter and misquotations, The Doctor gets a catch, struggling with it, talking about how it might be a record, but much to Peri’s delight, pulls out an ugly alien fish that barely fills The Doctor’s hand.

Dastari tells Two that he has no authority to make Kartz and Reimer abandon their work. Two argues that he does, that he sanctions every experiment done there. He tells Dastari that the Time Lords have monitored up to “point four on the Bocca scale… anything much higher would threaten the fabric of time!”

What about the web of time?

Dastari argues that the professors know what they are doing and are responsible scientists. Two says they’re “incompetent meddlers”. Dastari suggests that the Time Lords are only insisting this because they want to keep a monopoly on time travel.

When Two says he doesn’t think that’s the case, Dastari brings up that the TARDIS wasn’t allowed to remain on the station, suggesting that they feared Kartz and Reimer getting a look at it.

The Doctor tries asking nicely, saying the Time Lords just want a chance to study the experiments to make sure they’re safe and once they pass muster, they will allow the experiements to continue.

This is a poor choice of words that offend Dastari. The Doctor rephrases, saying “there would be no more objections.” Dastari says he doesn’t not have the authority to ask the scientists to submit their work for analysis. He continues, still angry, saying that the Time Lords have no right to make any such demands.

Two gets mad in turn, and they argue more.

Suddenly, Dastari seems ill, weakened. He sits down, visibly stricken, but Two continues to rant, saying how could anyone so intelligent could be so pig-headed?

Jamie is laughing at this point, and Two notices, “What are you smiling at, you hairy-legged highlander?”

Jamie gets in the best dig yet, “I’m just admiring your diplomatic skills.”

Dastari, meanwhile, has fallen unconscious at the desk. As they notice this, they hear the sound of blaster fire. A man runs in, calling out for Dastari, but is shot from behind. The Doctor orders Jamie to run and we see a Sontaran hand threatening Two with a blaster.

Six and Peri return to the TARDIS, The Doctor talking about finding other planets to fish. Peri is bored, bored, bored.

When Peri asks what’s the deal with fishing, he says he needs to relax, he hasn’t felt quite himself. He is about to go on about “This regeneration…” but suddenly has difficulty speaking, then collapses to the floor, writhing in agony.

Two is seen in a booth, writhing in agony. Jamie watches from outside, in a hallway, but Shockeye comes upon him. When the chef approaches, Jamie draws his blade, fending off the Androgum. Shockeye is called upon by Chessene, who demands to know if he’s stocked the ship.

While the chef explains he was bringing special rations (as the standard traveling fare is so beneath him), Jamie runs off. She says he is of no import, as Stike will kill everyone on board. Shockeye mourns the loss of a chance to cook him, but seems happy when he gets Chessene to agree to go to Earth, so that he might get to eat a human.

When she chastises him for thinking with his stomach, he quotes their law, “The gratification of pleasure is the sole motive of action.” She says she still accepts that law, but there are other pleasures than the purely sensual.

There’s a little tension here; he sees her as impure, untrue to their people. She sees him as a purist and beneath her. When he brings up her lack of using her proper Androgum name, she says she has not forgotten her lineage, but ahead of her are greater things.

Six recovers, Peri asking if he’s all right. “Of course I’m not all right! What happened,” he replies. When she says he fainted, he scoffs, saying he never faints. He says he felt a weakness, and then he was somewhere else.

She suggests some celery and he agrees, also suggesting jelly babies. Then he talks of having a clarinet or a flute… then recalls it was a recorder. He talks of being killed then but existed now and completely confuses her.

“Circular logic will only get you dizzy,” she says.

Peri suggests that he should consult a doctor. He asks her if she’s trying to be funny, but then says that’s not a half bad idea. He pulls out a chain of cards, going through them (and name dropping like he always has done), before finding one for Dastari!

He sets course for Space Station Chimera, rambling about the various studies and experiments at the station.

Their TARDIS arrives in the kitchen, which is full of foul meat, left on the tables to rot. Peri complains about the smell, which Six says is “mainly decaying food… and corpses.” He goes on to wax poetic about the smell of death.

They exit, moving through darkened corridors. (So the Sontarans left the life support systems going? I wonder how long it’s been.) They find signs of laser bolts and The Doctor says it’s recently happened.

Peri suggests leaving (again, sigh, always with that) and The Doctor says he wants to find out what happened. He had originally thought it was a comet strike or some such accident, but now he’s seen someone deliberately attacked, he can’t believe it. “Who would want to stop the brilliant work that was being done here? Pure research, it threatened no one!”

The station computer replies, “It threatened the Time Lords.” The Doctor demands that it explain, but it orders him to leave. When he refuses, the computer threatens to activate “defense alert”.

The computer begins to depressurise that section. The Doctor scrambles, looking for a manual override on one of the doors. As he works it, Peri collapses, but the door shortly opens and they slip in.

On Earth, at what seems to be a Spanish estate, we see a Sontaran, Chessene and Shockeye arrive. She seems to detect a solitary female occupant. She tells Shockeye it is older and might not be edible.

Peri recovers, finding that she and Six are in Dastari’s office. Six talks about Dastari in the past tense, and when Peri questions, he tells her that forty of the greatest scientific minds were killed her.

She asks why the computer said that Time Lords were behind it, but he says he doesn’t know.

The lights come on, and he explains the computer has lost track of them. The Doctor points out the carpeted floor in Dastari’s office and explains that they were being tracked by the heat of their feet on the floors outside, but in here, it couldn’t detect them through the carpeting.

“You mean it got worried and switched on the lights,” Peri asks, not quipping as one would expect.

“Something like that,” Six replies, bringing out a smile from Peri.

The Doctor tells her to think of it as a game between them and the computer. She replies, “I love games, Doctor. Games where I’m not expected to end up dead.”

Six is distracted, going through Dastari’s… office book? Appointment calendar? Diary? Not sure what, but it seems to detail the experiements they were doing there, which Six finds fascinating.

(Ah, it’s his day journal.)

It details the “time control experiments”, which he explains is news that the Third Zone was so close to that technology. He stops, then reads from the journal, “The Time Lords are demanding that Kartz and Reimer suspend their work, alleging that their experiments are imperiling the continuum.”

(Ok, he didn’t have time to record that, so that’s either a slip up in writing/editing or someone else entered that.)

The entry goes on to say that Dastari refused their demands and that his colleagues feared forcible retaliation from the Time Lords. “All agree that we must stand firm and refuse to be intimidated.”

When she asks, The Doctor says it couldn’t be the Time Lords, they would not have stooped to massacre. He refuses to believe it, saying there must be another explanation.

Peri suggests that someone could be setting up the Time Lords; he initially disputes that, but then realises she could very well be right.

She complains (shocking) about it getting hot in there and he says that the computer is trying to bake them now. He says they have to find a way to the computer controls and turn it off.

He rummages through Dastari’s desk, complaining that he can’t even find a paper clip. Taking a piece of wire from a ornament, The Doctor trips the lock on the door, opening it.

Back on Earth, an aged woman prays at an personal altar, rising to her feet with the use of a cane. It seems she’s blind, as she uses it to make her way out, but runs into Shockeye. The woman asks who is there in Spanish, and when Shockeye says “it cannot see”, she switches to English, “You are English?”

Now, why would they be speaking English?

He knocks her out and then inspects her, saying the bones are dry and brittle. Chessene says her mind may still be of use and instructs him to bring her.

