DOCTOR WHO: SEASON-BY-SEASON - SEASON FOUR

Well, it had to happen. Any sci fi TV show worth its salt will, eventually, do this. Particularly if it's always trying to progress and move forward. Or explore new ideas and experiment with its own format. But I still didn't think it would happen quite this soon. 

After only three years, we get our first bad season of Doctor Who. 

You can, sort of, see it coming. Things are getting a little bit worse with every new season. It's almost like the show needed to hit a bottom before it would pick itself up by its bootstraps and get its ass back in gear. Unfortunately, the production team doesn't learn their lesson before giving us a season that is, for the most part, below standard. But that's often the way it goes with hitting bottom. There needs to be, at least, a bit of public humiliation before you regain composure. 

THE BEGINNING   

Like Season Three, things start off on a bit of a whimper. Of all the Historicals made in the 60s, I would say The Smugglers was the weakest (at least, from what I was able to piece together of it from the novelisation and suchlike). It's still not an absolutely terrible story. But it is a bit lacklustre. Which makes it stand out all-the-more since most Historicals were so above-par during this period. 

After doing cowboys last season, Production decides to do another historical figure often loved by the legions of young boys that would now be watching the show. This time, they went for pirates. The story wasn't as ill-received as The Gunfighters was when it first came out. But Gunfighters is still intact so that we are able to re-evaluate it. The best memory Smugglers seems to inspire was that it was somewhat mediocre.  

THIS SEASON'S CENTERPIECE 

Like Dalek Masterplan in the previous year, this season also possesses a series of episodes that really stand out from the rest. That draw way more attention to themselves than anything else the season has to offer. It's not one long story, this time, though. But, rather, two stories that would mark the most significant change the show would ever undergo. 

For the first time, the Doctor regenerates. 

Some fans do actually complain about The Tenth Planet. They feel the First Doctor should have been more active in his final story. That he should have been given some sort of valiant final battle that would have defeated the Cybermen and saved the world. And then, on that Note of Glory, he transforms into Patrick Troughton. 

Tenth Planet, instead, emphasises the Doctor's frailty as he reaches the end of his first life. So much so, that he spends an entire episode unconscious while Ben and Polly get up to all sorts of business without him. Personally, this works just as well for me. In fact, I wish more Doctors were written out this way. It gets particularly tiresome in New Who when almost every Doctor seems to have to end on some sort of epic world-threatening and/or universe-threatening crescendo (thank-you, Mister Moffat, for deciding to finally write a simpler tale for Capaldi's demise). I think it's perfectly acceptable to turn him into a more vulnerable character as he reaches the conclusion of an incarnation. As long, of course, as he doesn't become an annoyingly angsty emo-kid like Tennant's Doctor did!

The Cybermen are also quite awesome in this story. The suits are extremely clunky and would look much better in later models. But the Mondasians' ridiculously ruthless logic is as eerie as their otherworldly voices (and the way their hands are still organic - so creepy!). I love how their emotionless state turns them into ironic-sounding philosophers. When Polly, for instance, wants to rescue the astronauts from dying because she cares about them, it's great the way the Cyberman points out: "There are people dying all over your world all the time. You do not care about them!" I love the interpretation that is given of them in this tale. No other recurring foe gets as good of an introductory story as these guys do (okay, maybe the Weeping Angels tie them!).    

The fact that the Daleks get equally-good treatment in the next story really makes the whole difficult transition the audience had to go through feel as smooth as possible. Power of the Daleks, as far as I'm concerned, is the best Dalek Story of the 60s. In so many other tales that feature them, the Daleks rely more on raw power to achieve their goals. They are domineering to the point where they will actually blunder their way through things from time-to-time (ie: a Dalek trying to menace a mannequin in Dalek Invasion of Earth), 

In Power, they are genuinely cunning. Biding their time by appearing friendly to the humans until they can increase their numbers and overrun them. It's really the first time that we see them using such tactics. And it's utterly terrifying. As Lesterson has his mental collapse in the latter episodes, we're almost tempted to join him. The Daleks are represented in a whole new way, here. And it really is quite chilling. 

Troughton, meanwhile, takes the bull by the horns as he asserts a whole new identity for the Doctor. In doing so, he gets the audience to accept him as quickly as possible so we can actually get to all that good stuff with the Daleks. But there's some fun to be had as Ben and Polly both question if this man is still actually the Doctor. And I love that the Doctor, himself, plays upon those doubts.  Even talking about himself in the Third Person during the first few moments of his creation. It was a very bold tact for the production team to take but it worked quite well.  

ONE LAST BIT OF QUALITY BEFORE THE DIP TRULY BEGINS

As fans, we should be quite happy that the First Doctor's last story and Second Doctor's first story are of decent quality. Changing the lead in a show is always a risky venture. But because both stories really are quite good, saying goodbye to Hartnell and hello to Troughton becomes an easier process. Bringing a well-loved recurring foe like the Daleks back for Two's first adventure also helps a lot with the transition. The fact that the Daleks already recognize this incarnation as being the Doctor was another nice technique to help us to accept him. 

This is a pretty solid regeneration. There are better ones, of course (as my Ranking the Regenerations entry would show: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-book-of-lists-ranking-regenarations.html) but the stories are strong enough to keep the show alive during a difficult time. The Centerpiece of Season Four is as enjoyable as the one in Three. 

Fortunately, the standards continue just a little bit longer. Once more, I can only base my opinion on what still remains of a lost story - but what I have seen of The Highlanders looks quite good.  It is a bit strange that Jamie becomes a companion at the end as he is featured only so much in the plot. But I am, nonetheless, very thankful that he comes aboard the TARDIS. He would still get pushed aside a lot while Ben and Polly were around. But, once things shift to a two-companion dynamic, Jamie becomes one of the greatest companions the show ever had. 

