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

Day 602: Earthshock, Episode Three

Dear diary,

Way back in the mists of time when I first got in to Doctor Who, this was one of the earliest stories I saw. It wasn’t my first Cyberman story (that was The Tomb of the Cybermen), but it’s a tale that I think really helped make me love the silver giants. There’s really two main schools of Cybermen: you’ve got the sinister, scheming ones of stories like The Moonbase where they infect the crew slowly via the sugar, or The Wheel in Space, where people are hypnotised into helping them, and then there’s the ‘macho’ versions that really make their first real impact in this story. These are Cybermen reimagined for the 1980s, and they really go on to inspire the versions seen in the new series. Both types have their highlights (though I think right now the 1960s versions would win out, but ask me again tomorrow and it’ll be the 80s models. Then the 60s again. You get the idea…), and I don’t think that this particular style of Cyberman has ever been done better than in this episode.

Put simply, the Cybermen in today’s episode are unstoppable. They just are! There’s only a handful of costumes (though more than I’d expect), but they’re being directed and shot so well that it feels like there are hundreds of them. The implication is that we’re looking at something like 15,000 onboard this freighter alone, and you really get a sense that the figure could be true - there really are loads of them. From my twenty-something perspective, I can see that the slit screen and mirror shots don’t always look the best, but it’s another thing that I know would have worked absolutely for me as a child. For me now, it’s the repeated shots of them breaking out of containers, or ripping plastic off themselves that really sell it for me. We’re never told that there’s a whole army waking up here, but it’s all implied and works really very well.

I think it helps that I really like the design of the Cybermen in this story, too. By the time you reach Attack of the Cybermen it’s the controller that sticks in your mind, and the over-chromed versions of Silver Nemesishave never really been as appealing to me (watch me change my mind on that in a couple of months, I’m sure!), but in Earthshock, we get to see this design really shine. I’ve heard people complain over the years that it’s too much of a departure from what had gone before, but I can’t see that at all. This feels like a 1980s update of the costumes seen in Revenge of the Cybermen, and this outfits in turn felt like a 1970s version of the ones from The Invasion. There’s something about this version in particular - right down to the little tubes on the main body (I believe that these were converted from flight suits, and are part of the original suit as opposed to an added detail) that really works for me. The tubes leading up into the helmet and the see-through chin pieces all stand out, too. I think this is the closest to seeing the Cybermen as organic creatures with things plugged in to them, keeping them going, that we’ve come since their very first appearance all those years ago.

I will admit, though, that they do look pretty stupid when Tegan and her squad of soldiers spy on a pair of Cybermen who just mill around having a chat!

Elsewhere, there’s an awful lot to really like about this episode, and a lot of it comes down to the direction. I’ve already praised the way that the Cybermen bursting out of hibernation has been handled, but the lighting in these sequences deserves a bit of attention, too. It’s the same throughout lots of the episode - the different areas of the ship all feel distinct and they’re all lit beautifully. The shot of the Cyberman getting trapped in the door is one that I could bang on about for hours, too - it’s not only a great visual image, but it’s pulled off perfectly. Surely one of the best effects shots the programme has ever given us?

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

Day 601: Earthshock, Episode Two

Dear diary,

Today sees the annual appearance of the ‘classic montage’ which John Nathan-Turner was keen on inserting into seasons in the first half of his time as producer. We get some clips in Logopolis as the Doctor watches his life flash before his eyes, then they turn up in today’s episode to represent the Cybermen looking back over their previous encounters with the Doctor (and to me, the absence of the Third Doctor seems to be staggeringly obvious. I’ve never really noticed quite how much it sticks out that he never got to face off against them, but it’s no wonder that we’ll see this rectified before too long!). Season Twenty-One sees clips integrated via the Brigadier getting his memories back, and then we get snapshots of the Doctor’s previous companions - well, most of them - in Resurrection of the Daleks. This fad seems to disappear by the time the Sixth Doctor arrives, and the programme gets its nostalgic kick from elsewhere.

I’m somewhat gently mocking this practice here, but I can only begin to imagine how exciting this must have been for kids watching at the time. Not only had they just had a shocker of a cliffhanger in which the Cybermen came back after a huge break away from the show, but they were getting clips of the old Doctors facing off against them! People talk about the Five Faces of Doctor Who repeats season as being absolutely massive because it was a chance to see stories they never thought they would, but now they’re getting snippets of them integrated into the series proper. I’d have genuinely wet myself with excitement, I think.

Whereas yesterday’s episode was largely split between scenes in a quarry, a cave, or the TARDIS, today’s episode is filled with far more things that I think of when picturing Earthshock. The freighter has a very distinct style to it, which is beautiful in a kind of industrial way, and much like Four to Doomsday, it utilises the actual television studio itself to help make spaces seem larger and more solid than they really are. When the Doctor and Adric are out exploring the cargo hold, you get a real sense of them actually travelling around the place, rather than it simply being a set. There’s some real tension in these scenes, and it all helps add up to make this simply one of the most exciting things ever.

Where this story differs from Four to Doomsday is in the success of its ‘name’ casting. Under that tale, I praised the inclusion of Stratford Johns among the cast, pointing out that John Nathan-Turner’s stunt casting really could work on occasion - bringing in a well respected and talented actor to fill the role of a major guest character. I mused that perhaps it’s wrong of us to always remember his headline-grabbing casting policy as being a bad thing. This story, however, presents us with the other side of the coin, in casting Beryl Reid as the head of this space freighter. The performance is somewhat out-of-kilter with everything around it, and you do somewhat get the impression that she doesn’t have the first clue about what she’s actually doing here. A pity, because I think it’s the one weak link that’s bringing the story down a little…

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

Day 600: Earthshock, Episode One

Dear diary,

In the old days, Doctor Who wasn’t necessarily a programme which tried to really surprise you. Oh, there have been moments of it over the years - Sara’s sudden brutal death in The Daleks’ Master Plan, or the reveal of the Master in a few of the Pertwee stories for instance (hush, it was sometimes a surprise) - but generally, it’s only been surprising because there were very few places to get information about what was to come. The Daleks’ returns were often heralded in the title of the story, or previewed in the pages of the Radio Times. Companion’s arrivals and departures were in the newspapers some time before they occurred. Even the cliffhangers are simply a part of the programme, so you get to know the format they take.

So I think it’s fair to say that Earthshock is probably the first Doctor Who story that prides itself on actually shocking you. It’s full of surprises, and the production team went out of their way to make sure that these moments stayed intact for the broadcast of the tale. The gallery at TV Centre was closed off, so that passers-by wouldn’t catch a glimpse of the Cybermen in the studio. John Nathan-Turner turned down the cover of the Radio Times - the first offered to Doctor Who since the Pertwee days! - because he’d rather keep it secret. Even the death of Adric at the end of the tale (I’m terribly sorry if that’s a spoiler now, but more than thirty years on I’m fairly sure it’s common knowledge) was kept under wraps by finding a way to have him appear in the following episode - just so that his name would appear on the cast lists and thus throw you off.

Now, my friend Nick likes surprises in Doctor Who. Or, more specifically, he likes surprising unsuspecting fans with twists in the story and seeing how they react. He recently showed a friend The Caves of Androzani without her knowing that it was Peter Davison’s swan song. Oh, the joy of the reaction, as the end of that story approached and she realised that the Doctor was heading to his death! The plan for the next night would be to show her Earthsock, and see how she reacted to all the various twists in this one. The plan somewhat backfired, though, because having been filled once with the ending to Caves, she decided to do a bit of digging on this tale and uncovered the news about the Cybermen and Adric. A pity.

Thankfully for Nick, a week on from that event and it’s my turn to watch Earthshock. I’ve got my own guinea pig to test it out on, and thus I’m joined for the next few days by Emma, who thinks it’s just time for me to show her a Peter Davison story. She’s actually quite excited by it. I’ve gone to great pains to keep the DVD cover hidden from her, and to make sure that the episode is cued up to start playing from the opening titles by the time she enters the room, so that she won’t catch sight of the clips on the menu. We sit through 25-or-so minutes of the Doctor and his companions in a cave, before that stunning final reveal of the Cybermen watching them (‘Destroy them! Destroy them at once!’), and I snap my head towards Emma to gauge her reaction.

‘Friends!’ she declares. I forgot that were Emma to travel in the TARDIS, she’d make friends with pretty much any monster she came across.

But all is not lost. She may not have been entirely floored by the appearance of the Cybermen, but there’s something more interesting happening here which I’m looking forward to seeing play out over the next three episodes. She’s taken something of a dislike to Adric immediately (I have pointed out that he’s being made more whiny and annoying than usual here), and has already told me that it’s his last story because he ‘keeps banging on’ about going home. She’s sure that the story will end with the Doctor trying to get him back to his own planet, so I’m keen to see how she reacts when he ends up slamming into our planet, instead.

It’s quite hard to watch this episode when you know that it ends with the Cybermen showing up. All the suff with the androids in the tunnel feels like padding until the cliffhanger arrives (although it’s plenty enjoyable in itself). Earthshock was one of the very first Doctor Who DVDs that I bought - already knowing the surprises - so for me it’s a story in which I’m waiting to see the silver giants make their appearance. But I love all the stories about kids at the time falling open mouthed, and excitedly discussing it in the playground the next day. I think that’s where this new twice-weekly broadcast pattern really comes into its own: allowing children to analyse the story the very next day at school.