Shockeye turns to the Sontaran, “You carry it, Varl.” I’m shocked, I thought all Sontarans has S-names. (No, wait, the first one ever seen was called “Linx”. Never mind.)

Varl snaps at Shockeye, saying he does not take orders from civilians and leaves to follow Chessene. Shockeye is left to pick up the old woman himself.

Back on Chimera, Peri whines about wondering if they could just leave, but The Doctor says they have to stay and find out what happened. Peri sees a dead body of an Androgum, but The Doctor says not to worry about it.

They slide down a service tunnel and find themselves in the service ducts. After bragging about his unerring sense of direction, The Doctor gets turned about several times. As they make their way, something in the shadows watches them, growling.

At the estate, Shockeye tells Chessene that Varl is setting up a beacon for the Sontaran ship. She says that Stike must be discreet in landing, “This planet is greatly over-populated.”

Delighted at the prospect, Shockeye all but giggles when he says, “But the time I leave it, madam, that might not be a problem.” He’s so delightfully corny and over-the-top. I love it!

When he asks if she learned anything of import from the “dead mind”, she says they are in a region called Andalucia, four kilometres from Seville. Shockeye is disappointed to learn that the woman was not concerned with food, but religion.

They argue some more, the same argument before – she calling him a primitive, he saying she only says that because of “the alien filth” injected into her by Dastari, and reminds her that she is still an Androgum.

Six and Peri move through the service ducts, which are like a giant jungle gym of tubes. He explains they’re “Fluidic streams, interesting application of an old idea. I think I detect Dastari’s hand in the design.” He explains that the fluid carries signals, but Peri hears something growling.

They, too banter, some of the same of their old arguments. As they set off, she hears the snarling/growling again. The Doctor, who didn’t hear it, says it must be hydraulics, but then they both hear it and he agrees that there’s something in there with them.

The continue on to their destination, below the central control area. He starts tinkering with the lines, but has difficulty remembering all the color codes.

Varl watches as a Sontaran ship approaches.

An Englishman and a local women approach the estate; she tells him about the old woman, how her mother used to work for her. He has a net, so I’m guessing he’s a collector of butterflies or somesuch.

Varl approaches Shockeye, “Our leader is in descent orbit,” he tells him. Shockeye says that Chessene is their leader. Varl argues that “Marshal Stike commands the Ninth Sontaran Battle Group!” They argue who is responsible for planning and running their operation.

Anita, the local woman, leads Oscar, who is in fact hunting moths, to a spot she says they frequent. He agrees that it “looks like splendid moth country.” Saying they are ladies of the night, they are early, and he sets down his lantern and net and waxes poetic about moths.

As they talk about his passion for moths, the Sontaran ship is seen blazing overhead. She drags him to go investigate, as he whines about the sight of gory entrails, which he can’t stand the sight of, “except, of course, on stage”. So he’s an actor.

They observe the Second Doctor being carried into the hacienda. Oscar worries that there will be injuries, but she insists they go see if they can help.

Peri has crawled down the ladder and finds something, calling out to The Doctor, but he’s still tinkering with things. She is attacked by something or someone, and her scream distracts The Doctor, who ends up getting gassed by a booby trap. He passes out and falls, landing on some cables… and the credits roll.

Okay, so there are some silly bits and all… still, enjoyable. Looking forward to when the two Doctors meet!

Serial 97 – The Invasion of Time 2/2

It’s a split post, so spoiler time…

Episode 4:

K-9 stuns Andred before he can fire his gun at The Doctor. That done, K-9 reconnects with the TARDIS console (while still wearing the Matrix headpiece). Yep, K-9 is a pretty bad ass companion.

Kellner sends out a command to arrest Andred; the Vardans question if anything is wrong, but the Castellan says it’s just a small matter of discipline.

Andred wakes up as The Doctor squats near K-9. Too involved with urging K-9 on in whatever it is they are doing, he doesn’t notice Andred until the commander has his gun pointed at the Lord President again. Andred tries to fire his gun, but The Doctor tells him it doesn’t work in the TARDIS.

Kellner’s guards attack and shoot Andred’s guards outside the TARDIS.

Andred tells The Doctor that the TARDIS is surrounded, there’s no way he could leave alive (obviously, unaware of what just transpired outside.) The Doctor tells him not to touch anything, he’s going out for a bit.

The guards outside report to The Doctor that the others were trying to assassinate him. He asks if they all had to be killed, to which the guards reply in the affirmative. The Doctor chastises the guards for letting the ringleader, Andred, escape, and orders them off to find him.

The Doctor goes back inside and informs Andred that his coup has failed. “I don’t know what they teach you in the Academy these days, but if you can’t pull of a simple palace revolution, what can you pull off, hmm?” Andred refuses to believe it and tries to open the scanner to see.

He realises it’s been jammed and The Doctor lets him in on a secret – that with the scanner closed, they can’t read his thoughts or travel via broadcast wavelengths to get there. He’s biding his time, hoping to identify their planet of origin, to time loop it.

Andred suggests using the Matrix, but The Doctor says it has been invaded. That’s why he has K-9 plugged in to the Matrix instead of himself.

Andred questions, “Can you trust a machine?”

“This one I can. He’s my second best friend.” Awwwww!

Kellner is conferring with the Vardans; he says he has a delicate matter to discuss with them. He brings up the Lord President’s strange behavior, but the Vardans are already aware and say they shall deal with him soon.

Back in the TARDIS, The Doctor is saying, “Well, at least they don’t suspect me.” Yikes!

The Vardans learn that Andred is neither dead nor a captive; Kellner suggest that he must have escaped to Outer Gallifrey.

At the tribal village, Leela and Nesbin discuss attacking the Citadel.

The Doctor outfits Andred’s helmet with a partial barrier to protect his inner thoughts from the Vardans.

K-9 has determined the wavelength the Vardans are using, but not the channel of origin. The Doctor says he’ll have to continue to play along and dismantle the forcefield protecting Gallifrey.

The Doctor says that Rassilon is part of the APC net and he can use his knowledge to dismantle the forcefield without blowing Gallifrey to pieces.

Nesbin trains Gomer on how to use a bow. It’s hopeless. Leela says she and Nesbin’s warriors will have to attack the Citadel on their own and rescue The Doctor. She believes he will know what to do and insists that The Doctor is not working with the Vardans.

The Doctor speaks with the Vardans about using the APC net. He places the Matrix headset on and this time it doesn’t cause him any harm. He says there is a way and walks off; the Vardans remind him they are watching his every move, monitoring his every thought.

Andred and K-9 work on some calculations in the TARDIS.

The Doctor finds the machinery for the forcefield and starts to work on it; a Vardan appears to observe directly.

Leela, Rodan and the warriors run through desert, towards the Citadel.

The Doctor works on the machinery; things all over the Citadel wobble and shake. After a few moments of this, he announces, “Well, I did it,” and walks off.

K-9 says it’s imperative they make it to the President’s office immediately and departs the TARDIS, reminding Andred to grab his helmet.

In the Panopticon, The Doctor arrives; Kellner, who was knocked to the ground by the shaking, is just getting up. The Doctor tells the Vardans that he couldn’t destroy the forcefield, as that would destroy the planet, but he made a hole in it above the Citadel.

Kellner wails that with a hole in the forcefield they are without protection, but quickly changes his tune when the Vardans say they are the protection now.

