DOCTOR WHO - SEASON-BY-SEASON: SEASON SIXTEEN

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT 

Season Sixteen will be a tricky one to review. 

Some time ago, I did a REVIEW OVERVIEW series on Umbrella Seasons. We've had three of them, now, of course. So I thought it might be fun to do a somewhat-scientifically-oriented analysis of them to determine which was the most solidly put-together. 

It was a mammoth undertaking. I wanted this thing to be super-detailed so that you could see exactly what my reasoning was for which Umbrella Season I considered best. This thing was spread out over eight entries and took a good month-and-a-half to complete. I went down a serious Umbrella Season Rabbit Hole. 

But I was proud of what I had accomplished. Damn proud, in fact. By the time the work was complete, you could see all of my points quite clearly. You might still not agree with them, of course. But you could, at least, see that I had put some thought into my reasoning. 

Should you wish to dare to read through the entire magnum opus (it's not lost on me that I had to do a huge series of interconnected posts in order to review Umbrella Seasons!) then the first entry is here: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/03/review-overview-which-is-best-umbrella.html. From there, just work your way through the essays that come after. If you want to do it all at once, keep your afternoon free!   

Herein lies the problem: having already done a very detailed analysis of The Key to Time Season, it's going to be tricky to do another one that doesn't just massively repeat itself. It can be achieved, of course. Over the last year or two, for instance, I've listed my Top Five Master, Cybermen and Dalek stories. Some of those tales also got reviews when I listed my Top Ten Fave Doctor Who Stories Ever way back at the end of my first year of writing this blog (Winter of '32, if I remember correctly...) I managed to come up with enough different things to say about the stories that fell into both categories that it didn't feel like you were just reading the same review twice. 

I do think reviewing Key to Time again will be a bit tougher. There are just certain "beats" in the Season that need to be discussed or you haven't really given it a proper analysis. So I do think there will be a bit more repetition than usual. However, I will do my best to find new ways to express the salient points that need to be brought up. So that if you did go to the trouble of reading that entire REVIEW OVERVIEW series (and quite a few of you did. In fact, it still gets a fairly steady stream of views, even now. I had no idea people would be so interested in reading about Umbrella Seasons!), then you won't feel like you're just reading the same review twice!    

So, with that in mind, let's get into the Proper Review. We'll begin with the biggest Elephant in the Room: 

THE TOM BAKER COMEDY SHOW - PART ONE: AN IMPORTANT GROUND RULE

This is my greatest beef with this season. 

Before I dive in too deep, let me preface this by saying I have no problem with Doctor Who being funny. In fact, I love the fact that it is sci-fi that never takes itself too seriously. This is one of the reasons why I've never been able to get into Star Trek much. It just feels so heavy and ponderous. Even overly-dramatic, in places. Particularly in the Original Series where we had to put up with Shatner's staccato delivery of his lines. It felt so dreadfully hammy, sometimes. The fact that he was talking in such a manner because he wasn't taking the time to properly memorise his dialogue makes it feel like an even greater Acting Sin. 

I still remember with fondness that crucial scene in one of the later episodes of The Daleks. The Doctor commits some effective sabotage against the titular monsters. He's so busy being impressed with his own cleverness that he sticks around for too long to admire his handiwork and gets himself captured. William Hartnell recognises the comic potential of the moment and does some fun little mugging as the Daleks glide into the shot and apprehend him. This, as far as I can see, is the first time in the show where they intentionally go for a laugh. And I love it. It sets an important precedent: Sometimes, Doctor Who should be funny. 

Of course, we later get stories like The Romans. There are gags all over the place in this one. Some of the acting is even a bit over-the-top. Particularly Nero. And yet, it all works. Not once do I feel like the story has gotten too silly. It's just a bit more light-hearted than most Doctor Who adventures. That's all.  

