Doctor Who The Zygon Inversion Review

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Clara Oswald, Daniel Nettheim, Doctor Who, Doctor Who Series 9, Doctor Who The Zygon Inversion, Ingrid Oliver, Jemma Redgrave, Jenna Coleman, Kate Stewart, Osgood, Peter Capaldi, Peter Harness, Steven Moffat, The Doctor, The Zygon Inversion, The Zygons, UNIT, Zygons

The Zygon Inversion

Review by Paul Bowler

[Contains Spoilers]

20 million Zygons were granted asylum on Earth by UNIT, they have lived peacefully alongside humanity, unnoticed, but now a breakaway Zygon faction wants to take over the world. The Zygon revolution has begun! The fate of the Earth is sealed inside a Box in the Black Archive, but only the Doctor knows what’s inside. Now with UNIT neutralised and the Zygons in control, Clara cocooned in a Zygon pod and her evil Zygon doppelganger “Bonnie” on the loose, the Doctor and Osgood must reach London at all costs, but nobody can be trusted now. However, there is one last hope, because the box in the Black Archive is a very special box, its Osgood’s Box, and it will decided the fate of this conflict once and for all…

The Zygon Inversion concludes this exciting two-part story from Series 9, written by Peter Harness (Kill The Moon) and Doctor Who show runner Steven Moffat, and directed by Daniel Netteim (Line of Duty / Humans), finds the Doctor, Clara, Kate Stewart, Osgood, and UNIT all in peril as the Zygon revolution begins in earnest.

The Zygon Inversion brilliantly resolves the cliff-hanger from The Zygon Invasion, where Clara’s Zygon double, Bonnie, fired a rocket launcher at the Presidential Aircraft just as the Doctor and Osgood where returning to the UK from Turmezistan. An ingenious plot twist wrong foots us right from the outset, using Clara’s unsettling experience as a “live feed” for her Zygon double to provide us with an entirely different perspective of the events leading up to the cliff-hanger. Following their mid-air escape, the Doctor (whose parachute is remarkably patriotic!) and Osgood (the Zygon “sister” of the human Osgood murdered by Missy in the 2014 series finale Death In Heaven) become fugitives as Bonnie searches the UNIT safe house for the location of the Osgood Box. But when the Doctor receives a surprise text message, Osgood realises the real Clara is “awake”, and the subsequent phone conversation between Dr John Disco and Zygella allows Clara to use a non verbal form of communication to tell the Doctor she’s trapped amongst the Zygon pods in the tunnels beneath the streets of London – where the missing civilians are also being held.

The Doctor and Osgood make a fantastic team in The Zygon Inversion, brilliantly played by Peter Capaldi and Ingrid Oliver, these characters work so well together. The chemistry between them is magical and their banter is sure to bring a wry smile to your face, especially when Osgood gets to wear the Sonic Specs after her own glasses were broken, and it soon become clear that Osgood is undoubtedly a big fan of the Doctor! Kate Stewart also has a key role to play in events in this episode, her character has some fantastic scenes, and Jemma Redgrave gives a strong performance as Kate Stewart faces the most challenging decision of all. Jenna Coleman is also fabulous in her roles as both the real Clara Oswald and her villainous Zygon / human duplicate Bonnie. She gets some great scenes when Clara’s consciousness is in the bizarre dream-like reality of her flat while her body is trapped inside the Zygon pod, particularly when Clara has to find a way to endure Bonnie’s interrogation about the Osgood Box to stay alive, and Coleman is also wickedly evil as Bonnie in her quest to use the Osgood Box to end the ceasefire – no matter what the price of victory.

Bonnie’s sinister plan to unmask her fellow Zygons – whether they want it or not – to provoke fear, paranoia, and ultimately war, becomes even more disturbing when the Doctor and Osgood reach the Fleet Estate Centre, and the tragic fate of Etoine (Nicholas Asbury) makes for some of the episodes most emotive and deeply moving scenes. As Bonnie enters the Black Archive with her Zygon guards and Clara’s pod in tow, the Doctor and Osgood are surprised at the Fleet Estate Centre by the unexpected return of Kate Stewart from New Mexico, and accompanied by two UNIT troops they set out to reach the Zygon Command Centre in the tunnels beneath London, where it soon becomes clear not everyone is quite who they seem…

Ever since the Zygons first appeared in the 4^th Doctor story Terror of the Zygons (1975), they have been amongst the series’ most popular monsters, and their long awaited return in The Day of the Doctor (2013) led to the fragile peace between Zygons and Humans that is now under threat in The Zygon Inversion. The Zygon Invasion and The Zygon Inversion has made the new Zygons (Played by Aidan Cook, Tom Wilton, and Jack Parker and brilliantly voiced by Nicholas Briggs) even more menacing than ever before, and the Zygon transformation in The Zygon Inversion are especially graphic. Their shape-changing abilities no longer require the original body print to refresh the Zygons disguise, they can even adopt the form of your nearest and dearest directly from your mind to use against you, and their hands can emit a lethal electric sting. However, as we see with Clara and Bonnie in this episode, Zygon live links can work both ways and be used against them. The differences between Zygons who want to live in peace on Earth and the splinter Zygon faction from the younger brood that wants to conquer the world are thrown into sharp contrast in The Zygon Inversion, just as Kate’s views and Bonnie’s stance on the Zygon revolution are also called into question, and the powerful script by Peter Harness and Steven Moffat unflinchingly tackles these challenging issues.

The Zygon Inversion builds towards an exciting finale, as the Doctor, Osgood, Kate, and Clara, find themselves locked in a tense stand-off against Bonnie and the Zygons in the Black Archive, where the mystery of the Osgood Box – which the Doctor left on Earth as the final sanction should the Nightmare Scenario occur – and the reason why both the Zygon and Human Osgood’s were needed is finally revealed at last. It sets in motion a deadly game of truth or consequences. Peter Capaldi’s powerful speech here, to break the cycle and broker peace once more between Zygons and Humans, is sure to be heralded one of this series’ defining moments, it’s a truly momentous scene, and Peter Capaldi’s performance is utterly magnificent!

There are a number of nostalgic references in The Zygon Inversion. The 1^st Doctor’s (William Hartnell) portrait is seen again in the UNIT safe house, and we also get another mention of the Z67 Sullivan Gas – a clear link to the 4^th Doctor’s (Tom Baker) companion Naval Surgeon Harry Sullivan (played by Ian Marter). Kate Stewart also gets to use the line “Five rounds rapid!”, a line forever associated with Kate’s father, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) in the classic 3^rd Doctor story The Daemons (1971). The Doctor also reflects on a time when he was going to press a button in another box, The Moment, during the Time War in The Day of the Doctor. UNIT’s Black Archive also returns, the secret facility played a major role in that story, and eagle eyed viewers will also spot a Mire helmet from The Girl Who Died in the background. The Doctor is also surprised when Osgood admits she doesn’t know what TARDIS stands for as she’s heard there are a couple of different versions of this anachronism. The “D” has been referred to as both “dimension” and “dimensions” at different points in both the classic series and the new series, in An Unearthly Child (1963) the Doctor’s granddaughter, Susan (Carol Ann Ford), claimed she’s made up the name “time and relative dimension in space”, but the Doctor would later go on to tell people the “D” stands for dimensions, when the series returned in 2005 the 9^th Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) explained the name of the TARDIS to Rose (Billie Piper) in her debut adventure but reverted back to “time and relative dimension in space”, and the 12^th Doctor’s ridiculously OTT explanation to Osgood in The Zygon Inversion about what TARDIS really stands for is a fun acknowledgment of Doctor Who’s most unusual quirk in continuity.

With peace finally declared, along with a somewhat convenient mind-wiping re-set switch to restore the post Day of the Doctor status quo between the Zygons and Humans, the wonderful closing scenes with Osgood await us, and what marvellously scripted scenes they are. There are so many fan-pleasing moments in the conclusion of The Zygon Inversion its sure to leave you seeing double, Osgood’s outfit here also takes several elements from seventh Doctor’s (Sylvester McCoy) costume from The Curse of Fenric (1989), and I’m sure that I probably wont be the only one hoping Osgood accepts the Doctor’s offer to travel in the TARDIS one day. Some questions are left unanswered for now, there’s a fun play on first names, and a poignant closing TARDIS interior scene that beautifully judges emotion and time as one and the same.

Proving itself to be anything but the same old same old, The Zygon Inversion is Doctor Who at its very best, and this episode provides an exciting and tense conclusion to this two-part story. The taut script by Peter Harness and Steven Moffat skilfully plays on the issues of identity, trust, and paranoia, while the stories deep philosophical core enables director Daniel Netteim to gradually build this though-provoking episode to a thrilling conclusion. With its strong cast, excellent performances from Peter Capaldi, Ingrid Oliver, Jemma Redgrave, together with Jenna Coleman’s brilliantly acted dual role as Clara and her evil counterpart, and the return of the Zygons for this story, The Zygon Invasion & The Zygon Inversion have all the hallmarks of classic Doctor Who and is without a doubt one of the best two-part stories from Series 9 so far!

And just for fun here’s a clip where actress Ingrid Oliver explains why Osgood turns down the chance of a lifetime at the end of The Zygon Inversion!

Images & Clip Belong: BBC

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Doctor Who The Zygon Invasion Review

Tags

Clara Oswald, Daniel Nettheim, Doctor Who, Doctor Who Series 9, Doctor Who The Zygon Invasion, Ingrid Oliver, Jemma Radgrave, Jenna Coleman, Kate Stewart, Osgood, Peter Capaldi, Peter Harness, Steven Moffat, TARDIS, The Doctor, The Zygon Invasion, The Zygon Inversion, UNIT, Zygons

The Zygon Invasion

Review by Paul Bowler

[Contains Spoilers]

A fragile peace established long ago beneath the Tower of London is in jeopardy. Zygons have been living in peaceful coexistence with humans, undetected, but a rogue faction has begun plotting to overthrow humanity. Joining forces with UNIT to help deal with the global crisis, the Doctor and Clara must stop events spiralling out of control. A message from UNIT scientific officer Osgood issues a chilling warning, but she is supposed to be dead, is this really Osgood, or some Zygon deception? The Doctor, Clara and UNIT must embark on a world-wide adventure to rescue the kidnapped Osgood and stop the Zygon Invasion!

The Zygon Invasion, written by Peter Harness, who also scripted Kill The Moon (2014), begins a two-part story that features the return of the classic Doctor Who monsters, the Zygons, which originally appeared forty years ago in the 4^th Doctor story Terror of the Zygons (1975). The Zygons also played a significant role in the 50^th anniversary story The Day of the Doctor (2013), where Kate Stewart and Osgood from UNIT confronted Zygon duplicates of themselves in the Black Archive below the Tower of London. The Zygon Invasion and The Zygon Inversion, directed by Daniel Nettheim (Line of Duty), returns to address the memory-wiped peace Kate Stewart and Osgood negotiated with their memory-wiped Zygon counterparts, and the challenging issues facing this Zygon-Human coalition when a secret Zygon faction attacks humanity.

