Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 112: Bell of Doom (The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve, Part Four)

Dear diary,

I was really not looking forward to this one. Having found the thing I enjoyed most about The Massacre was the whole subplot about the Doctor and the Abbot looking alike, I really worried that there wouldn't be anything in part four to hold my attention. Thankfully, this episode really brings everything together nicely, and I was captivated by it.

Early on, Steven returns to meet with Anne, and solemnly tells her that his friend is dead. He admits that he doesn't know what to do, and that if he can't find the Doctor's TARDIS key, then he won't be able to make it out of Paris. It's another chance for Peter Purves to shine (there are several in this episode), and it's interesting to see a companion in this predicament.

Towards the end of The Daleks' Master Plan, when Hartnell took a week off, Steven and Sara found themselves stranded, not knowing where the Doctor was. There, they were filled with optimism, and knew that he had to be out there somewhere, probably in the middle of the Dalek's plans. Here, though, Steven is convinced that he's actually seen the Doctor's body, and that he's got no hope. It's a brave thing to do with the programme, and one which we don't often see.

But then the Doctor appears, and all is well! Hooray! Except… where has the Doctor been all this time? He chastises Steven for not being at the tavern when he got back there, and says that the curfew is responsible for a lot of the mess they're in, but… Does he ever actually tell us what he's been up to? Has he just been wandering the streets of Paris for a few episodes?

The actual plot of the massacre itself has been of more interest to me here, too. Throughout the story, I've somewhat struggled to keep abreast of who's on which side, and which one is meant to be trying to massacre the other. Here, it's spelled out nice and clearly. The Queen Mother has given the order, and everyone of the opposing religion is to be killed at daybreak. Simple. The Doctor ten gives us a brief run-down of the events once we're safely back to the TARDIS, and suddenly I'm back up to speed again.

Indeed, it's these final TARDIS scenes that really sell the episode. I've praised Steven as a character in the past because he's not afraid to speak his mind and stand up to the Doctor. Never is this more in evidence than here, when he riles against him for sending Anne Chaplet home, even though it meant sending her to death. It's a beautifully written scene and Purves plays it with perfection again. All the more effective is the way that having told the Doctor he intends to get off the ship at their next stop, he barely says one more word to him before leaving. It's powerful stuff.

I'm only hoping that it gets picked up on in the next story. I've been impressed on more than one occasion with the series so far, when they pick up on big character moments like this even as we move to a new story, and it feels like a moment that really does deserve to have lasting effects. It was an argument like this from Barbara back in The Edge of Destruction that set the Doctor off on a route to becoming a new man, and it would be nice to see this moment continue pushing the Doctor down the right path.

The scene is then lifted even higher by Hartnell's monologue, straddling Steven's departure. He tells the boy that he stands by his decision, and that there is a chance - however slim - that Anne may have survived. Having then watched Steven storm out, the Doctor muses that everyone leaves him in the end. He thinks of Susan, and Vicki, before commenting that Ian and Barbara were all too eager to get back to their own time and place.

It then marks the first occasion in a while where the Doctor has really spoken of his own world, when he considers that it may be time to return. It's a very moving moment for the Doctor, and Hartnell is perhaps the best he's ever been. Much gets said in this story about the way he plays the Abbot in such a different manner to the Doctor - without the little gestures and the flubbed lines. People don't often seem to talk about this moment, where he gets everything spot on, and really sells it to us.

And then… Dodo! It feels silly, but I'd never realised the Anne Chaplet / Dodo Chaplet link had been made so explicitly in the programme itself. I always thought that it was left as a bit of a subliminal hint that everything might have been ok in the end for Anne. Unfortunately, the scene itself isn't perhaps the best introduction to a character - it's serves more as a four-minute info-dump than anything else, checking off everything we need to know (and then some) before heading back out to the stars.

The series has been a very dark place of late, with plenty of death and destruction. I've enjoyed it as a direction for the programme, but I'm looking forward to having Dodo here, and seeing the series head for a slightly less morbid place once more…

(By the way: There's a story that says Ian and Barbara were supposed to appear in this episode, watching the TARDIS as it departs across Wimbledon Common. Sadly, it never happened. How brilliant would it have been, though? I know I was sick of them by the end, but a brief snippet of them here and now would simply be marvellous…)

Next Episode: The Steel Sky

Next Episode: The Steel Sky 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 111: Priest of Death (The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve, Episode Three)

Dear diary,

Well… I hope that the Abbot isn't the Doctor in disguise, because if he is then the history of Doctor Who must have flowed very differently to the way I've always understood it, with Hartnell's Doctor killed here and his corpse left out on the streets of Paris.

Yes, this subplot is still the thing that's interesting me the most about this story, and I'm a little sad to see the back of it here in Episode Three, meaning that I'll need to find something new to latch onto for the final part of the tale. Throughout this episode, the entire storyline is expertly woven into the tale - you only need to look at the moment the Abbot's death is announced to see that.

Steven has just assured us again that the Abbot really is the Doctor in disguise, and announces that he's 'certain' of that fact now that he's seen the man up close… at which point we're told that he's been murdered outside his home. Steven is horrified (and Peter Purves turns in a great performance - he really is very good when he's having to portray anger), and rushes out to see for himself.

It's another one of those times that I extol the virtue of experiencing these missing episodes in the form of the narrated soundtracks - because the sight of this man laying dead on the street with the face of the Doctor was far more striking in my mind that it would have been on screen. Just to compare, I did stick on the last few minutes of the Loose Cannon recon when I got home (I've been listening to today's episode on a walk around the supermarket. The death of the Abbot was announced just as I picked up some lamb for tea. Lovely.), and while it's perfectly good enough, it really did very little for me.

What's also interesting in this episode is Steven's faith in the Doctor. Early on, while trying to convince Anne to go back to the Abbot's home, he tells her that if the Abbot is the Doctor, then she has nothing to fear - the Doctor will make sure that no harm will come to her. It's interesting when you consider that his two most recent additions to the TARDIS (Katarina and Sara, and if you want to be really picky, then Brett, too) have both met their demise while under the Doctor's care. I've never been more convinced that Anne is destined for death.

Otherwise… I'm afraid I have to admit that I'm still just not into this story. I'm sorry. I'm trying, really I am, but I'm just not connecting with it. I've been so looking forward to Lucarotti's return to the TARDIS, but whereas his previous tales were painted on a broad canvas that was easy enough to follow, I just feel like I'm losing track of who's who and which side they're fighting on. And have France now gone to war with Spain or not? Yesterday I thought they had, but today they seem to not be…

Next Episode: Bell of Doom

Next Episode: Bell of Doom 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 110: The Sea Beggar (The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve, Episode Two)

Dear Diary,

I think I’ve said it before, but some days of The 50 Year Diary are easier than others. Sometimes, as I hit ‘pause’ on the music player (usually while the end credits are playing out), I’ve got a list of notes that fills a full side of my notepad, and the hard part is trying to decide which notes to pick up on, and discuss during my entry. More than once, I’ve started to talk about something before realising that it’s probably only of interest to me, deleted it, and taken a different direction for that day’s entry.

Other days… are just difficult. Today is one of those ‘difficult’ days. The problem is that there’s nothing really all that wrong with this episode – it’s perfectly fine as an episode of Doctor Who and all, it just hasn’t really grabbed me all that much. I’ve come away with only about four notes from this episode, and some of those are just bits of dialogue that I’ve liked.

Yesterday, I complained that I didn’t really know this period of history, and mused that it could be one of the problems I was having trying to connect with the story. The problem is… I’m loathe to look into it too much. A quick scan of the top paragraph on Wikipedia tells the that it took place in the late sixteenth century, and that’s where I stopped reading. It’s going to sound odd, but I don’t want any spoilers! Spoilers from a story (made and broadcast 48 years ago) about a historical even that happened several centuries ago!

