Classic Who day by day

[Bones2]

Yeah, Jo Grant was the proto-Rose. It's awful to have her following Liz Shaw (one of my favourites). But then, pretty much everything about the Pert era was a big decline after season 7. The stories were rarely as good, and Perters himself phoned it in something awful for a lot of the time.

 

[OmahaStar]

Yeah, Jo Grant was the proto-Rose. It's awful to have her following Liz Shaw (one of my favourites).

Yeah, Useless is pretty much the anti-Liz Shaw. Where Liz was strong, confident and competent, Useless was none of these things. I know there's a lot of stories still to be released with her, and I'm not looking forward to them. I don't think there's been a story yet that I enjoyed, with her in it.



Next up, Underworld, the 96th Who story.

Underworld
Written by Bob Baker and Dave Martin
Directed by Norman Stewart

The Tardis, in flight, stops at the edge of the universe. The Doctor i terrifically excited, believing he's found a brand new system, the first being there. Yet, there is another ship and K9 keeps trying to warn him. The Doctor lands the Tardis inside the other ship.

The ship is run by the Minyons. 100,000 years ago, the Time Lords interfered with the Minyon society, causing it to go boom. This led to their Starfleet, er, non-interference policy.

The Doctor and Leela explore, finding the bridge crew. The crew is on some sort of quest. Oh, and even though they are not Time Lords, every one of them has regenerated at least a thousand times. The quest is to find a ship called the P7E. It might contain survivors from the Minyons.

They get a trace on the P7E, following it into a nebula. Something weird happens, asteroids get attached to the ship's hull and it expands its three-meter hull to 90 meters, and continues to expand.

They do some wibbly wobbly mumbo jumbo and suddenly all the stuff on the hull is gone. They locate the P7E at the center of a planet - or what looks like a planet.

P7E has lots of people, but they are treated as slaves. Some try to escape, but when it happens, they are hunted down and tortured.

The Doctor and Leela go off to investigate inside the planet, where they meet a slave named Edas. They are gassed. The travelers get Edas back to the ship, then the Doctor goes back in to the tunnels, using his scarf as a shield.

He tries to reverse the polarity - sorry - make the gas go away, but passes out.

It worked. The Doctor wakes up.

He, Edas, and Leela wonder through tunnels toward a citadel. They are captured. They escape somehow.

One of the ship's crew, Herrick, is captured and interrogated.

The Doctor and company break into the P7E. Herrick is set free. The crew of the original ship returns to their ship while the Doctor goes to the Oracle of Delphi - well, the P7E's oracle.

He pulls a Captain Kirk and talks it to death. Yes, again.

The Doctor and Leela grab a bunch of the slaves and bring them to the ship. Almost immediately, the planet goes boom. The ship heads off toward their proposed new home, Minyos 2.

* * *

A pretty simple, straight-forward tale without much padding. Plenty of humor, though for an episode by Baker and Martin, there's surprisingly little for K9 to do.

 

[OmahaStar]

The Stones of Blood
Written by David Fisher
Directed by Darrol Blake

The third piece has been located. It's on the Doctor's favorite planet - Earth.

They find a monument made of a circle of stones, where a professor named Amelia introduces herself. The Doctor is knocked out and kidnapped by a group of Druids.

Looking for him, Romana falls off a cliff.

Amelia rescues the Doctor, who then rescues Romana with K9's help.

K9 gets sick. The Doctor and Romana work to fix him up.

The Doctor and Amelia find a hideyhole in her house that leads to a giant storage room beneath the home.

Romana gets kidnapped. The doctor goes into hyperspace to rescue her.

Then the Doctor gets put on trial, but easily gets off, finding the third piece along the way.

* * *

I had such high hopes for this. It's a story about Stonehenge, for goodness sake. But the execution is completely paint-by-numbers. Someone gets kidnapped. The other person rescues the victim. Then that other person is kidnapped and person one rescues them, switch back and forth until five minutes before the story ends, and you've got a four-part Doctor Who story.

I was neither impressed by the writing or directing in this one. As for the directing, it was a point and shoot. It seriously felt as though the director did nothing but have somebody point the camera in the actors' general direction and then went to take a nap while the actors did their part. No control over the camera or location work whatsoever.

As for the writing, what little they did that wasn't improvised on the day of the shoot was simply terrible. Even for a "kids show" it wasn't up to par. Where was Terrance Dick with his ever-present rewriting, when you really needed him?

 

[OmahaStar]

The Androids of Tara
Written by David Fisher (oh, crap)
Directed by Michael Hayes

The Doctor plays chess with K9 while Romana nags him to find the next piece of the Key to Time. The Doctor tells her she can go find it while he goes fishing. She finds it in minutes, then is attacked by a big hairy beast. No, not Robin Williams. She's rescued by a "frightfully important" man, who takes the piece from her. Then he takes her to his castle. he is a count, and she dare not refuse on pain of death.

While fishing, the Doctor is taken by two men, who think he can fix an android.