When questioned on the permanency of the hole, The Doctor says some more work will have to be performed to achieve that.

The Vardan space ship zooms in. The Vardans announce they are safe now and can materialise. They do, and there are three humans, much to Kellner’s disappointment. One of the Vardans is instructed to assist The Doctor in his work.

Andred and K-9 move down the corridors; Andred shoots a guard who recognises him.

Leela sends Nesbin with the majority of the warriors to enter one side of the Citadel, to create a diversionary attack, while she takes Rodan and Jasko (one of the tribe) with her.

The Vardan ship flies in closer and closer.

Lots of walking through corridors – The Doctor and his Vardan escort, K-9 and Andred. The latter two enter the lead-lined Presidential quarters and K-9 shuts down to conserve resources while Andred asks how long it will be before The Doctor gets there. Andred shuts the doors and takes off his helmet, looking at the walls and the inside of his helmet, as if impressed.

Leela, Jasko and Rodan lurk in the Citadel, Leela whispering that something is wrong. She points out the missing guards.

Outside the Presidential quarters, The Doctor stops and says he has an idea, and pops in the quarters, saying, “Two seconds!” The Vardan stands outside, then tries to open the door. He takes the energy/tinfoil form, while inside, The Doctor laughs mockingly.

The other two Vardans tell Kellner The Doctor has betrayed them and appoint Kellner as the new one to run things. He leaves to “issue instructions and take control, immediately”.

Leela bangs on the TARDIS door. They decide to check the Presidential quarters when nobody lets them in.

Kellner issues an alert, taking control of Gallifrey and putting a shoot on sight order for the Lord President.

The Doctor hands the Rod, Sash and Matrix to Andred, then picks up K-9 and puts him on a table. He puts the Sash and Matrix on K-9, propping the Rod of Rassilon against the robot dog. K-9 says he is ready.

The Vardan instructs two guards to break the door down, but instead they fall, each with an arrow in their back. The Vardan vanishes as both Leela’s force and Nesbin’s meet up, congratulating each other. They try to break the door down.

Inside, The Doctor, attending to K-9, instructs Andred to open the door. The primitives charge in, but Andred warns them to keep still. K-9 begins doing something, his head nodding up and down and his little interface sucker extending in and retracting over and again.

The lead Vardan says he detects an “illegitimate frequency tracer” and yells for a full alert.

K-9 finds the coordinates of the Vardan home world The Doctor instructs him to “activate the modulation rejection pattern” and like a good doggie, he does.

Kellner arrives to report he can’t break into… but stops as The Vardans disappear. The Castellan wonders what happened.

K-9 says there is no trace of alien wave form left on Gallifrey. The Doctor seems very somber at this and takes the tools off K-9, then announces they’ve won – he sent the invaders back to their home world and will jerry-rig a time loop.

Leela asks how they could have won when there hasn’t been any real combat. He tells her that with some practice, she’d be “quite proficient” at killing people. They all leave, as Leela tries to find out what “proficient” means.

Kellner greets The Doctor and his posse of warriors. The Doctor pretty much tells the Castellan that he’s not a very good Castellan, then sends him to “clear up the mess”.

Leela asks if it is over and The Doctor says it is, and everyone rejoices. The Doctor begins to give a speech about the future of Gallifrey, but everyone is staring off to the side. He stops, asking, “What are you looking at,” and turns to see a group of Sontarans in battle armour. (Not that they wear anything else that I’ve ever seen.)

The lead Sontaran takes out his weapon and points it at The Doctor… and the credits roll.

I have always loved that wonderful bait and switch.

Episode 5:

The Doctor raises his hands, asking, “Please don’t fire that thing.”

The Sontaran lead steps forward, followed by his associates. He (it? Sontarans are gender-neutral) says there is no advantage in killing yet. “Slavery is more efficient.”

Commander Stor of the Sontaran Special Space Service (SSSS?) introduces him(it?)self? The Doctor mocks him for carrying alliteration too far.

Stor reveals that the Vardans were the toys of the Sontarans, saying they were used to get the forcefield to be dropped. Stor then asks whom Doctor is, but nobody points him out and he declines it himself, saying he is Lord President and he is called “sir”.

Stor sends one of his troopers to “find Doctor!”

Borusa is seen listening in to the discussion from his quarters. He shuts the device off and then accesses his secret door, using it to find entry in the Presidential quarters. There, the device seems to be useless, and he remarks that he believes The Doctor and then heads back through the secret door there to his own quarters.

Of course Borusa would have a secret door to the Presidential quarters. Borusa is the man, one of my fave Time Lords of all. Back in his quarters, he can pick up the conversation again.

Stor and The Doctor are talking about the ultimate goal – Victory over all. Stor gets tired of talking.

Borusa accesses a secret panel in his room, activating a switch which causes a sonic attack in the Panopticon; the Sontarans writhe in agony as everyone runs off, except Kellner, who I’m not sure if he was trying to help Stor or attack him. Stor shoves off Kellner as he writhes.

The Doctor says someone was helping them escape; he takes half the group (including Leela, Rodan, Andred) and Nesbin and the rest go in another direction.

Kellner apologises to Stor, calling him, “My Lord”. I don’t know if he’s just sucking up to them out of habit or if there’s some deeper connection. Stor sends an order to apprehend the President but to kill those with him. Kellner seems to protest and is knocked away by Stor again.

The Doctor’s group hide in a corridor; The Doctor tells Leela how to kill a Sontaran and she casts her voice, making the Sontaran turn around, exposing his back. She throws her knife at the small vent in the back of the neck (the physical weak point of the Sontarans) and kills him, instantly.

Borusa continues to listen in on The Doctor, smiling.

Kellner helps Stor predict where The Doctor’s group is heading – the Presidential quarters. Stor gives the order again to take the President alive, and again, Kellner protests and again, Stor knocks Kellner to the ground.

Borusa listens to The Doctor saying he has an urgent appointment in the Presidential quarters.

Stor orders Kellner to accompany him.

There’s lots of running (see, it IS Doctor Who, after all) in corridors and stairways. Also a lot of stairwells. Sontarans do not run, apparently, but stomp ploddingly.

Also, lots of the same sets being used over and over and over, sometimes with slight changes.

The Doctor and his associates make it to the Presidential quarters, where Borusa greets them with a gun in hand, pointed at them.

Stor and Kellner and a handful of troopers meet up outside the Presidential quarters. The Castellan calls Stor “excellency”. The troopers begin banging on the door.

The Doctor says it won’t hold long. Borusa comments on lead not being the best defense against heat-based weapons. The Doctor agrees.

Borusa comments, “Fortunately, someone had the sense to reinforce the structure with a titanium-based alloy.” The look of joy on his former student’s face is delightful. The Doctor vouches for his companions, and Borusa puts away his gun.

Stor sends for fully armed troopers to deal with the door.

The Doctor and Borusa agree that getting to The Doctor’s TARDIS is the best plan and they access the secret passageway. The Doctor unlocks the door, which Stor hears and when the Sontaran opens the door, he demands of Kellner, “What trick is this,” but the Castellan pleads ignorance.

The Sontarans burst into the room, followed by Kellner, but there is nobody there.

The Doctor asks Leela to take the others to the TARDIS, but she argues, saying every time she leaves him, he gets into trouble. He begs her to trust him and she gives in. Everyone (now including K-9) but The Doctor and Borusa (still holding his gun) leave. The President turns to the Chancellor and asks, “Well, now, Borusa, are you going to help me or kill me, hmm?”