I can already surmise that The Massacre isn’t going to have a happy ending. Just look at the title to know that! I don’t want to know the exact details, though, because I want to experience it as a part of the tale. This means, though, that I’m still wading through it not quite knowing the significance of events. There’s a few moments where characters say things that (judging by the performance) are obviously important contextually, but I don’t really get them. Ho hum.

Still, there’s plenty of interest coming in the form of the ‘is he or isn’t he the Doctor’ plot line. I thought it was quite clearly a case of the Abbot just happening to be a double of our lead character, but actually there seems to be more to it than that. When Steven first speculates that it could be the Doctor, passing himself off as an official for some reason (he wasn’t around to see the Doctor’s role in The Reign of Terror, but I’m imagining the Abbot as wearing the same feathery hat. Just because. I like that hat), the entire sub plot takes a very different turn.

Even more interesting is that other characters state definitively that it isn’t the Doctor. It can’t be him, because the Abbot has been an important figure in their lives for longer than the Doctor and Steven have been in France… but then they’ve only recently actually met the Abbot in person. Maybe this man is the Doctor in disguise?

The Doctor himself doesn’t actually appear in this episode (well, he might, if the Abbot really is the Doctor undertaking some clever ruse, but we’ve not been made privy to that yet), which only serves to make the whole thing even more of a mystery. It’s this that I’m enjoying the most at the moment, also I’m hoping it continues being built up as a key element of the plot. I’m half-wondering if the next episode might be this one told again, but from the point-of-view of the Doctor, before they reunite again at the end of the story…

And that’s the key thing. I’m interested to move on. I’m actively looking forward to tomorrow’s episode. It’s not like some of the stories we’ve gone through, where I’ve really not been all that bothered about the next episode. It’s just that – for now – The Massacre is just sort of there. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing particularly great about it either. Here’s hoping that things pick up from here on out!

(Are we placing bets on whether the Doctor is the Abbot, by the way? Don’t tell me if you know – avoiding spoilers there, too! – but for now I’m thinking… I’m thinking that it would be great if he were the Abbot, but I don’t think he is. I think.)

Next Episode: Priest of Death

Next Episode: Priest of Death 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 109: War of God (The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve, Episode One)

Dear diary,

“I wish I understood what's going on!” wails Steven about two-thirds of the way into this episode. Truth be told, I did wonder if he was just speaking aloud what was on my mind.

I've been looking forward to reaching The Massacre since… ooh, about three minutes after I finished The Aztecs. During the first season, John Lucarotti's scripts were fantastic, and really sold the idea of the pure historicals to me. While it's often said that this story was rewritten almost wholly by Donald Tosh, I was still hoping for the kind of richness in the setting that we got with visits to Cathay and South America.

In this area, the episode doesn't disappoint. The whole thing is steeped with atmosphere, even though my only frame of reference was a half-remembered image of the Doctor and Steven sat in a tavern. That said, the episode takes place in very few sets, and I can quite believe that they're the kinds of sets the Doctor Who team would have been very good at producing.

Where things fall a little flat for me, though, is in the denseness of the setting. As has been the case more and more with the historical stories since Season One, I'm finding myself in settings that I'm not familiar with. Most of the time, I'm able to bluff myself through the story to some extent, and in some cases I'm even sure that I actually learn something from Doctor Who. Sydney Newman would be so pleased!

Here, though, I genuinely didn't have any context for the setting until Steven be can to vocalise my confusion. I knew this story was set in France, and from the title I'd figured that it wasn't likely to be a light-hearted romp, but then I didn't have much else to go on. The story itself doesn't try to reassure either - the Doctor and Steven's first appearance comes as the enter a tavern, where we've already a scene in progress. I did briefly wonder if I'd managed to switch the soundtrack into 'shuffle' again.

What is nice about this story is the way that Steven and the Doctor get on during their initial scene together. This is the only story from the classic run to feature the Doctor alone with just a single male companion, and so it's a dynamic that feels very fresh. It doesn't last long before the Doctor is off to explore and Steven is caught up in trouble, but it's nice for a while. It's also clear that some time has passed since the end of the previous story, as the tone between the pair is far happier than it was when we left them yesterday.

The cliffhanger - the Abbot turning around and looking exactly like the Doctor - perhaps loses some if its imp ace by being heard on audio rather than witnessed on screen, but it's still quite a striking moment. It helps that Hartnell changes the tone of his voice for the part, too, so that he's almost, but not quite the man we know. The Massacre isn't a story that I know well, so I'm unsure if we'll get more Doctor-on-Doctor action as we had in The Chase (though if we do, because this is a soundtrack I'll be able to have Hartnell playing both roles all the time!), but it could be interesting to see…

Next Episode: The Sea Beggar

Next Episode: The Sea Beggar 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 108: The Destruction of Time (The Daleks' Master Plan, Episode Twelve)

Dear diary,

Whether you choose to look at this as one big story, or several little ones connected by a common thread, there's no denying that the last twelve episodes have seen an awful lot of death and darkness.

Sara's demise under the influence of the time destructor is one of those moments from this story that everyone sort of knows about. It's fairly common knowledge that she cops it before this story is out, and for the most part people know how she goes. That doesn't do justice, though, to just how effective the death is. She dies because she's gone back for the Doctor. I'd always assumed that she was captured by the Daleks and tried to escape or something, not that she was behind by choice.

And the basic knowledge that I had of the death didn't hold a candle to just how nasty it actually is. I mean, sure, I knew that she was aged to death, but when you're actually in the thick of it and listening to it happen… then it becomes genuinely horrific. The worst bit comes afterwards, when the narration describes Steven approaching her lifeless body, before a gust of wind brushes the hair and skin away from it, scattering them around in the dirt. It's a truly ignoble end for Sara, and perhaps a moment that I'd love to see recovered and put back in the archive.

Elsewhere, though… This episode always had an awful lot to live up to. This Dalek plot has been building up - either as the main story or in the background somewhere - for a full seventeen episodes, ever since Mission to the Unknown. It's a far grander scheme than we've seen the Daleks attempt before (and, with the debatable exemption of some 21-sf century stories), bigger than we'll ever see again. The problem is that after all that time, nearly three weeks for me, and a full four-and-a-half months on screen back in the 1960s… I'm not quite sure I can work out the Daleks' plan.

I'm sure that it made sense at some point during the story. After all, most of the plot has revolved around the Daleks trying to get back the Terranium so that they can get their Time Destructor up and running. But then alongside this, they've brought together delegates from a number of galaxies so that they can wipe them out and seize control of said galaxies.

So… what's the point of building a machine that will power through time very quickly and ruin those places? Have I missed something? As I say, at some point during the story, I'm sure it all made sense - I've never had cause to question the story before now - but I've completely lost it at the very end here.

One of the things that I did enjoy in this final instalment was the final end of Mavic Chen. I said yesterday that I hope he didn't die here, because nothing could top the shock of his fake death in the last episode. He does die, though, and while it's true that it really isn't as effective as his last one, there is still merit to having him back again. For a start, he's clearly gone completely mad. Proper bonkers. It's great to see the way that the Daleks play him and lead him right through to the right moment, before they simply exterminate him like any other person. It's fun to listen to Kevin Stoney ramping it up in the mad stakes, too.

On the whole, while I've enjoyed the episode, I don't think it quite fulfils the role of being the final part to an epic such as this one.