Which brings me neatly to a very important point: There is a very crucial line that exists in the bedrock of any sci-fi franchise. On one side of the line, you have science fiction that is being a bit funny. On the other: you have sci-fi comedy. 

I do love sci-fi comedy. Particularly the British stuff. While my passion for Doctor Who runs deeper than anything, I also have tremendous love for Red Dwarf and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, And some slightly more obscure stuff, too. So I want to make it clear: I don't object to science fiction that is really just going for the laughs. That's absolutely fine with me. 

But I do think there is a crucial rule that needs to be followed, here. A sci-fi comedy can really, pretty much, do whatever the Hell it wants to create a gag. Spend several long minutes randomly calling a whale into existence just so he can plummet to his death. That's fine. 

But artists need to remember: there are two sides to that line. If you create a show that is meant to be sitting on the side of science fiction that is trying to be a bit funny, then you can't really let it cross over to the other side. Any time you do that, you're doing damage to the franchise. It's losing just a bit too much credulity and we can no longer suspend our disbelief in the way we're meant to. 

Oddly enough, Sci Fi comedy cam flitter about on either side of that line. It can take itself seriously for a bit if it wants to. Oftentimes, when it does, it gives us a very pleasant surprise and can even move us quite deeply. There were several occasions in Red Dwarf, for instance, where they show off a very romantic side to Lister and it really creates a gorgeous moment in the episode. 

However, I don't feel that Science Fiction that Likes to be a bit Funny can do the same. It always has to stay on the one side of that line. If it crosses over by doing something just a bit too absurd - it only hurts itself.  

In my Review of Season Fifteen, I explicitly state that Tom Baker is starting to come close to crossing that line. But he never actually truly steps over it. As we get into Sixteen, however, he finally starts doing exactly that. 

It is in The Key to Time Season that Tom Baker officially starts taking the piss out of Doctor Who. 

THE TOM BAKER COMEDY SHOW - PART TWO: WHERE HE ACTUALLY STARTS CROSSING THE LINE

This is something I remember bringing up in the REVIEW OVERVIEW, but I do think it should be examined again. In the same way that I succinctly remember that moment in The Daleks where Doctor Who is being intentionally funny for its first time, I can also remember when Tom Baker officially starts crossing the Line. It's at the beginning of Part Three of The Ribos Operation. They are resolving the cliffhanger where Graff Vinda Ka is about to have them executed. Baker starts prancing about like a fool. It's almost like the fact that they're in the snow is confusing Tom and he suddenly thinks he's in a Christmas Panto. Ultimately, it goes on only for a short while so it doesn't cause too much cringe. 

Fortunately, Baker tends to behave himself for the rest of Ribos Operation. Even if the story lends itself to being something a bit more comedic, that's the only real occasion where it feels the jokes were being taken too far. 

Amazingly enough, no lines seem to get crossed during The Pirate Planet. Even though the entire story sits ridiculously close to it. Of course, the actor playing the Pirate Captain had far more opportunities to overdo it than Baker ever could. But he remains very nicely on the right side of things. It helps that Adams actually wrote some elements into the character to stop him from just being completely ridiculous. The fact that he is still quite deadly and dangerous takes the edge off the humor a bit. And the way he actually mourns the passing of Mister Fibuli adds a very nice dimension to him. 

Since I am speaking about other characters that have the potential to go too far with the humor, I should bring up that this will start happening soon with the supporting cast. One can almost lay the blame at Baker's feet for this problem, too. If you're in a show and the lead is not taking things all that seriously, it's hard not to go to that same place with them. 

Still, by the time I finished my first viewing of Pirate Planet, I'm almost wondering if that scene at the beginning of Part Three of Ribos Operation was a fluke.  That, maybe, Tom Baker realised he took things too far and has learnt his lesson. Particularly with the way he delivers his performance during that moment of severe moral indignation with the Captain. The intensely serious tone he adopts almost feels like he's offering an apology for what he did in Operation. Like he's saying: "Sorry for crossing the line a bit in the last story. Let me make up for it by bringing the heat when I need to do one of the most serious scenes in the entire history of my Era." 

