Doctor Who Classic Series Review The Macra Terror

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2nd Doctor, Anneke Wills, Ben Jackson, Doctor Who, Doctor Who Season Four, Frazer Hines, Ian Stuart Black, Jamie McCrimmon, John Davies, Macra, Michael Craze, Patrick Troughton, Polly, Shawcraft, The Macra Terror, The Macra Terror animated, The Macra Terror Blu-Ray, The Macra Terror DVD, The Macra Terror Review

The Macra Terror

Review by Paul Bowler

‘There is no such thing as Macra! Macra do not exist! There are no Macra!’ This is a statement which exists at the core of the 1967 Doctor Who story The Macra Terror in more ways than one – being a deception central to the narrative of The Macra Terror on one hand, while in reality it’s also one of the many missing or incomplete stories from the 2^nd Doctor’s era. Now that a new animated version of The Macra Terror has been released on DVD and Blu-Ray there’s never been a better time to reflect on this lost Doctor Who story from the 1960’s.

Having seen the image of a giant claw on the TARDIS time scanner, the Doctor, Polly, Ben, and Jamie arrive on an unknown planet in the future where they visit a human colony. They encounter Medok a crazed colonist, who is quickly arrested by Ola, the Chief of Police. The colony seems to be a happy place and is run just like a giant holiday camp. However, the Doctor is uneasy, despite the assurances of the Colony Pilot and the message of greeting from the mysterious Colony Controller who appears on a screen to welcome them.

The colony has in fact been secretly taken over by grotesque crab-like creatures known as the Macra, who have brainwashed the citizens and forced them to mine a gas for them, one toxic to humans, but essential for the Macra’s survival. Ben also succumbs to Macra’s influence and turns against the Doctor and his friends. Fortunately he manages to recover in time and helps the Doctor destroy the gas pumping equipment to kill the Macra. The colonists want the Doctor to be their new Pilot. Appalled by such a prospect, the Doctor quickly guides his companions away, dancing past the celebrating colonists as they depart.

The seventh story of Doctor Who’s fourth season, The Macra Terror (1967) is Patrick Troughton’s fifth story as the Doctor. While initially appearing to be just another straightforward adventure, with aliens taking control of a human colony, there is a wealth of underlying themes here. Written by Ian Stuart Black, The Macra Terror draws on a number of influences, particularly George Orwell’s classic Nineteen Eighty Four, while splicing its themes of subjugation to authority with the iconic imagery of many a 1950’s bug movie to great effect. While the more serious aspects of the story are undoubtedly overshadowed by the inclusion of the Macra creatures themselves, the good performances and dramatic scenes make this a very intriguing adventure.

Patrick Troughton is on fine form here as the Doctor. Indeed this second incarnation of the Time Lord, with his quiet manner and anti-authoritarian stance, seems perfectly at home here, rallying against the totalitarian regime the Macra have created. The Macra Terror is the absolute antithesis of everything Troughton’s Doctor stands for. The moment where the Doctor’s appearance is spruced up by a machine, and he promptly jumps into another machine to get all messes up again, while fun, illustrates how quickly the Doctor has grasped the situation, and is already rebelling against the regime that has been established to control the colony.

This is another great story for the Doctor’s companions as well. Anneke Wills is right at the heart of the action as Polly, getting confronted by the Macra creatures on several occasions, she also has some great scenes with the Doctor, and I love the moment where he warns Polly about the brainwashing – advising her not to just be obedient and to always make up her own mind. Frazer Hines also get a lot more to do as Jamie in this story, he’s really becoming an integral part of the TARDIS crew now, and Jamie even finds time to do the Highland Fling at one point to evade his pursuers. However, it is Michael Craze as Ben Jackson that really impresses in this story. Of all the Doctor’s companions, Ben is perhaps the most down-to-earth, so when he succumbs to the Macra’s insidious influence, it makes it all the more shocking when he turns against his friends like he does, and Michael Craze’s performance is utterly convincing – especially when he is struggling to regain control again.

Created by Shawcraft, the company that built many of the most memorable monsters seen in Doctor Who during the 1960’s, the Macra are certainly one of the series most striking creations. These giant, crab-like creatures are actually quite effective. While they may not be the most well characterised monster ever seen in Doctor Who, the very concept of what the Macra are capable of doing is quite unsettling. They feature in some genuinely creepy scenes, especially in the early episodes, where director John Davies swathes them in shadows and mist to heighten the suspense. The moment were Ben and Polly are cornered by the Macra are particularly chilling, as they cower together in horror, the sheer terror that Annike Wills manages to convey in her performance is almost palpable and in turn this makes the imposing threat of the Macra entirely convincing.

The supporting cast are also very good, with some great performances that really bring an added depth to the characters. Peter Jeffery’s is excellent as the colonies Pilot, while Graham Leman is great as the Controller. Terence Lodge also gives a good performance as Medok, who is singled out by the authorities because he claims to have seen the crab creatures, and he remains determined to fight the system that has brainwashed his fellow colonists. Unusually, the role of Chiki ended up being played by two different actresses, Sandra Bryant appeared in Episode One, and the role was subsequently recast with Karol Keys in Episode Four.

While sadly no episodes of The Macra Terror exist in the BBC Archives, we still have the audio soundtrack to enjoy. Originally released on audio cassette (1992) and then on CD (2000), with linking narration by Colin Baker, the soundtrack was later re-released again on CD in The Lost TV Episodes Collection (2012), this time featuring new narration by Anneke Wills. Telesnaps also exist to document these missing episodes (Reprinted in the brilliant Doctor Who Missing Episodes Special Edition: The Second Doctor Vol I) and the stories few surviving clips were released on The Lost in Time DVD set (2004).

Although not the best story on audio, it’s still a good adventure to listen too, and together with the telesnaps and clips, it offers us some impression of the tone and atmosphere of the story. Ken Sharp’s sets look extremely good, the Macra seem very menacing, especially in the first two episodes, and the clips that exist offer further insight into what these episodes would have been like. Then we have the Target novelisation of The Macra Terror (1987), written by Ian Stuart Black, which is also a very good adaptation of the television story – as is BBC’s The Macra Terror audiobook (beautifully read by Anneke Wills) which also brings a whole new dimension to enjoying this classic Target novelisation.

The release of the new animated version of The Macra Terror on DVD and Blu-Ray, brought to us by Charles Norton and his skilled team of animators, has had just as much care and attention lavished upon it as previous animated released The Power of the Daleks and Shada. While this animated version of The Macra Terror is not an exact reconstruction of the original story (the omission of the Doctor‘s makeover in the “rough and tumble machine” might irk purists for example), it still offers us a fresh insight into what this story might have been like.