Right from the opening moments, The Zygon Invasion hit’s the ground running and the action doesn’t let up for a moment. A fan-pleasing recap of event from The Day of the Doctor sublimely blends into a recording made by both Osgoods in the wake of these events, detailing the covert Operation Double instigated by UNIT that allowed sanctuary to the 20 million Zygons now been living on Earth disguised as humans, who until now have existed unnoticed, in peaceful coexistence alongside humanity. As we ponder the mystery of Osgood’s Box the Doctor’s rousing guitar solo in the TARDIS is interrupted by news of the Nightmare Scenario! “Doctor Disco” returns to Earth, but a Zygon attack on a children’s playground and sinister happening near Clara’s flat, soon reunites the Doctor and Clara with Kate Stewart, Jac, and UNIT at the former Zygon Base inside the Drakeman Junior School in London, where the Zygon Control Polyp has been compromised, and the Doctor and his allies witness as the Zygon High Command – in the form of the kidnapped school girls Claudette (Cleopatra Dickens) and Jemima (Sasha Dickens) – are ruthlessly usurped by the radicalised splinter group from the younger Zygon brood now seeking to take over the world.

The Doctor and Clara are right at the heart of the action in The Zygon Invasion, Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman continue to build on the strong relationship between the Time Lord and his travelling companion. Kate Stewart is also back for this adventure, brilliantly played by Jemma Redgrave; she is joined by Jaye Griffiths as Jac. Jemma Redgrave has some great scenes with Peter Capaldi, especially when Kate and the Doctor are at loggerheads about bombing the Zygons, and Kate also gets to investigate a decidedly spooky town in New Mexico – where Gretchen Egolf proves unsettlingly mysterious as Norlander. Clara and Jac also make a good team, and they spend much of the episode working together. The impressive cast also features Rebecca Front (who also co-starred in The Think of It with Peter Capaldi) as Colonel Walsh, her scenes with Capaldi’s Doctor as her forces confront a difficult situation outside a church in Turmezistan are incredibly tense, and the angst-ridden situations UNIT troops Drone Operator Lisa (Jill Winternitz) and Hitchley (Todd Kramer) face delivers some of the most powerful and moving moments in the entire episode.

With Osgood captured by the rogue faction of shape-shifting Zygons, the peace treaty between the Zygons and Humans is now violated. Determined to restore the peace between Zygons and Humans before the ceasefire breakdowns completely, the Doctor takes the Presidential Aircraft to rescue Osgood from a Zygon infested village in Turmezistan, while Kate Stewart sets out to solve a mystery in New Mexico, and in London Clara and Jac call in UNIT reinforcements when they discover something nasty lurking below her block of flats…

The presumed dead, not dead-is-she-really-a-Zygon now, scientist Osgood also returns in The Zygon Invasion, and it’s great to see Ingrid Oliver back as the former bow-tie / scarf wearing Osgood. Ever since the character first appeared alongside the 11^th Doctor in The Day of the Doctor, Osgood soon became a fan-favourite, and her untimely death in the 2014 series finale Death in Heaven – when she was cruelly vaporised by Missy – left us all mourning the loss of our favourite geek / scientist character. Now Ingrid Oliver reprises her role as Osgood in The Zygon Invasion, but is she human this time, or a Zygon disguised as Osgood? Well, this Osgood is indeed the Zygon Osgood, although in many way’s she’s also the human Osgood – as we discover after the Doctor rescues her in Turmezistan. Ingrid Oliver’s scenes with Peter Capaldi are the big highlight of this episode, especially when the Doctor and Osgood travel on the Presidential Aircraft back to the UK, and their movingly frank conversation is undoubtedly one of Series 9’s finest moments so far. The live link the human Osgood and the Zygon Osgood shared makes the Zygon Osgood a hybrid, Human and Zygon at the same time, and she was almost overwrought with grief when her human “sister” was killed as they were the living embodiment of the peace they made between Zygon and Humanity.

The Zygons have always been a popular monster amongst Doctor Who fans, despite having only appeared in one story during the classic series: Terror of the Zygons – where the Zygons wreaked havoc with their pet Loc Ness Monster (A huge cyborg creature called the Skarasen). Their return in The Day of the Doctor was a little overshadowed by all the epic events in that 50^th anniversary story. The Zygon Invasion and The Zygon Inversion finally gives the new revamped Zygons a story that really utilizes them and their abilities to the full. Seeing the Zygons (Aidan Cook & Tom Wilton) attacking humans in such everyday settings as they do here is actually quite unsettling. Their shape-shifting powers are used to great effect in The Zygon Invasion, the new Zygon costumes look more menacing than ever, and they secretly plot in caverns below London were strange pods are growing that hide a terrible secret. The Zygons are chillingly voiced by Nicholas Briggs, and he nails their whispering gurgling voice perfectly. It seems the Zygons have evolved too! The original body print is no longer necessary for the Zygon to maintain its disguise, once they have the information they need, the original can die, they can even take the images of loved ones from your mind and use them against you, and they have a sting-like bio-electric charge which they use to disable or vaporise their enemies.

The Zygon Invasion is chock full of continuity references, the opening flashback from The Day of the Doctor features David Tennant, Matt Smith, and John Hurt as the 10^th, 11^th, and War Doctor respectively, there’s a portrait of the 1^st Doctor (William Hartnell) that adorns the hallway in UNIT’s London safe house HQ, and there’s numerous links to the original invasion in Terror of the Zygons that includes a mention for a certain Naval Surgeon (Harry Sullivan played by Ian Marter) as well. The 12^th Doctor recalls kissing Zygon once (the Zygon / Queen Elizabeth the I) from The Day of the Doctor, and the red question marks on Osgood’s shirt lapels where a key feature that also appeared on the shirt collars of the 4^th Doctor – from the Leisure Hive (1980) onwards, as well as the 5^th and 6^th Doctor’s, and the tank top Osgood wears in this episode is not too dissimilar to the one the 7^th Doctor wore – although his was covered in rows of the familiar question mark symbols.

The Zygon Invasion hurtles towards a thrilling conclusion as the Zygon revolution begins, Kate Stewart makes a horrific discovery in New Mexico, the mystery of what happened to the people who went missing from the lifts and the true contents of the pods in the caves is discovered as treachery strikes, and the Doctor, Osgood, and their Zygon captive on the Presidential Aircraft find themselves locked in the sights of a new enemy… Clara; or more precisely the Zygon duplicate called “Bonnie” who took her place when she went to hep the little boy (played by Abhishek Singh) earlier in the episode! It’s a classic Doctor Who cliff-hanger, with the companion in peril, unconscious in the Zygon Pod in the caves, while her Zygon doppelganger unleashes chaos for UNIT across the world, and Jemma Coleman is fabulous as this wickedly evil version of Clara /Bonnie.

Stylishly directed by Daniel Nettheim, The Zygon Invasion certainly gets this new two-part story off to a great start. Peter Capaldi gives a commanding performance as the Doctor in a story that is like an international sci-fi themed conspiracy thriller, the frenetic pace doesn’t let up for a moment, and Peter Harness’ strong script, with its clear nods to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, also tackles some particularly challenging social and political themes with its depiction of the strained relations between the Zygons and Humans in this episode. Jenna Coleman is excellent when Clara goes evil as “Bonnie”, its great to see Ingrid Oliver again as Osgood as well, the Zygons also make fearsome adversaries in this exciting story, and the jaw-dropping cliff-hanger brilliantly sets everything up for the truth or consequences to be resolved in The Zygon Inversion.

And here’s the Next Time Trailer for The Zygon Inversion!

Images Belong: BBC

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Doctor Who The Magician’s Apprentice Review

Tags

Clara Oswald, Colony Sarff, Daleks, Davros, Doctor Who, Doctor Who Series 9, Doctor Who The Magicians Apprentice Review, Hattie MacDonald, Jemma Redgrave, Jenna Coleman, Kate Stewart, Michelle Gomez, Missy, Ohila, Peter Capaldi, Steven Moffat, TARDIS, The Doctor, The Magicians Apprentice, The Sisterhood of Karn, UNIT

The Magician’s Apprentice

Review by Paul Bowler

[Contains Spoilers]

Doctor Who series 9 begins with the blockbusting premier episode The Magician’s Apprentice, where the skies of Earth have succumbed to a strange alien power as a desperate cry for help echoes from the past, and Clara Oswald needs to find her old friend the Doctor. But the Time Lord has gone missing, is this really the Doctor’s final night, and what terrible event could have driven the Doctor into hiding? Clara must join forces with the most unlikely ally of all if she is to find the Doctor, dark secrets from the past return, old foes will be confronted, and soon the Doctor will have to face the most impossible challenge of all …

The Magician’s Apprentice is about as epic and cinematic a series premier as Doctor Who has ever had, written by Steven Moffat and directed by Hettie Macdonald (director of the highly acclaimed 2007 episode Blink), the opening moments alone quickly establish what we can expect from this the dark and ominous two-part story – and indeed the new series itself.

A blanket of fog swirls over a battlefield on a distant world as a child of fate runs though a mud-strewn land covered in Hand Mines… But what is the secret shame of this awful place that has made the Doctor take to the shadows, and who is the mysterious cloaked figure – Colony Sarff – that has been searching for the Doctor? When a bizarre alien force strikes the Earth, freezing passenger jets in the skies, not even Clara, Kate Stewart, and UNIT can locate the Doctor. So, when the Doctor’s old enemy Missy inexplicably reappears in a foreign locale, with a Confession Dial that holds the Doctor’s last will and testament, Clara must form an uneasy alliance with Missy to find the missing Time Lord. Their journey will take them across space and time, but the Doctor is already proceeding along a dark path of destiny, one that will soon lead him into the most terrible danger of all and a confrontation with his deadliest foes – the Daleks!

Peter Capaldi’s performance in the Magician’s Apprentice is little sort of superb, Capaldi seems completely at ease now in his role as the 12th Doctor, and his commanding presence permeates though every aspect of the episode. His incarnation of the Doctor is clearly not afraid of making difficult decisions either – or accepting the consequences of his actions. Jenna Coleman is also on fine form as Clara Oswald, and the erstwhile Impossible Girl once again proves she is as confident and resourceful as ever. Michelle Gomez returns as the new gender-swapped incarnation of the Master, Missy, to meddle in the Doctor’s and Clara’s lives again – while gleefully glossing over her apparent demise in the Series 8 finale Death in Heaven (2014) – and Gomez excels herself here as the Doctor’s wickedly evil nemesis. It’s also good to see Jemma Redgrave returning as Kate Stewart, along with UNIT, to deal with the crisis Missy has engineered to get their attention.