Speaking of which… just what is The Daleks' Master Plan? I've been saying for a week now that it feels like several separate stories, and I stand by that. I think in my mind now, I'll be thinking of it as;

Mission to the Unknown
A 1 Episode prequel (as it standard thinking).

The Daleks' Master Plan
6 Episodes. In which the Daleks' plan to take over the universe, but the Doctor and his chums steal the core of their machine and leave them in a bit of a pickle.

Revenge of the Monk
4 Episodes. The Doctor, Steven, and Sara bumble around in time a bit, getting arrested in the 1960s, and visiting Hollywood. They then realise that they're being followed by another time machine, and get caught up with the Meddling Monk. The Daleks then turn up to demand their Terranium back.

The Mutation of Time
A 2 Episode Coda to the entire arc, which sees the Daleks defeated and an end to the threats posed by their galactic conquest plans.

Does anyone else have a way of thinking about this story which isn't as a 12-parter? The thought of breaking it up seems a little like heresy, but it just seems right!

Next Episode: War of God

Next Episode: War of God 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 107: The Abandoned Planet (The Daleks' Master Plan, Episode Eleven)

Dear diary,

Within a minute of Mavic Chen arriving back on Kembel and reporting to the Dalek Supreme, proudly boasting about the return of the Terranium, the Dalek asks him a - very sensible - question, which I can't quite believe Chen hasn't yet thought to ask himself: 'Are you sure it is the real core?'.

It's a valid point, if you think about it. Right back in Coronas of the Sun, the Doctor managed a bait-and-switch, with he and his companions handing over a replica so perfect that it was only when the Time Destructor failed to operate that the Daleks realised something was amiss. On this occasion, the Doctor has dropped the core into Chen's hands and darted off back into the pyramid to make his escape… and Chen didn't even question it. I was almost willing it to be fake again, just because I quite like the idea of the Doctor managing to keep fooling Chen and the Daleks time and time again with the same trick.

And so, here we are. Via the police station and 1920s Hollywood, a cricket match, a volcano world, Christmas and New Year's eve, Ancient Egypt and all, we're back on Kembel for the big final showdown. Except, we're not quite. Not yet. The Doctor's gone AWOL (Hartnell on Holiday again?) and most of the episode is spent moving the pieces into place for the big finale tomorrow. I'm guessing (?) that the delegates from the Galactic Council will be returning with their armies to wipe out the Daleks, while the Doctor slips away quietly, unseen. I'm just hoping that it's spectacular. It certainly deserves to be.

So, here we are. Eleven episodes into (debatably) one of Doctor Who's longest ever stories. Eleven whole days I've been withering on about this tale. And in all that time, I've not once managed to muse on the identities of to delegates. I thought that was going to come up early on! 'Which Delegate is which' is one of those questions that crops up in several forms in Who fandom, and I thought I was going to be able to make my own opinion. I was all set to give my great idea to the world, my version of who's who.

But as it transpires, the Delegates aren't really all that important, are they? We witness their first meeting right back during Mission to the Unknown, where they gather together and agree to do some evil things. We then watch them thump the desk a bit during a council meeting, and run around trying to point the finger of blame at each other when things start to go wrong. In today's episode, they get a bit ratty with Chen again and then find themselves locked in a cell.

I wonder if it's because I'm listening to the story via audio. My entire notion of what the delegates look like comes from the Mission animation and the surviving Day of Armageddon. I know what they look like for the most part (my favourite is 'Christmas tree'. It's a shame he doesn't turn up in the Christmas episode, really), and that's enough. The one with the raspy voice in this episode is in my head as the chap with the cracked face. One of the others is 'pebble guy'.

Unfortunately, that means I've nothing witty or new to say about them, or the way in which we can identify them. Sorry. Thought I'd better bring that up, in case you read through all my thoughts and figured I was just ignoring it. Mind you, I sort of am.

That said, I must confess a real love for Mavic Chen. The moment when his spaceship explodes really did take me by surprise. I think I may have actually gasped out loud. I listened to today's entry while I was painting a wall (it's spring - not that you'd know it to look outside - and time to freshen the place up!), and that was the moment I physically stopped and took it in. I thought it was a terribly sudden way to get rid of the character, but a fantastic one, and very in-keeping with the dark tone the series has been developing.

And then, like all good panto villains, he turns up again! Wielding a gun and making threats. Of course! I hope he doesn't die in tomorrow's episode, because it's never going to have the impact that this moment did.

Next Episode: The Destruction of Time

Next Episode: The Destruction of Time 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 106: Escape Switch (The Daleks' Master Plan, Episode Ten)

Dear diary,

“Everyone loves Magical Chen, agreed to work as the Daleks' lackey and then, got caught in a chase for the Teranium case, flying though time, it's all such a crime…”

What? I love a good Billy Fluff, me, and the moment when he refers to one of their enemies as 'Magic Chen' instantly set of a verse of the 'Magical Trevor' song in my head. Truth be told, it's still going round there, now, and I'll be a bit disappointed if I don't hear a Dalek singing it by the end of the next episode.

Oh, all right. I should have known that returning to an episode that really exists in the archives would turn things back around for me. I mused yesterday that Douglas Camfield's direction of the fight scenes between the Daleks and the Egyptians would probably be a highlight, and I think that this episode proves that completely.

It has to be said - and this must be an effect of moving into this period where there's more and more missing episodes - when the titles faded away and I saw an actual image of the Pharaoh's treasures, it took me back a bit! It's been a while since I saw a moving episode that wasn't animated (well, a 'while'. Four days. It feels like longer. I blame all that time we wasted mucking around on the volcano world), so something just struck me as odd about it here. Trust me, by the time I finish Season Four, I'll have forgotten that Doctor Who isn't a radio series.

This is probably a good point to mention the way that I tackle the missing episodes, as it's something I get asked about fairly often. I always listen to them now as the narrated soundtracks, or occasionally as an animation (as in the case of Mission to the Unknown or The Feast of Steven). People often ask why I'm not following along with a recon of some sort and the answer is, simply, that I just can't get into them. Oh, believe me, I've tried!

Some of them are fantastic, certainly, and it's the way that I watched Marco Polo, but I find that they just put me off a bit. Truth be told, when I was headed towards this season, the thought of having to sit and watch that many reckons was almost enough to nix the whole diary. I considered hiding in a wardrobe until the Jon Pertwee years landed and missing episodes were a thing of the past. But the narrated soundtracks, I've found myself getting really hooked on (A real U-turn - I couldn't bear the one I listened to for The Roof of the World back in January).

But enough about narrated soundtracks and reconstructed episodes - we can see this one properly! It moves and everything! And - oh - is it just me or does Douggie get better every time? There's a shot in this episode where the Sun morphs into a reflection on a Dalek dome, and I couldn't quite believe what I'd just watched. It. Was. Stunning.

It also means that we get to see the gorgeous shots of the Daleks gliding through the half-constructed Pyramids. It's hard to refrain from using the word 'stunning' here, too. I've said it before, and I've little doubt that I'll say it again before the 60s are out, but this version of the Dalek prop is perhaps my favourite. They just look so good.

And as the bad guys, they're still coming across better here than at any other point we've seen them so far. Remember back in The Daleks, when I complained that the final battle essentially boiled down to them being overthrown by a handful of Thals in leather trousers? That wouldn't happen to this bunch. This lot are set upon by a hoard of Egyptian slaves, and the Daleks just plough though them, exterminating en masse.

