The War Machines written by Ian Stuart Black and directed by Michael Ferguson

Gruff Granddad: Hartnell is still clinging onto his dignity and the script affords him some opportunities to prove he is still charge but his hand shaking apoplexy in the first scene does show an actor who is struggling with the demands of the show. A shame to see him diminished in the role that made provided such a nourishing close to his career. He can scent aliens. I bet that’s nasty. He manages to keep his ego under control and says that he dabbles in computers but isn’t a specialist. I love how he manages to insult people so thoughtlessly - ‘Who was that little man Krimpton?’ Kitty digs his fab gear and thinks he looks like Jimmy Saville! I'll forgo all the obvious puns after the recent scandal. For a moment I thought Polly was a master prankster and had covered the telephone receiver with glue as the Doctor attempts to wrestle with to get the device unstuck as WOTAN attempts to hypnotise him! What on Earth is going on during that ‘It was trying absorb me!’ mania? Hartnell actually looks like he has completely lost his marbles for a moment. I like how he tries to restrain Ben’s furious anger; they have quite a nice dynamic even if things weren't quite as easy behind the scenes. How commanding does he look clutching his lapels and stepping into the light to confront the War Machine?  This is the first time that the Doctor advises the military but far from the last. His reaction to losing Dodo is hurt; Hartnell always plays these scenes well because you know the actor is genuinely appalled to lose another ally.

Long Lashes: Gorgeous Polly has a great opening couple of episodes but loses it a bit in the second half as she is forced into the role of hypnotised drone (actors automatically forget their craft when they are asked to act out of character). Still it is easy to see the potential in a proper swinging sixties gal stepping into the TARDIS, one with a great pair of legs and an equally effective pair of lungs. If I sound abominably sexist than rest assured that Polly doesn't really come across as being one of the Doctor's weaker companions. On the contrary she is always trying to gee everybody up to fight whatever nasties come their way, often has a scheme up her sleeve and manages to empathise with the people they meet on their adventures. One of the first things we see her do is turn to the camera and gurn which has an oddly appealing effect. Every time you want some brightness in your life, come to Pol. In an attempt to give the girl some street cred Polly takes Dodo to the Inferno nightclub and is happy to show her her moves when she flirts outrageously with Ben at the bar. You can see how she would like going out clubbing, she’s gorgeous and I bet she has no trouble getting some attention. She’s good in a crisis too, ready to phone around the hospitals when Dodo has been missing for a while. She agrees to stand Ben lunch so she clearly wants to get to know him better. I like how she breaks her programming enough to let Ben escape revealing that she already has some strength of feeling for him. With Dodo promptly dealt with in a couple of lines the show looks to be heading in a younger, sexier path as two of the hottest companions jump into the Ship and depart with the Doctor.

Cockney Sailor: Bestill my beating heart. Does it give Ben an unfair advantage that I happen to fancy the arse off of Michael Craze? He is stuck in barracks and longs to be out at sea (perfect companion material then) and whilst getting back to his ship is alluded to in later stories it is never laboured on like Ian and Barbara's desire to return home was. This pair get so wrapped up in their adventures with the Doctor (and visiting everywhere from the past to the future to Vulcan to Atlantis who can blame them?) that their home life quickly becomes a thing of the past, at least until they next materialize in their proper time and place. Ben is something of an aggressive babe (and I thought Steven was always looking for a fight but he has nothing on Ben) and picks a fight with some nightclub sleaze to protect Polly’s honour. He doesn’t even get out of his sailors uniform to go clubbing, despite his objections to the contrary he is clearly on the pull. Anybody who accuses of Craze of not being able to perform should check out his reaction to a War Machine which is one of total hysteria, a far cry from Ian and Steven who barely would have broken a sweat. Michael Craze plays these scenes for real and they are all the more powerful for it. I loved the scene where he told the Doctor he was past it and he should handle the action, there is something quite playful developing between them and it is a shame that thanks to Hartnell's decreasing health we couldn't have seen that go further. Ben really seems to enjoy beating Polly up, he dives at her twice and wrestles about with her in a crazy dance. Perhaps he likes it rough.

Dead as a…: ‘Scotland Yard whisked off into Time and Space!’ - prim and proper Dodo hardly ever felt like a believable character and in her last half a story she is more cardboard than ever. Interesting to see that Dodo reaches out to Polly to get her back in touch with reality (you can see how she liked to hang out with the cool kids at school) and it is perhaps surprising that she is something of a party animal. She makes for an extremely unconvincing baddie I must say; Jackie Lane was pretty stiff as it was so when she’s required to be so deliberately its beyond a joke. It’s a forgettable end of a forgettable character; she’s whisked off to the country and decides to hang about in Sir Charles’ lap of luxury rather than spending her time switching accents and spraining her ankle. If you believe the Virgin Missing Adventures she went on to catch an STD and was gunned down in a hail of bullets. This series of books always was a little graphic and perverse but this time I really didn't mind too much. At least it was a memorable way to go, not a description you could toss Dodo's way too often.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Standby Dodo this looks like a rescue mission, the Navy’s in trouble!’
‘Machines cannot govern man!’

The Good Stuff: the story gets off to a fantastic start visually, an Ariel shot that zooms in on the TARDIS landing on location in contemporary London with a flock of birds scattering as a result. Location work is starting to become more common on the show (this is the second of three stories on the trot to boast superb location work) and with directors like Michael Ferguson on hand they are going to wring every penny out of the budget to ensure the show looks as impressive as possible. It's unusual for the show to present these kinds of production values in an end of season show, usually the kitty has run dry and we are left with the dregs, production wise, but The War Machines feels as though it has limitless resources. Expensive location filming, spanking new robots for the Doctor to face, detailed sets and a full on national emergency is convincingly staged with the armed forces deploying impressive artillery and a multitude of troops. Just take a look at the gorgeous panoramic backdrop from the Post Office Tower to see the attention to detail. WOTAN is said to be (at least) 10 years ahead of its time. More like 20! They’ve only gone and invented the Internet, a problem solving computer system that linked to all the computers around the world. The only difference is WOTAN itself, a central intelligence that has decided that man is a barrier to the evolution of machinekind and must be put out of the way. Has there ever been a more prescient idea in Doctor Who? Ian Stuart Black isn't just concerned with technology, he also wants to give his tale a contemporary edge and soon moves the action to the Inferno - the hottest nightspot in town! The nightclub scenes are unique in Doctor Who (we never saw Sarah Jane or Ace letting their hair down like this, more's the pity) and the drink-fueled bar room brawl over Polly that ensues is more akin to Eastenders than Doctor Who. I love the very simple judgement that WOTAN passes on humanity: ‘We have failed.’ Such a simple statement with plenty of meanings depending on your own personal beliefs. I think WOTAN might just have the scariest computer voice that Doctor Who has to offer, a sibilant rasp, like a literal ghost caught in the machine. It is made all the creepier at the end of episode one where it first talks and sounds as though it is struggling to find its voice. The direction is initially very sympathetic to the War Machines, showing their assembly in some detail and the camera pulling back dramatically on their first reveal (with a super dramatic musical sting to commemorate the moment). The designers have managed to create quite a bold looking robot, built like a tank with deadly poisonous jets that incapacitate and kill. I adore the Batman-esque tilted crash zooms on the Post Office Tower. It's all very well having WOTAN declare us a failed species but actually seeing his foot soldiers mowing people down and rolling them off the street as nothing more than litter to be disposed of is real evidence of his indifference. It is probably the scariest thing we get to see them do. It is interesting that people associate the use of newsreaders broadcasting a state of emergency to the nation as something that is unique to the New Series (it is such a repeated motif it is easy to see why) when it first appeared in the series in 1966 (and was used a couple of times in the Pertwee era too). The War Machines bothers to look in peoples homes, the local pub and to show us people running for their lives on the street. If it isn't quite as dramatic as the script is trying to make they are at least having a fair stab at making this look like a genuine national emergency. Fantastic to think that a formula developed in 1966 is still successful and in practice nearly half a century later. Perhaps Hartnell overstated his case when he declared that evil was creeping into the show but the last five minutes of episode three are nothing but glorified violence. People are murdered and the warehouse is littered with corpses, there’s hand-to-hand combat, fierce weaponry and the violent image of the War Machine framed by burning crates. Perhaps what Hartnell meant was the show was losing its innocence. But then I would hardly say that stories such as The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Daleks' Masterplan and The Massacre were exactly light and fluffy SF. I have this chucklesome image of all the naff robots that desperately want to reach the iconic status of the Daleks – the War Machines, Mechanoids, Chumblies, Quarks, Styre's robot and even that crazy looking dude from Terminus – all joining forces to take on Skaro’s finest! What a story that would make. I always complain bitterly in season eighteen where we trade in the dream team of the fourth Doctor, Romana and K.9 for Adric, Tegan and Nyssa. The War machines reverses that trend, with Steven already gone all we are left with is Dodo so it's out with the trash and in with the sexy and the sassy.