Stor tells Kellner he may still be of use to them; it seems the Castellan has no previous association with the Sontarans, and is just attaching his fate to the new invaders.

The Doctor demands of Borusa, “Where is it?” Borusa claims ignorance. The Doctor asks for the Great Key, but Borusa says it is but a myth. Borusa says every President has been charged with finding the Great Key. “None has ever found it.”

Sontaran troopers engage in fire fight with Leela’s group, taking down several warriors. Jasko is downed, but manages to take out one Sontaran from behind (Leela’s knife throw to the neck vent is repeated quite well here.)

The Doctor and Borusa verbally… not quite spar, not debate, maybe dance? The Doctor appeals to Borusa’s compassion, but the Chancellor plays it aloof, detached The Doctor says that if they don’t do anything, millions of Sontarans will threaten time itself.

This gets Borusa to react, he turns and yells, “They cannot threaten time, not while I…” he stops, realising he gave himself away.

The Doctor completes the sentence, “Yes, Chancellor… not while you have the Great Key.”

Leela, Andred, Rodan and K-9 make it to the TARDIS.

There is a piece of art on the wall of Borusa’s office, that is a bunch of keys. The Doctor says he read Borusa’s paper on reason and says where better to hide a tree than in a forest?

Andred picks the lock to the TARDIS and they get inside.

Borusa plays it coy, saying take all the keys. The Doctor postulates that, to keep any President from having too much power, he gave the Great Key to the Chancellor and it has been handed down since then. Borusa remarks none of this in the Matrix (“I know, I’ve been there, you haven’t,” The Doctor remarks to this.)

The Doctor has Borusa’s gun and points it at him, saying, “I will kill you before I let that key fall into the hands of the Sontarans.” Borusa says that will not be necessary and plucks a key off the wall artwork. The Doctor throws the key to the floor and points the gun at him again.

This time, Borusa reaches down and pulls a key out from beneath his desk (next to the controls that attacked the Sontarans in the Panopticon) and hands it to The Doctor, saying, “You are the first President since Rassilon to hold the Great Key.” The Doctor regards it most seriously as very important music plays. (Score for us, not actually in-story.)

Kellner pleads with Stor, saying nobody can connect to the Matrix without the circuit. Stor says to bypass the Matrix, but Kellner insists that it is impossible.

Stor’s reply is so, so Sontaran, “For the strong, everything is possible!” Stor demands that the gap in the forcefield be widened so his battle cruisers might enter.

When Stor says that only The Doctor can give him the Great Key, Kellner almost gets himself killed by arguing, but quickly talks his way out of it.

The Doctor and Borusa walk by several Sontaran troopers, asking if they got their new orders and to get in touch with Stor. They walk on.

Stor yells at his troopers, “Of course there are no new orders, stop him!”

The Sontaran troopers pursue and fire upon the Chancellor and The Doctor, but Borusa’s personal force shield protect them – though he says the batteries are uncomfortably low.

He turns to The Doctor as the two troopers get closer, “So, what do you suggest we do?”

“Run?”

“Run.”

“Let’s do that.”

The two Time Lords run (Borusa is most inelegant, even complaining that it is, “So undignified, I haven’t run like this for centuries.”) They make it to the TARDIS, but The Doctor closes the door before Borusa can get in. Exasperated, Borusa rolls his eyes and bangs on the door, “If you could just open the door…”

He is quickly let in, and the door slams, just as the troopers arrive and open fire on the TARDIS, to no effect.

Kellner looks at the forcefield machinery, while Stor presses him. The Castellan says there is a way to patch control through.

In the TARDIS, The Doctor gives Leela the Great Key, much to the horror of Borusa. The Doctor tells Leela he trusts her, much to Leela’s delight.

The Doctor consults with Rodan about sealing the hole in the barrier. He asks her if she could connect the TARDIS controls to the machinery and she asks if he has a screwdriver. I like Rodan!

(Still no Godzilla/etc jokes.)

Stor pressures Kellner; Stor confides that his battalion commander has demanded immediate entry. “Unless I obey, I shall die. Before I do, you will die, Time Lord.” This makes Kellner quite uncomfortable, and understandably so!

The Doctor plays assistant to Rodan, handing her tools and comforting the TARDIS as she works.

Stor is enraged when Kellner says the controls have been bypassed.

The Doctor goes on about what the Sontarans are after – the Key, Rod and Sash, linked to the Matrix.

Kellner posits that he can bypass the safety circuits.

Rodan calls the TARDIS a “load of junk”. I don’t like her so much any more.

She opens the scanner to show the Sontaran fleet in perfect formation (in the form of an arrow.) The Doctor wonders why they brought an entire battle fleet, but she says it doesn’t matter, the shields are up and as long as the TARDIS remains secure, he controls the defense screens.

Stor praises Kellner, who then flips a bunch of switches and levers.

Suddenly, everything goes wobbly in the TARDIS, and The Doctor tells Rodan that the stabiliser banks have been reversed. She says only a Time Lord could do that, and The Doctor agrees – even a criminal one could do it.

As they are shook about, The Doctor cries out, “We’re being thrown into a black star,”… and the credits roll.

Nice, intense, dramatic cliffhanger.

Episode 6:

Leela bursts into the console room, but The Doctor tells her to get Rodan. The Doctor throws a failsafe switch, effectively trapping the TARDIS.

Stor demands that Kellner bring the relevant entrance probe to The Doctor’s TARDIS.

The Doctor finds out that Leela took everyone to the bathroom and gives her a hard time for getting lost. She argues that his directions were too convoluted to follow. They set off to find the others.

Stor and Kellner enter the TARDIS; Stor says the machine is obsolete. Kellner agrees, saying this model was taken out of service centuries ago. The door to the further interior of the TARDIS has been locked from within, bu Stor says this is the only way out (what about the secondary control room? Did we forget about that already or is that how the others are going to get out?)

The Doctor, Rodan and Leela walk through various levels, the whole time, The Doctor rants on about his sense of direction and his reliable antiquated TARDIS. They pass through the same room several times.

There’s a bit of silly banter. You’ll have to watch the episode.

They’re obviously lost and The Doctor says he knows the TARDIS like the back of his hand (while looking at the front). Leela turns his hand over for him.

A Sontaran trooper blasts at the door, trying to get in.

K-9 is attached to some machinery in a workshop while Andred looks on.

There’s more walking through the same room again. It’s getting old now.

Stor says it is a stalemate – The Doctor cannot escape and neither can Stor destroy the TARDIS. Just then, the trooper with the laser/blaster/cutter breaks through the door lock.

The Doctor and girls meet up with K-9 and Andred. Andred tells The Doctor it is at capacity, as he ordered, but we don’t get to know what they’re speaking of. They get an alert that the upstairs door has been broken through.

Stor puts his helmet back on, saying, “We will do battle in your own ground, Doctor,” as he and his trooper enter the inner TARDIS.

The Doctor gives Rodan the Great Key and instructs her (presumably through hypnosis, but she doesn’t seem to be entranced) to assist K-9 with anything he needs. He tells her to give the Great Key to K-9 when he asks for it, but to give it to no one else.

The Doctor, Leela and Andred leave, running about different areas. Seems they’re looking for the bathroom.