Troughton is great fun to watch in this one. While he does seem a little over-the-top with some of his more comedic moments in Power of the Daleks, he tends to get the tone right, here. Even when he's actually pretending to be a woman! His assortment of silly disguises throughout the tale is an utter delight. Particularly as we reach the end of the story and one of his disguises is really put to good use. He's also just having a great time with being quirky and unpredictable. The sudden power-nap he takes in the middle of the adventure is another fun moment. 

Of course, the actual plot involving the Highlanders and Redcoats is decent enough. Things even take a particularly-interesting dark turn as the story starts focusing more on the slavery that was going on at the time. It is nice when these stories are willing to show less-romanticised versions of our past.   

The Highlanders would be the last "true" Historical for Doctor Who for quite some time. Thanks to the quality of the production, this whole type of story finishes off on a very high note. 

AND NOW THINGS REALLY GO TO CRAP - PART ONE: THE ABSOLUTE WORST

You may actually be starting to wonder why I refer to this season as being "bad". Sure, the first story was a bit on the forgettable side, but the next three seem quite solid. The season is going pretty good, so far. What's the problem?!

Well, from this point onward, things go seriously downhill. There are some high points here and there in certain episodes. But, for the most part, we're dealing with some very substandard content. 

And it starts with the next story. The Underwater Menace just might be the only Doctor Who tale from the 60s that I'm glad is still partially missing. The two episodes that do exist are pretty difficult to watch. Particularly Episode Three. That one is a legitimate embarrassment. And I mean that quite literally. 

I remember when I bought the Lost Stories DVD boxset. My older sister had taken an interest in New Who and wanted to see some older episodes. She happened to be over when I brought the set home so I just popped in the first Patrick Troughton disc. I felt she would probably like him better than Hartnell. The first episode on that disc just happened to be Part Three of Underwater Menace. I had heard legends of how awful it was but had only seen snippets of it. As we started to watch, I realized I couldn't put my poor sister through more than a few minutes of it. She just sat in front of the TV, aghast. Finally she had to say: "Is all Old Doctor Who like this?!" 

I tried to assure her it wasn't. But it was too late. She decided she would just stick to New Who! 

Underwater Menace is, in my opinion, the very first Doctor Who story that is genuinely bad. There had been stories that came before it that were problematic, in places. The Chase even comes perilously close to being a total flop.  But there had been enough redeeming qualities to these tales to make them still passable. Nothing spectacular, but watchable. 

Not so with Underwater Menace. It's all just pretty awful. The whole thing looks ridiculous on several levels. The budget appears to be horrifically low. As usual, though, I won't hold that against it. But so many of the outfits that were made for it do appear genuinely comical. Making it legitimately difficult to take anyone in the production all that seriously. It's almost like the costumiers were thinking: "How ridiculous can I make everyone in this story look?!". 

The actual plot is quite ludicrous.  Its various elements all sound like a badly-written Childrens' Panto. The lost city of Atlantis is relying upon someone who is evidently unhinged to restore it to glory. A mad scientist wants to destroy the world just for the sheer bragging rights. Fish People are being exploited by their human tormentors. It's, pretty much, the cheesiest premise a Doctor Who story has ever had. 

But what truly propels this whole thing into complete drivel is the infamous Professor Zaroff. To say the character was performed with camp sensibilities would be too generous. That would insinuate that the actor playing him appeared to have some sort of skill that enabled him to appear kitschy. The truth is: he is just doing some really horrible acting. In the actor's defense, the dialogue for him is so badly written that it's impossible not to perform it horribly. There really is no way to proclaim: "Nothing in ze world can shtop me now!" in a way that doesn't cause some serious cringing! 

Zaroff, himself, is another notorious first for the show. There would be other Doctor Who villains that would get horribly hammed up. Soldeed from Horns of Nimon or Tekker from Timelash. But Zaroff was the original. And - hands down - the worst! 

There are few stories in the show's history that I consider genuinely bad. That I would be happy if they had just never been made. I'd even go so far to say that most fans probably have a bigger list of stories like this than I do (some fans have a list of this nature that is so big that one almost wonders why they call themselves fans!). It takes a lot for me to say that there is really nothing about the story that I like. But Underwater Menace manages to achieve that! 

AND NOW THINGS REALLY GO TO CRAP - PART TWO: MARGINALLY BETTER

With Underwater Menace still leaving a foul odor in the air, we move on to a few stories that really aren't all that much of an improvement. 

The Moonbase isn't quite my least favorite Cybermen story. The Next Doctor and Revenge of the Cybermen are still probably worse. But Moonbase really is only marginally better. Admittedly, it does have some good points. The "Evils in the Universe" monologue the Doctor delivers in Part Two is probably one of the best speeches of the Troughton Era. The new costume for the evil cyborgs is a vast improvement over the old one. There are a few well-executed creepy moments here and there.   

But there are any number of problems with the plot. The biggest one being: why do the Cybermen go to such contrived methods to overcome the Moonbase when they could have, easily, just marched up to it right from the beginning and overtaken it?! On top of that, why do they even really care about the Moonbase? They seem to have a decent enough fleet of ships. Just attack the Earth directly. You'll do the same level of damage that you would with the Gravitron. 

The science is a bit wonky in places, too. How certain holes that are made in the Moonbase's structure get sealed up against the vacuum of space aren't really all that feasible. Some pretty silly sequences, in general, occur, too. How many times, for instance, can a Cyberman change his mind about abducting Jamie?!  

The Cybermen, themselves, are more like those generic intergalactic conquerors we have been seeing over the years (Drahvins, Moroks and Monoids during the latter episodes of The Ark) rather than the creatures of cold logic that we got in their first adventure. In general, this isn't so much of a triumphant return of a great foe as it is a bit of a disappointment. 

Ultimately, the whole thing comes across as a desperate attempt to try to fuel "Cybermania". They  brought the evil cyborgs back as quickly as possible without really caring too hard about the actual quality of the story. Production had found a new monster that seemed to rival the Daleks in popularity and wanted to exploit them for all they worth. If anything, though, the story cheapens their reputation. 