In the past, with returns of characters like The Master, I’ve always questioned how much the viewers of the time would have really known of the character (and several of you have commented with your own tales of the time - please do so today, too, as I’d love to hear how you reacted to this one!), but I don’t feel the need to do that with the Cybermen. They’re one of the elite of Doctor Who monsters, and this might well be the very best surprise that the programme ever delivered…

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

Day 599: Black Orchid, Episode Two

Dear diary,

Do you know… I complained in The Visitation about the way the Fifth Doctor just invites people inside the TARDIS as freely as you like, and even singled this story out for doing it in a particularly ridiculous way, thinking of the ‘strike me pink’ comment as one of the police officers enters the ship for the first time. Actually, though, I found myself laughing as that moment occurred! Maybe I was laughing because it’s especially stupid (it’s not the actual reaction that bothers me, it’s that he then composes himself so swiftly and gets on with the job! Very professional, I’m sure, but I just don’t buy the performance), or maybe I’ve mellowed? Either way, it worked for me!

On the whole, as I’d expected, I simply enjoyed this episode. It’s never going to win an award for being the most amazing episode (or story) in Doctor Who history - I think you’d be hard pushed to find anyone who’s favourite story is Black Orchid, but I’d love to hear about it if that person exists! - but it works as two nice episodes that sit nicely in the middle of the season. I think it also plays a larger part in the grand scheme of things. Just as stories like The Long Game, or The Lodger may feel initially like a kind of ‘filler’ with no real consequence to the season at large, it has a role to fulfil and it does it well. The next story is a fairly momentous one for the Doctor (and especially for Adric), and I’m not sure that the emotion of that story would be as strong if we came to it directly from, for example, The Visitation. We need to see this quartet actually enjoying each other’s company for a while before they’re torn apart, and while I know that the next story opens with more arguing, that doesn’t matter, because I’ve seen here that these people do like each other, and that they can get along.

It also acts as a bit of a breather for us as well as the characters. Black Orchid is somewhat throwaway, but it’s a chance to simply sit back and enjoy watching our regulars in another setting. Peter Davison complains on the commentary, I believe, that there wasn’t much call for this story because Agatha Christie stories are fairly prolific on TV anyway, and they’re often done much better than this one. While I concede that he might have a point to some extent, I think it’s that old thing that Doctor Who does best: taking the characters we know and love, and dropping them into a type of story which we’re already familiar with. We know the tropes of a 1920s murder mystery, so it’s less about that story, and more about seeing our characters interacting with it.

On that level, it works perfectly. There’s some lovely locations, some very nice sets (proving that the BBC has lost none of its touch with creating ‘historical’ settings), some decent performances… yes, I’m a fan of this one. I’m sure it’s a story I’ll end up watching again at some point, just as something to have on in the background somewhere, and remember the time that the Season Nineteen crew simply got along. This is the happiest we’ve ever seen them, but I fear that won’t last for long… 

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

Day 597: The Visitation, Episode Four

Dear diary,

Is it just me, or is Adric really getting the short straw today? The Doctor is treating him horribly throughout and it’s almost a little bit off putting. Adric said the other day that he didn’t think Tegan liked him very much - I have a feeling that it’s the Doctor he should be worrying about!

I’m somewhat disheartened that today’s episode sees the start of something that becomes a bit of a trend during the Peter Davison era of Doctor Who: guest characters getting to look around the TARDIS. It’s almost something of a running joke between a friend and me that it’s the default solution to the Doctor’s problems in this period of the programme once the Sonic Screwdriver has appeared. At least in today’s instance it’s a character who’s filled a large part of the narrative. It’s really in the next story that it starts to get a bit silly.

But we’re also starting to see a bit of a mockery about the way the TARDIS can work. Three times now, we’ve seen the Doctor aiming to get Tegan back to Heathrow in time for her first shift and failing in some way. Only last season the Doctor went on about just how difficult it is to control the TARDIS on short hops. And yet here, Adric is able to manoeuvre the ship into the drawing room of the manor house (mere feet from the Doctor) with interference caused only by Nyssa’s recent attack on an android, and then the Doctor is able to take the ship all the way to London and appear right outside the bakery in which the aliens have hidden!

Now, it could be (and I think this may be my theory for it) that the TARDIS is going out of its way to make sure that these short trips are working out so well because as soon as they touch down in 1666 the Doctor’s place in the flow of history is set in stone. Now that he’s here, he has to be the cause for the Great Fire of London, and thus time is ensuring that the TARDIS can work properly for a short while (could it even be the Time Lords manipulating it?). It’s in this final sequence that we come to one of the things that everybody knows about The Visitation, and that’s the Doctor dropping his flaming torch and setting the place ablaze. He’s getting quite the reputation for this, what with the fire of Rome, too…!

Overall, The Visitation has been something of a mixed bag for me, and I’m coming away from it now really knowing what I think. On the one hand, I’ve enjoyed a lot of the dialogue (particularly anything to have come from Richard Mace’s mouth), been impressed with the Terileptil costumes (another one of those instances where I’m surprised they spent the money on three when only one ever features prominently - making me even more surprised that they weren’t used again), and it’s been a visually nice tale. On the other hand, I’ve been bored during segments of the story, and I’ve got those few issues with it as discussed above. I think this may be another one to add to that list of ‘needing a re-watch once the marathon is over’ to see if it improves at all next time around. I certainly hope so - it’s a story that I’d really like to enjoy more!

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

Day 596: The Visitation, Episode Three

Dear diary,

I’ve always been a bit surprised that the Terrileptils never really made a return to the world of Doctor Who after this story. I think I’m right in saying that they feature in a few novels (though never majorly - usually in the form of a namecheck more than anything), but they never had another story on TV, or featured in any of the Big Finish audios. I’m not especially gagging for them to make a return, but I’m just somewhat surprised to think that they haven’t - when you consider how much of the programme’s history has been mined over the years.

Part of the surprise that they never came back on TV (outside of a brief appearance later in this same season) stems from the fact that they’re suck a nice design for a creature. There’s something about them which is wholly unlike any other monsters we’ve had… I’ve been searching for a way to describe it, but all I can think of at the moment is that the mouth reminds me of Barney the Dinosaur! I don’t mean that in a bad way, simply that we’ve never had a monster costume quite like this before. It’s been so long since I’ve seen The Visitation that seeing the close up detail on the scars to our lead monster came as quite a surprise to me today - to the point that I even wondered if the costume had simply been damaged between recording sessions! I was watching through wondering if I’d just seen an eye missing, so I’m rather pleased that the damage gets addressed and even becomes a part of the dialogue. I like that, and it’s another point in favour of this story.

Still, all this talk of Terileptils is really just ignoring the elephant in the room, because this episode features the moment for which The Visitation is most famed - in which the Sonic Screwdriver meets its demise, and we wave good bye to the tool until it turns up again in the TV Movie. It’s always spoken of as though it were some huge important event in the programme’s narrative… but it really isn’t! Not for me, anyway, because the Sonic Screwdriver has never felt like that much of a big part of the show. I remember the anticipation of getting to Fury From the Deep and seeing the device for the first time, and although its uses have expanded vastly since then, it’s never really felt like a particularly important tool. Even Tom Baker’s Doctor stopped bothering with it from time to time!

Fury From the Deep is a useful point of reference for something else that seems to go a bit wrong with the device in this story, too. The Sonic is blown up, the Doctor is hurt because he’s lost ‘an old friend’, and I simply don’t care. I say that the Sonic hasn’t felt like a particularly important tool in the programme, but that’s possibly my viewpoint being coloured by the stories we’ve had so far in Season Nineteen. The Doctor makes good use of it during Four to Doomsday to disable the Monopticons, but then he sort of stops caring about it. At the start of Kinda, when Adric points out that he’s not got the tool on him, the Doctor wonders what use they could possibly have for it! Of course, it would have come in useful for escaping from a cell, but that doesn’t even get mentioned, as I recall.

Anyway, yes, Fury From the Deep. In that story, you can tell that Victoria is about to pack her bags and leave life aboard the TARDIS because she’s suddenly become completely indispensable to the Doctor. We get none of that with the Sonic, though. As I’ve said, it’s completely dismissed in Kinda, and even in this episode the Doctor has looked at it and wished for a ‘proper key’ while musing that he should probably get a ‘real’ survival kit together (good advice, actually, Doctor!). I don’t feel as though the Sonic’s destruction is any great loss, because the Doctor himself doesn’t seem to care about it any more. If nothing else, the fact that he doesn’t bother to make a new one until late in his Seventh incarnation probably tells us how useful he was finding it. All ‘kettle and a piece of string’ from now on, I think! 

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

Day 495: The Visitation, Episode Two

Dear diary,

Big Finish have just released a box set containing two stories set during Season Nineteen. It’s the first time that Matthew Waterhouse has been back to reprise the role of Adric since he left the programme, and the first time that the ‘original’ Davison team have been reunited for work. One of the stories in particular is set immediately after the events of Castrovalva, and is a chance for this compliment of companions to really meet each other properly for the first time. I’ve mused before how quickly all the stories since The Leisure Hive seem to have passed for the Doctor, and the events around his regeneration - including the introduction of Tegan to the cast and Nyssa as an ongoing character - all came from nowhere and then was just accepted pretty quick. We’ve never had a chance to see the characters bonding, they simply fall into their roles and head off on the next adventure.

Today’s episode is probably the first time that Tegan has been able to spend any quality time with Adric, for example. They’re together in Logopolis as the world collapses around them, he’s out of the picture for Castrovalva, they’re kept largely apart for Four to Doomsday and she spends much of Kinda having a nap and dropping apples on people’s heads! It’s strange to think that she’s been a part of the programme now for sixteen episodes, and getting locked in a cell here with Adric is the first real time together that they’ve ever spent! Even here, they just fall into their plot-specific roles, each trying different ways to break out of their confinement. Coming from the depth a script like Kinda gave to even the smallest of guest characters, it feels a shame to be lacking that in our regular cast. They do get a couple of moments of being supportive of each other, but they never feel particularly ‘true’.

