12.5 Revenge of the Cybermen

The story continues as the Doctor and his companions use the Time Ring, and return to the Space Station Nerva where the TARDIS is located.  Unfortunately, when they get there, things have gone awry.  There's a plague on board.  Actually it's not really a plague.  The Cybermen are killing everyone using their evil looking Cybermats.  These Cybermats look different.  They don't look like something you'd find in the janitor's closet.

So the Time Ring returned them to the same place, just years earlier? That ring is a piece of crap!  Or did the Time Lords deliberately send them to a different time?  The Doctor has become a real slave worker.   Actually, it's more like a bracelet.  The Time Bracelet doesn't sound as cool, though.

The Cybermen are just unlucky.  Their home planet has been destroyed, and all other attempts to take over the universe keep getting foiled by the Doctor.  Such a shame. 

I didn't like Cybermen's voices this time around.  They sounded like humans behind masks.  There was no indication in their voices that they were half robotic. At least they have discovered a use for the bulbs on the top of their heads.

It seems that Cybermen are violently allergic to gold, which is pretty strange if you ask me.  They are on a campaign to take over the universe, and want to destroy the planet Voga so no one can use it as a tool against the Cybermen.  Wow, that's rather elaborate.  Frankly I think 99% of the population would not guess that gold kills Cybermen, but there's always that 1% I suppose. 

"I heard from the Zarbi that the horrible Cybermen are allergic to gold." 
"Okay, let's go to Voga and get some."
"Wait, is that the only place in the universe where there is gold?"

Unfortunately, the guardians of Voga don't want to be blown to smithereens.  Can you blame them?

We get to see Tom Baker run through caves with a bomb strapped to his back.  Pertwee would never have allowed that to happen.

 What exactly is the Cybermen's revenge? 

Slightly unhinged guy who wants to take over the universe.  Not going to happen.

 Is it me, or did this seem particularly violent with all the carnage and dead bodies scattered far and wide? 

 Apparently the symbol used by the Vogans is later used as the Time Lord's symbol.  There's no significance there.  They just want to irritate us.

Next Up: Terror of the Zygons

12.4 Genesis of the Daleks

This story is interesting because it delves into the history of the Daleks, and how they came to be.  I think it is supposed to take place before the very first episode in the William Hartnell era.  Of course, they didn't all start as Daleks, and they weren't all so blasted angsty in the beginning. Well, most of them weren't. 

The Doctor and his companions are sent to Skaro by the Time Lords, to defeat the Daleks once and for all.  This seems like a good idea, but really it brings forward a moral dilemma.  Like who wants to go through The Daleks' Master Plan all over again?  Killing off an entire species, so that the universe will be spared of the terror/return/revenge of the Daleks doesn't seem completely right.

The Kaleds and the Thals are at war on the planet.  This makes sense in light of The Daleks episode.  Oh, I see, if you rearrange the letters in Kaled, you get the word Dalek.  I wouldn't say that is terribly clever, but that's all we get.  Maybe it would have been cooler if they had been named after their creator, but then The Return of the Davroses just doesn't sound quite right. The Kaleds still seem like a blood thirsty lot.  Quite a few of them act a bit like the Nazis.  They seem very intent on wiping out the Thals once and for all, and the Thals kind of come out as victims in the whole scheme of things.  They're the ones all deformed, limping and wearing rags. 

Actually this story was supposed to have a lot of Nazis undertones, according to Terry Nation.  The Mutos, mutated creatures of both the Thals and the Kaleds, were eliminated because they were not pure.  It was a bit obvious to us that it mirrored Hitler and the Nazi regime.  I kind of like the Daleks, but I can't now because it would be liking Hitler.  Or, something like that. 

I did have some trouble getting past the fact that this all took place before William Hartnell's first episode.  I mean, Hartnell's was black and white, and looked kind of cheap. 

The creator of the Daleks was Davros, who is just a little bit on the crazy side.  Plus, he looks like the kind of guy that you wouldn't want to introduce to anyone.  I wonder if it had crossed his mind to make a really kind Dalek, just for kicks, but maybe he just didn't get around to it.

 
Death by monster conch shell.

I still need someone to explain to me why creating something without a conscious, kindness or any sense of morality is an upgrade.  Davros was such an insane dude, it's a pity that his creations were so bad.  Maybe they could have created a good race of Daleks.

You can't have an evil character, without his evil sidekick.

Of course the Daleks turn on their creator. That's what happens when you make them killing machines. 

I thought it strange that the Doctor, after struggling with this conscious the first time, returned to blow up the Dalek babies.  Unfortunately, this action was needless as the Dalek prototypes survive, saying that they're going to continue their mission.  Who was in need of a good Dalek bomb now?  Killing all the Dalek babies set them off by 1,000 years, according to the Doctor.  I was imagining that it wouldn't take 1,000 years to make more Dalek babies, but I'm not knowledgeable about this kind of stuff. 