Romana is restrained. The count thinks she is an android.

The Doctor fixes the android, a duplicate of the prince. He and the prince's men drink a toast - only they've been poisoned.

The count has kidnapped the prince. The Doctor calls K9 for help. Romana is taken to see the princess - an exact duplicate of Romana. Then she sees the prince.

A nurse studies the fourth Key portion, calling it "very odd."

At the prince's coronation, the count believes he will be offered the crown, since he has kidnapped the rightful heir - the prince. But since the Doctor fixed the prince's android duplicate, it sits on the throne.

The Doctor subtly turn the android's speech circuits on. It gives the correct speech. The princess - or Romana, or an android duplicate - gives a nice speech then the Doctor lunges at her.

Yep, it was the android. Later, there is another duplicate android of Romana. The count plans to use it to kill the Doctor, giving him power.

Romana escapes. Android Romana tries to kill the Doctor, but K9 does away with her. The count kills the android-King then runs off like the coward he is.

The mustache-twirling villain wanders around aimlessly threatening people.

The count forces a wedding between the King and Romana, and the Doctor interrupts. They have a hilarious sword fight, won by Romana and the princess working together. Just go with it, it works.

the King and his fiancee finally get together. The travelers depart with the fourth piece.

* * *

I was a little surprised there was no android of the Doctor. It would give Tom Baker the chance to play the full range of his manic personality. Then I realized he does that in every episode anyway, so what would be the point?

The script is a lot better than his previous one, Stones of Blood. At least this one was written down on paper. So. Good job there.

 

[Captain Pike]

Wahey! This thread is back!

ETA - BTW I think the first episode of The Space Museum is brilliant - in much the same way as I think the first episode of Edge of Destruction is brilliant - atmos. They both have it in spades.

From the outset, both stories establish a rich atmosphere of mystery, even dread, and it's thick enough to cut with a knife. Kind of like a good Twilight Zone - it sucks you in immediately and commands your attention.

It's a shame the rest of the story doesn't hold that attention, but oh well..

Oh and I never took it as their 'spirits' - it always just seemed to me that at the start of the story they were out of phase with everything else. Operating at a slightly different frequency or something. Kind of like the TOS story Blink of an Eye, except that observable speeds aren't at issue. It's all very quantum state sort of stuff when you think about it. And it's good to see a story dealing with the effects of time travel (or at least attempting to) in a scientific manner.

 

[OmahaStar]

The Power of Kroll
Written by Robert Holmes
Directed by Norman Stewart

The Doctor and Romana land on a moon in the Delta Magna system. It's a marsh world, and Romana complains that K9 is trapped in the Tardis. But the pair goes off, looking for the next part.

Romana is kidnapped. The Doctor goes looking for her, but gets captured himself. there are two groups on the moon. those who live on land (and have pink skin) and swamp men who originated there, and have green skin.

The swamp men worship something called the Kroll, their god, and they intend to sacrifice Romana to it. The Doctor liberates a boat and paddles over to the sacrifice area, just as Kroll rises from the water.

He rescues her, followed by 20 minutes of walking around.

Kroll attacks the refinery where the Earth men are, apparently eating many of them.

The Humans sit around debating how to kill the giant squid. the Doctor and Romana get tied up. Again. But easily escape. Again.

Kroll continues eating everything in sight.

The Doctor and Romana paddle away, returning to the Human's refining station. They go to stop the rocket by means of sabotage.

The swampies invade the station and kill the crazy captain. Kroll noms all the Humans and swampies he can.

The Doctor tests a theory and it's correct. Kroll was the fifth segment of the Key to Time. Taking the newly-shrunk piece, he and Romana take off to find the final segment.

* * *

Shaky cam. Really? And no wonder the swampies are all in such good shape, since they keep repeating the same exercise motions over and over again.

They didn't even try to alter the pattern here. Person A kidnapped. Person B goes to free them. Person A goes free. Person B kidnapped. Both kidnapped. Both escape. Rinse and repeat.

Only one more story to go from the only true Romana, and that's a shame. I wish she had stayed around.

 

[OmahaStar]

The Armageddon Factor
Written by Bob Baker and Dave Martin
Directed by Michael Hayes

The Doctor and Romana are looking for the finale piece of the Key to Time.

Atrios and Zeos are two planets which neighbor each other. They are at war, and neither side has any problems attacking non-military installations. Hospitals, for example. Schools as well.

The Marshall, a man in charge of Atrios' military structure, is a pompous schmuck. Among his people is a peaceful princess named Astra, who looks remarkably like the upcoming regenerated Romana. Don't worry. She can't act here, either.

The Doctor and Romana land on Atrios and are quickly captured, but only for a moment. They rush back to the Tardis only to find it is missing.

They meet up with another doctor, named Merak. Merak is searching for his girlfriend, Astra.

The bad guys find K9 and send him to the metal recycling center, along with other scrap metal.

The Doctor rescues him, of course. Then K9 starts coughing. wtf? He coughs? Since when can a robot cough?

