The Krotons - Episode 3

The Doctor and Zoe escape to the TARDIS and eventually return to the Gonds with some stuff. But not before one of the Krotons comes out of their machine to try to destroy the TARDIS. Fortunately, we learn of the HADS, the Hostile Action Displacement System, whereby the TARDIS jumps itself away from danger. Nifty. There has been some very good camerawork in this story, interesting movements and such. Also some good acting by the main guest cast, in particular Eelek and Beta. The writing is still a bit naff. Again, not as terrible as it's made out to be, but not great. Especially not up to later Robert Holmes standards.

The Krotons - Episode 2

An OK episode, not very exciting. Memorable for the scene where first Zoe and then the Doctor attempt to gain entrance to the Krotons' lair by using the learning machines. We also get our first sighting of an actual Kroton. Still a very cool voice. Also lovely to see Zoe and her short skirt and boots gear. Fab! Otherwise, kinda dull. Not bad, just dull.

The Krotons - Episode 1

Wow, the video quality and especially the audio quality of this episode are both excellent. Oh, look, there's Zoe showing plenty of leg with her short skirt and boots. Sadly, the story doesn't quite match up to those wonderful heights. It's not nearly as terrible as legend holds this story to be, but it's not outstanding. As a first example of Robert Holmes' writing, it's not promising... but he does get better. The guest cast aren't impressive, either. However, I do think the booming voice of the Kroton is really cool. Deep and menacing, I've always thought very highly of the voice. Weird cliffhanger, with the Doctor writhing on the ground, trying to avoid some weird phallic flashlight/probe thing. Don't ask.

The Invasion - Episodes 5-8

Bit of catch up time today. Even though this story is 8 episodes long, it doesn't feel needlessly padded. It all flows wonderfully, and I can't stress how Kevin Stoney is great as the evil Tobias Vaughn. Great stuff. The Brigadier is good to see, too, knowing how he'll be such an integral part of the series in the near future. Isobel is a nice girl, she would have made a decent companion. Zoe still looks cute, and changes into her silver catsuit towards the end of the story. The military side of things is well-handled. The stock footage of the rockets being readied is repeated a few times to many, especially seeing as how they're the Exact Same Shots. The "theme music" for UNIT is a bit silly. The effects work, especially with the UNIT attack on the Cybermen at the climax is well done. However, I'm a bit disappointed in how many important scenes are left unshown. The rescue of the Professor happens off-screen. Another attack happens off-screen. The final destruction of the beam-signal or whatever it is is done off-screen. I know it'd been expensive to pull everything off, but it seemed a bit wrong to deny us those important scenes. Oh, well.

On the whole, an enthusiastic thumbs-up. This bodes very well for the upcoming format change when the next Doctor arrives. But we're speaking out of turn, here. Patrick still has a few stories in him yet. Speaking of which, perhaps not the greatest of stories is up next. It's "The Krotons", and at least it's a complete story.

The Invasion - Episode 3

Well, blimey! Been a bit busy, it's been a few days since our last visit. By the way, I believe I forgot to mention last time that we have a new Doctor! Not on our marathon, not just yet. In present day, Christopher Eccleston has been chosen as the Ninth Doctor, and will take over the TARDIS when the series finally returns in 2005 to BBC1. Yay! Anyway...

Video and audio quality are much better here. Sadly, the episode is kinda boring. And no Zoe at all! :-( Vaughn is such a sinister villain. Packer is rather irritating. His conversations with his watch phone are unintentionally hilarious, at least. The laid-back 60's lounge jazz music played in Vaughn's office is kinda nifty. Odd to see the Doctor shove anyone that hard on purpose, as he does when he and Jamie escape into the lift. This cliffhanger's a bit better than the last one, as something inside the crate with Jamie begins to move...

And sadly we don't get to see the resolution. Episode 4 is missing from the BBC archives. Bloody BBC... Next time we get Episode 5 instead.