Stor says The Doctor has set up a “biological barrier”, keeping him from tracking human life forms (though the only human is Leela, so I’m not entirely sure why he’d be tracing them). Kellner says he can take down the generator powering the barrier.

Rodan does some welding.

The Doctor, Leela and Andred run through some corridors. I guess we had to fill the time requirements on the episode somehow, hmm?

Borusa is reading an issue of The Daily Mirror reporting the sinking of the Titanic. He sips some water/clear liquid through a spiral straw. The Doctor arrives and, seeing the headline, swears he had nothing to do with it.

The Doctor goes on to say that it would be bad if Borusa fell into the hands of the Sontarans – he knows too much about the Rod, Sash and Key. They hear the Sontarans approaching and rush out, Andred throwing lounge chairs in the way of the trooper.

There’s more shenanigans of running through all sorts of crazy rooms. Borusa complains about wishing The Doctor kept a tighter ship, so to speak.

Andred gets shot in the arm, but accidentally, as Stor is firing randomly in frustration. The Doctor sends Leela to escort Andred and Borusa back to the workshop.

In a terrarium, the trooper enters, firing blindly as The Doctor does bird whistles and duck calls and squeaks and other such not. There’s a rather strange plant that swallows up the Sontaran. The Doctor walks off.

The Doctor wanders through the same rooms again. It’s getting really old.

Stor and Kellner find and free the trooper. Stor sends the two of them to destroy the generator. He takes off his helmet (he’s worse than the actors in Spider-Man 3) and says he has other things to attend to.

The Doctor meets up with Borusa, Andred and Leela. They head to the workshop.

There’s a museum with artwork and statues. Kellner and the trooper enter and Kellner says it is the ancillary power station. Kellner finds a switch in the Venus de Milo statue, turning it off to remove the illusion. Kellner unplugs a plug thing and the trooper can trace them now.

Back at the workshop, The Doctor snaps Rodan out of her hypnosis (OK, so she was in his influence) and takes the Great Key. She and K-9 had been making a giant gun, a rifle, very futuristic looking.

Borusa is upset, forbidding The Doctor to use it, saying it should not have been built. The Doctor tells Rodan that she built “the ultimate weapon”, the d-mat gun. He snaps the Great Key into place.

“I could rule the universe with this, Chancellor,” The Doctor says. Borusa implores him to destroy it, saying, “it will throw us back to the darkest age!”

The trooper and Kellner arrive, and The Doctor blasts the trooper with the gun. Leela puts her knife to the Castellan’s throat and he tells The Doctor that Stor is in the Panopticon. (But he’s not…) The Doctor looks at Borusa and says, “The Matrix,” and runs off.

Stor is wandering through the halls of the TARDIS. The Doctor is hunting him, d-mat gun in hand. Stor approaches the Panopticon, with some explosive device, but The Doctor is already waiting for him there.

Stor is prepared to die for the Sontaran empire; The Doctor says he will destroy the entire galaxy, and Stor is happy to agree, saying all the Time Lords will go with it.

“If we cannot control the power of the Time Lords, then we shall destroy it!”

As Stor moves to place the explosive down, The Doctor fires the gun. There’s a bright white flash and when it clears, The Doctor is seen laying on the ground, the key next to him, no rifle in sight.

Back in the workshop, they hear the plodding steps of a Sontaran approaching. Leela moves to the side of the entrance, knife in hand… but it’s just The Doctor being a clown. He asks Borusa what he’s doing there and then is surprised to be called “Excellence” and wonders why he’s wearing the Sash of Rassilon.

Borusa takes the Sash from him, asking if he’s forgotten his induction and asks him about the Vardans and Sontarans, but The Doctor has no recollection of any of it, or of saving Gallifrey.

Borusa proclaims it is the wisdom of Rassilon that he remembers nothing.

Back at the TARDIS, everyone gives The Doctor a round of applause. He bows and says good bye and then tells Leela, “Come on,” but she says she’s staying. When he asks why, she reaches over to Andred, taking his hand in hers.

The Doctor nods and tells Andred that she’ll look after him and is awfully good with a knife. He tells K-9 to come, but the robot dog says he will stay as well, “To look after the mistress.” The Doctor seems a bit shocked but doesn’t argue.

Leela says she will miss The Doctor and he smiles, chuckles and closes the door. Inside, he rests his head against the closed doors, saying, “I’ll miss you, too, savage.”

The TARDIS dematerialises as everyone watches. Borusa asks, “Where will he go now, I wonder?”

Leela’s reply is simple, “Somewhere else.”

The Doctor pushes a large box into the console room. He stops and adjusts some controls on the console.

Leela asks K-9 if The Doctor will be lonely, but the robot says there is insufficient data. She and K-9 lower their heads together.

The Doctor looks at the box, marked “K-9 MK II”. He regards the camera with a big toothy grin and a laugh… and the final credits roll.

All in all, one of the best serials ever. A lot of fun, great characters, smarmy villains, devious Time Lords, so much more of an insight into the Gallifreyan people… I love this serial quite a bit, I must say. It’s not a perfect story, by any stretch, but it is a lot of fun.

Sad to see Leela go. I gather Louise Jameson wasn’t too happy towards the end of her tenure. They should have set up some romance between Andred and her to explain why she stayed, though.

Serial 77 – The Sontaran Experiment

This picks up right immediately after the last one ends off, with The Doctor and his companions beaming down to Earth. This is one of the rare two episode serials (two by twenty-five minutes, not to be confused with the 45 minute serials of Colin Baker’s and later runs.)

Episode 1:

The Doctor transmats down into a circle of spheres. Harry appears and disappears several times before materialising. Sarah ends outside of the spheres, upside down in the tall grass. The Doctor inspects the spheres (which, honestly, after 8-10K years, should be completely underground or something by now. They’re only a foot or two tall) while Harry tends to Sarah.

The Doctor suggests that his companions go for a stroll, as he’ll be busy with repairs. They wander about, but Sarah hears something. Harry says it’s just her imagination – there hasn’t been life on Earth for 10K years. Harry is rather dismissive of her concerns (and honestly, while there’s likely no NATIVE life, why don’t they assume something like a Wirrn could have just as easily landed here as on the ark?)

Two humans watch The Doctor from the high grass. They’re wearing space suits and one has a laser rifle/pistol trained on him. The other runs back to let a third member know about it.

Harry slips down a stiff slope into a ravine. Sarah tells him that the edge of the hole has been covered – it’s a trap! She goes off to fetch The Doctor.

The man watching The Doctor runs off as a robot on wheels comes near. It chases him to a steep incline, and as he tries to slide down, he tumbles and falls. His scream alerts The Doctor, who comes running to find his corpse. As he checks on the man, the other two men show up and shoot The Doctor, who drops.

Sarah Jane returns to the circles, but The Doctor is nowhere in sight. She finds his sonic screwdriver laying atop one of the spheres.

Harry hears someone at the top of the ravine and dodges when small boulders are thrown down. He crawls into a cave, seeking shelter.

The two men drag the unconscious Doctor back to their camp; another man watches from the grass.

Sarah returns to the pit Harry is in, but there’s no sign of him. She pulls a long branch over.

The Doctor recovers at the campsite and the two men threaten him, demanding to know what he’s done with their crewmates.

Harry exits through a tunnel into the open.

Sarah is grabbed by the man who was watching the other two. He covers her mouth and wrestles her back from the pit, just before the robot arrives. It stops and seems to scan the area before heading off.