They work with the Marshall, whose bipolar personality has shifted the other way. Now he's happy-go-lucky. Both of the Gallifreyans think the Marshall is a puppet - a literal puppet, whose strings are being pulled.

A message appears, supposedly from Astra, saying she has been kidnapped by Zeons and the planet must surrender. The Marshall instructs the Doctor to go rescue her.

But it appears it's a trap. The Doctor is taken by two figures dressed in the same costumes as the one who previously kidnapped Astra.

The Marshall looks into a mirror, and talks with a skull lurking inside it. It gives him instructions.

Romana, K9, and Merak return to where the Tardis was. K9's scans reveal it is missing, not just hidden.

The Doctor is restrained, talking to someone who calls himself the Shadow. This Shadow chap knows he's a Time Lord, and all about their quest to find the Key. The Shadow also has the Tardis.

This Shadow guy sure knows a lot about the Doctor, and seems to be rather old. He claims to be well over a thousand years old.

He interrogates Astra, revealing they aren't on either planet, but a third place.

Merak keeps looking for Astra. Romana finds him. Since he took the tracer, Romana takes it back. Together, they resume looking.

The Commandant (military dude in charge) of Zeos is a machine, which K9 has been communicating with. K9 takes the Doctor and Shepp - the Marshall's second-in-command - to see him/it. There, the Doctor and Romana reunite.

K9 and the Commandant communicate. (The set here looks like a re-use of the set from "Ark in Space" ... if so, great job, I love it.)

Shepp tries to kill the computer, who now has a name ... Mentalis. But a laser beam shoots out of the wall, forcing the gun out of his hand.

Mentalis has instructions to destroy everything now that it considers the war to be over.

The Marshall takes a ship and flies to Zeos, intent on finally destroying the planet.

The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to try to stop Mentalis's attack. Romana and the Doctor believe there may be a third, hidden planet - Shadow Dude' home.

The Doctor succeeds in forcing Mentalis to destroy itself using Captain Kirk Technology. He doesn't know that only miles away, the Marshall has already armed warheads which are on their way. The group runs for the Tardis.

Shepp and Merak go take a nap.

The Doctor and Romana go inside with K9. The Doctor fashions a fake replacement for the Sixth Piece. Since they already have the first five, they know what the sixth piece looks like, and how it would fit in with the others. It kind of allows him to temporarily freeze time. Everyone else is stuck in a three second loop.

The Doctor: "I've stopped the universe! Still, they'll never know."

Shadow Dude commands Astra (now under his command) to go to the Doctor and get the pieces.

K9 receives and answers a distress signal. He follows it into the transmat and disappears, landing on Shadow Dude's planet.

Astra finds Merak, who takes her to the Doctor.

Shadow Dude does something to K9. K9 now calls HIM "Master" ... Who the heck is this guy?

He telepathically tells Astra to bring Romana to him. Then he finally comes out to the Doctor - He is a servant of the Black Guardian, and is working for the BG in exactly the same way the Doctor is working for the White Guardian.

Romana is in the same prison which had earlier held the Doctor.

The Doctor meets another Time Lord named Drax. Drax went to school with the Doctor, and calls him Theta Sigma. Drax has been working for Shadow Dude under duress, and still is.

K9 finds the Doctor, and acts weird. He calls him "Doctor" not "Master" for example. Drax removes a control device from the tin dog, then the Doctor goes off to rescue Romana. Naturally, he's kidnapped.

The Doctor agrees to give Shadow Dude the five pieces in exchange for Romana's life. At the Tardis, Drax sneaks up and fires on him.

The Doctor disappears. Drax turns and fires on himself. It was a shrink ray.

Shepp and Merak wake up and return to Atrios, trying to contact the Marshall.

Shadow Dude goes to the Tardis. He can't go in, it's too bright. His servant fetches it though.

Romana figures it out - Astra is the Sixth Piece.

Astra reaches out to touch the Key, transforming herself into the Sixth Piece.

The Doctor rushes in with Drax, grab the Key and piece of Astrid and Romana, and they all go inside the Tardis.

They take out Mentalis, and all is right again.

The Doctor has a chat with the Black Guardian. He then scatters the pieces of the Key all over again. Then he installs a randomizer so the Black Guardian can't find him again.

* * *

Mary Tamm as Romana continues to impress here. I wish she had stayed on for at least another season. Lalla Ward just doesn't have "it" in comparison. It's honestly like watching a production by the Royal Shakespeare Company and then turning around to watch the same play by a kindergarten class.

The Doctor and Romana get along beautifully here, like friends who have known each other for years, and it is a pleasure to watch them together.

 

[OmahaStar]

Destiny of the Daleks
Written by Terry Nation
Directed by Ken Grieve

K9 has laryngitis. Seriously? Romana II comes out looking like Princess Astra. She has regenerated for some unknown reason.

Six's colorful umbrella is boldly positioned in the console room.