Yesterday, I complained that I'd rather have had an Egypt story told on its own terms, away from this story arc about the Daleks and Mavic Chen. As it is, having been though this episode now, too, I think I've had a perfectly good story. Two episodes feels about the right length for this tale - though I can still see how they might get four from it, with the Daleks and the Monk only turning up half-way - and I've really enjoyed it. The ending seems to imply that the Monk is out of the way now, and with the Doctor headed back to Kembel to finish up the story from way back when, so I'll be sad to see him leave. It's been great to have him back again, and he's been far better served in this Egypt portion of the tale than he was by the leftovers from The Chase.

I can't let this episode pass without mentioning the discovery of the film prints. This one, along with the print for Counter Plot were the ones that infamously turned up in the basement of a church (Mormon or others, depending on which version of the story you're being told). The rediscovery of missing episodes is a fascinating topic, and I love the tales of where things were found - this has to be my favourite of the bunch. It's just so, so, surreal. Perfect for this story, then!

Next Episode: The Abandoned Planet

Next Episode: The Abandoned Planet 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 105: Golden Death (The Daleks' Master Plan, Episode Nine)

Dear diary,

It's tricky, this one. On the one hand, I love the idea of a Doctor Who story set in ancient Egypt, and especially in this era of the programme. On the other… it feels a shame to see it thrown in to this part of this story, where they just seem to be filling time before getting back to the main plot. I've been championing the idea of this being more than one story for a while now, and I wonder if I'd have preferred a 'straight' Egypt story for an episode or two before the Daleks et al turn up on the sand.

That said, there is a lot in this episode that I like, and that I think really works. The idea that the TARDIS is taken into the pyramid as one of the pharaoh's treasures for the afterlife is very much the kind of thing that would have happened back in Season One. Indeed, lots of elements away from the Dalek-based story are the kind of things I'd expect to see in what I'm starting to consider as a 'traditional' Doctor Who story.

There's a scene in which Steven and Barbara are interrogated by a sinister marshall of the soldiers, and they protest their innocence strongly, claiming that they have no interest whatsoever in the treasure being gathered for the tomb. 'Even the old man?' they're asked, being told that he was examining the 'blue box' very carefully. The entire exchange might as well have been Ian and Barbara being put in the spotlight.

I could even go as far as to say that I'd be interested to see this story spread across a few episodes in ancient Egypt, in which the Monk turns up at the end of the first part! The idea of a showdown between the Doctor and the Monk certainly appeals to me, and after I felt yesterday's confrontation was wasted, today's seems to be back on form. The Monk works as a really interesting adversary to the Doctor - the first time that we've seen an equal to him, and the Monk is painted as such.

It's great to watch how bumbling he can be, but then he's filled with a truly sinister streak, where I'm not quite sure what he's going to do next or why. He seems intent on bringing revenge on the Doctor - and he's determined to make sure it happens. There's a school of thought that says the Monk ends up becoming the Master, and, (though it's not an idea I subscribe to)I can see where it may come from. If you take this desire for revenge and keep twisting the dial up, up, up… yeah, I can see the link.

And yet for all that I protest that I'd love to see a pure, Egyptian, historical, or a rematch of The Time Meddler set on the plains and around the Great Pyramids, the Daleks turning up is just wonderful. It's terribly Doctor Who - an extremely surreal juxtaposition as the Daleks massacre the Egyptian slaves. It's so bizarre, I almost wondered if I might be dreaming it. Done right (and directed by Camfield, I'd imagine it is!), that could be a really spectacular moment for the Daleks.

Elsewhere, we've got the Monk being recruited to the Dalek's cause as he tries to save his own skin, and there's some great fun to be had watching him squirm and apologise before Mavic Chen, who has a semblance of his former dignified imposing self back the second the Monk arrives before him. We've seen him just as writing and apologetic toward the Daleks in recent episodes, so it's nice to see the tables turned back for him - albeit briefly.

I won't even go into much detail on the Doctor breaking into the Monk's TARDIS (again) and messing around with the settings. It's really become his signature move when dealing with the man, and you think after the last time he'd have thought to lock the door one he'd hidden his TARDIS away!

Next Episode: Escape Switch

Next Episode: Escape Switch 

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 104: Volcano (The Daleks' Master Plan, Episode Eight)

Dear diary,

Sometimes, there's so much useless Doctor Who knowledge buzzing around in my head that I simply ignore bits of it. I file it away in a cabinet marked 'you'll probably never need to know this' and go on thinking about something else. The nice effect this has is that elements of Doctor Who surprise me, when they probably really shouldn't.

Take today's episode, for example. It's the return of the Meddling Monk! Now, I knew - somewhere in the back of my mind - that the Monk returned in this story. I'm sure I knew that. Heck, the BBC's official 50th Anniversary website has an entry for the Monk in which he's surrounded by Volcanoes! Yet still, I didn't manage to piece it together until almost the last moment.

When this episode opens, the TARDIS is being pursued through the vortex by another time vessel. Steven speculates that it has to be the Daleks, and the Doctor thinks that he's probably right about that. Meanwhile, we keep cutting back to Kembel, where the Daleks are preparing to send a time machine out to hunt for them. It wasn't until the Daleks were ready to leave the planet that I suddenly realised that it couldn't be them chasing the TARDIS, and it all fell into place!

Aside from that nice surprise, this episode is a bit lackluster. It feels like a number of left over ideas from The Chase being added in to help pad out the story a little further. What if the TARDIS were to materialise in the middle of a cricket match? What if it turns up on New Year's Eve, during the countdown? It can't just be fleeting materialisations (and what happened to the ship needing twelve minutes to take off again?), so we get a showdown between the Doctor and the Monk, but rather than the great back-and-forth we saw between them last series, it just dissolves into a bit of laughing, and then we find that the Doctor has been trapped here.

Even then, it only takes the Doctor a matter of minutes to fix the problem and get them back on their way again. To be honest, the whole episode feels like padding before we can get onto the really interesting stuff.

Where things do still fall into place for me is when we spend time with the Daleks on Kembel. These are still the ruthless creatures I've grown used to this season, and they're by far the best thing about this episode. That they allow one of the delegates to die for them as proof that he is truly devoted to his cause is sinister enough. The fact that he survives the experiment - so they exterminate him anyway, just because they were expecting a death - is even worse. These Daleks are unlike any we've had before, and they're a fantastic breed of the creatures.

To tell the truth, though, I think things need to get back to Kembel full-time. While I still believe this tale could be seen as more than one story, it feels like its flagging a little in the middle here - they don't really know what to do with the characters before we head back in for the final showdown. I'm hoping that the final four episodes are where we bring things back into focus…

Next Episode: Golden Death

Next Episode: Golden Death 

 Day 103: The Feast of Steven (The Daleks' Master Plan, Episode Seven)

Will Brooks’ 50 Year Diary - watching Doctor Who one episode a day from the very start... 

Day 103: The Feast of Steven (The Daleks' Master Plan, Episode Seven)

Dear diary,

*clears throat * IT'S CHRIIIISSSTTTTMMMAAAAASSSSSSSS! What? It's tradition, isn't it? No? Oh hush, it's my blog. And it's Christmas! Spread the cheer! And isn't it nice of the weather to keep the winter feeling going right the way through until now, just so it would feel more like Christmas. Yeah, let's enjoy the snow as I crank up the heating and mutter 'Bah Humbug' under my breath…

But look! Hooray! Santa has been! And what's that he's left for me under the tree? (By 'under the tree', I mean 'on the computer'. I did suggest getting the Christmas tree back out, but Ellie wasn't having any of it.) It's a copy of The Feast of Steven that's been animated! That's right, I've been enjoying today's special Christmas episode in the form of Adamsbullock's version.