The Magician’s Apprentice is a big, bold adventure, set on a grand scale, and the pace doesn’t slow for a moment as time ladies Clara and Missy team-up to find the Doctor just as he is about to face his greatest moral dilemma and most ruthless adversary. The story travels between numerous locations in time and space: including a grim battlefield in the past, an alien bar, the grand fortress of the Shadow Proclamation, the planet Karn, an outlandish medieval tournament in Essex 1138 AD, and a very familiar looking city on the Daleks original home planet of Skaro…

The character of Ohila (Claire Higgins) from The Night of the Doctor (2013) also returns along with the Sisterhood of Karn (Last seen in the 1976 story The Brain of Morbius), and Ohila’s tense scenes with Colony Sarff (Jami Reid-Quarell) resonate powerfully with her appearance in the 1^st online prequel for Series 9. Jami Reid-Quarell is also very menacing as the snake-like Colony Sarff, a strange creature with a message for the Doctor, whose quest has taken him to the Maldovarium, the planet Karn to address the Sisterhood of Karn, and even the mighty Shadow Proclamation, but nobody seems to know where the Doctor is. The Magician’s Apprentice weaves a complex path through Doctor Who’s mythology – past and present – juggling extensive nods to the past and a wealth of continuity references, with some perhaps far more pertinent than others, along with a few surprise voices from the Doctor’s own past as well!

It seems the mad man in the blue box has really disappeared this time, because even the Daleks are looking for him! Yes, the Daleks are back with a vengeance in The Magician’s Apprentice. Daleks from throughout all of time have assembled to wreak havoc on the Doctor in a story that harkens right back to their origins. Nearly every type of Dalek that you can think of is here for this ultimate Dalek team-up! Seeing the original classic 1963/64 slivery-grey Dead Planet style Daleks, a black domed guard from Evil of the Daleks (1967), along with a grey Renegade and the Special Weapons Dales from Remembrance of the Daleks (1988), in the same scenes as gold / bronze modern era Daleks, a Dalek Sec style Black Dalek, overseen by the gleaming red and gold Supreme Dalek from The Stolen Earth / Journey’s End (2008) and its like all our fan-boy dreams have leapt from the pages of the old TV Century 21 comics to unleash maximum extermination on TV!

The Dalek city in The Magician’s Apprentice has been beautifully realised on screen in this episode, a clear homage to the original 1963 Dalek city on Skaro designed by the late Raymond Cusick, and its been reimagined here in exquisite detail. The design of the Daleks control room in this episode – whilst containing nods to Cusick’s designs – also provides a delightful throwback to the Peter Cushing Doctor Who films, Dr Who and the Daleks (1965) and Daleks’ Invasion of Earth 2550 AD (1966). Even the 12th Doctor’s revised costume has a hint of 60’s era of Doctor Who about it, especially the Hartnell style check trousers.

Ok, here we go. BIG SPOILER ALERT! The Daleks are back, Missy is back, but there’s one more old adversary vying for the title of the Doctor’s arch-enemy – much to Missy’s consternation – in this episode, Davros! Yes, the creator of the Daleks, the Dark Lord of Skaro, is dying, and he has sent Colony Sarff to bring the Doctor to his chamber on board a medical space station. Julian Bleach reprises his role from 2008’s The Stolen Earth / Journey’s End, giving a blood-chilling performance, and the malevolent creator of the Daleks certainly has a few nasty surprises for the Doctor! The lines between past and present blur constantly as the young boy Davros, played by Joey Price, cries for help ring out across time to haunt the Doctor, and I can’t think of one instance in the history of Doctor Who where sound of the TARDIS dematerialising has ever sounded so cruel…

The Magician’s Apprentice is a great start to the new series. In fact, there’s so much going on in this first episode of the opening two-part series premier that it actually feels more like a series finale! Steven Moffat has gone for big spectacle, high drama, and full timey-wimey overload for The Magician’s Apprentice. Drawing heavily on the programmes past, the intricate plot is dark, intense, and even the 4^th Doctor’s iconic “If someone who knew the future, pointed out a child to you, and told you that child would grow up totally evil, to be a ruthless dictator who would destroy millions of lives… could you then kill that child?” speech from 1975’s Genesis of the Daleks takes on a whole new perspective in the context of the Doctor’s actions in The Magician‘s Apprentice – setting up some interesting themes that will no doubt impact on the ongoing narrative of new series. There are moments of wry humour too, particularly when Missy and Clara are working together, the way Missy compares the Daleks plan to destroy the TARDIS with a certain part of a Dalek casing is another standout moment, and it’s clear that the Doctor’s bond with Clara is now even stronger than ever.

Exciting, if initially a little bewildering, The Magician’s Apprentice, while somewhat grim at times, also has a great sense of adventure and fun – especially when the Doctor makes a surprise – if somewhat superfluous – rock and roll entrance with an electric guitar! It’s a story that probably needs multiple viewing to fully appreciate every nuance of the storyline, even the Sonic Screwdriver has an unexpectedly significant role to play, but despite the slight overloading of the script there is still a lot to enjoy here. Once all the characters have been drawn together, a space station that isn‘t quite what it seems leads to a fittingly epic face-off between the Doctor and Davros, and the build up to that first glimpse of the Dalek city and then the Daleks themselves are both breathtaking moments.

Minor quibbles aside, I really enjoyed this first episode, and thought it got the new series off to a fantastic start. The Magician’s Apprentice races towards an incredibly exciting cliff-hanger, the stakes get raised impossibly high as the full horror of the Daleks plan actually sends the Doctor to his knees, and you will be left wondering how those nerve-jangling final moments can possibly be resolved in the conclusion of this two-part story – The Witch’s Familiar.

Images Belong: BBC

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Doctor Who Death In Heaven Review

Tags

Chris Addison, Clara Oswald, Cybermen, Danny Pink, Doctor Who, Doctor Who Death In Heaven, Doctor Who Series Eight, Ingrid Oliver, Jemma Redgrave, Jenna Coleman, Kate Stweart, Michelle Gomez, Missy, Osgood, Peter Capaldi, Rachel Talalay, Samuel Anderson, Sanjeeve Bhaskar, Seb, St Paul's Cathedral, Steven Moffat, TARDIS, The 12th Doctor, The Gate Keeper of the Nethersphere, The Master, The Nethersphere, UNIT

Death In Heaven

Review by Paul Bowler

[Contains Spoilers]

In 24 hours the human race will cease to exist. The Cybermen have invaded London, a new indestructible army built from humanity’s dead. Missy has been revealed as the Doctor’s arch nemesis, the Master! With Danny deceased, trapped in the Nethersphere, an impossible decision looms for Clara as the Cybermen close in. As the Cyber-Invasion spreads around the world, the Doctor joins forces with old friends, but can even the might of UNIT help the Doctor defeat this terrifying alliance between the Master and the Cybermen? The Doctor must his face the greatest challenge of all and difficult sacrifices will have to be made to save the world…

Death in Heaven concludes the exciting two-part series eight finale, as the Cyber-Invasion continues in this special hour-long episode, written by show runner Steven Moffat, and directed by Rachael Talalay. Now that the secret of the “Promised Land” and Missy’s true identity has been revealed, the dark and ominous tone of this this action packed season finale kicks into high gear as Steven Moffat engineers the mother all showdowns for the Doctor and his UNIT allies as they battle the combined menace of Missy and the Cybermen.

While Clara tries to deceive the Cybermen that she’s really the Doctor, the Cybermen hidden in the Dark Water tanks at the 3W Institute begin to emerge onto the streets of London, where the Doctor, still reeling from discovering that Missy is his old enemy, the Master, can only look on helplessly as the Cybermen march past St Paul’s Cathedral towards the unsuspecting civilians. Missy encourages people to take selfies with the Cybermen, giving the concealed UNIT forces time make their move, but even though they capture Missy the dome of St Paul’s cathedral opens and 91 Cybermen take to the air – except for one that remains and explodes over London to unleash a deadly cloud of Cyber-Pollen. Missy gleefully informs the Doctor, Kate Stewart, and Osgood the Cybermen will target the other key areas of significant population density in the UK to spread the Cyber-Pollen – something the Cybermen are now doing simultaneously on a global scale in every town and city around the world. As the dark clouds gather over graveyards, funeral homes, and mortuaries, the rain starts to fall and the Cyber-Pollen begins its heinous work – infusing the corpses of the dead and reanimating them as Cybermen.

Steven Moffat rounds off series eight of Doctor Who in fine style with Death in Heaven, building on the deeply unsettling premise established in Dark Water (Where all of Earth’s dead had been transformed into a Cyber-Army, their minds stored in the Nethersphere – a Gallifreyan Hard Drive – were their emotions are subsequently deleted before transplantation back into the Cybermen), to provide a harrowing and emotional roller coaster ride for the Doctor and Clara that will test their friendship to the limit.

Needless to say, Peter Capaldi is superb as the 12th Doctor in Death in Heaven. Here we see just how dark and uncompromising this incarnation can be, and Capaldi delivers an absolutely magnificent performance that will have you on the edge of your seat. Jenna Coleman is also brilliant as Clara Oswald, whose character has constantly evolved over the course of series eight, and the culmination of the events and decisions Clara ultimately makes in Death in Heaven makes this arguably one of Coleman’s best episodes to date.

Death in Heaven also marks the welcome return of UNIT to help the Doctor fight the Cybermen and Missy. Peter Capaldi’s 12th Doctor has constantly voiced his dislike of the military since his regeneration, which creates a really interesting dynamic here as he’s forced to work alongside the Brigadier’s daughter, Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave), together with Ossgood (Ingrid Oliver), now sporting an 11th Doctor style bow tie instead of the 4th Doctor scarf she wore in The Day of the Doctor (2013), and Colonel Ahmed (Sanjeev Bhaskar). The Time Lord takes to the skies as the newly appointed President of Earth, where he is given control of the worlds military forces and is expected to coordinate their retaliation against to the Cyber-Invasion.

Its good to see Jemma Redgrave return as UNIT’s chief scientific advisor Kate Stewart, she gets some really powerful scenes alongside the Doctor, even confronting the Cybermen in London where she throws the head of an Invasion style Cybermen – that originally featured in The Invasion (1968) – at the feet of their new counterparts to make her point. When Kate brings the Doctor, the TARDIS, and the captured Missy to a special UNIT aircraft that serves as its secret mobile headquarters (just like her father Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart used in The Invasion), there’s a great scene where the Doctor notices a portrait of Kate’s late father – its a fleeting moment; and one which resonates poignantly with events later in the episode.

