COMPLETE AND UTTER SILLINESS - A FEW MORE LUDICROUS CLIFFHANGERS

I was really only planning to write one entry in August. 

My career suffered from Lockdown longer than most but I was finally starting to work again. After a somewhat long period of inactivity, I was feeling extra tired from my renewed endeavors. So I was getting lots of extra rest between jobs. Which meant, of course, that certain activities in my life were going to get neglected for a bit. Working on this blog was meant to be one of them. 

I was quite happy with the one post that I did make in mid-August. As was the readership. Some pretty good hits on it and some very nice feedback. And I thought to myself: "That really wasn't too difficult to write!" And I also thought to myself: "There are a few more cringey Cliffhangers that I could talk about." And, finally, I thought to myself: "A second part to this essay before the month is over would look nice."    

So, here I am... 

Ludicrous Cliffhanger Style #10: 

Stacking the Peril 

We're starting things off in New Who, this time. As mentioned in the previous post, fans seem to think that only Classic Who is guilty of silly Cliffhangers. But that's not always the case. 

This is one that's not just New Series, but seems almost exclusive to the RTD era. It's something he liked to do now and again that kinda worked well but, when you stop to think about it, is a bit on the silly side. I call it the Stacked Peril. 

It's a Cliffhanger where everyone seems to get in trouble all at once. Several major characters are in several different plot threads and they all, suddenly, get caught up in a life-threatening event at the same time. It certainly produces a Cliffhanger with high stakes.  And the resolutions at the beginning of the next episode can give us a nice sense of breakneck pace. But we must still ask ourselves: "Can so many people be in peril at exactly the same moment?!" This really does seem like too much of a coincidence! 

The end of Stolen Earth shows this off quite well. Everybody looks about ready to get exterminated and the Doctor appears to be regenerating. On the first watch, this does feel quite exciting. On re-watches, though, I've kinda felt like everything just feels a bit far-fetched! 

But I do think the Cliffhanger for Aliens of London is the best example of this. It sticks out more because it is the very first Cliffhanger we see in the New Series. Jackie's in danger. Rose is in danger. The Doctor's in danger. And, of course, some Slytheen are farting! It's like RTD was thinking: "First Cliffhanger in the Revival. I better make this big!!" He may have made it a bit too big, though.  As it all does feel a bit preposterous. 

The resolution, at least, works a bit better than Stolen Earth. All the perils get solved by one single clever choice by the Doctor. Whereas the beginning of Journey's End seems a bit sillier as each peril solves itself individually. It stretches credulity all-the-more. Can so many problems arise and then get fixed so quickly?! 

Ludicrous Cliffhanger Style #11: 

Bad Effects Killing the Moment

This one is definitely much more of a Classic Who problem. The tight budget they had to work under meant that some of the effects looked intensely cheap. But when that bad effect appeared near the end of an episode, its ludicrousness was compounded. 

We're meant to be held in suspense at a Cliffhanger. We're meant to be wondering: "However will they get out of this one?!" But it's really hard to get wrapped up in the tension of it all when something so laughable is happening onscreen. 

Many cite Part Four of Seeds of Doom as the most memorable moment of this nature. We get our first solid look at the Krynoid in its full form. And the first shot we see of it actually looks quite good. Which, I think, just aggravates the disappointment that happens a moment later when the Krynoid trundles forward in the most ridiculous-looking of ways. Clearly, there's just an artiste beneath it all making the creature hop along like a rabbit. As the Cliffhanger Sting cuts in, we're seriously unimpressed. 

But I think Part Three of Robot is far more painful. That toy tank rolling into the bad CSO shot just sticks in my memory like an accidental fart on a hot date. There's just nothing more humiliating. The fact that the episode then ends on this, sort of, weird note gets the whole thing to feel even more "off". K-1 seems like he's going to do something horrible to everyone but doesn't, really  It's all quite strange. 

Of course, the special effects we will get throughout most of Part Four will get us to almost forget about that silly little toy tank! 

I've never been much of a fan of Robot. People complain about Twin Dilemma and Time and the Rani as being terrible "first Doctor stories". But I really feel Robot is so much worse than these 80s Tales could ever aspire to be. The awful Part Three Cliffhanger and the ensuing mess of the fourth episode really help to re-enforce my point!   

Ludicrous Cliffhanger Style #12:

Is it Really That Dangerous? 

This one is a bit similar to something we talked about in the first part. 

