TV Review: Doctor Who: The Caves of Androzani (1984)

Doctor Who: The Caves of Androzani (1984) written by Robert Holmes and directed by Graeme Harper

The Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) and his companion Peri (Nicola Bryant) land on Androzani Minor where they stumble into a small war. The miners who were extracting a valuable mineral have taken up arms against the corporation sponsoring the dig. The corporation is clearly evil because they are ready to execute the Doctor and Peri as rebel spies with no proof or trial. The leader of the rebels is a disfigured scientist named Sharaz Jek who invented the mining androids and wants revenge against the corporation. He's pretty evil too, trying to stiff the arms dealers who fail to make a delivery. And Jek wants to keep Peri in his base as the most beautiful creature he's seen. Full points for taste but negative points for not respecting her personal dignity. If the situation wasn't bad enough, the Doctor and Peri have been exposed to a local toxin and will die in a few days unless they can find the antidote (bat milk!) deep in the caves.

The plot is interesting enough even though it's hard to find a sympathetic character aside from the Doctor and Peri. Neither the corporation nor the rebels are in the right. The caves, where much of the action happens, are fairly dark, giving some sympathetic lighting to the one creature hiding in the lower depths of the caves. The monster has little to do with the plot other than checking the box for "rubbish-looking monstrosity" that's part of most classic Doctor Who episodes. Some of the other effects look dodgy, as does the parts recording on videotape rather than film. I always think it's weird they decided to blend the two filming formats. The show ends with Peter Davison's regeneration into the Sixth Doctor, Colin Baker, so that's a nice bonus (though the effects are also very 1980s).

Recommended. Not great, but of historic value for the transition.

TV Review: Doctor Who: The Ribos Operation (1978)

Doctor Who: The Ribos Operation (1978) written by Robert Holmes and directed by George Spenton-Foster

The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) is joined by Romana (Mary Tamm), a Time Lady who is assigned by the White Guardian (Cyril Luckham) to help the Doctor search for the components to the Key to Time. The Key is a powerful device, too powerful to be left in the hands of just anyone. The Black Guardian (whom viewers do not see) is also looking for the components. In addition to Romana, the Guardian gives the Doctor a locator device for the components. The device leads them to the planet Ribos.

Ribos is a fairly primitive planet, currently in a medieval period. The planet is centrally located, making it an ideal spot for Graff (Paul Seed), a petty and shouty prince, to take over. Graff was not allowed back in his kingdom after a war of conquest because the people didn't like his pettiness or his shoutiness. He's hoping to buy the planet from a consortium represented by Garron (Iain Cuthbertson). Garron is actually a con man trying to bilk money from the prince. When the Doctor shows up, he's not sure if Garron is a thief or an agent of the Black Guardian. The usual hijinks ensue.

The story is entertaining with a more original setting than most. The medieval world keeps the sets and costumes simple. There is a dodgy-looking monster that appears a few times but he's not the focus of the episode. Mostly it's about sorting out the con and trying to get the component. The initial relationship between the Doctor and Romana is a bit frosty on his part since he doesn't want a companion to watch over. She starts out a bit young and naive but she catches on quick. Baker and Tamm have good chemistry, promising a good run together. The show is also interesting as it is the first arc of a set of six series all involving the components from the Key to Time.

Recommended.

TV Review: Doctor Who: The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977)

Doctor Who: The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977) written by Robert Holmes and directed by David Maloney

Fourth Doctor Tom Baker travels to Victorian England with companion Leela, who has to wear modest Victorian dress rather than her primitive leather skins. The Doctor himself dons a deerstalker hat and cape (a nod to Sherlock Holmes) as they investigate a series of disappearances of young women. They work a bit with the police but mostly with the coroner. They aren't up against Jack the Ripper--instead they face the minions of Weng-Chiang, a Chinese god. To be honest, he isn't much of a god. His lair is in the sewers underneath a theater. At the theater, Li H'Sen Chang (John Bennett) performs a magic act with his creepy dummy Mister Sin. Chiang has been given magic powers by Weng-Chiang and the doll is really a homunculus. The two serve the so-called god, who is looking for a lost cabinet that will restore his power. The cabinet is actually at the coroner's home.

The story has a lot going for it. The plot moves along at a good pace and information is dealt out episode by episode. The sets are great. The theater is an actual theater; the sewers look like sewers and not a stage-set; the coroner's home is full of knickknacks and detail. The actors are very good, especially the coroner (Trevor Baxter) who is the classic English Victorian gentleman and the theater owner (Christopher Benjamin) who is a P.T. Barnum-esque delight. Leela's primitive instincts make for great comic relief and good action.

