This is a fantastic book for those of us with fond
memories of getting as close to travelling in the Tardis as we could at Blackpool’s Golden Mile each
summer. I’ve already done several posts on here a while back with my memories
of the Blackpool exhibition and its good to see more people sharing memories
and photos of the place. This book was originally online but for the generation
that remembers Blackpool, a physical memento is something extra special.
A
fill in story apparently only roughly drafted by Terry Nation and then
developed by Dennis Spooner, `The Chase` struggles to match the drama of it’s
title. It never seems much like a chase as the Daleks pursue the Tardis to
several locations, gaining ground as the Doctor has to stop for a period in
each place. What could be thrilling is hidebound by the budgetary restrictions
and a script that seems far too ambitious to be properly realised. Nonetheless
it has interesting elements, lively performances and some good effects.
I’m at a loss as to why `The Space Museum` always fares so badly in various polls over the years where it has even ended up at the very foot of the table. Just off the top of my head I can think of at least thirty stories its better than. The first episode alone is surely one of the finest Sixties episodes of all. All of the aspects singled out by some reviewers are actually no worse (and sometimes better) than in many other stories. Most are the production shortcomings which fans of classic Doctor Who are surely used to by now.
The
early years of Doctor Who did seem to like wholly historical stories
which in theory were easier to produce than sci-fi ones. While there would be
no issue with the Tardis landing amongst ordinary or fictional people, constant
encounters with well-known historical figures creates limitations on the
storylines. The BBC’s educational remit could be tested by depictions of the
likes of Marco Polo or Nero interacting with the Doctor while not all stories
are as strict about the effect the travellers have on history as `The Aztecs`
is. Its probably why the wholly historical adventures were replaced by pseudo
historical ones mixing supposedly real history with some alien antagonist.
Though generally intelligently written and made `The Crusade` harbours these
issues. All the way through you do get a sense that the production would be
more interesting without the Doctor and his companions in it at all. It sits at
the point where adherence to facts crashes into the need for some drama.
Thus a plan was hatched to make a high profile song to highlight an issue which, as far the wider public was concerned, had already been sorted. The people to whom this task fell were Ian Levine and Fiachra Tench. Levine had a track record as a DJ and producer of HI NRG records that were popular in clubs and were also starting to infiltrate the charts. As the name suggests HI NRG music is supposed to be powerful, up tempo and pulsing with intense vocals. Ian Levine’s own superb production of the song `High Energy` by Evelyn Thomas the previous year is a textbox example of the musical genre. `Doctor In Distress` is not.
The Collection season seven doesn’t have as many new extras as others only because the DVDs of individual stories were replete with additional features. Even the usual shelf space saving isn’t possible as the width of the box is more or less the same as that of the four individual dvds together but there should always be ample room for one of the cornerstone seasons of Doctor Who. It’s no exaggeration to say that season seven saved the series at a moment when its future was in doubt. Yet it’s also a unique quartet of stories as season 8 onwards boiled the show down to primary colours so remains an outlier in the series’ style.
I reviewed these four stories in detail on this blog five years ago, to read those reviews go to January- May 2020 posts in the Archive.
Forty years ago, Doctor Who faced an existential threat that could take if off air forever. Or at least eighteen months. Yet thanks to a loose coalition secretly driven by the production office, the series lived on for another three years. This is the story of those tumultuous few weeks in 1985 when the Tardis doors could have been shut for good and what happened afterwards...
On Wednesday 27 February 1985 London's daily newspaper 'The Evening Standard' received a phone call from a never identified source at Thames Television repeating a rumour they'd heard to the effect that Doctor Who was being taken off the air "for at least 18 months". This was not a new rumour. Producer John Nathan Turner had already heard it himself the previous week from both lan Levine (his unofficial script consultant) and Robert Holmes (who'd been commissioned to pen a third Auton story) but he had, publicly at least, dismissed the idea. It's almost certain that the stories originated from one of many fans who were employed at the BBC and it was wishful thinking on the producer's part to ignore the signs of a television programme in crisis; signs that had been apparent for two months.
Episode 1 of 'Attack of the Cybermen' had garnered impressive ratings of nine million but they had dropped to seven million for the second part. By 'Mark of the Rani' part 1 they'd dropped alarmingly to around six and a quarter million; a fall of almost a third. This had been noticed by the press who were on alert for a cancellation/crisis angle, a situation heightened by rising complaints about the level of graphic violence in the season which had been voiced publicly in the 'Radio Times' and on Points of View. The casual viewer seemed to be turning off as the season progressed, frustrated by increasingly un linear storylines that baffled many, as did an increasing reliance on old motifs and continuity by the barrel load. In place of spectacle and dark corners came nasty violence epitomised by an unsympathetic Doctor whom kids simply did not like. At the same time the BBC was looking to re-route budgets to enable the launch of breakfast television and the expansion of daytime programming. Some senior figures saw this as a chance / excuse to axe their least favourite sci-fi adventure. So when the ratings for season 22 took such a dramatic tumble Doctor Who was already vulnerable.
