08/05/26

Asimov meets King Kong.

Doctor Who: Robot

This is a four-part serial, first broadcast between 20th December 1974 - 18th January 1975. A brief and not really spoiler-ish summary of the plot: ... well, never mind. This serial really isn't about the plot.

Let's get the bad news out of the way first:

• the story really isn't good. We get a robot, because script editor Robert Holmes wanted one. We get a King Kong pastiche, because writer Terrance Dicks wanted one. And in part four the Average-Sized Robot from the previous episodes miraculously becomes a Giant Robot so that it can do the Fay Wray thing with Sarah Jane - which also solved the problem that Dicks had with having to fill another episode after running out of story in part three. Actually, the villains of this story - a group of scientifically-inclined neo-Nazis led by a woman - aren't bad, but their Evil Master Plan is sort of world-conquest-by-numbers (and yes, there are spoilers ahead): 1) get your hands on a robot; 2) use the robot to steal everything you need to assemble a disintegrator gun; 3) use the robot plus the disintegrator gun to break into a safe that is otherwise impenetrable and steal some super-secret documents that you just happen to know to be there; 4) use the information in the stolen documents to make a bid for world domination. It's contrived, it's padded and after part one, when we're still guessing what's going on, it quickly gets boring
• I'm not a fan of the robot's design. It looks nice but it's obvious that the robot can hardly move, which very much harms its credibility as a formidable foe. For some reason I also keep wondering where its 'eyes' are. The translucent casing around its 'brain' appears to be the only part of its head that isn't solid metal, and nothing in its facial features seems to match the square grid that we see in the shots from the robot's point of view

Moving on to the less bad news:

• even though the visual effects are pretty bad, I can't help enjoying them. It's obvious that the BBC lacked the money and the technical means to show us a believable giant robot, but with sheer creativity and panache they almost get away with it

And the good news:

• this is a fantastic debut for the fourth Doctor. Terrance Dick's wild and woolly Doctor (he wanted to create a clear contrast with Pertwee, and reckoned the new Doctor could always be toned down a bit later) and Tom Baker's performance are a perfect match right from the start
• the serial is full of brilliant bits of dialogue between the Doctor, newcomer Harry Sullivan and the old regulars Sarah Jane and the Brigadier. The rope-skipping scene, the costumes, the Doctor and Harry facing the Giant Robot, the Doctor offering Sarah Jane a jelly-baby at the end of part four... they're all wonderfully written and executed impeccably
• we also get several loud and flashy explosions, which is always a good thing

My verdict:

There's fun to be had here. For a good robot story, try 'Robots of death' in stead.

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Robot (1974 - 1975)

08/05/18

Monty Python meets Doctor Who.

Doctor Who: The time warrior

This is a four-part serial, first broadcast between 15 December 1973 - 5th January 1974. A brief and somewhat spoiler-ish summary of the plot: an alien time traveller gets stranded on earth in the Middle Ages, a castle is destroyed and the Doctor finds a new companion.

What we get here is, basically, Doctor Who as Monty Python would have done it - excellent and entertaining dialogue, an absurd story and a medieval world that is sheer caricature.

The good news:

• the larger than life medieval characters are played with such conviction that the whole thing never becomes ridiculous
• robber baron Irongron, his henchman Bloodaxe and Linx the Sontaran are very entertaining villains
• the serial is an excellent start for Sarah-Jane Smith, the Doctor's new companion
• there are many funny moments. For instance, Linx solemnly planting his silly little flag cracks me up every time

The sort of "meh" stuff:

• the camera work, the lighting, the costumes - everything is adequate but nothing is great. Even the special effects could have been better even with the technical means and the money that were available at the time, but the director decided to go for the cheapest approach

The bad news:

• the story doesn't go anywhere. Spoilers ahead - in part one Linx lands on earth and joins forces with Irongron, and in part four he leaves, destroying Irongron's castle in the process. Everything that happens in between is basically filler, and nothing that either the Doctor or Sarah-Jane does has any impact on the outcome
• I may be imagining things, but Pertwee does seem to be phoning in his performance at this point

My verdict:

Forgettable fun.

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The time warrior (1974)

08/05/12

Restarting the weblog with some more 'classic' Doctor Who.

Doctor Who: The time meddler

This is a four-part serial, first broadcast between 3rd - 24th July 1965. A brief and somewhat spoiler-ish summary of the plot: the Doctor, Vicki and Steven travel to England in 1066, where they meet Saxons, Vikings and a monk with a keen interest in the outcome of the battle of Hastings.

I've watched this serial a couple of times now, and it's been growing on me. Some good points:

• the story is smart and entertaining, even if the pacing is slow
• a great deal of the story is being 'shown' rather than 'told'
• the combination of studio sets and stock footage of outdoor scenes works remarkably well
• the Meddling Monk is an excellent villain
• this is a good story for Steven, who comes on board after Ian and Barbara's departure in the previous serial. He starts off as a yokel with a bad beard carrying a rather silly panda mascot, but by the end of episode one the beard and the panda have gone and he's developed a nice rapport with both Vicki and the Doctor

The less good news:

• the serial is of its time. It's restored black-and-white footage and the pacing is sedate
• the fight scenes that we get to see (more of this later) aren't convincing
• in spite of the efforts to suggest otherwise it's obvious that at one point of the story England is being invaded by five Vikings, who are eventually vanquished without putting up much of a fight. Their leader does wear a rather splendid helmet, though

Some notable bits:

• the Meddling Monk would return in 'The Daleks' master plan'
• this is an interesting story for the companions. Ian and Barbara, who left the series at the end of the previous serial, were adults who had their own ideas and who often found themselves in real danger. The companions in this story, Vicki and Steven, may be adults chronologically but Vicki is childlike and Steven talks and behaves like someone in their mid-teens. Their story-line is basically children's fiction material, low on tension with the two companions spending most of their time either looking for the Doctor or disputing whether or not to follow his orders. I wonder whether this was a conscious effort by the BBC to make it easier for children to identify with the companions
• there's some stuff here that you wouldn't quite expect in a children's programme. At one point there's a clear suggestion that one female Saxon character has been assaulted and raped by the Vikings. The most graphic part of the subsequent murder of the Vikings by the Saxon villagers has been removed from the extant version of the serial by an overseas censor, though the audio of the missing twelve seconds is one of the extras on the DVD

My verdict:

One of the more entertaining serials of the Hartnell era.

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The time meddler (1965)