The Enemy of the World written by David Whitaker and directed by Barry Letts

Oh My Giddy Aunt: David Whitaker can always claim to do something really interesting with all the regulars he is dealing with and with Power & Evil of the Daleks and Enemy of the World he gives us some of the most thoughtful characterisation of the second Doctor. By this point I am used to the subtle intensity and childish glee that he can bring to the part but Whitaker (like with Power of the Daleks where he was looking to contrast Hartnell and Troughton so dramatically) there always seems to be something a little jarring and fascinating about his portrayal. In Evil it was the Doctor at loggerheads with Jamie for real (bizarrely this never happened again in their two seasons together afterwards) and his skill with psychology that stood out, here it is his inactivity (there isn't a single adventure where it takes Troughton this long to get in on the action, not even The Space Pirates) and his caution. It feels as if he is extremely worried that his presence could cause real problems, something he is frightened off enough that he sends Jamie and Victoria in to check out the situation first before daring to take his part in Giles Kent's plan. Usually he jumps right in and bollocks to the consequences so he must really have a bad feeling about this place.  For once the Doctor wants to leave and his companions want to stay. I feel as if I have been more critical of the portrayal and characterisation of the second Doctor and the first so I think I should point out at this stage that I simply adore Patrick Troughton and pretty much anything he is involved in (yes even The Underwater Menace) is automatically elevated because he is involved. A consummate actor, he can play comedy and drama with equal conviction. A superb Doctor. It's just there were a few anomalies in his time that are so fascinating simply because they are different.

He’s like an excited kid screaming ‘We’re by the seaside!’ and he wants to play sand castles! I love the image of his splashing about in his long johns, like some excitable middle aged kid. When Astrid refuses his medical aid he proves to be quite assertive, not taking no for an answer. He’s not a Doctor of any medical significance, perhaps a Doctor of divinity? ‘I’m the nicest possible person!’ He always was interested in phonetics but suggests he needs several weeks to learn Salamander’s accent and mannerisms, not the few minutes he is forced to. Clearly the Doctor doesn’t like being told who the villain is, he likes to make that decision for himself. He will expose Salamander for the fraud that he is but the Doctor will not dish out private justice and murder him. I love his wily cunning, pretending to his friends to be Salamander to see what they really think of the dictator since only their opinions matter to him. He mocks tooting on his recorder to prove he is who he says he is and it was enough to fool me. Secretly I think he rather enjoys playing the villain, it gives the Doctor a chance to ham it up for a change. ‘No friends, no safety, nothing’ – the Doctor is willing to put Salamander outside the TARDIS to face those that want his blood. ‘You’ll run but they’ll catch up with you.’ Nasty. Troughton really seems to appreciate the chance break out of playing the Doctor for the majority of this story and get his teeth into a juicy villainous role but the result of that is that when does play the Doctor he is sweeter and more imminently huggable than ever. The Doctor is smart enough to play Salamander to expose Giles' hand in these events and his true motive and when the time comes he doesn't hold back in darkly condemning the would-be dictator. Whether it is by accident or design, this is a Doctor who can watch a man being sucked out into space, dust his hands down, turn to his friends and say 'where shall we go?' People say only the new series Doctor's have a warped sense of justice.

Sexy Scot: I really like how Whitaker writes for Jamie as an action hero and a ladies man, playing up to Hines' biggest strengths. He leaps straight into action when being hunted on the beach, screaming ‘Craig au Tuire!’ and rushing at an armed man. It is a nice moment of culture shock when Jamie and Victoria cling onto each other in fear as they ascend in a helicopter, the pair of them never seeing such a ‘flying beastie’ before. He’s cleverer than he looks, jumping in to save Salamander’s life and thus gaining his confidence. His cover story is that he is on holiday with his beautiful girlfriend, which is clearly a backstory that Jamie is loving and can completely buy into. He sums up Benik perfectly in one sentence - ‘You must have been a nasty little boy…’. He asks if Redhead is a codeword, clearly having nothing but sex on the brain. Mind you at that age, didn't we all? He really loves Victoria, when Benik starts lusting after her and attempting to menace her he stops fighting with him and agrees to do what he wants.

Screaming Violet: Victoria was never a favourite of mine, she’s cute in a pathetic sort of way but like Susan before her there was just too much snivelling and whimpering for any real effective character to emerge. Look at her in episode one ('I can't! I can't!') …I would never try and stimulate violence towards women but she was getting so hysterical she was clearly in need of a good slap. it isn't Watling's fault, she is only bringing to like the character as written and when she finally gets something to run with beyond hysterics like her comedy of manners with Griffin in the kitchen she relaxes into it and has fun. She makes a typically Victorian menu of soup, fish, meat and pudding and talks about her family’s whoosh up Kaiser Pudding. It's hardly amazing development but I appreciated the tiny insight into her life back home that she will never return to. Griff sums her up beautifully: ‘You’re a bit too smart for me!’ When she introduces Jamie Griff asks ‘He not cook like you I hope?’ suggesting she wouldn’t have made the best of domestic wives.

Dictator: Like the inestimable Professor Zaroff, Salamander is one nasty who embodies the role of villain so profusely that he deserved a character section all of his own. Troughton blacked up slightly with a faux Mexican accent gives him a whole new edge and proves remarkably different from the Doctor. We're so used to him playing the same role (even with different shades on display he still feels like the same man essentially) that it comes as a shock (although it shouldn't) that he can so convincingly embody a completely different character. He plans to end world's famine and is considered a public benefactor, the Shopkeeper of the World. He prizes loyalty very highly and pays handsomely for it. He bends Fedorin to his will with blackmail and fake lies that would ruin him unless he runs his zone as Salamander’s demands. When he watches mass murder in Hungary as the volcano erupts he smiles knowingly but publicly shows great remorse. He tries to manipulate Fedorin into poisoning Denes and when he fails he sprinkles the poison in Fedorin’s wine glass. 'One chance, my friend.' In a brilliantly madcap twist that seems to come out of nowhere but is actually embedded deeply in the narrative it turns out he has been pretending to a small group of people underground that the Earth is a nuclear wasteland and has been using them to create natural disasters to wipe out their enemies. These explosive 'natural' disasters have been his leverage, giving him an ability to step in, offer aid and take control. or simply wipe out those who oppose him. He plays the irradiated, pathetic, tired benefactor too well, like the Doctor he clearly enjoys the chance to play against type. As they prepare to create another disaster and ruin another continent he lights a cigar satisfactorily…what a bastard! When his cover is almost blown he proves a master at spinning a further web of lies, saying that the people on the surface have survived but are deformed in mind and body and enjoy a kind of society.   How could he possibly expose his friends to that sort of thing? Whilst it is marvellous to see villains in control and basking in their insane plans, they are much more interesting when they are desperate and improvising and the cold hand of justice is closing in. Salamander happily murders Giles Kent and heads to the TARDIS to pretend to be the Doctor and escape. So like him to kill his opponent before leaving rather than giving him the chance to sweet talk his way out of the hole he has dug and potentially regain control. When he is in the console room, bruised, bloodied and terrified he looks frighteningly feral. His fate, being sucked into the time vortex is all too fitting for such an awesome villain.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Yes I’ve got a job for you alright…peel those spuds, yeah now!’
‘People spend all this time making nice things and other people come along and break them.’
‘The history of Hungary is about to be rewritten!’
‘You try, you fail. So what, huh? The moon doesn’t fall out of the sky!’
‘I can only die once and someone’s beaten you to it.’

