Doctor Who Series 6.2

Doctor Who makes its return next Saturday (yippee!!!) with the second half of series 6 (or series 6.2 as I'm calling it). Hopefully I'll get my thoughts of Let's Kill Hitler (probably the most lurid title in the shows history) but late next Sunday night. But in the meantime here's a recap of the major plot points of series 6.1

Who and Me

This autobiography of Barry Letts who had a longer association with Doctor Who, having at various times written, directed and produced the show. It covers Barry's early life and career before moving on to his first contact with Doctor Who.

It's an interesting read, especially if you're interested in the efforts that go into producing a series like Doctor Who along with the politics of working for the BBC. Less interesting is Barry's views on Bhuddism which he occasionly goes off on a tangent on. But that's a minor quibble.

This only coveres his time producing Doctor Who up to the end of Jon Pertwee's second series. I'm guessing a second volume was planned, but sadly Barry died in late 2009 just before this book was published.

The War Games

First thing that has to be said is that Patrick Troughton had one of the best Doctor Who title sequences ever. If you haven't seen it here's a clean version below.

Now that that's out of the way, what of the story itself?

In many ways, The Wars Game is the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. The last story to feature the Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe and the last story to be filmed in black and white. It's also the first story to feature (albeit only briefly) the Time Lords.

The War Games has a reputation of being nine episodes of boredom. And then the Time Lords turn up. Having never seen this story before I was able to approach it with fresh eyes.

While it perhaps a few episodes longer than it should be, it is an unfair assessment. The story does hang together really well and the production standards are excellent too, with some pretty nifty direction by David Maloney.

But of course it's episode ten that everyone remembers. The Doctor facing his Waterloo moment as the Time Lord's put him on trial for breaking their most sacred law: non-interference. And he is not found wanting. Patrick Troughton is excellent here, conveying his moral outrage. And then we have to say goodbye to Jamie and Zoe.

Again Fraser Hines and Wendy Padbury are really good. While the Time Lord's have some compassion of not totally wiping their minds, you realise that Jamie will have no memory of meeting Zoe.

And so we come to the end of an era, with the Doctor being exiled to earth and the second Doctor spinning off into oblivion. Ready for the next phase of the programmes development.







Rose



While I was channel surfing last night when I stumbled across a repeat of Rose on UKTV. I came in just as the title character enters the TARDIS for the first time and that wonderful shot where we get to see the new console room in all it's glory. And it got me thinking.  Has it really been six years since Doctor Who made it's comeback? I can remember all too well the anticipation waiting for it to make it's Australia debut; waiting for 7.30 on that Saturday night in May when it did. And then seeing the TARDIS flying hell for leather through the vortex and hearing Murray Gold's strident arrangement on the theme music and thinking IT'S BACK!

While there are bigger episodes in series one (I'm thinking of Dalek and The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances - Steven Moffat's blueprint for the show four years early), Rose is good at what it does: re-introducing the series to a new audience. It's the story of Rose meeting the Doctor and it does it really well.

Christopher Eccelston makes an immediate impact as the Ninth Doctor (his first words are"Run!" which says it all about the Doctor!). Billie Piper manages to brush aside the concerns some people had about her acting ability by making Rose believable and likable (though I still prefer the series one version of Rose to the love-struck teenager of later years). And of course, it's in this episode we're introduced to someone who is possibly the most normal person ever created for Doctor Who. I'm speaking of the one and only Jackie Tyler (take a bow Camille Coduri.) The only weak point in the cast is Noel Clark's Mickey Smith who comes across as wet and unlikeable (and you have to wonder what did Rose see in him?).

It might not be a classic. But it's what brought Doctor Who back better than ever. And for that it'll always be one of my favourite episodes.

The Space Museum & The Chase

Back in 2003, in honour of the programme's 40th anniversary, the ABC began screening every episode of Doctor Who from the beginning (or what they could show considering that a number of the early episodes are missing from the BBC's archives); an admirable task that took just over three years to complete. Shortly after they began this odyssey, the following was overhead in the children's section of the library I was working in at the time.

Kid A: I watched Doctor Who last night. Dad warned me not to expect Star Wars type special effects. But, you know, it wasn't bad!

Kid B: Yeah, it was really good wasn't it!

And this would be been around the time the original Dalek story was being screened. Had they been watching The Space Museum however, I fear they may have formed a different opinion.

Sadly, The Space Museum is not the greatest example of early Doctor Who. It starts off promisingly enough with the TARDIS crew arriving on the planet Xeros before they're actually arrived by jumping a time-track (whatever that is. Probably the earliest example of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff) and the Doctor and company having to figure out what's going on. But at the end of episode 1, time catches up with them and they arrive. And that's when things start to go downhill.

The major problem with this story is that, while the Morok's may have been subjugating the Xerons' for years, no one cares and nothing really happens. Okay, a revolution happens, but that just seems to be incidental. The regular cast put in good performances, but that's it. Ahhh... but what's this gliding into view at the end of episode 4? A very familiar shape. Yes, the Daleks are back! And this time they mean business!

And so we move onto (or cut to) The Chase which involves (perhaps not surprisingly) a chase. Having been defeated twice by the Doctor (in The Daleks and The Dalek Invasion of Earth) the Daleks are out for revenge, pursuing the TARDIS through all eternity. And so begins what the Discontinuity Guide call "One of the most bizarre Doctor Who stories, six episodes of unconnected set pieces with only the barest remnant of a plot." But who cares - it's got the Daleks in it!

Actually The Chase is notable for two other things. The first being the one and only appearance of the Mechanoids. As the latest attempt to find the next big thing after the Daleks, the Mechanoids come close to succeeding. However, the fact that they were a little too big for the studios Doctor Who was recorded in at the time effectively killed off any chance of a rematch between them and the Daleks. Just watch the video below to see them in the battle scene from the end of episode 6.

 

The other thing The Chase is notable for is the final appearance of original companions Ian and Barbara. In them, William Russell and Jacqueline Hill created a template for how companions in Doctor Who should be: brave, resourceful and above all real people.  The viewer can't help but as moved by their departure as the Doctor was (buy all reports William Hartnell wasn't too happy in real life either).

So a mixed bag with this release. The extras on The Space Museum are pretty light on (maybe everyone was too embarrassed to talk about it?) but there's more on The Chase. Daleks Conquer and Destroy is the best, analysing their enduring appeal.