Romana goes through five potential regenerations in the span of three minutes. Since they only have 12 regenerations, this seems rather foolish. She quickly invents a costume that is a pink, girlish version of the Doctor's, complete with overlong scarf.

The randomizer sets the Tardis down on a planet of unknown name, but blessed with a rock quarry. The ground quakes beneath them as they scurry along.

Briefly, they discuss zombies while watching a funeral.

They explore, find an alien spacecraft landing, and get fired upon. A giant thingy falls on the Doctor, trapping him. Romana goes to find help as it's far too heavy to lift on her own. She returns, but he's gone.

She falls down a hole and passes out. A man ties a rope around his waste and follows her own.

The Doctor is on the spaceship. From the rescues, he finds out the planet is called Skaro, and for some reason he thinks that can't be a good thing.

Romana wakes up to find herself surrounded by Daleks. The man watches, hidden, as the Daleks take her away, where they interrogate her, learn nothing of value, and send her to be on a work force.

The man's name is Tyssan. He's human, was on a ship and was taken prisoner by the Daleks. He goes to the space ship for assistance.

Romana is suffering from extreme radiation. She pretends to die so she can escape later.

The Doctor and Romana meet at her gravesite. She's ok. They go exploring. He keeps saying he thinks he knows what the Daleks are after, but doesn't want to verbalize it. Naturally, when they discover a dust- and spiderweb-covered Davros, he isn't the least bit surprised.

The others look away and miss Davros stretching his hand and the blue eye lighting up.

The Doctor has a little chat with the resurrected Davros. The new actor is *terrible*. Was the casting director exceptionally high during the casting?

The Doctor pushes Davros down one hallway then another, avoiding th eDaleks. The aliens are called Movellans.

They find a room with a window looking outside. The Doctor orders Tyssan and Romana to climb through it and go to the Movellans' ship for help while he stays behind with Davros.

The Daleks find them in no time. The Doctor threatens Davros with an explosive evise and they back off.

Odd plot hole. During the interrogation in episode 2, Romana says she's never ehard of the Daleks, yet here she knows all about them and instantly recognizes Davros' picture in a wavy drawn form, among other knowledge she supposedly didn't have two minutes ago.

The Doctor strikes a deal with the Daleks. Freedom of all their human slaves in exchange for Davros. The Doctor leaves the room through the window, still bantering with the mad scientist.

Uh oh. The aliens are humanoid robots, and as usual, they are bent on destruction. But are they trying to destroy the Daleks or the Time Lord?

The Doctor finds Romana, passed out, in a large clear cylinder, with explosives and a timer counting down. The robots knock him out and take the two to their ship.

These Movellan robots have been fighting the Daleks for centuries, and neither side is close to winning. That's why the Daleks were trying so hard to find Davros. He's their ultimate weapon.

And the Movellans want the Doctor for exactly the same reason. It's funny, this centuries-long war has been by computer only, just simulations. Not one shot has been fired to date.

The Doctor goes back to taunt Davros. The Daleks have explosives tied to them and they are headed towards the ship, intending to blow it up. He tricks Davros into blowing them up early. Silly Davros.

The Doctor puts Davros into a cryogenic chamber, freezing him for a trial in the future.


* * *

Terry Nation can do a pretty good script when it's a four-parter. It isn't padded that much, and directly connects with the previous Dalek story.

Except, this David guy who plays Davros here is simply terrible. The makeup was shoddy (and I'm being kind). It's obvious all his lines were recorded later, as more than half the time his lips don't even move - including when he's screaming. Bring back Terry Malloy!

I cant' stand Lalla Ward here. Maybe it's because she's stepping into another actress's part, a far better actress, but she's just as terrible as David as Davros. Was she really the best they could get? I suppose for the 70s, someone thought she was pretty enough to look at, but she can't act her way out of a wet paper bag with directions, a blow torch, and a neon sign pointing the way.

 

[OmahaStar]

City of Death
Written by "David Agnew" (David Fisher, Douglas Adams, and Graham Williams writing together under a pseudonym)
Directed by Michael Hayes

A barren wasteland. The only thing we can see is a ship, piloted by a seaweed monster with one eye. The ship lifts off and disappears. We don't know it yet, but this is the beginning of life on Earth, sometime after the Racnoss created it.

Many years later later, the Doctor and Romana find themselves in Paris. he's dressed up in a schoolgirl outfit. They explore the city, having fun. During their lunch, there is some kind of time hiccup.

Elsewhere, a rich, sharply-dressed man employs a professor to conduct some sort of scientific experiments with time travel implications.

The same time hiccup happens to them while viewing the Mona Lisa at the Louvre.

The two Gallifreyans continue to explore the city, not realizing a man in a trench coat is following them. At least, Romana doesn't. The Doctor claims he's been watching the guy since they left the museum.

Trench coat guy pulls a gun on the Doctor, forcing the pair into a cafe. He's looking for an alien bracelet that the Doctor had found at the Louvre. So is another man who comes along with another gun and takes the bracelet away.