That gosh darn Time Ring!  It was almost like the Mercury issue that Hartnell had in his episode.

Next Up: Revenge of the Cybermen

12.3 The Sontaran Experiment

This was only in two parts, but since it's a continuation of the last episode, I consider it the last two parts of the last episode.  This sort of thing doesn't make any sense to me. 

Because the Ark is off by a couple thousand years thanks to the Wirrns, their appearance is considered a myth in Earth history.  The spacemen on Earth are from a different colony.  One of their freighters has gone missing, and they came to Earth in response to a distress signal.  However, their ship vaporized when they landed, and now these spacemen are stuck on Earth.  Unfortunately they are mysteriously disappearing.  Of course they think that the Doctor and his companions are somehow responsible for it all.

Well, the title sort of gave away the answer to the riddle.  The Sontaran is doing experiments on these humans, so that they can determine the physical limitations of mankind.  The Sontarans are at war with their arch enemies, the Rutans.  Somehow the Sontarans think that they should invade Earth as well. 

Of course the Doctor stops the Sontaran, and then communicates with the Sontaran leader to stop the invasion because they are all onto their plan.  The Doctor saves the day!

I didn't like the look of the Sontaran in this episode.  I felt his face looked too much like clay. I liked the rough, battle scarred look in the first appearance of the Sontaran.

We get the see the Sontaran's head deflate, which was really disgusting.

Sarah Jane is rapidly falling into the category of "Tortured in some way in every possible episode" companions.   

Next up: Genesis of the Daleks

12.2 The Ark In Space

This is not to be confused with the episode titled The Ark, even though their ark was also in space.  I don't like it when Doctor Who tries to mess with my head.  I thought it was some kind of sequel, or continuation of The Ark, because heaven only knows we needed to see the Monoids one more time. I never dreamed they would make a sequel to The Curse of Peladon, and they did, so maybe they're messing with us again.

Anyway, it's not a sequel. It just has a similar title.  It only takes a couple minutes before you think that they are all going to die. But since that would be a first in Doctor Who history, I very much doubt that was actually going to happen. Wouldn't it be great to introduce a new Doctor and then kill him off in the first or second episode? That would be great.  Maybe not to you, though.  I would find it amusing.   

So it's weird seeing Harry in this episode, because it never crossed my mind that he would actually become a companion. Honestly I didn't even think much about him in Robot, or pay much attention to his character.  I think my attention span is sliding a bit and this was only in four parts. 

This Ark is filled with cryogenically suspended humans along with animal and botanical specimens.  The original Earth was in a bad way, so they created this Ark which would return to Earth after 5,000 years, and repopulate it.  Of course this plan got screwy, because some sort of alien crawling about like a man in a sleeping bag, has got on board and hijacked the ship, infiltrating the minds and bodies of some of the humans. 

The alien bugs are called Wirrns.  Hey, it sounds like someone from the New England coast trying to say "worms".  Just kidding.  Noah is a good egg, though.  He saves the humans, even though he has turned Wirrn. 

Now that you mention it, the plot from the movie Alien seems to be ripped off this story. 

My hand! AHHHH My hand!!!

My body! AHHHH My body!

The episode ends with the Doctor and his companions beaming down to Earth to fix the transmat so the remaining humans can beam down.

It's a continuation! So don't go about telling me it's only four parts!

Next Up: The Sontaran Experiment

12.1 Robot

 

I'm not a huge fan of robots, so I wasn't thrilled with this plot.  Of course the robot had feelings and something of a conscience so it spent a goodly time talking about its prime directive and all that. This is not a unique plot concerning robots.  It kind of turned into King Kong at the end, when it got very large, and put Sarah Jane on a high building.  It also reminded me of Robocop, who had a similar issue with its "Prime Directive".  Captain Picard was always spouting nonsense about the Prime Directive in Star Trek, too. 

I'm not really sure about Tom Baker just yet.  He came across as rather goofy in this one.  He dressed up in funny costumes before he settled on a particular look.  It was supposed to be humorous.

My expert viewer mentioned that he doesn't remember the last time when the main evil character was a woman.  They haven't done that before to our recollection.  What does Winters want to get out of the robot?  There's a group of mad scientists about, who want the world to be a better place. So they decide to cause a massive world war, and send the robot to kill off people who are a threat to their society.  That's just great.

The Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to detonate bombs in the minefield.  Hasn't he done that trick before?

I thought the bucket of virus thrown onto the robot was very strange.  It was as though they couldn't decide how to destroy it, so they came up with a bucket of soapy water to end its life.  That was very strange.

The Doctor drove Bessie around.  It just didn't seem right. 

Even stranger, Harry the medical doctor, becomes a companion.  Yes. That's right.  We now have a male companion!  We haven't had one since Jamie, so this will be very interesting.  I hope they keep him for a while. 