The Invasion - Episode 2

After a brief run-down of the missing Episode 1, we join the action and find the Doctor and Jamie being followed by some men in cars, one of them is Benton! Tobias Vaughn is an evil man, you can just tell. And we get our first several of many instances of Vaughn calling for "Packer..." We also get our first appearance of Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart! I've always liked the Brigadier. It's nice to see him for the first time in our marathon, and know that we'll be seeing more of him in the near future. The UNIT concept is also introduced here. I like the Doctor and Jamie going right for the sandwiches when they go back to the Watkins residence. Jamie likes his radio. A good episode, the only downside being the rather poor quality video and the very poor quality audio. This one needs the Restoration Team badly.

The Mind Robber - Episode 5

The climactic episode, and things certainly heat up! But the first thing I noticed was the audio. It's of a remarkable clarity, possibly the best of the Hartnell or Troughton eras that hasn't been cleaned up by the Restoration Team. Video quality is pretty good, too. I enjoyed the mind duel between the Doctor and the Master, with fictional character fighting against fictional character, with the controllers switching out characters to out-do the other. The Master survives, which is a nice rare touch. The final moments of the episode end with sort of another cliffhanger. The TARDIS is seen to be reformed, but we don't know what has become of the Doctor and company.

I give this story a thumbs-up, definitely. While its individual episodes may have been quite short, that meant that there wasn't as much padding as a regular 5-part story might have had. It had plenty of clever concepts, the writing was good, and the performances of regular and guest cast were both well played. A fun story. Next we have "The Invasion", but we don't quite get the resolution to this story's cliffhanger. Episodes 1 and 4 of "The Invasion" are sadly missing. However, we do have 6 complete episodes of the story, which finally gives us our first encounter (his initial appearance no longer exists in the BBC archives) with a recurring character that will be with the program for quite a while...

The Mind Robber - Episode 4

Another shorter episode tonight. Man, I keep spelling "episode" wrong. Glad there's a backspace key. Anyway. I like Zoe's fight with the Karkus. Hey, if Zoe's got me in a choke-hold, I'd submit in a second! Gulliver is still a nifty character, I like that he can't see the non-fictional White Robots and such. The Master is finally revealed. And he's a writer! Go figure. Not the actual "Master" that we meet in a few seasons, but the Master of the Land of Fiction. Poor guy wrote a lot, now he's stuck in a world that controls him. He's trying to get the Doctor to take his place. Well, that'll never work. I like the cliffhanger in a cheezy sort of way, Jamie and Zoe being pressed inside a giant book. Hey, if I was stuck in a giant book, I wouldn't mind having Zoe with me...

The Mind Robber - Episode 3

Wow, this story's episodes are short! I think this one was not quite 20 minutes. Good to see the "real" Jamie back, even though Hamish wasn't terrible he just wasn't our Jamie. The fictional characters keep coming, and throwing obstacles in our heroes' way. The room that Jamie finds his way into at the end is interesting, with all the book titles on the "files" or whatever on the wall, the printing machine, etc. The mysterious "Master" is still not fully revealed, which is a nice touch.

The Mind Robber - Episode 2

This is getting good, I like this story. A weird world where almost anything can happen. Like Frazer Hines getting ill so his cousin gets to play Jamie. That is clever, to do the face-changing by the Doctor and he gets it wrong, instead of just writing Jamie out of the episode. I like the Gulliver character, using only words from "Gulliver's Travels". Looking forward to the next episode! Which is something I wasn't really able to say during the last story.

The Mind Robber - Episode 1

Hallelujah! A different story at last. This one starts out very good. All weird and mysterious. The white void outside the TARDIS is nifty, and it's decades before "Angel" had its own White Room. Plus we get Zoe in her famous silver sparkly catsuit! And the famous shot of Zoe on the spinning console. The white TARDIS in the void is a cool touch. The Doctor is worried, and therefore we worry too. Has the TARDIS ever been "destroyed" before? I don't think so, I think this is the first time we see it happen, sort of. I love the shot with the TARDIS scanner screen showing the end credits waiting. Great cliffhanger, can't wait to see more!