The Good Stuff: Barry Letts was right to push the boat out (hoho) in episode one because it is genuinely exciting stuff featuring some wind swept location work with Camber Sands doubling as Australia, our heroes hiding amongst the grassy sand dunes, a hovercraft dominating the action and a helicopter swooping in to save everybody. It's James Bond on a budget but the telesnaps and soundtrack make it look and sound genuinely dynamic. Have they suddenly had a huge injection of budget? The stock music for this story is perfect, hugely dramatic and giving the story a real sense of pace and excitement. This is a great idea for a doppelganger story, completely different to when Hartnell played a villain in The Massacre because there is no doubt that the Doctor and Salamander are different people, but just as effective. The lack of monsters is really refreshing, it means human drama is pushed to the fore and the first cliffhanger is great, far more tense than the usual monster reveal. I really love the scale of the story, Australia, Europe, Konawa, Hungary. Troughton tales are so often squeezed into one location so to have a story that is sprawled out all over the world feels like the show is having a nice, luxurious stretch geographically. There is a gorgeous set with a balcony dripping with plant life over looks a volcano in the distance. The script might demand the impossible but that isn't going to stop the designers of Doctor Who. Jamie and Victoria get to play real spies in the park, eyes darting about furtively, playing at being boyfriend and girlfriend. It's so outside of what Doctor Who is normally doing it proves very refreshing  Fariah gets to have some fun with Fedorin pretending that she has given him a poison drink, ironic that it is what his fate should be when he crosses Salamander. Griff the chef is such a wonderful character it is a shame he is confined to episode three but it’s marvellous that that episode exists just so we get the chance to see him. It is true that Griffin, Fariah and Victoria should team up in sitcom land - ‘My mother was right! She wanted me to be a dustman!’ Whitaker reminds me of Russell T Davies at times, not always strong on plots but a master at providing excellent characters as a way in to the story. Fariah’s outburst to Jamie is excellent since it proves that even those you think are protected by Salamander are slaves as well. Her death is one of most uncomfortable in the series because as she slips away it is a moment of triumph, its both a horribly painful way to go (she slips away with cold eyes and blood leaking from her mouth) and a blessed release (she is no longer a slave). Creepy music accompanies Salamander’s trip down to visit his underground slaves, indicating that something important is happening. When Swan confronts Salamander about the newspaper article he has signed his own death warrant, the story has built up its villain so effectively at this point that you know Swan wont be around much longer. Astrid discovering the underground base is much like a similar plot device in Invasion of the Dinosaurs but it is dealt with far more dramatically here. I love the scene where the Doctor pretends to be Salamander to uncover Giles Kent’s true intentions, it is utterly delicious how he coxes out his plan to murder his old partner and take over as dictator. The Doctor/Salamander confrontation is every bit a tense as you would imagine and the split screen work looks highly convincing.

The Bad Stuff: There are some really dodgy accents in the first episode. Even though it is well played and scripted it is such a shame that we can only see the cheapest episode. The story stutters at this point and is padded out with (hilarious) material in Griff's kitchen but it gives completely the wrong impression about this epic, expensive looking, (generally) fast paced story.

The Shallow Bit: Wow, this might be my longest ever shallow section! Jamie looks thirst quenchingly hot in his tank top and is matched by Victoria who is adorable in her kilt. Troughton looks years younger when dressed in a roll neck with combed back hair. Astrid wears kinky leather boots and very tight trousers. Jamie is dressed head to toe in leather…what are they trying to do to me? Fariah is a rarity in Doctor Who at this point, a confident and intelligent and utterly gorgeous black girl! Benik’s campness is pretty menacing, he manages to make every threat sound like a menacing come on. Astrid flirts outrageously with cute guard Yanos.

Result: A dramatically played story, which is attention grabbing from the very first scene. The Enemy of the World is another story that has had its reputation poisoned by the Howe/Stammers/Walker guide books, long considered the odd man out story of season five for adverse reasons (it is amazing how a few guide books could have embedded into fan consciousness) and it pleases me greatly that so many people have rediscovered this little classic and realised it is quite the contrary. David Whitaker has written an exquisite script with lots of ambrosial touches and a dedicated cast bring the story to life and create some captivating drama. It plays out very much like one of the old Hartnell historicals, with characters coming to the fore and their dynamics proving the linchpins in the plot. Doctor Who doesn't have to be about monsters week in, week out to remain interesting and this is a very bold and successful attempt at detailed world building and captivating spy drama. Troughton aces his role as Salamander and creates one of the series’ most venomous nasties and as a result of this his Doctor seems cuddlier than ever. Barry Letts comes down quite hard on his directional debut but this might just be his finest work on the series, displaying none of the technical difficulties of his later tales and coaxing some lovely performances from his cast. For a six parter it is pacy and always throwing new things at you and there are some tasty twists in the last episode and a cliffhanging final scene. It makes me wonder what I think of the era as a whole because Enemy of the World is proof that the Troughton anomalies are my favourites (Power of the Daleks, The Mind Robber, The War Games are my other treasures). Always a joy to a listen to and now thanks to the recent discovery...a joy to watch!: 9/10

The Tomb of the Cybermen written by Kit Pedlar & Gerry Davies and directed by Morris Barry

This story in a nutshell: ‘Frozen forever. All their evil locked away with them and so it must remain…’

Cheeky Chappie: Troughton owns the role at this point. He might be the actor that took the longest time to define his interpretation of the Doctor but once he did (around The Macra Terror) he never looked back and it was one flawless, funny, moody performance after another. Every time I head back to the Troughton era I am reminded that not only was he perfect for the role but also his effortless switch from comedy to drama proves he was one of, if not the finest actor in the role. The Doctor is brilliant from the first scene, beaming with pride as he shows off the TARDIS to Victoria, dismissing the implausibilities of their lifestyle and acting gruffly insulted at Jamie’s suggestion of giving Victoria a safe landing the first time round. He’s got archaeology written all over him. He refuses to leave and let this mismatched archaeological team stumble on the secrets of the Cybermen and in his own way he is quite secretive about his identity and purpose. The Doctor’s own special method is keeping his eyes open and his mouth shut – a magical scene that sees him insult the easily mocked Klieg with real style. He’s a devious little imp, he manipulates Klieg into successfully opening the hatch but we never learn if it was just because he was curious or because he wanted to see them reveal their true motives. There’s a wonderful image of the Controller looming over the tiny Doctor when they discuss the Doctor’s previous encounters with the Mondasian meanies. He can remember his family but he has to really want to see them to bring them in front of his eyes and the rest of the time they sleep in his mind and he forgets. Look at Troughton’s face when that Cybermat bumps his foot – priceless, looks like he’s chewing on a caramel toffee! He manipulates Toberman into tossing the Controller about, this little imp is a dangerous fellow because he evaluate you psychologically in an instant and immediately set about manipulating you. How wonderful is the Doctor trying to convince Klieg that he has been bewitched by his twisted way of thinking, as I said before he manages the switch from comedy to drama in a heartbeat. ‘Alright, if you’re going to kill us get on with it’ the Doctor says with absolute seriousness. That's what I love about the creation of this outwardly funny character, when the the chips are done and he is done with all the farce he gets to the dramatic core of each and every story with real gravity. It is the same feeling I get with Tom Baker's portrayal during the Williams produced seasons, that he is inherently a silly, ludicrous man but he can snap out of that mood in an instant if the situation warrants it. Troughton is sublime in this story, his naughty twinkling eyes working wonders. How lucky we were to have this story returned just to see this actor at his height.

Sexy Scot: Frazer Hines looks practically edible in the first scene, he’s gorgeous. There’s some wonderful Troughton/Hines horseplay in this story – I love it when they hold hands walking into the building together and the faux insult at Jamie’s skirt. Jamie is such a hilarious wimp too, the Doctor asks if anybody wants to leave because what he is about try is very risky and Jamie is the first one out the door (or at least tries). His rope tying skills have much to be desired although he thinks the King of the Beasties himself would have trouble escaping from them when that is clearly not the case. With Victoria along for the ride the interplay has shifted once again, Jamie started off as a bit of a spare part amongst the Doctor/Ben/Polly triumvirate, then transformed into quite an agressive counterpoint to the Doctor in Evil of the Daleks but now he is cast more in the role of a protector of the Victorian priss that has fallen into their care.  It's pretty much his role for the rest of the season, arsing about with Troughton and bravely stepping between Watling and any dangers but it plays to Hines' strengths superbly.

Screaming Violet: I was genuinely surprised by Victoria in this story. She has never been a favourite of mine, not because she doesn’t have chemistry with her fellow regulars (because there are so many moments of charm with the three of them together) but because her character spec seems to literally be a screaming violet and very writers bothered to get under her skin beyond having her remind us that the monsters are scary. She was a bit of a walking cliche if I'm honest, shrinking into the shadows and exercising her lungs, right up until her last story. However Tomb of the Cybermen might just be her best story, she gets to show plenty of initiative and gumption and wont be pushed around by anybody. She doesn’t even scream that much. Victoria is pretty brave considering her origins, shrugging off Kaftan’s protection and ready to go off exploring. I enjoyed her culture shock when she was offered a food cube equivalent of roast chicken. It is a nice attempt to suggest she is from the past, something that they have all but forgotten to do with Jamie of late. Victoria is pretty feisty, grabbing Kaftan’s gun and blasting away at the Cybermat (although how she is a pot shot despite having never fired one before is best skipped over in order to enjoy the scene). She chews out those two American twits more than once and I really laughed at the ‘Who’d be a woman?’ ‘How would you know honey?’ exchange. In a very sweet scene, Victoria lets the Doctor sleep because he is so old and clearly needs as much rest as possible. She is happy with the Doctor and Jamie but she misses her father who she considered a kind man and wonders if she will ever forget his awful death. She sees her father when she shuts her eyes. Victoria teases Hopper about his superior strength – why couldn’t she always be this fun? Perhaps it is the influence of Victor Pemberton (script editor) because the only other time I find Victoria memorable as a character in her own right is her finale, Fury from the Deep.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘You belong, to us. You will be like us’ – a genuinely chilling statement.
‘So remember, our lives are different from anybody else’s. That’s the exciting thing, nobody in the universe can do what we’re doing.’