But again, we’ve got another ‘companion in the making’ with Richard Mace. I love the Doctor being paired off with him, and I really do think that a historical companion like this could work well as an on-going character for a short time before they get too impractical. I love his entry to the spaceship for the first time, asking quite reasonable questions about it being bigger inside than out (a recycling of the clever trick from The Claws of Axos, in which the ship has buried itself in the ground on impact, so they only have to pay for and construct a small portion of the ship on location), and the way in which the room is lit.

It’s a lovely design of ship, too, and the lighting on this set is used especially well. People talk of the way that 1980s Doctor Who had trouble with lighting in the studio - and that will be an issue further on in this era - but I think this story is a great example of how to do it just right. All the scenes in the cellars of the manor house are dark and dim and they feel like centuries-old cellars. The crashed ship on the other hand is entirely different: enough to have been done by a different designer. I had to check the director, and it turns out that it’s Peter Moffatt, who has something of a reputation for bland direction. While I can admit that I’m not blown away by it in this story, it’s competent enough, and there’s some really nice touches.

One thing, though… when the Doctor exclaims ‘not again’ during the cliffhanger, is he referring to a recent event that I’ve forgotten where he’s almost lost his head? It’s played as though we’re supposed to have seen something similar recently, but I don’t think we have!

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

Day 594: The Visitation, Episode One

Dear diary,

Is it just me, or is the opening to this story very reminiscent of the opening of The Time Warrior? A group of period characters watch as a ‘shooting star’ falls to the ground one evening, and then bad things ensue! That said, it’s a very strong opening to a story, and a somewhat bold move to go and kill off a load of guest characters before the TARDIS has even arrived in the time period! There’s something rather brilliant about watching these people prepare for battle, and then cutting right to the next morning to find the house deserted. It’s fitting, I guess, that Eric Saward’s first script for the series should open in such a bloodthirsty manor, considering his reputation for violent stories over the next few years.

Once the TARDIS is back in the picture, though, things are a bit more of a mixed bag. We open with the Doctor telling Adric off for the reckless use of the Total Survival Suit in the last story, and while it feels right that there should have been some kind of follow up to that action, I’m not sure we actually needed to see it. The whole exchange just feels like a hang over from Kinda, and is possibly the worst example of linking between stories that we’ve had of late. This is quickly contrasted by Tegan filling Nyssa in on the envenoms of the last tale, and worrying that she may not be free of the Mara’s influence - this is the kind of link that feels right! It gives Janet Fielding another chance to do some proper acting, and it feels far more real than the Doctor’s anger with his young companion.

I rather like the idea that the Doctor is just out looking for some fun in his adventures. While the Fourth Doctor and Romana often felt like they were simply bumming around the universe with nothing much better to do, Davison’s more youthful Doctor feels like he really wants to go out and explore, meeting new people and experiencing new times and places. I feel like I’ve referenced Time Crash a lot so far during this era, but it can be a good touch stone, and this story is the perfect example of the Doctor stopping that sense of ‘trying to be important’, and just going out looking for a good time (although, ironically, this story is one of those instances where he does end up being important to the flow of history).

His meeting with Richard Mace is another great example to show how much better this Doctor can work with one off characters compared to his own companions, and he’s still showing that wonderful sense of wit, especially when he’s making a point of just going where he wants at the manor house. Mace is another of those characters that everyone sings the praises of, and if the partnership with the Doctor continues in this vein for the next few episodes then I think I can understand why, because it’s great fun.

Most of all, though, I think I’m just happy to be back in a historical setting once again. I think I’m right in saying that the last such example of this was Horror of Fang Rock way back in Season Fifteen, and while we’ve had stories like The Ribos Operation, The Androids of Tara, and State of Decay set in almost historical settings since then, we’ve not actually visited Earth’s history for a full adventure in absolutely ages. I’ve already compared this season to the early 1960s years of the programme before now, and I think this may just be another link. It really does feel as though the programme is being taken back to the original format once more, and that really rather appeals to me…

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

Day 593: Kinda, Episode Four

Dear diary,

Full disclosure: I’ve watched today’s episode with the CGI effects option turned on. I’ve been a fan long enough to have seen the original ending with the original snake more than once, and having loved Kinda so much all along, I wanted to go out on a high, instead of… well… with that original snake! I’ve dabbled with the CGI effects over the course of this marathon, but I think that this is the release that gets it the most right. It’s not having to replace lots of small effects across the entire story, but concentrating it all into the final showdown, and I think the CGI here is of a quality that I wouldn’t blink at on television today. It really does serve tohelp the story, and I think it does make the ending all the better for it.

I’m also pleased to say that I finally ‘get’ the Mara. The concept is actually quite simple in the end (I thought it might be, and that I’d just been missing the point for a while), but it’s certainly at its weakest when forced out of Aris’ mind and in to the open. The large snake is supposed to be the climax to the story, the big fearsome monster, but it just doesn’t scare me as much as the thought that the Mara could be inside anyone’s mind, and that it could just as easily infect you as anyone else. I think that’s where showing Tagan as the one who initially lets it enter our world inside her head really works wonders - it can infect a member of the TARDIS crew, the Doctor’s companions, so it must be powerful. Maybe to a child watching at the time, the snake at the end is a massive part of the tale, and the culmination to everything we’ve seen. I’ve built up a following of a few people in the comments to these entries who were watching at the time - help me out guys, was the snake scary at the time (even in its original form?), or had you enjoyed the creeping sense of unease across the episodes leading up to it?

Something I realised watching today’s episode is that I didn’t really take the time to praise Janet Fielding’s performance during the early stages of this tale. There’s been so many brilliant aspects of Kinda to comment on that things have somewhat fallen by the wayside! Fielding has always been a good actress in regards to the series, and one of the better companions, but given the chance to really go off and do something abstract with the ‘dream’ sequences in this tale, she’s really excelled. It’s almost a shame coming to this episode and finding her back in to the standard companion role of asking questions and getting annoyed at the Doctor! I think I’ve praised most members of the cast at one stage or another during this story, so let’s just say that everyone has been on absolute top form throughout Kinda, and the finished result is all the better for it.

Now, though, I’m sad not to be following the adventures of the Fifth Doctor and Todd as they head off to another time and place. Peter Davison and Nerys Hughes have really just fallen in to step with each other throughout this story, and Nyssa cutting short their conversation at the end by whining that she wants to leave (having only been awake a few minutes!) really just hammered home to me how much I’d rather have the Doctor leave her behind, drop Tegan off home, and travel on with Todd instead! I’m somewhat surprised that the character has never come back for Big Finish - especially with Hughes having worked for them over the years - and I’ll be crossing my fingers now and hoping for a trilogy of adventures for the pair. I can dream, can’t I? Maybe not too much, though. I don’t want the Mara to get me…

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

Day 592: Kinda, Episode Three

Dear diary,

I think the cliffhanger to yesterday’s episode - resolved in today’s one - has to rank among the very best that the programme has ever given us. There’s something just so wonderfully Doctor Who about the fact that it can start off as being truly scary (we’ve seen Sanders open the box and lose his mind already, and then there’s Todd’s scream), move that fear into being funny, with a small figure bursting from the box, and then make it truly eerie as you realise that there actually is something in the box, as it starts to shut off all the power in the base and allows the cell door to slide slowly open… It’s carried out perfectly, and it’s a sign of the episode ahead. I’ll spoil things for you slightly here by telling you that today’s episode is - for the first time since Genesis of the Daleks - a full on 10/10 from me. I’ve really loved it.

Since finishing the episode a couple of hours ago, I’ve been trying to wrap my head around just what it is that’s working so well about Kinda, and this episode in particular. I simply end up coming back to the same things I was banging on about yesterday. Everyone involved is treating this episode as though it were something special. It’s got a feel to it that transcends simply being another four episodes in an ongoing series, and it almost feels as though it could be a one-off play by itself. Removing some of the trappings from this era simply helps to reinforce the feeling of this being something different - Nyssa is still locked away in the TARDIS (and not been mentioned here), Tegan only gets a single brief shot in today’s episode, in which she’s asleep, and even Adric’s role is kept small and away from the Doctor.

Meanwhile, out hero is paired off with Todd as they encounter the Kinda tribe and start to piece things together. I toughed briefly yesterday on Nerys Hughes working well opposite Peter Davison, but this episode takes that and really runs with it. When they escape from the dome and start to explore the jungle, they just click as a Doctor/Companion pairing, and much like the Fourth Doctor and Duggan in City of Death, I think this will end up being one of those team ups that I long to see more of.

It’s also bringing out the best in Davison, who’s turning in his most confident performance yet (more confident, perhaps, than even inCastrovalva, which was filmed after this), and has finally really bedded in as the new Doctor for me. His exasperation at being constantly called an idiot throughout the meeting with the wise woman is brilliant, and he plays it so very perfectly. I spent a fair while yesterday praising Simon Rouse’s turn as Hindle during the story, and I fear that I’m simply going to have to repeat myself here. He’s walking a very thin tightrope between underplaying and overplaying the part, but it’s working just so brilliantlyfor what’s required.

