Classic Who day by day

[OmahaStar]

The Sea Devils, episode 2

Hmm. Ok, the monster is now just a guy, and he's a raving loony. The Doctor goes to create a microphone to call for help, and meets one of the Sea Devils. He runs back to the room with Jo and the man - who is now sleeping.

The Doctor manages to get a message out and they are quickly rescued by a regenerating helicopter.

The Master escapes his prison (well, he walks right out the front door), pretending to be a Naval officer.

The Doctor and Jo see the Master off the island. They go back to the prison island to be certain. He's there and the two Time Lords engage in a bit of (literal) fencing. And why not? It's manly.

* * *

This Master fellow sure is a tricky/sneaky little fellow.

So far, the writing's good, and I didn't want to impale Jo once during the episode. For that character, that's a huge thing!

 

[The Nth Doctor]

She has her moments certainly. The best Jo stories are the ones where I don't have the complete urge to strangle her.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

She has her moments certainly. The best Jo stories are the ones where I don't have the complete urge to strangle her.

To be fair, the fact that Jo was paired with the constantly patronizing and moralizing third Doctor didn't help.

 

[OmahaStar]

The Sea Devils, episode 3

The warden (Trenchard?) stops the fight.

The Doctor is taken prisoner as Jo wanders around aimlessly outside. She finds him and helps him escape.

Together, they make it to the beach before being surrounded by humans under the Master's hypnotic control .. just in time for the Sea Devils to rise out of the water.

* * *

So much padding, so little content. I mean, really? That's all they could come up with? It's like the director on this episode told the actress "Just walk around and be as uninteresting as you can be," then put every second of that footage into the episode.

 

[DWF]

Oh yeah, Jabba The Hutt was in part 2.

 

[Kelso]

Is this the one where Jo was at the window? I loved that scene.

 

[OmahaStar]

Is this the one where Jo was at the window? I loved that scene.

Maybe. I think there are a couple episodes where she wanders around aimlessly and looks through windows. It's already happened twice, and I think I remember the last episode doing nothing but that.



The Sea Devils 4

While the others are distracted by the Sea Devils, the Doctor and Jo make their escape - through a minefield. And I finally have seen where that image of the Third Doctor and his sonic screwdriver is from - this scene.

The Doctor tries to warn everyone he sees about the "monsters" but people just laugh in his face.

Until they attack the prison, killing people with advanced guns. Then the Navy assists him.

With their help, he travels to the bottom of the sea in a capsule attached to one of their boats. On the bottom, he looks out to find a pair of eyes staring back at him. The boat's captain orders the capsule brought back immediately. And it is, but with no sign of the Doctor inside.

* * *

They HAD to have had assistance from the UK Navy. there's no way they could have afforded this otherwise, and it did look great.

Except, this episode is little more than a passable rewrite of The Silurians ... And again, no one is believing the Doctor. Come on, is that really the best they can do?

 

[OmahaStar]

The Sea Devils, episode 5

Yep, the capsule thingy is empty.

The Doctor and the Sea Devils talk. Argue, more like it. The Doctor seems to confuse them with the Silurians, even referring to events from that story as though the Sea Devils were there. The lead SD says there are thousands of his people in hibernation at this base, and they have many bases all over the planet.

The Doctor offers to negotiate peace between them and the humans. Too bad the Master enters at just that moment.

He successfully convinces them to do it. Then there's an accident and the Master convinces them to go on the attack.

The Doctor returns to the surface to speak with Jo and the gang. Elsewhere, a group of SDs emerge from the water and begin attacking on land.

* * *

Seriously? It's little more than a rewrite of the Silurians, just adding the Master, and not including clips from that previous story.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Except, this episode is little more than a passable rewrite of The Silurians ... And again, no one is believing the Doctor. Come on, is that really the best they can do?

It's basically the same story, but "Silurians" was a morality tale, while "Sea Devils" was an action/adventure story.

 

[DWF]

I loved the swordfight at the end of ep. two.

 

[OmahaStar]

The Sea Devils, episode 6

The SD, with the Master's help, round up all the people they can find, holding them as hostages.

The Doctor creates a noisy device that impacts the SDs - they're all helpless. The humans take this opportunity to go around saying Bang Bang!

Lots and lots and lots of running around, firing on each other.

Power overload, big boom, Time Lords escape, the end.

* * *

I cannot describe just how bored I was during this episode. It was one minute of content and 23 minutes of filler.

Just like a previous episode of this story, well over half of this episode was just following people wandering around aimlessly. This whole story seems like a four episode rewrite of The Silurians, expanded to six episodes with no additional content. The writing is awful, saved only by the actors trying desperately not to fail. This will not be a story I'd revisit in the future.

Because I'll be on a trip next week, that's it for awhile. I'll be back a week from Monday with the first episode of The Three Doctors.

 

[OmahaStar]

The Three Doctors, episode 1, originally aired 30 Dec 1972
Written by Bob Baker & Dave Martin
Directed by Lennie Mayne

A man named Hollis studies a downed weather balloon and then disappears, causing birds to go nuts. Dr. Tyler is investigating the balloon for UNIT and is on his way to meet the man, but cannot find him.

Tyler reports in at UNIT HQ. The second he's left alone, lightning flashes and he disappears as well.

The Doctor and Jo pull into HQ in Bessie. The lightning flashes again just after they get out and Bessie disappears.

Outside, monsters appear, springing out all over the place. Soldiers fire at them, doing no good.

Inside, the lighting blob comes after the Doctor. He, Jo, and Benton rush inside the Tardis. There, he calls the Time Lords for help.

