Doctor Who and the Silurians - Episode 2

OK, a bit of a cheat on the cliffhanger resolution. The dino gets called away by a weird signal thing. We do get to hear the Silurians, and also kinda see one, or at least part of one. The shots of the wounded Silurian, especially its POV, are very well done, very effective. Avon from Blake's 7, Paul Darrow, makes his first Who appearance here, as a UNIT officer. All in all, this episode seemed to be marking time, aside from the wounding of the Silurian. Decent, but not gripping.

Doctor Who and the Silurians - Episode 1

It's still strange seeing this story in color. My old Betas from PBS airings were in black and white. The Restoration Team does another good job returning the color to the story. Our first sight of Bessie, the Doctor's new car! And Liz insists on continuing her mini-skirted-scientist look. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Also we see Peter Miles, great as always, in what I believe is his first Doctor Who role. While we don't see any actual Silurians in this episode, we do see some really good drawings of them on the hospital room wall thanks to that crazy guy. The Doctor goes spelunking and gets frightened by a crappy-looking dinosaur. Which, if memory serves, is the series' first, but defnitely not last, crappy dinosaur.

Spearhead from Space - Episode 4

This is one of the best final episodes in quite a while. Good stuff happening all over the place. Classic moments like the Auton dummies breaking out of the shop windows and attacking the humans. Madame Tussaud's. UNIT in battle. The Doctor saves the day, unfortunately he has to make some silly faces at the camera while he's being strangled by some goofy tentacles. Oh, well. I may have missed it, but I don't think the term "Auton" was used once in this whole story. Auto Plastics is noted as the name of the aliens' factory headquarters, but I don't recall hearing "Autons" at all.

Thumbs up, most definitely. A great start to a new era in Doctor Who. Jon Pertwee is immediately comfortable in the role, and is immensely charming, especially with Liz. Liz Shaw is OK, but doesn't make that big of an impression. The Brigadier is great, as always. The filming and camerawork is excellent. Highly recommended. Next up is a return to epic-length stories, with "Doctor Who and the Silurians".

Spearhead from Space - Episode 3

OK, I know for a fact that the Auton menacing the skinny guy did *not* reveal his wrist-gun before the end of last episode, in fact he walked *farther* than where it opens in the recap at the beginning of this episode. Oh, well. Skinny guy escapes, but is eventually killed, in a rather cool way. Jon Pertwee is totally at ease as the Doctor, his first story does not make him "over-Doctor" like some later first stories have the actor do. Thank goodness. Would a scientist wear as short a skirt as Liz does? Hmmm. Iffy cliffhanger again, with General Scobie seeing his duplicate on his doorstep.

Spearhead from Space - Episode 2

This episode continues on nicely from the last episode. The color is particularly vivid on this DVD. I can remember watching my old Beta tape recorded off of PBS which was horribly washed out it almost looked black and white. We get to see the Doctor in costume finally, and rather dashing he is, too. The shower scene beforehand is funny, I don't think we've ever seen the Doctor barechested before. Or with a tattoo on his arm, for that matter. The Doctor steals a fancy old car, and finds his TARDIS which is at UNIT HQ. The Doctor is charming when he meets Liz Shaw. The makeup on the strange people at the plastics factory is very effective and creepy. Also good and creepy are the Autons, which we see for the first time. If the rumors about the Autons appearing in the first episode of the new series are true, they could do worse to bring back the scariness. They really work well. The cliffhanger is a bit lame, the skinny guy sneaks back into his old workplace and sees an Auton approaching.

Spearhead from Space - Episode 1

Wow! Is this Doctor Who? Sure don't look it. It looks all glossy and filmic and nifty. And in color! The reintroduction of UNIT and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart is very welcome. I've always liked the Brig and UNIT. There's some wonderful camera work in this episode, too. And that Channing guy, he's very creepy. The arrival of the Doctor is handled well. Keeping him sort of "hidden" from the audience for the most part is effective, keeps the mystery up. It's only when the Brigadier arrives to see him that he "wakes up" and we finally really see Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor. The bit about the shoes is funny. Then the bad guys try to kidnap the Doctor but he escapes only to be shot by a UNIT soldier. Oh, no! I can't help thinking, though, what Doctor Who would have been like if it had always been made on film from here on out, instead of reverting back to videotape after the strike or whatever it was that forced them to film this all on location. This is a good first episode for the new Doctor.

