CYBERMENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
I really liked this. It contained several characters whom I found interesting and entertaining. I guessed that either the Daleks or Cybermen had returned, as the writers kept the villain's identity a secret until the last possible moment. Cliffhanger! I don't know if they were particularly better this time around, but they were vastly more interesting than The Wheel in Space.
Only chapters one and four do not exist, so I was saved a relative amount of pain and rolling in agony. I'm not going to miss these reconstructions.
Evil Chen is BACK!!! Actually this time he is evil Vaughn. He basically plays the same role, only this time he's trying to control the Cybermen who are taking over the planet. He thinks he can command them, which of course isn't going to work very well. Like before, he has his own agenda. This time Vaughn has an evil sidekick. His name is Packer. He also does the voice of the Cybermen. Vaughn and Packer worked very well together, and it was rather entertaining watching them try to keep ahead of U.N.I.T., the Doctor, as well as the Cybermen. It's very exhausting when you have to fight a bunch of different groups, you see. Vaughn even writes the same way as before. Maybe he really doesn't know how to hold a pencil.
Vaughn redeems himself, which is more than I can say when he was Chen. The Doctor persuades him to be a nice guy for the good of humanity, and Vaughn agrees to help. I liked that, because that makes him a complicated character. He could have stayed evil, but he didn't. It was a real pity that the Cybermen killed him in the end.
The machine that Vaughn invents to destroy the Cybermen was painful. Apparently you can put human emotions in the Cybermen, and their heads will explode. Also, we got to see a half-baked Cybermen running through the sewers doing absolutely no good.
The Brigadier is BACK!!!! I am in love with this man. My expert viewer is a little offended every time I see the Brigadier and I say, "Mmmmmmm. Hot bunssssssss." Of course, I just say this to tease my viewer [HE likes Zoe], but I really do like the Brigadier and I'm not sure why. His role isn't any better than anyone else's. He's got his own sidekick named Benton. He and the Brigadier work well together.
So this episode was full of very likable characters, which helped the plot considerably. I even liked the bad guys, which I don't usually. It's great in the end, when the Cybermen change their plans to take over Earth and decide to blow it all to hell. We love violent plots for no particular reason.
Is Zoe a little full of herself? She decides to stay behind and pose for the Watkins daughter. Doesn't that seem a little odd? "Oh you go and fight the evil Cybermen. I'll stay behind and lie in provocative poses to make all the guys slobber." That darned boa she wore was also freaking annoying. It was very distracting. How did the Doctor know that Zoe was wearing a boa, when he hadn't seen her in it yet?
It's a real pity that Travers and his daughter were not in this. That would have been particularly awesome. Instead we get a beleaguered Professor Watkins, and a daughter who delights in taking pictures of dead Cybermen. Although if Travers had to be in it, yeti would probably start appearing out of nowhere. It's the Cybermen! It's the Yeti! Ye gods!
The entire Cybermen fleet is destroyed by both the Doctor and Zoe's clever mathematical computations. How do they sleep at night?
Planet 14 is known to both the Doctor and the Cybermen. What is Planet 14, and more importantly where are Planets 9 through 13?
Next Up: The Krotons
This was a very strange one. It wasn't really a good strange, either. It reminded me somewhat of the Celestial Toymaker, only this was a bit more imaginative and more detailed.
The Master is a writer, kidnapped and held hostage in the Land of Fiction. He's been there for a long, long time. He needs someone to replace his seat, and his eyes are set upon the Doctor who is clever and quick. Will the Doctor be okay with this? Likely not.
This story was full of different fictional characters. My favorite character was Gulliver, from Gulliver's Travels. My expert viewer told me that all of his lines came directly from the book, and were not made up. It was impressive that they could work that into the script.
The first episode was definitely unnecessary. They're running around in fog, screaming their lungs out for no particular reason. Zoe has no common sense. I don't like the impulsive young girl personality --- like we haven't seen that before --- and her opening the door and running into the fog for curiosities' sake was stupid. I wanted to slap her. I'm also not quite sure how the first episode was directly related to the following plot. It seemed out of place.