There have been instances in the show where the episode just suddenly ends without any real danger or a shocking revelation or anything of that nature. I mentioned in the first Ludicrous Cliffhanger entry how The Horror of Fang Rock seems to do this with great abundance. The first three episodes just seem to conclude out of nowhere without really trying to create any kind of actual suspense to entice us to come back next week. 

A reader did point out that there is the slightest sense of peril happening at the end of Part Three. The Doctor realizing that he's accidentally locked everyone into the Lighthouse with the Rutan is very subtle, but it does represent a Cliffhanger. Something bad is about to happen.

"Yeah," I had to admit, "But after two episodes of no real danger, being subtle was probably not the best choice. We needed something with some real wallop!" 

Which got me to see that there are a few other Cliffhangers out there that flop in a similar manner. There is an implication that something mildly nasty could be, sort of, happening soon. And we're meant to be concerned about it. But, quite often, it's just not quite hard-hitting enough. We're left with another one of those "That's it?!" kind of sentiments. 

I think Part Four of Frontier In Space models this best. The Doctor, Jo and the Master have been captured by Draconians. The Master seems quite nonplussed as they are locked up in a cell. We see him activate a homing device that his Ogron slaves are following. 

Clearly, the Ogrons will be up to some sort of no good in the next episode. We're aware of that. But it still doesn't seem like all that particularly intense of a Cliffhanger. It's like watching a character in a story who hates the protagonist calling a hit man to inquire about his prices. Yup, chances are something bad is going to happen to the hero sometime down the road. An attempt will probably get made on his life. But ... well, it's just not anything all that scary yet! 

Subtler Cliffhangers do work, sometimes. They're even a bit of a treat. As they offer us something a little different. But, admittedly, there are quite a few of them that seem more like the writer really wasn't able to come up with anything all that effective. So, instead, we get Michael Kilgariff in an elaborate ape costume staring at a blip on a screen.

 

Ludicrous Cliffhanger Style #13:

The Terrible Zoom-In

We actually see numerous examples of this throughout both Classic and New Who. Oftentimes, the device is quite effective. Sometimes, however, it comes across as silly. And, during one specific era, it was genuinely excessive. 

During Season 23, JNT decreed that the directors zoom in on Colin Baker's face as much as possible when the Cliffhanger presents itself. Which is not a bad idea. Focusing on the Doctor as he looks on in horror at the fate that has befallen him is a good note to go out on. But, if it's done too much, it does start feeling a bit absurd. 

That magic moment, I feel, happens during Part Two of Mindwarp (or Part Six of Trial of a Time Lord - depending on how you choose to number these things!). Ycranos and Dorf spring out from nowhere and take out the guards that are meant to be protecting the Turncoat Time Lord. Ycranos then turns his attention to the Doctor, himself. With a sense of relish and menace that only Brian Blessed could do so perfectly, he threatens to kill Our Hero. 

And the Terrible Zoom-In occurs. But, by this point, it's happened at the end of most episodes this season. Not only have we really begun to notice it, but we're also getting tired of it. 

I mean, Colin is a handsome guy - don't get me wrong. Particularly with those nice long curly blond locks. And those sumptuous full lips. And his .... uh .... sorry, am I getting carried away?    

My real point is: the Terrible Zoom-In is definitely being abused by this point. We've had enough of it. But it will still go on a few more times before it's truly over. From there, we will move on and do it to Sylvester McCoy from time-to-time. But it will be less frequently. By the time Doctor Seven arrives, the Balance of the Terrible Zoom-In will be restored. 

Ludicrous Cliffhanger Style #14: 

That Happened Quickly! 

This will be one of the few times I will pick on a 60s Who Cliffhanger. The truth of the matter is, a lot of them are actually quite good. Yes, some of them look as cheap as the ones I just described in a previous category. But, for some reason, bad effects don't make me cringe as much if they're shot in black-and-white!   

Keys of Marinus is a genuinely fun adventure during Season One. After stunning us with the darkness of Nazi allegory and the Cold War in The Daleks, Terry Nation gives us something far more rollicking in his next contribution. It's way too ambitious, of course. Which causes some sequences to look like they came straight out of Plan 9 from Outer Space. But, because the overall story is so enjoyable, I'm willing to forgive! 