They are under siege and cannot directly help the Doctor. But what they can do is send help in the form of his earlier selves. That's when Two shows up in the Tardis.

They immediately start bickering.

The Brig and a soldier appear outside the Tardis lab and fire at the lightning blob.

One appears on the screen and chews Three and Two out for fighting.

Three turns off the shields and steps outside the Tardis. He tells Miss Useless to stay inside. She follows him anyway, just in time for the blob to get them both.

* * *

1 - The first three Doctors together at last. The story is really secondary. The big thing is the teaming up of these three Doctors. It's huge!

2 - I love Benton's line: "You men, follow me around back." With the actor's reputation, that's hilarious. It's also funny how he's grooving on seeing Two.

3 - The Time Lords are very specific. They refer to One as the very first, original Doctor. That should put to rest that stupid theory from Terrance Dicks about Doctors before Hartnell.
​

 

[DWF]

Terrance Dicks was the script editor in those days and had to rewrite much of the script inclduing Hartnell's scenes.

 

[Phillip Culley]

2 - I love Benton's line: "You men, follow me around back." With the actor's reputation, that's hilarious. It's also funny how he's grooving on seeing Two.

Are you sure you're not confusing Benton and Yates?

The only reputation I know of John Levene (Benton) is that now he's moved to the US he seems to think of himself as being so much better than everyone else.

It's Richard Franklin (Yates) who seems to have the seedier reputation, based on what I've heard of what he's done at conventions...

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

That should put to rest that stupid theory from Terrance Dicks about Doctors before Hartnell.

It's not a stupid theory, it's just a funny little fictional escapade.

 

[OmahaStar]

The Three Doctors 2

Two and Benton go out to investigate. They meet the Brig, who flips out at Two's "new" appearance.

Three and Jo explore the other world, finding the things that had disappeared from Earth, including Bessie and Dr. Tyler.

As Two, the Brig, and Benton natter about, Three, Jo, and Tyler find Omega's palace.

On advice from One, the Second Doctor lowers the shields. The lighting blob attacks, and all of UNIT HQ vanishes.

* * *

The Brig is hilarious here. His reaction to the various Doctors works so well. It reminds me of the later special The Five Doctors, and his goodbye to the group.

There is so much padding here, and most of it seems designed to keep the two Doctors apart. But that's ok, there's plenty more to come.

 

[OmahaStar]

The Three Doctors, episode 3

Three comes face to ... well, mask .. with Omega. His creatures take Tyler and Jo away, keeping Three behind to hear his insane ranting.

Omega was the solar engineer, the Time Lord who gave Gallifrey the power to achieve time travel.

The Brig, Benton, and Two leave the Tardis. Two looks back and sees one of the creatures. That's when he says his now famous line "Oh my giddy aunt!"

The Brig wanders off. Two and Benton enter Omega's hall. It does not go well.

Later, Three explains to Two that they live in a world entirely created by Omega's will.

The Doctors go off in one direction while the humans go in another, eventually escaping Omega's place. All the humans meet up outside and keep running away.

Inside, Three and Omega are locked in combat.

In a desperate move, the Gallifreyan Time Lords try to push One in with the others, using the very last of their power.

* * *

Yeah, ok, there's a story. But I don't care. I'm loving having these three guys together. Everything about it is bigger and better than a normal story, and we are getting some major info on the history of the Time Lords.

It's not all about Rassilon. Omega played a monumental role in their history, and did not die as they had supposed.

I know they brought him back in a Fifth Doctor story, and I'm looking forward to seeing the character again (in an episode with Colin Baker, no less!). After bringing Rassilon back for modern Who, might they consider bringing Omega back too?

 

[OmahaStar]

The Three Doctors, episode 4

It was an illusion. Two helps pick Three up off the floor.

The humans drive off in Bessie, returning to the UNIT HQ. Two shuffles them all inside the Tardis.

Jo is a useless, annoying brat.

The trickery works and everyone returns to their proper place. The Time Lords give Three back his freedom, returning his knowledge of time travel and give him a new materialization device.

* * *

Who was Katy Manning fucking? That's the only reason I can think of, why Jo has stuck around for this long. I loathe her character. She is like a prototype of Rose - a spoiled rotten self-centered childish bitch with no regard for anyone but herself. With Mel's voice. Actually, that's it. She is like a combination of Mel and Rose.

This is a bittersweet ending. It is the final time William Hartnell played the Doctor. We see clips of him later, but for new material, this is it. It is also a reminder that all three of the actors who played the Doctor here have since passed on. At the same time, it is a renewal of the series with a big change. The Doctor is now free to travel in his Tardis after a long time stuck on Earth-set stories.

 

[OmahaStar]

Carnival of Monsters 1, originally aired 27 Jan 1973
Written by Robert Holmes
Directed by Barry Letts

An alien world. Like Santa's workshop, a load of packages runs through a conveyor belt.

Elsewhere, the Tardis materializes on a boat out to sea. Jo whines, then has the audacity to shhh the Doctor. They go outside. The wooden boat we saw just a moment ago has magically transformed into a metal ship. They see a few people who seem to be from the 1920s. And then a dinosaur attacks.

The Doctor and Jo return to the room with the Tardis. And that's when a giant hand reaches down and steals the Tardis away.

* * *

I have no idea what is going on here. I'm just gonna grab a bowl of popcorn and hang on for the ride.
​

 

[The Nth Doctor]

This is one of my favorite Third Doctor stories. There isn't much depth to the story but it's damn fun and full of surprises.