The Dominators - Episode 5

A rather laid-back final episode. I don't get the sense of much excitement. The Dominators are still badly acted, Zoe is still cute, etc. etc. The Dominators get blown up at the end, and I don't think I've been that happy over a spaceship destruction in a long time.

A final overall review says "Yawn". Bad acting, bad writing. About the only good things are Zoe in the skimpy skirt, and the Doctor. Oh, and the interior of the Dominators' ship was kinda nifty. But apart from those, not good. I don't think the marathon has been as tough as this since "The Web Planet". Thumbs down, I'm afraid. Next we have "The Mind Robber", which promises to be not "The Dominators", which is a good thing.

The Dominators - Episode 4

Not sure what it was, exactly, but this episode felt more interesting than the previous ones of this story. And not just because of Zoe's skirt. It felt a bit like a final episode, again I'm not sure why. I'm still thankful there's only one more to go of this turkey.

The Dominators - Episode 3

Yawn. Boring. But still, we do have Zoe in that skimpy skirt. That helps. Plus, was that a bag of jelly babies the Doctor was finishing up on the flight back to the island? And it's quite obvious that it's not Patrick Troughton playing the Doctor for the location work. Ugh, two more episodes of this one.

The Dominators - Episode 2

Not much improvement. However, there is the added bonus of seeing Zoe in the super-skimpy Dulcian outfit. Yummy-ness! Plus some nice scenes of the Doctor pretending to be stupid to foil the Dominators' intelligence test. Apart from that, it's more terrible costumes, bad acting, and not much plot. Yawn.

The Dominators - Episode 1

Oh, dear... and this is what they opened a season with? Yikes. And to think that Dulkis is the first alien planet we've visited since Telos and the tombs of the Cybermen. The Dominators are horribly acted. The Dulcians aren't much better. The Quarks are set up to be a terrible robot menace... until they're revealed at the end of the episode to be short little goofy robots that don't appear threatening at all. And you can't understand a word they're "saying". The costumes of the Dulcians are poor, too, looking like belted curtain dresses. Guys should not wear dresses, ever. Kilts are one thing, this is completely different. And we've got four more episodes to go.

The Wheel in Space - Episode 6

I think a lot has happened since we last saw the Doctor and company. Suddenly Jamie and Zoe are flying in spacesuits outside the wheel, the Cybermen have infiltrated the space station, everybody is wearing metal plate things on their necks to prevent mental takeover by the Cybermen. Plus a jump up in audio and video quality from last episode. Looks and sounds much better. The tension as the Cybermen approach to take over completely is well done. I get the feeling that I'd probably enjoy the whole story if all the episodes were around. And what do you know, Zoe joins the TARDIS crew. Yay! Then the Doctor begins to show her "The Evil of the Daleks" as a sign of things she might see along the journey. It was a clever way to integrate a rerun into the narrative of the show. Our next adventure is a complete story! Yay! "The Dominators" are coming...

The Wheel in Space - Episode 3

There's a lot going on in this story, and we're dumped right in the middle of it. Wendy Padbury makes her first appearance in our marathon as Zoe. She looks very cute in her snug jumpsuit. I don't like the new Cyberman voices, plus they're tougher to understand. And look, there's the guy from the Brotherhood of the Cruciform Sword from "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" being killed by a Cybermat! Neat! It's a shame that after such a clean VidFIREd episode last time we get a non-cleaned-up old video right after. It looks dreadful by comparison, whereas otherwise it might just look merely OK. The sound too is a bit poor as well. I trust Mark Ayres will clean things up when the CD is released later this year. And have I mentioned how cute Zoe is?