The hand drawn reconstructions look extremely impressive, the Doctor and his companions are convincingly rendered, everything has been carefully lip-synched with the original 1967 audio recording, the animation for the Macra is particularly effective, and furthermore the animation can be viewed in either colour or black and white. This release also boast a wealth of impressive extra features: including an extensive animation gallery, a behind the scenes film, surviving footage, an audio commentary, episode reconstructions, and much, much more besides to make this animated DVD / Blu-Ray release about as extensive a version of The Macra Terror as we are every probably ever going to have in our collections.

Incidentally, The Macra Terror also featured the first episodes to use the new title sequence designed by Bernard Lodge and realised by Ben Palmer, one which incorporated the image of Patrick Troughton’s face in the titles. The foam machine, soon to become a staple element of many a Troughton story, was also used for the first time in this adventure.

In many respects The Macra Terror is full of good ideas, some are more effective than others, but as a whole the story actually holds together pretty well, and it’s only really the ending where it falls a little flat. However, the Macra did indeed eventually return to Doctor Who in Gridlock (2007), and it was a nice surprise to see these classic monsters again, even if it was only fleetingly. The Macra Terror, while not exactly a classic, is still a fine addition to Season Four. Together with the strong performances from Troughton, Craze, Wills, and Hines, good design, and effective use of the Macra themselves; The Macra Terror is certainly a story that provides an intriguing insight into this period of Doctor Who during the 1960’s.

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Doctor Who The Underwater Menace DVD Review

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Anneke Wills, Atlantis, Ben Jackson, Doctor Who, Doctor Who Classic Series, Doctor Who The Underwater Menace, Doctor Who The Underwater Menace DVD Review, Frazer Hines, Jamie McCrimmon, Joseph Furst, Michael Craze, Patrick Troughton, Polly, Professor Zaroff, Season Four, TARDIS, The 2nd Doctor, The Fish People, The Underwater Menace DVD

Doctor Who The Underwater Menace

Review by Paul Bowler

The TARDIS materialises on an extinct volcanic island, where the Doctor (Patrick Troughton), Polly (Anneke Wills), Ben (Michael Craze), and Jamie (Frazer Hines) are soon captured and taken below the surface of the Earth, where they discover a hidden civilisation and the lost city of Atlantis! In their culture, the Atlanteans worship the goddess Amdo, they also use Fish People – civilians who have been surgically altered to enable them to breath under the sea and farm their plankton-based food source. The crazed scientist Professor Zaroff (Joseph Furst) has convinced everyone that he can raise Atlantis from the sea, but he also secretly plans to drain the ocean into the Earth’s molten core, where the extreme superheated steam subsequently generated by his cataclysmic scheme will cause the entire world to explode!

The TARDIS crew meet two shipwreck survivors, Sean (P.G. Stephens) and Jacko (Paul Anil), and they get the fish people to revolt and stop working, but can the Doctor find a way to foil Zaroff’s mad plot in time?

The Underwater Menace is the 1967 four-part adventure from Season Four of the classic series, Directed by Julia Smith, it was also the third story to feature Patrick Troughton as the Doctor, together with Anneke Wills as Polly, Michael Craze as Ben Jackson, and Frazer Hines as Jamie as the Doctor’s travelling companions. The last known prints of this story – all save Episode 3 – were destroyed in 1974, but in 2011 the news broke that Episode 2 has been returned to the BBC by a private collector (Terry Burnett), and preparations commenced to release the Under Water Menace on DVD in early 2013. Sadly the Doctor’s old enemy of cancellation struck again – due to a number of circumstances – and the stories release on DVD didn’t take place. But, with fan pressure building, together with a petition of 2,761 signatures, BBC Worldwide eventually reversed its decision and The Underwater Menace is now finally available on DVD, with a wealth of extra features, documentaries, and commentaries to bring the Doctor Who DVD classic range to a close in fine style.

The opening TARDIS scene is a wonderful moment, where we hear Polly, Ben, and the Doctor “thinking” about where they would like to arrive next – done by prerecording the actors’ voices and playing them back while making the episode. Patrick Troughton, in only his third adventure as the Doctor, is still finding his way in the lead role, some of the early eccentricities of his incarnation, particularly the 2^nd Doctor’s initial trait for disguises and hats (He’s also the first to wear Ray Bans too!) feature prominently during this story, he also intriguingly sings himself as “Dr W” on the note he sends to Zaroff, but overall Troughton’s performance is still excellent. Ben and Jamie don’t initially get a great lot to do in this story; perhaps as a result of it having being rewritten because of the last minute inclusion of new companion Jamie who joined the TARDIS crew at the end of The Highlanders (1966-7), and Frazer Hines proves a great addition to the cast as Jamie. Michael Craze and Frazer Hines do have some good scenes, Anneke Wills is also good as Polly, but its a great shame that Polly is reduced to just screaming, crying, and whimpering for much of the story though.

The Underwater Menace was a story originally rejected for Season Four, but then eventually made as an emergency measure because its replacement – The Imps by William Emms – fell though. Geoffrey Orme’s scripts do feel a little cluttered at times, which is probably why the Doctor’s companions don’t get that well served by the story, but he does give the characters in his scripts some fun lines of dialogue. The Underwater Menace had some good location scenes filmed in Winspit on the Dorset coast for the opening and closing scenes of the story, the music by Dudley Simpson is quite effective, the costumes by Sandra Reid, Juanita Waterson, and make up by Gillian Games are also good, and Jack Robinson’s sets are fairly impressive in scale given the budget.

However, it’s the crazily over-the-top performance of the Austrian born film and TV actor Joseph Furst as Professor Zaroff, that really makes The Underwater Menace so memorable – and Zaroff even has a pet octopus! Zaroff’s madcap scheme is totally bonkers, the Doctor tentatively asks him at one point why he wants to blow up the world, to which the maniac replies: “The achievement my dear Doctor. The destruction of the world! The scientist’s dream of supreme power!” As bizarre as it sounds, Furst’s performance is pitched perfectly, and it’s insanely hilarious as well. The only problem is having such a maniacal pantomime villain causes the stories underlying themes of science vs. religion to be completely overshadowed by Zaroff’s hackneyed dialogue, and even the Doctor’s plan to defeat Zaroff – by flooding the lower levels of Atlantis – seems just as equally OTT when compared to the threat he’s trying to vanquish.