But then, some more cracks start appearing in Stones of Blood. Tom makes some odd choices in the way the Doctor interacts with Amelia Rumford. She is a fun, eccentric character, of course. But it seems like Tom feels he needs to be more fun and eccentric than her. Much of his performance comes across as a tad over-the-top whenever he's interacting with her. To the point where it seemed to even annoy the actress playing Amelia a bit. Apparently, she made several attempts to reign him in a bit during rehearsals. Which may have actually helped a bit since Tom seems to only go so far with his clowning around in what we end up seeing transmitted. Unfortunately, she's not around to restrain him when he decides to wear a silly wig during his trial by the Megara!

All in all, Stones of Blood does okay with not getting too silly. There is only a slightly pervading sense of campiness to it. It does feel like Tom is still holding back a bit. And, of course, there's the famous sequence with the two campers being attacked by the Ogri that many interpret as the true "final gasp" of the Hinchcliffe Period. It will be the last time we'll see the show borrow anything from Hammer Horror Films for quite some time. 

THE TOM BAKER COMEDY SHOW - PART THREE: WHERE THINGS TRULY DEGENERATE

I bring up that famous scene with the couple in Stone of Blood because it almost seems to serve as a signpost. From this point, onward, the Graham Williams Period seems to lose all sense of darkness. Whatever floodgates were holding back the comedy seem to have burst. 

Androids of Tara, for me, falls under the same category of story as Seeds of Doom or Talons of Weng Chiang. I cannot, for the life of me, see what other fans love so much about it. The plot is very ill-constructed and much of its own internal logic falls apart quite quickly. But, even worse, no one is holding Tom Baker back anymore. The adventure has a sort of storybook feel to it. Like it's a bit of a fairy tale. Because it's all a bit absurd, Baker sees the potential  to throw in a tonne of camp and goes for it. Other actors follow. The whole story becomes an adventure in High Comedy that I just don't feel works. That notorious Line is thoroughly crossed, here. This is, very much, a sci fi comedy rather than Doctor Who. I know many fans like to view it as just a fun little romp but I can't see that. To me, it's just bad. Particularly since quite a few of the jokes don't really land that well. 

This is the true beginning of the slippery slope. From here, Tom will be taking the piss out of just about anything he can. It will, in turn, inspire other cast members to do the same.  More times than others, we will be getting a parody of Doctor Who rather than the real show. 

Having said all that, we do get just a little bit of a respite from the overt comedy. Power of Kroll does manage to take itself fairly seriously most of the time. At the very least, much of the comedy that does exist in it is fairly unintentional. I almost wonder if Tom settled down because it was a Robert Holmes script and didn't want to mess with it too much. 

Ironically, the story could have used with just a bit more humor. Its direction feels very flat. I'm reminded a bit of The Mutants as I watch this. I'm just not feeling any real connection with the characters. The plot, itself, is quite good. But, for whatever reason, it doesn't engage me much. 

Part One of Armageddon Factor feels quite promising. It's definitely dark and gritty. The Marshal is meant to represent all that is wrong in the Military Mentality. He could have been easily turned into a complete caricature. It was certainly there in the writing. But the actor playing him resists the temptation and only puts so much satire in the portrayal. He still seems to want him to feel like a real person and not just some ridiculous buffoon that we can't take the slightest bit seriously. 

But then, as the latter episodes roll out, the comedy takes over again. The Marshal almost seems to stick out like a sore thumb as he keeps trying to keep the character relatively straight. Everyone else is, pretty much, going for whatever joke they can put in. It all descends, once more, into something that cannot be taken all that seriously. 