It's another very different style of animation, quite far removed from what I've seen for either The Reign of Terror or Mission to the Unknown. Far more stylised, and with a much simpler tone to it. Outside the police station, for example, the background is painted in with only a few tones and a couple of windows. And yet, it works really well! I don't know if I'd be able to do the entire Daleks' Master Plan in this style, but for the slightly bizarre Christmas episode, it's absolutely perfect.

Truth be told, by the end I'd grown quite accustomed to the animated Hartnell. It's going to be a bit of a shock to go back to the real, human version. Maybe for the next few audio episodes I'll imagine everyone else as real, with this version of Hartnell alongside them. It'll keep me amused at least!

As for the episode itself… it's a bit of a game of two halves really. All the stuff at the police station was great fun, and I really rather enjoyed that. I seem to recall reading somewhere that the original intention was to have the cast of Z Cars take the roles of the police officers, which would have been great fun and really helped add to the Christmas feel - plus, it has to be said, the idea of Brian Blessed squaring up to Hartnell excites me far more than it should!

There's plenty of comedy in this section of the episode, and it's played nicely: lots of fun banter between the policemen as they wait outside the TARDIS, and especially after the Doctor has stepped outside for the very first time. Then there's the business with the man inside the station ('haven't I seen your face before? Of course! The marketplace at Jaffa!') and Steven coming to take the Doctor away by pretending that he's a bit mad.

Yeah, the first section of the episode is great fun, and I really enjoyed it. But then we arrive in Hollywood and… oh dear. It's a good job I didn't listen to this episode as part of the narrated soundtrack with my headphones in. Whoever was in charge of sound for this segment should be shot. It's so noisy! Every character is shouting, and they're all doing it at once! There were moments when I couldn't understand what was actually being said.

(Incidentally, I did scroll through the audio once I'd finished watching the animation, just in case it had been made better on the narrated soundtrack. One section of screeching was more than enough for me, so I didn't push it any further.)

Something I did wonder about, and it's happened a few times over the last few episodes, is Sara's name. Which way do people tend to pronounce it? I've always said it as 'Sa-ra', as does the Doctor here, and as it's clearly written. Peter Purves (both in the episodes and on the narration) seems to refer to her as 'Sarah' more commonly. Which do people tend to go for? Is 'Sara' the majority vote?

Now, I mused yesterday that things felt like they were building to the end of a six-part story and getting ready to move off onto a new adventure, but that I'd need to watch through more before coming to a decision on that one. Well, I think I've already reached one. The Feast of Steven is not the seventh episode of a twelve-part serial called The Daleks' Master Plan. Frankly, it's not! The only link we have to that story is the Doctor double checking that they still have the terrarium core, to which Sara replies 'Oh, I'd forgotten about the Daleks.'

That's less of a link than the Steven Moffat era has between stories that are a part of the story arc! The six episodes from The Nightmare Begins to Coronas of the Sun are definitely a story, and the episodes that follow this one may be a follow-up to that story, but from where I'm standing now, somewhere around the middle-point, this certainly feels like an individual one-episode story all on its own. I'll review this situation once I finish the next five episodes, but it's looking likely that I'll think of them as separate stories from now on. The campaign to change it starts here!

Next Episode: Volcano

Manufacturer: BBC Worldwide Consumer Products

Written By: John Lucarotti

RRP: £20.42

Release Date: 11th March 2013

Reviewed By: Dale Who for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 7th March 2013

The TARDIS arrives in fifteenth century Mexico inside the tomb of Aztec High Priest Yetaxa. The travellers become cut off from the ship after the tomb door closes behind them and Barbara is proclaimed as Yetaxa's divine reincarnation.

However, she incurs the enmity of the High Priest of Sacrifice, when - against the Doctor's advice - she attempts to use her new-found authority to put an end to the Aztec practice of human sacrifice.

* * *

It's time for a history lesson, courtesy of a time travelling Police Box and her crew. However, you may also get a strong feeling of "deja-Who"; that strange feeling that you've seen this DVD before. This is another of the BBC's 'Special Edition' releases, aka the same release with an extra disc of new stuff tacked onto the end. In the case of The Aztecs: Special Edition, it's that second disc that provides the excitement... However, here's a rundown of the extras on Disc One - the original release:

Disc One

Commentary - William Russell (Ian), Carole Ann Ford (Susan) and original series showrunner Verity Lambert (now sadly in the great hereafter) come together to discuss their memories of the story, with many anecdotes and stories along the way.

Arabic Soundtrack - Episode Four only features an alternate audio experience that can be selected via the Audio Options section, with the soundtrack dubbed into Arabic.  An interesting curio!

Remembering The Aztecs - The making of the story, with Ian Cullen, John Ringham and Walter Randall (all Aztecs in the serial itself) discuss the early days of television, and changing from theatre to television. William Hartnell's moods are discussed in somewhat less than glowing terms by Ringham and Randall.  Mostly it seems to be a somewhat vitriolic wander down memory lane for them, but thankfully Ian Cullen keeps the featurette light.

Designing The Aztecs - Barry Newbery (who's name is now ever associated with the second TARDIS prop, called "The Newbery Box") talks about how he designed the story; with a glorious wealth of production drawings and photographs - most of which have never been seen as they're from Barry's personal collection.  Newbery is very interesting to listen to, and it's obvious frm the outset that this man knows his craft inside out.  An informative and gentle look back, and suitably entertaining.

Cortez and Montezuma - It's Blue Peter! A wonderfully vintage and aged piece of BBC educational children's programming. Valerie Singleton narrates the story of the fall of the Aztec Empire. It's actually really rather good, and explained very nicely for kids - although Singleton mentioning on more than one occasion about cannons "blowing people to bits" is perhaps more gruesomely amusing than it should be!

Restoring The Aztecs - A regeneration that a Time Lord would be proud of. The restoration and cleaning up of the original film, shown in several before and after examples, that makes the antique material suitable for release onto DVD.  Short, and with no voiceover or real explanations, but still fascinating. It's not just The Aztecs on display here, Jo Grant and the Third Doctor put in a brief cameo appearance too, from 'Terror of the Autons', and The Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe turn up in a clip from The Krotons. Oh, and there's a web address for more information in the end titles!

Making Cocoa - A woeful sub-par South Park rip-off on how to make cocoa the Aztec way. Simply dire.

TARDIS Cam 3 - Another brief look at the TARDIS, this time sitting in the middle of a sandstorm on an alien planet.  Again, from the 2002 BBC Fictionlab team. Short, but pretty.

Intro Sequences - A random selection of introductions to the story via the three actors playing the main Aztec roles in the story. There are six in total, and it plays a random message when "Play All" is selected from the main menu. Fairly pointless.

Adding on the Photo Gallery, Subtitles, Audio Description and new Info Text rounds off the original release - and that's just disc one!

Disc Two

Galaxy Four - Or to be more accurate: Galaxy Four the telesnap archive and episode three. Using a little CGI, remaining video footage, lots of telesnaps and the audio recordings of the original transmissions, here's a rather fabulous tale from later on in the Hartnell era. We've got Steven Taylor (Peter Purves), Vicki (Maureen O'Brien) and the wonderful William Hartnell as The Doctor.

Episode Three was recently discovered and recovered, and that's the main reason for this condensed version of the story. It is, however, completely wonderful to see any part of this Classic adventure. It's a very strong and well told story, and a complete joy to watch. Worth the re-release by itself!

Chronicle - The BBC Radiophonic Workshop lends its expertise to this 1969 telling of the Spanish Conquest of Mexico. It's rather dated, and to be completely honest, the Blue Peter version was much more interesting and accessible. It's very pretty to look at, the filming is really rather exquisite, but it's very old school BBC. It is amusing however that the presenter, John Julius Norwich bears more than a passing resemblance to George Reeves' portrayal of Clark Kent in the 1950s Adventures of Suprerman TV series in the US. Norwich's voice though is pure 1950s BBC, with perfect ennunciation and a very plummy tone.