The War Games - Episode 10

The Doctor is caught and put on trial by his own people. the Time Lords. It's a rather bittersweet episode, with some touching moments. The Doctor saying goodbye to Jamie and Zoe is quite moving. It's sad to see Jamie go, especially, as he's been with the Second Doctor since Patrick's second story (which sadly no longer exists). Patrick is superb, as always... even though he needs a haircut. The Time Lords are impressive, they can raise forcefields and everything. The cathedral organ music is a great touch, bringing majesty to the world of the Time Lords. The bit at the very end with the Doctor being forced to regenerate is handled well, although a touch silly. Patrick gurning and swirling is a bit goofy.

As a whole, the story was very entertaining, though a bit long. However, its length never really felt unnecessarily padded. It always flowed really well. I think that also added to the epic feel to the whole thing. The revelations of the Doctor's background were handled very well. Thumbs up for this one.

And so, the Patrick Troughton era of Doctor Who comes to an end. We've spent some quality time with him, and some of the best stories of the series' whole history (The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Evil of the Daleks) are found here. Patrick is excellent as the Doctor, he immediately jumped into the part and never looked back. I'm sad to see him go. Having watched all his surviving episodes in order really my opinion of him, which was already very very high, jump even further up. Even in the direst of stories (The Dominators, anyone?), you could always rely on the Doctor to be entertaining. If I were to pick one favorite Second Doctor adventure, I would have to go with The Tomb of the Cybermen. Classic monsters, classic Doctor, classic setting. Great stuff!

Next time features not only the new Doctor, Jon Pertwee, but also something that would change the look of the series forever. The Doctor begins his exile on Earth in glorious COLOUR!

The War Games - Episode 9

We're almost there. The petty infighting between the War Chief and the Security Chief is a bit like bickering schoolchildren. The Security Chief gets killed by the War Chief, yay! That Security Chief was an irritating fellow, mainly due to the way the actor, um, acted. Just didn't work for me. The War Chief, however, I thought he was a good villain. His look kinda reminded me of the old-style Klingons from the original series of Star Trek. Too bad he gets killed, too. Good death, though. The Doctor says "Time Lords" for the first time in the series' history in this episode. He makes a little box that he sends to them to get their help returning everyone to their own times. The ending is a bit odd, the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie making their way in slow-motion to the TARDIS, only to collapse in front of it. Next episode is the big conclusion, the end to the epic 10-parter, and the end to Patrick Troughton's reign as the Second Doctor.

The War Games - Episode 8

More revelations about the Doctor. Interrogated by the War Chief, a fellow Time Lord, the Doctor claims he had his reasons for leaving his home world. Arturo Villar arrives, he seems much less over-the-top than I remember him to be. Maybe he heads that way in the last two episodes. And what's this? The Doctor turned traitor? He lures his friends to the base and allows them to be captured by the bad guys. Hmmm. I think he has something else in mind, something that will beat the bad guys.

The War Games - Episode 7

I seem to recall the shrinking ceiling of the time machine being completely different than what we see in the opening of today's episode. Also, I don't think too highly of the Doctor's escape, using the smoke bomb to distract everyone. General Smythe makes a return appearance, and finally gets his comeuppance. Yay! Also, the War Lord finally arrives. He's a cool customer, he doesn't get as hyper and ridiculous as the War Chief and the Security Chief, thankfully. I love the bit where a scene starts in the War Room and one of the guards at the back hurries to put his shades on and put his weapon in the proper place. The time machines are referred to as SIDRATs, the reverse of TARDIS of course. But they pronounce it "side-rat". Funny, I always thought it was pronounced "sidd-rat". Oh, well. Poor Doctor gets captured again and is whisked away.