The Good Stuff: The TARDIS looks and sounds immense on film – why didn’t they try this sort of thing more often? The console room feels like a huge, cavernous space, genuinely bigger on the inside than the out. That’s some mighty fine location work, the surface of Telos looks barren and vast and there is a wonderful POV tracking shot over a precipice that lands on the archaeological team. It’s the first of season fives claustrophobic all-in-one-location stories and it looks like it is a good approach to budgeting a Doctor Who story because the sets are detail, fulls of nooks and crannies to explore and the Cybermen to emerge from and it is dramatically and stylishly lit. Those people who felt disappointed with the look of this story when it returned must have been on crack, the show rarely has this much polish. It feels like some money has been spent on this story. Kaftan is such a hopelessly exhibitionistic character I cannot fail to love every overblown line that comes out of her mouth – she made me howl when she started coming on to Viner like a hammer house of horrors vamp. When Klieg manages to activate the building the lighting is superb, it feels like the building's heart has begin beating, like it is coming to life. The end of episode one is one of my favourites, the hideous smoking corpse falling to the ground amd the cut to the pulsating Cyberman face fading away into the credits like a grinning skull – what a cracking cliffhanger. I love the slow fade into the credits that some of the sixties cliffhangers deployed, if they can fix on a chilling image like this it is a very effective way to hold onto the edge of the cliffhanger for as long as possible. After all these murders you would not catch me going down that hatch, it opens like a mouth ready for them to climb down into the pits of hell. It make me chuckle to think of Doctor Who handling the idea of sinister hatch leading down into God-knows-where decades before Lost, and probable generating as much tension and answers in four half hour episodes as that show managed in several seasons. The Tomb model is terrific but what impressed me was the full size set that manages to match its scale and opulence. It's something they couldn't achieve in the eighties but they mange to suggest a sense of majesty and opulence to the tomb design, a real sense that this is a stronghold of many thousands of Cybermen. There is something very disturbing about the embryonic Cybermen coming to life, its one of Doctor Who’s best ever set pieces because it is visually exciting and scary at the same time and it promises more shocks to come. The Cybermen stalk towards the camera when they wake as if to stare at the kids who are watching directly and really give them nightmares. Once we're finished with this lot we're coming after you kiddos. Devious sods, the Cybermen have made the traps deliberately complicated so only superior brains could crack the code and be converted. It's almost as if they are enjoying taunting them as the Cybermen decide who will be converted first, another example of the apparently emotionless creatures indulging in a little psychology. The Cybermen look great emerging from the smoke with their arms outstretched (although I could have done without the overly dramatic music and Donald Duck noises - imagine how much creepier this would be in silence). There's another great set piece as a Cyberman tries to drag the Doctor back down the hatch as Victoria smacks it in the face repeatedly to try and get it to release it's grip on him; they really feel like a formidable force as it beats down on the closing hatch. The X Ray laser gun is awesome; it blows a bloody great flaming hole in the wall! Oh for the days of physical effects like this, come the 70s and 80s all the futuristic weaponry does is go blam or have some dodgy electronic effect dubbed on. There is a lovely pause in the action for a moment of sweetness and pathos between the Doctor and Victoria as everybody else sleeps. You would think that it would be the remaining stories of season five that would have the time to pause and reflect being two episodes longer each but this is really the only time this season that the regulars get some time out to talk about their feelings. Shame about the fuzzy felt teeth but the Cybermat crawling over Callum is really effectively done, capturing that fear we have of creepy crawlies dancing across our skin. The Doctor protects everybody inside a big smoking circle whilst the Cybermats have a complete metal breakdown (sorry) and it is the seriousness that Morris Barry brings to this scene that really impresses me. It baffles me that come The Dominators he seems to have forgotten how to stage a scene like this anymore. You feel really sorry for the Controller as he burbles ‘the energy levels…are looooow’ lulling you into a false sense of security that he might actually be out of action for good before he tears free of the revitaliser in a right hump! The smoke pouring from the Cyberman's mouth is an awesome effect and Jamie wastes no time in tossing the bugger down the hatch. It might be obvious that Toberman is tossing a dummy about but I do appreciate the attempt to show how indestructible he is now that he has been enhanced by Cyber-technology. It is a marvellous set piece, Toberman and a Cyberman fighting to the death with the Tombs behinds as a dramatic backdrop and resulting in the pulsing, oozing, death of the Cyberman. It is spectacularly nasty as the creature breathes it's last with the visual metaphor of its guts spilling out. You just can’t keep the Controller down, he wakes up for a last minute burst of action as they battle for the Tomb doors and he is finally electrocuted, beaten by his own trap. One Cybermat escapes offering hope for more Cyber adventures in the future…

The Bad Stuff: Hopper is clearly supposed to be a ridiculously butch Yankie jock type but when played by a weedy, middle class British guy putting on an overdone accent it lacks any kind of convction. The opening sequences are as B movie as Doctor Who ever got – ‘fifty pounds for the first man to open those doors’ –and the dramatic music that accompanies the terrible electrifying death is straight out of Original Series Star Trek (although it hadn't even come along yet). I wont pretend it isn't deliriously enjoyable as such but for those who enjoy their Doctor Who a little less melodramatic (really?) it might be a bit much. Imagine how long a search through the universe for the Cybermen would take! Toberman is such a racist stereotype, a muscled, grunting beast of a black man and naturally the first one into the lions den. 'Go down Toberman!' - Kaftan even talks to him like he's an ape. There is some really hammy dialogue (my favourite examples are ‘It's practically wrecked our chances of getting off this crummy planet!’, ‘Especially with you insisting all over the place!’ and ‘Everything yields to logic, our basic assumption, Doctor!’). Is the Cyber Controller the most phallic thing ever seen in Doctor Who? That is a hotly contested prize but I think he might just deserve the trophy, leaving the Typhonian Ambassador and Alpha Centuri weeping in the corner. What a giant veiny dickhead! There is one exquisite sequence where the Cybermen are talking and all the second one keeps saying is 'yezzzz...' in a flat monotone - I can remember being friends with a couple that used to sound just like this when they were chatting and this scene used to instantly leap into my head whenever I was around them. Why do they lock Klieg in the gunroom? Lock him up, sure, but in the room with all the weapons? Hasn't he already proven to be as nutty as squirrel shit? He and Kaftan really are irredeemable, aren’t they? There is no depth to them beyond their irresponsible, demented villainy. Shirley Cooklin can barely control her laughter as she closes the hatch on the Controller, forgetting any pretense of fear and scurrying about chucklesomely like the panto villainess that she is. The Doctor announces 'KLIEG!' very dramatically in the final episode, when he is barely two feet away from them. Clearly it isn't only the seventh Doctor who is afflicted by this melodramatic urge ('Haaaaace!'). Anybody would think that Grotbags had just walked in.

