The Season 25 Collection- The Greatest Show in the Galaxy

 

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.

 

The Season 25 Collection- Silver Nemesis

 

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.

 

The Season 25 Collection- The Happiness Patrol

 

Its curious how time can alter one’s opinion of things. For example, if you’d asked me twenty years ago to compare the opening two stories of season 25 I would have placed `The Happiness Patrol` above `Remembrance of the Daleks`. Now, I would reverse that ranking after recent watches. `Remembrance` has not only stood the test of time but seems stronger now. On the other hand, there’s something odd about `Happiness Patrol`, something suggesting that not everyone is on the same page.  In isolation each element of the story is interesting; the stage flats providing an atmospheric backdrop, the idea of not being happy a crime, a creature made of confection yet subject to mood swings, people living in the pipework underground, the idea of the blues as a salve for life’s problems and a revolution taking place over night. Yet put all these together and they don’t quite gel. That’s not to say this isn’t a good story, it is very good, it’s just that the visuals sometimes get in the way of what the story is trying to say. 

The Season 25 Collection - Remembrance of the Daleks

 

The popular conception of Doctor Who in the second half of the Eighties is of a series in terminal decline yet the material in this latest Collection set contradicts that notion in quite a significant way. In fact, the last three seasons of what has become known as Classic Doctor Who show a new creative energy invigorating the series and it was outside problems rather than artistic ones that would lead to the cancellation. Had Doctor Who enjoyed more support from BBC management and been scheduled properly this story could be looked back on nowadays as the starting point of a successful comeback. This box set offers different versions of each story so I thought I’d look at the newest version of each plus also some highlights from the extras.

Dragonfire Episode 2

Season24@30. People often refer to episode 1’s notorious cliffhanger but rarely the way its resolved which must surely rank as one of the most awkward. Somehow Glitz gets down to a ledge that was not there previously when we saw the Doctor’s feet dangling above a precipice. If Glitz managed to do that, why didn’t the Doctor use the easier route? Then the Doctor has to clamber down his mate in the most ungainly fashion. Combined with the clearly plastic `ice` that surrounds them it’s hard to imagine that even back in 1987 anyone was impressed. 

Dragonfire Episode 1

Season24@30. Its very easy with thirty years hindsight to be picky about old Doctor Who but you do wonder exactly why this episode already has a great cliffhanger yet chooses to follow it with an incomprehensible one. Was this not obvious back then? Ace and Mel’s shadowy encounter with the monster is classic Who stuff and would have made for a perfect conclusion to matters. Instead the image of the Doctor dangling from his umbrella is left in the minds of the public for a week. These two opposing scenarios do sum up the episode rather well though. While there are a lot of interesting ideas drawing on all fantasy genres the staging is not the best and after the gusto of `Delta and the Bannermen` this seems like a step backwards though at the time longer term fans preferred it; I should know, I was one of them!

Good Times! #11 Nebula 91

Photo Special! Snaps from the acclaimed  September 1991 convention held in Liverpool and featuring Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Anthony Ainley, John Nathan-Turner, Mary Tamm, Frazer Hines, Nick Courtney, David Banks and even a couple of people from Blake's 7! 

Good Times! #9 Nebula 90

Nebula 90 Photo Special- event held at Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool 1990 featuring Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant, Sophie Aldred, Nick Courtney, Debbie Watling, Sharon Duce, Ian Briggs, Frank Windsor, Michael Cochrane.

Good Times! #8 PanoptiCon 8 1987 and Nebula 26 1989

PanoptiCon 8 Event highlights

Saturday:

MC- David Banks
`The Faceless Ones` episode 3
Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Tony Selby – Colin showing off his new slimline figure while Nicola in an answer to a bold question from the audience revealed she was married. Tony made a point of saying how hard JNT had worked to keep the show going.
Sophie Aldred- Introduced as if she were a competition winner, this was her debut convention appearance and she seemed a bit overawed by it. There was also an on screen message from the unavailable Sylvester McCoy.
Barry Letts, Terrance Dicks, Don Houghton and Bob Baker.