The man watches to be sure that the robot is gone before questioning her. He reveals that he covered the pit to try to catch the robot. He talks about the alien in the rocks – the robot (he calls it a machine) captures them and takes them to the alien to torture.

The leader of the crew shows up and he doesn’t believe The Doctor’s claim of being from Nerva. It turns out the crewmen are from a human colony and they only know of Nerva as a legend. The Doctor is very fascinated by a small device on the front of the leader’s spacesuit; he says it’s not a product of human tech, and it’s a video link, as we see from the monitor receiving the signal.

The stubby hand of a Sontaran is seen pressing buttons under the monitor. (C’mon, it’s not spoilery, their name is in the title of the serial!) In response, the robot moves off in some direction.

The three crewmen argue what to do over The Doctor.

Roth leads Sarah Jane back to the camp, but won’t go closer; he’s afraid of Vural, the leader – he says he saw the alien let Vural go and believes him to be working with the alien.

The Doctor is being interrogated again. He offers to help them, saying he can fix the transmat, they all pop up to Nerva and and call for help. Vural grabs him and gets very antagonistic over “that Mother Earth crap”, saying they won’t take orders from them. While they’ve been sleeping for 10K years, Vural’s people have been forging an emptire.

Roth distracts the crew and they run off after him. While they’re gone, Sarah Jane frees The Doctor and they run off. Roth and Sarah take The Doctor to the pit, but he falls while trying to slip down. The robot comes up behind Sarah Jane and Roth, both of whom cower in fear.

Harry climbs through some rocks, skulkily. He spots a spherical object – obviously a Sontaran spacecraft.

The Doctor comes to at the bottom of the pit. He calls out for Sarah, but there’s no response.

Harry approaches the sphere, hiding in the rocks. He sees Roth and Sarah, captured by the robot, brought there, bound in cable. The Sontaran exits and takes off his helmet… and the credits roll.

Not a real cliffhanger, because we knew the Sontarans we in it from the title. Of course, she knows of the Sontarans from her first serial, THE TIME WARRIOR.

Episode 2:

Sarah gasps, “Linx,” thinking it is the same one – she doesn’t know they’re clones. The Sontaran approaches her, saying, “The female of the species.”

Sarah says he can’t be there, she saw him blow up in the thirteenth century; the Sontaran introduces himself as “Field Major Styre.” Roth runs off, saying he won’t be tortured again. Styre shoots him dead, and asks why Sarah Jane screamed when he did that.

From behind the rocks, Harry watches all of this.

In the pit, The Doctor is found by the crewmen as he climbs out of the pit.

Harry moves closer, finding a man in manacles, chained to the rocks.

As The Doctor climbs out, the robot arrives and the men start firing on it. It captures all three of the crewmen.

Styre demands to know where Sarah came from; he tells her he knows she was not on the GalSec ship. He puts a headband on her and leaves her tied up. Harry comes in and finds her, but is not able to reach her, as Styre set up a force field.

Styre reports in to his superior officer, the Field Marshal. He gives his report on the humans he has tested – a report needed before the Sontarans can launch an assault, presumably on one of the human colonies?

Styre initiates a test on Sarah, using the headband on her, subjecting her to a fear test. She first sees the binds on her wrist as a snake… then the rocks above her seem to fall… then the ground about her feet starts slurching up her legs…

The Doctor arrives and neutralises the force field. Removing the headunit, he frees her, but she passes out. Styre arrives and when The Doctor charges him, he knocks the Time Lord down. The Doctor tries to escape, but is shot.

Later, the three crewmen are brought to Styre’s spacecraft. He exits, and Vural starts begging to be spared, saying he worked with him. Vural tries to explain to his crewmen that he did it for them, but Styre says that he won’t honor an arrangement with someone who would betray his own people.

Harry returns, finding the one prisoner dead, and Sarah and The Doctor unconscious. He hides as Styre appears to check on the dead crewman. He reports that after nine days, seven hours, the subject died from “fluid deprivation”, which is a weakness to be exploited.

Harry moves to strike Styre, but The Doctor grabs him from behind and pulls him away. He tells Harry to take care of Sarah while he tries to find out what Styre’s purpose is.

Styre has the three crewmen in another experiment; Vural is tied to a rock, the other two holding a “gravity bar” above Vural. Styre starts increasing the weight of the gravity bar and the men struggle to keep it from crushing Vural.

The Doctor encounters the robot and, using the sonic screwdriver, disables it.

Arak, one of the humans, tries to get to a knife when Styre is summoned to the communications device (which is outside the ship. Makes PERFECT sense.) The Doctor is hiding amongst the rocks above the communication device and overhears that the entire invasion fleet is being held up, waiting on Styre’s report.

The Doctor tells his companions that he has a plan – he’s going to challenge Styre to one-on-one combat. He says that Styre won’t turn him down. His goal is to tire Styre out so that he has to return to his ship to re-energise (Sontarans do not eat food like humans do.) While he has Styre busy fighting, he wants Harry to sneak in the ship. He hands Harry the sonic screwdriver and then leans in to tell him what to do.

Styre is back to testing the humans when The Doctor approaches, saying Styre has fallen into his trap. He tells them that the crewmen are part of the Earth slave class, while he represents the “true warrior class” and challenges him to single combat.

Styre rises to the challenge and grabs a large machete-type knife. The Doctor has a pole and they begin to fight. Sarah Jane goes to help the crewmen while Harry enters Styre’s ship.

The crewmen, freed, run over to help The Doctor. Vural is killed in the fight, but they manage to delay Styre long enough for Harry to get some equipment out of the ship. Seeing this, The Doctor allows Styre to enter his ship unimpeded, and when he staggers out, moments later, he is dying. He collapses to the ground and his body seems to deflate, then equipment inside the ship explodes.

The Doctor gets on the communications device and contacts the Field Marshal, telling him that they have access to all their plans. The Doctor threatens that, if the Sontarans cross the “buffer zone” their fleet will be destroyed. The bluff carries weight and the Field Marshal signs off with a threat of destroying them all.

The last two crewmen say their farewells as The Doctor and his companions beam away in the transmat sphere circle… and the final credits roll.

It’s interesting to note that Styre and the Field Marshal were played by Kevin Lindsay, who not also played Linx in THE TIME WARRIOR, but Cho-Je in PLANET OF THE SPIDERS!

Not a bad episode, awfully short and suffers for it a bit. But I know the next serial more than makes up for it with the extra two episodes allocated to it… the next one is the one I’ve always considered to be my all time favourite.  

Serial 70 – The Time Warrior

Another serial I know nothing about, have never seen (that I recall.)

 

Episode 1:

We open with a new opening sequence, once with the full body of The Doctor going into the time tunnel effect.

As the serial starts, a comet or somesuch is visible in the night sky.

Several men in furs and armour sit at the table eating; one man, a Captain, complains of the food and wine served him. The Captain and his associate agree to raid their neighbor’s storage.

Suddenly, a star falls into the forest; they wake men sleeping in the house, but nobody wants to go with the Captain. They argue until he agrees to wait until dawn – the men fear demons in the forest.

After the sun has risen, the men go out into the forest and find the ‘star’ – a large sphere with facets. It opens and an armoured being steps out, one that is well known to later fans of the series, though this is their first appearance – a Sontaran! The Captain challenges the alien, who shoots his sword with his handheld weapon.