The Macra Terror, on the other hand, is a bit more coherent than The Moonbase. In that sense, it is less of a mess. But the story is so horribly lacklustre. Particularly the ending. Basically, the Doctor just yells at Ben through a door to turn off a few taps and the whole conflict is resolved! There is very little about this story that I find all that particularly engaging. It's so mediocre that I really don't have much to say about it. I can barely give it more than a paragraph in this review! 

Macra Terror holds itself together better than the two tales before it. But, because it's a fairly plain story that followed two pretty bad ones, it maintains the downward spiral the season is now moving in. 

PICKING THINGS UP SLIGHTLY

After three solidly disappointing tales, we really needed to step things up if we were going to finish up the season on a high note. A nice effort gets made in the final two stories - but it's really not enough. And there are still some serious problems with some of the plot mechanics we see going on in the writing.

The Faceless Ones does manage to rise above mediocrity for much of its telling. I would be given to believe this has something to do with Malcolm Hulke being a co-writer of the script. He is able make the Chameleons into something more than just the latest alien baddie out to get humanity (and will continue to do so in future scripts - which is why I believe it's his involvement that contributes so much to the success of the tale). The whole way in which these aliens are trying to steal bodies for themselves isn't too contrived, either. We don't have to suspend our disbelief so much as we did with the Cybermen's attack on the moonbase a few episodes earlier. The Chameleons' method of infiltration does, for the most part, make some degree of sense.  

Overall, the plot works fairly well. Its biggest problem probably lies in the fact that there really isn't quite enough to sustain six episodes. There's a fair amount of just running around the airport to pad things out. Also the Doctor tries multiple times to get some evidence on Chameleon Airlines but they just keep managing to cover their tracks in the nick of time. This recurring plot strand starts getting a bit tiresome. Clearly, it's also there to just add to the run-time rather than actually achieve anything.  

But I would still say this is better than the last three stories we had to sit through. But only marginally. Not enough, at least, to get me excited, again, about where the season is going. I'm still happier to just see the whole thing brought to an end so that everyone can, basically, re-charge and start with a clean slate to make something better next year.  

Unfortunately, there's still one more story to go.   

Evil of the Daleks, for me, feels quite similar to Dalek Invasion of Earth. There seems to be a certain degree of high regard for the tale that I'm not really seeing, myself. There are some nice moments here and there.  Particularly as we get to the Dalek Civil War towards the end (always love me a good Dalek Civil War!). But there's also quite a bit of nonsense going on that works against the story's effectiveness. 

Part One can, literally, be ignored. It's a bunch of Jamie and the Doctor walking around trying to find the TARDIS until we can get to the Cliffhanger at the end. Even though the surprise appearance of a Dalek doesn't really matter since we know from the title that they're going to be involved!   

The tests that get done to determine the Human Factor also seem a bit ridiculous. Getting Jamie to run around in a Victorian Manor in the 1800s seems like a very silly way to create a controlled experiment. There's got to be better ways to run this series of tests. Pretty much any other way, in fact, would have been better! 

Things do improve as we move the setting completely to Skaro. But the story does suffer the same problem that Faceless Ones does. There's a big need for padding. So we get a bit of a runaround before the Doctor's efforts to do anything all that really effective against the Daleks truly flourishes. The Dalek Revolution that he initiates is very cool, I'll be the first to admit. But I do feel it's too little, too late. By the time we reach this moment, I've gotten fairly bored with things. Most of the story comes across as pretty flat. Or even a bit ludicrous, in places. 

It's funny, my first real encounter with this (mainly) lost story was its novelisation. After reading it, I really thought it was the Classic that everyone labeled it it to be. Only as I watched the reconstructions and the one existing episode did I realise just how much John Peel had cleaned the whole thing up!  

 

 ACTUALLY TALLYING HOW BAD THE SEASON IS

Since I am claiming this is the first bad season of Doctor Who, I thought I would actually try to do some solid math to support my viewpoint. 

The season begins on a very mediocre note. There's nothing all that particularly engaging about The Smugglers. You just, sort of, sit through it as you hope for something better to come along once the TARDIS takes off again at the end of Episode Four. 

The same can be said for Macra Terror. But it's lack of entertainment value feels compounded because we've sat through two very problematic stories just before it.

Ultimately, however, that's 8 episodes of fairly flat and uninteresting content. 

Then we get to The Moonbase and Evil of the Daleks. Two stories that are quite messy and seem to rely more heavily on the excitement a return appearance of a popular monster generates rather than actually creating a coherent narrative. Both of these adventures are, I feel, very low in quality. 

So that's 11 more episodes that are probably just a bit below mediocre. Not completely awful. But not all that great, either. Bringing my negative experiences with this season up to a total of 19 episodes, thus far.

Then there's the legitimate atrocity that is Underwater Menace. Fortunately, it's only 4 episodes. But it should almost get a double-point value! Still, we'll bring our tally of unimpressive episodes up to 23. 

The Faceless Ones does do a bit better than all the other stuff I've been covering, thus far, in the tally. But it is still troubled by padding issues. Which makes it feel a tad disappointing. And, just like Macra Terror, we are becoming desperate for a vast improvement over what we've been getting during the latter half of the season. Because it doesn't rise as well to the occasion as it needed to, we have to put these 6 episodes on "the bad pile". Which now brings the negative score up to 29. 

Then, of course, we do get some actually solidly-put-together adventures in the early section of the season. Tenth Planet, Power of the Daleks and Highlanders can all be considered "good". Which brings us to 14 episodes of decent enough quality that we do feel a genuine lift in the season. Particularly since all three stories are back-to-back. 

In total, we have 43 episodes to this season. Only 14 of them really are much of anything to brag about. The rest of it veers from mediocre to downright terrible. That amounts to only about a third of the season really being worth watching. The rest is largely disappointing. 