Tom Baker seems to have a dry sort of wit, like Pertwee, but Baker is more disarming.  He says rude things, but in an offhand way, so you don't get the feeling you want to slap his face.  He's also very energetic, always running about.  I think he and Sarah Jane fit very well together.  They both have a similar kind of energy.  I love how the Brigadier just sort of rolls his eyes at the Doctor.  He's been through this before.  Actually, it's amazing that the Brigadier has met all the Doctors so far.  He's even met Hartnell in The Three Doctors.  Not everyone can claim that honor. 

 

 

Next Up: The Ark in Space

11.5 Planet of the Spiders

If you have arachnophobia, you will not like this episode.  And even if you are not afraid of spiders, you still might not like this episode. 

One of the few things I liked about this episode was that the Doctor had stolen the crystal from Metebelis III, and that little issue cost him his life.  He doesn't always have to answer to his crimes, so it was interesting that he was responsible for the problems that occurred because he had stolen the crystal.  In a way Troughton also had to answer to his crimes, and it cost him a regeneration as well.  Eventually the bad things you do in life will catch up with you.  Good thing that Jo Grant had got it off her hands, or she would have found herself in some really strange doo doo.

When people tell you there is a spider on your back.....it's not a good thing.  Your behavior might change, and you may just do things you don't remember. 

It was interesting that they brought back Yates, who's sort of wandering Earth, kicking himself in the pants for betraying U.N.I.T.  He wants a chance to redeem himself. 

Professor Clegg really didn't last that long. I am still wondering why they killed him off so quickly. I thought he would have a greater role in the story.

Part Two was ridiculous, as it involved a very long chase scene in the Whomobile, a stupid looking helicopter, a hovercraft and finally a speedboat.  It was like they were giving Pertwee his last few moments driving strange machines.  It was very James Bond-ish. 

I like that the spiders refer to themselves as Eight Legs.  Really, that's the best you could come up with?  "We have eight legs! Let's call ourselves that!"  If you are evil mutant spiders, shouldn't you have like thirteen legs or something? What makes you mutants? You can talk, and are evil?

So there was another renegade Time Lord sent to stay on Earth.  Apparently we needed him to explain the whole regeneration thing and show us how it happens.  Oh wait, all those stories about his childhood memories with a hermit really were true.  I thought he was joking all this time! 

There's all sorts of regenerations happening left and right.  Thank you, but I think I understand how it's done now.   We then witness the regeneration of Pertwee into Tom Baker.  Wow!

I'm ready to move on to a new Doctor.  Pertwee was a Doctor for quite some time, and I felt as though his character was used well enough.  I am interested in Tom Baker, because he is generally the most liked of the Doctors, and I would like to know why that is.  I will miss Pertwee's flair and sense of style.  He definitely played a unique version of the Doctor.  I hope he fits well with Sarah Jane, or is she going to leave, too?

Mostly what I will remember about Pertwee was his clothes, his rudeness to everyone with intelligence, his fondness for tea, and his ability to put himself into comas. 

Next Up: Robot

11.4 The Monster of Peladon

Of all the episodes from which to create a sequel............though I should be grateful that we didn't see, The Monster of the Web Planet.  Wait, haven't we already established that the monster of Peladon was real and his name was Aggedor?  Why do we have to rehash this?

The production code to this was YYY.  Exactly my reaction as well.

And you get an F- from me for originality.  We have the ruler, who isn't David Troughton but his daughter, who is also quite useless.

We have the Chancellor, who must have been related to the previous Chancellor because he's naughty too. 

Aggedor has survived all these years. We get to see the Doctor calm him with a ridiculous rendition of God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman, again. 

We get the wall torches that open and shut doors. The Alpha Centauri is there, as well, because we missed that image burned into our brain. 

The Ice Warriors are back.  The only difference being that they are lousy and mean spirited in this story.  I liked the first story, when the Ice Warriors were actually good.  It was a nice change of pace.

The natives of Peladon are new. We called them the 'badger people', mostly because of their hair, they dug in the dirt as miners, and they were kind of angsty.  But then, if you had to go through a curse all over again, I'd be angsty too. 

It's rather handy when your planet has a mineral that everyone really wants.  All the people on the planet think that joining the Federation was a bad idea.  Good one, David Troughton, way to continue your legacy.  What was the perk to joining the Federation anyway? It seems as though it's not all that awesome.  "Hi! Now we can take all your stuff voluntarily, instead of by force! Yay!"

Why didn't they let Aggedor loose in the tunnels to kill everyone, instead of using a 'fire breathing' image of him? Or would that be too much like the original plot?  I suppose Aggedor was a bit of a loose cannon.  He might not do the job right. Maybe I miss the irony.

There's the character who acts really nice but is actually quite insane.  He wants to be master of the universe. Where have we heard that story before?

I hate Sarah Jane's drama face.  I think she talks like her jaw is wired shut.  Her teeth barely move.  It bothers me quite a bit actually. I like her better as an older person.  I just find her personality off putting right now. 

I wish I could place myself in sensory withdrawal sometimes. 

Next Up: Planet of the Spiders