The Bad Stuff: Spinning tape is an odd staple of computers of the 60s and 70s. As soon as that clunking spinning tape sound effect kicks in you can usually date a programme within a decade. Did nobody stop to think that by creating a computer with its own brain that has military strategy built into its software that they were asking for trouble? Hypnotism rarely comes off in Doctor Who unless it is played for laughs and in this case it seizes control of perfectly fine actors and forces them to perform in as stiff a fashion as possible. As impressive as the scenes of the War Machines being built are, I don't think they quite needed to go on for as long as they do. We needed to see these robots in action far sooner than they are. The tramp being chased around the pit is like a ridiculous Benny Hill sketch (hum the music, it really works). The War Machines look far more menacing when they are stationary, one wobbles away down a London high street as though he is popping out for a bit of shopping. It would be churlish to mention the Doctor’s reprogrammed War Machine dashing towards the Tower with its alarmingly shaky fake backdrop. But that wont stop me.

The Shallow Bit: Is it wrong to fancy the Doctor's companions? Doctor Who is not really a show I watch for sex appeal but when it comes to Polly and Ben I am at something of a lost at my interest. She’s a gorgeous leggy blonde and he’s a hunky cockney squeezed into a sailor uniform. Polly outrageously goes to work on consecutive days in what looks like a nighty and a tea cosy and Ben sports an overcoat and a tight black cotton vest. Let's be honest, they were trying to sex the show up a bit. It makes poor Hartnell look like a bit of an old fossil.

Result: Entirely unrepresentative of its era but much favoured by the show for the rest of its (continuing) tenure, the contemporary alien takeover plot gets its virgin outing here and as usual the Hartnell years tip their hat to a new genre with consummate style. With its polished direction, expensive location work, urban settings I am reminded of the black and white Diana Rigg season of The Avengers as I watch The War Machines. The tone of the two shows might be entirely different but for these four, expensive looking, episodes there is a similarity. You can see instant potential in Polly and Ben as companions (and not just because they are both gorgeous); she's a resourceful middle class working girl and he's a cheeky cockney whose handy with his fists. They both have a taste for adventure and I have nothing but hope for the future as they skip into the TARDIS, Dodo instantly forgotten. With the conception of WOTAN and the idea of a series of linked computers you have one of the most prescient Doctor Who stories, pre-dating the internet and jumping on the bandwagon of artificial intellience. It's a cold opponent so there isn't the entertainment that you would usually have with a swaggering villain at the top (there's simply nobody to react to beyond WOTAN's hypnotised lackeys) but the fight against the War Machines is so impressively staged that you almost forget this is a story with only a faint whisper of a climax. Hartnell is holding onto to his dignity in an advisory role but it is clear that he is struggling. A confident tale, well-produced and very entertaining to watch. The Daleks don't have anything to worry about though: 8/10

The Savages written by Ian Stuart Black and directed by Christopher Barry

This story in a nutshell: A world of peace and prosperity isn’t quite the paradise that the Doctor claims to be…

Hmm: Hartnell shows none of his supposed tiring in this story (well not until he has his soul torn from his body and that is deliberate) as the Doctor marches off determined once again to prove Steven wrong in their perpetual game of tug of war. It's nice that Steven’s first and last story start in a similar way proving that no matter what they have been through together boys will be boys). It shows a different way of looking at the series – the Doctor no longer accidentally drops in on past events and future locales but is actually expected by the people he has found himself amongst. The very thing that I was complaining about in my review of The Wedding of River Song – that the Doctor has become a bit too well known and celebrated – felt fresh and exciting back in days when the Doctor was taking his first steps into the universe. The Elders recognise the Doctor as the greatest specialist in time/space exploration and in turn he always knew that a race existed of great intelligence in this segment of the universe. Jano attempts to excuse their life sucking secret by suggesting that they get the best out of those who are chosen to represent their society but the Doctor is having none of it. Blissfully the Doctor prevents Edal from abusing one of the savages and declares that they are men like them and deserve respect. He is a real advocate for justice now and will have none of this ritual exploitation. The sacrifice of even one soul is far too great for the Doctor and he plans to tear down their disgusting experiments – he truly is a force for good now and a force to be reckoned with when he’s angry. There is a strength of conviction in his abilities that reminds me of the tenth Doctor and his ‘I am the Doctor’ speeches only a million times more effective because it is through his actions rather than clumsy speeches. Hartnell is on fire during these sequences, grasping his lapels and standing up to Jano’s authority regardless of what they might do to him. Despite the fact that he is in very great danger it doesn't hold him back. He refuses to submit to their nauseating experiments and he literally has to be dragged into the machine. Perhaps the producers will finally get their wish and remove the star from the show, the cliffhanger to episode two certainly seems to be the end for him. I admire the bravery of having Frederick Jaeger taking on Hartnell’s personality quirks, it adds a psychological dimension to the story and would have proven an ideal solution to recasting the Doctor had this been the point that they had wanted to achieve it. Like the possibility of the Doctor returning to reality in a different guise in The Celestial Toymaker, this is an intriguing portent of the regeneration to come. Jaeger does a damn fine Hartnell impression (the ‘hmms’ and ‘my boys’ are all there but it is the way he rests his fingers on his lips that seals it for me) but it is clear that nobody can capture the magic of the first Doctor quite like the Hartnell (as was already proven by Peter Cushing's sweet but ineffective attempts). Its going to take a whole new actor with a whole new approach to take the reins from Hartnell and push the show in a new direction. Trust Doctor Who to take a subject as powerful as schizophrenia and relay it to the audience in such a clear and succinct way. Jano grasps with the two personalities in his head; one, the Doctor, attempting to smash the life extracting machinery and the other, himself, trying to stop him. Jano has Steven well within his sights but with the Doctor’s mind enclosed around his own (in this battle of wills it is clear who is taking the lead) he cannot harm his friend and he falters. Even with his soul torn from his body the Doctor  is strong enough to prevent them from killing Jano when they have the chance. The Doctor shows signs of the anarchist that he is to becomes when he gets in on the fun tearing the machinery to pieces and stating that there is something very satisfying about destroying something that is evil! Steven doubts his ability to take on such a mammoth task at the climax but the Doctor’s absolute conviction in his abilities makes this one of the most touching farewells. Its not two people torn away from each other, or someone falling in love – its two men who have had to depend on each other solely as they went through hell and back together saying goodbye. The Doctor is like a proud dad who can see his son has finally become a man and its beautiful as he grants him his independence. This is one of the most subtle goodbyes between Doctor and companion and is only matched by the fifth Doctor's similarly quiet but touching farewell to Turlough.

Aggressive Astronaut: I think I am quite in love with Steven Taylor and certainly with Peter Purves’ portrayals and I think I would have been quite heartbroken at the end of this story when he decided to leave the Doctor if I were watching at the time. Early indications that he might be about leave comes as soon as they leave the TARDIS and Dodo tells Steven that he is a grown man and he doesn’t have to do everything the Doctor tells him. Whilst she may have a point Steven certainly seems to have learnt that sticking close to his older companion and listening to his advice is the safest way through their adventures. Steven is intelligent enough to realise that other civilisations haven’t made the kind of advances they have and that there has to be secret to making it so successful. Chal shows deference to Steven almost immediately (perhaps because he shows Chal some respect – Steven has come to accept the consul of wise old men) and you can see his position amongst the savages being solidified come episode three. Steven armed with a light gun, screaming ‘Do as I say!’ to Dodo and standing his ground to give his friends the chance to escape – he’s now a confident, resourceful young man that no longer needs the Doctor’s guidance. Jano says that the man they need to lead them into a future of co-operation must inspire trust and his judgements must come from his heart even more than his head. If you could say anything about Steven Taylor it is that he always follows his heart – that was why losing Katarina and Sara was so hard on him. He refuses, naturally, since he cannot imagine a life without the Doctor after everything they have been through. For once the Doctor wholeheartedly endorses a companion leaving him saying it is a great honour and an exciting challenge to help build an entire planet. It's not until the Doctor tells him that he is quite ready for this task that he accepts the role.