The Fish People are a peculiar monster to say the least. Doctor Who has always done body horror very effectively, the Fish People are civilians that have been operated on to enable them to breath underwater, and the whole idea of people being transformed into one of them is actually quite unsettling. As we see when Polly is taken to the lab where Damon (Colin Jeavons) menacingly approaches her with a syringe to begin her “operation”, and we pan over to a monitor where one of the Fish People slowly drifts into view on the screen. Fortunately, Ara (Catherine Howe) is around to warn the Doctor and help Polly escape. In many ways the Fish People are a tragically horrific creation; their humanity has been stripped away, leaving them condemned to a life of complete servitude. While not the most memorable or exciting monster to ever appear in Doctor Who, the Fish People are relatively well realised on screen, especially considering the shoestring budget, and their strange underwater “ballet” in Episode 3 is quite haunting – if a little superfluous.

The Underwater Menace also features Colin Jeavons, who is excellent – if somewhat underused – in the role of Damon, Tom Watson appears as Ramo, who has always instinctively mistrusted Professor Zaroff, and King Thous is played by Noel Johnson, also well known as the voice of Dick Barton in the famous radio serial Dick Barton: Special Agent, and he would later play Grover the Season 11 story Invasion of the Dinosaurs.

Of course, it is Episode 2, the oldest surviving episode from Patrick Troughton’s era of Doctor Who that is the star attraction of this release, and what a delight it is to finally enjoy this episode in all its glory on DVD! Nothing, absolutely nothing, can beat the great thrill of seeing a long-lost episode of Doctor Who. The Underwater Menace might not be one of the best adventures from Season Four, but to actually watch Episode 2 at last on DVD is a truly magical moment to savour and enjoy, it’s actually a really good episode as well, and it provides us with the opportunity to form a more rounded impression of the story as a whole.

“Nothing in the world can stop me now!” or you for that matter, enjoying the wealth of extras on this DVD release. Unlike previous incomplete classic Doctor Who releases, The Underwater Menace doesn’t use animation techniques to recreate its missing episodes. Instead Episode 1 and 4 are represented by telesnap montages; together with the restored audio soundtrack, to give us a fair approximation of what these episodes might’ve been like. These reconstructions have been handled by producer John Kelly, a contributor to the Doctor Who DVD’s since 2001, he also used a similar method for the recreation of The Web of Fear Episode 3 for its DVD release in 2014, and his work on The Underwater Menace reconstructed episodes makes them seem every bit as good as if they’d been animated. It is little disappointing there’s no full opening titles or credits for these partial reconstructions of Episodes 1 and 4, as it does spoil the effect somewhat, but at least the brief surviving footage from those episodes – censored clips which were edited out for broadcast in Australia – are still included as part of the extra features on the DVD.

There are two specially made documentaries as well. A Fishy Tale offers a delightful look back at the making of The Underwater Menace, narrated by Peter Davison, it features actors Frazer Hines, Anneke Wills, and Catherine Howe, assistant floor manager Gareth Gwenlan, production assistant Berry Butler, and Dalek (2005) writer Robert Shearman. The Television Centre of the Universe Part 2 – nostalgically looks back at the studios where Doctor Who was made, and features Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson, with Sue Hedden (AFM), Jane Ashford (Production Assistant), Alec Wheal (Senior Camera Operator), former Blue Peter producer Richard Marson, Bob Richardson (Exhibitions Assistant), and Simon Anthony (VT Engineer), and is presented by Yvette Fielding.

The audio commentaries are another big highlight of this DVD release: the commentary for Episode 1 features Patrick Troughton’s son Michael, Episodes 2 and 3 are covered by Anneke Wills, Frazer Hines, and Catherine Howe (ARA), Floor Assistant Quentin Mann and Special Sounds Supervisor Brian Hodgson, there’s also a superb archive commentary track featuring the late actor Patrick Troughton on Episode 4, which also features directors Julia Smith and Hugh David, and producer Innes Lloyd. The commentaries are all presented and moderated by Toby Hadoke. These commentaries make The Underwater Menace DVD seem even more special, and they are busting with wonderful anecdotes and nostalgic stories about the series.

The Doctor finally defeats Zaroff, but only after the sea walls have to be broken down and the city flooded. Zaroff drowns in the flood, but everyone else manages to escape. The Doctor, Polly, Ben, and Jamie are reunited on the surface and return to the TARDIS. Later, when Jamie asks the Doctor if its true that he cannot really control the TARDIS, the Doctor says he can, he’s just never wanted to, and as the Doctor attempts to prove it by choosing their next destination – the planet Mars – the TARDIS suddenly goes out of control…

Although its clichéd plot makes it one of the weaker stories from the 2^nd Doctor’s era, The Underwater Menace is still a fascinating glimpse into the transitional period of Doctor Who in the 60’s following the change of lead actor from William Hartnell to Patrick Troughton as the Doctor, there are glimmers of the greatness to come, and you can see how Troughton is beginning to refine his performance during his early scenes with Furst’s Professor Zaroff – by gradually toning down the 2^nd Doctor’s eccentricities. If anything, the unashamedly low-budget B-Movie feel actually feels entirely appropriate for this story. Indeed, while it might be one of the most madcap Doctor Who stories ever made – the whole scene were the Doctor and his companions suspended over a shark pit is unashamedly ludicrous – there’s still a lot to enjoy here, Patrick Troughton, Anneke Wills, Michael Craze, and Frazer Hines make a terrific TARDIS team, it’s wonderful to see Episode 2 at long last, and the great extra features make it a worthy addition to the DVD range.

Seeing how no more incomplete classic stories are planned for release, The Underwater Menace will indeed bring the Classic Doctor Who DVD range to an end. Although there are still other partially existing stories such as The Crusaders (1965) and The Wheel in Space (1968), it seems doubtful they will get individual releases – especially as their surviving episodes are already available on the Lost In Time DVD (2004). Still, it would have been nice to have seen them released in some form individually; perhaps if The Underwater Menace sells well, maybe those final incomplete stories could get released as well one day?

Well, every surviving Classic Doctor Who episode known to exist has been released, and now we reach the final end… The Underwater Menace has got its well deserved place in our DVD collections at last! With its great cast, the inclusion Episode 2, along with a host of extra features to enjoy, The Underwater Menace concludes the excellent Doctor Who Classic Series DVD range – which itself has become a benchmark in terms of restoration, picture quality, and excellent special features – on a far happier note than we might otherwise have had without it, and we are left with a legacy of classic adventures that we can all enjoy forevermore.