There is still one scene in Marinus that is just a tad too difficult to swallow. It happens at the end of Part Three. Ian and Barbara have dealt with the weird Screaming Jungle and have teleported to the next location. This time, it's a frozen tundra. They are without any kind of decent protective clothing in this harsh environment - so it is bound to affect them pretty fast. But the effect is, perhaps, just a bit too quick! They are passing out within seconds of arriving! Because, of course, there are only seconds left in the episode! 

Jacqueline Hill and William Russell are trying so hard to sell it. They even come quite close to pulling it off. Their efforts, however, come to no avail. We just watch two people start freezing to death in record-breaking time. The whole moment becomes high comedy rather than gripping suspense. 

Ludicrous Cliffhanger Style #15: 

Yup. We Know There Are Daleks in This 

This is one that Moff jokes about quite a bit. 

For quite some time in the Classic Series, "Of the Daleks" titles were quite popular. We had Power of the Daleks and Day of the Daleks and Planet of the Daleks and Power Tools of the Daleks and Re-Mortgaging of the Daleks and .... okay, I might be making up a few of these. But there were a lot of stories that had names like these!    

Moff's point was that Part One of many of these adventures would end with a revelation that the Daleks were in the story. A surprise that might have been effective if we had missed the title sequence, not checked any of the listings or paid attention to any trailers or previews. Otherwise, we know there are Daleks involved cause their names are right in the title! When you've put it in the name of the story, it seems pretty silly to build your first Cliffhanger around surprising your audience with the appearance of a Dalek!    

Of course, some of the sequences still work because there is a sense of peril that accompanies the "surprise appearance". When Daleks smash through the wall at the end of Episode One of Destiny of the Daleks, for instance, they still converge on Romana and threaten her. So the Cliffhanger is effective to a certain extent.

But there are other tales that really do make it all about revealing the presence of Daleks in the plot. Even though we know, already, that they're there. The one that does this best, I think, is Part One of Planet of the Daleks. They go to great lengths to keep that Dalek hidden to the very bitter end of the episode. They actually take the trouble of making it invisible until Jon Pertwee and Bernard Horsefall give it a paint job. There's also no sense of danger that  helps to make the Cliffhanger achieve a threat of some sort. The Dalek has perished from light wave sickness (whatever that is!) and can't hurt them in any way. 

But still, we're supposed to react to the surprise of it all. "Oh my God!" we're meant to exclaim, "There's Daleks in this story! What a shock! Even though we already knew there were Daleks in this story!"    

Ludicrous Cliffhanger Style #16:

Impact Over Logic 

This one happens mostly when the show is trying to do a surprise reveal of some sort. 

When the Master strips off his Kalid costume at the end of Part Two of Time Flight, for instance, we're meant to just exclaim: "Wow! It's the Master!". Which is exactly what I did for the first few seconds of that particular Reveal. 

But then I stopped and thought. In the next few seconds, I exclaimed: "For the first two episodes, the Master was alone in a room. Why would he be in a disguise for no one?!" The only sane answer, of course, is that we were watching Kalid during these scenes and the production team didn't want to ruin the surprise. 

The Part Two Cliffhanger of Time Flight is a great example of what I like to call Impact Over Logic. Where something happens at a Cliffhanger that packs a big punch but doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. The Master being Kalid the whole time, however, is still not the worst case of this. 

The end of Part One of Dalek Invasion of Earth is probably the most ludicrous case of Impact Over Logic. Because this is an era where each individual part gets a name, we don't have another Cliffhanger Style #15 going on. The episode is merely called World's End. The full name of the story isn't something that's created til much further down road. So the audience really is genuinely surprised when the Dalek slowly emerges from the Thames to stop the Doctor and Ian from going for a swim. Admittedly, it's a pretty damned nice visual. I'm sure, if I had been watching the moment when it was actually transmitted, I would have been blown away. 

But, once more, as the shock of the Reveal subsided - I had questions. The biggest one being: "Why the Hell is a Dalek just strolling along at the bottom of the River Thames?!". I also asked: "How does a Dalek just happen to come ashore at that very moment?!" I had a few other quibbles of this nature, but I think you get the point. 

As cool as the whole sequence looks, it makes no real sense of any sort. It was merely created to bring the episode to a very thunderous conclusion. But it seems to me that you can't just put Anthony Ainley in a silly outfit or pull a Dalek casing out of the Thames just so that the audience can have a nasty shock. There needs to be a legitimate reason for this to happen.    

If you missed Part One: 

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2021/08/complete-and-utter-silliness-few-of-my.html