Dead as a…: The funny thing about Dodo is that whilst she was never the most successful of companions (for breadth of backstory and her ability to convince as a person in her own right she might the least successful companion - I simply cannot see this person functioning outside of these adventures) it is other peoples reactions to her that give her her most successful moments. She is at her best when paired with Steven and Purves somehow makes Lane’s performance a credible one. The Doctor says his two companions are very pleasant apart from ‘juvenile exuberance’ which must be aimed at Dodo! She should have kept hold of that mirror inlaid with real diamonds and she could have made a fortune selling that back in 1966. I enjoyed her inquisitiveness in this tale (some would call it being nosy but there is a corrupt government to bring down so her instincts ultimately prove legitimate). Stoic defiance brings out the best in Jackie Lane and she proves a feisty lass once she is caught observing the life sucking procedure and threatens to smash all the equipment if they come anywhere near her. When the Doctor infects Jano describes Dodo as ‘the child with the ridiculous name’ which sadly might be the kindest thing anybody has ever said about her character. Now Steven isn’t around any more to make her character plausible it wont be long before she is for the chop.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘I am going to oppose you just in the same way that I oppose the Daleks or any other menace to common humanity! Human progress, sir. How dare you call your treatment of these people progress!’
‘You wanted my intellect. You got it and along with a little conscience, hmm?’

The Good: Christopher Barry has always been a director that has tried to push the resources of Doctor Who to make the story look as good as possible and The Savages opens on a vertiginous shot of the TARDIS taken from above, nestled in a bleak featureless landscape. Location work was still something or a rarity at this point so to have so much lavish film work is something of a novelty and the telesnaps show that Barry knew how to get the best out of his location. In particular he manages to frame scenes so guards are standing atop mountainous ridges in the foreground with the characters fleeing towards the camera giving a rare depth of vision and sense of scale to a Hartnell story. He reverses the effect from the top of the ridges looking down into the valleys as well. I love the music in this story, Raymond Jones enters the world of Doctor Who with ambitions to make this story as exciting and affecting as possible and deploys the violins and oboe to fantastic effect. I particularly like the violins trembling wistfully as Steven and Dodo explore the city and the discordant twangs as Nanina tries to escape the guards. Its unusually atmospheric for a time where something more unsubtle and melodramatic was the norm. A long time before Love and Monsters and its parody of Doctor Who fans you had the Elders who have been charting the Doctor’s adventures from galaxy to galaxy! I bet they have long laborious conversations about which companions are the best and discuss in minuscule detail the hints the Doctor has made about his home planet and where it could possibly be. The Doctor causally sits around with the Elders like an ex Doctor Who actor at a convention bar having plaudits thrown his way. I can't decide whether Edal and Excorse standing around bitching about the action are a Shakespearean double act or a Douglas Adams comedy duo but their commentary is quite amusing. Barry also shoots from the ceiling down on the sets which gives a great perspective and highlights Stuart Walker’s masterful creations in their entirety. Take a look at the full size telesnaps for the end of the episode and the exquisite lighting along that corridor Dodo is pursued down – it black and white makes a standard Doctor Who cliche (horror in the corridors) a surprisingly nightmarish prospect. Scenes like Nanina screaming for help as she is shoved into the machine that drives the life force from her are genuinely frightening and give this morality tale a horrific backbone. It isn’t a very subtle metaphor for the exploitation of the poor but having this rich and prosperous society vampirically sucking the life out of its lower class citizens is such a rich and dramatically satisfying premise it is ripe for the Doctor to harshly object and bring the whole messy business to an end. There is a very exciting chase sequence in part three through some caves and tunnels that are lit evocatively by firelight so that all that can be seen is the actors faces in flickering shadows as they are pursued. It looks and sounds claustrophobic with just the telesnaps and the soundtrack to go on so I shudder to think how exciting the moving visual were. Sometimes all it takes is for one person to step up and protect the enemy and Nanina proves real strength of character by not allowing her people to harm Exorse. That is the reason he refuses to betray them once he has escaped. Two acts and the first faltering steps towards peace. There is something extremely satisfying about the savages being able to violently smash the equipment that has been feeding from their life energies to pieces. Its much more personal than a bally great explosion!

The Bad: The guards look an awful lot like cut price Robomen and considering the Robomen look pretty cut price to start with that’s hardly an endorsement.

The Shallow Bit: I have no idea what a Reacting Vibrator is but it sounds like I should find out. The Doctor enjoys the attention of the ladies once his is glammed up in the Elders robes, the old rogue! According to Dodo he’s really ‘with it’ now! Nanina is a bit of a fox and wearing little but savages rags shows a lot of leg as she runs about the quarry. Steven is in a tight black top in his last story and looks more dashing than ever.

Result: Massively underrated and practically forgotten by fandom, The Savages is a terrific morality tale directed with real class. The simple premise of the prosperous leeching from the savage works a treat because it allows the Doctor to do what he does best – protect the underdog and bring down a vampiric regime. All three regulars are treated to some fine material; the Doctor is at his domineering best as he confronts a society of hypocrites, Steven fights against the role of an action hero and leaves the series as a thoughtful man embarking on a tough new life and even Dodo gets to show some curiosity and bravery. Having Frederick Jaeger’s Jano take on the personality of the Doctor halfway through the story was a fascinating move and the way the Doctor steers the events of the story even when he is unconscious shows the strength of his will. I find Christopher Barry an underrated director and his best stories (The Daleks, The Daemons) see him pushing the limits of what the show can achieve visually whilst always giving the actors some room to showcase their talent. The Savages looks gorgeous with plenty of engagingly shot location work, fine sets and atmospheric lighting and the music by one off composer Raymond Jones gives the story a fresh, dynamic feel. It’s a tragedy that none of the episodes of this story exist because if people could see the damn thing I think it might be re-evaluated in a far more positive way but even as an audio the clear storytelling, moral ambiguity and psychological angle make the running time simply fly by. A fond farewell to Peter Purves who has performed wonders with his role of Steven Taylor and become my favourite male companion in the bargain: 8/10

The Rescue written by David Whitaker and directed by Christopher Barry

This story in a nutshell: Introducing Vicki, the orphan girl who seems perfect to fit the Susan-shaped hole the series is now missing…

Hmm: The departure of Susan brings out a strong affection amongst the remaining TARDIS crew and completely alters the central dynamic of the show. Ian and Barbara are no long desperate to get away from him but willing travellers happy to welcome Vicki on board into their little family. This is the first instance in season two of the kinder portrayal that Hartnell displays for the rest of the year and he’s just a delight to watch. The Doctor is struggling to cope with the loss of his granddaughter and he doesn’t hide it behind bluster but instead responds warmly towards his friends and the result is a very welcoming atmosphere. In every respect (especially because we no longer have to listen to her wailing), Susan’s departure from the show is the best thing that could have possibly happened. ‘What is it? What is it?’ he twitters as he sleeps through a landing for the first time, yawning at the console and barely interested in their destination. Instead of an exploration, he’d rather have a nap! All the old associations with Susan are in the Ship as Barbara explains; this is as heartbreaking as any parent who has to let their child off into the world. His cheeky little monologue in the Ship when he realises that they have landed on Dido and he has the opportunity to tell Ian that he has deliberately managed to steer the TARDIS there never fails to make me smile – he’s such a naughty old get. I could watch the Doctor and Ian poking about in those caves for hours because they are just so much fun together (‘it’s a pity I didn’t get that degree!’). There’s an unspoken affection between the actors that is a joy to bask in. Especially funny is the moment when Sandy lets rip an almighty roar and Ian shines the light in the Doctor’s face to which responds angrily ‘Well it isn’t me, is it? Shine the light down there!’ Priceless. His gentle handling of Vicki melts the heart, he takes an immediate shine to her and their relationship proves to be one of the highpoints of the era. It has precisely the sort of warmth that the Doctor/Susan relationship should have had but there was always some distance and disagreement between them whereas Hartnell and O’Brien are clearly in love from the outset. He’s got a keen mind and only has to cast his eye over the situation to realise the truth of Bennett’s involvement. Sometimes it just takes a fresh pair of eyes.