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Dr Who: The Era of Monsters

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2nd Doctor, Anneke Wills, Ben, Cybermen, Daleks, Deborah Whatling, Doctor Who, Evil of the Daleks, Frazer Hines, Fury From The Deep, Ice Warriors, Jamie, Michael Craze, Patrick Troughton, Polly, Power of the Dalek, The Abominable Snowmen, The Dominators, The Enemy of the World, The Faceless Ones, The Highlanders, The Ice Warriors, The Invasion, The Krotons, The Macra Terror, The Mind Robber, The Moonbase, The Seeds of Death, The Space Pirates, The Underwater Menace, The War Games, The Web of Fear, The Wheel In Space, Tomb of the Cybermen, Victoria, Yeti, Zoe

Dr Who: The Era of Monsters

By Paul Bowler

 

When William Hartnell transformed into Patrick Troughton during the final episode of The Tenth Planet (1966), a nation held its breath as a new Doctor emerged from a gleaming halo of light to whisk his companions Ben (Michael Craze) and Polly (Anneke Wills) away to the planet Vulcan, and their first encounter with the Doctor’s ach enemies – the Daleks! If any had doubted that the popular character actor, who was a master at utilising costumes and make up to great effect (gaining him many staring roles during the 50’s & 60’s), would be able to make the transition of Doctor Who’s leading actor a success; their doubts must have been quickly dispelled as they became enthralled by the new Doctor who emerged from the TARDIS in Power of the Daleks.

As Doctor Who’s fourth season continued apace, Patrick Troughton’s impish “cosmic hobo” would become imprinted on the minds of children and adults for generations to come, battling evil and tyranny from every dark corner of the universe. This “renewed” Doctor was strikingly different to Hartnell’s grandfatherly wanderer of the fourth dimension; Troughton was more like a chaotic Charlie Chaplin. He may have acted like a bumbling fool who happily played his recorder, with his crumpled frock coat, baggy trousers, and a penchant for outrageous hats, but the fearsome intellect within was never far from the surface and nearly always one step ahead of his enemies.

During the next story, The Highlanders (1966/67), Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines) joined the TARDIS crew after the battle of Culloden, and together with the Doctor, Ben, and Polly the young Scott would soon visit Atlantis in The Underwater Menace (1967), face the Cybermen in The Moonbase (1967), and battle giant crabs in The Macra Terror (1967) before returning to Earth to confront the shape-shifting menace of the Chameleons in The Faceless Ones (1967).

After Polly and Ben decide to remain on Earth the Doctor and Jamie discover that the TARDIS has been stolen. They trace the TARDIS to Edward Satterfield’s (John Bailey) old antique shop, where they are transported back to 1867 where the Daleks are holding Waterfield’s daughter, Victoria (Deborah Watling), hostage to ensure his compliance as they manipulate Theodore Maxtible‘s (Marius Goring) experiments for their own ends. The Daleks force the Doctor to implant the human factor into three Dalek test subjects, but he ultimately turns the Daleks master plan against them by unleashing a Dalek Civil War on Skaro that destroys the Daleks and their Emperor.

Season Four had seen Doctor Who reborn with the glorious concept of regeneration. As Evil of the Daleks (1967) left the Daleks utterly defeated, the masterstroke of recasting Patrick Troughton as the Doctor had proved to be an unqualified success. Behind the scenes though big changes were afoot, as producer Innes Lloyd paved the way for his successor, Peter Bryant, while story editor Victor Pemberton (a position also held by Bryant for part of Season Five) left to be replaced by freelance writer Derrick Sherwin – who also brought his assistant, the young freelancer Terrance Dicks. The Doctor and Jamie also had a new travelling companion on board the TARDIS, Victoria Waterfield, who had decided to join them on their adventures after her father was killed in Evil of the Daleks. Victoria is brilliantly played by Deborah Whatling, who together with Frazer Hinez and Patrick Troughton’s Doctor, go on to make one of the most iconic TARDIS crews of all time as they prepare to face The  Era of Monsters…

Doctor Who’s fifth season is often cited as one of the best in the shows long running history.  The term classic is often bandied around with great aplomb when it comes to Doctor Who. It is perhaps a fitting moniker for Season Five then, as it not only oversees some of the biggest changes in the programs production team, it also features some of the highest levels of quality and design ever seen in Doctor Who during the sixties. It is this, along with the endearing trinity of Troughton, Hines, and Watling that made Season Five so memorable.

With the new Doctor and his companions now firmly established, Season Five began in fine style with Tomb of the Cybermen (1967). The TARDIS materialises on the planet Telos, where an archaeological expedition from Earth led by Professor Parry (Aubrey Richards) is trying to find the legendary tombs of the Cybermen. As the Doctor surreptitiously helps the Professor gain access to the tombs, Parry’s business partner Kaftan (Shirley Cooklin) and the treacherous Klieg (George Pastell) have their own agenda. But Klieg’s plan to form an alliance between the Cybermen and his Brotherhood of Logicians turns into horrible nightmare when, upon reactivating the tombs, the revived Cybermen turn on him. To his horror Klieg realizes that the tombs are in fact an elaborate trap, one designed to lure suitable subjects below ground for Cyber-Conversion.

Tomb of the Cybermen is a fantastic story by Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis. The early scenes as the Doctor helps the archaeologist’s beak into the tombs and begin exploring are well staged by director Morris Barry, perfectly building the tension, until the team descends into the frozen tombs. Martin Johnson’s set designs are excellent for this story, the chillingly basic Cyber-Symbols are almost like high-tech hieroglyphics, depicting cold logic and function, giving you real a sense of just how inhuman and alien these monsters really are. The tombs themselves are outstanding, they really convey the relentless power and strength of the Cybermen as they emerge from their tombs, still retaining the impressive redesign they had for The Moonbase, but this time they are also joined by their leader – the gargantuan Cyber Controller (Michael Kilgarriff).

There are also some wonderful moments in this story between the Doctor and Victoria, where the Doctor helps her deal with the death of her father by telling her about his own family, and how he can always remember them in his mind. Later the party have to face a deadly swarm of Cybermats, before the Doctor finds a way to defeat the Cybermen and refreeze their tombs, but not before the Kaftan’s partially Cyber-Converted body guard, Toberman (Roy Stewart), sacrifices himself to stop the Cyber Controller from escaping the tombs. It’s fascinating to see such an explicit portrayal of body horror in this adventure. The whole idea of Cyber-Conversion is horrifying enough, but Tomberman’s fate and the graphic death of a Cyberman after having its chest plate smashed – oozing foam and writing on the ground in its death throes – are all clear signs that Doctor Who was wholeheartedly embracing a much darker tone. Even the Doctor seemed to manipulate events in a way that ensured the outcome, with a glint in his eye and a mischievous grin that belied the formidable intellect within.

With the Cybermen confined to their icy tombs the TARDIS whisks the Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria to 1935 to visit a  Detsen monastery in Tibet. The Doctor sets out to return a sacred bell to his old friend The High Lama Padmasambhava (Wolfe Morris). He encounters Travers (Jack Watling), an Englishman who is trying to discover the truth behind the mysterious sightings of the Abominable Snowmen – who are later revealed to be the robotic Yeti; servants of the disembodied entity known only as the Great Intelligence.