We can't say that Season Four is completely bad. But then, there are "great" seasons of Doctor Who that still have problems, too. To me, it's all a game of percentages. And there is just too much content in this season that is pretty unwatchable. Thus ruining the overall entertainment value of the experience. Season Four suffers from just too many poor choices made in its crafting. The show is definitely at a low point, here. 

Fortunately, something vastly superior is just around the corner.... 

 

 

DOCTOR WHO: SEASON-BY-SEASON - SEASON THREE

And the Season Reviews continue! Just finished watching what still exists of Season Three. While it's  fresh in my head, I thought I would write about it.   

The biggest problem that runs through Season Three is something I like to call "The Thread of Mediocrity". There are several tales that came out that year that really did feel like the production team were starting to "phone things in." a bit. They weren't, by any stretch of the imagination, awful stories. But there wasn't anything all that particularly outstanding about them, either. 

I think the changes that were going on behind-the-scenes were probably instrumental in causing this problem. Producers and Script Editors were choppin' and changin' on a regular basis. Which probably caused some of the work on the show to be not as well monitored by those in charge. Standards probably dipped a bit because key people were too busy settling into new jobs and couldn't keep an eye on details as much as they should have. Or that's my theory, at least! 

The Season's Opener, Galaxy Four, is a great example of this. Technically, the central premise of "Beautiful Aliens are Evil and Ugly Aliens are Good " is new to Doctor Who. But, even in the 60s, we'd seen this sort of thing before in quite a bit of the other sci-fi stuff that was out there. So the story does come across as being a bit plain. 

The Savages has a similar problem. The "Advanced Culture Vampiring off of a Primitive Society" trope was also in fairly common practise, by this point. So, once more, it all feels fairly flat. 

There are other stories that start off quite well but then descend into something more mediocre. The Ark has an awesome first two parts. And that second Cliffhanger is something truly special (I even talk about it here: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2020/06/book-of-lists-ten-amazing-cliffhangers.html). But those last two parts turn the Monoids into standard-issue intergalactic tyrants. The whole plot shifts to a "rebels must overthrow their conquerors" storyline. In this instance, we've even seen this on the show quite a bit, already with stuff like: Dalek Invasion of Earth and Space Museum. 

Whereas The War Machines engages in a trope that, again, is new to the show. The "Supercomputer Gone Mad" premise, however, had been around quite a bit already, elsewhere (and would come back endlessly in Doctor Who over the next few years - but we can't fault War Machines for this). But this story does score a lot of extra points for the fact that it is the Doctor's first full adventure on Contemporary Earth (okay, technically, Planet of Giants is the first story of this nature - but they were miniaturised in that one so it, sort of, doesn't count!). The way we see the Doctor working with the military makes us think of his Days to Come with UNIT. And it's very cool to watch. Even if the plot to the whole thing is an already well-trodden path.    

If we start doing the math, though, these stories that are either completely or, at least, half-mediocre chew up a pretty high percentage of the overall content. Which causes this to be yet another season that is definitely inferior to the first one. It's not completely awful, either. But it is sad that the show still hasn't been able to match the quality of  Season One, yet. 

THE CENTERPIECE 

Having gotten most of the negatives out of the way, let's move on to some strengths.

Season Three definitely has a jewel at its very centre. A long sprawling saga that totally draws our attention more than anything else in the season. Made notable not just by its sheer number of episodes - but also for its scope. This is the first time the Doctor is dealing with a problem that could, if left unchecked, have a huge consequence on the entire Universe. We've never really seen him face a menace so big. The high stakes definitely lend an epic quality to the whole thing. 

But what really makes The Dalek Masterplan so enjoyable is the fact that it resists the temptation to just feed Dalekmania some more and really offers us something with a solid plot. Yes, there are still a few episodes that feel a lot like The Chase. But there is an actual story being told, this time. On this occasion, the Daleks are more than just a hit squad as they pursue the Doctor. A much larger event is going on within the context of their hunt. Whereas The Chase is a Guilty Pleasure, Dalek Masterplan almost qualifies as the best Dalek Tale of the 60s (there is, in fact, only one Dalek Story I like better from this decade). 

It's refreshing to see these recurring foes working, once more, to the show's advantage rather than detriment. They deserve the impact that they made on popular culture. Their sense of menace is truly iconic. But, once again, writers are remembering to make them more than just something fearsome to behold. They're also giving them useful things to do as they work to some greater sinister goal..This season, the Daleks are back to doing more than just coasting around and trying to inspire fear. 

When you consider that Dalek Masterplan was created at the behest of a BBC Executive whose Mom wanted to see more Daleks, then you have to be even more impressed. This could have been sooo awful! Instead, it's actually a pretty gripping saga. 

It was also great to see the Monk back. Love that guy...

MORE HISTORICALS....

A very definite shift happens with the Historicals of this season. The Massacre is still a very serious piece, but the other two offerings go for High Comedy.  

It should be noted that The Massacre is not only a very solid drama but also an excellent showcase for Hartnell's acting talents. Apparently, he played his double role to absolute perfection. And the speech he makes at the end of Part Four where he contemplates abandoning his travels is probably his best. Thanks, BBC, for junking all of this story so that we can only experience the audio!

The Mythmakers, of course, is one of those stories that's there for the laughs. It follows a lot of the same patterns that Spooner established in the previous season with The Romans. Particularly the conclusion of the adventure. Once more, the Doctor is responsible for another famous disaster. 

The Gunfighters is also quite funny. But it goes for something really different. Not only does a Western seem like something very unusual for Doctor Who, but threading the narrative with a recurring song was a very unique way to tell the whole tale. Some would even say too unique. The audience had a hard time handling this story when it first came out. For quite some time, it was considered the worst Doctor Who Story Ever. Oddly enough, opinions on the story have changed greatly over the years. The Gunfighters is probably the first story in the history of the show where fans decided that "serious re-evaluation is required". Personally, I've always really liked it. Of all the occasions where Doctor Who went for something more comedic, this one makes me laugh the most. I particularly love the elements of farce that are used to get the Doctor mistaken for Doc Holiday in Part One. Some very clever writing. 