Doctor Forever: The Celestial Toyroom - The series continues with a look at Doctor Who toys over the last 50 years. From the birth of BBC Licensing. From Daleks in the 1960s to Tom Baker dollies to Dapol and onwards into the present day. Presented in a very flippant and jokey manner, this really doesn't take itself seriously, but is presented with enough love and affection to keep it funny and the right side of ridicule. Rather brilliant, very silly indeed, and insane fun.

It's A Square World - A very brief glimpse of the first ever Doctor Who skit during the farewell to BBC TV Centre programme in 2012, gave the world a clue that this little gem still existed. Clive Dunn is Doctor Fortheringown (Doctor Who?) in a full Hartnell outfit, talking to Michael Bentine here. With cameos from Patrick Moore and er... Albert Steptoe... The Doctor's newest invention goes a tad wrong and takes the BBC TV Centre for a spin in space.

A Whole Scene Going - An excerpt from the 1960s magazine show featuring some cranky dustbins from the second movie, and a brief interview with the director of Daleks Invasion Earth 2150AD, Gordon Flemyng. Short and very dated, but Gordon's an interesting man, and certainly knew his stuff.

Coming Soon Trailer - SPOILER WARNING!!! In a release that's not at all an obvious tie in to a forthcoming reappearance, Patrick Troughton's Doctor faces off with some reptilian Martians. Also features the *other* instance of the Police Box TARDIS doors opening outwards. The Ice Warriors are coming soon to DVD.

As with disc one, all the features come with Subtitles and Audio Description, and Disc Two features the Radio Times cuttings in the usual PDF format for viewing on a computer.

This is all about disc two, really. The first release of The Aztecs (and a fine Hartnell story it is) was fairly packed with extras already, so I'm not sure we needed another release of it with one or two additional references, to justify the inclusion of Galaxy Four.

However it's that condensed story that's now the undeniable star of this special edition. It's such a rare treat to see a rediscovered Classic episode of the show, especially from the Hartnell era, that it completely negates any misgivings about most of the release being money for stuff we've already seen. Therefore this very special Special Edition can only really have one rating, even if it is almost entirely for Galaxy Four.

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BBC Consumer Products have sent DWO the cover and details for the Doctor Who DVD release of The Aztecs: Special Edition.

The Aztecs: Special Edition
Featuring: The 1st Doctor

The TARDIS arrives in fifteenth century Mexico inside the tomb of Aztec High Priest Yetaxa. The travellers become cut off from the ship after the tomb door closes behind them and Barbara is proclaimed as Yetaxa's divine reincarnation.

However, she incurs the enmity of the High Priest of Sacrifice, when - against the Doctor's advice - she attempts to use her new-found authority to put an end to the Aztec practice of human sacrifice.

Special Features:

Disc One: 

•  4 x 25 mins approx monochrome episodes with mono audio. Optional Arabic soundtrack for episode four only.
•  Commentary - stereo. With actors William Russell and Carole Ann Ford, producer Verity Lambert OBE.
•  Remembering The Aztecs - Actors John Ringham, Ian Cullen and Walter Randall recall the production of the story and of television production in the sixties in general.
•  Designing The Aztecs - Designer Barry Newbery talks about his work on the story, illustrated with many never-before-seen production drawings and photographs from his personal collection.
•  Cortez and Monezuma - An extract from a 1970 Blue Peter, introduced by Valerie Singleton on location in Mexico, giving historical background to the Aztec belief in human sacrifice.
•  Restoring The Aztecs - A short featurette demonstrating the restoration and videoisation effects used for the release. With subtitles.
•  Making Cocoa - An animated guide to making cocoa the Aztec way, voiced in character by John Ringham as Tlotoxl and Walter Randall as Tonila, with both characters animated and presented in South Park style.
•  TARDIS-Cam no.3 - The third of BBCi’s TARDIS-Cam shots.
•  Photo Gallery - production, design and publicity photos from the story.
•  Easter Egg - An animated BBC Enterprises logo recovered from the end of one of the prints sold overseas.
•  Intro Sequences - The umbrella story title The Aztecs does not appear on any of the episodes, so for (outdated now) BBFC compliance a caption card with the title has been provided. To add interest, six versions have been provided, each with a different voiceover, in character, from three of the actors involved in the production. The intention is that the disc will randomly select one of these six sequences and play it out at the appropriate point.
•  PDF Material – Radio Times listings in Adobe PDF format for viewing on PC or Mac.
•  Programme subtitles.

Disc Two:

•  Galaxy 4 (dur. 64’ 43”) – a shortened reconstruction of the missing story Galaxy 4, using off-screen stills, audio recordings and animation plus the recently recovered complete episode three to tell the story.
•  Chronicle – The Realms of Gold – John Julius Norwich’s superlative 1969 retelling of the story of the Spanish conquest of Mexico and the Aztecs, which also features music by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
•  Dr. Forever! – Celestial Toyroom – the first of a new five-part series introduced by Ayesha Antoine looks at Doctor Who toys. With original series producer Verity Lambert, new series creator Russell T Davies, writers Mark Gatiss, Rob Shearman, Paul Cornell and Joseph Lidster, BBC Worldwide product licensing executive Richard Hollis, product approval executive Dave Turbitt and ex- range editor Steve Cole, AudioGO commissioning editor Michael Stevens, Character Options’ Alasdair Dewar, DWM’s toy reviewer Jim Sangster and last, but by no means least, Doctor Who’s very own Winston Churchill, actor Ian McNiece.
•  It’s a Square World – the very first Doctor Who skit (as far as we can ascertain), with Clive Dunn in full First Doctor costume as a scientist demonstrating his new space rocket to Michael Bentine, resulting in Television Centre being launched into space! Features cameo appearances by Patrick Moore and Albert Steptoe.
•  A Whole Scene Going – an excerpt from a recently recovered edition of the sixties music and arts programme, featuring an interview with director Gordon Flemyng and a behind the scenes look at filming of his movie Daleks’ Invasion Earth: 2150 AD.
•  Coming Soon - a trailer for a forthcoming DVD release.
•  Radio Times Listings in Adobe PDF format.
•  Programme subtitles.

+  The Aztecs: Special Edition is released on 11th March 2013, priced £20.42.

+  Compare Prices for this product on CompareTheDalek.com.

[Source: BBC Consumer Products]

Manufacturer: BBC Worldwide Consumer Products

Written By: Dennis Spooner

RRP: £20.42

Release Date: 28th January 2013

Reviewed By: Dale Who for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 13th January 2013

When The Doctor lands the TARDIS back on Earth with the express intention of putting Barbara and Ian off the Ship, the original crew find themselves caught up in the tail end of the infamously bloody and grisly French Revolution. In 1794 Paris, crawling with ne'er-do-wells, jumped up "citizens" and people who'd sell their own grandmother, the time travellers must not only reach the safety of the TARDIS once more, they must avoid losing their own heads to the guillotine. Separated from each other, stranded in a different time, and heading for the chop, things are looking bleak for the team...

Episodes Four and Five of The Reign of Terror are missing from the archive; however using the same ingenuity previously shown in The Invasion release with Patrick Troughton, the missing episodes have been animated, and then matched to the extant soundtrack to complete the story for release. The animated instalments may not have the polish of the Cosgrove Hall episodes from the Troughton release, but the work here is top notch, intricately detailed, and doesn't detract at all from the story being told. The artwork for the characters and sets is beautiful - and showcased later in the DVD.

So without any further ado, let's Carry On...