The Doctor is shocked to find that Padmasambhava has been possessed by the Great Intelligence, prolonging the High Lama’s life and using him to control the Yeti through model replicas placed on a chessboard. With the assistance of the Monks, Jamie and Victoria help fend off the Yeti to give the Doctor time to confront the great intelligence, preventing it from attaining a corporeal form, and banishing it back into the great beyond so Padmasambhva can die peacefully.

The Abominable Snowmen (1967) is a highly atmospheric story by newcomers Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln. It is an extremely clever move to have the Doctor visit the scene of an untelevised adventure, the Yeti and their bleeping control spheres would quickly become one of this seasons most iconic monster’s, lurching into life at any given moment as they stalk the mountainsides and dark halls of the monastery. But it is the all pervading sense of isolation director Gerald Blake manages to covey that really makes this story something special. As the wind howls outside the evil within is even more terrifying as Padmasambhva draws the pieces on the chessboard to their doom, his quiet rasping voice sending genuine shivers down the spine.

As well as featuring some excellent location filming, The Abominable Snowmen has some impressive production values, a great supporting cast, and Deborah Watling’s father, Jack, also played Travers. Even by today’s standards, The Abominable Snowmen stands as a great piece of television drama, and marks the debut of one of seasons fives most memorable monsters.

If the TARDIS crew thought it was cold in Tibet then their next adventure would see the temperature plunging even further below zero. The Ice Warriors (1967) sees the time travellers arrive at the dawn of a new ice age, where Leader Clent (Peter Barkworth) and his team are operating an ioniser device from their base to hold back the threat of an advancing glacier. With the world in the grip of a new Ice Age and completely reliant on the computerized ionisers to keep the glaciers at bay, the delicate balance is threatened when a giant creature is found by a group of scientists frozen in the ice. When they thaw it out, the Ice Warrior (Bernard Bresslaw) breaks free and kidnaps Victoria, taking her back to its spaceship in the glacier where he revives the rest of his crew.

With The Ice Warriors, writer Brian Hayles plays on the themes global warming and mankind’s over reliance on automated technology, with Leader Clent’s rigid adherence to protocol and logic being flung into chaos by the arrival of the Doctor. Much like Tomb of the Cybermen, the Doctor seems to manipulate events from the sidelines, gradually steering the disgruntled scientist Penley (Peter Sallis) towards patching up his differences with Leader Clent, and ultimately overriding the computers control to turn the ioniser on the Martians spaceship.

Director Bernard Martinus casting of tall actors to play the Ice Warriors was a brilliant idea, as they tower over everyone. Their impressive costumes are like armoured shells, with only their lizard like mouths showing, these reptilian aliens with their hissing voices were as ruthless as they were calculating. The Martian leader Varga is played by Bernard Bresslaw (already well know for his role in the Carry On films), and the actor makes the role his own, exuding menace as he plans to take over the base – ordering his troops to execute anyone that stands in their way with their lethal sonic weapons.  The Ice Warriors is full of memorable moments: Victoria’s plight after she escapes the Martian ship and is chased through the glacier by an Ice Warrior is nail bitingly good, Jamie has his fair share of the action as well, while Toughton’s Doctor mischievously uses a complex machine to make himself a glass of water and manages to outwit the Ice Warriors by using a stink bomb! The Ice Warriors is a fantastic story, overflowing with B-Movie thrills, and spills, while also serving as a perfect vehicle for the introduction of the Martian warriors from the Red Planet.

The Enemy of the World (1967/68) offers Patrick Troughton the opportunity to really flex his acting muscles with his dual role as the Doctor and his tyrannous doppelganger Salamander. After arriving in Australia in the future, the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria find that the world is on the verge of being taken over by Salamander – a scientist who has discovered a form of storing and using solar energy to aid the world while advancing his ambition to become its absolute ruler. Discovering that he is Salamander’s double, the Doctor decides to impersonate the dictator in waiting and ruin his plans so he can save Jamie and Victoria, but even in defeat, Salamander isn’t prepared to give up that easily.

In its attempt at creating an ambitious action adventure along the same lines as a Bond film, David Whitaker’s script is only partially successfully. Sadly not even director Barry Letts could work his magic on this story, and while the central premise is sound, it does stand out as one of the weakest stories during this otherwise impeccable season. However, its saving grace has to be Troughton’s dual performance, and the actor no doubt relished the chance to play the villainous Salamander. Deborah Watling and Frazer Hinez also have little to do; spending much of their time separated from the Doctor, but the final scenes where Salamander tries to commandeer the TARDIS and gets sucked out through the doors into the time vortex at least provides a fitting end for this slightly disappointing story.

After Salamander’s demise the TARIDS manages to avoid becoming trapped in a giant web in deep space. The Web of Fear (1968) begins in earnest when the TARDIS finally materialises in the London Underground, which has also been overrun by huge pulsating webs controlled by the Great Intelligence and its robotic Yeti. The Doctor and his companions meet up with Professor Travers (Jack Watling), who they first met forty years ago in the Himalayas. They learn that Travers brought one of the Yeti back with him, and after accidentally reactivating it, he gave the Great Intelligence the opportunity it needed to try and invade Earth again. As the webs begin to fill the underground tunnels the Doctor joins forces with the Army, led by Captain Knight (Ralph Watson), and then later Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney), to fight the Yeti. The Great Intelligence draws the Doctor to its lair, determined to take possession of his body, but the Doctor is saved by his companions and the Intelligences is sent screaming back into the void from whence it came.

The Yeti make a triumphant return in Mervyn Haisman’s and Henry Lincoln’s direct sequel to The Abominable Snowmen. Directed by  Douglas Camfireld, The Web of Fear is blessed with incredibly realistic sets designed by David Myerscough-Jones. Although the plot may be little more than a whodunit, with almost everyone under suspicion as the Great Intelligence’s duplicitous servant, this is one of the most exciting stories of Season Five – memorable also for Nicholas Courtney’s first appearance as the Doctor’s long time friend Lethbridge-Stewart. Nicholas Courtney had previously appeared as Space Security Service Agent Bret Vyon in The Dalek Master Plan (1965) with William Hartnell.

Season Fives penultimate story is Fury from the Deep (1968) by Victor Pemberton. Based on the writers own BBC radio serial The Slide, and places the Doctor and his companions in mortal danger from a parasitic seaweed that is threatening to overrun a gas refinery and its offshore drilling rigs. The man in charge of the operation, Robson (Victor Maddern), is struggling to contain the situation as the seaweed and poisonous foam begins to affect his staff, possessing their minds, until he himself becomes a vessel for the weed creature dwelling within the pipeline.