Schoolteachers in Love: The moment where the Doctor calls out for Susan and Barbara steps in and asks for him to explain the checks to her is a very rewarding moment. This is just how I imagine Hill and Russell looked after Hartnell when Ford decided to depart from the show. Ian wobbling his hand to suggest the Doctor is past it always makes me chuckle. Vicki seems to think Barbara is some kind of psychopath that roams the universe slaughtering innocent creatures which prompts the Doctor’s glowing reference: ‘She’s nice, you know. You’ll like her!’ Things have definitely moved on since the pilot.

Alien Orphan: From the outset it is clear that Maureen O’Brien is a superior actress to Carole Ann Ford, despite being handed a less interesting character from the start. Vicki is much more your traditional screaming little girl than Susan’s unearthly child and it is entirely down to O’Brien’s believability and likeability that sets Vicki apart. The moment Vicki quietly recalls her father and holds back the tears my heart went out to her. It’s possibly the finest portrayal of grief that a companion would ever show (its certainly more subtle than anything Janet Fielding gave us). Her reaction to Sandy’s death might seem over the top but if the gentle creatures presence was the only moment of each day where she felt something other than fear then it begins to make a bit more sense. It’s the first time somebody new has stepped into the TARDIS since the pilot and look at the difference in reaction. Vicki’s momentary shock is replaced by excitement and a feeling of belonging. Not perhaps as realistic as Ian and Barbara’s culture shock but Vicki’s need of a new home has been set up well enough by this point.

Sparkling Dialogue: David Whitaker displays a gift for memorable dialogue that would flourish in his later stories The Crusade, Power and Evil of the Daleks.

‘Oh but Doctor the trembling’s stopped!’ ‘Oh my dear, I’m glad you’re feeling better.’

‘My dear boy if I press myself any harder against this thing I shall do myself an injury.’

‘You destroyed a whole planet to save your own skin. You’re insane.’ 

‘And if you like adventure, my dear, I can promise you an abundance of it!’

The Good: Talk about an immediately arresting opening scenario; some lovely model work detailing a spaceship that has crashed into the mountains of an alien world and a crew of two, desperately afraid for their lives of the homicidal population. All this is set up in a couple of minutes with absolutely no help from the regulars at all. It’s the first time a story has opened and not been told from the regulars point of view, hinting at Vicki’s continued presence. I wouldn’t call The Rescue a whodunnit with its suspect list of one (or two if you include Vicki experiencing extreme multi-personality syndrome) but once the twist has been revealed Bennett’s actions can be considered some of the most chilling any Doctor Who villain has performed. He willingly sabotages a ship and brings it down on an alien world (its never stated that Bennett is responsible for the crash but I like to think that he is) and then commits mass murder, wiping out both his own people and the populace of the Dido and then terrorizes a young girl who has recently lost her father into thinking that the people of this world are all monsters who are only keeping them alive for kicks. It’s just sick, isn’t it? He must have had a particularly disturbed childhood to consider this extreme reaction the only way to escape a murder sentence. Logically, it makes perfect sense but psychologically it is utterly destabilising to think that one human being could willingly perform such devastating acts of murder to walk away a hero. The difference between Christopher Barry’s direction and Richard Martin’s (from the previous story) is acres apart – just watch as the camera swoops in as the travellers depart the Ship which is all that is lighting up the cave they have materialised in. It is effortlessly atmospheric. The Koquillion costume has been expertly put together to repulse, there is something else quite like in the next 49 years of Doctor Who. What I love is that like most Doctor Who monsters it is quite clearly a costume (albeit an exotic and frightening one) but the twist that this genuinely is a costume predates a similar touch of smartness in Power of Kroll by a decade. Barry loves his shots of actors overlaid on effects in the distance and Ian and Barbara discovering the rocket ship is very ambitious for the time. The audience must have been amazed. Bennett is such a bastard that as soon as Ian is out of sight he tosses Barbara off a cliff without a second thought! Aside from the Earth, this is the first instance of the Doctor landing back on a planet he has already visited. In a fantastic moment Vicki reveals that Barbara has survived the culling of the TARDIS crew to Bennett, not realising that he is the one responsible for their predicament. Sandy isn’t the best piece of monster magic to step from the Hartnell era, nor the worst (that honour belongs to the Slyther) but since she is supposed to be a benevolent creature and not a monstrous one I can kind of forgive her anything. Plus its hard not to moved when Barbara sets at her with a flare gun. What a cow. The smoky, ornate, spacious Hall of Justice set is marvellously designed and Christopher Barry shoots it with real care. The TARDIS going over a cliff – bloody marvellous!

The Bad: Check out the far cave wall that is visible through the TARDIS doors. Rather wonderfully the Doctor dashes out of the Ship to see what all the commotion with the explosion is all about and but ducks in because the cave is supposedly full of smoke to get a light. Unfortunately whoever was responsible for filling the cave with dust is clearly on a coffee break and it doesn’t actually appear until the Doctor returns with a lamp. There is a big flaw in Bennett’s ‘you can’t come in’ trick with the door. He’s supposedly disabled so how is he on the other side of the door preventing Koquillion’s entrance? As nicely realised as the knifes springing from the wall to push Ian towards the cliff face and into the clutches of Sandy are, you have to question the logic of such a friendly people devising such a devious and murderous trap. It’s Saturday morning cinema jeopardy and I couldn’t fail but see Batman and Robin caught in a similar hazard. The term deus ex machina is bandied around an awful lot but The Rescue features one of the most blatant examples as two previously unseen Dido inhabitants (supposedly wiped out) turn up at the climax to deal with Bennett. How precisely are this pair of fellas going to perpetuate a new race?

Result: No it isn’t as incident packed as some of the epics that make up season two but in many ways the realisation and character work in The Rescue are far superior to the more highly regarded stories of the year. Never mind that Vicki is a custom made Doctor Who companion or that this is a whodunnit with a suspect list of one because the scenario is so atmospherically conjured up, the performances are a delight and Bennett’s ultimate unmasking reveals what a psychotic the bastard really is. I love the moment of silence when the Doctor and Ian (and Barbara who was already present) come face to face with Vicki for the first time and the whole purpose of this exercise is revealed without saying a word. There’s a warmth between the actors that is a joy to experience and Hartnell in particular seems to come alive like never before since the Doctor dumped Susan on the Earth. That’s not to say that the story has no merit whatsoever but it is a little too slight to examine in any great detail. At only two episodes its basically just set up and reveal without the stages of investigation in the middle. However it’s very good set up and an even better reveal – the climax with the Doctor standing up to Bennett and laying his crimes bare is a fine performance piece for Hartnell. If you ever need a quick burst of atmospheric sixties Who with some delightful character work, slip The Rescue from your shelf. It fulfils its purpose admirably but manages to be a tight little story in its own right: 8/10

The Gunfighters written by Donald Cotton and directed by Rex Tucker

This story in a nutshell: A rootin' tootin' adventure in the Wild West and a painful extraction for the Doctor...