The Web of Fear - Episode 1

VidFIRE, shiny shiny VidFIRE, yay! The episode looks amazing, clean and neat. And it opens with a glorious shot of Victoria and her beautiful shapely legs stretched out on the TARDIS floor as the ship struggles to survive last episode's ending with Salamander being sucked out into the void. Very nice, Victoria. The scene of the Yeti reawakening is very effective. The army scenes are definitely reminiscent of soon-to-come UNIT stories. Captain Knight looks an awful lot like George Lazenby in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". And to think that the BBC did not use the actual London Underground to make the episode... the designers and everybody did a great job on the sets! It's a shame that this is the only episode of this story left, and not just because more episodes would mean more shots of Victoria in her short skirt. It's a classic story, excellently told and directed. Having the first episode merely whets one's appetite. Plus Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart (soon to become Brigadier) is nowhere to be seen in this episode. He arrives later in the story. It's a shame that one of the series' most beloved characters first appears in an episode that has been wiped by the BBC. Grrr.

Sadly, this is where we must say goodbye to Victoria. Her final story, "Fury from the Deep", would have been next in our marathon, but alas, no episodes survive of that one. Deborah Watling did her best to portray a not-very-well-fleshed-out character, who ended up doing not much more than scream and get in trouble. But that's what most companions do. Oh, well. At least she was amazingly pretty. Next up are a few episodes of "The Wheel in Space", where the Doctor meets another new friend...

The Enemy of the World - Episode 3

Victoria looks very pretty in her skirt and sweater. Jamie gets to be a guard, sort of. Victoria gets to work in a kitchen, sort of. The Doctor is in one scene. Patrick Troughton is great as Salamander. He is completely different than the Doctor, his speech and his mannerisms, the way he moves and holds himself. Shame this is the only episode. Some espionage, not much action. A so-so episode. I get the feeling that viewing the full six episodes would be tedious, but I could be wrong. Another "only surviving episode" up next, it's "The Web of Fear".

The Ice Warriors - Six

The final episode, and it sort of staggers to a finish. A bit of excitement, but not much, as the Ice Warriors end up retreating to their spaceship and are defeated. Leader Clent is decidedly past the bend, but is not totally gone, he's OK by episode's end. Something about Miss Garrett reminds me of T'Pol from "Enterprise". Not sure exactly what, though. Jamie really has little to do in this episode, much less this story. Was it his turn for a week's vacation? He gets knocked out real early on, then is looked after and dragged around and spends time in the infirmary. Almost like "The Moonbase".

In conclusion, this incomplete story (which gets a wrap-up here anyway) is simply OK. A really good first episode, then it meanders and moseys along to a finish. As always, Troughton shines and gives any scene he's in a boost. He really does frantic energy well. Our next episode is the only surviving episode of the Monster Season's monsterless "The Enemy of the World". I'll really be glad when I don't have to refer to any more "only surviving episode" situations. That'll be a little while yet, though.

The Ice Warriors - Five

Slight improvement on last episode, but not much. Still mostly padding. Nice moments from the Doctor, though, like when he first enters the Ice Warriors' ship, sees the monsters, and tries to hurry back outside. And when he tries to open the vial of whatever-it-was to use against their guard, but he can't open it up, that was good too. I do think the resolution of the cliffhanger wasn't handled too well, I believe the countdown had gone further at the end of Four than it reaches in Five's recap. Oh, well.

The Ice Warriors - Four

My gosh, Victoria is so very pretty. Unfortunately, this episode seems to have devolved into filler material. Lots of running around caves and corridors of ice. Or fake ice, to be more precise. I really like the 8-note percussion motif that crops up in the music here. The Ice Warriors' froggy mouths are interesting. The little fellow from "The Great Escape" gets killed by the monsters. And I like the way the Doctor walks right up to the Ice Warriors' spaceship door and knocks, demanding to be let in. But the episode is too much padding.