There was a bit of humor in this, especially when the Doctor screws up Jamie's face. It goes to show that he's never looking at his face. In reality, Jamie contracted chicken pox so they used a replacement for the time he was gone. I thought this was admirable, because usually when someone is missing they invent a way to maim him or drop him off the face of the earth for the allotted time. The other Jamie did a good job copying Jamie's mannerisms, so I could believe it was just Jamie with a different face.
Jamie and Zoe literally get stuck inside a fictional book, and the Doctor has to fish them out. He and the Master duel it out with various fictional characters fighting each other. Isn't that charming!
This Master is not to be confused with THE Master, who pops up much later. There always a master running about the universe, annoying the Doctor and his friends. That's just the way the cookie crumbles.
Next Up: The Invasion
This was strange because I didn't like this episode in the beginning, but I really enjoyed it as it progressed. By the end I was wondering how it would end.
No reconstructions. I feel warmth, butterflies and sunshine on my face. No more dark forests of reconstructions. For now.
Let me just say that it took a few minutes for me to get past the strange outfits and see-through dresses. The Dulcian men were dressed in dowdy, frilly outfits that either touched the floor or were mini-skirt length. The Dulcian women wore gauzy dresses that seemed more like lingerie than anything else. Between Jamie's kilt and Cully's skirt, it was inevitable that we would see undergarments. Zoe's shoulder strap kept slipping down, and it seemed unintentional. So, thanks for all that. My brain has officially been fried with the image of Cully's underwear. This makes me want to shrivel up and die.
The Dominator's outfits were not as bad. We joked about how the arms and legs looked to be made of hundreds of post-it notes.
Note to self, "Be really mean to others."
Note to self again, "I'm not sure where my sandwich went; I will have my revenge."
Note to self yet again: "2 + 2 = 4."
Big chicken heads would have made their costumes complete.
About the episode: As much as I was distracted by the look, I did very much enjoy the episode. I got involved in it, so to speak. The thing that I liked the most was that Troughton pretended to be an idiot. Of course he isn't, and it was amusing watching him trick the Dominators through much of the episode.
I'm a nerd, because whenever I heard the name "Quark", I think of the Ferengi in Deep Space Nine. Nerd.
The Quarks were supposed to be the next big thing. However they were difficult to understand and they did not move well. Also they couldn't climb hills. That's a serious inconvenience. The bar was raised when they created the Daleks, so the creators have to work awfully hard to top that. They are more like the Chumblies of the world. I also didn't think the Quarks had much personality, other than they did the bidding of the Dominators. How is that epic? I think they're trying to create a robot-like creature for the viewers to like, but I think it would be difficult to create a robot that stands out from all other robots out there.
It was also amusing to me that the Doctor and the other slaves had these secret conversations with the Quarks standing right there. Quarks can hear can't they? Wouldn't they anticipate the Doctor's next move? They really are dumber than we thought.
I'm not sure if they used little people inside the Quark bodies or if they were children. I was concerned when Jamie and Cully started killing them left and right. Oh no! Those were children, you know! You killed the children!
Cully is the rebellious son, who does things against his father's wishes. The strange thing about it is that Cully is a middle-aged balding guy. Don't they usually give those kind of roles to young people? Anyway, I liked him despite his twirling skirt, and he and Jamie took great pleasure in running up and down hills, outwitting the Quarks. I didn't think Cully could keep up with Jamie, but he did.
There was a lot of quarreling between the two Dominators, so I couldn't imagine what they would be like if there were several of them running around. Maybe they only had enough costume budget for two. One of the Dominators seemed to have more common sense than the other. Toba seemed to have a real bee in his bonnet --- well he was pretty much insane --- and they were both so dour and angry all the time. We didn't see them during their lunch hour, so maybe they were only like that when the camera is rolling.
Toba: Why did the rooster cross the road?
Rago: Why?
Toba: To prove he wasn't a chicken!
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! That's a funny one, Toba!"
The Dulcians were very Thal-like. The council sat around the entire time talking about what they should do, what they shouldn't do, what they wanted to do, and what they couldn't do. In fact, mostly what they did was nothing at all.