Scarlioni is the rich guy responsible for sending Replacement Gun Guys. He then sends more Gun Guys to capture the trio.

At the end, Scarlioni, aka the Count, takes his human mask off to reveal he's a seaweed monster with one eye.

His wife, the Countess, receives the trio. Trench coat guy gets a name - Duggan - and he's a detective.

The countess was the "lady" at the Louvre who had the bracelet.

The trio is taken to the cellar, right outside the laboratory. Romana takes a few pieces from the lab, hiding them. Whatever he's doing, it involves time travel and stealing - then copying - pieces of art.

There is a room hidden behind the cellar. the trio explores it. Inside are several "real" Mona Lisa paintings. They separate. Duggan goes to the Louvre to try and stop the heist. Romana goes off. The Doctor goes back in time to meet da Vinci. Wonder how he does that so precisely with the randomizer on?

The count is there, too. Long hair, different name, but clearly the same guy. And he instantly recognizes the Doctor. He's a member of a species called the Jagaroth, but they aren't cat like at all. Weird.

Romana and Duggan are at the Louvre when they discover two things. First, every alarm has been shut off. Second, the Mona Lisa has been stolen.

The Doctor escapes his latest capture with the cunning use of a camera. He also writes "This is a Fake!" on the back of each of the six copies of the Mona Lisa.

The Count has splinters of himself scattered through time. He's apparently working to save his race - his people died out 100 million years ago.

The art thievery is all to pay for the research into more time travel. The point of having six identical copies, all of which were done by da Vinci, is that there are seven buyers, each of whom who pay millions to own the Mona Lisa. And since they could never speak of owning a stolen piece of art, none would know about the others.

Count throws the professor into the time machine as Romana and Duggan watch, horrified. Yeah, they're captured again. There are twelve pieces of the count. We've met two. A third one is in ancient Egypt helping to build the pyramids. His name is Scaroth.

The countess confronts him. He uses her bracelet to kill her.

The alien uses his machine to go back in time, followed by the trio in the Tardis, then followed by a cameo by the one and only John Cleese!

Duggan punches Scaroth, preventing him from changing history. Scaroth returns to his home in Paris and is instantly killed.

The "original" Mona Lisa and five copies were destroyed. The remaining copy, with "This is a Fake!" written in felt tip underneath, is now hanging in the Louvre.

The pair leaves Duggan behind and go on to their next adventure.

* * *

First, was this the first time someone in Doctor Who referred to Earth as having a Level Five civilization? Ten used that phrase (a LOT), but I didn't remember it being used in the classic series.

Second, I think this story completely invalidates the Sarah Jane Adventures story "Mona Lisa's Revenge" ... In that story, there is only one Mona Lisa, and when the painting is brought near its "brother" (another painting made around the same time by another artist, using the same paint), it homed in on it and became all evil and stuff.

Thing is, the painting they reference is one of the six "fakes" since the original and five others were destroyed. But for centuries, this very painting was literally inches away from five others exactly like it. If that is all she wanted, to be near "her sibling" well she already had that. And they all had exactly the same paints used.

Edit to add - I almost forgot to include my favorite part of this. I watched this story while I was in the hospital. When you're recovering from surgery, or having any stay in the hospital, the only way you can sleep for more than one hour at a time is to be in a coma. Every hour, 24 hours a day, a nurse or doctor or aide or someone was in for one reason or another, whether it was to get vitals or draw blood or make sure I wasn't able to get more than 45 minutes of naptime.

There is a line in here from the professor that I had to rewind just to make sure I caught. It was perfect for my situation. "I would really like to get some sleep," he says in the first episode. The count dude dismisses it, and the nurses didn't understand why it was so funny. When you've been sleep deprived for five days, it really is fricken hilarious.

 

[OmahaStar]

The Horns of Nimon
Written by Anthony Read
Directed by Kenny McBain

Two men on a spaceship complain about their antiquated technology. One of them keeps talking about "Nimon" as a religious figure. The other talks about their cargo. He goes to check - they are people, and seem to be slaves.

On the Tardis, the Doctor is reading the Tardis manual. WTF is up with K9's voice? This must be from the season John Leeson wasn't doing his voice.

Something is wrong with the Tardis. It's heading right for the spaceship. They bump into it, then decide to explore and see what the ship is all about.

They meet the cargo. Apparently, they aren't slaves. They are sacrifices to this Nimon chap. There is some sort of contract the pilot must follow, which involves bringing the sacrifices to Nimon.

Hmmm ... Romana has made her own sonic screwdriver. Interesting. I don't recall that ever being mentioned in other stories.

The Doctor goes back to the Tardis. He and Romana have fixed the ship's engines and the Doctor plans to park the Tardis inside the ship. But, the Doctor and K9 are left behind. There are no shields and something is coming right for them.

The Nimon appears. It is a minotaur-like thingy with a funky voice.

The Tardis bounces off the asteroid and spins off into space.