Samuel Anderson gives a particularly moving performance in Death in Heaven as Clara’s boyfriend, Danny Pink, the former soldier turned Maths teacher, sent to the Nethersphere after he died, where Missy’s conniving assistant, Seb, sinisterly played by Capaldi’s The Thick of it co-star Chris Addison, now explains to Danny that he – along with the other minds of the recently deceased stored in this Gallifreyian data cloud – are about to be sent back from what they believed was the afterlife with an added upgrade…

Transformed into a Cyberman, the moment where Danny awakens in the Chaplet Funeral Home is genuinely chilling. He saves Clara from the Cybermen at the 3W Institute and takes her to a graveyard, where Danny’s role becomes even more vital, and the groundwork already established earlier in the series really comes to the fore. The traumatic event that caused Danny to leave the army, when he accidentally killed a young boy (Antonio Bourouphael), continues to haunt him in Death in Heaven while his love for Clara remains undiminished, despite her lies, and she becomes his guiding light as he later confronts the most heartrending decision of all.

The army of Cybermen created from the remains of every human being that ever died, is a deeply unsettling concept, and one from which Steven Moffat skilfully wrings every ounce of horror from as we witness Clara stumbling through a graveyard just as the Cybermen begin to rise from the graves. Danny’s Cyber-resurrection in the mortuary is another scary scene that’s sure to send a few chills down the spine before the realisation of who he actually is begins to sink in. The Cyber-Pollen is perhaps the most grotesque use of cyber-technology that we’ve ever seen in Doctor Who, used to weaponise the dead, the Cybermen have created the ultimate form of Cyber-Conversion, and the way its implemented in this episode is truly horrific. These Cybermen also have a new ability, the power of flight, and their chest units emit a scanning beam to try and validate Clara’s identity when she tries to buy herself more time by pretending to be the Doctor – a witty subterfuge that cleverly spills over into the opening titles of the episode to keep us guessing.

It doesn’t take Missy long to orchestrate her escape, she ruthlessly kills Osgood, and summons the Cybermen to attack the plane mid-air. I was really surprised when Osgood was killed, and the senseless nature of her sudden death left us with no doubt just how evil and manipulative Missy can be. When the Doctor confronts Missy he’s horrified by what she’s done to Osgood, but when the Doctor receives a call via the TARDIS from Clara whose just discovered that Danny is a now a Cyberman, Missy finally reveals that she was the one that originally gave Clara the phone number to the Doctor’s TARDIS in The Bells of St John (2013), and she also put advert in the paper in Deep Breath (2014). Missy is the person who brought the Doctor and Clara together, the control freak and the man that should never be controlled, and the irony of her grand design to keep them together really hits home as the Cybermen tear into the fuselage, sending Kate Stewart plummeting to her doom before Missy teleports away and the plane explodes. The special effects used to bring us the Cybermen’s attack on the plane are stunning, the action doesn’t let up for a single moment, and the aftermath of the aircrafts destruction throws the Doctor into a nail biting freefall towards the TARDIS.

The gender reassignment for the Doctor’s old enemy, the Master, has given the renegade Time Lord a whole new lease of life as the gloriously twisted Mary Poppins-like incarnation known as Missy – the woman that we’ve seen welcoming the recently deceased in series eight after they’ve arrived in the faux afterlife of the Nethersphere. Michelle Gomez gives a wonderfully villainous performance as Missy, successfully channelling the sinister charm and menace of the Master with a mischievous twinkle in her eye as she revels in her evil scheme. The scene where she kills Osgood, initially taunting her, and then crushing her glasses underfoot after killing her is really cold. Missy’s scenes with the Doctor are the real highlight of Death in Heaven, especially when she taunts him about killing his friends and teases him with her claims that she actually knows the location of Gallifrey. The chemistry between Michelle Gomez and Peter Capaldi is positively electric, their verbal sparing perfectly captures the essence of the classic rivalry between these two characters, and it certainly makes for a fittingly epic confrontation between the 12th Doctor and this new version of the Master.

After using the TARDIS to reach the graveyard, where Clara is trying to activate Danny’s emotional inhibitor to end his suffering because even though he’s a Cybermen he has still retained his emotions, the Doctor is reluctant to help as he fears Danny will try and kill Clara after his emotions are deleted. The Doctor also needs to know what the rumbling storm clouds of Cyber-Pollen will do next, however, Danny informs him that in order to access the Cybermen’s hive mind his emotional inhibitor will have to be switched on. The Doctor reluctantly agrees and Clara tearfully says goodbye to Danny before using the sonic screwdriver to switch on the inhibitor. Danny reveals that a second rainfall is imminent, and this time all humanity will die and rise again as Cybermen. Missy teleports to the graveyard and offers the Doctor control of the Cyber-Army as a twisted birthday present for the Time Lord, so he can use them however he wants to save the universe from tyranny. Aghast that anyone should have such power, the Doctor rejects the offer, giving the control bracelet to Danny, whereby the former soldier takes command of the Cyber-Army and orders them to fly into the skies where they explode and destroy the Cyber-Pollen clouds.

These riveting final moments of the battle conclude with a furious Clara threatening to kill Missy with her own weapon, and she’s angry that the Doctor hasn’t done so before. The Doctor intervenes, saying he will kill Missy for her, but before he can act a lone Cyberman suddenly fires at Missy and vaporises her. The Doctor and Clara discover Kate Stewart unconscious on the ground nearby, she’s still alive, and was saved by the Cyberman. The moment when it suddenly dawns on the Doctor that the Cyberman that saved Kate is her father, the Brigadier, also resurrected by the Cyber-Pollen, is both haunting and deeply moving, and the Doctor’s farewell salute to his old friend before the Cyberman soars into the sky makes this beautifully poignant scene even more special.

Death in Heaven really shows what the Doctor and Clara are made of. We’ve seen over the course of series eight how both of them have been capable of making difficult choices that haven’t always necessarily rested easily with them, secrets and lies have also shaped and defined their adventures, so it is perhaps fitting that this series finale concludes with the Doctor and Clara not being entirely honest with each other. The coda that unfolds two weeks later as Clara meets with the Doctor to end her travels with him and say goodbye is tinged with sadness and deceit for both of them.

We know Danny found enough power in Missy’s bracelet to return to the living world, but Clara doesn’t tell the Doctor that Danny chose instead to send the young boy he accidentally killed when he was a soldier back in his place – sacrificing his last chance of being reunited with Clara – knowing she will help him put things right. Likewise, we see the Doctor take the TARDIS to the coordinates that Missy said were for Gallifrey – having claimed the planet had actually returned to its original location – only to find an empty region of space, where he flies into a furious rage inside the TARDIS at being given this glimmer of hope by his old enemy only to have it cruelly snatched away. After saying their farewells, unaware of the others lies, the Doctor’s solitary travels in the TARDIS are suddenly interrupted by a very unexpected and special Christmassy visitor…

I really liked how Dark Water and Death in Heaven were not quite as time twistingly complex as some of the previous season finales, instead we had the focus placed firmly on making it a more straightforward action-adventure, and I think that made these episodes all the more enjoyable. Sure, it’s not 100% perfect, few season finales ever are. The resolution to the cliff-hanger was initially a little stilted, with civilians taking selfies with the Cybermen, and I was really sad to see Oswin get killed. However, overall I thought Missy was an excellent foil for the Doctor, and the Cybermen were used effectively by the story and were really creepy in the graveyard scenes. Steven Moffat’s tense and exciting storyline was fast paced and skilfully brought all the elements of series eight together, and Rachel Talalay’s confident direction made this two-part series finale gripping viewing.

Death in Heaven was a great way to bring Peter Capaldi’s impressive first season as the 12th Doctor to a close. I’ve really enjoyed series eight, there’s been a great mix of stories, and the performances by Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman as the Doctor and Clara have been excellent. Samuel Anderson has also been exceptionally good as Danny Pink, and Michelle Gomez was superb as Missy. Peter Capaldi has completely won me over as the 12th Doctor, he’s proved to be a perfect choice for the role, and I can’t wait to see what happens next in the Christmas Special!

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Doctor Who Classic Series Invasion of the Dinosaurs

Tags

3rd Doctor, Barry Letts, Captain Mike Yates, Dinosaurs, Elisabeth Sladen, Invasion of the Dinosaurs, John Levene, Jon Pertwee, Malcolm Hulke, Nicholas Courtney, Paddy Russell, Richard Franklin, Sarah Jane, Season Eleven, Sgt Benton, T-Rex, Terrance Dicks, The Brigadier, UNIT, Whomobile

Invasion of the Dinosaurs

Review by Paul Bowler

The TARDIS returns the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and Sarah Jane (Elisabeth Sladen) to Earth, materialising in a strangely deserted London, where the military are struggling to cope with attacks by dinosaurs that have suddenly begun appearing all over the capitol. After being mistaken for looters and arrested by the military, following a close encounter with a pterodactyl, the sudden appearance of a tyrannosaurus rex gives the Doctor and Sarah a chance to escape. Taking refuge from their pursuers, the Doctor and Sarah encounter a Peasant (James Marcus) who has been displaced by a time eddy. Thinking the Doctor is a wizard, the Peasant moves to attacks him, but suddenly vanishes. Afterwards they are found by the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney) and return to the base UNIT has set up in a school, where they learn more about the dinosaur invasion.

When the Doctor’s attempt to capture a dinosaur is sabotaged he begins to suspect there might be a traitor at UNIT. That traitor is in fact Captain Mike Yates (Richard Franklin), who has teamed up with two scientists, Professor Whitaker (Peter Miles) and Butler (Martin Jarvis), who have been experimenting with a time travel, using dinosaurs from the past to cause panic so the city would be evacuated. Sarah Jane investigates while the Doctor is busy and discovers that General Finch (John Bernnett) and Sir Charles Grover (Noel Johnson) are also involved in the conspiracy, only to be captured herself and taken to a secret underground bunker beneath the city streets, where she later wakes up on board a spaceship bound for a distant planet.

Sarah Jane quickly realizes that the spaceship is a fake. She manages to convince the colonists they have been deceived, that they are not heading for a new “golden age” on a planet free of pollution, and leads them through the air lock and back into the underground base just as the Doctor and the Brigadier attack the secret headquarters. Sir Charles Grover tries to use the time travel device to transport London back to prehistoric times, but the Doctor has altered the controls, and instead it sends Grover and Whitaker back to the time of the dinosaurs. With the crisis over the Brigadier oversees Captain Yates resignation from UNIT, while the Doctor tries to persuade Sarah to go on another adventure in the TARDIS and visit the planet Florana.

Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974) offers an intriguing slant on the ecological concepts that often featured strongly throughout Barry Letts time as producer of Doctor Who. This six part story is written by Malcolm Hulke, and forms part of Jon Pertwee’s final season as the Doctor. After the tragic death of Roger Delgado and Katy Manning;’s departure as Jo Grant, the UNIT family was slowly beginning to go their separate ways.