Gruff Granddad: I cannot believe how lucky we are still have this story as it showcases Hartnell as his absolute finest, affording him the chance to play comedy and drama with equal skill. It's on record that he relished the material and his performance glows as a result. I would go as far as to say this is his last truly masterful performance as the Doctor before his health knocked him for six (with a slight return to form in The Smugglers - amazing how he can always rouse himself for a historical). His alias in Tombstone is Doctor Caligari (although why that should be beyond the fact that it's a bit of a laugh is never explained) and he concocts an elaborate cover story that they are travelling players between engagements. All of the scenes between Hartnell and Jacobs see two actors at the height of their business, relishing the chance to play something a bit silly and full of quirky character moments. The Doctor blanches as Doc Holliday's extremely subtle form of advertising and you have never seen him quite as perturbed as when he is strapped in the dentist chair beyond offered a wrap around the cranium as his form of anesthetic (and who can blame him - dentists are sadists!). The Doctor looks masterful dolled up in a cowboy hat and gun belt. The fact that the Doctor's wits have deserted him completely and he walks straight into a trap of Holliday's making doesn't matter one jot because his reaction when he realises the truth is just so funny ('oh dear'). Only Hartnell could look this naïve lining up a gang of gunslingers up against a bar with a pistol (‘How do we proceed?’). In the American Middle West the Doctor is described as the lowest, meanest sidewinder. The Doctor's dialogue is sparkling throughout this adventure (‘Don’t you call me Pop!’, ‘Disgusting habit!’ and ‘People keep giving me guns and I do wish they wouldn’t!’) and Hartnell is  relishing every syllable. You have to wonder how much more appealing Hartnell's incarnation would be if he was allowed to play more comedy of this sort. Look at the close up at the end of episode two, the Doctor looks impossibly cheeky as he is put in a fix that will require all his wits to extradite himself from. Whether it was a mistake or intention, the moment when the Doctor accidentally leans on the corpse is one of the finest comedy moments in Doctor Who. It never fails to get a laugh out of me. When he becomes Deputy Doc, his characterisation subdues a little because now it is his responsibility to prevent lives from being wasted. It’s great to see him portrayed as a man of peace still, trying to convince both sides that their gunfight is unnecessary. For a story that is apparently the lowest of the low it sees the first Doctor at his absolute finest; heroic, silly, moral, funny and powerful. He's just a delight.

Able Astronaut: If Peter Purves didn't enjoy making this story than the man is a true professional because nowhere in the production does it show (not even the singing). The Doctor and Steven proved to worthy foils, not always seeing eye to eye but throughout their time together gaining a greater respect and understanding of each other. This is during their twilight period, after the turbulent drama of losing so many friends and the point where they have absolute faith in one another. He throws himself into this madness with his usual gusto and his turn as Steven Regret, tenor, is as riotous as you can imagine. As Dodo bashes away at the piano, the first cliffhanger becomes one of the shows many triumphs with Steven being forced to sing the Doctor to his death. Steven looks and feels out of place in a western bar and I love his comedy stumbles and bumbling behaviour. He doesn't even try and use strength as a weapon against the Clantons because he is smart enough to see that he is ridiculously outnumbered so instead he tries to use psychology to get them to help him. Outsmarted by the cowboys, he is frogmarched along Main Street and confronted with the noose. Steven's funniest moment comes in episode two where he turns to look at the gun and it convinces him to keep on singing. Purves reveals rare comic timing in this story that many of the other, serious tales of the season don't afford the chance to indulge in.

Dead as a…: Any story that can make Dodo bearable is doing something right in my book. I am hardly the characters biggest fan (is anybody a fan of Dodo?) but she does approach this story with the right amount of enthusiasm and fervor (‘You’re darn tootin’ I am!’). Imagine if it has been Tegan? Dodo is excited at the prospect of starring in her own Western and pops back into the TARDIS to dress up as Calamity Jane. She rocks on playing the piano as Ms Dodo Dupont, wizard of the ivory keys and is held at gunpoint on a hotel bed. It's an atypical story and so this atypically fun use of the character seems to fit. The scenes between Dodo and Holliday are the best that Dodo ever gets, especially when she ineptly tries to hold him at gunpoint. Jackie Lane is as useless as ever but Dodo is supposed to be a bit useless in this role so it kind of works. Dodo is directly responsible for Johnny Ringo’s death so I suppose that is something to tell your friends when you return home.

Sparkling Dialogue: How long have you got? Donald Cotton was obviously an extremely witty man and this shines from both of his scripts (The Myth Makers and The Gunfighters) and if you get a chance read the Target novelisations he wrote as well, which are about as hilarious as Doctor Who prose comes.
‘How do we look?’ ‘Oh good grief, absolutely absurd!’
‘You can’t walk into the middle of a western town and say you’re from outer space! Good gracious me, we’d all be arrested on a vagrancy charge!’
‘A good thing I didn’t have to have my tonsils out.’
‘Lets hope the piano knows it.’
‘I’m afraid I don’t touch alcohol but a little glass of milk and I’ll be only too delighted!’ – just the thought of saying that to a ragtag bunch of cowboys makes me heave with laughter!
‘I want to see my solicitor!’
‘I just ran into an old friend of min and he kind of lost his appetite.’
And many, many more...

The Good Stuff: I love season three. It is Doctor Who in total desperation, trying out all manner of genres and styles (tragedy, comedy, SF epic, surrealism, space adventure, morality tales), switches companions like changing socks (Vicki, Steven, Katarina, Sara, Dodo, Polly and Ben), tests story lengths (everything from a one part adventure to a twelve part one) and in doing so creates a delicious mix of variety and a rare frequency of style, quality and diversity. It is one year where you genuinely do not know what is going to be thrown at your from one story to the next (it's closest rival in this respect is probably the 80s but the dramatic variation is usually in quality during that period, rather than style and tone). The Gunfighters, a studio bound western comedy, should never have been attempted but it is typical of this seasons verve (and nerve). The thing just shouldn't work. The conventions of Westerns are space, alcoholism, murder and racism - none of which Doctor Who has been renowned for providing. But with a director who understood the limitations of television like Rex Tucker and a write that could make a shopping list sound funny like Donald Cotton and actors who understand everything that is required of them (even when to take it waaaaay over the top) somehow this story mysteriously fails to suck. It isn't a story you would hand to a new fan and say this is what Doctor Who can do because it is so atypical of what the show is usually about but it has enough skill thrown at it to amuse, entertain and (if you're paying attention) inform. It certainly doesn't deserve the trashing that Howe, Stammers and Walker have given it over the years, nor did I need to hear that Steven Moffat advised Toby Whithouse away from it because 'it isn't very good' when he was looking for inspiration to write the shows second Western, A Town Called Mercy (another story I greatly enjoy but for very different reasons). The truth is this should be horrendous but if you approach it with an open mind it is a massive amount of fun, and not for the wrong the reasons. The sets are incredible throughout; I love the spacious, split level bar set where much of the action takes place (even if the bar itself proves to rock when a body slumps over it), Main Street affords a generous space for the shoot out to take place in and Doc Holliday's dentist saloon (complete with enormous molar hanging outside) is lit with real care, especially during the atmospheric night time sequences. If you were going to attempt and indoors Western and make it look as if it has been shot on location, the sets needed to be as strong as this. The lighting comes right down during the night scenes that give this story a feeling of time passing. Rex Tucker’s direction deserves a great deal of kudos; his fluidic camerawork gives a sense of constant movement, he often shoots from above to lavish attention on the fantastic sets and his use of light and shadow to create mood (especially in the latter half of the story where things get serious). I have a confession to make about the Ballad that probably won’t make me very popular…I rather like it! There were so many different types of story in this season that one with musical narration doesn't feel terribly out of place. It is an unusual and fun way to tell the story, the lyrics are genuinely amusing and if (like me) you like repetitive musical motifs then this will be right up your alley. If you have an allergic reaction to the song then I can understand a slight aversion to this tale. Simon loves it too and he (oh the shame) downloaded it to his phone as his ring tone once. That man has no shame. What on Earth is Dastari doing in Tombstone? To give Laurence Payne some credit, despite some accent slips he turns up at exactly the right moment to give the story some much needed gravity if the final showdown was going to have an impact. Anthony Jacobs creates a charismatic and callous Doc Holliday and butts heads wonderfully with Hartnell. The black humour that leaks into the story as the bodies pile up is right up my street and Charlie's death, pouring liqour over his bar which Jonny Ringo avails himself whilst blowing the smoke away from his gun, is darkly funny. It is not all fun and games in this tale - watch out for a gorgeous moment in the last episode where the Doctor and Dodo discuss the upcoming shoot out with weary foreboding. During the shoot out the story shifts onto film in Ealing the story looks phenomenal, the editing is tight, the action is relentless and the whole sequence tops of a nourishing tale with a memorable slaughter. Bullets fly through the air, the street is littered with corpses and the conventions of the genre are well and truly fulfilled. Visually it could have sprung from a movie.

