TV Review: Doctor Who: Castrovalva (1982)

Doctor Who: Castrovalva written by Christopher H. Bidmead and directed by Fiona Cumming

The Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) has just regenerated from the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker). He's not in great shape and needs more time to finalize the regeneration. The first plan is to take him to a special room in the TARDIS with healing properties. While Tegan (Janet Fielding) and Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) escort him, Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) becomes lost in the TARDIS. Soon enough they discover that Adric has been kidnapped by the Master (Anthony Ainley), who is using him to sabotage the TARDIS. Tegan flies them to Castrovalva, a city recommended by the Doctor for its healing powers. They arrive only to find it very strange. Are the Castrovalvans plotting against them too?

The story is very slow, with a few extended wandering around scenes. The pacing probably would have benefitted by condensing from four to three episodes. Some of the costumes are silly even by Doctor Who standards. The special effects are also dodgy-looking. This story was Davison's first outing as the Doctor, so he switches into his cricket outfit and, by the end, gets the celery stalk on his lapel. Overall, a less than remarkable beginning for a guy who would grow nicely into the role.

Mildly recommended.

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 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 Reviews: Doctor Who: Logopolis (1981)

Doctor Who: Logopolis (1981) written by Christopher H. Bidmead and directed by Peter Grimwade

The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) is finally going to fix the chameleon circuit on the TARDIS so that it can change into something other than a police box. He travels with Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) to Earth to examine a real police box as part of fixing the circuit. The plan is interrupted when they run into the Master and they accidentally pick up Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding) who clearly looks destined to become a new companion for the Time Lord. The biggest mystery is a strange white figure that follows them on their adventures, watching from a distance.

The show is a fairly standard Doctor Who story with a few standout features. The Master is always a fun villain--he's sort of equal to the Doctor (since they are both Time Lords) but with a decidedly evil bent. His evil scheme is a little underwhelming. Tegan has the makings of a good companion--she's feisty and willing to take the initiative, even if she isn't entirely competent (though I have to be honest, even the Doctor isn't entirely competent). The final standout is the finale, where the Doctor regenerates into the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison. Like most regenerations, the new actor just shows up at the end of the episode. He doesn't speak and nothing about him is revealed.

Recommended.

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: The Visitation (1982)

Doctor Who: The Visitation (1982) written by Eric Saward and directed by Peter Moffatt

Fifth Doctor Peter Davison tries to return his companion Tegan (Janet Fielding) to Heathrow Airport in 1981, ending her adventures with him. The TARDIS gets the location right but the year wrong. The year is 1666 and the plague is raging throughout England. If that wasn't bad enough, a "comet" crashed recently which the locals took as a sign of doom. They are quite right of course, because it was actually a spaceship. The Doctor wants to help the stranded aliens get back to their home world. Those aliens, the Terileptils, have other plans, the typical enslaving and/or wiping out humanity so they can have the Earth to themselves.

The show has the usual antics--kidnappings and escapes, chasing good guys or bad guys, building a science-y weapon, bantering between the Doctor and the companions (two others are on board in addition to Tegan). A fun addition is Richard Mace (Michael Robbins), a highwayman who used to be an actor before the plague made theater-going less appealing. He helps out the Doctor with his highwayman skills (picking locks and shooting pistols, that kind of thing) and provides some extra comic relief. The aliens are typical Doctor Who baddies, though at least they are imaginative enough to dress up their android as Death to scare the locals away.

Overall, this four-parter is a fun if a bit average adventure for the Doctor.

A bit of fun trivia--in the special features, they mention that Peter Davison played Tristan in All Creatures Great and Small, which made me look at his career on IMDB. Another fun role was this one:

I laughed because I knew exactly what role he had just from the name! He's the cow that points out his best parts to diners at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

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.