Don't Lose Your Head - The de rigeur "making of" featurette. Carol Ann Ford, still with that mischievous twinkle in her eye, and William Russell lead the talking heads discussing green directors, walking to France, buckets to catch rain in, and the curse of Lime Grove studios.

The documentary touches on some less than happy subjects - such as nervous breakdowns on set - and it's sadly here where the featurette gets bogged down and somewhat less than glowing in review. Thankfully, however, eventually it all has a happy ending; mostly down to TV Centre, and people recovering from illness. An honest look back, warts and all, as it were.

Robespierre's Domain Set Tour - An animated extra, no less!  It's basically a look around the set design of the Prison from the story, set to lots of really annoyingly echo and reverbed sound bites.

It's all beautifully done, and very short; and if you can tune out the mucked-around-with sound, a stunning, brief look at what's basically some lovely artwork.

Commentary - Toby Hadoke chairs the discussion once more; in attendance are Tim Combe (Production Assistant), Carol Ann Ford (Susan), and various guest cast members take the third seat in each episode. Toby and guests have a lot more issues when it comes to talking about the animated episodes; they hadn't been done when the commentary was recorded, so full marks to them from trooping bravely onwards! Lots of gentle behind the scenes nattering with nothing new or earth-shattering to impart, but it's nice to hear anecdotes from people who filmed this story nearly fifty years ago, and are still happy to talk about the time they spent on Doctor Who.

Photo Gallery/Animation Gallery - Yup, there's two of 'em! The first is the usual stills gallery of publicity and behind the scenes shots; with some rather nice candid snaps in there. The second gallery however is much more interesting, showing the design schematics for animating the main cast members - and they look superb. From William Hartnell and his walking stick and ring, to an incredible shot of Barbara going from photo to artwork, this is a little gem of a library.

Info Text - Four episodes only of the fun facts and trivial tales this time. From the historic first time the full sized TARDIS prop had been filmed landing onwards, the usual array of information and career information on the stars meanders happily on until we reach the end of episode three, at which point it states it will return in episode six. There's no info text for the two animated episodes at all.

Coming Soon Trailer - It's another special edition release: Tom Baker's second story gets another look in, as The Ark In Space gets a makeover edition. It's Time Lord versus Wirrn, and an amazing story to boot. One thing though: if the adult Wirrn have six legs, why do they all shuffle/hop about on their bum?

With the usual Subtitles and Audio Navigation available, and the PDF Radio Times clippings should you view the DVD on your computer, The Reign Of Terror is a wonderful treat for fans who never thought they'd see this story released. The quality and sound are optimal as always, and the animation is sublime. The extras  aren't huge in quantity, but are certainly of outstanding quality. A real treat of a DVD, with a strong story, Hartnell on perfect form, and a rare quality historical piece that all too quickly vanished from Doctor Who.

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The first instalment in a sensational series of stories celebrating the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who is written by Eoin Colfer, best-selling author of Artemis Fowl.

Doctor Who is the longest running sci-fi TV show in the world and celebrates its 50th anniversary on 23rd November 2013. To celebrate, Puffin – in partnership with BBC Worldwide – is publishing an exclusive series of eleven ebook short stories each based on one of the Eleven Doctors, priced at £1.99 and to be released on the 23rd of each month starting in January 2013. Each story is written by a different author, bringing together some of the most exciting names in children’s fiction, from commercial blockbusters to literary award-winners. These authors will each bring their own interpretation and reimagining of their chosen Doctor to create a unique Doctor Who adventure in their own inimitable style. 

The authors of the subsequent eshorts will be unveiled on the BBC Worldwide Doctor Who Facebook page on the first Tuesday of every month throughout the year.  A promotional video featuring the author will be released on the 11th of each month on the BBC Worldwide Doctor Who YouTube channel.

Puffin is thrilled that Eoin Colfer will be launching this unique series with his story about the First Doctor. The author commented:

“As a boy I had been reading the Doctor Who books for years before I ever saw a single episode and I found that the on-screen version of the First Doctor was almost identical to the version in my imagination.” 

Synopsis:

London. 1900. The First Doctor is missing his hand and his granddaughter, Susan. Faced with the search for Susan, a strange beam of soporific light, and a host of marauding Soul Pirates, the Doctor is promised a dangerous journey into a land he may never forget...

+  A Big Hand For The Doctor is released on 23rd January 2013, Priced £1.99.

+  Preorder this eBook from iTunes.

[Source: Puffin Books]

BBC Consumer Products have sent DWO the cover and details for the Doctor Who DVD release of The Reign Of Terror.

The Reign Of Terror
Featuring: The 1st Doctor

The TARDIS materialises not far from Paris in 1794 - one of the bloodiest years following the French Revolution of 1789.

The travellers become involved with an escape chain rescuing prisoners from the guillotine and get caught up in the machinations of an English undercover spy, James Stirling - alias Lemaitre, governor of the Conciergerie Prison.

With many of the episodes missing footage but having found audio, Reign of Terror has been lovingly restored using striking animation.

Special Features:

•  Audio Commentary
•  Don't Lose Your Head
•  Set Tour 
•  Photo Gallery
•  Animation Gallery
•  PDF materials: Radio Times Listings
•  Production Note Subtitles 
•  Digitally remastered picture and sound quality

+  The Reign Of Terror is released on 28th January 2013, priced £20.42.

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[Source: BBC Consumer Products]

AudioGO have sent DWO the cover and details for the forthcoming Doctor Who CD release of Destiny Of The Doctor #1: Hunters Of Earth.

Shoreditch, London, 1963. The Beatles have beaten John Smith and the Common Men to No. 1 and satellites are being launched in outer space. Back down on Earth, strange goings-on are occurring: The normally placid teenagers of Coal Hill are running riot and a master thief is stealing highly specialised equipment. Schoolgirl Susan Foreman just wants an easy life for herself and her grandfather, the mysterious Doctor.

She wants to be liked and accepted by Cedric and all the other pupils at Coal Hill School. But there’s trouble in in the streets and bombsites around Totter’s Lane. The teenagers are becoming dangerous… Their mission: to hunt down anyone different, or alien…

Susan’s quiet life is about to spiral out of control. Having inadvertently started drawing attention to herself she finds herself drawn into a desperate situation. Suddenly, the chase is on and she and her grandfather are now the hunted...

Performed by Carole Ann Ford and Tam Williams.

+  Destiny Of The Doctors #1: Hunters Of Earth is released on 3rd January 2013, priced £10.20 (CD) / £20.20 (Download).

+  Compare Prices for this product on CompareTheDalek.com!

[Source: AudioGO]

Manufacturer: BBC Worldwide Consumer Products

Written By: Louis Marks

RRP: £20.42

Release Date: 20th August 2012

Reviewed By: Dale Who for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 18th August 2012

When the TARDIS doors open as the Ship is landing, The Doctor (William Hartnell), with Susan (Carole Ann Ford), Barbara (Jacqueline Hill) and Ian (William Russell) find themselves reduced to an inch in size. Faced with a whole new world of dangers - from insects to cats, pesticides to homicides, there's a lot standing between the tiny travellers and a very, very small blue Police Box...

Planet Of Giants is a wonderfully imagined three part story featuring the original TARDIS crew. It's a very different idea for this early stage of Doctor Who (although Irwin Allen's Land Of The Giants made a much longer story of the same subject matter on US television a little later on) but works very well indeed, with some brilliant props on the show, some wonderful back projection shots set at Ealing Film Studios, and some stellar performances from both the main and supporting cast.

The audio and visual properties are top notch as usual in this single-disc release, with the restoration showing the vintage material in the best possible light. The release is also bolstered by some great extras... and a truly baffling one.