Once more, the Historicals offer a very solid spine to a season from the 60s. Admittedly, some of the sci fi elements can be hit-or-miss during this period. But when the Doctor dips into the past, it's always a treat. 

A FEW MORE FIRSTS

As we're still, very much, in the show's early days, there's bound to be some more ground that gets broken for the first time during Season Three. 

Mission to the Unknown is the first (and, thus far, only) episode of Doctor Who that does not feature any of the regular cast. Instead of the TARDIS Crew, we follow the deadly adventures of Space Agent Marc Cory on the planet Kembel. It was an extremely bold experiment on the production team's behalf. To their credit, it's also a very solid episode. Once again, the Daleks get featured but there's still an actual story going on, too. Mission mainly exists to build a prologue for Dalek Masterplan, but it's still quite good. 

And then there's The Celestial Toymaker. In my opinion, this is the very first Oddball Story the show ever made. While we wouldn't really see the term being used until many years later, an Oddball Story is defined as something that's intentionally going for a certain degree of campiness. The plot, itself, is quite odd (hence, the term). The setting and central premise are usually very absurd in nature, too. In general, we're required to suspend a fair amount of disbelief. But, in so doing, the adventure is allowed to do some very wild and creative stuff that steps outside the usual confines of the show.   

Toymaker meets these qualifications quite nicely with its surreal imagery and almost nonsensical storyline. The TARDIS arriving in a strange dimension run by a figure who brings toys to life and challenges his visitors to deadly games of chance cannot be anything but an Oddball Story. In my book, at least. I loved when this sort of stuff gets created in the Sylvester McCoy Era. And, quite naturally, I love it here, too.

FINAL VERDICT 

While the Thread of Mediocrity does have a significant impact on the entertainment value of this Season, it still contains more good material than bad. The show, however, does seem to be floundering quite a bit. It's still trying to find its feet - we get that. But we're three seasons in, now. It should be on more stable footing than it is. 

What's most disturbing is how everything seems to be degenerating slightly every year. Season One was quite amazing. Two dipped a bit. Three is even worse. Doctor Who still hasn't gotten totally bad, yet. But the production team really needs to pull itself up by its bootstraps. Or something truly awful will be on its way soon.... 

 

UNADULTERATED BOORISH OPINION: MORE GREATEST HITS

I've been meaning to return to this series for a bit. But I got tied up in Companion Debates and an Emergency Continuity Fix and then started Reviewing whole Seasons! But, finally, I'm back here. Looking at another Greatest Hit from Doctor Who! 

What do I mean by the term "Greatest Hit"? Well, it's my way of trying to be a bit colorful. I'm really just talking about stories that I think are overrated. If you want a better definition, check out my first entry on the subject: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/03/unadulterated-boorish-opinion-greatest.html

THE NEXT GREATEST HIT 

In my first entry of this nature, I went a little easy on you guys. I talked about how I feel Pyramids of Mars is not, necessarily, as great as everyone seems to think it is. This didn't seem to ruffle too many feathers. Lots of people really enjoy this story and think it's well-done. But they're not madly in love with it like they are with certain other stories that I feel to be Greatest Hits. 

This time, however, I'm going to hit hard. I'm going for a story that I know is greatly respected by Fandom. Many, in fact, consider this to be their absolute favorite. I have some pretty great fondness for it, too. But I don't think it's as great as many say it is. 

So, brace yourselves. This could get messy....

THE GOOD STUFF 

Like last time, I will start with the positives. 

While there are many factors contributing to its success, there are two specific technical aspects to Caves of Androzani that I think make it absolutely spectacular: 

1. The Writing

After a conspicuous absence, we finally see the return of Robert Holmes. There was some great writing going on while he was away - don't get me wrong. But there is such a beauty to Holmes' style that it was wonderful to see him back. I'd go so far to say that many of his scripts are sheer works of art. 

Caves, very much, continues to display the richness of his ability. The dialogue is particularly tight. There's a crapload of exposition that has to come out in Episode Two that flows so smoothly that you hardly even notice the info dump. It's also where one of my favorite lines from the whole adventure shows up: 

"I have to live amongst androids. Because androids do not see as we see!"  

Not sure why I love it so much, but I do! 

The whole tone of the story is the other really outstanding quality of the script. In some ways, it's slightly similar to some of those Historicals we got way back in the 60s. The TARDIS Crew are in a really rotten place in history and are just trying to get out. But Holmes has taken this idea to its ultimate extreme (and, of course, put it in a futuristic setting rather than in the past). The Doctor is having the worst day of his lives as he struggles through a horrible political climate that he can make no real difference in. He's just trying to get out with his skin still on. It's very grim and very dark and absolutely gorgeous. 

2. The Directing

This just might be what really gets us to fall in love with Caves of Androzani.  Graeme Harper was a director who was decades ahead of his time when he got the gig to do this story. His cinematography - particularly his near-excessive use of a steady cam - drew us in so deeply to the action onscreen. TV had never quite engaged us in such a manner. 

The plot to Caves has a mad pace to it. Harper's direction highlights this magnificently. Even having to deal with such a visual atrocity as the Magma Beast is done in a way that the damage the outfit does to the story's credibility is kept to a bare minimum!  The director just keeps everything moving along so quickly that we're able to forget about it and get back into the excitement of the tale. 

As great as it was to see him return to New Who for a while - it's almost a bit sad that the rest of the industry has caught up to him. He stands out less, now. But his work on Caves of Androzani is still a wonder to behold. Even now, it's a visual masterpiece!   

THE BIG THING THAT STOPS IT FROM BEING A CLASSIC

While I have already mentioned the horrible Magma Beast suit, I won't actually hold it against the story. The production team was just doing their best with the poor budget they were handed. And, like I said, Harper glosses it over quite well. 

I will, however, go straight to my biggest problem with this adventure.