Something else that’s really working for me in this episode is just how fully developed the tribe of the Kinda is. We’re given several bits of information about them - such as the fact that they have seven fathers - which could feel completely irrelevant (there certainly doesn’t seem to be any need for that information to further the plot), but actually just helps to strengthen them as a society. It means that when we’re given information about their prophecies, or we’re asked to go along with the more outlandish aspects of their culture, it’s far easier to do, because Ibelieve in this species, and I’m willing to accept anything I have to.

That’s a reflection on Christopher Bailey’s script, which I fear I may have been doing down over the last few days. I keep talking about how good the cast and the direction is, but they can only work with what they’re given. What they’ve been given here is an intelligent, entertaining script, from someone who’s totally sure about the story he wants to tell. He’s done the thing that all the best Doctor Who stories do: created a world, populated it with people, and then dropped the TARDIS in to see what happens to it. Bailey’s name doesn’t often come up during discussions about people’s favourite Doctor Who writers, but I think it’s going to start coming up when I’m asked the question, because Kinda really is one of the best scripts that the programme has ever had.

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Jonathan Morris and John Dorney

RRP: £30.00 (CD) / £25.00 (Download)

Release Date: August 2014

Reviewed by: Nick Mellish for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 15th August 2014

Psychodrome

“Shortly after surviving the perils of Logopolis, Castrovalva and the machinations of the Master, the new Doctor and his new crew could be forgiven for wanting to take a breather from their tour of the galaxy. But when the TARDIS lands in a strange and unsettling environment, the urge to explore is irresistible... and trouble is only a few steps away. 

The world they have found themselves in is populated by a wide variety of the strangest people imaginable - a crashed spacecraft here, a monastery there, even a regal court. And not everyone they meet has their best interests at heart. 

With the TARDIS stolen, and the very environment itself out to get them, the travellers face an extremely personal threat. They'll have to work as a team if they want to get out alive... but can you really trust someone you barely know?”

Iterations of I

“The house on Fleming's Island had been left to rot. Ever since a strange and unexplained death soon after it was built, and plagued with troubling rumours about what lurked there, it remained empty and ignored for decades until the Cult moved in. As twenty people filled its many rooms, the eerie building seemed to be getting a new lease of life.

But now it is empty again. The cult found something in its corridors... and then vanished.

Trapped on the island one dark night, the Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa and Adric look into the building's mysteries, its stories of madness and death. Their only chance is to understand what terrible thing has been disturbed here... before it consumes them utterly.”

***

It feels like it’s been a long time coming: the return of Davison’s original TARDIS crew.  We’ve had new companions come and go, extended time with Nyssa and Peri, and some solo jaunts for Doctor Number Five, but now we’re able to go right back to where it all started, and it really does feel like a pleasant trip down memory lane: Tegan! Nyssa! Adric! The roll call trips off the tongue and by the time the first episode has finished, you find yourself wondering if you haven’t actually heard this crew reunited on audio before, so familiar is the set-up and so at ease are the actors at slipping back into these roles.  It’s a real pleasure to have them back.

This box set comprises two four-part adventures, Psychodrome and the beautifully pretentious-sounding Iterations of I.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, a lot of my focus upon listening to the first play at least was on Matthew Waterhouse, reprising Adric for the first time for Big Finish.  I’m not going to retroactively lie here and pretend I think Waterhouse is the greatest actor the show ever saw (though he is far from the worst) and I have always maintained that as a character, Adric worked very well with the Fourth Doctor and not so well with the Fifth.  However, Psychodrome goes some way into readdressing both of these things for me.

Time has been very kind to Waterhouse and quite simply, the performance he gives here across these two plays is the best he’s ever given us as Adric.  He is undoubtedly helped by a script which plays to all of the individual characters’ strengths, but that aside, he carries a weight and depth to his role that he either did not get the chance to show us on screen, or perhaps could not due to age.  Whatever the case, he is fantastic across this box set, never more so though than in Psychodrome, where Adric lets his mask slip and shows us that he has a deep and desperate need to prove himself to everyone, hinting at his fate in but a few stories’ time.  Sometimes, knowledge of future stories can slightly harm the drama as we know that everything is going to be alright, but in this case, it is knowing the tragedy of Adric which brings things to life.  Quite simply put, we feel extraordinarily sorry for him.

Back to Psychodrome though.  This story is set just after Castrovalva, and much like Big Finish’s play The Elite did for us, it helps plug a gap we as fans had never realized required plugging.  Whereas there it addressed the end of Arc of Infinity and led us nicely into the team as we know them in Snakedance, here it addresses the fact that no-one really knows each other at this point in the TARDIS crew’s history, something never tackled on screen.  We have a Doctor who is getting to know himself and bond with his crew, an Adric who doesn’t know where he fits anymore, and then we have Tegan and Nyssa, cast away from their homes and with awful, painful losses behind them, still recent enough to sting afresh with each reminder.  Psychodrome throws us headfirst into adventure, of course, barely giving us time to pause for breath before the team are lost in caves which seem to shift and find themselves encountering monasteries for mathematicians, man-sized spiders who feed on blood, and explorers with no real sense of direction.

Jonathan Morris’s script is wonderful, letting the story breathe whilst never forgetting the time period in which it’s set continuity-wise and the privilege Big Finish affords both writers and actors, letting them develop characters in a manner never allowed on screen.  As is customary in these things, there is a twist of sorts, and I will confess that I has twigged it long before the characters in the script do, but none of that diminished the happy couple of hours I spent listening to this play.

Next up is the aforementioned Iterations of I by John Dorney, which I will state now was my favourite of the two plays.  Oozing with atmosphere and tension, Iterations gives us a spooky ghost story, set in Ireland during as raging storm where some mysterious thing is slowly killing people one by one.

Beautifully, the TARDIS crew are introduced here with a scene set inside the ship, with Nyssa and Adric trying to prove they can fly it and return Tegan to Heathrow.  It all feels so wonderfully normal, so in keeping with Season 19 and the tropes we associate with this team, and of course they land nowhere near Heathrow at all.  I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.  Before too long, the Doctor is right in the thick of it, learning about cults who believe God is a number, delving into the realm of higher mathematics, and casually batting away comedic barbs from Tegan.  Janet Fielding is on fire throughout this play, clearly relishing the script and oozing the material for every comedy beat she can, whilst Sarah Sutton is put in a rare position of fear and frailty, and as with the others has rarely been as good as she is here.  Again, it could be the fantastic script and Ken Bentley’s deft direction, or it could be the fact that the original TARDIS crew has been reunited: you certainly get an air of them enjoying being together and working with one another once again.  Whatever it is, I would say that this is the strongest Sutton has been since The Butcher of Brisbane and the story itself? It’s a masterclass in using the characters and their unique traits and working with that.

In fact, that goes for both stories.  They don’t forget that Adric is fantastic at maths, an outsider, and alien with the ability to heal quickly.  They remember that Nyssa has lost her whole planet and Tegan her aunt.  They tackle head on the breathless youth of the Fifth Doctor and how he’s finding his feet a bit.  And more than anything else, they do it with style and confidence.

When the Fourth Doctor joined the Big Finish fold, much was made by Big Finish about how they were trying to evoke the 1970s and that feel of watching the show on TV, and you know what? It didn’t work, because so often it felt like they were constrained by these boundaries and trying too hard to ape something that is long gone.  I should add, that doesn’t mean I haven’t enjoyed the Fourth Doctor Adventures, merely that I think they’re grown in strength as they have carried on, as they’ve gradually freed themselves from this idea that they have to be as they were and done their own thing instead.  Where this box set improves on things is that it doesn’t actively try to recreate the era and make a big fuss about it; it does so with ease and no fanfare at all.  It slots in perfectly whilst not trying to lavishly adhere to how things were and what would have been possible and shown.  It acknowledges how things were, it pays lip service to them, and then it tells brand new adventures that play with concepts and characters and set-ups.

So, there we are: the Doctor and Adric and Tegan and Nyssa once again, being their usual wonderful selves but perhaps even more so, perhaps even better than before.  It’s about as strong an introduction to a new/old set-up as we’ve ever been afforded and is an easy ten-out-of-ten affair for me.  Marvellous.

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

Day 591: Kinda, Episode Two

Dear diary,

Back when I was really enjoying The Macra Terror (and doesn’t that just feel like ages back?), I commented that it was too good to be Doctor Who. Don’t get me wrong, I love Doctor Who to pieces. Of course I do. I wouldn’t be making my way through this marathon if not! But there’s always a vague sense you get when watching that it’s simply Doctor Who. It’s rarely high art (nor does it aspire to be), and many of the people involved, especially guest actors, seem to treat it with that same sense of mind - it’s ‘only’ Doctor Who.

One of the places that Kinda is really holding up for me is that - as with parts of The Macra Terror, for me - it’s better than I’ve come to expect of the programme at this stage. Everyone involved, from the writer, to the director, the set designers, the costume-makers, and the guest cast, is treating this as something special. There’s lots of moments that I could point to here, but I think I’m going to focus specifically on our guest cast for the day, because they’re all uniformly brilliant. They’re treating it as though it were any other piece of ‘proper’ drama on television - performances that you’d be able to get away with in the most high-end production of Shakespeare, under the most exacting producers.

That’s true of everyone involved (including our regular cast - I’d hate to be excluding them here, and I’ll get on to them shortly), but it’s especiallytrue of Simon Rouse playing the part of the put-upon Hindle. The cliffhanger to yesterday’s episode requires him to go somewhat over-the-top as he declares his power of life and death over everyone else. It’s a moment that’s very easy to ham up… and I think it’s also fair to say that Rouse actually does ham it up. He goes at that scene with all he’s got and it really is a little bit over the top. What’s so wonderful about his performance in this story is that it works to take that moment too far! It all helps to add to the sense of this man completely snapping, and when he’s toned things down for today’s episode, they help to make that line even more unnerving and - yes - actually a bit scary.