Fury from the Deep is one of the most terrifying adventures of Season Five. Director Hugh David wrings every ounce of psychological tension from Pemberton’s fantastic story, preying on deep seated fears as this isolated community comes under attack. There are scenes of pure horror throughout: the pulsating heart beat of the weed creature in the pipe line is deeply unnerving, bubbling foam boils and writhes from the darkness to consume anyone in its path, and perhaps most horrific of all is when Maggie Harris (June Murphy) is attacked by the grotesque Oak and Quill who subdue her by spewing noxious fumes from their rasping black mouths. Later she appears to commit suicide as she walks into the sea, vanishing beneath the waves in what must surly be one of Doctor Who’s most chilling cliff-hangers.

When Robson becomes possessed by the weed creature he captures Victoria and takes her to the control rig, the source of the seething infestation. The Doctor and Jamie manage to rescue her and escape to the refinery, but having fully established itself the weed begins to advance through the pipeline, and its only Victoria’s high pitched screams – amplified by a device the Doctor builds – that ultimately destroys it and frees everyone from its control. Sadly this is Deborah Watling’s final story, meaning that Fury from the Deep is also tinged with a hint of sadness as this popular TARDIS crew say their goodbyes. Victoria decides to stay behind and live with Harris (Roy Spencer) and his wife Maggie at the end of the story, having grown tired of her adventures in time and space. So with a heavy heart the Doctor and Jamie bid her farewell in a poignant final scene, one that ends with them watching Victoria slowly fading from the scanner screen as the TARDIS continues on its way.

After leaving Victoria on Earth the TARDIS develops a fault with the fluid link as it arrives on a spaceship called the Silver Carrier. As they set out to find some more mercury for the fluid link the Doctor and Jamie are attacked by a Servo Robot, Jamie manages to radio a nearby space station called the Wheel and they are soon rescued, but the Cybermats hidden on the Silver Wheel have also made their way over to the space station. The Doctor and Jamie team up with a young woman called Zoe Heriot, and together they discover the Cybermen want to use the Wheel as a beacon for their Cyber-Fleet to lock onto before they can invade Earth. The Doctor manages to break the Cybermen’s hypnotic control over the space stations crew, before connecting the TARDIS vector generator rod to the stations X-Ray laser so he can use it to destroy the Cyber-Fleet.

The Wheel in Space (1968) features the return of the Cybermen and the Cybermats, but David Whitaker’s story (based on an idea by Kit Pedler) doesn’t quite mange to live up to the promise of its early episodes, and as such ends up being an extremely routine invasion story. With its claustrophobic setting in deep space, director Tristan de Vere Cole successfully builds up the tension, and you never know when a Cyberman will suddenly appear from the shadows. Overall the Wheel in Space makes a good introduction story for Zoe, and Wendy Padbury is brilliant as the super genius. The Cybermen also get a makeover for this story, there are some chilling scenes when they begin attacking the crew of the Wheel, and the Cybermats are also as deadly as ever.

As season five draws to a close Zoe joins the Doctor and Jamie on their adventures in time and space. The dynamic between this TARDIS crew does seem to shift somewhat as the series moves into its sixth season, with Zoe’s keen intellect proving to be almost  a match for the Doctor’s, while Jamie is often left a bit bemused and bewildered by how strong and independent she is. With Peter Bryant and Derrick Sherwin becoming involved in other projects, the production of Season Six was beset with difficulties: The Dominators and The Mind Robber were both subjected to rewrites, and The Krotons, The Space Pirates, and The War Games were all hastily commissioned after a successive number of stories had to be abandoned.

The sixth season of Doctor Who was the last to be entirely filmed in monochrome, and would also feature the departure of Patrick Troughton, along with Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury who had also decided to move on. In many ways Season Six is the end of an era, and although The Dominators (1968) and their deadly Quarks proved to be something of an understated start to the season, things rapidly improved when the TARDIS was apparently destroyed in the white void of The Mind Robber (1968) – transporting the Doctor and his companions into a land of fiction. The Cybermen would make another attempt to invade the Earth, this time with the help of entrepreneur Tobias Vaughan (Kevin Stoney). The Invasion (1968) would see the Cybermen emerging en mass from the sewers of London, a scene that would go on to become one of Doctor Who’s most iconic moments.

Robert Holmes first story, The Krotons (1968/69) is a far from auspicious start for the writer who would go on to write a plethora of classic Doctor Who episodes in the years to come, while The Seeds of Death (1969) would see Brian Hayles script the Ice Warriors return, before The Space Pirates (1969) also proved to be something mixed offering from Robert Holmes. The ten part epic, The War Games (1969), saw the Doctor and his friends racing across a number of different time zones in their bid to stop The War Chief from taking people from various conflicts throughout Earth’s past and making them fight for the amusement of his alien masters. At the end of the story the Doctor  is forced to call on his own people, The Time Lords, for help. The Time Lords intervene, using their immense powers to return the combatants to their own time zones, but the price is high for the Doctor. He is captured and placed on trail by his own people, charged with breaking the Time Lords code of non interference with the affairs of other worlds, and ultimately sentenced to exile on Earth. Allowed only to say goodbye to Jamie and Zoe before they are sent back to their own times, every memory of their adventures with the Doctor wiped from their minds, before he must then endure the ignominy  of having his appearance is forcibly changed by the Time Lords as he begins his sentence on Earth.

With so many of these fantastic episodes junked by the BBC much of Patrick Trougnton’s era sadly no longer exists. There is always hope that some of these episodes might turn up one day, having been sold overseas, it is entirely possible that the miraculous moment when Tomb of the Cybermen was found in Hong Kong back in 1991, and quickly released on video in 1992, might happen again one day. Indeed, in 2011 two more classic episodes turned up: Episode 3 of the William Hartnell story Galaxy 4, and Episode 2 of The Underwater Menace from Patrick Troughton’s first season. In October  2013 fans were delighted by the news that 9 episodes had been found by Philip Morris in Nigeria, The Enemy of the World (episodes 1, 2, 4, 5 & 6) and The Web of Fear (episodes 2, 4, 5, & 6), and both stories were made available to download on iTunes right away (While Episode 3 of The Web of Fear remains missing, a reconstruction was made from stills and the soundtrack to recreate it).  The Invasion was released on DVD back in 2006 with its missing episodes recreated by animation, and the results proved highly popular with fans. Two more incomplete Troughton stories were later released on DVD, The Ice Warriors and The Moonbase, using similar animation techniques to replace their missing episodes. The Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear are now also available on DVD. However, the planned release for The Underwater Menace (Which would have included the long lost episode 2, and possibly animation for the missing episodes 1 & 4) was unfortunately cancelled following the insolvency at the animation company Qurios. But, following support from fans and an online petition, gaining over 2750 signatures, it now seems The Underwater Menace will finally be released on DVD on October 26th 2015 (tbc) at last! They may be missing from the BBC’s archives, but all the soundtracks of the 2^nd Doctor’s missing adventures are now available on CD, with superb linking narration, and are a still a perfect way to enjoy Doctor Who’s lost episodes. It is a credit to Troughton’s immense talent that these stories work so well on audio, they are as spellbinding now as they ever were, and effortlessly captivate our imagination of a classic era of Doctor Who that is now sadly consigned to history.