There were a few Dulcians that the Dominators captured as slaves on the island. The Dominators were more than a little strange when they captured the slaves. First they studied them inside a tanning booth, and then they made the slaves carry large rocks about until they dropped from exhaustion. This was all a test to see if the Dulcians would make spectacular slaves. They failed the test, though. The Dominators concluded that they were all stupid, fat and lazy. I want to see the Dominators go up against the Daleks or the Cybermen. The Dominators would lose! That would amuse me to no end.
My expert viewer didn't understand why I was angry that this was all supposedly occurring on an island, but there were no bodies of water to be seen. At least show me an acid pool or something.
The only thing I really did not like was the speed in which they dug the tunnel. That was some mighty fast tunneling. They didn't seem to have any tools to dig said tunnel. My expert viewer said that most likely many hours had passed, but I really didn't get that impression. Tunnels are enormously difficult to build. I also didn't realize that Troughton's screwdriver was an elevated blow torch. That was weird! I'm sure Troughton built it for that purpose. "In case I need to dig a tunnel, I've got this!"
Throwing the atomic bomb on board the ship was outrageously unkind. Now there are two fewer Dominators and quite a few missing Quarks in the universe. Do you think the other Dominators will be outraged by this and want revenge?
Next Up: The Mind Robber
Here I was expecting a plot about a giant killer hamster, and all I got were the Cybermen. Crud.
Did I like this one? Well, not exactly. I thought it was a little boring. I wanted to get plenty of Cybermen action, but they didn't appear until chapter four, and they weren't in it much even after that. I did get my wish about the recons though, because the third and final episode were not missing. It's rather important to me that the last episode exist, because that's when everything is concluded and I can see it happening.
The robot in the beginning didn't seem to serve much purpose and when Jamie destroyed it, it was even less helpful. It is unclear to me if the Cybermen built the robot on the Silver Carrier after taking it over, or if the humans had built it and the Cybermen used it for their evil plan.
The TARDIS has crashed because its mercury is depleted. The TARDIS seems to have all sorts of mercury issues. The Doctors also like carrying it around in their pockets. I was half expecting the Cybermen to steal it from Troughton, as it was stolen from Hartnell by the Daleks. And the mercury looked suspiciously like water. Doesn't it usually look silvery and thick?
When Jamie and the Doctor land on the space vessel, they proceed to sit down and have a good meal. WHAT? Do you normally walk into somebody's abode and start eating their food? They didn't seem particularly concerned with their surroundings. It is important to eat first, and work later I suppose. Troughton is very much the hobo sometimes. It's the Doctor's turn to get knocked out, so Jamie has to do all the work.
When the Doctor undergoes a physical, there is no mention of a second heart. Wouldn't you mention that? "Oh that's weird. You've got two hearts."
We are introduced to a new girl companion in this one. I knew she was a companion because: First, we can't go without a girl companion longer than one episode. Secondly, she is short. All the girl companions seem short. Thirdly, she is young. Fourthly, she's a perky child genius. All those put together have the makings of a good girl companion, don't you think? Do I like her? It's hard to say. But I rather hope that she doesn't rapidly decline into a little-miss-know-it-all; child geniuses in movies can become beyond annoying if not portrayed correctly. I don't know if she is supposed to be Vulcan-like, or what. She even has that little monologue in which she doesn't want to be robotic, but has a heart and feelings like everyone else. That does not bode well.
So we'll see how she gets along. It's also important to me that she holds her own with Troughton and Jamie, both very strong personalities and characters. She stows away on the TARDIS, and expects the Doctor to take her along for the ride. This time the Doctor hasn't kidnapped her. Unfortunately she's one of those who just decides on a whim to follow the Doctor about, with little thought to her job or family. Or maybe she mentions her family, but I wasn't paying attention. Dodo did the same thing, and look where it got her.
Once again the Cybermen want the resources that Earth offers, and are intent upon taking it over. This plot was complicated for me, but it was a rather elaborate plan on the part of the Cybermen to take over the Wheel, and steal the x-ray laser. The Cybermats seemed kind of useless. They were all destroyed before the fun really began.
The ending was non original, as the Doctor uses the deflector shield to throw the Cybermen back into space, floating in the air. Isn't that what he did in The Moonbase? Drop dead you evil Cybermen. Or rather, drop up you evil Cybermen.