I can’t stop watching him when he’s on the screen - even if he’s not the focus that that particular moment, I’m watching to see what choices he’s making with his movement, because it’s all incredibly well thought through. I think in his performance more than at any other time in the ‘classic’ series so far, you can really see the period of rehearsal before each recording session making a difference. He’s thought through every facet of this character, and he’s really giving it his all - far more than I’d usually expect to see for a few week’s work on a single Doctor Who story.

Then you’ve got Nerys Hughes as Todd - who’s almost become the defacto companion for this story! While Nyssa is asleep in the TARDIS, Tegan is off in the jungle, and Adric is pretending to go over to the dark side (again), the Doctor’s being paired up with another companion! It’s remarkable how well he works opposite a slightly older person, too, compared to the three youngsters that he’s usually with!

I suppose this is the right point to turn to my daily evaluation of Davison’s performance. He’s still feeling his way a little, but we’re more-or-less at the point where he’s settled down into a version of the character that we’ll be seeing for the next few years. There’s a lot to like in his performance today, but I can’t decide if he’s simply humouring Adric when they’re playing the ‘guess which hand’ game. To start with, I was entirely convinced that the Doctor was simply going through the motions in an attempt to pass the time in the cell, but then as the scene goes on he seems to become more and more fascinated by the idea. I don’t know if this is down to an odd bump in the performance or simply because I’m a bit dim - probably the latter!

Speaking of being a bit dim, mind, why is the Doctor so convinced that Hindle’s fear of the vegetation in the jungle is a sure sign that the man is mad? Has he already forgotten all those Terry Nation adventures he had to go through in his first few incarnations?

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

Day 590: Kinda, Episode One

Dear diary,

People often describe 1980s Doctor Who - the Peter Davision years and Season Nineteen in particular - as being a bit too much like a soap opera. I think I can see where they’re going with that, and it’s seen mostly in the way that every episode joins up relatively neatly with the next one. The Leisure Hive sees K9 damaged by sea water, and when Meglos begins, he’s under repair. That tale ends with a call from Gallifrey, which is where the Doctor and Romana are heading when they find themselves catapulted into E-Space in Full Circle. Adric then sneaks aboard the TARDIS, where we find him during State of Decay, and an attempt to return the young stowaway home at the end of that tale leads to the events of Warrior’s Gate, trapped in the void. When The Keeper of Trakenshows up in the Console Room, Romana has only just departed, and that story ends with Nyssa looking for her father, which she’ll contact the Doctor about in Logopolis.

The next one is obvious, with the Fourth Doctor taking a tumble at the end of that story, and those events picking up in Castrovalva. Four to Doomsday opens with the Doctor trying to get Tegan back home, and this story starts off with a discussion of Nyssa’s collapse at the end of the previous one, a device which will write her out of the next four episodes almost completely. Doctor Who hasn’t felt this much like a continuing adventure serial since the early days of Season One, when every story would feature a similar linking device from one tale to the next. I don’t think I mind it - it builds in a nice sense of continuity - but it does mean that all these adventures take place over a fairly short space of time. There’s one or two points of that narrative I’ve just outlined in which youcan find a bit of wiggle room, I think, but it’s tight.

But anyway! We’re on to Kinda, one of the stories that’s generally considered to be something of a ‘classic’, and another one of those ones that I’m not sure I completely understand. I’ve seen it before at one time or another, and I remember enjoying it but not being entirely sure about the nature of the Mara creature. I’m not one who really goes in for ‘fan fiction’, but the one time I did write a story for a friend’s run of fan fics, I chose to write one about the Mara, setting it in a jungle (because, well, that’s where this is set), and with a dome full of research scientists (um…), and a big snake turning up that could eat people. Because, frankly, I liked the image of a giant snake lurching out of the darkness and gobbling up one of the characters. So there. I also included a crystal that the Mara was trapped in (because I think that’s a plot point in Snakedance) and a cave in which the walls are covered with mirrors (because mirrors are the key to defeating the creature in this story). I love the idea of the Mara… but I don’t completely understand it. Here’s hoping that I’ll work it out on this viewing!

We’re certainly off to a good start. The writing out of Nyssa is a little clumsy to begin with, but once she’s out of the way, it leaves us with room for the Doctor to breathe a little, accompanied by only two of his companions. It’s not long before Tegan is taken out of action, too, and we’re left with the Doctor and Adric getting some quality time together. Aside from a brief period in yesterday’s episode (which was under considerable pressure), this pair haven’t had a great deal of time to spend together since the regeneration. It’s nice to see them given the chance to bond, and in such a nice environment, too. The jungle set for this story is really rather lovely, and it’s another thing that feels like a throwback to the 1960s - the Doctor and his companion being given a chance to explore their strange new surroundings.

I’m also absolutely loving the somewhat surreal edge that we’re being given in this episode, with Tegan trapped inside the dreamscape. There’s something about these scenes which puts me in mind of a 1980s music video (I think the make up and almost ‘new romantic’ feel to parts of the sequence help with that), and it’s really great to see the programme going off in this direction once again. The last time that I can really remember the show doing anything quite this triply is right back in The Krotons, when the Doctor and his companions were subjected to all the mind scans, so it’s about time we had more of it!

While I’m at it, I should update my thoughts on the way that Peter Davison is growing in to the part. Once again, we’re seeing him settle in a lot more here than he has done over the last few episodes, and his performance is starting to feel much closer to the one I think of when picturing this incarnation of the Doctor. What struck me most in today’s episode is the fact that he’s almost more like the Tenth Doctor than the Fifth in places - the moment when he describes the one-man travel machine as being ‘obviously an armoured suit of some kind’ is the one that sticks in the mind most clearly. I compared his anger in yesterday’s episode to the character we see in Time Crash, and I think that this is the closest we’ve come to seeing where the Tenth Doctor gets it from. When he tells his earlier incarnation how much he loved him… I think he meant he’d been watching Kinda!

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

Day 589: Four to Doomsday, Episode Four

Dear diary,

Four to Doomsday has never had a particularly strong reputation amongDoctor Who stories, and often people’s criticism of it seems to stem from this episode. In particular, it’s the whole sequence of the Doctor having to perform a spacewalk to reach the TARDIS, and using his cricket ball to propel himself further. I’m not sure what the problem is, though, because I really enjoyed this bit of the story! It was certainly staged a lot better than I was expecting it to be (for a start, the Doctor’s coat actually hangs better here - there’s none of that Castrovalva style, Zero Room nonsense here), and I just know that watching this as a kid I would have absolutely loved this whole segment.

In fact, I think that’s fair to say of this story as a whole - it’s damn near perfect for the intended audience. As a ten-, eleven-, or twelve- year old, I think that this would have appealed to me perfectly. It’s got everything I could want: impressive, large-scale space ship sets, frog creatures, killer cliffhangers, androids, the space-walk scene, Tegan managing to move the TARDIS outside the ship (just)… it’s a story that’s very sure about the audience it’s pitching to, and it pulls it all off with a real flair.

Something else that’s really been appealing to me through this story is the way that Adric gets so easily swayed by Monarch’s argument, and tries to convince everyone else to see things from that point of view. It was a similar situation that got him in to trouble during State of Decay, and it’s nice to see such a thing being continued in his character here and now. People often describe the Fifth Doctor as travelling with a group of children, and while that’s certainly true to some extent (I believe Tegan must be the oldest of the companions, and even she’s fairly young), it’s in story lines like this that we can really see Adric’s youth being used to its full advantage.

It also means that we get to see the Doctor round on him somewhat, and even call him a ‘young idiot’. Davison still isn’t completely sure on the way he wants to play this part, yet, but we’re certainly seeing him figure it out more and more as these episodes go by. If anything, this is probably closer to the performance that he’s giving at the start of Time Crash, when asked to be annoyed at the presence of another Doctor in his TARDIS. It’s fun to watch, and it might actually be my favourite part of his performance so far.

Sadly, though, there’s a number of things in this final episode which really just don’t work for me. Chief among them is the fact that Monarch has spent the last few episodes determined to get his hand on the TARDIS, and yet when he’s stood just a few feet from its open (!) doors, he just continues to mill around, waiting for someone to stop him. Things have slightly fallen apart for me at the end here, but certainly I think Four to Doomsday is better than its reputation would suggest. And with the collapse of Nyssa in the closing moments, we’re about to head on to a story which has a reputation all of its own, and one quite different to this story…

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

Day 588: Four to Doomsday, Episode Three

Dear diary,

I’ve often said - indeed, I think I’ve mentioned it before in The 50 Year Diary - that my favourite Doctor Who story ever is the Eighth Doctor’s final comic story, The Flood. It’s always been the one Cyberman tale which just works for me. The one in which the entire idea of their species just feels most clear, and I think it’s the most effective use of them that we’ve ever seen. I won’t go into detail on the specifics of that story (although I will implore you to pick up a copy if you’ve never read it), but the gist is that the Cybermen are poisoning the rain with a drug which heightens people’s emotions. If something’s funny, you’ll laugh until you drop. If something’s a little sad, you’ll cry until you’ve no more tears. They then proceed to use this to show how awful emotions are, and thus how becoming a Cyberman isn’t something terrifying and scary, but rather something wonderful - a salvation from emotions.