Result: I have spent the last decade ridiculing this story so imagine my surprise when I was left spellbound on this watch. It isn't a perfect Doctor Who story and anybody who is expecting as much is always going to be sorely disappointed (every 'classic' story has narrative or production flaws of their own, their perfection comes from how we as a viewer see past them to all the other goodies on display) but it has a great deal going for it and as an example of the less sophisticated but more exciting storytelling favoured by the latest production team it is practically in a league of its own. At a blissful four parts the pace is relentless and something memorable or gripping crops up every couple of minutes to keep you on your toes. The Tomb of the Cybermen looks really expensive with great sets, moody lighting and some simple but striking effects work. No it isn't an intellectual treat but sometimes Doctor Who has to step away from it's roots as an intelligent drama and produce something blockbusting, moody and heart-stopping. As a montage of iconic imagery, an exciting adventure story, a chance to see Troughton at his dazzling best and the Cybermen at their most menacing it is absolutely unmissable. The clincher is that even Victoria gets some great material. Despite a few bumpy moments, this is as blockbusting and as magical as classic Who comes and more than lives up to its mighty reputation. Don't go into it expect something miraculous but do approach it expecting a compelling action adventure tale with more than enough spectacle and chills to keep you sated: 9/10

The Faceless Ones written by David Ellis and Malcolm Hulke and directed by Gerry Mill

This story in a nutshell: A potential new companion, the departure of two popular characters and an elongated tale of doppelgangers and abducted children…

Oh My Giddy Aunt: I barely recognised Troughton at all in the first episode because his characterisation is so incongruous – the Doctor displays little humour or authority and wants to contact the authorities as soon as possible! He doesn’t have time for official mumbo jumbo and he certainly doesn’t have a passport. When the Doctor gets tangled up with the airport Commandant that is when Troughton’s mischievous persona really starts to emerge. After finding his feet with the character by butting heads with authority figures in The Macra Terror, that same mischievous charm is fed into this story. This is the first instance of the Doctor telling Jamie ‘when I say run…run!’ It’s also the first time that Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines have been given the opportunity to indulge in a bit of business too, what with the silly shot of them hiding behind newspapers together (Jamie’s being upside down!). I love the images of the Doctor, Ben and Jamie posing cheesily inside the photo kiosk. There’s plenty of opportunity in this script to show off the fun interaction between this season fours regulars. Wow imagine if the Doctor pulled off that ‘I’ll blow you all to smithereens!’ trick in the middle of a busy airport now. He’d be cut down in a hail of bullets faster than the 7^th Doctor was when he visited San Francisco. Watching The Doctor walking into a trap and trying to think his way out of being frozen to death is a gripping experience, if only because the Doctor can’t talk his way out of this with his usual bluster and humour but instead has to think quick and cunningly. Troughton seems full of energy in this story, and looks far more like a young, lively soul than the older, panic stricken, universe weary man he would become in season six. There just seems something more vigorous about him in his first year. I like both approaches but I am more used to seeing the latter (because that is simply where a mine of episodes exist) so this flea on a griddle version seems a little unusual. The Doctor says Ben and Polly are lucky to get home because he never got to. He sketches out a possible future for them, together.

Who’s the Yahoos: It’s the last time that we really get to see Jamie experiencing any kind of culture shock before the idea was dropped and he takes every new location in his stride. He’s terrified of planes (‘great flying beasties!’) and walks around the airport in something of a daze, never having seen a building of its type before. I can understand why they eked out this sense of alienation because it would get tiresome for the Doctor to have to explain all about the location as well as the plot to his assistant but we do also lose that sense of wanderlust that comes with it which is quite enticing. It does us well to remember the magic of things that we take for granted. Jamie has to pretend to be sick in order for him and the Doctor to gain access to the sickbay and the Time Lord tells him not to overdo it (like he’s some ham actor). It’s a small moment but suggests the glories to come with this pair. He’s not above sneaky tactics, snogging Samantha in order to nab her ticket and take her place on the flight. Taking off on a plane must be a singular first time experience for a hairy legged Highlander and the writers don’t shy away from his culture shock. Its nice to have Jamie up in space whilst the Doctor is grounded on the Earth, its proof that this character has legs and can carry the story. That would be essential moving ahead with the departure of Polly and Ben. Jamie’s duplicate losing his Scot’s accent is a lovely touch to those in the know about Frazer Hines’ true lineage.

Able Seaman & Lovely Lashes: Ben and Polly deserved a much better send off than this and the lack of love for these characters means that they get as ignominious an ending as Dodo. Its not so much departed as pushed. I’m rather fond of this often forgotten pair (mostly because their episodes have suffered a serious junking) and feel they deserved more closure than ‘oh look we’re home, bye then Doctor!’ I can only think of the aforementioned Dodo, Liz Shaw and Romana I getting less satisfying endings (and the last two are only because they don’t get any at all, its literally now you see me, now you don’t) and some of their missing stories (The Smugglers, The Macra Terror) are neglected gems. If what Anneke Wills claims is true and she was offered the chance to stay on then there is a great opportunity in episodes one to see how things would have been with just the Doctor, Jamie and Polly. The shot of the Doctor and Jamie merrily wandering off whilst Polly is knocked unconscious and kidnapped just about sums up the aims of this story.

The Good:

• I’m sure that everybody must feel a little tingle when a story is filmed in or around their hometown and The Faceless Ones is my moment of pride. I was brought up in Crawley and so Gatwick is very familiar territory for me and a lot of the location work in this story (which is terrific) really gives me a little thrill. I especially love the shot of the Doctor and Jamie sheltering behind the wheels of a plane, an often published publicity still that sums up the resources of this story perfectly.
• Talk about initial economy of storytelling – Hulke and Ellis have six episodes to fill and yet within seconds the TARDIS has landed in the path of a jumbo jet (a fantastic conceit) and the crew have been forced to split up! The first episode is a jumble of great images and ideas; Polly stumbling on a murder in a hangar and being chased by a man with a gun, the TARDIS strapped to the back of a van, a dead man in a crate and the ingenious idea of the Doctor’s companions not recognising who he is. Its an opening episode that makes full use of its resources to tell a very different, far more contemporary Doctor Who story. Shots of the Chameleon being helped through the airport and then breathing heavily on the hospital bed, its mangled face disguised are quite creepy. It takes a long time to get to the truth behind Chameleon Tours (the first three episodes could easily be truncated down to two and would be stronger for it) but when they do get to the point the story flaunts some very engaging ideas. Crossland discovers the cockpit of a plan decked out with futuristic controls, the cliffhanger to episode three with the camera panning along the body of the plane to reveal all the children are missing is genuinely chilling and the entire sequence of the plane heading into orbit of the Earth and turning into a spaceship on the way is just extraordinary. When the plane falls off of the radar (because it has rendezvoused with the satellite in outer space) the Commandant declares that it must have collided with the RAF jet and crash landed in the ocean which just goes to show the level of realism the show would inject back in the day. Full marks for trigger happy, stony faced Nurse Pinto, a rare femme fatale in this period.
• Its Doctor Who’s first attempt at doing an Invasion of the Body Snatchers style story and goes straight for the jugular by having the aliens posing as the Doctor’s companions. The image of Polly staring wide eyed out of a packing crate pretty much justifies the idea although the thought of having fun with his companions is quickly dropped as Ben and Polly are shunted off stage in favour of the Doctor/Jamie/Sam team. It was never going to take the Doctor long to figure it out, the answer to the aliens ability is all there in the name of the company they are operating. By adding the word ‘youth’ to the tour programme it automatically makes your hair stand on end. Whilst this was a more innocent time, the abduction of children is still enough to get the audience itchy. I love the sequence where the Doctor looks for the victim in the crate in Air Traffic Control and finds him, it’s a great way of driving home the doppelganger effect. To actually see the horrid, scabby faces of the Chameleons being transformed into a person is another terrific, insidiously conceived visual and one which would have kids looking over their shoulders at their parents wondering if they are who they say they are. Its very satisfying that the aliens are less evil and more misguided (this is a period of the show that was often black and white in more ways than one) and that they are merely trying to find a new home to colonise and identities to claim. Their methods are obscene but their intentions because of the adversity they have faced (losing their home planet) are merely to benefit their struggling race.
• Samantha Briggs is definitely the one that got away. Bold, brassy and resourceful with a cracking sense of humour and fashion sense. She would have been far and away a much better companion than Victoria and I could see her pushing her way through season five knocking the heads of Cybermen, Yetis and Leader Clent and Penley together. Her chemistry with Jamie is electric and very funny, as soon as they hook up the story instantly starts to entertain in a way that it doesn’t before that point. She’s not above looking weak (she gets something in her eye when she realises what has happened to her brother) but generally she is brave, confident and full of spunk (oh gross, get that out of your head) – all the things that Victoria was lacking. The image of the Doctor, Jamie and Samantha unconscious in episode four is a good visual representation for what could have been.
• Several actors have proven that they have real versatility and worth on Doctor Who by appearing in the series in several memorable parts. Peter Halliday, Dennis Lill, Wanda Ventham (one of her three appearances is in this story), David Collings… In the sixties I would split that honour between Kevin Stoney (brilliant in both The Daleks’ Masterplan and The Invasion) and Bernard Kay. The latter proves so different from world weary freedom fighter Dortmun (The Dalek Invasion of Earth) and the honourable but slightly scary Saladdin (The Crusade) or even later as the conscience ridden IMC worker (Colony in Space) here as Inspector Crossland, a salt of the Earth Scot’s police investigator who is always quietly assessing the situation and never lets on to his conclusions unless it suits him. Kay is strong enough to head off on his own narrative and hold up large chunks of the action. He’s wonderfully sinister once he takes on the role of a transformed Chameleon.
• Setting so much of episode four on a Chameleon Tours plane and intercutting the action with dynamic stock footage of a flying beastie it in action gives the episode a dynamism that the first three were lacking. Sending an RAF jet plane after the next Chameleon Tours flight is an exciting, cinematic approach, quite unlike Doctor Who of the time (which preferred low budget, base under siege adventures to give a polished, economic look). You can see just by looking at the telesnaps how the sequence where the plane transforms into a spacecraft must have been an incredible sight. It’s the sort of creative, madcap idea that Doctor Who revels in. The sort of idea than any other show would dismiss as ridiculous. The sight of the blistered Chameleons wandering about the empty plane is extremely jarring in a very unsettling way. The first shot of episode six is through a porthole looking out into space, the story diving headlong into science fiction. Mind there is a clever intercutting of scenes on the satellite and scenes set on Earth suggesting a sense of scale and ambition. That mixture of the mundane and the extraordinary is Doctor Who’s bread and butter.