Anyway, I didn't find this one very exciting. They are using these aliens because they are popular. At the end of the episode the Doctor shows Zoe a flashback to The Evil of the Daleks, which BBC intended on re-airing the following weeks.
Season Five is complete!
Next Up: The Dominators
Pointy seaweed? Lots of bubble bath? What could possibly go wrong with this plot?
After I got over the ludicrous idea of killer seaweed and gigantic bubbles, I remembered that this could easily be liked by children. Imagine yourself --- hopefully as a child --- sitting in your cozy bubble bath water, and pretending that seaweed and deadly bubbles are taking over the planet. Put in that context, I could see how easy it would be for children to remember this episode, and have a bit of fun with it. This contained a fun factor that something like Galaxy 4 is missing. And now you'll protest that Galaxy 4 was great for children and I won't believe you.
That being said, this reminded me of The Macra Terror. I wasn't sure if I was not supposed to be laughing through this, but I was anyway. It's when they were screaming about gassing "weed" with enormous bubbles clinging to their outfits and hair...It was freaking hilarious. They repeatedly referred to the seaweed as "weed". Whenever I hear of 'weed' I think of narcotics and that made it funny. But then I'm super strange.
Troughton has a sonic screwdriver! He whips out that sucker as though he's had it for ages. There's no real fanfare when it is presented, either. Also, he actually uses it for its intended purpose. He unscrews a metal screw. Matt Smith's screwdriver can practically raise people from the dead, so it was good to see Troughton using it for such a simple purpose. My niece has a sonic screwdriver replica in her possession, so I've seen one up close. That thing could take out an eyeball.
This episode also shows the departure of Victoria Waterfield. I'm sure there are numerous fans of Victoria, but I was never one of those. I would probably rate her lower than Dodo, and that's saying a lot. I liked her when she first joined the team; she was slightly competent as a companion. But she rapidly became useless, complaining, and rather petulant. Throughout this entire episode she complained about everything, wailing that she wanted to go home. In fact, they find a practical use for all her screaming noise to ward off the seaweed god, which I think was supposed to be funny?
They built up her departure throughout this episode so it wasn't really a shock at the end. Well it was painfully obvious to me that she was leaving. I don't think they've built up to a departure in the plot before. Usually they vanish without a goodbye, or they dedicate about 30 seconds of dialogue to their leaving. Jamie liked Victoria, but he was also constantly saving her from danger. The Doctor seemed unusually enthusiastic when she expressed a desire to leave. What? Great! Out you go! Bye! Slam! He practically tells Jamie to shut up, when he tries to ask the Doctor if Victoria will be okay.
I expressed disappointment that she didn't die a bubbly death.
"You know," said my expert viewer impatiently, "Just because Katarina died violently doesn't mean that all other companions will have a similar fate."
"But I can dream, can't I?"
I like gratuitous violence when it comes to losing companions. It's always fun to go out with great fanfare.
You're probably thinking, "Has she ever liked any of the companions?" Well erm, I've liked Ian and Barbara. I dedicated a whole paragraph to their departure. I also had a vague sort of liking for Stephen, too. Does that count? No?
I thought it particularly strange that the Harrises adopted her, no questions asked. Wouldn't you be suspicious of her? A girl from a different time period running around with a weird hobo and a young guy in a skirt? "Oh, so you're from the Victorian time period? Awesome. Do you like eggs?" More importantly, "Do you want your dress back?" because I do. Once they discover what a real pain in the knees she is, they will kick her out. So now it's just down to Jaime and the Doctor. Who is next? I know they can't resist adding a girl companion before too long.
Jamie complains that they've been visiting Earth for quite a bit lately, and it is true. They've been on Earth for twenty four [?] episodes now.
This had a few moments of severe gratuitous violence for us to appreciate. They had to cut out a scene because it was so frightening. It reminded me somewhat of the newer Doctor Who episodes with beings like the Silence. Part of my displeasure with the new series is that I think they contain a vast amount of unnecessary violence. There's a lot of jumping out of closets, dark ugly aliens, poor lighting, etc., that the old Doctor Whos didn't really have. I've felt that Doctor Who has slowly moved away from being a child-friendly show since the beginning. I think we're seeing a generation of young people who have become used to a high level of violence, that children back then were never exposed to. Then again, I complain too much.