Season Eleven was indeed the end of an era, script editor Terrance Dicks and producer Barry Letts were ready to move on, along with Jon Pertwee, who had also decided to leave the show. Needless to say, Pertwee is on fine form during Invasion of the Dinosaurs, but it is Elisabeth Sladen who really gets a chance to shine here as new companion Sarah Jane Smith, and her skills as a journalists are well used to drive the plot. Sgt Benton (John Levene) is also around to help out; being one of the few officers trusted to remain by the Brigadier’s side; he even lets the Doctor knock him unconscious so he can escape from custody after General Finch frames him for the Dinosaur attacks. We also get to see the Doctor’s new car, the futuristic Whomobile, as it glides around the deserted streets of London. Jon Pertwee had the car specially built for the show, and while it may not be quite as memorable as Bessie, it’s still a very impressive vehicle.

One of the best aspects of Invasion of the Dinosaurs is how Captain Mike Yates turns out to be the traitor who has been working against them. Richard Franklin has some great scenes in this story, even though Mike Yates betrays the Doctor and UNIT, he still rushes in to help the Doctor when his act of sabotage leaves him at the mercy of a tyrannosaurus rex. His desire to help build a better world for mankind is admirable but his loyalty to his friends proves to be his undoing, which is perhaps why the Brigadier affords Yates the chance to resign from UNIT.

Sadly the weakest aspect of Invasion of the Dinosaurs are the dinosaurs themselves. Having been convinced by freelance effects designer, Clifford Culley that he could produce highly realistic model dinosaurs, Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks went ahead and commissioned the story. Unfortunately Westbury Design and Optical Ltd were unable to realize the demands of Malcolm Hulke’s scripts, leaving the production team stuck with some truly woeful special effects. By then it was too late to do anything about it, although it has to be said that the model backgrounds are highly effective, and the CSO used to overlay them into each scene is quite impressive, it’s just when the dinosaurs arrive that the illusion is completely shattered.

Throughout the course of this story the Doctor and Sarah Jane encounter a number of prehistoric monsters: including a tyrannosaurus rex, triceratops, stegosaurs, brontosaurus, and even a pterodactyl, but it is the tyrannosaurus rex that often earns the most scathing criticism. This puppet is actually far too cute to even be remotely frightening, bobbing around the model sets and flapping his tail, the T-Rex roars at everything and anything – it even seems to say “ROAAARRRR” rather than roaring properly! When the T-Rex is caught and chained up in a disused building, Sarah Jane sneaks in to take some photographs, but the flash on her camera wakes the creature up. This leads to one of the finniest scenes ever in Dr Who as T-Rex goes on the rampage. Well, he does manage to smash a window after a couple of wallops from his tail, and head buts a couple of polystyrene girders, before finally popping his head through a wobbly cardboard wall with a hearty “ROAAAARRRRR” as the Doctor and Sarah escape in a jeep.

Invasion of the Dinosaurs may be beset by awful special effects but director Paddy Russell more than makes up for these shortcomings, particularly with some great location filming to portray the eerily deserted streets of London. Unfortunately only the black and white version of the first episode of Invasion of the Dinosaurs is currently exists in the BBC Archives, with the rest of the story in colour, this startlingly atmospheric first episode is a real gem. Seeing the Doctor and Sarah Jane return to the evacuated London is quite unnerving: stray dogs roam the streets, a football rests untouched in a children’s playground, a looter gets horribly killed when his car encounters a dinosaur, and the brutal way martial law is enforced is quite unlike anything we have seen before in Doctor Who. The first episode also included a terrifying encounter with a pterodactyl as the Doctor and Sara try to escape in a jeep. It’s a fantastic scene, laced with a real sense of horror as the creature swoops in to attack, smashing through the driver’s window before the Doctor drives the jeep through the lockups doors to escape.

This first episode was digitally remastered and coloured for its DVD release in 2012, although the footage could not be fully restored, so the colours do look a little washed out and unnatural. I prefer the black and white version of this episode (you have the option to watch either version on DVD), Paddy Russell’s direction is superb, and her brilliantly filmed location scenes really enhance the story.

Invasion of the Dinosaurs is a classic case of Doctor Who punching well above its weight and being let down by some truly abysmal special effects. However, it’s funny to think how nearly four decades later Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (2012) would see the 11^th Doctor (Matt Smith) facing incredible CGI dinosaurs, albeit in a story that makes the 3^rd Doctor’s first encounter with the prehistoric creatures in Invasion of the Dinosaurs look like a masterpiece in comparison. Invasion of the Dinosaurs is a worthy addition to any Dr Who fans DVD collection, the two disk set is packed with extra features, and proves how a good story can outshine the glossy sheen of CGI any day of the week.

Well, almost…

“ROAAARRRRRR!”

The Day of the Doctor : Review

Tags

Billie Piper, Daleks, David Tennant, Doctor Who, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary, Gallifrey, Jenna Coleman, John Hurt, Matt Smith, Steven Moffat, The Day of The Doctor, The Time War, UNIT, Zygons

The Day of the Doctor

Review by Paul Bowler

It’s Saturday evening and a strangely familiar theme tune rings out as the day draws to a close, a policeman walks past a gate, the sign reads I.M. Foreman, and suddenly we are standing before Coal Hill School… Right from its opening moments, the 50^th Anniversary episode of Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor instantly transports us back to the shows origins, drawing on the programmes rich mythology and subsequent rebirth in a new millennium for a record breaking simulcast event as fans around the world celebrated fifty years of adventures in time and space. This special feature-length episode of Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor sees Matt Smith’s 11^th incarnation of the Time Lord teaming up with his predecessor, David Tennant as the 10^th Doctor, and John Hurt as the War Doctor –  a mysterious new incarnation of the Time Lord who came into being during the Time War.

Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman), now a teacher at Coal Hill School, receives a message from the Doctor, and rides her motorbike to meet him in the TARDIS. Moments later the TARDIS is intercepted by UNIT and airlifted by helicopter to Trafalgar Square where the Doctor and Clara are greeted by Kate Stuart (Jemma Redgrave) and scientist Osgood (Ingrid Oliver). They go to the National Gallery, where the Doctor opens a sealed message from Queen Elisabeth I (who it transpires was once married to the 10^th Doctor) that holds instructions which entrust the Time Lord to curate some very special paintings; including a piece of Time Lord art depicting The Fall of Arcadia during the Time War – a single moment of time locked inside a 3D painting – that has become known by two ominous names: “No More” and “Gallifrey Falls”.

Matt Smith gives a terrific performance as the Doctor in this special anniversary episode. His Doctor is right at the heart of the action, I thought the opening moments were the Doctor was suspended below the TARDIS as it was flown over the London skyline was fantastic, and later Matt Smith really gets to run the gauntlet of emotions as the Doctor’s actions during the Time War  return to haunt him. Jenna Coleman is also terrific as Clara, now a teacher at Coal Hill School, the impossible girl now seems all grown up and even more confident than before, and  the scene where she rides a motorbike into the TARDIS is great fun.

The painting offers us a glimpse into that darkest hour on Gallifrey during the last day of the Time War, as the Dalek armada encircles the planet and launch a devastating attack. The War Doctor emerges from the shadows after using a gun to blast the words “No More” into a crumbling wall to leave a message for the Daleks, before escaping in his TARDIS as Arcadia, Gallifrey’s second city, falls. The Time Lord War Council are shocked to discover the War Doctor has taken a sentient weapon of unimaginable power know as The Moment, a galaxy eater created by the ancients of Gallifrey, which he intends to use to destroy his own people and the Daleks to end the Time War. Travelling to a remote location, the War Doctor attempts to activate The Moment, but the devices interface, or conscience, assumes the form of Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) and tries to convince him to choose another path…

The special effects used to depict the final day of the Time War, with Gallifrey surrounded by a vast fleet of Dalek warships, are absolutely magnificent. The Day of the Doctor is about as epic in scope and scale as Doctor Who has ever been. To see Gallifrey in ruins is also quite shocking; this once majestic world, now torn apart by Dalek firepower, with the city burning as the population flee in terror as Daleks close in to exterminate them is chilling.

John Hurt is magnificent as the War Doctor, a new incarnation of the Doctor that existed during the Time War, and was responsible for unleashing the Galaxy Eater and destroying his own people to end the war. This dark secret is one that the even the 11^th Doctor is loathed to speak of, yet fate will force him, and his 10^th incarnation, to confront this aspect of his existence, and ultimately work together to find another way to end the Time War. John Hurt gives a commanding performance as the War Doctor, painting a weary, tragic figure, who is forever condemned by the impossible choice he was faced with as he witnessed the fall of Arcadia.

Billie Piper makes a welcome return to Doctor Who as Rose Tyler, but not in quite the way we might have expected. She appears as The Moment, the sentient conscience of the Galaxy Eater, which has taken the form of Rose Tyler to communicate with the War Doctor. Billie Piper is excellent as the mysterious and somewhat playful “Bad Wolf” girl as Hurt’s Doctor calls her. It’s great to see Billie Piper return to Doctor Who, her role as The Moment/Bad Wolf was crucial to brining all of the Doctor’s together to change history. I also liked how The Moment got Clara to help the Doctor’s find another way to end the war, immersing them within Arcadia‘s final moments, with Clara finally appealing to her Doctor to “be a Doctor” and make the promise of his name a reality that would save his people from destruction.

Meanwhile, in Elizabethan England 1562, the 10^th Doctor and Queen Elizabeth I find themselves under attack by a Zygon, a shape-shifting alien, who tries to confuse the Doctor by assuming the form of Queen Elizabeth I. Before the 10^th Doctor can figure out who is who, three portals created by The Moment open across space and time and draw both the 11^th Doctor and the War Doctor to 1562, where they meet the 10^th Doctor and are promptly arrested by the Queens troops and taken to the Tower of London. The  Zygons are using a stasis cube to travel into the future, where they have been stored inside the paintings held within a secret chamber in the Under Gallery, where they start to emerge and quickly attack Kate Stewart, and scientists Osgood and McGill (Jonjo O‘Neill). The Zygons duplicate their captives and, with their leader posing as Kate Stuart, get the unsuspecting Clara to accompany Kate to the Black Archive at UNIT HQ beneath the Tower of London.

With some guidance from the Moment, who only the War Doctor can see or hear, the imprisoned Doctor’s attempt to escape from their cell by using the software in their sonic screwdrivers to calculate a solution that would take centuries to complete individually. The computation is eventually completed on the 11^th Doctor’s sonic screwdriver, which is four hundred years old, but in the meantime he has also inscribed the code of Captain Jack’s Vortex Manipulator onto the wall of their cell, and it is this message to the future which enables Clara to snatch the Vortex Manipulator from the Black Archive and prevent the Zygons from using it.