The Bad Stuff: The Clantons' accents wobble spectacularly and what the hell is Seth Harper's stutter all about? The cowboys are least successful thing here because there was no way they were ever going to be successfully funny and scary. And the performances are so broad at times it feels as though the actors were enjoying themselves a little too much.

The Shallow Bit: Cowboys! Gotta love a man decked up in horses hide! Kate’s bosoms threaten to escape her dress on more than one occasion. Steven and Dodo’s hoopy, stripy 60’s gear has to be seen to be believed. Purves is a nice, rugged looking, bloke but how can he do anything but mince in his girly cowboy slacks? Holliday and Kate canoodling…can you think of a naughtier scene in Doctor Who until the new series came along? Kate heaves and sings on the bar to the appreciation of the Clantons.

Result: Unfairly picked on for so many years, I could wax lyrical about The Gunfighters until the end of my days. Nestled away in the richness of season three comes this exquisite comedy gem, written with panache and performed with relish by all concerned. I’ll keep repeating this until it embeds in your mind but the idea of staging a western in a studio is so wrong in every way that the fact that they made it look, sound and feel this good is a triumph to all concerned. A Town Called Mercy might have the budget to head to the mountains on horseback but The Gunfighters has the time to get down and dirty with the real conventions of the genre. It's a Doctor Who story that is fuelled by booze, violence and beautiful women, one that casts the Doctor in the role of the hero and the villain and one that ends with a violent massacre of characters we were laughing our heads off at earlier in the tale. Bullets fly, corpses pile up, crickets hum and glasses are filled. It feels authentic in a way that the new series could never achieve (partly because of time and partly because it wont take the same kind of risks to humanise the culture in a very adult way). I'm making The Gunfighters sound really despressing, aren't I? The truth is it is one of the most exquisite comedies the show attempted, full of badinage, banter and burlesque. There's singing and dancing, kinky shenanigans, comic mishaps and endless witty banter. Hartnell is at the top of his game, relishing the chance to play up the role but maintaining the dignity of the part all the while and Purves and Lane fit the scenery like a glove, making it easily the most successful outing for this trio. With Anthony Jacobs on top form, a dynamically shot gunfight at the climax and detailed sets that capture the essence of the genre, this is a story that is constantly giving. So fill up your glasses and join in the fun...this is one deliriously enjoyable tale to revel in over and over. I am so happy this one was spared the junking: 9/10

The Ark written by Paul Erickson & Lesley Scott and directed by Michael Imison

This story in a nutshell: The human race are teeny weeny and shoved in a filing cabinet, the Earth is being barbecued and the exodus to another world is under threat by the flat footed, mop top Monoids.

Gruff Granddad: The Doctor is already treating Dodo like his latest surrogate granddaughter and telling her that he will soon get her ‘off to bed!’ I loved his hilarious aside that he couldn’t get her home even if he wanted to. Nowadays this sort of instant connection would be a little suspect but it is clear that Dodo is supposed to step into Susan and Vicki's shoes without any kind of developmental stages. I hooted when it suddenly occurred to the Doctor that he might have been spreading all manner of diseases across time and space! Once this crisis is over the Doctor plans to teach Dodo some English but let's be honest he has to fix down where exactly she comes from first before he can start correcting her. He is portrayed as an intelligent scientist and a real optimist, no matter how desperate the situation looks(although he admits he is a bit of a quack), and can you think of a better example of his authority and benevolence than when he marches out to tell the Guardians that the illness is cured. Hartnell has plenty of opportunity for indignant lapel clutching during The Ark and chatting with invisible aliens is no struggle to an actor of his calbre (a ruthless person might comment that he has already had plenty of practice with a character as vacuous as Dodo).  He's still got wits, commenting that he hasn't seen anybody when the Monoids ask him if he has communicated with the Refusians. I found it quite pleasing that the Doctor condemns the human race at the end of the story for enslaving the Monoids and suggesting that perhaps they deserved a touch of their own treatment. Of all the Doctors, a scathing analysis from Hartnell seems to hit home the most (see also The Savages).

Butch Cassidy: Steven treats Dodo like a naughty child, admonishing her for jumping out of the TARDIS without any of the atmosphere checks being completed. He seems quite a nervous, twitchy sort of time traveller and suffers a bout of claustrophobia when he is locked up. When you think of his origins, being locked up by the Mechanoids for years, it makes perfect sense. The look on Peter Purves’ face when he first spies the Monoids says everything you could possibly say about their design without uttering a word. Steven is like an ambassador for the show, explaining away the TARDIS, defending his friends when they are imprisoned and refusing to be intimidated. He might be quite single minded and aggressive but he's exactly the sort I would want looking out for me if I were travelling into these hostile scenarios. Sweaty, teeth clenched and offering an angry defence, Purves lights up the screen when he is put on trial. Given that so much of his material no longer exists it is easy to forget how good he was in this role. And this is nowhere near his best story. He shows decent leadership skills once he has set the prisoner free on the Ark and paves the way for his eventual decision to leave in the Savages.

Dead as a…: I’m on the fence with Dodo’s portrayal in The Ark since for the most part she is scripted with some care (and not a little humour) but Jackie Lane is as static as a skyscraper and sabotages a lot of the effort the writers have gone to make this extremely odd stowaway work. When she first steps from the TARDIS she thinks she is in Whipsnade zoo! That still doesn't explain how she there from Wimbledon Common by walking through a door. Her dialogue delivery is appalling: ‘Earth! Earth!’ she hoots like a talking doll during a power surge. ‘Ere look at ‘im then?’ she enthuses about the Elephant suddenly slipping into cockney. At least the Doctor notices that she speaks the most irritating form of English - had he said nebulous he would have been spot on. I hate sneezing as a plot device; its such a lazy motif to point intruders out and it doesn't surprise me that a character as unfortunate as Dodo suffers from it. ‘No me nose is running!’ – I actually laughed out loud at that line. Dodo tries to sound hip on quite a few occasions but she is too posh to make it sound convincing. The series has much better luck with Polly in that regard. It’s very sweet when she grabs the Doctor’s hand as things go from bad to worse. Proving she has as much spunk as any of the Doctor Who companions Dodo screams ‘what’s it got to do with you?’ to the Monoid leader but considering they aren't the most intimidating of creations (no matter what the script says) perhaps it isn't all that brave. It strikes me that some of the least popular companions are responsible for some the planets most catastrophic disasters. Dodo causes the enslavement of humanity in this adventure by passing on her common cold which is right up there with Adric wiping out the dinosaurs. When Dodo asks why they can’t just jump on the slow Monoids it is actually a very good point! At least her style is memorable, she turns up at the conclusion in some pretty outlandish clothing.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘You still fear the unknown like everyone else before you.’