The Bad:

• Undoubtedly Donald Pickering is an actor of vast ability but his performance as the villainous Blane isn’t a highlight of his career. Its long been realised that charismatic villains are the most watchable and this still and robotic kind of delivery has long been eased out. The story chugs along quite nicely in the early episodes but every time we cut back to Blane and his ponderous dialogue and soporific activities the pace crawls to a halt.
• What this story is really lacking is a decent Dudley Simpson score. The music is sparse and unmemorable and as a result the action feels much slower than it should. All you really get are the plucking of a violins strings, an insane cacophony of drum banging and the odd scream-like sound effect, atmosphere generating for sure but nothing melodious or entertaining.
• The idea of Chameleon Tours covering their arses by getting the kids to write out their postcards on the way to their destination is one of those tricks that seems clever when you are first told about it but comes unravelled very quickly when you start to think about it. Regardless of a bunch of postcards telling their parents/loved ones that they are having a great time surely that many children all going missing and having flown with the same company is open to much suspicion?
• Like most six parters this is a highly repetitive story. Things that could have been excised are repeated escape and capture moments (especially involving the Doctor opening various crates and discovering bodies inside), repeated and progressively hysterical confrontations between the Doctor and the Commandant (who somehow gets more baffled and argumentative the more evidence is presented to him) and the Doctor’s repeated attempts to sniff out doppelgangers in Air Traffic Control. Any material with Patrick Troughton is worth watching (he’s just so good) so it seems a shame that they make him run around in circles playing out the same material until he can engage with the aliens from episode five onwards and work towards a resolution.
• Whilst they are well performed, the last episode has an extended coda full of goodbyes that should never happened. Polly and Ben have been shafted and leave in a hastily typed off excuse to get rid of them. If that was to happen anyway then Samantha should have stuck around but she and Jamie say goodbye too, sharing a rarely seen kiss in classic Who. Nice moments, but this isn’t how things should have gone down.

The Shallow Bit: Frazer Hines looking young, beautiful and innocent as a lamb. He’s just gorgeous.

Result: With its coarse location work, locked room mysteries and bureaucratic nightmares, the early episodes of The Faceless Ones is more like the first Emma Peel season of The Avengers than Doctor Who. There’s a great deal to recommend about this story, especially when it ventures wildly into science fiction in the latter episodes but there is no denying the fact that it is two episodes too long and would have served much better a pacy four parter. There is far too much too-ing and fro-ing from one location to another and repetitive action in the first half which means once the twists have done their business there is frantic lead up to the climax. Perhaps it is a mixture of its contemporary setting, the prominence of Jamie (who is very pretty) and Samantha (who is even prettier) and the way the writers stack their revelations and great ideas across the six episode that kept this story popular (most Doctor Who stories have a habit of starting with strong ratings and tailing off but The Faceless Ones scores nearly eight million for episodes one, three and six). The dream team of Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines are as youthful and full of vigour as they ever would be but Polly and Ben are short-changed in a rather severe way in what should have been their memorable swansong (the responsibility of which falls on The Macra Terror instead in which they dominate). Sam Briggs is the one that got away, a much more attractive prospect than the Victorian cream puff that was to come and she slips in with the Doctor and Jamie with ease. Add in some strong guest performances, a generally polished production (although the direction is occasionally stilted) and fantastic premise (aliens colonising through such insidious means proving to be misguided victims of a natural disaster) and you have a story made of fantastic ingredients. It feels like it is leading up to something special but everything fizzles episode six with the Doctor making promises that he is never going to stick around to make sure will happen. This would have made a four episode classic, instead at six episodes it is very good but is not quite as spectacular as it wants to be: 7/10

Artwork by Simon Hodges @ http://hisi79.deviantart.com/

Phantoms of the Deep written by Jonathan Morris and directed by Ken Bentley

What’s it about: On their mission to explore the Mariana Trench at the very bottom of the ocean, the deepest and most inhospitable place on Earth, the crew of the deep sea vehicle Erebus make an unusual and startling discovery. A battered blue police box. As the Doctor, Romana and K9 join them on their journey, the submariners soon discover that the TARDIS is not the only unusual find lurking on the sea floor. Super-intelligent squid, long-lost submarines and their miraculous occupants are only the start of their troubles. The Goblins are coming. And they won't let anyone out alive.

Teeth and Curls: Nobody can produce an ominous tone quite like Tom Baker and his talents in this area are utilised to the full in Phantoms of the Deep, as all manner of underwater nasties are thrown at our heroes. The Doctor is very proud of the latest version of K.9 that he built, prompting Romana to suggest that is why he needs repairing so much. Their destinations are supposed to be random, which was why he fitted the Randomiser in the first place but he does seem to have a preoccupation with the planet Earth. Once he landed the TARDIS in the heart of a star and it barely dented the paintwork – chucking the old girl a few thousand fathoms beneath the ocean was never going to do her any harm. When he thinks Romana is dead he curses himself for ever letting her get involved with an inveterate old trouble maker like him. The Doctor takes great exception to K.9 being called a gadget, he’s his second best friend after all!

Posh Girl: One day Romana intends to write a thesis on the Doctor, in particular exploring his levels of sanity. When Romana attempts to resuscitate the Doctor she asks that he surely wont do anything as mundane as dying.

Standout Performance: Mary Tamm always seemed to be at her best when she was able to play to her strengths of naughty indifference and snobbish humour. I never found her especially convincing when it came to jeopardy (think of that moment when she is strapped to the table in The Androids of Tara or when she is was thrown off a cliff in The Stones of Blood). Whilst the cliffhanger to part one is a corker, I was less convinced by Tamm than usual as she had to present Romana drowning in an airlock.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘It’s like a cross between the inside of an oyster and being back in the womb!’

‘Just because something’s imaginary it doesn’t mean it can’t hurt you.’

Great Ideas: Just hearing the acronym DSV (Deep Sea Vehicle) is enough to give me the shudders (as I’m sure anybody with a passing familiarity with Jonathan Brandis will testify to) but Doctor Who has always managed to piggyback on the success of other shows and play about with their ideas for an adventure. I really like the idea of an underwater adventure and since Warriors of the Deep (and I would argue Cold War too) failed to capture the claustrophobia of such a location it is still wide open for Morris to exploit. There’s a pleasing reference to one of Morris’ companion chronicles, The Great Space Elevator, which ties this story nicely into the same time period. Super intelligent squid capable of communicating through symbolic logic, a pleasing concept given that we have barely explored the depths of the ocean and there could be anything in existence down there. Discovering a derelict submarine under the water excites me because by exploring its rusting interior the Doctor is potentially looking into what the future holds for the crew of the Erebus. The phantoms of the ocean are an illusion, created by an alien spacecraft nestled on the seabed. The submariners are being tested for their psychic potential, just as the squid were and their brain power is being massively increased. It was built to reconstruct a race memory of a long extinct race, programmed to find the most intelligent species and increase their mental capacities to a point where they can be used as receptacles. The phantoms are the ghosts of species that built the ship, whispering in their minds. The spacecraft gave Jack the power of telekinesis and kept him alive for over a 100 years. With his powers his fears can become a reality and could potentially tear the Erebus apart. I don’t know what a vampire squid looks like but it sure sounds nasty (googles…ooh nasty!).