A priest name Soldeed speaks with Nimon, who is a Grumpy Gus. He wants his sacrifices, and he better get them right now, dangit!

Romana talks with Seth and the other "cargo." She tries to encourage them to escape.

They arrive. Romana verbaly attacks Soldeed. He's slightly over the top, chewing the scenery. The co-pilot (the pilot took a nap and died) lies to Soldeed about Romana and the engines, so the priest sends him to the Nimon, followed by Romana and the other cargo.

The Doctor keeps trying to fix the Tardis. He finally lands on the planet with the Nimon and others.

Romana and the group finds a find a corpse, drained completely. They realize this is to be their fate and freak out.

The Doctor meets Soldeed and it goes ... not so well, actually. But he finds out that Romana is in the Nimon's complex.

He explores the complex, looking for his friend.

Romana and company find a giant store room filled with previous sacrifices in a deep freeze. The co-pilot finds them, then calls out to the Nimon who comes in. The Nimon kills the co-pilot then slowly walks toward Romana just as the Doctor enters and distracts it. The Doctor, Romana, and two of the humans escape bu the remaining five stay behind, too frightened to run. Each of them has some sort of device they are holding and they bring the things forward. It almost seems like that is what the Nimon wants, not their flesh.

The Doctor calls K9, who comes out firing.

The Doctor believes the Nimon is creating a black hole, which will destroy the planet.

Soldeed and one of his underlings discuss the Nimon. The underling is concerned about the contract. Solly says not to worry, he has the Nimon on a string and it obeys his every command. Yeah. That should end well for him, no?

The Nimon isn't the only one. He opens the door of a ship in the complex, and two others exit. He welcomes them to the home of the new Nimon race. The black hole will bring the other Nimons here. Soldeed goes down into the complex. The Doctor is working on a trap but Romana has disappeared. Soldeed starts firing, walking slowly while giving his best Norma Desmond impersonation.

Seth fires on Soldeed, knocking him out.

Romana is on the Nimon's planet with Nimons following her everywhere.

A man named Sezon saves her. He tells her the Nimons invaded his planet and now they are doing the same across the galaxy on Soldeed's world. Everything's the same, right down to the tributes and a priest working for them.

K9 finally wakes up and heads off to find the Doctor, who rescues Romana. One of the Nimons attack Seth. In retribution, K9 kills it.

Soldeed has a complete meltdown. Seth and K9 rescue the people in the fridge. Soldeed ha set a bomb. The whole complex is set to explode. But K9 leads them out and they all live happily ever after.

* * *

I have heard a lot about this story, and what I've heard is how much it sucked. Wonky sets, terrible acting, the worst villain ever. But you know what? I liked it. The Nimons are a unique take on the Minotaur legend. The labyrinth is given a Doctor Who feel, there is no padding, the actors (even the bit ones who don't have lines) were all perfectly cast.

It's no Tomb of the Cybermen, but it's pretty good, for a cheesefest.

 

[Captain Pike]

When I was in hosp recently recovering from my kidney op and I wanted sleep I would just max out on morphine... press that fucker until it flatlined.

Of course that only worked to a certain point - one of my reactions to prolonged morphine intake is uncontrollable itchyness. I nearly scratched half the skin off my back...

Oh and don't believe the hype about Nimon - it is in fact a great story.

 

[Starkers]

I think I like Destiny far more than most. It's possibly half nostalgia as it's one story I specifically remember watching as a kid, but I like the banged up bettle scarred Daleks, and lord help me I like the Movellans!!

As for Lalla, the woman is absolutely gorgeous, and her outfits are fabulous. Been a while since I saw any ep with Romana I in it but I don't recall liking her half as much.

 

[Captain Pike]

Tamm>Ward. I'm sorry, it's just a fact. A universal constant..

 

[OmahaStar]

Tamm>Ward. I'm sorry, it's just a fact. A universal constant..

Tis true.

The Leisure Hive
Written by David Fisher
Directed by Lovett Bickford

While on holiday, Romana kills K9. To cover up for the murder, she suggests they go to another hopping vacation hotspot, like Argolis. Argolis went through a massive catastrophe and is now mostly uninhabitable except inside the hotels/ships on the planet with big windows that let people see how nasty it is outside. The planet's rulers are doing experiments in time travel.

The Doctor's scarf is implicated in killing someone. As part of his sort of plea deal, he agrees to go inside their machine thingy, the time travel box, that will - if successful - take ten to twelve years off his age. Except since Romana was working on it, it doesn't work. Nope, he comes out looking like Santa.

The ancient looking Doctor wanders around aimlessly. Eventually, he removes the randomizer from the Tardis and hooks it up to the Argolis generator machine thingy. It de-ages him back to normal. Everyone is happy when they depart.

 

[OmahaStar]

Full Circle
Written by Andrew Smith
Directed by Peter Grimwade

The Doctor is summoned to Gallifrey. He's excited, mentioning Leela and the original K9. Romana freaks out. She was only on to help find the Key to Time. Now that it's done, she's being recalled, and she doesn't want to go. Luckily, they don't land on Gallifrey. No, they've found themselves in a pocket universe that they quickly call "E Space" (though not one single person in this "E Space" place ever once even thinks "Hey this is E Space, and you chaps come from N Space.").