The Good Stuff: This is being assembled by a director who is thinking big from the off. The opening is lavish and exotic, panning through a dense mist swathed forest packed with exotic wildlife (everything from a chameleon to a toucan to a snake dripping from a tree). The Monoids talking in sign is typical of the unusual approach to the telling of this story. The designers during the sixties did not let the fact that they were working in cramped studios hold back their ambition and I think the steel sky backdrop is one of the most impressive of its kind - it genuinely makes the set look vast and unending. The idea of miniaturising the prisoners seems a pretty cold and bloodless way to do things, you are effectively shoving these people in prison and tucking them away so nobody else has to bother dealing with them. I thought the effect was pretty nifty too, this is the sort of thing I would expect sixties television to cut away from rather than attempting to realise. I would go as far as to say that despite lacking the clinical believability of the cryogenic chamber, The Ark creates a more successful visual representation of humanity heading out for the stars in a massive conservation project than The Ark in Space. The waltz through the on board jungle reveals an African Elephant. A jungle without a sky once again sees season three telling stories bursting with imagination and enterprise  a city-sized spaceship with a jungle at its heart is reused many years later in Flesh and Stone but as usual the sixties got their first. The Earth is being threatened by the sun and the exodus to a new planet will take a stonking 700 years, thus the majority of the population has been miniaturised – this story is not afraid to play about with some substantial ideas. Whilst it is clear that the giant foot that Dodo attempts to scratch is all the designers could afford the build it is enough to sell the idea of the giant statue which the model work successfully takes over from. There is some good, dramatic mileage in the idea that the common cold could wreck havoc amongst a society that no longer has any immunity to germs - it allows us to look at these adventures into the future in a fresh, dramatic way. The Commander might need a few more attempts to make his deathbed speech sound convincing but he is such a lovable old get he gets a pass anyway. I like how the second episode takes a serious turn into courtroom territory, suddenly it feels as though our heroes are the victims of a witch hunt. If you squint you can just about see Platform One in the background as the Earth goes up in smoke! The Ark never stops telling its science fiction tale in unusual ways. It disguises itself as a two part story with the Doctor and chums saving the day and heading off into time and space only for them to return 700 years later. It is a unique approach and it results in one of the finest cliffhangers of the era when the statue is revealed in its entirety, crowned by a Monoid mop top. I could do with some instant potatoes and chicken, the sooner this innovation is brought to life the better off we'll all be. The Monoids might look ludicrous but they sure pack away some impressive weaponry (I'd love one of those smoke guns). We've met a fair number of benevolent aliens in the Hartnell era (the Thals, the Sensorites, the Menoptera) but this is the first time they have been quite as generous as building an entire custom made city for humanity to live in.  Weeee…I love those little corks flying towards the planet (its especially nice that the story doesn’t shy away from attempting to visualise its grand concepts). The statue tipping from the airlock and exploding in space is a grandiose ending to a grandiose story. The show loved hooking the viewer in with a cliffhanger ending at the climax to every story and the Doctor vanishing into thin air much to the bemusement of his companions certainly had me intrigued.

The Bad Stuff: The Monoid costumes are…memorable to say the least. It looks as though Paul McCartney has been mutated with a flipper footed Voord which has attempted to breed with a cyclops. Whilst the direction is generally excellent, the execution is occasionally stilted in a way that most sixties television suffers. Check out the scene where the Doctor starts explaining about his travels…the camera shifts onto two guardians and then swings back to Hartnell saying ‘and the Daleks!’ as though he has been talking all along (when he audibly hasn’t). Future tales seem to bring out the ham in most actors and some of the performances are seriously stagy - something about the science fiction tales seems to encourage the actors of the day to jettison believability and embrace the superficial. The Gunfighters might be cursed with some dodgy American accents but the performances are far more relaxed and authentic than this bunch. This story redefines comedy campery when the Monoids finally manage to speak and for some bizarre reason they start to gesture even more emphatically than when they were mute! ‘Are you up to something?’ ‘Errrrmmm….no!’ – this exchange between Dodo and Monoid Two must be one of the most priceless moments in Doctor Who history.  The appearance (or not) of invisible aliens leads me to wonder if the budget has been sapped by the expensive looking first half. Like the Ood it would appear that the budget will only stretch to one Monoid having malleable features and as such he overcompensates for the others with his extreme psychotic swiveling eye. Spoiling the illusion, the steel sky cloth flutters wildly in episode four. The Monoid civil war will hardly go down as one of the more memorable revolutions in the show, it is about as dynamic as you can imagine for a race of creatures that can't even walk in a straight line. You'll have trouble telling them apart as they hide amongst the trees and waddle about like militant penguins.

The Shallow Bit: Why are future fashions so gauche? I've decided that I might give the future a miss if the fashions are anything to go by. Nappies are sported in The Dominators, spray on plastic in The Ice Warriors, boiler suits are all the rage in Ressurection of the Daleks and tinfoil is the material of choice in The Twin Dilemma! The togas on display in The Ark leave very little to the imagination which is especially disturbing when they barely covering the apparatus of wrinkly old men.

Result: Featuring some real avant-garde scene setting, The Ark is one of the most enterprising Hartnell tales (and that is against some stiff competition) and to give the director some credit he manages to go some way towards realising the serials ambitious ideas. It all starts promisingly with a startlingly innovative first episode but as the story progresses each successive installment starts to bleed away imagination and go for more tradition ideas (alien invasion, invisible aliens). On screen and given a more impressive budget this would blow you away with its aspiring ideas but forced into a tiny studio with the resources of the BBC to hand it comes across as being far more stagy than it should. Which is shame because the script is pacy, the visuals are generally quite imaginative and the regulars all get plenty to do. Irritatingly the Monoids go from being an intriguing slave race offering a potentially unattractive peek at humanity of the future to an embarrassing and incompetent race of conquerors. Their design is never fantastic but it is weird how much more you expect from the designers when the aliens they are creating are supposed to be scary (for example, docile Alpha Centuri gets a pass where the villanous Nucleus of the Swarm doesn't). There are plenty of great moments for Hartnell and Purves and whilst Jackie Lane was never going to be the worlds most gifted actress she at least approaches the part with some enthusiasm, even if Dodo is made out of pure cardboard. The Ark isn’t perfect but it really tries and succeeds as a technically accomplished if overly earnest slice of hard SF. It's trying, and that's good enough for me: 7/10

Eldrad Must Die! written by Marc Platt and directed by Ken Bentley

What’s it about: 'A Doctor, curse his name, threw me down among the dead… but I endure.' I am Eldrad… and I must live! A nuclear icebreaker, foundering in Arctic waters. Seabirds washed up in the fishing resort of Ambermouth, their wings encrusted with crystals. A shining artefact of uncertain provenance, up for sale on an auction site. All of these things are linked, as the Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Turlough are about to discover. Linked to the rebirth of a genocidal tyrant, presumed dead many years ago… For the sake of the planets Earth and Kastria alike… Eldrad must die!

An English Gentleman: Listen to the interaction between the regulars in episode one, doesn’t it all sound a little bit strained and unconvincing? Whilst I’m sure this isn’t the case it sounds like the actors have had a blazing row before heading off to the sound booths and it certainly isn’t helped by Platt’s awkward dialogue – but then I found that was also the case with his handling of this team in Cradle of the Snake too. The Doctor sounds a little bored when recounting the events of The Hand of Fear as though he recalls it as one of his less exciting adventures. To the Kastrians the Time Lords are known as a race of ‘archivists and know-alls.’

Alien Orphan (the Older): Nyssa proves quite adept at playing fruit machines, figuring out the correct algorithms in order to maximise her winnings (what you didn’t expect her to just enjoy it, did you?). She has a natural affinity with creatures in distress and winds up jumping into a pool with a dolphin to soothe its anxieties.

Mouth on Legs: I find myself looking forward to spending time with Tegan these days which is a wholly unnerving experience. It’s the Doctor, Nyssa and Turlough that are the paranoid ones nowadays and Tegan the willing adventurer who is the first one out the TARDIS doors and dipping into the sea. It is about as far from her onscreen persona as you can get but considering it is a massive improvement likes not quibble. There were a few occasions in Eldrad Must Die! where she was a little too perky (when the story needed a more serious response) and that is certainly not a criticism I ever thought I would make about this character.

Alien Orphan (the Younger): We’ve seen people from Turlough’s past turn up before but that was from childhood on Trion, this time Platt plumps for the less intriguing idea of a reunion with one of his old Brendon school friends. He lives on his nerves (and the occasionally crisp).

Standout Performance: With everybody delivering agitated performances (not their fault - it’s how they are written), nobody stands out as delivering anything memorable.

Great Ideas: I quite enjoyed Platt’s representation of how Turlough’s mind was slowly taken over by Mulkris, portraying the possession in a dream sequence set in Brendon School with the Doctor playing the role of Headmaster (even if this was ripped off wholesale from Platt’s similar dream sequence/possession in Cradle of the Snake). Eldrad is a silicon being infected the shores of Ambermouth, tainting the fish and the seabirds and contaminating Skipper. Years back, government uses the island to dump radioactive waste, depleted uranium. Silicon lifeforms have their genetic matrix set in stone, they can regenerate even from a tiny fragment. Some of the imagery is rather nice, an entire village of people covered in crystals. The Watcher is a crystal cut in the shape of an eye. The ship in a Quartzberg was also a nifty concept (albeit one which is introduced with far too much expressive dialogue). Just one grain of glass could resurrect Eldrad and he wants the power of the TARDIS to recreate himself. The final episode offers up one last intriguing image, snow quartz battering at the shores of Ambermouth.