The Day of the Doctor has a great supporting cast, with Jemma Redgrave returning as UNITS’s chief scientific officer Kate Lethbridge Stewart; she gets some great scenes with the Doctor and Clara, and has to confront the Zygons as well. Ingrid Oliver is also good as the scientist Osgood, a really fun character, who quickly figures out what the Zygons are up to, and helps Kate escape and reach the Black Archive to stop the Zygons. There are so many references to the history of Doctor Who in The Day of the Doctor: far to many to mention here, some of my favourites were the opening scenes with the original theme and titles from the very first story in 1963, An Unearthly Child, the sign outside Coal Hill School where the Doctor’s granddaughter, Susan, once attended tells us Ian Chesterton is now the chairman of the school governors, the time of the very first episode also feature on a clock face as Clara goes to meet the Doctor and the date and time is also the code for the vortex manipulator, Osgood wears a scarf just like the 4^th Doctor’s, there are a number of references to the Doctor’s old friend Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart, as well as the 10^th and 11^th Doctor’s eras, but I think some of the best nods to the past are in the Black Archive, were we see a notice board covered in pictures of the Doctor’s previous companions, and its great fun trying to identify them all.

The scenes set in Elizabethan England were also a lot of fun. This is the point in the story were the 10^th Doctor becomes involved with Queen Elizabeth the I, he even ends up marrying her, and there are some great scenes as he has to confront the Queen and her Zygon double. Joanna Page was also really good as Queen Elizabeth I, especially when Tennant’s Doctor thought she was really a Zygon, and it was clever how the story gives us an idea of why the older Queen later hated the 10^th Doctor when she appeared in the Shakespeare Code. This is also were all three of the Doctor’s were finally united in the episode, another fantastic moment, and I loved the witty banter between them. Matt Smith and David Tennant were brilliant as they tried to out sonic each other and later, as they continued to wind each other up, with John Hurt’s Doctor getting all the best lines as he wearily tries to keep up with his future selves and their youthful exuberance. It was fun to see the TARDIS interior changing when all the Doctor’s stepped inside, from the 10^th Doctor’s “grunge” phase, the classic roundels then appeared in the Ward Doctor’s console room, before shifting to the 11^th Doctor’s TARDIS interior, with the 10^th Doctor saying Patrick Troughton’s classic line from the Three Doctors: “You’ve redecorated… I don’t like it!”

There were also some very serious moments, especially when The War Doctor asks them if they ever counted how many children died on that terrible day on Gallifrey. The 10^th Doctor immediately states that is was 247 billion, and is aghast to think the 11^th Doctor has seemingly forgotten and moved on over the last four hundred years, which of course we know he hasn’t, not really, but it makes for a wonderful scene that takes place in that most tried and trusted staple of Doctor Who, a prison cell, and one which ironically isn’t even locked! One could say this scene is perhaps the most serendipitous moment ever for the Doctor, as it illustrates how he has become imprisoned within the grief of the impossible choice he made as the War Doctor, condemned by his own hand and lost in a universe without hope for the salvation that was always waiting to be found.

After Clara travels to 1562 to team up with the Doctor’s and Queen Elizabeth I against the Zygons, Osgood rescues Kate Stuart and together they enter the Black Archive. Kate activates a nuclear device to stop their Zygon doppelgangers using the alien artefacts stored in the secret facility, but her Zygon double keeps overriding the countdown. With the TARDIS unable to breach the UNIT bases defences, the War Doctor gets them to use the stasis cube to transport themselves through the painting of Gallifrey Falls, which the 11^th Doctor has managed to have moved to the Black Archive by making a time warping phone call from the TARDIS to McGill in the past. The Doctor’s emerge from the painting and uses the Vaults own defences to wipe the memories of all the humans and Zygons present so the countdown can be stopped and a peaceful solution reached.

I really enjoyed the inclusion of the Zygons in The Day of the Doctor. This is the first time they have appeared since their first and only television story, Terror of the Zygons in 1975. The new look Zygons are even more menacing than the originals, although their appearance hasn’t really changed that much here, they do dribble copious about of slime now and the human/ Zygon transformations are much better, but obviously it was a case of if it isn’t broke don’t fix it by the production team. It was also good that they played a significant role in the story, rather than being some token monster, and I hope they return again soon.

Still convinced he was right, the War Doctor returns to the point in time where he is about to activate The Moment. The ethereal form of Rose Tyler manages to delay the War Doctor long enough for the 10^th and 11^th Doctor’s arrive, and they stand with him so that he does not have to do this terrible thing alone. Clara is horrified by what they are about to do, the Warrior, the Hero, and appeals to her Doctor to find another way, and with The Moment also gently exerting her influence, the 11^th Doctor changes his mind and summons all of his previous incarnations, including his future self (Peter Capaldi), and each Doctor uses their TARDIS to freeze Gallifrey in one moment of time, just like the painting, causing Gallifrey to vanish and the Daleks to be destroyed in their own crossfire.

Ok, now here is the bit where total fangasim hits, I can’t tell you how exciting it was to see all the Doctor’s unite to freeze Gallifrey in one moment of time. I had a feeling that Steven Moffat might find a way to included a few clips of the past Doctor’s, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect them all to turn up and play such an important role in the story. While it may seem like a bit of sci-fi cliché, or reset switch to do this to Gallifrey, but it is entirely plausible as we saw Time Lords from Gallifrey trying to escape from a pocket dimension to destroy Earth in the 10^th Doctor’s final episode The End of Time. Seeing the Doctor’s team up to save Gallifrey in The Day of the Doctor was the icing on the cake for the 50^th Anniversary, it opens up a wealth of possibilities for the future, and of course let’s not forget we were also treated to a glimpse of that future. Yes, Peter Capaldi, the next incarnation of the Doctor, also showed up to help save the day!

Afterwards the War Doctor, and the 10^th and 11^th Doctor’s return to the National Gallery to say their goodbyes, it’s a parting tinged with sadness as they all know they will have no memory of these events once they return to their own time. Once the War Doctor leaves in his TARDIS, he begins to regenerate, and the 10^th Doctor departs after hearing about Trenzalore from the 11^th. Sensing that the Doctor wants to be alone with the painting of Gallifrey Falls, Clara steps inside the TARDIS, just as an old man, the curator approaches.

Now this is the moment that totally blew me away, as the 11^th Doctor looks up as the curator wanders into view… and it’s Tom Baker!! This incredible scene, were the curator tells him the painting is actually called Gallifrey Falls No More, and hints that Gallifrey might have been saved after all, is just magical. Whether the Curator was really the 4^th Doctor or not, it was an incredible moment and this was the highlight of the entire episode for me.  Tom Baker is simply wonderful in these scenes with Matt Smith as they discuss Gallifrey’s fate, this made the episode even more special, and then later in the TARDIS, as the Doctor describes a dream he has, were he is reunited with his former selves amongst the stars, and resolves to find Gallifrey and return home…

I thoroughly enjoyed The Day of the Doctor, it was a fantastic celebration of Doctor Who, and I loved every moment of it. Steven Moffat delivered an incredible story that provided some of the most exciting scenes ever seen in Doctor Who, director Nick Hurran ensured The Day of the Doctor was a visual spectacular, and Murray Gold’s musical score was phenomenal. Best of all was the fact that fans around the world could watch and enjoy this episode together, on TV, or in the cinema. The Day of the Doctor was a brilliant story for the 50^th Anniversary of Doctor Who; it lived up to all the hype, and exceed all my expectations.

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Doctor Who Classic Sereis The Sea Devils

Tags

3rd Doctor, Doctor Who, island prison, Jo Grant, Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, Roger Delgado, Royal Navy, Sea Devil, Sea Fort, Season Nine, The Doctor, The Master, The Sea Devils, UNIT

The Seas Devils

Review by Paul Bowler

The Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and Jo (Katy Manning) decide to visit their old enemy, the Master (Roger Delgado), who has been imprisoned on an island prison off the south coast of England. After learning from the governor, Colonel Trenchard (Clive Morton), that ships have gone missing in the area, the Doctor decides to investigate and visit’s Captain Hart (Edwin Richfield) at the Naval base, where he discovers that all the ships have all disappeared in the vicinity of an old abandoned Sea Fort. The Doctor and Jo take a boat out to the fort and are attacked by a Sea Devil, an amphibious species, who once ruled the Earth in prehistoric time alongside their Silurian cousins.

Realizing that the Master is behind the theft of equipment at the Naval base, and was assisted by Trenchard, the Doctor tries to stop the renegade Time Lord from escaping, but he is too late to stop him from reviving the Sea Devils from hibernation. After narrowly escaping a Sea Devil on the beach, the Doctor and Jo escape through a mine field. Returning to the Naval base to warn Captain Hart, they lean that a submarine has gone missing. Determined not to make the same mistakes as he did with the Silurians, the Doctor uses a diving bell to reach the Sea Devils underwater base, but his attempts to find a peaceful solution are dashed when the Navy are ordered to attack the base with depth charges.

The Doctor helps the crew of the submarine escape and they return to the surface, but he is captured again when the Sea Devils attack the Naval Base. Back at the Sea Devils base the Doctor sabotages the Master’s machinery, the Sea Devils turn on them both, but they manage to escape before the underwater base is destroyed by a huge explosion. When they return to the surface the Master uses a disguise to distract everyone so he can escape in a hovercraft.

The Sea Devils (1972) sees the Doctor and Jo teaming up with the Royal Navy and Captain Hart for this sea faring adventure. Satisfied the Master is still under lock and key, the Doctor sets out to uncover the mystery surrounding the missing ships, and soon enlists the help of Captain Hart. This story was made with the help of the Royal Navy and so it naturally features a number of vehicles: including a motor boat, a diving bell, speedboats, and even a hovercraft – as well as a considerable amount of stock footage showcasing ships, submarines, helicopters, and footage of depth charges being detonated.

Jon Pertwee is right in the thick of the action as the 3^rd Doctor, battling Sea Devils one moment, and quickly seeing through the Masters deception the next. Katy Manning plays the ever resourceful Jo Grant, who keeps her cool even when they are stranded on the Sea Fort, and helps the Doctor escape from the prison after Trenchard’s treachery is revealed. Together the Doctor and Jo make a fantastic team, nevermore so than here, when their quick thinking and tenacity helps them keep one step ahead of the Master’s plans.

The Sea Devils themselves are one of the most distinctive monsters from the 3^rd Doctor’s era, director Michael Bryant slowly build up the suspense, using innovative camera angles and unnerving close-ups to maintain the mystery surround the creatures until the Doctor finally meets one face-to-face on the Sea Fort. As a race the Sea Devils are portrayed as highly intelligent creatures that are as agile on land as they are at sea. When the Doctor meets with their leader his peacemaking attempts are foiled by the Master, who has managed to convince the Sea Devils that man is weak, and goads them into starting a conflict with the humans anyway.

Few could forget the iconic moment when the Sea Devils rise from the sea. It’s a brilliant scene, one that still has a great impact, really building the excitement as the creatures shamble ashore. The design of the Sea Devils is very striking, and their attack on the Naval Base shows just how quick and deadly they can be as their quickly overwhelm the base. Despite his best efforts, the Doctor fails to convince the Sea Devil’s leader to break off their attacks, and he is left with no choice but to cause the power systems of their undersea base to overload – with The Doctor and the Master managing to escape to the surface before it explodes.