I remember mentioning this in the REVIEW OVERVIEW but it bears repeating: The sequence where Shapp gets into the gunfight with the Mutt and is accidentally propelled into the transmat shaft is the moment I give up on Armageddon Factor. The actor executes the scene with all the deftness of a party clown. He just wants it to look as silly as possible. This is meant to be the climax of a six story epic and we're getting cheap comedy prat-falls. It's just not working for me. Armageddon Factor finishes up as just one big ludicrous mess. 

WHY I'M FUSSING OVER THIS SO MUCH

Some of you may be thinking: "Wow! Rob is spending a lot of time in this review pointing out where he feels the comedy starts going too far!" But I'm doing that for a reason. It's my belief that letting the humor get out of control is the chief contributor to ruining the potential of the whole Key to Time season. 

By no means was I expecting this season to be something super-serious, of course. I've already said that I do enjoy a comedy element to the show. But there needs to be a balance. Particularly in a storyline that you've been building up for the entire season. Clearly, there was meant to be an epic quality to the whole extended tale. Much of that is dashed against the rocks, though. Particularly with the way the stories were arranged. Something fun and light works great towards the beginning of the season. Pirate Planet, for instance, is in a pretty decent spot. Although, it would have been just as fine as the third story of the season with Androids of Tara before it (or, maybe, Androids should have never been made and something else was put in its place!). The more dramatic tales are, then, stacked near the end so that we feel some genuine tension building. Armageddon Factor also would've needed a bit of re-writing and the actors should have been drastically reigned in. With this structure, I feel, we could have had something much better than what we got. 

Having said all that, I don't think Key to Time is awful, either. If you go back to my REVIEW OVERVIEW, you'll see that in my Final Verdict that I gave it a 7 out of 10. Which, in the end, isn't a terrible rating. It's simply average. And that's just it: When you are building a season-long epic, you want it to be incredible. Not average. An audience doesn't want to stay around with one story for that long and just get something that's okay. Only something that completely amazes them will make them feel like such a long tale was worth their while. 

As we get into the second half of the season, however, the quality of the content dips considerably. Part of this is due to the fact that Power of Kroll isn't all that particularly engaging. But a lot of it is due to the comedy just going too far in too many places. Particularly in the Season Finale, where the whole thing starts feeling like a giant farce. 

SOME ACTUAL GOOD STUFF

Okay, so if I'm saying this season was 70% good, I should probably bring up some of its positive aspects and not just complain about the overused comedy element! 

Probably the thing I appreciate the most about Season Sixteen is the introduction of Romana. After a season-and-a-half with a female companion that could handle all the action in a story it was great to get the polar opposite. We now had a woman who could take care of some of the plot elements that required intellectual skills. It's great to see the "full spectrum of usefulness" being covered by characters who were usually just getting in trouble or asking the Doctor what was going on. Truly, this was a glorious time to be a companion with a uterus in Doctor Who!    

I'm also quite fond of the dynamics between the two Time Lords. While I do complain about a lot of the comedy in this season, the banter these two indulge in does really work. Mary Tamm and Tom Baker have amazing chemistry. Thanks to how gifted both of them are, we can see that they start off badly but will, eventually, get along. Romana still frequently doubts the Doctor's competency, but she does trust him when he's needed most. We really haven't quite seen this sort of relationship between the Doctor and his assistant before. There's a definite sense of equality between them. The Doctor has a bit more street smarts than Romana.- but, otherwise, she can do quite fine without him. As the character evolves, we will see her competently handle large plot threads in the story without a hint of worry. It's undeniable that Four and either incarnation of Romana is one of the best TARDIS teams in the history of the show.

I also quite liked the concept of the Black and White Guardians. Formidable god-like beings who seemed to be even more powerful than Time Lords. They were certainly interesting enough to bring back in the 80s. In fact, I wish we'd see them again in New Who. They've been given a name-check, at least. I thought, maybe, they'd been wiped out in the Time Wars but it seems they're still out there. Hopefully, we'll see them again, someday. Although, it will be sad not to see Valentine Dyall in the role of the Black Guardian. He had such a great voice!     