The War Games - Episode 6

Time Lords! That's what the Doctor's people are called! Our first mention of the words "Time Lords", spoken by the scientist from "The Last Crusade" about the War Chief's people. It's cool to see the Doctor in disguise, in a British WWI uniform. The bad guys are apparently sponsored by Cingular, judging by the logo that's decorating some of the walls in their base. The Security Chief has a very annoying way of speaking, certain odd words are emphasized that just don't need to be. Weird, and annoying. The War Chief is a good villain, especially since he is from the same race as the Doctor. Nice to see Patrick Troughton's son David in a minor role, Private Moor who ends up shooting Von Weich, that nasty German bad guy. Yay!

The War Games - Episode 5

We've reached the halfway point in Patrick Troughton's epic swansong. While I kinda feel that not too much is happening or developing in these last few episodes, they're still darn enjoyable. Mainly due to the great performances of the leads and guest actors. The Security Chief is about the only one who's off, his speaking kinda irritates me for some reason. We get more information about the War Chief and the fact that he is from a different race than the others behind the games, and that he has a connection to the Doctor of some sort. Interesting to see some background info on the Doctor being revealed after so long, relatively speaking.

The War Games - Episode 4

Good stuff. We learn of the Resistance for the first time, a group of soldiers from different war zones who have fought off the conditioning and are fighting back against the people behind the games. We also see the inside of the time machines, funky looking 60's plastic wackiness inside. The main base is also goofy-looking, more wacky plastic and shapes. The Doctor messes with a scientist (who is played by the guy who was the German butler in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"... "But if you are Scottish lord, then I am Mickey Mouse!", that guy) and learns how to deprogram brainwashed soldiers. And when the Doctor and the War Chief first set eyes on each other, the look of recognition in each other's face is priceless. Someone the Doctor recognizes, and someone who recognizes the Doctor... hints of more revelations about the Doctor to come. Carstairs is back, but he's reprogrammed and threatens to shoot Zoe as a German spy at the cliffhanger. Oh, no, not sweet Zoe!

The War Games - Episode 3

More running around. Romans to WWI to American Civil War. The German villain is kinda cool, with his monocle and stuff. However, his underling, the guy with the beard, not so good an actor, I felt he wasn't up to par compared to the rest of the cast. The War Chief makes his first appearance, with a mysterious "I wonder..." voiceover, adding more intrigue to the Doctor and what he may or may not know about what's going on, or about who is behind it. Poor Carstairs gets captured. And the Doctor and Zoe get whisked away in one of the weird time machine boxes. An OK episode, nothing much of note happens, apart from the introduction of the War Chief.

The War Games - Episode 2

The story is ramping up well. More bits of the puzzle appear, such as the General's very TARDIS-like cabinet. The mists make their first appearance, as does the first anachronistic element, the Redcoat that Jamie encounters. I love the way the Doctor blusters his way into the military prison and pretends to be an examiner. Patrick really gives it his all. Carstairs and Lady Jennifer are really likeable, I could easily see them as regular companions. We also get our first brief glimpse of the "base" that General Smythe travels to in his cabinet. A man in a strange getup standing by the General in front of a map-ish glass board. Mysterious stuff. Another good cliffhanger, as a small band of Roman soldiers race towards our heroes...

The War Games - Episode 1

And so it begins. The 10-part final Troughton story commences with some great location work, and the reflection of the TARDIS materializing is a nice different touch. Good atmosphere, the feel of the WWI surroundings works really well. Major Barrington looks very much like Blackadder from "Blackadder Goes Forth", also set in the trenches of WWI. General Smythe is evil, and the mystery of his futuristic contraption, his mind control, and his disappearances is well-handled. Good cliffhanger, as the Doctor appears to be shot by firing squad for espionage.

The Space Pirates - Episode 2

The only episode left of this 6-part story... and thank goodness. Slowness prevails. The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe seem to barely be in the story. Though I have one regret about the loss of the other 5 episodes... Zoe is wearing a wonderful pair of shorts and sweet boots. Would've been nice to see some more of that. Oh, well. The Milo Clancey character many people dislike, but I've always kinda liked his Jimmy Stewart-ness. The General and his underlings are less impressive, just like their bad uniforms. The music is a refreshing change, with a pretty female voice floating in space. Good modelwork, too. On the whole, not very good. But here's a thought to cheer us all up... No more incomplete stories!!! Yay!!! At last!!! Nothing but full stories from here on out! It's about time. The complete run starts next time with Patrick Troughton's swansong epic, "The War Games".

