TV Review: Doctor Who: Earthshock (1982)

Doctor Who: Earthshock (1982) written by Eric Saward and directed by Peter Grimwade

The Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) lands the TARDIS on Earth in AD 2526. Actually, he lands inside the Earth, in some caves where, naturally, trouble is brewing. An expedition of geologists and paleontologists were wiped out by a mysterious force. One survived and she is leading a military group back into the caves to find out what happened. After a typical misunderstanding (surely the Doctor and his companions must be guilty since they are in the caves!), the Doctor unites with the 26th century earthlings to fight the menace--the Cybermen. The Cybermen want to destroy the Earth, and when their first plan is foiled, they have a more subtle plan that will cost the Doctor dearly.

The Cybermen are an interesting opponent in this story. They have a history of losing to the Doctor, so once they recognize him, they look for vengeance as well as for the destruction of the Earth. The hyper-logical Cybermen taunt the Doctor for being emotional and therefore weak. The Doctor gives as good as he gets. The Cyberman costume is a little weird because their face's chin plate is transparent. Viewers see a grey chin as the Cybermen talk. While it's a reminder that they aren't just robots, it doesn't help them to be scary. Also, the leader is a bit shouty and does say "excellent" several times as if he were Mr. Burns from The Simpsons.

Peter Davison's Doctor has a fairly interesting relationship to his three companions in this episode. Tegan (Janet Fielding) and Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) provide some technical support and some humanizing moments for the Doctor. Young Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) is a mathematical prodigy from another planet who wants to go home. The Doctor at first refuses, though Adric plots a course anyway. Their interactions are interesting and come to a poignant ending.

Recommended.

TV Review: Doctor Who Resurrection of the Daleks (1984)

Doctor Who Resurrection of the Daleks (1984) directed by Matthew Robinson, written by Eric Saward

Fifth Doctor Peter Davison is caught in a time corridor and forced to land on modern day Earth (that being 1984 London). Something weird is happening in a warehouse near the Thames. Police behave oddly and a bomb squad is babysitting a load of canisters. One soldier escapes and runs into the Doctor, who is curious to investigate, especially since one end of the time corridor is in the building. The other side of this particular corridor leads to a space station that is under attack. The station is a prison with just one prisoner in cryogenic storage--Davros, insane creator of the Daleks. The attacking ship is full of brainwashed humans who are working for...the Daleks! They want Davros for their own purposes.

The story is fairly entertaining with some good mysteries and interesting conversations about the situation between Davros and the Daleks. There's a lot of cat-and-mouse through the London warehouse and the space station--standard fare of old Doctor Who shows. The body count is pretty high in the episode, which surprised me a bit but doesn't make it a bad series. Davros himself is very shouty, making him less scary as a villain, though he makes up for that somewhat with his more calm and cunning conversations. Overall its an interesting episode but not a great one.