Was I the only one annoyed by the constant beating heart? It's the Tell-Tale Heart!
The fact that this was all in reconstructions did not help the plot, either. I had gotten spoiled with Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear, so I was really bitter to be back at bad pictures. There was a lot of shouting and arguing in this plot, which I did not really understand who was saying what.
I could take a moment to complain about the length of the episode, but I already have just by writing this sentence. Six chapters is too long. This took us three days to finish. Usually we can do it in one or two. That gives you a clue about how exciting it was to us.
The Doctor takes an inordinate amount of pleasure in defeating the alien, without even a thought that he is trying to kill a being. Troughton does this a lot, though. He seems to get a kick out of killing aliens left and right. He's not a very nice Doctor. Well actually, I was unable to determine if the doctor really killed the seaweed creature. That question is still rolling about in my brain. It seemed as though it retreated from whence it came. I just pray to the gods that they don't bring Seaweed Creature back. Of all the creatures they are going to bring back to kill off Matt Smith, it would be that, right?
The TARDIS lands in the water. I did not know that was possible. How did they open the TARDIS doors without the water getting inside? It would have to be floating on its side for the water not to rush in when they opened the doors. But that would be difficult to push the boat up and out.....Am I the only one who thinks of these things? Probably. Oh, and the Doctor has a boat somewhere inside the TARDIS? What in thunder does he NOT have in there?
And I think that Jamie implies that the Doctor is swimming in the ocean buck naked. WOW. How come we didn't get to see that? HAH!
This had a very nice ending, because everyone came back to life after all was said and done. Happy ending!
Next Up: The Wheel In Space
Wow, they wasted no time in bringing back the Yeti. This is another very recently recovered episode, probably found lost in the depths of the African jungle, guarded by poisonous frogs. However, chapter three remains uncovered, much to the anger of many a Doctor Who fan I'm sure. The poisonous frogs do not claim to be competent. The dingo took my film cans. I was actually kind of worried about this, as it has a similar title to The Web Planet, my arch nemesis. Not the Zarbi!
I had a few issues with The Abominable Snowmen and the Yeti as you know, so I was a little peeved that they brought them back so quickly. One thing that I liked even less about the Yeti this time around, is that there were Yeti in the middle of London. WHAT. It made sense for the Yeti to be near a Tibetan monastery in the middle of Himalayas, but it made less sense for them to be wandering London's train stations. Does the Great Intelligence have such little imagination and even fewer props? Does he really like Yeti?
I get that Professor Travers brought one of the Yeti back with him and inadvertently brought the Great Intelligence back with him as well, but someone had to run around making clones of the first. Or were there other Yeti in people's houses all over London? As before, I don't understand how the Great Intelligence makes these robots. Where did he find all that fur in the middle of London?
This time the Great Intelligence has turned Dalek-like, and hunted down the Doctor through time and space. He wants the Doctor's mind, naturally, because he's the most intelligent being in all creation in all of time and space. Nothing like having an overly developed sense of self-importance. This time it's a little more clear that the Great Intelligence wants to rule the world using the Doctor's brain. Can he do it?
This is the first time we meet the Brigadier! I've heard so much about him, so I was delighted to finally meet him. I think he really brought a good atmosphere to this episode. I know his lines weren't much better than any other's, but he's got a carriage about him, a bit of humor, and I am in love with his voice. It's so unique. Of course he's only a Colonel in this one, but I know that he will come back in future episodes, though I do not know the specifics. I can't wait to see him again! I don't think he ever becomes a companion, but I guess the Doctor meets him a few more times while on Earth.
We get to see Travers back, but as a really old guy because forty years or something have passed. He even has a lovely daughter who puts up with him because he's her father. Travers is a little angry that even Jamie and Victoria have not aged a bit. Travers is Victoria's real father. The passing of time is such a bitter potion. He feels pretty awful about the whole thing, as he unwittingly helped the Great Intelligence to come back. It's so inconvenient when you're a non-entity, and have to wait around for people to arrive so you can take over their bodies and eat their brains.