The Seeds of Death - Episode 6

Yeah, I was right, would've been just fine as a 5-parter. Oh, well. Still, it's funny to see Patrick covered in foam. Wouldn't mind seeing Zoe cov... er, never mind. The tension does build up nicely here, too. I thought the final scene of the TARDIS crew getting back into the ship seemed too familiar, especially Jamie's lines.

Overall, gotta give this a thumbs up. Excellent work by the Restoration Team. Fun, exciting episodes, with excellent acting from the supporting cast. And the supporting cast were given interesting things to do, not just the usual cliches. Good job, all around. Next up, it's our Last Ever "only remaining episode"! Yay! At last! Unfortunately, it's "The Space Pirates".

The Seeds of Death - Episode 5

Good to see the Doctor back on his feet. Poor, traitorous Fewsham gets killed, but not before he helps the Earth one last time. The Doctor messing about in the foam is kinda funny. I like the carved-in-stone sign for the Weather Control Bureau or Station or whatever it's actually called. Nice effect. However, the episode as a whole feels a bit like padding. I have a feeling this story could just as easily have been a five-parter. But I guess with all the difficulties the production team faced this season, what with scripts falling apart left, right, and center, they did what they could.

The Seeds of Death - Episode 4

Exciting stuff, here, even with the Doctor out of action. The exterior filming is superb, cool shots and plenty of menace. The foam spreading is very effective. I wonder how scary it seemed at the time, seeing as how "Fury from the Deep" a few months ago (roughly) also featured deadly foam. There's some good tension in several scenes, and the cliffhanger with Zoe being approached by the threatening Ice Warrior particularly well done.

The Seeds of Death - Episode 3

The Doctor and company make it safely to the moon. Unfortunately, the moonbase seems to have lots of wobbly walls. The sequence of the Doctor scurrying and scampering away from the Ice Warriors is actually kinda funny. Troughton really looks like one of the classic silent comedy stars in those scenes. The Doctor eventually gets knocked out by the deadly seed pods as mentioned in the story's title. If memory serves, next episode features almost no Doctor at all, which means Patrick was due for a vacation. His long sideburns look rather odd, too. When the seed pod is sent to Earth, I don't think I'd be as anxious to open the T-Mat door to see what that weird thing was. I'd be especially careful to shut the door once it started growing. It looks like they don't think like that in the future.

The Seeds of Death - Episode 2

We carry on in fine form. Sadly, though, Zoe ditches her skirt n boots outfit partway in to this episode for a pant-suit kinda thing. I love the fact that one of the crew of the Moonbase actually fights back. He doesn't roll over and play dead, or pathetically surrender. He actually cobbles together a weapon against the Ice Warriors...and uses it to kill one of them! The old Professor who is the abandoned rocket man is a nice fellow, too. We do feel his hurt at seeing rocketry abandoned in favor of the T-Mat. Miss Kelly is kind of annoying, though, in a way I just can't put my finger on. The rocket with the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe is in danger, oh no!

The Seeds of Death - Episode 1

Glorious DVD and VIDFire! Yay! Shiny! OK, enough exclamations. The episode looks and sounds great. Good ratcheting up of the tension, especially with the holding back of the bad guy revelation til the end of the episode. Having them hissing from off-screen is very effective. The costumes of the humans is a bit goofy. But we still have Zoe in her skirt n boots! There's not much of the Doctor and company in this first episode, but that'll change. Overall, a very good first episode. And look, it's the Ice Warriors!

The Krotons - Episode 4

Hmm. Not much comes to mind after seeing this final episode. Zoe still looks damn hot in her skirt n boots outfit. The modelwork is a bit lame. The whole thing just kind of sputters to a finish. Oh, well.

Overall, a thumbs down. It started promising, then it just never quite worked together correctly. Good acting helps, but not enough. This story's just kinda there. Next up is a shiny DVD version of "The Seeds of Death". Yay!