Caves of Androzani resolves itself with what I like to call: An End-of-Story Supporting Cast Slaughterfest. It's a disturbing trend that first starts presenting itself in Season 21 and carries over into Season 22. Only as Eric Saward leaves the show in a hissy fit during the twenty-third season do we see this type of poor story structure come to an end. 

I'm sorry, as good as the plot you're writing might be, you can't conclude it by just killing off 95% of the characters in it. That's just lazy story-telling. And I really do love everything that's going on in Caves til we get to those last few minutes of Part Four. But as I see character after character dropping like flies, I suddenly feel like the bowl of petunias created by the Improbability Drive in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: 

"Oh no." I think,  "Not again!" 

Twice, already, we'd gotten this ending in Season 21. I'll even admit that, on both occasions, it actually worked. Warriors of the Deep is trying to display the futility of the Cold War. So to finish the whole thing with a pile of bodies and the Doctor proclaiming: "There should have been another way." was legitimately effective. And Tegan needed to be put through an adventure so disturbing that it would finally make her leave the TARDIS. So, again, just about everyone gets murdered in Resurrection of the Daleks and that seems justifiable, too. 

But to do this a third time in the season smacks of laziness. Like this just seems to be the way the script editor wants to wrap up a plot. Less work this way, of course. Rather than try to satisfactorily tie up all the threads, just kill off all the characters involved whenever it suits you. Much easier than trying to actually write a proper ending! 

I do recognize a few potential holes in my argument. There is, of course, one surviving secondary character in all of this mess. Morgus' secretary does seem to make it out of things alive. But I have specified a few times that the Supporting Cast Slaughterfest doesn't always take everyone out. Just nearly everyone. And, really, Timmin is a pretty insignificant character. Keeping her alive seems almost irrelevant. Her last scene is a great little plot twist. But if she hadn't gotten it, we would have forgotten about her entirely. 

Also, one could argue that the Caves of Androzani's ending might be artistically-merited like the other two stories I just mentioned. That slaughtering the supporting cast is showing a sort of divine justice for the corrupt leadership within the society the Doctor and Peri are trapped in. Or something to that effect. But finding such symbolism seems a bit tenuous, at best. There is a far bigger problem that outweighs it. The fact of the matter is: this is the third time this season that we've concluded a story in such a manner. It just seems like a dead horse is starting to get beaten, here. 

I would even say that if Caves was the only adventure this season that used this device, I would be okay with it. I might even applaud it for being such an edgy way to finish the story off. But, because it was done twice already (and, I think, done better in those other two instances), this all starts feeling a bit cheap. Like Bob Holmes really couldn't think of a way to end things. So Eric Saward came along and said: "Let me show you a neat little trick a few other stories are using this season!" 

SOME MINOR QUIBBLES WITH THE WRITING THAT ALSO DO A BIT OF DAMAGE

As great as it is to see Robert Holmes back, I do feel I must address a few things that he did that taint my enjoyment of this tale. 

1. Re-Tread

My first issue is one that you only really grasp if you know the show fairly well. Particularly if you're very familiar with the works of Holmes, himself. There is a considerable amount of self-plagiarising going on in this tale. The author borrows heavily from two other scripts he wrote for the show. A deformed madman who hides behind a mask and only reveals his appearance at a very poignant moment was first seen in Talons of Weng Chiang. And Power of Kroll  is set on a primitive planet that has a highly-advanced world just next door that is profiting greatly from a valuable resource it possesses. For me, seeing ideas get re-hashed like this does cheapen things a bit. 

I might not even care so much about this if we didn't get a similar trick a few seasons later when he re-used a plot element from The Krotons in Trial of a Time Lord (most intelligent members of a population being selected to live and work exclusively for the leader of a society). When Season 23 first came out, it was somewhat popular to hate it. Certain fans looked for any little flaw that they could  and blew it out of proportion as much as possible. 

"Can you believe this crap?!" they'd cry and shout, "Robert Holmes did a total re-tread of The Krotons in Mysterious Planet. The story totally sucks because of this! I hate Trial of a Time Lord!" 

"If that's the case," I'd try to politely point out, "Shouldn't you hate Caves of Androzani even more?!" 

"What?! No! Caves of Androzani is an absolute Classic!" 

I then point out to them what I just discussed in that earlier paragraph. 

Suddenly, the room falls silent. 

2. Cliffhanger Resolution

I do have one more slight complaint about the writing. The Resolution to the Cliffhanger for Part Three does sort of seem to be on a bit of shaky ground. It doesn't help that the Cliffhanger, itself, is quite gorgeous. So, when the way it's resolved seems slightly odd, it really takes away from the drama of the moment. 

At the end of Part Three, the Fifth Doctor seems to be holding back an imminent regeneration as he tries to land Stotz's ship. He's having problems, though. It looks like they're going to crash, instead. With a gun pointed to his head, he does a great little monologue as the freighter hurtles toward Androzani Minor. 

There's a quick recap of the last moments of the third episode as Part Four begins. The intensity of the scene is immediately re-established. We're back on the edge of our seats. 

And then, suddenly, we get a model shot of some sort of rocket on the bottom of the ship firing. Everything is okay. The landing is flawless. 

I guess a bit of headcannon could get us to work out that the Doctor found the controls to a retro-rocket or something like that. But a bit clearer of an explanation would have been nice. Some throwaway dialogue near the end of Part Three to the nature of: "So, tell me Stotzy, where do you keep the controls to those retro boosters? It would definitely give us a smoother landing if you could point them out to me!" And then, after the model shot: "Never mind. Found them." Or words to that effect. 

At first, I thought it was only me that found the sequence a bit choppy. But I have watched the story with several other people, now. They all have that same WTF?! reaction when we get to that moment. And, like I said, the Cliffhanger is quite amazing. Perhaps one of the best. At least in the Top Ten. But the Resolution definitely leaves us a bit confused. Which, I feel, damages the potency of the Cliffhanger, itself. 