Special Features:

Episodes 3 & 4 Reconstruction - Back in the day, Sydney Newman ordered the editing and rejigging of episodes three and four into one instalment, as they dragged, lacked tension and took too long to resolve the story. It works very well as a result and the story moves along at a cracking pace. So why in the name of sanity would you now get the half-completed scenes and reusing existing footage and photographs undo that editing to provide two episodes where the story drags along, instead of the finished article? Frankly it's a mystery, however it's here if you want to put yourself through it. Not a bad extra per se, but certainly a puzzling one, as it's completely unnecessary.

Rediscovering The Urge To Live - Ian Levine, William Russell and Carole Ann Ford reminisce about Planet Of Giants almost 50 years on from the original story, whilst Ed Stradling talks about why they decided to remake the cut scenes for this release. Ford looks bored, although her coaching of the Hartnell "soundalike" is a moment of sheer wonder. A very short piece, but it amuses me no end that Ian Levine wants us to see if we can tell the difference between his scenes and the original filmed ones. Promoting an unnecessary extra with another unnecessary extra at the expense of a proper look back at the serial seems to verge on the ridiculous.

Suddenly Susan - Carole Ann Ford talks Susan Foreman and her role in Doctor Who; her clothes and hair, her co-stars, and shooting schedules. Ford seems to remember her time on the show very clearly, both the good and the bad of the series, and she's certainly honest about it all. There's a warmth and humour to Carole Ann Ford, and her views show this effortlessly. An often overlooked character in Doctor Who, Susan Foreman really did go through a great deal during her time in the TARDIS, and it's refreshing to hear Ford reminisce. The whole interview, as with so many on recent DVD releases, is culled from The Story Of Doctor Who.

The Lambert Tapes: The Doctor - The late, and exceptionally great Verity Lambert talks about the genesis of the characters from the very earliest days of Doctor Who and where the programme has gone since then. Lambert, who was never less than entertaining and informative in any interviews, covers many subjects in this archive footage and makes some perfectly valid points when it comes to things like whether children found the show too frightening. With some fantastic name checks and recognition for the BBC Radiophonic Workshop's finest (step forward Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson). Culled footage from 2003 (again) it may be, but this above any other recent DVD interview is required viewing. Verity Lambert was a genius, and her views hold as true today as they were back in 1963, or 2003. Simply wonderful.

Coming Soon Trailer - When the TARDIS suffers the failure of its transpower systems, The Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) and Peri (Nicola Bryant) make an emergency trip to Varos. With cannibals, public executions and the odious Sil (Nabil Shaban on amazing form), the Time Lord has to fight for his continued existence – all screened on public television to keep the populace entertained… Vengeance On Varos: Special Edition is next up for release!

As always with the Classic Series DVDs Audio Description is available, should it be wanted or needed, and there’s a Photo Gallery of stills from in front of, and behind the camera. There’s also the Radio Times segments from the story in PDF format, for which you’ll need to be viewing on a computer. There’s the obligatory Info Text to give you facts and figures on screen as you watch the unfolding story, and as already mentioned, the DVD has been remastered for optimal visual and audio quality.

Planet Of Giants is an odd tale in itself – the idea may not lend itself to Doctor Who mythos easily, but the execution and production of the story proves what a versatile format the show is. The tale itself entertains effortlessly, and most of the extras are great; with the exception of the main one. The reconstructed parts offer little value and the usual “making of” documentary could have been a lot better. Balancing this are the two interviews with Ford and Lambert, which are both wonderful, insightful and worth the price of the DVD on their own. A must have, certainly; but not for the reconstruction.

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William Russell, the original star of Doctor Who, talks candidly about his time in the TARDIS in Doctor Who Magazine - Issue #448.

Sixties action hero William Russell, talks to DWM about his role as science teacher Ian Chesterton, companion to the First Doctor in the very earliest days of the series:

"William Hartnell never forgave me for leaving," he reveals. "He couldn't understand it, which was nice in a way. He said to me, 'What's the matter with you? You've got three kids, you've got a job, we're having a great time – what more do you want?!' 'I want to do a play, Bill.' He didn't understand that. Maybe he was right. But he never forgave me for jumping ship."

ALSO THIS ISSUE:

FREE AUDIO ADVENTURE!
DWM, in association with Big Finish Productions, is proud to present an exclusive brand new audio adventure starring WILLIAM RUSSELL. THE REVENANTS, written by Ian Potter, features the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan and is available FREE to all readers this issue!

POLL POSITIONS
The votes have been counted and the winners of DWM's annual poll can now be announced! Find out which stories, actors, authors and directors came out on top in 2011. And where did YOUR favourite come in the race for the most popular Doctor… ?

THE OTHER HALF
Author NEIL GAIMAN, writer of the acclaimed 2011 episode THE DOCTOR'S WIFE, talks exclusively to DWM about writing the story and reveals the secrets of the scenes you DIDN'T see…

SAYING GOODBYE
Doctor Who's commander-in-chief, STEVEN MOFFAT, writes exclusively for DWM in PRODUCTION NOTES and tells of the sad day on which Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill recorded their very last scene as departing companions, Amy and Rory. Have your hankies ready!

TIMELASHED
GLEN McCOY, author of 1985's time-twisting Timelash, talks to DWM about writing the Sixth Doctor's infamous adventure and his early career in television.

A NEW BEGINNING
It's 1982 and the Fifth Doctor takes the helm of a crowded TARDIS and navigates the series into a new era as our voyage through five decades of Doctor Who continues with 1982's Season 19 in COUNTDOWN TO 50.

DEFENCE OF THE REALM
DWM goes behind the scenes of the making of a brand new Doctor Who spin-off audio drama series from Big Finish Productions. COUNTER MEASURES features characters from 1988's REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS, and DWM talks to actors PAMELA SALEM, SIMON WILLIAMS and KAREN GLEDHILL who reprise their roles after more than 20 years!

COMIC STRIP CAPERS
The Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory get involved in some very organised crime on an alien world as they embark on a brand new adventure, THE CORNUCOPIA CAPER, written by SCOTT GRAY and drawn by DAN McDAID.

FALL OF THE SHADOW
As the hunt for the Key to Time comes to a dramatic climax, the Fourth Doctor, Romana and K9 face the ultimate forces of darkness in THE ARMAGEDDON FACTOR. THE FACT OF FICTION examines this universe-stopping six-part adventure from 1979 and uncovers dozens of fascinating new facts…

LOST OR FOUND?
As well as all broadcast episodes of Doctor Who, there are a multitude of scripts and story ideas that never made to the screen. Some of these are now being produced as audio dramas, but it would be have better to let the stories rest in peace and make brand new adventures for the Doctor instead? TOBY HADOKE and JOHNNY CANDON debate the pros and cons in A BATTLE OF WITS!

FLASHBACK TO THE FIFTIES!
THE TIME TEAM slick their hair back and join the Doctor and Rose in post-war London where the alien Wire is riding the airwaves of the nations TV broadcasts. Join Chris, Emma, Will and Michael as the bathe in the warm glow of 2006's THE IDIOT'S LANTERN. 

OFF THE RECORD!
The cunning Watcher challenges readers with The Six Faces of Delusion, outs another Supporting Artist of the Month and examines Doctor Who's use of the definite article in A History of Doctor Who in 100 Objects – all crammed into this issue's WOTCHA!

PLUS! All the latest official news, TV and merchandise reviews, previews, competitions, a prize-winning crossword and much, much more!

+  Doctor Who Magazine Issue #448 is out on Thursday 31st May 2012, priced £4.50.

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[Source: Doctor Who Magazine]