Patrick Troughton’s three years as the Doctor were some of the finest from the programmes monochrome era. Troughton’s performance is simply superb in every way, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that the programme could survive the change of its lead actor. Anneke Wills and Michael Craze were instrumental in bridging these two eras of the show, while Troughton’s comic timing with Frazer Hines is a joy to behold, and together with Deborah Watling, then later Wendy Padbury, the Second Doctor’s companions would become an endearing part of this halcyon age of Doctor Who.

Season Five is certainly a contender for one of the best, if not finest, seasons of Doctor Who ever made. As Doctor Who begins to celebrate its 50^th anniversary, the programmes past is likely to come under even greater scrutiny than ever before. Season Five was ahead of its time. It takes the simple base under siege format and turns it into something uniquely special. Blessed with impeccable design and production values, Season Five introduced a wealth of classic monsters, paved the way for UNIT to be phased into the Doctor’s life, and together with a  fantastic regular cast, The Era of Monsters remains a timeless gem that will endure forever.

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Doctor Who The Tenth Planet: Far From Over

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Anneke Wills, Ben, Cybermen, Doctor Who, Dr Who, Gerry Davis, Kit Pedler, Krail, Michael Craze, Mondas, Polly, regeneration, Snowcap Base, TARDIS, The 10th Planet, The Doctor, William Hartnell

The Tenth Planet

Far From Over

By Paul Bowler

 

Born in London, 1908, William Hartnell grew up during a dark time of war and social poverty. His admiration for Charlie Chaplin inspired him to become an actor, and in 1926 he got this first job working with Sir Frank Benson’s Shakespearean Company. Further parts in theatre quickly followed, along with small film roles, until his career really took off in 1943 with his memorable role as the army officer in The Way Ahead. Carol Reed’s film opened the doors to numerous film roles for Hartnell, often receiving star billing, but the actor was frustrated by the “tough guy” roles he was always offered, preferring the comedy and farce of his early career.

However, fate would soon intervene when Hartnell’s roles in the Granada TV series The Army Game and Lindsay Anderson’s film, This Sporting Life (1963), led to Verity Lambert considering William Hartnell for the role of the Doctor. The rest, as they say, is history. Over the next three years William Hartnell would help forge the role of the Doctor, a mysterious time traveller, an outcast from his own people, a glorious – if somewhat cantankerous – grandfather from another world. Hartnell adored his time as the Doctor, becoming a hero to millions of children as he took his companions on fantastic adventures in time and space: visiting great historical figures like Marco Polo and King Richard the Lionheart, bizarre aliens like the Zabri and Sensorites appeared with strange cultures and customs, they experienced the futility of trying to alter history and the Aztec civilization in 15^th Century Mexico, even turning on each other when the TARDIS drifted towards the edge of destruction, and they were always ready to fight the intergalactic menace of the Daleks which returned time and again to keep viewers enthralled as the Doctor valiantly fought them wherever their evil plans of universal domination threatened to destroy every living thing that dared to stand in their way.

Although Doctor Who enjoyed phenomenal success during its formative seasons, as the series entered its fourth year its popularity has begun to wane somewhat, and with new producer Innes Lloyd and story editor Gerry Davis attempting to revitalize the shows format the gruelling schedule sadly began to take its toll on Hartnell who was already in poor health. Once the decision was taken to recast the role of the Doctor it set in motion a chain of events that would not only mark the end of an era, but it would also see the introduction of a new race of monsters whose popularity would go on to rival even that of the Daleks themselves.

So when the TARDIS brought the Doctor, Polly (Anneke Wills), and Ben (Michael Craze) to the South Pole Space Tracking Station under the command of General Cutler (Robert Beatty), viewers would have never imagined how their favourite science fiction series was about to undergo the most crucial metamorphosis of all. In only a few short weeks during October 1966, history would be made as The Tenth Planet was broadcast, and nothing – not even the ever present threat of cancellation – would ever diminish the incredible journey that still endures today as Doctor Who gets ready to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of its unparallel success.

The Doctor arrives at the Tracking Station and discovers that a new planet has entered the solar system, its gravitational pull is threatening a manned space capsule as it approaches, where it is soon revealed to be Earth’s twin planet Mondas. Having been cast adrift in space the people of Mondas turned to cybernetics to prolong their lives, becoming emotionless Cybemen. Now they have returned to replenish their planets recourses by draining energy from Earth and harvesting the population to create the next generation of Cybermen. The Doctor and his friends face a desperate race against time to defeat the Cybermen and prevent General Cutler from launching the deadly Z-Bomb, a weapon that would destroy both worlds. Fortunately Cutler’s plan is thwarted by Ben and Mondas explodes after absorbing too much energy from the Earth, killing all the Cybermen in the process; their bodies disintegrating as soon as they are cut off from their worlds power supply. Ben then rescue the Doctor and Polly from the Cybemen’s spacecraft, but the Doctor appears to be ill, stating that his body is “wearing a bit thin” before rushing back to the TARDIS, where he collapses to the floor as startling transformation begins…

The Cybermen were created in collaboration by Doctor Who’s very own – unofficial – scientific advisor Kit Pedler and story editor Gerry Davis as a possible replacement for Terry Nations incredibly popular Daleks. Pedler envisioned the Cybermen as people who had taken the advances of medical science to the ultimate extreme, replacing their worn out bodies with cybernetic limbs, even computerizing their brains to become nightmarish husks of plastic, metal, and flesh. These creatures are so utterly devoid of emotion that they are no longer even capable of comprehending what it means to be human, as Polly discovers to her horror when she tries to reason with the Cyberman Krail.

With impassive, noseless faces, their bodies adorned with gleaming chest units and lethal energy weapons, these early Cybermen have more than a hint of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein about them. Like Shelley’s creation they are twisted anachronisms of life, a mutilation of science and gothic themes gone mad in the darkness of interstellar space. In many ways they are far more memorable than their modern counterparts, still clinging to the last vestiges of their humanity, utilizing the formality of individual names even though they no longer have any emotional resonance for them, and going so far as to adopt disguises to infiltrate the Space Tracking Station.