IN a wooded area near a clear spring, youth fall into the water. A smaller group of youth try to steal food, but get chased away. Later, the group argue amongst themselves, mostly piling on to one in particular, a young genius named Adric. He wears a small star, a badge he earned for mathematical excellence. To appease them and try to fit in, he agrees to go steal some more food since they couldn't do it. Naturally, he's seen and runs away, chased by an authority figure named the "First Decider." There is some calamity headed their way, and the Decider wants everyone to join him in a large space ship where they will be safe.

The Decider falls into the water as Adric watches. Instead of taking a bath or swimming, he gets all dead and stuff. Adric runs and finds himself in the Tardis with the Doctor and Romana, who are still trying to figure out if they are Gallifrey.

With the disappearance of the Decider, another is given that title.

Back in the Taris, the Time Peeps decide "Hey, maybe we're in a pocket universe or something." The Doctor and K9 go to the water to investigate a bit, when the Creatures From the E-Space Lagoon begin to rise.

The two back away slowly.

Adric finds his friends, trying to warn them to get away because of a "Mist Fall" - the calamity warned about previously. He leads them back to the Tardis, which they take over.

K9 follows the creatures. The Doctor does his thing, wandering off aimlessly until he finds the ship. In he goes, followed by one of the creatures.

The other creatures have dragged the Tardis to a nest, hidden in a cave. Because who doesn't live in caves, really?

The creature in the ship, terrified, finds the Doctor and the people inside. The Doctor tries to tell them that it is more afraid of them than they are of it, but when does anybody listen to him?

One of the creatures beheads K9. then they get frightened (or so it seems) of spiders. Romana, outside the Tardis, gets attacked by a spider and quickly takes a nap.

An accident sends the youth - in the Tardis - into the spaceship. And by accident, I mean they don't have a clue what they're doing, but when does that stop anybody? Conveniently, it materializes right next to the Doctor.

He hops in with Adric and returns to the cave. Romana is awake, but acting like she doesn't know anyone. They go inside with K9's body - the head is missing.

The creature in the ship is telepathically linked with Romana. When an asshat scientist starts to dissect it, she feels its pain. The Doctor finds out about the live dissection, goes to the Deciders (the three leaders) and gives them what for in a way that would make the Tenth Doctor proud. He is furious, and no one better stand in his way.

Secrets of the planet are revealed, including that the ship could have left centuries ago, but no one knows how to pilot it.

Romana is gone. She's with the creatures. They, with heavy weapons, stalk about the ship, chasing people. One of them attacks the Doctor. That one happens to be using K9's head as an axe.

Romana comes along and attacks him too. The creatures chase the leader, killing people whenever they find them, including Adric's brother.

The Doctor cures Romana. More secrets are revealed, including that all the people and creatures came from the same genetic source, same with the spiders. And they've been on the planet a lot longer than anybody thought, something like four thousand generations have passed since the ship landed there. They're all family and must learn to get along. Oh, and the creatures are most likely the closest to what they used to look like. The human-looking people in the ship don't look anything like whatever they would have found on their home planet.

Back on the Tardis, the Doctor and Romana take off, not knowing Adric is on board.

* * *

So where did the spaceship go? Did they find another world? Did they ever return to their planet of origin? Did they ever make peace with their creature cousins?

 

[OmahaStar]

Oh, what to say about this one? ....

First, the recap/commentary ...

The travelers land on a planet. There are two areas of population, a tower and a small village. The leaders live in the tower, while their servants - and food supply - live in the village.

Many years ago, an expedition from Earth came through to E Space in a ship. It landed, and was turned into the tower. The three people who were aboard that ship still are. They were turned into vampires by the King of the Vampires.

Yes, there are vampires in Doctor Who. The real ones are huge, massive things. One alone could kill an entire planet in one day, and the only thing that works to kill them is to send a massive metal spear directly into their hearts. And since they are so big, a wooden stake is useless.

Well, the three aren't really full vampires. They rely on their sleeping King. It has been taking a nap for a thousand years, and it's just about ready to wake up. They're preparing by finding others who would be suitable to join them as a new family of vampires. They choose Adric, who says "I could live forever? Oh boy, sign me up!" while the Doctor and Romana are going "vampires? You're joking, right?"

Eventually, the Doctor reads a warning from Rassilon, left in all the Tardis ships that says "They're bad mothers, kill on sight even if you have to die in the process, they're that bad!"

The Doctor takes one of the shuttle thingies and programs it to act like a spear and rams it right into the heart of the big old waking up vampire and kills it. When that happens, his three "children" (the leaders, the ones from Earth) die too. The villagers are happy and the now-three travelers return to the Tardis.