A SUPER-NITPICKY QUIBBLE ABOUT DIRECTION

Yes, I recognize the irony at play, here. After heaping such high praise on writing and direction earlier in the essay, I now seem to be picking it all apart quite viciously. The only response I can give to this, however, is: "Life is full of irony. Get used to it!" 

I am quick to admit that I really am getting preoccupied with some minutia. Also, as a straight male, I'm actually reluctant to even complain about this. But there is something about the way the regeneration sequence is shot that does bother me a bit. 

Basically, Graeme Harper really should have chosen a better angle to shoot from when Peri lifts the Doctor's head on to her lap. These are the last few seconds of Five's life and we are horrifically distracted by Nicola Bryant's heaving chest. Especially since those breasts do look like they're ready to fall out of her top any second! 

Yes, yes, I should really have no problem with this. To this day, I still think Bryant is the most attractive companion the Doctor ever had (it's especially impressive how great she still looks even now!). The gratuitous bikini shot in Planet of Fire still floats upon my memory on a regular basis!    

Here's the thing: I don't mind what we get in Planet of Fire because it doesn't interfere with a seriously dramatic moment like it does in Caves of Androzani. I know I should just be happy that we're getting more Bryant Cleavage. It is a beautiful thing! But I really do have to protest at the inappropriateness of it all.  As much as it behooves me to. 

This poor choice does really mar the effectiveness of the whole regeneration sequence. There are still some other really great aspects to it, of course. But throwing Peri's boobs in our face does damage the moment a bit. 

Damn! I really hated complaining about that!  

JUSTIFYING THE NITPICKERY

As I have already pointed out, some of the stuff I'm complaining about does border on the highly insignificant. But when I hear fans using terms like: "sheer brilliance" or even "absolute perfection" when describing this tale, little nitpicks like these increase in proportion. These issues shouldn't exist if this story is as great as everyone claims it is. 

I was recently ranting about which Peter Davison story is the best. And I claimed Kinda is way better than this one. When I put that adventure under the same sort of microscope, I find far less problems. 

Like Caves, Kinda also has an awful-looking monster. We won't hold that against it, either. The only other minor problem the story suffers from is a scene in Part Four where Tegan and Adric argue for a few minutes. It was clearly written as a bit padding for an episode that was running short (but is still a half-decent scene). Aside from that, the Deva Lokan Adventure is, pretty much, absolutely brilliant. But I can't say the same for what happens on Androzani. 

To me, if you're going to hurl superlatives at a Doctor Who story, it shouldn't be plagued by so many minor flaws as Caves is. I'm happy to allow it one like I did with Kinda. But, if it goes beyond that, I start doubting that the story is really as good as everyone seems to be saying. 

FINAL VERDICT: 

Minor quibbles aside, there's also still the issue of the End-of-Story Supporting Cast Slaughterfest. That, to me, is far from being a slight flaw. It's a serious problem with the overall plotting of the story. This error, alone, disqualifies Caves of Androzani from the status of "Classic" that so many give it. In my opinion, at least.  

Before I start sounding too vicious, however, I will re-state: I still really like this story quite a bit. But I wouldn't rank it as highly as many other fans do. Which is why, to me, Caves of Androzani is not a Classic. It's only a Greatest Hit. 

Wanna know just how much I love Kinda? It's in my Top Ten Favorite Who Stories Ever!   Check it out: 

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-6.html

   

  

DOCTOR WHO: SEASON-BY-SEASON - SEASON 2

I know! I know! I said I was going to do my Season-by-Season Reviews from "time-to-time" and write regular entries in between. And, ultimately, that will happen. As I can only watch an entire season of Doctor Who so quickly! 

But I was nearly done Season Two as I was posting my Season One Review. So I thought I would keep the ball rolling just a little bit longer... 

SEASON TWO - BEING A BIT OF A NEGATIVE NANCY

Since I might be dwelling on the negative a bit for a good chunk of this essay, I thought I should start this whole thing by saying I do think Season Two is still a pretty solid piece of work. It's certainly good enough to earn the program a further run beyond its second year (who knew it would go this far, though?!). The show is definitely beginning to "find itself" in this season and, in many ways, is playing a bit more to its strengths. Most importantly, the Doctor is being pushed harder to the forefront in this season. He is becoming more of the sort of superhero-type character that we will love him for in later years. Season One worked very well as an ensemble cast but the program is called "Doctor Who" - the Doctor should be a bit more of a central character in his own show. 

Having said all that, however, I do feel there's a bit of a dip in quality that happens, here. Overall, Season One is considerably stronger. But I think we can easily forgive things at this stage. The show is so unique and different from a lot of what the BBC had to offer back in the 60s. Figuring out the actual formula was going to take some time and there were going to be some misfires along the way. Inevitably, there would be a lot of adjustments before the engine really started humming. 

There are, however, some unpleasant issues we should definitely look at as we analyze things. Don't worry, though, we'll discuss a few more positives too.  

LOTS OF SINS REPEATED

Perhaps what makes Season Two the most difficult to watch is that the production team doesn't seem to learn much from its mistakes. Many of the errors in judgement that were made in Season One repeat themselves. To get a better idea of what those missteps might have been, check out my Review of Season One, first: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/06/doctor-who-season-by-season-season-one.html. But even if you don't have a look at the link, you should still be able to understand my points. 

Starting Off Good But Not Finishing Well

Both An Unearthly Child and The Daleks (or is it The Dead Planet? I'm never quite sure....) display this problem. The whole thing begins quite well but then, very quickly, sort of peters out into something considerably less exciting. 

There is no story that exemplifies this better, however, than The Space Museum. I absolutely adore that first episode (so much so, that I consider it one of my favorite episodes ever! https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2018/11/book-of-lists-top-six-doctor-who.html). While some fans claim that the other three episodes are absolute crap, I think there is some exaggeration going on in a comment of this nature. Episode Two, in fact, also holds up fairly well. But it does start getting pretty bad during Parts Three and Four. 