After being captured at the end of The Daemons (1971) the Master makes a welcome return in The Sea Devils. He effortlessly runs rings around his jailer, Trenchard, manipulating the pompous fool with malicious glee before Trenchard’s own misguided treachery leaves him at the mercy of the Sea Devils when they attack the prison to free the Master. The Sea Devils features one of Roger Delgado’s best performances as the renegade Time Lord, fiendishly plotting from his prison cell, causing havoc and chaos without hardy even stepping outside the room. There is a lovely scene where he switches on the television and smiles to himself a he watches The Rock Collector episode of the Clangers, he even jokes about the children’s programme to Trenchard, who fails to see the funny side, further exacerbating the Master and probably sealing his death warrant in the process.

The Sea Devils offers a real insight into the friendship the Time Lords once shared. It’s nice to see the Doctor’s genuine concern for his old enemy, even though their banter is still as barbed as ever, you get a sense of the great respect they still have for each other. Later, when the Doctor confronts the Master in his prison cell, he walks straight into a trap. What follows is a spectacular sword fight between the two Time Lords, its fantastic to watch as Pertwee and Delgado lock swords and duel, and every moment of this tense showdown is superbly choreographed. The 3^rd Doctor even takes time out to nibble a sandwich after he disarms the Master, before sportingly giving him back his sword, clearly enjoying every moment of this exhilarating confrontation.

This is a really good story, Michael Bryant’s direction is superb, the production values are also extremely high, with the regular cast all giving great performances, and the excellent location filming really makes The Sea Devils an extra special adventure. The only thing that mares the production is the somewhat bizarre electronic incidental music by Malcolm Clark, it works moderately well in the scenes set on the Sea Fort, but feels out of place and intrusive for much of the story. The Sea Devils is one of the most visually striking adventures from Season Nine, featuring some of the series most classic moments, and remains one of the best stories from the 3^rd Doctor’s era.

Doctor Who Classic Series The Daemons

Tags

3rd Doctor, Azal, Bok, Captain Mike Yates, Doctor Who, Doctor Who Classic Sereis, Jo Grant, John Levene, Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, Nicholas Courtney, Richard Franklin, Roger Delgado, Season Eight, Sgt Benton, The Brigadier, The Daemons, The Master, UNIT

The Daemons

Review by Paul Bowler

Strange mystical forces seem to be gathering around the village of Devil’s End where an ancient barrow is being investigated by Professor Horner (Robin Wentworth). The archaeological dig at the barrow is also being filmed be a television crew, who intend to show live coverage of the event on BBC Three as the Professor attempts to breach the inner chamber at the stroke of midnight. Alarmed by what forces the Professor might unleash, the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and Jo Grant (Katy Manning) travel to Devil’s End to stop the dig but arrive too late, and the Professor and the Doctor are both enveloped in a freezing blast of energy from inside the barrow.

With the Professor dead and the Doctor frozen in ice, Jo seeks help from the villages. Having seen everything happen on TV, Captain Mike Yates (Richard Franklin) and Sgt Benton (John Levene) take the Brigadier’s helicopter to Devil’s End to go and help Jo and the Doctor. After they arrive the Doctor quickly recovers, leaving them free to explore the village, and together with the help of the white witch Mrs Hawthorn (Damaris Hayman), they discover that the local vicar – Mr Magister – is really the Master  (Roger Delgado) who has been using black magic rituals to summon the monstrous Azal to the cavern beneath the church. The Doctor explains that Azal is the last of a race of beings known as the Daemons, their super science is so powerful is appears to work like magic, and their spaceship is actually miniaturized inside the barrow itself.

By tapping into the Daemons powers the Master has gradually twisted the village’s minds, forcing them to serve him, while Azal generates a heat barrier around the Devil’s End to keep the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney) and the rest of UNIT from entering the village. Each time the Master summons Azal the Daemon’s energies continue to build, until he states that Earth is a failed experiment by his people, and that he will either bequeath his power to a worth  successor or destroy the world.

As the Brigadier and his team race against time to build a machine to break through the heat barrier, the Doctor has to rescue Jo from the Master before he sacrifices her to Azal so he can claim the Daemon’s power.

The Daemons (1971) is the jewel in the crown of the Eighth Season of Doctor Who. Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning are now fully established in their roles, they make a fantastic team, and Jo continues to prove how resourceful she is by coping so well when the Doctor is frozen in ice. The 3^rd Doctor may come across as slightly arrogant and rude at the start of this story by Guy Leopold (which was actually a pseudonym for Barry Letts and Robert Sloman), but his haste to get to the dig is soon balanced out by his resolve to help the villages escape the Masters influence. The Daemons is one of those Doctor Who stories where the story and special effects all come together to make a truly remarkable adventure, and offers a clever juxtaposition between science and magic. This is also one of the finest UNIT stories, and is full of classic moments. Katy Manning also has a pivotal role to play, as it is Jo’s willingness to sacrifice herself to stop Azal killing the Doctor that ultimately turns the Daemon’s own power against him – with explosive results!

Christopher Barry directs this adventure with a real flair for the darker aspects of the story, particularly during the spooky opening sequence, and later staging some spectacular chase scenes between Bessie and the Helicopter, as well as the moment when UNIT finally breaks through the barrier to attack the church – which is being guarded by the living statue Bok.

The gargoyle Bok (Stanley Mason) is one of The Daemons best examples of how magic and science are used to play on everyone’s deep rooted fears and superstitions in this story. While Azal remains unseen for much of The Daemons, it is Bok who acts as the emissary of the Master’s power, flying from scene to scene, dealing death and destruction to anything that stands in its way. Bok is also responsible for one of the Brigadiers most memorable lines in Doctor Who, when he sees the creature for the first time and says: “Jenkins… chap with wings there. Five rounds rapid!” Even when Benton shoots the gargoyle with a bazooka, it explodes and suddenly reassembles itself.

Azal’s presence in the story is often portrayed by waves of heat and ice as the creature shrinks and grows from its miniaturized spaceship, these have devastating effects, and one is even responsible for thawing out the Doctor after he was frozen. The poor Policeman who was left guarding the barrow is squashed flat by Azal as he stomps across the countryside, leaving a trail of giant cloven footprints that Yates and Benton spot from the air. The heat barrier is also a very clever part of the story, and well realized by simple visual effects, although one wonders why a creature as powerful as Azal would need such a thing when he can destroy the world so easily – he even implies that his people were responsible for destroying Atlantis as one point. When he does finally appear Azal (Stephen Thorne) is perhaps the weakest aspect of the story, the CSO is not very good, and so it was probably a good move to hold off revealing the Daemon’s appearance until the final episode.

Roger Delgado is absolutely wonderful as the Master in this story. The renegade Time Lord makes a perfect enemy for the Doctor, although he may have been overused in Season Eight, appearing in every story, The Daemons is undoubtedly one of the best Master stories of all time. Few Dr Who Villains have ever warranted a cliff-hanger of their own, but when the Master foolishly summons Azal when he is alone in the cavern, even the Master is left covering in fear as the giant Daemon lumbers towards him. Of course the Master is eventually captured at the end of this story, in a charming scene that makes a perfect end to one of Doctor Who’s best seasons.

Doctor Who Classic Series The Claws of Axos

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3rd Doctor, Axos, Classic Doctor Who, Doctor Who, Jo Grant, Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, Nicholas Courtney, Pigbin Josh, Roger Delgado, Season Eight, TARDIS, The Brigadier, The Claws of Axos, The Master, UNIT

The Claws of Axos

Review by Paul Bowler

As well as having to endure a security inspection at UNIT HQ by the pompous civil servant, Mr Chinn (Peter Bathurst), the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney) is also visited by the American agent Bill Filer (Paul Grist) to discuss the threat posed by the Master (Roger Delgado) – but the meeting is soon thrown into chaos when an alien spacecraft is suddenly detected by the radar monitoring station. The spaceship lands next to the Nuton Power Complex, burying itself in the earth, where strange tendrils snake out and capture a tramp – Pigbin Josh (Derek Ware) – who stumbles onto the scene and gets dragged inside the living vessel for analyses.

The Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and Jo Grant (Katy Manning) travel to the crash site with the UNIT team to investigate the spacecraft, they are joined by Hardiman (Donald Hewlett) and Winser (David Savile) from the power plant, and together they enter the alien ship where they meet the golden skinned crew – the Axons. The Axons leader (Bernard Holley) says that their ship, Axos, has been badly damaged by a solar flare and needs repairs. The Axons offer the world a substance called Axonite which humanity could used to make animals grow rapidly, demonstrating the effects on a small toad, before stating that Axonite could eradicate the worlds food shortages.

Ignoring the Doctor’s misgivings, Chinn soon begins to arrange for the world wide distribution of Axonite, unaware that the Master is a prisoner of Axos, and that Bill Filer has also been captured and duplicate by the Axons to help them capture the Doctor. The Axons true form, a horrific mass of shambling orange tentacles, is revealed when they attack the reactor at the power complex. Having been captured by Axos and forced into revealing the secrets of time travel to prevent Jo being aged to death, the Doctor joins forces with the Master and uses the TARDIS to snare Axos inside a time loop. The Master manages to escape and the Doctor returns to Earth, the TARDIS materialising in the ruins of the Nuton Power Complex, and sheepishly has to explain his actions to his friends – the Time Lords having programmed the TARDIS to always return to Earth to ensure the Doctor remains exiled.

The Claws of Axos (1971) is the first televised set of script by writers Bob Baker and Dave Martin, although you’d never realizes it, with director Michael Ferguson and the production team doing an excellent job of realizing every aspect of this hugely ambitious story. Jon Pertwee is brilliant as the Doctor, his contempt for the pen pushing Mr Chinn quickly puts the civil servant in his place, and the Doctor isn’t easily fooled by the Axons offer either. He works closely with UNIT throughout much of this story, relying on the Brigadier to keep the situation under control while he attempts to study the sample of Axonite. Never one to follow orders, Jo Grant is the first to see the Axons true form, and after being captured with the Doctor she is tortured by Axos to make the Time Lord divulge his secrets. Katy Manning is brilliant as Jo, particularly when trying to escape the psychedelic interior of Axos with the Doctor as the organic ship convulses violently around them; and her unwavering faith in him – even when he apparently sides with the Master – is justified when the Doctor returns and reveals that it was all just a ploy to defeat Axos.

Stunt team HAVOC have a field day with The Claws of Axos. The scripts offer the opportunity for plenty of gun battles with the marauding Axons, with their explosive tendrils killing UNIT troops, as well an impressive showdown in the Nuton Power Complex. There is one fantastic scene where Captain Mike Yates (Richard Franklin) and Sgt Benton’s (John Levine)  jeep is attacked  by Axons, who jump on the vehicle as Yates and Benton bail out – an explosive stunt by HAVOC ends with the jeep careering into a field as it bursts into flames.