* * *

I know. It's a campy story, even by Doctor Who standards. Trying to take it seriously is useless. It's a comedy. And Matthew Waterhouse, who plays Adric, is terrible in this. I know, I'm one of the few who liked the character, but in this, he was very much flawed, and it's entirely because of the actor. As with the upcoming Fifth Doctor's premiere, they filmed this and the previous story out of order, to give the new actor time to get settled into the role before his official first story.

It's good that they did. I can only imagine how terrible Full Circle would have been if Adric was as lousy there as he is here.

But it's an ok story, with a few more bits about old Rassilon thrown in for kicks.

 

[OmahaStar]

Warrior's Gate
Written by Steve Gallagher
Directed by Paul Joyce

In another area of E-Space, a group of humans are space-faring travelers. They use another species as slaves, chained up and forced to pilot their ships. These slaves are time sensitives, which means they can travel through space and time just like the Doctor and Romana.

Meanwhile, the two are arguing like they're Lalla and Matthew. The Doctor wants to get back to Gallifrey. Romana doesn't. One of the slaves, Biroc, gets into the Tardis and changes their coordinates. He leaves, with the Doctor following him. Romana and Adric stay behind. She is a raving bitch to him. (art imitating life?)

The Doctor follows Biroc into what appears to be a castle. There, one of the suits of armor comes to life and attacks.

Romana goes out to meet three of the men from the ship. After a few minutes talking with them, she wanders off to their ship, followed later by K9 and Adric.

The Doctor escapes. Romana the idiot is forced to be the new navigator. She couldn't have possibly seen this happening. It's not like Biroc warned her only minutes before. Oh, wait. Yes he did. While she's restrained, all the men leave the ship, heading towards the castle.

With K9's help - he shows up just when the script says the Doctor needs him - the Doctor finds out the place they are currently in is the gateway back to N Space. That's when the men from the ship enter.

Another slave, one of Biroc's people, awakens and climbs to the bridge where the tied-up Romana screams. While she continues to scream, he unties her. Adric wanders around in the white space between the ships and castle. The Doctor is with the travelers and Biroc.

Adric rescues Romana, but she quickly gets recaptured, then escapes again courtesy of her new furry friend.

She then finds the Doctor, who is skipping through timelines.

The whole space they are in is constricting. The travelers - who are actually slave traders - try to kidnap the Doctor and Romana, but Adric (yes, Adric) rescues them. The four, including K9, return to the Tardis.

After a few bits if Treknobabble, the Doctor and Romana leave to visit the other ship to do a bit of sabotage.

The captain orders all of the slaves woken up from their suspended animation.

After their sabotage, the Doctor and Romana escape with Biroc's assistance.

While the Doctor and Adric leave in the Tardis, Romana and K9 stay behind with Biroc and the other furries, never to be seen again. Bye bye, Fred.

* * *

It's convoluted, doesn't make a lick of sense, and at times is hilarious. Some of the worst acting Lalla Ward has done is on display here. And yet, it's still watchable. It's too bad they left K9 behind. I would have liked to see K9 and the Fifth Doctor interacting, but that's life.

I actually saw someone at Dragon*Con dressed up as Biroc this year. It's a completely random costume. While most were dressed up like either Two or Eleven (and those, mostly with Fezzes and mops), it was funny seeing a one-shot character like this.

Anyway ... We know Romana returns at some point, because she's made President of Gallifrey and interacts with several of the future Doctors. But that's in the audios. We never see her again in the series, except for previously-recorded material (specifically, the scene from Shada that's used in the Five Doctors special), flashbacks and still images.

Sometime shortly after this, the actors who played the Doctor and Romana had a brief marriage. Nothing snarky to say there, just had to throw it in there somewhere, and since we'll not see her again, may as well do it here.

So, why do you think Romana II was an utter failure, while Romana I was the better of the two? Or do you prefer this Romana?

And a quick note ... I'm done with full stories. Beginning with Keeper, the next story, I'll be back to doing one episode at a time.

 

[VDCNI]

I prefer Romana I but to be honest i've always thought Romana II was the more popular of the two in fandom.

The DWM poll they did recently put Ward at 9th in favourite companions - Tamm wasn't in the top 10. It seems to be the chemistry between Ward and Baker that pushes Ward to the front.

The actress is a right pain on the commentaries though!

 

[Starkers]

Well for me I just like Lalla, and haven't seen enough Tamm to comment as yet.

As for the E-Space Trilogy, it's an odd mix really. Having watched them all quite recently I have to say that Full Circle is probably my favourite. State of Decay should have been fantastic, but whilst some bits are really gothic and creepy, other bits just fall flat. As for Warrior's Gate, I admire it for being different, certainly a bit of a mindfrak at times.

What quite irks about the E-Space trilogy is...well what's the point? Aside from maybe the vampire King, all of these stories could have been told equally well in N-Space.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I love both Tamm and Ward but I think I give Ward the edge simply because there's more of her. Plus I love Ward's work with Big Finish wihle Tamm hasn't done as much.