The Dominators isn't as bad as I remembered it. I decided to watch it again for this review, as I hadn't seen it for ages. I remembered it being full of unconvincing performances, sets, and being over-long (even though it had been cut down by an episode before filming). How wrong I was, I actually enjoyed it! I don't know how, but I found the stuff about the nature of pacifism fascinating. Showing how a society could be a nice place with no weapons and stuff, but also how easy it would be to invade and dominate them. Maybe that's why the villains are named the Dominators?
Watching this reminded me of how good Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury were in their roles. I think their performances also helped me to enjoy the story. Not a bad start to the season. If you can't manage it in one sitting, try one episode a week. You might just manage it. (There, I managed to review The Dominators without mentioning how crap the Quarks are).
Next up is The Mind Robber, which is another good story. Part one is especially good. The stuff with the TARDIS breaking up and seeing unicorns is very surreal and makes Doctor Who unique. The concept of the land of fiction is quite clever. I liked the part when the Doctor and the Master (no relation) are both controlling events. Troughton's performance is great in this. Also I thought it was a brave and audacious move getting Hamish Wilson to play Jamie (because Hines had chicken pox, or something). He was all right in the role. Forget about the unconvincing aspects of the production, just revel in the ideas of the story. I have to say this is a classic example of the series at it's best.
Cybermen in the sewers, a new international alien-fighting army and a Britain that leads the way in technology. Which is the most unrealistic?
The Invasion introduced UNIT as a trial run for the Pertwee era, which works well, although the Doctor had worked with the military before in The War Machines and The Web of Fear, his relationship with them here is easier because they already know him. Nicholas Courtney acts like he was born for the role, making the Brigadier a very likeable character. The Doctor and his companions come across well. I must make special mention of Kevin Stoney as Tobias Vaughn. He is really creepy. Unsettling in the extreme, trying to be nice, but you just know that he has some ulterior motive. Also we are unsure if he is human and as we find out later, he isn't completely.
The Cybermen are put to good use, even though they don't appear much. I have always thought that the idea of the Cybermen was the best thing about them, and this story deals with their ideals. Actually, I think that those ideals are made manifest in Vaughn. The idea that things must be well ordered and the same. Making things logical will improve life. To further emphasise this point he had been made into a cyborg.
The bottom line: The story manages to keep the plot going for it's eight episodes. If you can, get hold of the soundtracks (or if you have the right contacts, the actual episodes) for the two missing episodes, rather than putting up with the inaccurate narrative links from Nick Courtney in the BBC video.
Despite being written by Robert Holmes, The Krotons lacks something. I can't really say what it is, but it is terribly slow. Obviously it's not that bad, because Terrance Dicks thought that he showed promise, so we have Dicks to thank for bringing in the man who later wrote classics like Caves of Androzani, Pyramids of Mars, Talons of Weng-Chiang, The Power of Kroll etc... Anyway, The Krotons isn't a bad start.
Is it me or do the Krotons look silly? One other thing, Zoe's PVC outfit is great.
The Seeds of Death, like most of this season, is slow moving. I suppose it's because I've watched it with less than a week in between episodes, as it was designed to be. But what the heck, I'm still saying it's too slow moving.
The Ice Warriors are put to good use in the story. Alan Bennion as the Ice Lord is good. Once again Troughton is great. Dudley Simpson's music is annoying, thank goodness he got off the piano for his seventies stuff! One question. Why do the characters costumes look like they've got Y-fronts on their jumpsuits?
What can I say about The Space Pirates? Not much actually, as I've only seen the surviving episode. So, here goes: Stupid American accents, excellent model work, not much happens. Fear not though, I've read the novel, so I can give a full review of the story: No stupid American accents, no model work, not much happens.
Ten episodes. One episode written a week, during filming! Introduce us to the Doctor's people and give them a name. What a combination! What am I talking about? I have no idea. So instead I'll tell you what I think of The War Games.
I like the idea of the multiple time-zones stuff, as history is a favourite subject of mine. And then when we find out that they're not in history, the story really begins to get interesting, leading to the point where, for the first time, the Doctor is faced with a problem too big for him to deal with. I wonder how viewers reacted to this at the time?
It's impossible to reconcile this version of the Time Lords with those seen in The Deadly Assassin and onwards. However, I still like the atmosphere of mystery created by their appearance. One of the best parts of the story is the cliffhanger for part nine. The slow motion and the really heavy organ music work very effectively creating the impression of something with immense power. It also gives us no clues as to what they're like. Excellent stuff.
Then we have the Doctor's trial, where he presents evidence of the evil that he's fought against, like the Daleks, the Cybermen, Ice Warriors and the terrifying and dreadful Quarks. Still, it's a good scene. (How does The Two Doctors fit into this? Discuss).
The way that Jamie and Zoe are written out is quite good. Better than marrying them off or having them become leaders somewhere. A nice big dramatic ending to the season, and the second Doctor. And then there was colour...