Driver Evans' character was very strange. I don't know much about the Welsh, so my expert viewer had to explain that the Welsh are generally stereotyped as being slow and stupid. I thought this strange to have a stereotyped Welsh character in Doctor Who, and as an American I didn't really appreciate the nuance. I have a great disgust for stereotypes in TV shows, like the strong female character, the handsome guy with few brain cells, or the mathematical Asian genius. So having 'the stupid Welsh character' did little for me.
The ending to this story was very odd, I thought. The Doctor was very angry when his plans went awry, and that Jamie used the human controlled Yeti to destroy all the other Yeti, as well as the Great Intelligence. The Doctor had re-wired the little brain cap so that he could destroy the Great Intelligence once and for all, without telling the others. I beg your pardon? Then what was the purpose of the human controlled Yeti that they went out of their way to re-program? There would have been no reason to use it. Well, the Great Intelligence slips from his grasp and presumably will return in a future episode. I hope not any time soon, though. Ye gods, not the Yeti again.
I'm a dumpy old woman, but I still believe in a lady's modesty. I hated the length of Victoria's skirt. Put on some leggings my dear and lengthen the skirt a few inches. I'm not saying that women have to run around looking like nuns, but there is a happy medium. They're trying to make her more appealing to the viewers, I suppose. But there's no need for that in Doctor Who. This isn't exactly Daisy Does Dallas and the audience is mostly eight year old children. I'll stop with the preaching, and it only shows what a fuddy duddy I really am, but I protest. I don't want my 10 year son watching Victoria's navel. Sometimes Jamie's skirt twirls a bit too much and I want to barf. Now Patrick Troughton in a thong......that's a different story. HAH! E-yikes...
I want a Yeti hand for Christmas.
Next Up: Fury From the Deep
My expert viewer and I really enjoyed this one. Can you believe it? This is the third time the Doctor has to play a double, and this time he pulls it off. William Hartnell had a robot double in The Chase, but sometimes he was his robot double, and sometimes he wasn't which was overall rather confusing. Hartnell plays another 'double' role in The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve but I hardly count that as the Doctor practically drops off the face of the earth until the very end. Plus, Hartnell just looks like an Abbot, and only Stephen cares or knows.
So kudos to Troughton for pulling this off. Troughton and Salamander don't actually meet until the last five minutes, and they only have about a 30 second scene before Salamander falls out of the TARDIS and into time and space. What a way to die! That's better than the airlock. But the Doctor does run around quite a bit, pretending to be Salamander and there are brief moments when he pulls the wool over our eyes.
This is one of those episodes that was recently recovered, so not even my expert viewer has seen it not in reconstructions. I'm very glad that this was recovered. There were a lot of nuances, looks, and movements that would have gone unappreciated as recons. Plus, because of the 'double' issue, in general it would have been really confusing.
What would a TV show be without a strong female character?
We find out that Salamander is keeping a few humans deep inside the center of earth. He needs them to cause the natural disasters, so that Salamander can seem god-like on the surface. He fools these scientists into believing that Earth is at war, and the air is full of high radiation levels. It's a very elaborate scheme, and Salamander must convince the scientists that there's a war going on upstairs. Only in Doctor Who can they pull off this plotline! My expert viewer mentioned that it must be getting rather crowded down in the center of the Earth, what with the scientists, the Atlanteans, and the Silurians there. Anyone else we have missed? They could have a real party down there.
This takes place in the future but does not contain aliens. There were quite a few side characters in this plot, and most of them were rather likable. We liked that Donald Bruce, head of security, didn't try to kill the Doctor right away because he wanted to find out more about the Doctor and he has issues with Salamander. Usually the characters are either good guys, or insane/bad guys, so it was different that a lot of these people were both good and bad. It was much more realistic that way.
My expert viewer could not watch this all in one day, which I really wanted to do. I'm very disappointed in him sometimes. Why wouldn't you want to watch The Enemy of the World all in one sitting??
After watching this episode I had a dream that I was running around in the TARDIS with the Doctor and Jaime. We were caught in a time loop and everything was repeating itself, so we had to repeat the adventure, but somehow needed to change the ending to get out of it. The Doctor looked like Troughton and Hartnell put together, which means that he was not cute. It was a very strange dream. Freud would have a field day with my brain.
Next Up: The Web of Fear