Audio Landscape: Underneath the sea, bubbling waves rolling past, sonar scanner, the Erebus churning through the water, along the sea bed, a robotic claw grabbing hold of the TARDIS, the creaking hull as the pressure drops, water dripping, K.9’s nose blaster, water filling rooms, characters lost beneath the waves, the screaming phantoms of the ocean.

Musical Cues: Jamie Robertson’s music always feels the most authentic when it comes to capturing that Dudley Simpson essence of melodrama. He’s on top form (he’s always on top form) in Phantoms of the Deep, using the slowly rising piano to generate a buttock clenching level of tension. Come the second episode he is ramping up the pressure (hoho), especially in the last ten minutes as the pace accelerates towards the climax. Big Finish have stumbled across a really gifted musician in Robertson and his work should never be taken for granted.

Isn’t it Odd: Trying to squeeze what would have been a four parter back in the day into two means that something has to give and in the case of Phantoms of the Deep, which gets just about everything else right (its setting, plot, atmosphere and tension at the very least), it is the characterisation of the guest cast. Don’t get me wrong they are all perfectly serviceable characters (I would expect nothing less from a dab hand like Jonathan Morris) but nobody really stands out as unique or breaks their stereotype. Morris’ other contribution to the season had a terrifically memorable guest cast but a slight plot, so this reverses the trend. Perhaps if each release was three episodes long we would get ample time to explore both narrative and character with equal depth.

Standout Scene: I always loved that moment in The Invasion of Time when it appears that K.9 has gone rogue and heads off to bring down the transduction barrier and allow the Vardans to invade Gallifrey. There is something very dramatic about the way that Gerald Blake shoots the metal dog up close and personal that makes him appear alien and unknowing. Jonathan Morris taps into that sense of menace with his excellent cliffhanger, K.9 suddenly turning on Romana, first trapping her in the airlock and then expelling her out into the ocean. It’s all wonderfully exciting and the metal mutt has lots of explaining to do. 

Result: With some startling atmospherics, it is very easy to slip beneath the waves with Phantoms of the Deep and enjoy the stifling ambience of a tale set beneath the ocean. Jonathan Morris has always been a versatile writer but the gulf in genre and tone between this and The Auntie Matter establishes his ability to turn his hand to any type of story more effectively than ever. Where he opened up the season with a sunny, light and blissfully funny tale, here he indulges in the claustrophobia, terror and crushing horror of a base under siege adventure in an enclosed location. Between the two stories he has covered what must surely appeal to every Doctor Who fan. It’s a story that isn’t afraid to present some exciting set pieces despite the fact that there are no visuals (the underwater sea walk is very impressive) and Ken Bentley is more than up to the task of bringing these ambitious sequences to life. The first episode lays down all the individual elements (the intelligent jellyfish, the derelict submarine, the large underwater body) and then the concluding part cleverly weaves them all into a satisfying narrative. In storytelling terms there is nothing here that hasn’t been done before, it is the location that sets it apart but even on those terms this makes for highly enjoyable night time listening (turn all the lights out and press play, trust me it’s fantastic). It is probably the story that relies on the Doctor and Romana the least, at least in terms of their particular personalities. You could happily switch them for any other Doctor/companion combination with the minimal of tweaking, which is certainly not something you could say about The Auntie Matter but is often the way with such a traditional Doctor Who story. Regardless, Tom Baker seems to be having a blast and his enthusiasm for the material is quite infectious. Well paced, full of excitement and evoking a malevolent flavour, Phantoms of the Deep is another winner for the second season of fourth Doctor adventures: 8/10

The Macra Terror written by Ian Stuart Black and directed by John Davies

This story in a nutshell: There is an evil force at the heart of a colony which the Doctor roots out in a well earned holiday…

Oh My Giddy Aunt: This is the point where the second Doctor that we all recognise comes to life. Like the colony what you see and what you get are two very different things and whilst he puts on a naughty schoolboy exterior there is a brilliant mind at work behind that smokescreen. He very much sympathises with the underdog and will go out of his way to cause trouble for authority figures, doing one seems to directly result in the other but I don't think he sets out to annoy anybody. That cheeky, oh-so innocent smile might suggest otherwise. Troughton never gave a poor performance but he was capable of an uncertain one, where he tried to various hats (everything from sombre to out and out farce) but not it is clear that he has found a direction (all sparkly eyes, wicked smile and mischievous dealings in the darkness) and he is excited by the prospect. The Doctor looks hilarious with his head sticking out the clothes reviver and brilliantly jumps straight into the rough and tumble machine to crumple up his clothes again. This is a man who doesn't want to look respectable. Like Hartnell there is a sense of curiosity that is insatiable and the feeling that he will leave no stone unturned in order to solve a mystery. His ability to sniff out injustice mirrors Hartnell's stoic first Doctor too, but he's far more naughty in how he handles the perpetrators. ‘Why do you want everybody to be the same?’ he asks defiantly and it almost sums up the Doctor’s attitude to life, provoking his friends induvidual strengths. I love the Doctor giving himself eleven out of ten as he works out his sums, cheekily singing his own praises. When asked where they are the Doctor answers‘it looks rather like a cupboard with a lot of pipes,' ever one for stating the obvious when Polly asks where they are. The Pilot says he doesn’t know why he trusts the Doctor and he responds that its because he has an honest face. he relies on that fact, using his innocent facade in order to gain trust and to start to manipulate. As soon as he hears that they want to make him the next Pilot he is out of there quicker than a rabbit in headlights and he adopts Jamie’s exit approach by dancing a little jig towards the door. In my opinion this is one the better examples of the second Doctor because it highlights his sinister and anarchic qualities first and a by-product is his more farcicial nature. As time went on the former would be sacrificed in favour of the latter and whilst I will always love this incarnation I prefer it when I can see that brilliant and devious mind at work behind all the slapstick.

Lovely Lashes & Able Seaman: Probably the most responsible use of Polly and Ben since they helped to smooth over the transition between the first and second Doctors. Polly was introduced as a gorgeous, with-it sixties girl but somewhere along the line she has slipped into the role of generic companion, always fairly engaging thanks to Anneke Wills performance but losing the sense of where she comes from. The Macra Terror recaptures that and then some, revealing a side to her character that likes to be pampered and preened and complimented. I could imagine Polly at the salon of a Friday night getting glammed up for a weekend on the town. In Barney's effervescent treatments she plumps for a shampoo and an elfin cut and walks away looking more gorgeous than ever. Whilst Wills and Craze have always played up the chemistry between their characters, since Jamie turned up their barely had a chance to be alone together. It has been clear from their first adventure that there is something very special between Polly and Ben and she is absolutely appalled that he is seen to turn on his friends. She is so used to turning to him for comfort that it is a genuine shock to react to him behaving in such a ugly, terrorizing fashion. She looks absolutely petrified as Ben pursues her through the construction site at night and for the kids watching at home it must have been discomforting to see their heroes turn on each other like this.

The Macra Terror affords Ben his most interesting development since Power of Daleks and it draws upon the same sort of suspicion and aggression that he displayed in the new Doctor’s debut story. Hypnotism stories were ten a penny in the sixties (their first story was a great example) but this story takes an interesting approach by choosing Ben because he always has been rather hot tempered and violent and proves to be quite a frightening menace once he turns on his friends. I certainly wouldn't want to wind up on the wrong side of his fists and his violent stubbornness to refuse to accept that there is something evil festering at the heart of the colony is brilliantly played by Michael Craze. There's something dangerous about him, in a way that I don't usually feel when companions turn bad. He's grabbing hold of the chance to have more to do and running with it. After betraying the Doctor, turning violent with Jamie and refusing to listen to Polly’s objections you get the feeling there is no redemption they could offer the character. In a time when fun adventuring takes priority over nuanced characterisation, this forced betrayal is something of a compelling anomaly.Watching Ben trying to cope with his mind control and rationalise what he has been told cannot exist is fascinating to witness, he screams that there is nothing evil or harmful in the colony whilst at that very moment a creature is lunging at them out of the darkness. Ultimately he cannot fight the evidence of his own eyes but there is a nagging feeling that Ben holds out longer than necessary against his friends. There has always been a feeling that he hasn't quite trusted this new Doctor and it is quite telling that on their next destination Polly and Ben are summarily ignored and dismissed. It is made to look like their decision but it is a hell of a co-incidence that Ben is seen to betray the Doctor so completely and then dumped. Perhaps it was all part of the producers plan (who wanted rid of Ben, at least) to turn the audience against him before shoving him out of the TARDIS door.