Long
before I saw this story I read the Target novel upon which it is based, `Doctor
Who and the Zarbi`. That book’s strange Chris Achellios cover and descriptive Bill
Strutton prose conjured up a totally alien world for young me. For ages I
imagined that the televised episodes were as elegant and bizarre and
imaginative as that book. So inevitably when I eventually saw it on a grainy
video it was hugely disappointing. I wanted those descriptions; I wanted it to
look like that book cover and it just didn’t. So, I sort of left it to one
side.
Opinions
I’ve heard about this story range from it being the best Sixties story to being
throwaway nonsense. Its neither of these things yet certainly drifts closer to
the former. I think I’d only seen it once before, probably on some grainy
videotape in the days when Sixties stories were passed around fandom like rare
commodities. All I could remember was a hectic farce which it is but maybe I
appreciate that more now plus finding out it was intended to embody those
attributes makes it easier to enjoy. Like a lot of seldom seen Doctor
Who stories it pays to re-watch and discover just what makes it tick.
Though ostensibly made to introduce a new companion, `The Rescue` is an interesting story whose brevity means that the usual meandering that fills many a Sixties episode is absent. Instead, David Whitaker’s script is tight (even if it contains some unlikely contrivances) and on a handful of sets plays quite theatrically in a good way with some excellent direction courtesy of Christopher Barry. Visually and narratively it is reminiscent of one of those pulp sci-fi stories from the 1930s especially with its twist of the alien monster not being an alien at all. It does have a few flaws but I would rate it as one of the top first Doctor tales.
Season opener is a glimpse of ambitious things to come.
Where it not for Susan leaving at the end of `Dalek Invasion of Earth`, that epic would surely have opened season two rather than this slight tale. `Planet of Giants` has a reputation for being quite dull though the decision to reduce it from an intended four episodes to three does move it along a bit. It is an unusual story though in that the TARDIS crew’s presence is never detected by the guest characters and though the Doctor and co do affect the outcome, they rely on guesswork to figure out the gist of what is going on.
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The idea of taking a
vintage monochrome programme, colourising it and editing it down to less than
half its original length is unusual. How many other series has this been done to?
As someone who has really enjoyed the additional effects on some of the
Seventies stories I’m glad that it is being done. Those who complain about it
can be assured that the original versions are still there and still the
official ones. This is a more fun way of watching old Doctor Who that
may also help its appeal to younger audiences. It is art in a contemporary way,
no less so than sampling or cover versions. So you can either enjoy them or ignore
them.
Its sixty years since the second season of Doctor Who was first broadcast so I thought I’d take a look at these stories courtesy of the Collection box set, recently re-issued in standard packaging. To begin with, a story that brings back the Daleks at the height of Dalekmania and waves goodbye to a companion for the first time ever…
I originally knew of this story when it was called `World’s End` back in the days when the `official` titles of many First Doctor stories were actually those of the opening episode. Certainly most viewers in 1964 would not know the overall name with which we are now familiar so would have no idea till the end of part one that the Daleks were returning (unless the excitable press gave it away- these days there would be location shots on TikTok) and the suspense is well built. What I’ve noticed about these Sixties stories is how grounded they are from the travellers' perspective. So, each predicament or puzzle is debated initially in the context of something every day- it could be this, it could be that- until those options are discounted slowly to unpeel the real problem. The modern series rarely does that preferring to leap to the Doctor explaining something that he already knows.
This is a curious story
with two facets. On the one hand, it is a very clever sort of story of the type
that increasingly became the norm during the original series’ closing couple of
seasons. Elliptical happenings, unorthodox visuals, symbolism aplenty and a sense that we’re a long way from
standard invasion of Earth stories. Yet
there appears to be something darker here as well, about entertainment, fandom
and most of all depression. The events may present in bright colours and vivid
locations but, rather like a circus, it’s just face paint.
I’ve never rated this
story very highly, so though this is the second time I’ve owned it that is
only because it was packaged with other content. Last time it came out with
`Revenge of the Cybermen` , now with the Collection you get the entire season
whether you like it all or not! The fact that there seem to be more different
editions of this story than any other suggests the original needed more work. I
wondered if time would be kind to this peculiar adventure and I have to say its
not quite as bad as I recall. The latest Special Edition is an improvement
simply in that it makes the narrative more coherent though nothing can hide the
fact that this is quite similar to the plot of `Remembrance of the Daleks` and
that many of the developments seem unnecessary.
