Season 21- Frontios

 Studio bound, dialogue heavy with a bold concept and lashings of incidental music `Frontios` is very much like season eighteen in style, not surprising since it’s penned by that season’s script editor Christopher H Bidmead. It does make you wish he’d done a second season as whatever shortcomings the production has, its intent is steelier, more sci-fi and definitely serious. He writes the main trio so well and the actors each rise to the occasion while the story incorporates some interesting ideas. He did later admit some of these were poached from Nigel Kneale but that you should “steal from the best”. If the results are like this, then why not? Doctor Who had some of its greatest successes with stories filched from outside sources and remade in the series’ style.

Season 21- Warriors of the Deep

 

I once found myself chatting with Pennant Roberts back stage at an event and when the conversation switched to `Warriors of the Deep` I pondered why he’d not decided to spruce up the atmosphere by having everything doused in emergency red lighting, like that on a submarine. Was it, perhaps, something technicians would not agree with, was it too expensive or was it because it was felt viewers would find the results too murky? As it turned out, it was none of these things. He agreed it would have definitely added something to what is a somewhat over lit production but admitted that, simply, nobody had time to think about it. This was a hint of what we now know was a troubled production that had two weeks’ time taken from its schedule. By those criteria it’s a miracle anything much turned up on screen. Even when things were proceeding as normal there were crazy deadlines and limited scope which was Doctor Who’s biggest enemy whatever the era.

The Sea Devils 2025 Mix

 Classic Doctor Who has reached that point where it’s been through so many different formats from the original broadcasts through releases on video, DVD, Blu ray and streaming, individually and in collections. The stories have been novelised, analysed and enjoyed multiple times.  Many have had updated effects and re-edits applied, others have had AI additions made by fans. So you could argue that the only option left is to allow a new generation to tinker with them enabling them to be more relatable for the TikTok generation for whom even ninety minutes is a very long time.

Season 13 Collection- new extras reviewed

 As the previous individual dvd releases for this season were fairly comprehensively packed with additional features- most included here- there’s not quite as much brand new material in this Collection as there have been in others. Of course, the sheer quality of the actual stories is enough in itself yet somehow the team has found some interesting new documentaries to present as well as cleaning up the episodes with AI. The method used has sparked some controversy with some people saying it has caused a loss of detail and some odd looking moments. I believe that, just like when there are new special effects options available, the original episode as it was should still be an option. Apparently, this was thought to be something people would not be interested in yet the large number of social media posts on the subject suggests otherwise. To be honest I didn’t notice that much on my nearly three year old tv, but some of the stills posted online suggest peoples faces are the most affected with them ending up looking too smooth and unnatural.

 

Season 13: The Seeds of Doom

 

It’s been said that atypical Doctor Who often works best – and unconventional stories such as `Caves of Androzani` or `Blink` often appear to poll highly - but `Seeds of Doom` might seem to be an example where the reverse is true. It shows what the series can do well and what its strengths are. It’s a variation of a story that’s been told often in the show yet something special comes together to make it a prize specimen. No doubt a modern take on this story would highlight the ecological issues and perhaps even delve into Harrison Chase’s undoubtedly colourful past but such depth is not needed for what remains at its heart an adventure yarn with a threat our confined heroes have a limited time to sort out. 

 

Christopher Bidmead

 

Christopher Bidmead, who has died, was the first of producer John Nathan Turner’s trio of script editors each of whom ushered in quite different approaches to Doctor Who. Bidmead was the chosen enabler of JNT’s intent on making the series more serious and drawn from real science as opposed to the boggle eyed, humorous iteration that Graham Williams and Douglas Adams had delivered the previous season. From a forty five year distance, Bidmead’s ideas and commissions were not that far removed and no less ambitious that those of Douglas Adams; it is just the way they were played was tonally different. 

Season 13: The Brain of Morbius

 

`Brain of Morbius` should not work. Studio bound yet including such locations as a cliff edge and the exterior of a stormy planet and populated by characters whose larger-than-life personas fill up the screen it would surely be a mess? Yet it’s like a glorious, bonkers stage play that should really have transferred to the West End and run for years. It has that melodramatic edge to it which is what happens when you get a cast that is willing to hurl themselves into something as mad as this. In any other season this would be the pinnacle, here it has to make do with sharing the acclaim with others. Whatever the disagreements about the script that led to the credited `Bland` pseudonym this is a story that proves that classic Doctor Who is always more about the story than it is about the effects.

 

Season 13: The Android Invasion

 

It’s a shame that this story is destined to sit forever at the foot of any poll you might run for this season yet there is a lot about `The Android Invasion` I really like. Not only does it include some iconic imagery- the finger pointing space helmeted androids and the fake Sarah’s face falling off- but it also has the Doctor in a pub! Its opening half is atmospheric and full of mystery like an extreme episode of The Avengers.  It may be the weakest story of the season (and I’ll readily agree to that) but that’s some standard because this is my favourite season of Doctor Who ever.

 

Season Two@60 The Time Meddler

 

Considering some of the talent involved on both sides of the camera (Dennis Spooner, Douglas Camfield, Peter Butterworth, Alethea Charlton) it’s somewhat disappointing that this story fails to catch light. The idea of someone from the Doctor’s own planet interfering in history, actions in opposition to the principles that the Doctor holds dear, is certainly an interesting one and would be even more so to viewers in 1965.

 

Blackpool Remembered book review

 

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.

Season Two@60 The Chase

 

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.

 

Season Two@60 The Space Museum

 

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. 

Season Two@60 The Crusade

 

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.

 

Doctor In Distress

 In March 1985 Doctor Who was paused. As the previous post makes clear this was initially intended as a cancellation but because the BBC has never been the most robust decision maker and also due to a tabloid led outcry (partly orchestrated secretly by the series' production office) the halt became a hiatus. Doctor Who would be back, said Bill Cotton, the King of the BBC, but not for eighteen months. We may smile now that this gap caused such consternation; in 2025 two years is the average gap between seasons of many major fantasy shows. In 1985 however, at least as far as fans were concerned, it was simply too long to wait and they wanted to do something about it.

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.

Season 7 Collection: Extras

 

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.