Audio Landscape: Crashing waves, alarm, seagulls, lapping waves, a car speeding off, splashing with dolphins, Turlough attempting to run them off the road, church bells.

Musical Cues: Full marks to Wilfredo Acosta, his score is fantastic. Absolutely the best thing about this tale. I should imagine I will give the bonus track of his music more attention than the actual story in the future.

Isn’t it Odd: I don’t want to say that Big Finish are getting a desperate at plundering the classic series but I think I may have to. Just looking at the Tom Baker era in general and you can see how there is barely a story that hasn’t had an homage to or some element of its story resurrected. Robot (The Relics of Jegg-Sau, Mirror, Signal Manoeuvre), The Ark in Space (Wirrn Dawn, Wirrn Isle), The Sontaran Experiment (the same Wirrn stories, Heroes of Sontar, The First Sontarans), Genesis of the Daleks (take your pick), Revenge of the Cybermen (and again), Terror of the Zygons (The Zygon Who Fell to Earth, Death in Blackpool), The Android Invasion (The Oseiden Adventure), The Brain of Morbius (The Vengeance of Morbius), The Seeds of Doom (Hothouse), The Masque of Mandragora (Sarah Jane Smith series two), The Deadly Assassin (Gallifrey), The Robots of Death (Robophobia), The Talons of Weng-Chiang (Jago & Litefoot – specifically The Last Act). I’ll stop at the end of the Hinchcliffe era but you get the picture. I make it only Planet of Evil, Pyramids of Mars and The Face Evil that manage to remain separate unto themselves. But you can pretty much examine every era of the show and I would probably go as far as to say that 80% of it has been referenced or ransacked.  In some cases the writers have taken the seed of an idea from the original story and taken it in another direction and added to the mythos but in the majority of cases it feels as though the show is being scoured for the primary reason that it sells more copies of that particular release. I get that Big Finish is a business and making money is their primary concern and I have no problem with continuity being used if it is done so sparingly and effectively but that is not always the case and that is what I object to. Did we need a second Eldrad story? No way. Was his name plastered all over the melodramatic title to sell more copies? Without a shadow of a doubt. The sad truth is that Big Finish is so prolific now and has pretty much used up all of the good monsters that the 50^th anniversary year is left littered with the regurgitated corpses of stories like The Hand of Fear. And I think if you strapped people down and tickle tortured them into admitting the truth then nobody would honestly say that this was a story that they desperately wanted to listen to a sequel too. To say I went into this tale hesitantly would be an understatement. Big Finish has proven its ability to provide some truly outstanding original material and if I am honest a list of my favourite stories would fall in that quarter (Dr Who and the Pirates, A Thousand Tiny Wings) rather than those which apply continuity for the sake of marketing purposes.

Unfortunately within seconds I thought I was back in The Hand of Fear – a pre-titles sequence featuring Eldrad screaming his head off and a nuclear setting with lots of alarms and panic. If Platt wanted to encapsulate his source material in a couple of minutes then he has done a good job. Apparently Brendon school was full of aliens, a hidey hole for exiles from many worlds – that is an idea that is so out of left field and barely elaborated on that surely Platt is just taking the piss now? Was nothing in the TV series as it appeared to be? Turlough’s surprise is so muted that the scene lacks any real emotional value. None of the guest characters really come alive beyond what this story asks of them – I never got the sense of them being able to exist outside of these four episodes. We learn very little about them and the performances were quite broad making them feel a little one note. Jim is especially wearying in this regard. Episode two features more Turlough dream sequences than you could possibly want but since we don’t know how much of this is genuine flashback and how much is a metaphor for what is happening inside his head it is hard to take anything useful from the exercise. I never quite bought why the Kastrians took their own lives on the extremely unlikely chance that Eldrad might return one day in The Hand of Fear and when it is spelt out quite so plainly here it still leaves me baffled. It seems like such an extreme thing to do when the likelihood of his return is so slim. When you add in the contingency that Mulkris the Executioner was sent off to ensure that no part of him survived it makes their suicide pact even more drastic and unnecessary. The trouble with trying to convey possession on audio is that you have no visual aids (Lis Sladen’s childlike body language and flickering eyes made all the difference in the original) which leaves you with actors slowing…down…their…voices in a terribly melodramatic fashion to suggest they have been taken over. It’s trying to be frightening but it’s actually pretty comical. Platt isn’t usually guilty of such obvious descriptive dialogue but I really noticed it in this adventure (‘The beach, it’s moving!’ ‘Making a vortex! A whirlpool!’ ’It’s sinking!’ ‘It’s swallowing my TARDIS!’). Somebody always gets left out of the action when there are four regulars to split the action between and this time around its Nyssa who is left with little of consequence to do (at least its faithful to the TV series in that respect). Mulkris threatened to be an interesting character but she is dispatched almost as soon as her role in the story was revealed (and using the poison that was also sported in The Hand of Fear no less). Blah, blah, blah…a new race of Kastrians and take over the universe… It’s clear that bringing Eldrad back to life wasn’t to examine his character in any great depth but to indulge in the usual meglomaniacal clichés. Four episodes of trying to turn a speck of glass into a stompy, shouty villain for this? ‘Eldrad loves to make War. He lives for strategy and design!’ basically means he’s as boring as we all thought. ‘That will precipitate the crystals worldwide!’ – a last minute worldwide threat does not make a gripping story. Platt is prolific enough now that he can start plagiarising his own work from years back and if you want to see what the guy can really do with crystals then check out the far superior A Storm of Angels in the Unbound range. Episode four sees the story leaping to Kastria and Eldrad stomping about the place in a vainglorious rage. Does any of this sound familiar?

Standout Scene: I’ve put my back out this week and I wondered if I was hallucinating my way through the agonising pain of the injury during the abominable sequence that featured the following sparkling dialogue: ‘Eldrad must Live!’ ‘No Eldrad must Die!’ ‘Give me the box Eldrad must Live!’ ‘No! No! Eldrad must Die!’ I listened to it again later once the painkillers had kicked in and to my horror it was exactly as I remembered. Have I got it all wrong and this is supposed to be a comedy? Since Eldrad’s resurrection offers no new insights I can only assume this was the reason that this story was produced, to indulge in nostalgia of the axiom ‘Eldrad Must Live!’ Not the strongest of foundations, it has to be said.

Result: Deeply unengaging, Eldrad Must Die! serves as a sequel to both The Hand of Fear and Mawdryn Undead and on the strength of this story neither were strictly necessary. And in the way Platt explores possession through dream sequences this also feels like a predecessor to Cradle of the Snake as well. The first episode is a long winded affair that wants to get Turlough in exactly the same position as Sarah Jane Smith in the original (possessed, and chanting a slogan about Eldrad) but takes twice as long to get about it. The story feels as though it has no framework supporting it, scenes of  random weirdness compound each other (Look a village of crystal people! And a Quartzberg! Quartz rain!) in an attempt to distract the audience from the fact that nothing terribly original is going on. I often find Big Finish audios are at their best when they are examining interesting ideas through thoughtful dialogue and engaging characters (check out this months companion chronicle) but Eldrad Must Die! is one of those tales that comes off like a weak television soundtrack with characters constantly describing what is happening and reacting in a state of shock at everything. To give Platt some credit he tries to examine Turlough to some small degree but its hard to take anything from the dream sequences because it is hard to determine what is memory and what is fantasy. The Emerald Tiger proved that there was a rich seam of goodies to be mined from placing this quartet of regulars in an innovative and unique story. It kicked started the last trilogy in such a delightful fashion. Eldrad Must Die! proves to be the antithesis of that tale, the depressing result of trading on the shows past for no rhyme or reason, indulging in clichés and failing to do anything fresh with the source material. Some interesting imagery aside, it’s about as tired as the main range has been in over a year. It’s the worst kind of story, one that feels like it didn’t need to be told: 3/10