Oddly enough, I found K9-Mark 1's characterisation to be a bit all-over-the-place. I'm not sure how it's possible to feel that about what is, principally, a remote-control prop - but I did! Clearly, it had something to do with the voice-work John Leeson was doing. He wasn't doing anything bad, of course. I always thought he was great. I definitely preferred him over David Brierly. I think it had much more to do with the actual dialogue he was given during Season Fifteen. K9 got introduced out of nowhere and the writers were forced to, hastily, adjust to him. There probably just wasn't enough time to re-write the dialogue in a way that would make the character feel more consistent. 

In Season Sixteen, however, K9's vibe definitely has the right tone. Most of the time, he seems like a standard overly-logical automaton who is slightly confused by the irrational behaviour of organic beings. But, every once in a while, we get a hint of emotion out of him. Which endears him to us in just the right way. It is even just a bit traumatic when we see him brutally damaged by the Ogri in Stones of Blood. Which reveals just how attached we've gotten to him in so short a time. 

It was also great to see Douglas Adams writing for the show. By the time I saw Pirate Planet for the first time, I was already a huge fan of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I was completely delighted to see he was the author of the story as the opening credits rolled. Pirate Planet was, without a doubt, the best story of the season. I just might even consider it a True Classic. 

You know what? Screw it! It is. 

Pirate Planet is a Classic. I would even consider it better than City of Death. 

ULTIMATE CONCLUSION (SEE THE PARENTHETICAL BY THIS TERM IN THE PREVIOUS ENTRY TO BETTER UNDERSTAND ITS AWKWARD WORDING) 

So, there we go. In my final analysis I determine that Season Sixteen is, basically, "okay". Which, really, it shouldn't have been. Something with a concept this big needed to be totally awesome. Again, if we refer to the REVIEW OVERVIEW, we see that the other two Umbrella Seasons scored a 9 out of 10 and a 10 out of 10. That's where a season of this nature needs to be. And, if you can't get it there, you need to just do a series of independent stories. You can't drag us along for that long and only deliver something adequate. 

I do feel that much of the problems stem from just how out-of-control Tom Baker is starting to get. It seems almost pointless to criticise him, of course. At this point in the show, audiences are madly in love with him. To the point where they're almost forgetting that there were Doctors before him. There is tremendous amounts of charm oozing off the man during this stage of his career. His confidence is boundless. 

Which is the biggest objection I have with what he's doing in the role. It seems as though you can't really tell Tom Baker what to do, anymore. He's convinced he's right. The tremendous ratings he's getting seem to be re-enforcing the fact. 

But an actor that won't be coached is a curse no director should have to face. In fact, an entire production team will suffer when dealing with him. In that sense, I feel quite sorry for Graham Williams. He took over a show with a lead who is going to do whatever the Hell he wants. And it's during The Key to Time that we watch that attitude really start to kick in. At the start of things, Baker still seems a bit tenuous about just how far he can go. But, as we reach the season's conclusion, his ego seems to have taken over. In all honesty, I really think he's genuinely starting to hurt the show. Talk all you want about ratings or charm, Tom Baker is no longer a man who seems to have the show's best interests, at heart. He's strictly out for Tom Baker. 

Which will continue to affect my appreciation of the Graham Williams Period. I stated both here and in the REVIEW OVERVIEW that Season Sixteen earns a 7 out of 10. Just to give a clearer idea of things: Fifteen probably gets an 8 out of 10. So, for me, things are going downhill. 

And, with Williams' final season, things are going to get much worse....

If you want to read the entries in the REVIEW OVERVIEW of Umbrella Seasons that deal only with The Key to Time, here they are:   

Part One: 

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/04/review-overview-which-umbrella-season.html

Part Two;

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/04/review-overview-which-is-best-umbrella.html

Final Verdict and/or Ultimate Conclusion: 

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/05/review-overview-which-is-best-umbrella_11.html