After attacking someone from the Snowcap Base outside the TARDIS, our first close-up of a Cyberman as it turns over Tito’s lifeless body reveals the monsters featureless visage, one that is stretched and distorted beyond anything even remotely human, with dark bulbous eyes and a leathery slit of a mouth. The headpiece is like an elaborate sensor array, with tubes and wires spilling out from the bulky chest unit, while the limbs support and array of cybernetics that end abruptly with cold humanoid hands. The patchwork nature of the Cybermen gives some inkling towards their nomadic existence, sacrificing their humanity as the vast expanse of space loomed before them, until their technological advances drew them inexorably back to their origins like some intergalactic swarm seeking to wrap their human cousins in their cold embrace.

Once they arrive, the Cybermen dominate every scene, looming over the inhabitants of the Snowcap base as cold logic dictates their actions. One of the most unnerving qualities about the Cybermen are their curiously harmonic voices, provided by Roy Skelton, an effect that is made more disquieting by the way the creature’s mouths stay open as they speak. It is almost as if the Cybermen have yet to realize that they no longer need to articulate the words anymore. The citizens of Mondas are now lost forever, even their original objective to survive has become consumed by their dedication to logic, leaving only a mutilated husk of flesh cocooned in a shell metal and plastic.

The Tenth Planet is a clear indication of the new format the series was about to take, one that would arguably see the series grow above and beyond its original premise, becoming instilled with many of the familiar themes and concepts that are still prevalent in Doctor Who today. Although the Troughton era would successfully build on  the “base under siege” formula, the early steps taken in The Tenth Planet show considerable flare and imagination in terms of its production. The Tenth Planet quickly establishes the isolated military settlement, where the humans are threatened by an alien menace, and the Doctor has to battle against the blind ignorance of authority (General Cutler’s selfish determination to rescue his son’s spacecraft despite the risks) to save everyone from the extraterrestrial threat by destroying the aliens link to their own power supply. It may seem existentially simply in the extreme, but what the Tenth Planet lacks in finesse it more than makes up for with its sheer ambition.

If you can see past the polystyrene snow and the clear sticky tape holding the Cybermen’s helmets together, there is a lot to enjoy here, particularly an eclectic cast of characters and a greater empathise on the Doctor’s companions. Having only been introduced at the end of season three during The War Machines (1966), Polly and Ben were a world away from the Doctor’s original companions: school teachers Ian (William Russell) and Barbara (Jacqueline Hill), whose curiosity about the Doctor’s granddaughter, Susan (Carole Anne Ford) led them to a fog shrouded junkyard and a strange metropolitan Police Box. The companions who followed were in may ways a reflection of the original trinity of TARDIS crewmembers, Vicky (Maureen O‘Brien), Steven (Peter Purves), Dodo (Jackie Lane), all offered great potential that was only partially realized in some cases – however the valiant acts of self sacrifice by Katarina (Adrienne Hill) and Sarah Kingdom (Jean Marsh) in The Dalek Master Plan (1965-66) brought home the terrible price the Doctor often pays for his most decisive victories.. Just as the show was evolving, so to was the role of the companion, Innes Lloyd wanted to bring a new dynamic to the male and female companions – and Secretary Polly Wright and Seaman Ben Jackson were a further attempt on Lloyd’s part to update the series with more contemporary characters.

Gerry Davis’ Target novelisation added even more depth and substance to the Snowcap personnel, with Ben and Polly getting an even greater share of the action – something which was necessitated during the recording of Episode 3 of The Tenth Planet when William Hartnell became unwell. While the fourth episode of The Tenth Planet sadly no longer resides in the BBC’s archives, this episode was eventually reconstructed from images and the remaining footage to be released as part of a BBC Video set (Which also included Attack of the Cybermen), and it is these final pivotal seconds of grainy footage that catalogues the most momentous moment of all in Doctor Who’s fifty year history.

As the Doctor collapsed onto the floor of the TARDIS the lights inside the time machine wax and wane, before a brilliant glow begins to flair around his face. It is unclear if it is the energy drain from Mondas, the battle with the Cybermen, or just the Doctor’s immense age that causes the regeneration – but his haste to reach the TARDIS indicates that the sanctuary of the time machine is crucial to surviving the transformation.  In those few, brief seconds William Hartnell was transformed into Patrick Troughton, leaving a legacy that would endure to this very day. For me one of the quintessential moments in Doctor Who is when William Hartnell stands in defiance of the Cybermen’s impassive adherence to logic: “Emotions. Love, pride, hate, fear. Have you no emotions sir?” The Doctor’s impassioned speech is one that will resonate down through the decades, infusing every incarnation with a righteous anger in the face of tyranny and evil. It would seem that the Cyber Race also hold this moment in high regard, as it forms part of a  sequence of clips used in Earthshock (1982) when the Cyber Leader reviews their past encounters with the Doctor.

From the moment the Doctor Who theme tune gives way to the special computer tape opening and closing graphics (created for this story by Bernard Lodge) it becomes clear that The Tenth Planet is about to herald significant change. The Cybermen proved immensely popular and would return many times to menace Patrick Troughton’s new incarnation throughout the course of the sixties: appearing in such classic stories as The Moonbase (1967), Tomb of the Cybermen (1967), The Wheel in Space (1968), and even invading Earth in The Invasion (1968), their design evolving and changing with each successive story, rightfully earning them their place amongst the elite pantheon of Doctor Who’s most successful recurring monsters.

We can only hope that the fourth episode of The Tenth Planet might be found one day, but for now at least we can still enjoy the DVD release of The Tenth Planet. The missing fourth episode is presented as an animated reconstruction on The Tenth Planet DVD, using a similar animation process that was employed to represent the missing 4th & 5th episodes for The Reign of Terror DVD. The Tenth Planet DVD also features a documentary, Frozen Out, by Chris Chapman about the making of the story, which will include contributions from Anneke Wills (Polly), Earl Cameron (Williams) and Reg Whitehead (Cyberman), along with designer Peter Kindred and the woman who vision-mixed the first regeneration, Shirly Coward.

The adventures that began in a junkyard in 1963 with William Hartnell could very well have come to an end if the regeneration had not been successful. It was a bold move for its time, but in those closing moments The Tenth Planet secured the series a longevity that nobody could ever have dared to dream possible in 1966. A winning formula was born; Doctor Who endured this change of lead actor, as it would do again, many, many times. We must never forget the great debt we owe to William Hartnell, especially as we enter the 50^th Anniversary Year of Doctor Who. So as we prepare to celebrate Doctor Who’s fifty glorious years let us all take a moment to remember the first great champion of time and space, William Hartnell.