Sexy Scot: It's a shame that the sunny trio of Polly, Ben and Jamie are split up just at the point where the writers were figuring ways to give them all a decent share of the action. Whilst Polly and Ben are happy to enjoy a little pampering, Jamie is highly suspicious of getting something for nothing and amusingly (especially given his mad flirtation when he becomes a more seasoned traveller) he is terrified of the ladies pawing at him. Jamie enjoys some of the more amusing scenes in the story when he trips out of the mines and interrupts a marching band practising their dance moves to some horrendous jingles. They think he is one of the background dances and ask him to provide something gay and cheerful (oo-er!). He demonstrates the Highland Fling to try and escape. Whilst dancing doesn't seem to be his forte, it is at least preferable to dicing with giant crabs in the smoky mines.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Well this is gay!’
‘Have fun while you can…before they crawl all over you!’
‘Macra…they’re in control!’
‘Confusion is best left to the experts!’
‘Bad laws were made to be broken.’

The Good: The direction of the opening scenes creates an intense atmosphere from the off, a chilling heartbeat sound plays over a close up of Medok's terrified eyes as he dashes through the rocky landscape on the run. Terrance Lodge can be found playing memorable roles in a number of Doctor Who stories but this is probably his best performance, imbuing Medok with a sense of absolute fury at the way he has been rejected by his friends and horror at the nasties that are manipulating them. In contrast, the scenes in the colony are bright, cheerful and inviting, the use of groovy jingles proving particularly hypnotic. Some of the treatments that the ultra camp Barney mentions sound wonderful; sunlight treatment, moonlight treatment and sparkling effervescence. Sign me up to visit this colony ASAP, please. Doctor Who always does a good job of presenting a setting and peeling away layers to reveal something very sinister going on underneath (The Pirate Planet and Revelation of the Daleks are great examples). There is something particularly sinister about the way that is handled in The Macra Terror because the smiley facade of the colony is so insidious and addictive and it feels like the ideal place for the Doctor and his friends to put their feet up for a while. The very simple idea of a bright holiday camp by day turning into a Orwellian nightmare as soon as the sun goes down is achieved very effectively. At night all those happy go lucky workers are locked in and the creatures that are running things can scuttle and creep about in the darkness. The use of sound in this story is exceptional, listen out for those creepy sucking, slurping, screaming noises that pervade the night time sequences. Doctor Who is plundering 1984 as it gleefully presents the figure of the Controller, the photograph of a handsome man who speaks as a figurehead for the colony whilst the monsters that have created him brainwash its inhabitants. I am very keen on the first cliffhanger and even though I cannot watch it in its entirety. the idea of Macra claws snapping out of the misty darkness is pretty disturbing. Clearly these creatures never thought that anybody would ever see through their smokescreen and the Controller screams with confident rage 'where are you Macra?' Dudley Simpson is clearly having a whale of a time on this adventure, it is one of his more psychedelic soundtracks and gleefully melodramatic in places. More than anybody he is working hard to boost the gay atmosphere of the colony (oh settle down) to be able to highlight the danger the travellers are in more effectively. There's a beautifully executed cobweb strewn mine, disguised with mist and moodily lit for Jamie to get lost in during episode three where he is menaced by the Macra. For once the nasties of the story have a reasonable motive for their actions, they need the gas in order to survive so it makes perfect sense for them to emerge from the depths of the planet and manipulate the humanoid population into pumping out a steady supply for them. I love the running gag at the end of Troughton stories that sees the travellers attempting to escape before the effusive praise begins and they start offering the Doctor the highest post in the land for his efforts. This is a particularly cute example, the Doctor leading his friends in a little jig out the door. Whilst it is far more fun when he plays the bad guy (the delicious Count Grendel in The Androids of Tara), you certainly couldn't point at any part of Peter Jeffrey's performance in The Macra Terror and say it is ineffective. Gertan Klauber provides a memorable nasty in Ola, sinister and sadistic and enjoying his chance to push people around.

The Bad: There is so much effective work done building the creatures up that this is one of those occasions where it would have been better to keep them unseen because the costumes are extremely cumbersome. It's during the danger gang sequences in episode three that the story starts to lack focus, down in the mines at the mercy of the vicious Macra and treading water until the climax. The Macra remain something of a mystery to this day. How they managed to achieve their take over so successfully is never really dwelt upon or where they got their masterful hypnosis powers from. It is never explained how a race of sentient giant crabs came to be in the first place, and certainly not ones that speak so eloquently. Whether in 1966 or 2006, it would seem that the thrill of the unusual visual of a menacing giant crab is enough to paper over any questions.

The Shallow Bit: Ben is truly in his element with so many hot majorettes around to ogle. After driving me to distraction in The Smugglers by getting his kit off, Michael Craze is at again in this story. Doctor Who shouldn't sport horny companions of this nature because it really is quite distracting from the storytelling. In that respect it is probably good that we can only listen to this adventure.

Result: An effective chiller with oodles of atmosphere, The Macra Terror sees season four gain sudden focus after running on the spot since The Power of the Daleks. The Highlanders, The Underwater Menace and The Moonbase are all above average in my book but none are the best example of their genre (historical, oddball and base under siege respectively) and this is the first time since Troughton's introductory story that the show feels like it is kicking out and trying something new. There is plenty of good material for all four regulars without any of them feeling sidelined; Jamie gets to come into his own and provide some effective action and laughs and Polly and Ben enjoy some chilling tension as the latter comes under the influence of the Macra and menaces his other half. But it’s the Doctor who impresses the most with the dark schoolboy finally emerging and rubbing his hands together with glee as he brings down these insidious parasites. There is some padding down the mines in episode three but that aside the pace rarely lets up and director John Davies aces the stifling feeling that Big Brother is watching you in this idyllic colony.  What’s clear even from the telesnaps is how moody the lighting is in this adventure and merged with the chilling sound effects it creates a tense and foreboding atmosphere. It’s a shame that this seems to be a forgotten adventure because the result is a highly engaging piece that genuinely deserves to have some of the highest ratings of the era. Doctor Who was riding high on the success of the Troughton transition and this is one of the most confident stories yet and certainly the one that the main man feels most comfortable in: 8/10

Artwork by Simon Hodges @ http://hisi79.deviantart.com/

The Moonbase written by Kit Pedlar and directed by Morris Barry

This story in a nutshell: The Cybermen attack a weather control station on the moon…

Oh my Giddy Aunt: Its very interesting to chart the progress of the Doctor throughout season four because to my mind it takes Troughton the longest of all the Doctors to settle into his role in the way he has been famous for. The Underwater Menace aside, I would say The Moonbase is the last story where he looks a little awkward in the role and the following story, The Macra Terror, is where he really hit his stride. Saying that he still has some great moments in The Moonbase but they are mostly serious moments and not the moments of irresistible charm that I would come to love about his character. The second Doctor is far more cautious than his predecessor, he’s happy to move on without exploring the moons surface and only explores because his companions twist his arm. I cannot imagine Hartnell missing an opportunity to go for a space walk on the moon. The Doctor’s ‘they must be fought’ speech is probably as grave as we ever saw this Doctor and Troughton is simply spellbinding. it's the thoughts of a man who stepped out into the universe to explore and confronted some very ugly foes. He took a degree in Glasgow in 1888, a story that might have been fun to see. It's lovely watching him get up to all kinds of physical comedy collecting specimens whilst the base crew are going about their daily routines. Troughton always look comfortable when he gets to be as physical as possible in the role. ‘Look busy quick!’ – he manages to look as if he is snowed under with work when actually they have almost given up on discovering what has cause the virus! The Cybermen recognise the Doctor, the first alien menace to do so since the Daleks suggesting their increased status as the next big monster. I love the scenes inside the Doctor’s head as he excitedly tries to work out what the Cybermen’s weaknesses are, it's a rare peek inside the mind of our hero (the only other time it happened is in The Underwater Menace, the story which precedes this one).