The only drawbacks are two. First, the sewers are guarded by a giant rat, which is fairly unconvincing-looking. It's a big suit where just the mouth moves--the classic rubbishy Doctor Who baddie. Second, John Bennett gives a good performance as Li H'sen Chang, but to contemporary eyes the make-up looks too much like a white guy made Chinese. And his dialogue and accent sound like those old Charlie Chan movies. It didn't bother me that much since I understand that's the way things were done back then but more sensitive viewers may take offense.

Recommended.

TV Review: Doctor Who: The Krotons (1968)

Doctor Who: The Krotons (1968) written by Robert Holmes and directed by David Maloney

The Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) lands on the Gonds' planet. They are a simplistic tribe of people who are dominated by the Krotons. Hundreds of years ago, the Krotons landed on the planet and war broke out with the Gonds. With their superior technology, the Krotons won and enslaved the Gonds. Currently, their big demand is the offering of the two most intelligent Gonds to be companions to the Krotons. Those Gonds are never seen again. The Doctor and his companions discover that the Kroton companions are being killed. Things have got to stop and the Doctor is ready to take action.

The story is fairly interesting. The menace is presented early but the whole situation is explained at a slower pace. The show holds off on showing the Krotons, which is good since the outfits are really unimpressive. They look like boxy, shiny robots with leather skirts hiding the actors' legs. Not scary at all. What they use the intelligent people for is interesting if not believable. Troughton is great as always.

Recommended if you can handle the poor visual design of the villains.

TV Review: Doctor Who: The Ark in Space (1975)

Doctor Who: The Ark in Space (1975) written by Robert Holmes and directed by Rodney Bennett

The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) materializes the TARDIS on a space station orbiting the Earth in the far distant future. The Doctor explores with his companions Sarah Jane (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry (Ian Marter), only to discover the station is deserted (except for thousands of people in cryogenic sleep) and apparently sabotaged. The Doctor makes some repairs which activates the security, causing complications. Also, the repairs start the revival sequence for the humans on board. They've been set aside to avoid an apocalyptic disaster on Earth, though they should have been revived centuries ago. The problem is the Wirm, a parasitic intergalactic species that landed on the station a long time ago and is now attempting to take over all the humans. Can the Doctor and his companions save humanity?

The story has a slow start (the first of the four episodes is almost dispensable) but picks up speed as it goes along. One of the revived humans, the station's commander who is nicknamed Noah (hence the "ark"), gets infected and becomes the main villain, though he struggles to maintain his humanity even as he slowly transforms into a Wirm. The special effects are low-budget (the aliens are actors covered in green bubble wrap!) and are, at best, less convincing to contemporary eyes. The commander's struggles against transformation are overacted and also less satisfying (and there's a weird edit that's explained in the supplemental material on the DVD). Even so, his character has an interesting arc that isn't as obvious as it seems. The ultimate resolution isn't surprising but is satisfying.

Tom Baker is in top form as the Doctor. He combines the intelligence and arrogance with a sense of wonder and admiration of humans that makes him an inspirational hero. He hardly ever resolves his problems with fighting (either fisticuffs or laser guns). Often the show lets the companions do that stuff. Baker is charming and odd, with plenty of eccentricity and cleverness to see the situation through.

Recommended, though be sure to make allowances for 1970s BBC visual effects.

TV Review: Doctor Who: Spearhead from Space (1970)

Doctor Who: Spearhead from Space (1970) written by Robert Holmes and directed by Derek Martinus

The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) makes his debut (in color, no less!) when the Earth is threatened by invasion yet again. A group of objects have fallen to Earth and are not the typical space debris. They are glowing orbs being collected by odd-looking mannequin people (and one cantankerous human farmer). The Doctor is still recovering from his transformation, so roughly the first of the four episodes is more about the local reaction, especially the activities of U.N.I.T., the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. They are trying to locate and investigate the orbs as well as determine the identity of the Doctor (since he has a new face, he doesn't look like the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) anymore). Meanwhile, the baddies are slowly revealing themselves and their nefarious plans.

Slow is probably the key word in describing this story arc. Not much happens in the first episode other than establishing the various characters. The plot moves forward very slowly and the action doesn't pick up until late in episode two. The finale has some wobbly special effects, a bit of a shock after a fairly good, minimalist presentation of the bad guys. Pertwee is more dashing and robust as the Doctor, and not so comical as others before and after him. He may be a little too serious as the Doctor, though his good looks are offset by the flamboyant cape and puffy shirt. He's not my favorite Doctor but he does a good job.