The Axons themselves are a remarkable concept. We learn that these golden beings and their vessel are actually one and the same, originating from a planet on the far side of the galaxy, who travel the universe plundering the life force of other worlds to survive. Their ship is like a great parasite, feeding off other planets, with each part of Axos, including the golden humanoids and their ghastly depersonalised forms, and even the ocular nerve centre of the vessel are all conjoined by a bizarre kind of symbiosis with the chameleon element Axonite – a process by which these aliens can absorb and manipulate any form of energy they encounter. The Axons true appearance resembles a gnarled mass of orange roots, a stark contrast to their beautiful golden forms; these misshaped monstrosities are often filmed in slow motion – giving them a really threatening presence as they lumber around.

This story features some fantastic model shots as well as some great location work that really helps establish the exterior scenes outside Axos after the spaceship lands. When the location shooting experienced changeable weather conditions, a line about freak weather and snow surrounding the area where Axos landed had to be written into the story.  These scenes also feature the hilarious antics of Pigbin Josh, a poor rambling old tramp who becomes Axos’ first victim, suffering a horrible death after being foolish enough to try and investigate the spacecraft. The voice of Axos is also provided by Bernard Holley, who plays the Axon leader, and he effortlessly conveys the ruthless nature of Axos as the omnipresent entity issues commands from its all seeing command centre.

Season Eight sees the UNIT family fully established, with Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks also introducing the renegade Time Lord the Master played by Roger Delgado. The Master would feature as the main villain in every story of Season Eight, often working behind the scenes, and manipulating others to do his bidding. However, in trying to forge an alliance with Axos the Master has unwittingly become a prisoner himself. Seizing his opportunity to escape, the Master uses his hypnotic abilities and clever disguises to break into the Nuton Power Complex so he can steal the Doctor’s TARDIS and leave Earth.

When the Doctor and Joe escape Axos they return to the Nuton Power Complex, where the Doctor decides to work with the Master to defeat Axos. This leads to some wonderful scenes as he Doctor and the Master struggle to get the TARDIS console in working order, this is the first time we have seen the TARDIS interior since The War Games (1969), and its great fun to see the sparkling banter between Pertwee and Delgado as they prepare to dematerialise. Naturally the Doctor saves the day by trapping Axos in a time loop, but he’s unable to prevent the Master from escaping again.

The Claws of Axos is an immensely exciting story, filled with terrific performances and good special effects; it includes all of the classic elements that made the third Doctor’s era so successful. With its memorable aliens, contemporary Earth setting, and some great action sequences, The Claws of Axos is one of the eighth season’s best stories.

Doctor Who Classic SereisThe Ambassadors of Death

Tags

Astronauts, Caroline John, Doctor Who, Dr Who, Jon Pertwee, Liz Shaw, Nicholas Courtney, Season Seven, The 3rd Doctor, The Ambassadors of Death, The Brigadier, UNIT

The Ambassadors of Death

Review by Paul Bowler

When contact is lost with three astronauts on board the Mars Probe 7 mission, a second capsule is sent up to investigate, but when Recovery 7 also stops transmitting the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and Liz (Caroline John) join the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney), Sgt Benton (John Levene), and the UNIT forces at Space Control to try and help Professor Ralph Cornish (Roland Allen) save the astronauts and discover the truth behind a strange extraterrestrial transmission.

On returning to Earth, UNIT and the Brigadier find themselves pitted against a secret organization who tries to forcibly take possession of Recovery 7, but with the Doctor’s help the capsule is returned safely to Space Control – only for them to discover that the astronauts have been kidnapped. The capsule actually contained a trio of alien ambassadors (Steve Peters, Neville Simons, and Ric Felgate) on a peaceful mission, who took the place of the astronauts, but their captors are only interested in their immense power and force the radiation dependant aliens to work for them.

Deciding to take a solo flight in Recovery 7, the Doctor is ready to dock with Mars Probe 7 when a gigantic alien vessel intercepts his capsule and drags it inside. The Doctor discovers the original astronauts safe and well onboard the alien spacecraft, they are hypnotised into believing they are still on Earth, leaving the Doctor free to negotiate with the alien captain – who states he will destroy Earth if the ambassadors are not returned immediately.

The alien captain allows the Doctor to return to Earth, but he is captured and taken to a secret location, where he joins Liz who is also a prisoner, together they learn that General Carrington is behind the conspiracy to discredit the alien ambassadors. The Doctor builds a device to communicate with the aliens, and together with the Brigadier’s help, he escapes with Liz and the ambassadors – returning to Space Control in time to stop Carrington’s broadcast and thereby prevent the world powers from firing on the alien spacecraft. After the Brigadier and the UNIT troops storm Space Control, war is averted, and General Carrington is led away in disgrace. The Doctor leaves Liz to help Professor Cornish arrange the exchange of the ambassadors for the human astronauts with the alien spaceship while he returns to his work on repairing the TARDIS.

The Ambassadors of Death (1970) is the penultimate adventure of Season Seven, featuring Jon Pertwee as the third incarnation of the Doctor, with Caroline John as his companion Liz Shaw. The third Doctor seems to be adapting well to his exile on Earth as UNITS scientific advisor, although he is still upset by the way the Brigadier destroyed the Silurians underground base. Dashingly dressed in his frilly shirt, cape, Jon Petwee brought a real sense of action to the role of the Doctor, with the Time Lord adept in using martial arts and sharing the actor’s love of gadgets, motorbikes, and cars. The Ambassadors of Death offers the Doctor plenty of great action scenes, he also gets the chance to blast off in a rocket and venture back into space, as well as using his diplomatic skills to try and resolve the impending threat of Armageddon by ensuring the ambassadors safe return.

Caroline John also plays a significant role as Liz Shaw, helping the Doctor analyse the alien transmission, and later, after being involved in a car chase, she is captured fleeing across a bridge over a weir by armed thugs. Liz is taken to where the alien ambassadors are being held by Reegan (William Dysart), where she is forced to work with another scientist, Dr Lennox (Cyril Shaps), to help keep the aliens alive with radioactive isotopes. Liz also manages to escape but is quickly recaptured when she mistakenly gets into Dr Taltalian’s car. Dr Lennox also tries to get away and seek help from the Brigadier and UNIT, but while he waits in protective custody a radioactive isotope is delivered to his cell, killing him before he can reveal General Carrington’s plans.

Reggan is Carrington’s right hand man, ruthless and calculating; he carries out raids with the ambassadors to gather more isotopes, and later uses them to kill Sir James Quinlan (Dallas Cavell) the head of the Space Programme. He also tricks the treacherous double agent Bruno Taltalian (Robert Cawdron) into planting an explosive briefcase near the Doctor, but Reegan alters the timer, setting it to explode as soon as Taltalian arms it – killing Taltalian and wounding the Doctor.

General Carrington’s xenophobic stance towards the aliens becomes clear when we learn how the ex astronaut first encountered them during the Mars Probe 6 mission, where the aliens accidentally killed his fellow astronaut Jim Daniels. His elaborate scheme to trap the aliens and use the media – fronted by television reporter John Wakefield (Michael Wisher) – shows just how Carrington’s first contact with the aliens has damaged him psychologically. General Carrington ultimately comes across as a tragic figure, a man broken by his own warped convictions and misguided prejudice.

The scripts for The Ambassadors of Death are a little uneven in tone, probably because David Whitaker was just one of a number of writers involved with this story, with Malcolm Hulke and Trevor Ray also contributing but unaccredited for their work. Although Derrick Sherwin and Peter Bryant were only involved with the first part of Season Seven they were instrumental revamping the programmes format: they cast Jon Pertwee, exiled the Doctor to Earth where he joined UNIT, introduced Liz Shaw, and originated a series of sophisticated adventures set against the industrial landscape of the not too distant future. Although the format works well in concept, their incoming successor, Barry Letts, would eventually refine these themes, and with Terrance Dicks staying on as script editor, along with the great bond between cast and crew, would see the UNIT family becoming an intrinsic part of the third Doctor‘s era.

This story packs in a number of action packed set-pieces over the course of its seven episodes, with director Michael Ferguson making full uses of the HAVOC team to realize a brutal shootout in a disused warehouse, some daring chase sequences, and blowing a sizable hole the budget with the spectacular hijacking of Recovery 7 whilst UNIT is transporting it back to Space Control. The scope and scale of the stunt work involved in the hijacking sequence is more akin to something you might see in a Bond film: with the convoy coming under attack by a helicopter, which lands and deploys villains armed to the teeth with futuristic weaponry that easily overpower the Brigadier’s troops, taking out motorbike outriders whilst stealing the truck carrying Recovery 7. One brave UNIT troop even leaps at the helicopter while it hovers just above the ground, hanging on for dear life as he tries to get inside, before losing his grip and tumbling down a slope.

The aliens themselves are one of the most mysterious races the Doctor has ever encountered. We learn from Carrington that they came from another galaxy and were on Mars before manned space missions arrived at the red planet, but other than their dependence on radiation and their ability to kill with just a single touch we learn little about them. Encased in the humanoid space suit’s the ambassadors are quite sinister in appearance, a uncanny hissing sound crackles around them, and their space helmets are fogged up making it impossible to discern any features. We only get a brief glimpse at one of the ambassadors when it removes its helmet in front of Liz, who recoils in horror at the misshapen face beneath, and the Doctor’s close encounter with the alien spaceship leads to a short conversation with the alien Captain (Peter Noel Cook) on a screen that also obscures our view.

By using the aliens sparingly throughout the story, director Michael Ferguson manages to build up the tension, so when the space suited creatures do appear their misted up helmets and slow lumbering walk makes them seem even more menacing. When the Doctor finds Sir James Quinlan dead in his office he rushes over to the body, unwittingly turning his back on the astronaut hiding behind the door as it advances towards him, its deadly hand reaching towards him. This is just one of a few iconic scenes that feature the astronauts, but the one that sticks in the memory most is where another lone astronaut walks towards the entrance of Space Control – its body silhouetted in a gleaming halo of sunlight as it approaches the terrified guard.

The Ambassadors of Death may have been part of the first season of Doctor Who to be shown in colour, but it was some years before it would ever be seen again in all its glory. Sadly the BBC wiped the original colour version of Episodes 2-7 in the late 70‘s, leaving only the black and white filmed episodes in the archives. A partially re-colorized version of the story was released on BBC Video in 2002 that utilized some off-air colour NTSC videotape found in America, the end results saw 90 minutes of colour restored to the story, with the rest remaining in black and white. The Ambassadors of Death was released on DVD in 2012, with the latest techniques employed to finally restore colour to the entire story in a two disk set that was packed with extra features.

With its superb action scenes, excellent model work for Recovery 7 and Mars Probe 7, and intriguing plot The Ambassadors of Death is one of the best adventures from Season Seven. It shows just how versatile the new format of the show could be, making good use of UNIT and the earthbound setting,  to pave the way for even greater things to come.