Able Seaman and Lovely Lashes: I remember a time when the Doctor's companions were absolutely terrified of leaving the TARDIS to explore an unknown landscape. Now it is the Doctor's friends that want to head out and explore the surface of the moon. What was a heart stopping trip around space and time has evolved into something much more exciting and enjoyable, resembling the 'trip of a lifetime' that Russell T Davies highlighted when he brought the show back. Polly might be relegated to the role of nursemaid (I can't imagine a certain portion of the audience objecting to that) she gets to make the observation that although an electronic nurse can administer medicine it cannot be nice to a patient which is something that she can bring to the situation. Polly had never been one to hold back from exercising her lungs and she lets rip a couple of belters in this story when confronted with the silver menace of the Cybermen. Is the Doctor being sexist when he asks Polly to go and make the coffee? I don't think so, if he asked me to the do the same thing I would have obliged. Whilst she is quite adept at whipping up a mocha or two, Polly also seems to be the brains of the operation, conjuring up her fabulous Polly cocktail to squirt at the Cybermen's chest units and give them a complete metal breakdown (sorry). She's the brains and she has Ben and Jamie around as the muscle to put her poisonous mixture to the test. It could be the only time when a companions vanity (her knowledge of nail vanish remover) helps to save the day. After The Underwater Menace and now The Moonbase it is clear that there aren't enough lines to go around and Ben is sidelined appallingly  seen on the periphery of scenes and chipping in with the odd line or two. Strangely enough it is the next story where the writers finally got as hand on dishing out a decent amount of material for each of the regulars, at the point where Polly and Ben are about to be written out. Was there a little of the behind the scenes tension between Michael Craze and Frazer Hines evident in the scene where Ben agrees to have a punch up with Jamie? The one thing that really stands out about Ben's characterisation in practically every story is that he is a very violent young man ('Quick! Ram 'im!') and is quick to get into a scrap when one is offered (his first scene in the show was a nightclub punch up). I wish we had had the time to get to know Ben a bit better because I feel that he had a lot more to give.

Who’s the Yahoos: Another example of three companions being too many, Jamie is knocked out in episode one and doesn’t regain consciousness coherently until episode three! He’s astonished to be on the moon, the writers still indulging in the characters culture shock.  He's still decked out in a wet suit at the beginning of this adventure so I really can't complain too much. Jamie is more of a monosyllabic primitive in this story than the cocky charmer he would become, which is probably more realistic but far less fun. The McCrimmon Piper is a phantom that appears before you die...although why he should take on the visage of a six foot robot is anybody's guess. Apparently it takes more than a wee knock on the head to keep a McCrimmon down but considering how much Jamie is out of action in this adventure let's chalk this up to male boasting. I can't think of another story where Jamie is given this little to do.

The Good Stuff: Say what you will about Morris Barry's direction (and I would certainly indulge come The Dominators) but when he is on form he gives the show a lick of expensive gloss that is very easy on the eye. check out the dramatic opening shots of the console room lit only by the flashing lights of the control panel and the glorious crane shot of the TARDIS landing on the moons surface. There is a feeling of space in the opening episode that most Doctor Who stories can only dream of. The Doctor's companions are a literal interpretation of the children watching at home, laughing and leaping and larking about on the surface of the moon. There is definitely something plausible about a weather control station on the Moon, even if it isn't something that will be in operation in 2020 the weather feels like something that the human race would strive to take control of. Given how at the mercy of the mood swings of the planet we are at times, it would certainly save a lot of lives. It feels like a gloriously optimistic view of the future, so typical of the sixties. The effect of the virus curling insidiously along the map of veins in the human body is well achieved. Barry lays on the atmospherics in the first episode, cutting to the eavesdropping spaceship nearby and the Cybermen realised as a menacing shadow on the wall. It is a brooding build up to the creatures eventual appearance. Kit Pedlar might not have been the finest dramaticist the show ever deployed but he always brought a level of realism and functionalism to the stories he was involved in - in particular I love the idea of the artificial use of day and night to help the crews function in a biologically conventional fashion. Few things get me as excited in 60s Who than the rising drama of the March of the Cybermen music. It's there when they stomp across the surface of the moon to attack the base, when they emerged from the snowy wastes of Antartica and when they burst free of their tombs on Telos. Earthshock aside, all my favourite Cybermen stories are filmed in black and white. There is something about how they are shot in monochrome that makes them so much more menacing and stylish. It is nice for this story to refer back to the events of The Tenth Planet - I would say that it is surprising that they went public with the new of the Cybermen but then it's quite difficult to try and cover up another planet dominating the skies. It feel as though Gerry Davis dumbed down the show when he took over as producer (interesting it brought about an increase in viewing figures, just like the other time the show is accused of dumbing down - between seasons seven eight) but he clearly had a genius brainstorm with the base under siege formula. Pouring the shows meagre budget into one impressive set yields great results too,  the Gravitron set proving to be one of the most impressive of the season. The designer even goes to the lengths of having a window that overlooks the moons surface. It has been commented that the climax of episode two is daft but when it is sold with this much urgency by Troughton who am I to complain about such things? These are my favourite Cyber-voices, far more effective than the deep seas divers they were to become and all the nonsensical warbles in between (The Wheel in Space and The Invasion are the worst). What a shame that episode three is missing because listening to the soundtrack alone it is clearly the most tense of the entire tale. No wonder the the ratings were consistently good, this is a show that deploys set pieces at the end of episodes that ensure that you cannot miss next weeks installment. The Cybermen look glorious marching across the moons surface, positively gleaming in the Earth light. I can often be found criticising the Cybermen for their idiotic moments of illogic in their dastardly schemes but here they do everything they possibly can (jamming communications, firing their laser, poisoning the crew, storming the facility, deflecting the relief rocket) to bring down the Moonbase. The Doctor’s solution to send the metal meanies spinning acrobatically into space is marvelously ambitious way to see them off and looks far better than it has any right to given the shows budget.

The Bad Stuff: Quilted spacesuits, plastic water bottles and goldfish bowl oxygen masks…future technology dates more than anything in science fiction and The Moonbase is afflicted more than others. A result of trying to make the Moonbase look and feel like a functioning workplace is that the pacing of the story is constantly broken up with ponderous scenes of the station personnel going about their business. Robson fighting against Earthbound politics should have been a razor sharp angle but instead winds up being the dullest material, attempting to inject realism into a tale that excels when it focuses on metal men firing laser guns. Bloody tape spools, you cannot get away from them in the sixties! Sexism and racism go hand in hand in The Moonbase, whilse Polly is off putting the kettle on Benoit (the Frenchman) is straightening the little scarf tied around his neck. As written Robson is entirely plausible in being suspicious of the Doctor and his friends but Patrick Barr plays him with such petulant stubbornness he remains a pretty unlikable sort of fellow throughout. Compare with what Peter Butterworth does with a similar role in The Ice Warriors and you can really see where Barr lacks presence and depth. Putting the virus in the sugar was a daft move, infecting only some of the base personnel – why not put it in the water supply? Who are the Cybermen kidding that they aren't emotional? It's hard to think of a single story where they aren't full of themselves but in this tale they are particularly complimentary of their fiendishness. Puncturing the dome in the fourth episode is very dramatic (I especially love the detail of the flopping oxygen masks mimicking the realism of the a plane decompression) but plugging it with a jacket and a tea tray stretches credulity to the absolute limit. The Cyber spaceships look remarkably like the flying saucer sweeties that I was quite partial to as a kid.

The Shallow Bit: I'm starting to sound like a stuck record. Polly, Ben and Jamie. Never has travelling in the TARDIS felt like more of an opportunity to pull!

Result: I just don’t know what to make of Troughton’s first showdown with the Cybermen. On the one hand it is a generally very well made piece with some good set pieces and I don't think the Cybermen have ever looked better. Yet every time I watch/listen to it I find myself bored in place, Pedlar's did science and realism often coming at the expense of the drama. It is clear that there is one regular too many and nobody except Troughton is particularly well served by a tale that boasts a huge (and largely forgettable outside of some racial stereotyping) guest cast. I wish we could have salvaged the third episode because that is where the most dramatic scenes are to be found as the Doctor's companions take the fight to the Cybermen. In contrast episode two, despite a few dramatic scenes, is mostly standing around the Moonbase and trying to convince the staff that they have something to contribute. It is an inconsistently paced adventure too, with moments where the show tries a bit to hard to convince that this is set in the real world and the action slams to a halt for extended periods. A shame because the better moments (the Cybermen marching across the moons surface being particularly memorable) really do linger in the memory. You can see why this is the highest rated Troughton adventure, the return of the Cybermen and a trip to moon are both big draws and there is no doubt that the entertaining slant that the show has taken (abandoning its educational roots) has re-ignited an interest in the series again. Some reviewers will write this off as a tedious exercise in telling a base under siege story but at this stage of the game there had only been one other example of the sub-genre and this manages to be more claustrophobic, more ambitious and feature better Cybermen than The Tenth Planet. It isn't the show at its best but it is trying to be as exciting as it possibly can and for that it should be applauded: 7/10