TV Review: Doctor Who: The Five Doctors (1983)

Doctor Who: The Five Doctors (1983) written by Terrance Dicks and directed by Peter Moffatt

The Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) experiences some cosmic illness and is sucked back to the Time Lords' home world of Gallifrey. But not to just any part of Gallifrey--he's been pulled into the Death Zone. The Death Zone is an ancient area where combatants were placed to provide gladiator-style entertainment. The Zone was sealed off by Rassilon, a Time Lord with great powers and an even greater moral sense. As it happens, not only is the Fifth Doctor hijacked, but also the First Doctor (played by Richard Hurndall, replacing the late William Hartnell), the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton), and the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee). The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) is also kidnapped but he gets trapped in the time vortex and does not arrive on Gallifrey.The four Doctors travel to the Dark Tower at the heart of the Death Zone. The Tower is Rassilon's tomb, a place that legendarily can grant amazing powers.

The other Time Lords see the disturbance of the Doctor's timeline and send in the Master (Anthony Ainley) to get the Doctor out of the Death Zone. Sending in his worst enemy seems like a bad idea and none of the Doctors wants to work with him. They go through a lot of shenanigans to get to Rassilon's burial chamber, where the true mastermind behind the scheme reveals himself and tries both to achieve immortality and eliminate the Doctors.

The episode celebrated the twentieth year of Doctor Who. Baker did not want to come back for this special episode, so footage from an unaired episode was used to shoe-horn his Doctor in. The plot is a nice excuse to bring back not only the previous incarnations of the Doctor but also a lot of beloved companions and villains, some in minor cameo roles. Viewers need a bit of familiarity with these Doctors in order to appreciate a lot of the jokes and references. Without that background, the episode is probably much less interesting and enjoyable.

Recommended, but be sure to have some knowledge of the first several incarnations of the Doctor.

TV Review: Doctor Who: Robot (1974)

Doctor Who: Robot (1974) written by Terrance Dicks and directed by Christopher Barry

The Third Doctor (John Pertwee) regenerates into the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) inside a UNIT facility. The Doctor wants to take his new face for a spin but the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney) convinces him to investigate some robberies on the premises. The plans for a disintegrator ray and some circuitry needed to build it have been stolen. The Doctor is intrigued enough to hang around. Pretty soon they run into the titular robot, who is quite conflicted about the murders it has to commit while it is doing tasks for a group of scientists who have their own grand evil scheme.

Baker is wonderful as the Doctor, even here in his very first episode. He has the quirkiness, comedy, and commanding presence needed. The other actors work well with him and do their jobs quite well. As is often the case, some of the special effects aren't so special, though they are charmingly tacky. The story moves at a good pace and the Doctor manages to get off the Earth by the end, on his way to even more adventures.

Recommended.

TV Review: Doctor Who: State of Decay (1980)

Doctor Who: State of Decay (1980) written by Terrance Dicks and directed by Peter Moffatt

Fourth Doctor Tom Baker is still trapped in e-space (which for the 1980s is something totally different from what we'd think of now) trying to get back to the regular universe (called "n-space" in the series). He stops off at a primitive planet where there's one village with a semi-gothic tower looming over it. The three lords of the tower (actually two lords and one lady) have oppressed the locals from time immemorial. They use the locals as slave labor and as occasional mysterious sacrifices. Soon enough, the Doctor discovers that the lords are not just sucking the metaphorical life-blood from the villagers, they suck actual blood.

The story is an interesting blending of Doctor Who and vampire tropes. The Doctor explains a bit of the folklore, and not just Earth folklore. Having other planets' vampire mythology enables one or two variations on the theme and some interesting twists. Some of the acting and set designs are too obviously inspired by Hammer-horror vampire movies. The big monster at the end is disappointing, probably due to budget constraints. Overall, I found it fun.

Recommended for the classic Doctor Who fan.

Book Review: Doctor Who and an Unearthly Child by Terrance Dicks

Doctor Who and an Unearthly Child by Terrance Dicks

As boldly announced on the cover, this book is the "First publication of the very first Doctor Who story." Having never seen the very first episode, I was intrigued to read the book. The story has many elements that have lasted throughout the years--kidnapping of the Doctor and his friends, escaping and being re-kidnapped, co-ordinating various skills in the group, discussing the "it's bigger on the inside" nature of the TARDIS, and traveling to an exotic time.

The story starts with Susan, a brilliant school student who doesn't know some of the basics, like how pre-metric English money works. Two teachers, Barbara and Ian, are concerned about her and follow her home to the address the school has--a junkyard in town. In the yard, they don't see Susan but they do see a perfectly serviceable police box and an old man fussing around. Soon enough, they are inside the TARDIS and wind up in pre-historic Earth where a tribe of cavemen fret over the invention of fire. Action and excitement ensue.

I enjoyed the story though the writing is very plain. It's the perfect sort of beach-reading fun novel. The Doctor Who connection is a bonus. Now I must hunt down the original episode on DVD or streaming somewhere.

Mildly recommended.