I’m somewhat surprised, then, to see that Monarch is using a similar argument to this - and others presented in The Flood about humans being weak with disease and war and famine - to justify the way that he operates here. He talks of chicken pox, and heart disease, and my personal favourite, the description of internal and external organs as being ‘the greatest tyranny in the universe’. Lovely stuff.

While I’m at it, I should probably take this opportunity to praise Stratford Johns’ performance in this story, too. As we move further in to the 1980s, the programme will see a lot more of John Nathan-Turner’s insistence on casting ‘big names’ partly for the publicity that they’d bring to the show, rather than what they could bring to the role. Often in this cases, it’s theless successful attempts of bringing people in that are talked about, but it’s important to remember that he did manage casting coups such as this one, and I’m really loving every moment of Johns’ time on screen. Certainly, you could never be bored by him!

I’m also enjoying Peter Davison’s performance in this story, too, but for entirely different reasons. As I said yesterday, this being his first story recorded, you can see him trying to figure out exactly what he wants to do with this part over the next few years. Instances of the Sonic being waved around like a Harry Potter wand are at their peak in this episode (and it still doesn’t look right to see him using the tool at all), and there’s a few moments in the dialogue which are either not suited to the Doctor that Davison will ultimately evolve in to, or that he’s just not comfortable saying yet. I have a feeling that the line ‘the devils!’ probably falls into the former category, while ‘of course! That’s it! He’s after the silicon!’ is firmly in the latter.

Still, it’s entertaining to watch him feel his way around the part in this early stage, and although it may seem as though I’m complaining, I’m really not. There’s something quite charming about all of this, and it’s nice to see a version of the Fifth Doctor who is slightly different to the way I usually think of him.

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

Day 587: Four to Doomsday, Episode Two

Dear diary,

I think the thing that’s impressing me the most about Four to Doomsday has to be the sets. They’re stunning! For starters, they’re a nice design in an of themselves, but then they’re also massive. There was a sense of this in yesterday’s episode, too, right from the moment that the TARDIS arrives in the laboratory. There’s just a real sense of scale to the area, with the camera pulling back at times so that we can really take this all in. There’s stairs, and a sense of the ship going on far beyond what we can see before us. Even when we go into corridors (the same corridor sets do get reused as different locations here, but there’s a few of them), they feel somewhat more special than the ones we’re used to seeing. I praised the corridors on location in The Sun Makers because you could see them going on for miles - here you don’t need to see that, because you simply get the impression that they do.

I think my favourite set of all has to be the ‘greenhouse’ one that you see today - lots of trees and other assorted plants poking out and again really feeling massive. I had to check if this story had been given one of the larger studios in Television Centre, because I’m not used to seeing sets looking quite so large. Often, you’ll get a set which is impressive (the throne room in State of Decay, for example, or the Decider’s chamber from Full Circle), but then several smaller sets to help free up the space they need. Here, though, every set seems to be on a grand scale, and it’s absolutely fascinating me!

Such impressive scenery isn’t quite enough to stop me from noticing that Peter Davison hasn’t quite figured out how he wants to play this role yet, however. That’s not necessarily a criticism, by all accounts he was basically put into his costume and pointed towards the studio, but it does make things feel ever-so-slightly off kilter here. It’s perhaps at the most unusual when he’s asked to use the Sonic Screwdriver. I’m so used to the idea of the 1980s Doctors not using this device (we’re only a few stories away from its destruction), that it simply feels wrong to see him waving it around like a wand here to take out the CCTV cameras that insist on following them around. I’m keen to see how long it takes for Davison to settle in to the role from here, so that’s likely to be the think I’ll be keeping an eye on across this first season, at least.

Because the Doctor still isn’t quite 100%, it means that he’s still relying very heavily on his companions, and the script uses this to a great advantage. I spoke yesterday of the way the Doctor tries to keep all of the ‘kids’ entertained, letting Nyssa explore the technical equipment while taking Tegan to meet a new alien species. Here’s he finally finds a use for Adric, too, asking for his assistance when it comes to mathematics. He’s not entirely dependant on them, though, and I rather love that Tegan’s knowledge of ancient history isn’t as great as all the other talents she’s suddenly acquired throughout the story!

The cliffhangers in this story deserve a mention too, while I’m at it. The one yesterday, in which the two drawings Tegan had made earlier in the episode have come to life and are revealed to be the frog creatures we’d met earlier in the episode, was a great one: perfectly Doctor Who with a sense of being somewhat bizarre and whimsical. Today’s is also very well done, as Bigon opens his chest to reveal his android interior. When he lifts up his face, it’s perhaps not quite as effective as they’d like it to be, but it’s a nice twist on the 1970s way of showing off androids.

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

Day 586: Four to Doomsday, Episode One

Dear diary,

We’re at a proper milestone, with this episode. I’ve already had five days since Tom Baker fell from the satellite dish and relinquished the role of the Doctor, but because Season Nineteen was filmed wildly out of order, this is the first episode of Doctor Who since 1974 to be made without Tom Baker involved. It’s hard, looking back on it from thirty-something years later, to really appreciate how much of an impact that must have been at the time. The mid-to-late 1970s were often seen as the ‘golden age’ of the programme, and certainly viewing figures have at various times lately been higher than ever… but I fear that it was starting to get a little stale. Season Eighteen managed to breathe a bit of new life in to the programme, but now we’ve got an entire cast made up of people who haven’t been here longer than about a year. This is where the 1980s begin.

And it’s apparent right from the off that things are slightly different here. Whereas Tom Baker would swan on to a set and simply own everything in there, Peter Davison commands an entirely different presence. He’s the youngest Doctor that we’d had up to this point (by quite some margin), and it shows. There’s something entirely wonderful about the way he reacts to all the various technological equipment on the space ship - he’s much more an excited youngster than we’ve seen before. There’s one particular shot (you’ll know it if you watch the episode) where he looks so thrilled to be exploring this location that he could burst - and you can’t help but smile along with him.

You also can’t help but feel that he’s slightly glad to be out of the TARDIS for a few minutes and away from the chorus of companions he’s currently got around him. In the same way that State of Decay felt like a mum and dad looking after the youngest son, the Fifth Doctor here seems to be trying his hardest to keep up with all his ‘kids’, and making sure that none of them feel left out. I love that he takes the time to show Nyssa the machinery, knowing that it would be of interest to her, and that he takes Tegan with him to meet the masters of this place. Poor Adric has sort of slipped out of being the cute kid now, though, and been recast as the sulky teenager, almost throwing a strop when he’s told to stay behind with Nyssa.

It’s nice to see the Doctor and Tegan getting a chance to bond. She’s had a mad few hours, really: preparing for the first day at a new job, a car breakdown, the murder of her aunt, and alien world, a radio telescope, another alien world, a man changing his face and personality right in front of her… Yikes! People complain that she can be a bit gobby - I think we’re lucky that she hasn’t had a breakdown yet! I also love that the story opens with the Doctor trying to get her back to her rightful place and time. It feels like the right kind of acknowledgement of where she’s come from, and the fact that unlike Adric, she hasn’t chosen to join in with this adventure.

Good job that she’s the one he picks to come along, mind, because she proves to have all the talents they could possibly need for this one! She just happens to be a fantastic artist (and very quick, too!), drawing up images of modern fashion trends, and then she just happens to speak the right aboriginal dialogue to communicate with the people on this ship! Adric tells her she needs to study maths and get a better job - but with talents like hers, I’d imagine she could walk into a job with relative ease!

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

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

Day 584: Castrovalva, Episode Three

Dear diary,

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

Day 582: Castrovalva, Episode One

Dear diary,

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Gordon Rennie and Emma Beeby

RRP: £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download)

Release Date: May 2013

Reviewed by: Nick Mellish for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: June 2014

“The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Nyssa to a vast pyramid, floating in space. A tomb ship – the last resting place of the God-King of the Arrit, an incredibly advanced and incredibly ancient civilisation, long since extinct.

They’re not alone, however. Another old dynasty walks its twisted, trap-ridden passages – a family of tomb raiders led by a fanatical matriarch, whose many sons and daughters have been tutored in tales of the God-King’s lost treasure.

But those who seek the God-King will find death in their shadow. Death from below. Death from above. Death moving them back and forward, turning their own hearts against them.

Because only the dead will survive.”

Have you ever read The Ultimate Treasure? You’ll love it.  It was the first Past Doctor Adventure novel from BBC Books to feature the Fifth Doctor.  It had him alone with a female companion (Peri), was peppered with references to other stories (Kamelion here, hinting at a forthcoming explanation about celery-wearing there) and involved a group of less-than-morally-pure people trying to seek out an incredible reward, that perhaps isn’t quite the treasure they originally supposed it to be, by going through a series of quests that not everyone will survive.

On a completely different note, have you ever listened to Tomb Ship? You’ll love it.  It was the second main range release in a 2014 trilogy of stories to feature the Fifth Doctor.  It had him alone with a female companion (Nyssa), was peppered with references to other stories (Wirrn here, the HADS there) and involved a group of less-than-morally-pure people trying to seek out an incredible reward, that perhaps isn’t quite the treasure they originally supposed it to be, by going through a series of quests that not everyone will survive.

Pity the Fifth Doctor: he obviously stumbles upon these sort of set-ups.  He is fortunate though in that they are both good stories with just about enough differences to elevate it above the repetitive and continual comparisons.  I was expecting something enjoyable as I’ve liked all of Gordon Rennie and Emma Beeby’s releases before, and in that respect, I was not disappointed.  Nor was I upset by developments that took place from last month’s release, Moonflesh, which perhaps flies in the face of my claim that having standalone adventure was refreshing! The developments here, however, do not feel crowbarred in or forced, and I’m looking forward to seeing what sort of resolution we get next month in Masquerade.