Using a translator device, the Sontaran (who identifies himself as Sontaran officer Linx) speaks to the men; one thinks he’s a “Saracen”. As the two men watch, Linx plants a flag and claims the planet for the Sontaran Empire.

They take him back to the castle. The captain tells the Sontaran that he took the castle by force, the locals pay tribute to him. Linx offers him weapons, weapons he can kill men from far away, in exchange for assistance with his ship.

The Brig brings The Doctor to a top secret location, a scientific think tank where people have been vanishing – half a dozen scientists and great amounts of equipment have gone missing.

We see Linx overseeing men working at computer consoles – obviously, he’s been kidnapping the scientists. Already Linx grows tired of dealing with the “primitives”.

We see that he’s given Captain Irongron a rifle, though the warlord struggles to master the aim.

The Doctor meets one of the scientists, Joseph Ruebish. The Doctor uses the pseudonym, Doctor John Smith, again. Ruebish introduces The Doctor to a Lavinia Smith, who looks a helluva lot like a Sarah Jane to me!!!!!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! Sarah Jane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry.

The Doctor confronts “Lavinia”, notably on her age not meshing with a paper written by the real Lavinia. It turns out that Sarah Jane’s aunt is the Lavinia, but she’s in America, so Sarah Jane used her aunt’s invite to sneak in, see if she could find a good story – she’s a reporter, you see.

(Okay, now this is BS. Sarah Jane can sneak in as her aunt, but The Doctor and the Brig talked about the security being so tight, they almost didn’t let the Brig in?)

Sarah Jane gets upset when The Doctor says he won’t turn her in, hoping she can hang about to make coffee.

Sir Edward of Wessex discusses the plight of having to put up with Irongron’s raiding and bullying with his wife. It seems the good king has conscripted most of their troops leaving him with only a handful of men; others locally are in the same boat. He hopes to unite the local lords against Irongron.

Irongron’s men bring Sir Edward’s squire before Irongron. Irongron and his men can’t read the message the squire carried, nor would the squire reveal the nature of the missive.

Irongron and Linx meet; Irongron wants Linx to make the squire speak.

Professor Ruebish has found out that Sarah Jane is not Lavinia. He wants to rat her out to the Brig.

Linx uses his weapon, but on a different frequency, on the squire. Linx tells Irongron “this is a key, it has unlocked your prisoner’s mind.” When Irongron asks questions about Sir Edward’s castle, the squire answers truthfully, in a trance-like state.

Linx grows tired of the interrogation and tries to leave; when Irongron tells him he has not given him leave and bars his way with his axe, Linx cuts the axe in half with his weapon (it’s a blaster it’s a mind-unlocker, it might be a Sontaran version of the sonic screwdriver!)

The Doctor naps while a device set to detect delta particles wakes him up; Professor Ruebish mysteriously disappears from within his bunk cubicle, with The Doctor outside the door. Using a tracer, The Doctor goes outside and sees an ghostly image of the Sontaran. One of the UNIT guards sees it and fires, but it passes through his image.

The Doctor hurries to get his equipment in the TARDIS so he can follow the trail, while trying to explain it all to the Brig. While they talk, Sarah Jane pokes about in the TARDIS. The Doctor slips in and the TARDIS dematerialises.

An archer in the woods hears the TARDIS materialise. The Doctor pats the TARDIS door, praising her, “Right on target… for once.” He walks off, and shortly after, Sarah Jane exits, going to look for a telephone.

Irongron and his right hand man, Bloodaxe, talk about raiding Sir Edward’s castle.

The archer fires an arrow at Irongron, but Sarah Jane distracts him and the arrow misses its target, barely. Irongron’s men chase after him as he runs off, one of them grabbing Sarah Jane, as The Doctor watches from the woods.

He slips into Irongron’s castle, searching for Sarah Jane, presumably. He hears Linx approaching and hides. The Sontaran enters the courtyard, looks around and then takes off his helmet, revealing the horrible countenance that we all know and love. Or something… and the credits roll.

An interesting start so far – an alien meddling in history, kidnapping of modern day scientists and equipment, and a creepy Sontaran licking his lips. What more would you want in a serial?

Episode 2:

Irongron’s men bring the archer into the courtyard, forcing Linx to don his helmet (not wanting the humans to know he isn’t one of them) and The Doctor to find another hiding spot.

Sarah Jane is brought to Irongron and Bloodaxe; she still thinks it’s a renaissance fair sort of thing she’s come across. As she demands to use their telephone, the archer is brought in. He reveals that Sir Edward’s wife, Lady Eleanor, is the one who sent him to kill Irongron.

Sarah Jane tries to figure out where she is – not a village pageant, nor a film set, so she decides it must be a tourist trap. As she goes on criticism them, Irongron yells at her to shut up. Linx enters, and from his startlement at Sarah Jane, we learn that Sontarans do not have males and females.

Linx realises from Sarah Jane’s clothes that she’s from the Twentieth century. He uses his catch-all device/weapon to “unlock” her mind and starts questioning her about how she got there, who this Doctor is, etc.

Irongron demands from Linx about the “new weapon” and Linx brings in a remote controlled robot soldier in full armour. Sarah Jane slips off as Linx demonstrates to Irongron how it works.

She bumps into The Doctor but runs from him; he moves to pursue but must hide as Irongron’s men bring the archer by.

In the courtyard, Irongron stays Bloodaxe from beheading the archer, giving him the chance to win his freedom in a fight agains the “iron man”. Bloodaxe protests, saying the archer has the advantage at such close range, but Irongron tells him to watch and see.

The archer’s arrows strike true, but to everyone’s surprise and most of the men’s delight, he moves onward, approaching the archer. On one of the upper levels, The Doctor emerges and sees what’s happening. He grabs a crossbow and shoots the controller out of Irongron’s hand. The “iron man” goes rogue, approaching Irongron, swinging it’s sword.

The archer slips off with help from Sarah Jane.

Irongron cuts off the head of the “iron man” and it falls, still moving. Irongron says he will have words with Linx about this.

In Linx’s computer room, the scientists work at the computers. The Doctor watches through a grill in the wall. Irongron bangs at the door, demanding to speak to Linx. Irongron bursts through and is startled to see Linx’s unhelmeted features, but quickly regains his composure.

Linx says he will make a better one, one without a hand control unit, but takes Irongron away to go deactivate the beheaded one. Once they leave, The Doctor slips into the room, investigating Linx’s sphere. He pokes around the room, trying to talk to the scientists and seeing that firearms are being mass produced.

Ruebish is there, though not hypnotised like the rest – The Doctor suspects the hypnosis is done through an ocular device, since Ruebish is nearly blind without his glasses. The Doctor tries to get Ruebish to come along with him, but as they argue, Linx returns.

It seems The Doctor is already aware of the race of Sontarans. Linx says he doesn’t care about the effects his actions will have on Earth, he just wants to return to the war, and says nothing and nobody will stop him, and fires his weapon at The Doctor who reacts in pain.

The archer has brought Sarah Jane to his Lord and Lady. Sarah Jane seems to think The Doctor is the one working with Irongron. She encourages them to try a commando raid.

The Doctor recovers; Linx praises his willpower and says he could have increased the power, but it might have killed him and he would rather keep The Doctor alive – his mind could be put to good use.

Linx explains that he crash landed after being shot down by Rutans (the enemies of the Sontarans.) The Doctor admits to being a Time Lord, and while Linx knows of his people, he is not overly impressed.  (Note: For the first time ever, the name of the Time Lords’ home planet is given – Gallifrey!)  