Biting Off More Than They Can Chew

This is a problem that we only see a bit of in Keys of Marinus. The story is just demanding a bit too much and can't really be effectively made on the budget it's been given. This same problem happens with a few stories in Season Two.  

The Dalek Invasion of Earth really is just too grandiose of a vision for the money it's been given to make it. A lot of fans do seem to go on quite a bit about some of the super-effective imagery of the story. The sequence where Barbara and Jenny are trying to sneak Dortmun across London seems to be a moment that many find very visually-stunning. To me, it looks kinda cheap and goes on for way longer than it needs to! All the drumwork that's playing in the background quickly becomes annoying! This is clearly a bit of padding that feels quite flat. 

Dalek Invasion of Earth is riddled with this sort of stuff. The show just couldn't support the idea of effectively conveying a future Earth occupied by Daleks at this point in production. It makes a valiant attempt. And, in some cases, succeeds nicely. But a lot more of it just looks overambitious. While others do seem to regard this a Classic, I find it just looks way too dated to really be able to appreciate it much. 

To add insult to injury, we also get The Web Planet. 

This story works great in concept. It is very nice to see the show trying to do an adventure where all the characters except for the TARDIS Crew are genuinely alien. But it is just such a difficult story to sit through because it cannot achieve what it wants. Most of it looks very silly - even if you try to watch it contextually. 

To its credit, Web Planet still looks good on paper. Whereas there are elements to Dalek Invasion of Earth's plot that make little or no sense. But I do consider both of these stories to be pretty low points in the season. Even though fans tend to love Dalek Invasion. To me, the show just wasn't ready to make these sort of stories. I applaud the production team for their ambition but these are just tough episodes to enjoy. 

HISTORICALS SAVE THE DAY!  

Before we harp too much on past mistakes, let's examine some things that the show continued to do right. Once more, the Historicals really do rise above the rest of what the season has to offer. 

The Crusades is, very much, in keeping with the excellent stories we got from the first season when the TARDIS Crew got stuck in the past. David Whitaker was another writer that should have gotten much more recognition than he did (everyone was so in love with Terry Nation - even though so many of his scripts were riddled with serious problems!). The two existing episodes really show off his gift for characterization.  The monologue he writes for the Earl of Leicester in Part Three is especially impressive. This might just be the very first Great Monologue of Doctor Who (there would be many more to come).  

The casting for this story was also very impressive. Particularly Julian Glover as Richard the Lionheart and Jean Marsh  as the Lady Joanna, Both would come back and dazzle us again as other characters in the series. But they are also quite brilliant, here. Amazing enough to get us to nearly forget that some of the other actors in the serial are, sort of, performing in Blackface!    

But we must truly marvel at all of the Historicals of this season. Especially since a few of them stray enormously from the formula of the Historicals of Season One. The Crusades is a great story - but it makes no attempt to give us anything different from what we've seen before. 

The Romans, on the other hand, is hugely divergent from Season One. But it still gives us something very enjoyable. It is  the first time Doctor Who makes a whole-hearted attempt to deliver a comedy. And, although most fans could be infuriated by the fact that it's not taking itself all that seriously, we still tend to love this adventure. And rightfully so. There is so much fun to be had, here. Particularly the antics of Nero. How can we not love a character who introduces himself in his first scene with an awful belch?! 

The Time Meddler, however, goes even further. It is the show's first indulgence in what would come to be known as a "pseudo-historical". Some complain that it is a bit slow, in places. Or that the Vikings are just a tad too cliched. I tend to disregard such criticism. In fact, I'm amazed this story doesn't find its way into more fan discussion than it does. It makes a huge contribution to the show's canon by suddenly revealing quite a bit more about Time Lord society. 

The Monk is also a great character, of course. So glad he comes back next season. Wish we'd seen him more often.    

SOME NEW MISTAKES! 

Repeating past sins isn't the only major problem we see in Season Two. There are also some bad judgement calls made that never happened previously.  

The biggest one, of course, was producing content that was merely there to fuel Dalekmania. 

While Dalek Invasion of Earth might have some problems with its plot - it, at least, has one! The Chase really is just six episodes of Daleks parading about for all the kids to see and hide behind the sofa from. There's little or no substance to the thing. Admittedly, it is a Guilty Pleasure (https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2016/05/book-of-lists-five-guilty-pleasures.html). But calling it that implies it is something that is so poorly done that we shouldn't actually like it. 

Without a doubt, The Chase definitely wins the award for: "Greatest Piece of Fluff Doctor Who Has Ever Produced"!    

SOME PLEASANT SURPRISES

Oddly enough, there are some other aspects to the season that really look like they should have failed but, instead, turn out half decent. Not incredible in any way - but still pretty good. 

The Rescue is a very simple little Two-Parter that is really just there to usher in a new companion. But it ends up having some sizeable charm to it. Again, Whitaker's writing really does lift the whole thing up. With the tiniest of casts, he creates a cute little tale that satisfies us quite nicely for the duration of two short episodes. 

Planet of Giants has a premise that would probably be more at home in a Scooby Doo Cartoon than Doctor Who. But it also does okay. Trimming it down to three episodes was probably a very smart move, though. A shrunken TARDIS Crew really can only hold our attention for so long!    

FINAL VERDICT

While I do consider Season One to be of a better quality than this one, there are a few failings from that first year that this season seems to correct. Probably the biggest fix is its ability to keep us engaged on such a poor budget. There are some very slow and ponderous moments in Season One that were created out of necessity. Run-time had to be filled so scenes were written that weren't really all that good at holding our attention but provided padding. There's a lot less of this going on with Season Two. Overall, everyone seems to be doing a better job with pacing, this year. 

In many ways, Season Two reminds me a lot of Series Two in New Who. I don't think Production really expected the show to actually make it this far and had no real blueprint for the creative direction of a second season. Things were probably slapped together a little too quickly. Which may account for a lot of the problems that do ensue  as the season was being made. 

As I said, though, at least it's good enough to get us a Season Three!