Where I felt this release was perhaps not as good as The Ultimate Treasure (he said, comparing again) is that the characters weren’t as stand-out, nor were the perils as well-drawn or interesting.  I don’t feel you ever get invested in any of the characters there, or feel any real threat or tension for them, which makes the central premise diluted somewhat and lacking the edge it should have.

Where this release scores major points is in good, solid writing for the three regulars (he said, not wanting to give too much away) and a very fun ending.  And, sure, we may have been in this territory before, but Tomb Ship is enjoyable enough to keep you listening and engaged across its four episodes.  I hesitate to describe it as another ‘good, solid episode of Doctor Who’, as repeating that mantra over and over raises questions of it own: namely, what makes a good, solid episode of this most eclectic of shows, and I’ll readily confess that I didn’t enjoy it as much as others, nor as much as what Rennie and Beeby have written before, but it was fun enough all the same.  Even if we have enjoyed it before elsewhere.

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Mark Morris

RRP: £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download)

Release Date: April 2013

Reviewed by: Nick Mellish for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: June 2014

“One wouldn't normally expect to find elephants, gorillas and rhinoceroses roaming free in Suffolk in the year 1911. One wouldn't normally expect to find an extra-dimensional police box at the same time/space location either. Two aliens, named the Doctor and Nyssa, exit said box, only to find themselves pursued by a hungry lioness – for they've landed in the private hunting grounds of the famous explorer Nathaniel Whitlock, who's brought together a motley group of friends and acquaintances for a weekend's shooting.

But one of Whitlock's guests isn't all they seem. One of them wants the secrets of the Moonflesh, the mystic mineral looked after by Whitlock's retainer, a Native American known as Silver Crow. Because the Moonflesh is reputed to have the power to call down spirits from another realm…

…and soon, the hunters will become the hunted.”

For whatever reason, I was put off listening to this play for quite a while.  Have I been busy? Yes, but not enough to justify the delay.  Do I like the Doctor/Companion combination? Very much so: Davison is one of the best doctors we’ve ever had.  So, what was it? I couldn’t say.  The slightly drab cover art? The premise, which did little for me? The fact it followed the events of last month’s Flip finale, which so… irked me? Maybe a bit of everything.

I do know, though, that I enjoyed Moonflesh a lot, perhaps because it stood in such contrast to some of Big Finish’s recent trilogies.  It feels completely standalone and devoid of the shackles and gimmickry of recent times, which is oddly refreshing.  It feels strange to say that, as historically Doctor Who does standalone more often than not, but with Big Finish increasingly linking releases and the wide and sweeping arcs we see on screen more often than not nowadays, having a standalone adventure is something that really pleased me.

The story concerns a big-game hunt, as mysterious stone, and a whole host of characters plucked from days of yore, extras in Black Orchid and adventure novels.  Things move along at a cracking pace, and true to form, everything that seems to be being set-up in the opening instalment of this tale is turned on its head by the cliffhanger and leads us into new territory.  Whether you prefer what comes next is a matter of personal preference, but for my money, it was a pretty solid adventure.  There is a lot going on here, from the rise of Feminism to the morality of hunting, from spiritualism to alien goings on, but Mark Morris balances it all rather well, with none of the elements becoming overbearing.

I was especially impressed with his supporting characters in the main.  The play stumbles slightly when dealing with Silver Crow, a character that comes perilously close to being a bit too stock-friendly-and-wise-native for my liking, but punches high with everyone else, especially Hannah Bartholomew, who feels like an older and wiser Charley Pollard in some ways but with a darker sense of morality, and the Whitlocks, who are very well drawn.

Morris has good form with regards to writing for Big Finish, with House of Blue Fire standing out especially strong, and also tackled Nyssa and the Fifth Doctor before in Stockbridge with Plague of the Daleks, and this is a stronger affair than the latter, whilst being not quite as good as the former.  What it is though is a very strong start to the trilogy and hopefully the sign of some more standalone and largely arc-free releases.  I do like the arcs when done well, but as I said in my review of Scavenger, they can at times lend themselves to having their cake and eating it.  There is none of that on display here, and the play is all the better for it.  Is it the greatest story ever told? No, but it’s a solid slice of adventure and, accordingly, I can’t imagine I’ll be holding off listening to Tomb Ship when it arrives for as long as I held off listening to this.

Doctor Who Director, Douglas Mackinnon has paid to Sarah Jones, a camera assistant who was tragically killed on the set of Midnight Rider on 20th February.

Jones, who grew up in West Columbia, S.C., began her career interning on the TV show Army Wives, and later went on to work on The Vampire Diaries.

It is understood that she was killed when a freight train struck and killed her on set filming the Greg Allman biopic, Midnight Rider. The crew were filming a dream sequence on a railroad trestle when a train unexpectedly crossed the bridge. Four other people were injured in the accident.

Whilst filming the new series of Doctor Who with Peter Capaldi, Mackinnon tweeted a tribute picture from the set, featuring a clapperboard with the words “In memory of Sarah Jones”.

When reports broke, there was some initial confusion as to whether it was the same Sarah Jones who worked on The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, with online news sources and IMDB providing conflicting confirmation. Peter Davison (The 5th Doctor), got in touch with DWO to confirm it is not the same Sarah who worked with him:

"Hi. Thought I should log on and say no, it is not the same Sarah Jones who worked with me on The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot. Have checked this with the production co-ordinator, who spoke to her on the 27th of Feb." 

[Sources: Variety; Twitter; Peter Davison]

The BBC have released Peter Davison's comedy sketch 'The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot', which premiered last night on the BBC Red Button.

Synopsis:
A star studded special written and directed by Peter Davison. With the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who about to film, the 'Classic' Doctors are keen to be involved. But do they manage it?

Make sure you keep watching until the very end, as the implications will make The Day Of The Doctor seem even better :)

Watch The Five(isn) Doctors Reboot, below:

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[Source: BBC]

With the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who now less than a month away, BBC Worldwide is delighted to announce that over 40 additional guests from the classic era of Doctor Who have been added to the bill for the Doctor Who 50th Celebration which takes place at ExCeL London over the anniversary weekend.

They will join current Doctor Matt Smith and former Doctors Tom Baker, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy at the ultimate anniversary event, which will welcome over 20,000 fans of the world’s favourite Time Lord to the venue in east London.

First on the list of new names is Peter Davison, who played the role of the fifth Doctor from 1981-1984. Joining Peter at the event over the anniversary weekend will be cast from throughout the 50 year history of the show including the Director of An Unearthly Child (the first episode of Doctor Who), Waris Hussein. William Russell and Carole Ann Ford, who starred as companions Ian and Susan alongside the first Doctor - William Hartnell – will be attending on Saturday 23 November. 

Dick Mills (BBC Radiophonic Workshop), Mike Tucker and Mat Irvine (Classic Era Visual Effects) will also be on hand to facilitate some of the special features at the Celebration, which will be announced in more detail soon.

The Doctor Who 50th Celebration’s opening hours will also be extended on Saturday evening so visitors can enjoy a free 2D simulcast screening of The Day Of The Doctor together. Saturday attendees will be emailed shortly with details about how they can reserve a seat. Visitors should note that the screening will have limited availability and tickets will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Additional line-up by day:

Friday 22nd November
Waris Hussein, Anneke Wills, Kate O’Mara, Richard Franklin, Matthew Waterhouse, Sarah Sutton, Terry Molloy, Gabriel Woolf, Barry Newbery, Michael Ferguson, Fiona Walker, Fiona Cumming and Ian Fraser.

Saturday 23rd November
Janet Fielding, Louise Jameson, Yee Jee Tso, Katy Manning, Carole Ann Ford, Geoffrey Beevers, Frazer Hines, William Russell, Nicola Bryant, Deborah Watling, Sophie Aldred, Daphne Ashbrook, David Collings, Terrance Dicks, and June Hudson. 

Sunday 24th November
Peter Purves, Mark Strickson, Bonnie Langford, John Leeson, Lalla Ward, Wendy Padbury, Maureen O’Brien, Michael Kilgarriff, Julian Glover, Stephen Thorne, David Graham, Donald Tosh, Anthony Read, Andrew Morgan and Andrew Cartmel.

[Source: BBC Worldwide]

 Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Nicholas Briggs

RRP: £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download)

Release Date: October 2013

Reviewed by: Matthew Davis for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 25th October 2013

November 23rd 1963 proves to be a significant day in the lives of all eight Doctors…

It's the day that Bob Dovie's life is ripped apart…

It's also a day that sets in motion a catastrophic chain of events which forces the first eight incarnations of the Doctor to fight for their very existence. As a mysterious, insidious chaos unfolds within the TARDIS, the barriers of time break apart…

From suburban England through war-torn alien landscapes and into a deadly, artificial dimension, all these Doctors and their companions must struggle against the power of an unfathomable, alien technology.

From the very beginning, it is clear that the Master is somehow involved. By the end, for the Doctors, there may only be darkness.

* * *

So here it is at last! The Light at the End is Big Finish’s tribute to the 50th anniversary of our favourite television show and was it worth the wait? The answer is a resounding YES!

The Light at the End is everything you could have hoped for from an anniversary story; multiple Doctors, many companions and a truly exciting story which celebrates the past fifty years with unashamed joy.

Unlike previous releases, Zagreus and The Four Doctors, we get to see all the Doctors interacting with each other throughout the whole story. 