The Doctor makes the offer to help Linx if he would consider returning the people to their rightful time. Linx will not listen to bargains. He hooks The Doctor up to a device, forcing him to work on Linx’s problems under duress.

We get more googly faces from Pertwee.

Sarah Jane leads a small group of men into Irongron’s castle. I’ve always loved Sarah Jane, I love her more now. They overhear Irongron and Linx talking about their new weapons from Linx and their plans to attack Sir Edward.

Ruebish helps The Doctor escape the device he’s attached to, but quickly is pursued by Irongron’s men. Sarah Jane and the archer (Hal, I think) see Irongron loom over The Doctor, lifting his axe, saying, “He who strikes Irongron dies,”… and the credits roll.

Nice cliffhanger for a week’s wait, fortunately we don’t have to wait!

 

 

Episode 3:

Hal shoots the axe out of Irongron’s hand, allowing The Doctor to escape. Sarah Jane calls to him and he dashes to her, but is taken prisoner by the men accompanying her.

Ruebish works on a lens to help himself see better.

The Doctor explains to Sarah Jane what’s been going on, that he works for UNIT and he was trying to investigate. Sarah Jane seems to realise he’s speaking truth, at least some truth, though she tells Sir Edward and Lady Eleanor that she’s not sure if he’s telling the truth or just trying to save his own skin.

Hal informs Edward of Wessex that they overheard Irongron’s plans to attack. The Doctor offers to help create an illusion that Edward’s castle is fully manned.

Linx demands to accompany Bloodaxe and Irongron on their attack on Wessex’s castle.

Sarah Jane and The Doctor have a chat about who he is, what he can do in the TARDIS. He explains that his people don’t like unauthorised time travelers.

When Irongron and his men arrive, they see mock ups of men “manning” the walls, and Linx dissuades them from giving up before the battle is fought. Using the rifles, they determine there are dummies present and begin to scale the castle using ladders.

The defenders throw pouches of noxious powder that explode in smoke and stench, as well as fire arrows down on the brigands, until Irongron calls for the retreat.

Back at his castle, Irongron chastises his men, saying they will attack again in the morning. Linx chastises Irongron for his own cowardice and the two fight, Linx easily knocking Irongron about.

Sir Edward, Lady Eleanor, Sarah Jane and company sit and celebrate their victory, though The Doctor advises they won’t be so lucky again. He advocates taking Irongron’s castle from him.

Irongron and Bloodaxe talk; Irongron tells him that he plans to kill Linx once he gets the weapons that the man from the stars has promised.

The Doctor and Sarah Jane, dressed as monks, seek and are granted entry into Irongron’s castle. They find their way to Linx’s workshop, where Ruebish encounters them. He tells The Doctor and Sarah Jane about the pace the scientists have been working under, repairing Linx’s spaceship.

Linx brings a crate of weapons to Bloodaxe and Irongron, but they trade harsh words, each trying to outbluster the other.

The Doctor tries to break the hypnotic spell on the scientists, but Linx returns to the workshop before they have much success. Linx tries to rouse the scientists to work, but they’re dying from malnutrition and sleep deprivation. The Doctor comes out of hiding and makes the offer – return the men to their rightful place, help him take Irongron and his men captive and he will help finish the repairs.

Linx’s answer is to fire his weapon at The Doctor… and the credits roll.

 

 

Episode 4:

Sarah Jane rushes out as The Doctor falls, distracting him. The Doctor recovers enough to talk and they argue. The Doctor speaks of every race having a weakness, the Sontaran weakness being the hole at the back of their neck, which is a message to Ruebish, who sneaks up and strikes Linx on the spot indicated, dropping him.

Sarah, dressed in period garb, goes off to enact “the rest of” The Doctor’s plan.

Irongron sends Bloodaxe to fetch Linx as the men ready for their next attack.

The Doctor ties up Linx. When Bloodaxe arrives to deliver Irongron’s demand for his presence, The Doctor puts on Linx’s helmet and does his best mimicking of his voice to delay for time. After Bloodaxe departs, The Doctor sets Ruebish to freeing the scientists’ minds while he muses over the “iron man”.

Sarah Jane is caught in the scullery, stealing food. She pretends to be a starving lady and the kitchen worker says she will let her earn some food.

The “iron man” marches into the main hall where Irongron and his men ready for battle. It is obvious The Doctor in armour pretending to be a second robot.

Irongron demands a test of the mettle of the metal man (my pun, not his) and he and The Doctor fight, The Doctor besting him, but the battle continues anew when Bloodaxe is ordered to join in. Eventually, The Doctor’s ruse is revealed.

Irongron says that since The Doctor is a wizard, he shall die by wizardry.

Sarah Jane tries to stir up (no pun intended) the kitchen supervisor against the men, but it is to no avail. She does, however, get a chance to lace the meat and oatmeal with some drug The Doctor had prepared.

Ruebish gets the scientists free of the hypnotic control and explains that they have to pretend they’re still hypnotised until The Doctor can return to send them home. They hear Irongron coming and all start working as if hypnotised. He finds Linx and frees him.

The Doctor is to be used as target practice for Irongron’s men practicing with the rifles as Irongron, Bloodaxe and Linx watch.

Sarah Jane, hearing the shots, leaves the kitchen, hoping to help. She swings a chandelier down, allowing The Doctor to swing to freedom and lock everyone in the great hall.

They flee, slowing to a stroll, and disabling the two guards, and returning to Sir Edward’s. There, The Doctor says he will wait until the potion Sarah Jane put in the food takes effect. Sarah Jane and Hal offer to assist him when he does return.

Linx’s ship is fixed, he need only wait for the power to build up.

The Doctor exits the TARDIS, carrying a fan.

The guards at the gate fall asleep. The Doctor joins Hal and Sarah Jane watching from outside. They enter after a bit, finding Ruebish, who says Linx put the osmic projector (the device needed to return the scientists to their time) back in the ship. The Doctor fetches it and shows Ruebish how to operate it.

Linx and Irongron argue, but the humans seem giddy and foolish – likely a result of the spiked food.

“He is a toad, who knows what a toad thinks?” – Irongron.

The men, one by one, begin to fall asleep.

Linx returns to his workshop and begins to fight The Doctor, who used the fan to deflect Linx’s weapon. Ruebish sends the others back, and then Sarah Jane sends him back.

Hal makes it to the main hall, disarming the men, but Irongron stirs and knocks him down. He thinks Linx is the source of the treachery and heads to confront Linx. When he arrives, Linx has just downed The Doctor and the Sontaran turns his weapon on Irongron and blasts him.

Hal rises and wakes Bloodaxe, telling him to get the others out if they want to live.

Linx’s ship is ready to launch; as the door begins to close, Hal fires an arrow into the weak spot on the back of his neck, killing him. His body slumps forwad, initiating take off sequence too soon.

The Doctor, Hal and Sarah run for their lives. They barely escape the castle before there is a great explosion and the entire structure is reduced to rubble.

The Doctor and Sarah Jane say good bye to Hal and enter the TARDIS. Hal watches as the TARDIS dematerialises… and the final credits roll.

A good story, great to see Sarah Jane be so much more than another screaming pretty face. Fun characters, good pacing, a solid serial and a wonderful start for Sarah Jane, who has always been one of my favourite companions.