As with past multi Doctor stories there are the inevitable moments such as criticism of taste in fashion , differences of opinion on TARDIS decor and some squabbling. Writer Nicholas Briggs chooses to pair Doctors together before everyone eventually gets together for the final part of the story. This makes for some rather interesting team ups, especially when the Fourth and Eighth Doctor get together. Tom Baker and Paul McGann make a wonderful pairing and they play off each other to great comic effect. Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy also make a brilliant pairing that is somewhat reminiscent of Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee from The Three Doctors, which creates some more wonderful moments.

One of the biggest surprises about the story is that all the classic Doctors make an appearance and I do mean all of them. How this is achieved I wouldn’t dream of spoiling by telling you but Big Finish must be commended for taking on such a risky and delicate matter and achieving a lovely tribute to those wonderful actors no longer with us.

The Light at the End surely must feature the largest cast of guest stars in any single Big Finish release. The cast includes many Companions of the past from Carole Ann Ford to the very welcome return of India Fisher and many more lovely surprises. Wisely, unlike other anniversary specials of the past, Briggs uses them in small but wonderful moments and little flashes of memory - it pulls at the fans’ heart strings and no one outstays their welcome.

The Companions themselves have a really great part to play but ultimately this is a story about The Doctor. That is not to say the companions are wasted; they play a really important part in the story and Ace’s descriptions of each of the Doctor’s incarnations is worth the purchase price itself.

The cast are on exceptional form and an extraordinary script makes this a top notch audio drama.

Briggs must be singled out for great praise. The Light at the End in the hands of a lesser writer could have been a mess. The temptation of an anniversary story is to succumb to all our fan dreams and fill the story with so many references, characters and monsters that the story is crushed under its own weight (I’m looking at you Dimensions in Time!). I take my hat off to Briggs for not only creating a superb script which serves all the Doctors and their legacy but for writing a cracking story in its own right. 

Having The Master as the sole antagonist is a smart move on Brigg’s part, especially as he has been such an important part of The Doctor’s history. This choice of foe gives the story a clear sense of direction and enhances the impact of its message. We are reminded throughout just how important The Doctor is and the impact that he has on those around him and the Universe as a whole is inescapable.

Just as we are reminded that The Doctor has impacted on the lives of those he meets in his stories, so too are we reminded of the importance he has had to us as listeners. We wouldn’t be listening to this story if hehad not had an impact on us at some point in our lives. This is something that Briggs understands completely, as he is one of us; a true fan. He doesn’t just love the show, he truly understands what makes it important and it is this understanding that really shines through.

The Light at the End really is a wonderful tribute to the power of Doctor Who and its legacy and this is one release you really cannot be without.

Here’s to the next 50 years...

 Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Eddie Robson

RRP: £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download)

Release Date: September 2013

Reviewed by: Nick Mellish for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 23rd September 2013

If you remember the Sixties, they say, then you can’t have been there.

The Doctor remembers the Sixties. That’s why he’s taking Nyssa on a trip back to November 1963. Back to where it all began. Back to the birth of the biggest band in the history of British music. Back to see those cheeky lads from Liverpool...

Mark, James and Korky. The Common Men. The boys who made the Sixties swing with songs like Oh, Won’t You Please Love Me?, Just Count To Three and Who Is That Man.

The Doctor remembers the Sixties. And there’s something very wrong with the Sixties, if the Beatles no longer exist…

* * *

So, it’s 2013, the year of the big 5-0. Ever since the series came back to our screens in 2005 and did exactly what Doctor Who, Paul McGann’s solo (so far) televised adventure, didn’t do, people have been counting down the days until November 23rd 2013 reached us, in which time we’ve had a whole host of new Doctors and more Big Finish than you can shake a stick at. (Please don’t shake sticks at Big Finish; they’re rather lovely.)

Now we’re in 2013 at long last, it’s time for the celebrations to begin and the nostalgia to kick in, and kick in big time.  We’ve had stamps, postcards, jigsaws, a host of e-books, Dalek toys and William Hartnell popping up in The Name of the Doctor (though what he’s doing wearing his ‘Earth’ clothes before he’s ever reached Totter’s Lane is a mystery) amongst many other kisses to the past.  Big Finish meanwhile have given us more than anyone else, with their forthcoming anniversary special The Light at the End, the Destiny of the Doctor range of stories which link past and present, and now this trilogy of stories under the 1963 umbrella, and what better way to start it than Eddie Robson does here?

We’re back to the first year of the show, centring a play round a throwaway reference to a band name-checked in the very first episode.  It could all fall flat and feel either forced or, worse, corny, but it doesn’t because Robson is too good a writer to let that happen.

The basic premise, that someone or something has removed The Beatles from time and replaced them with a similar but ultimately lesser band, is a good one, and it allows the play to let rip with some incredible music (the musical suite extras on the first disc are nine minutes of pure loveliness), some nice Beatles humour (a character named Sadie here, the Doctor mentioning All You Need Is Love there, a riff on John Lennon’s famous comment to the Queen et al. to rattle her jewellery) and a really enthusiastic performance from Peter Davison in the lead role.

Never one to give anything less than his all, even when the scripts don’t deserve such effort, Davison is on fire throughout here, rushing from scene to scene with a tangible energy and zeal, whilst Sarah Sutton is equally enthused, playing Nyssa with just the right level of alien bewilderment and a seriousness that hides a wry sense of humour.  The guest cast is similarly strong, Mitch Benn being especially impressive as Not-John-Lennon-Definitely-Not-Please-Don’t-Sue, or Mark as he’s known to his friends.

Where the play really succeeds though is in the script, which is tight and clever, with enough clues to keep you guessing and enough answers to keep you wanting to find out even more as the play unfolds. The ending is neat, too, and doesn’t leave you feeling cheated: we’ve not got ourselves a hexachromite gas situation here, nor is there a Myrka in sight, thank goodness.

Robson successfully hits that fine balance between kissing the past and striding towards the future, and certainly kicks off this latest trilogy in a fine way.  If the other two can match this play’s sense of joy, celebration and innovative energy, then we’ll be in for a treat these coming months. Let’s just hope the Companion Chronicles’ forthcoming celebratory trilogy has as impressive a beginning as 1963 has.

Doctor Who has picked up two awards at this years TV Choice Awards, held at London's Dorchester Hotel.

The first award of the evening for the show was in the Best Drama category, where it beat off competition from Downton Abbey, Waterloo Road and Call The Midwife. 

The second award was for Outstanding Contribution, with Steven Moffat, David Tennant and Peter Davison taking to the stage to accept the award for Doctor Who, with Matt Smith appearing via a specially recorded video message.

On accepting the award, Steven Moffat said:

“I’m receiving an award about Doctor Who from Doctor Who while Doctor Who is busy filming in Cardiff.”

Matt Smith lost out on the Best Actor award, with ex-Doctor, David Tennant winning for his role in Broadchurch.

Jenna Coleman lost out on the Best Actress award, with Miranda Hart winning for her role in Call The Midwife.

[Source: TV Choice]

Ex-Doctors, Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy were spotted outside TVC this morning, next to placards saying "No Doctors. No 50th!" and "Have a heart! Classic Doctors want a part!".

Colin Baker is also reportedly meant to be at the location too, which DWO believe to be for the filming of Peter Davison's tongue-in-cheek short film to commemorate the 50th Anniversary.

Davison has previously recorded a short for the Gallifrey One convention in LA. You can watch the short he recorded for the 2011 convention, below:

[youtube:6qSnDhpzsMk]

DWO will post more on this news as we get it...

[Source: Twitter]

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Jonathan Morris

RRP: £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download)

Release Date: June 2013

Reviewed by: Matthew Davis for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 13th July 2013

Twenty-five years ago, with Richter's Syndrome running rampant throughout the galaxy, the brilliant biochemist Nyssa, formerly of Traken, bade a painful farewell to her young family... and set off into the space, in search of a cure for this deadly disease.

She never returned.

Now, her grown-up son continues her work on the penal colony of Valderon, still desperate to make the breakthrough that eluded his presumed-dead mother.

So when the TARDIS lands on Valderon, bringing the Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and Nyssa to its fortress prison, the scene is set for a painful reunion... but not only for Nyssa. The Doctor's past is about to catch up with him too...

* * *

This season of Fifth Doctor stories has focused primarily on the companions and for its closing chapter we have a very emotional and dramatic story about Nyssa. 

The great problem when trying to write a review of Prisoners of Fate is that there are so many revelations and surprises that to go into too much detail would be to spoil your enjoyment terribly. The great plot threads surrounding Nyssa that began in way back in Cobwebs finally come to their dramatic conclusion. 

This story feels very much like an extended version of a finale in the recent television episodes.

There is high emotion, paradoxes and great universal danger. Amidst all this Prisoners of Fate is a very personal story for Nyssa and her lost family, more specifically her son Adric. Their relationship and destiny are at the real heart of this story and it never feels over shadowed by the paradoxical nature of it all.

Jonathan Morris is a highly gifted writer, who not only knows his Doctor but can add such wonderful new things to the already existing mythology which enrich it further for long time fans. He offers tantalizing glimpses of the Doctor’s past and future, all of which is essential to one of the great plot twists in the story.

The entire cast is on incredibly fine form and Sarah Sutton’s performance is just wonderful. The story has a wide range of emotions for Nyssa which Sutton carries off beautifully. It is certainly the highlight of an already impressive audio adventure.

Prisoners of Fate certainly sets up the future for this TARDIS team on audio and it will be very interesting to see what happens next.

Do your best to avoid any spoilers and enjoy a brilliant conclusion to a highly enjoyable trilogy.