Frontier in Space - Episode 2

I'm becoming convinced that this story should have been called "Prison Cells in the Future" or something similar. In this episode alone, the Doctor and Jo are captured, put in a prison cell, taken to Earth, put in another prison cell, taken to see the President of Earth, taken back to their prison cell, taken from their prison cell, attacked and split up with the Doctor a prisoner of the Draconians and Jo back to their old prison cell, the Doctor escapes and is recaptured by the humans and put back in the prison cell with Jo, only to be attacked by Ogrons. Sheesh! And I know for a fact that more prison cells are in store for the remaining episodes. I do like the design of the Draconian ambassador's office. The buildings they filmed the location shoots at are quite futuristic, and fit the story well. Shame we see mostly prison cells, though.

Frontier in Space - Episode 1

Yay, Malcolm Hulke's back! You can always rely on Mac for some good, solid writing. We also get some pretty impressive spaceship modelwork this time, too. The interior of the ship isn't nearly as impressive as the exterior, however. The Draconians make their appearance, and they look awesome, especially compared to most other Doctor Who aliens. Interesting to see a female President of Earth. Also interesting to see the Doctor and Jo wearing the same clothes they had on last time, implying that this adventure follows on directly from "Carnival of Monsters". Been a while since we've seen something like that. The Ogrons are as cool as ever. They are quite the menacing brutes. And why is everyone so obsessed with precise timing? General Williams stating the rescue ship should arrive 17 and a half minutes from now. Why bother with the half a minute? And that's not the only instance. Just a weird oddity I noted.

Carnival of Monsters - Episode 4

The Doctor regains his full size and sets about fixing things. More dodgy CSO as the Drashigs attack the grey aliens. Not quite sure why the Doctor had to go back inside the Scope to rescue Jo, as when the Phase 2 switch is pulled, she would have automatically come back outside anyway. Oh, well. But a happy ending is shared by most (except those who were killed by the Drashigs).

A thumbs up from me, albeit barely. The slow plot is made up for by some great witty dialogue, particularly among the grey aliens, and also Vorg and Shirna. The effects aren't all that great, but overall the story entertains, and that's not a bad thing at all.

Carnival of Monsters - Episode 3

This story would clearly have been better served as a 3-parter. More running around, with little plot development. The dialogue of the grey aliens is still sharp, notably "One has... twinges" for example. The Drashigs are horribly inserted into studio and locations, and look almost totally unbelievable. The explosions caused by the Doctor's sonic screwdriver are very impressive, however. And what's with the Doctor just abandoning Jo once he's got the rope? Shouldn't he go back for her? Nope, he heads down the rope and out the Scope.

Carnival of Monsters - Episode 2

Tramping around the innards of the Scope. The inner workings look dang cool, albeit done with not nearly enough money. Still, it's rather impressive for what they had to work with. We also get a glimpse of a Cyberman, our first look in quite a while. The effect of the TARDIS growing could have been done better. The mini model is too skinny, while the hand-held version looks better. I like the boxing between the Doctor and Andrews. The Drashigs appear in the cliffhanger, looking not quite as impressive as the producer had hoped.

Carnival of Monsters - Episode 1

Freedom! His first trip in the TARDIS since the end of his exile and he meets chickens. The looping behavior by the humans on the ship is nifty. Nice to see Ian Marter pre-Harry Sullivan. The makeup on the aliens is pretty crap. Like the dialogue between the grey aliens, some witty stuff in there. Vorg and Shirna aren't nearly as annoying as they might be, thanks to the acting of the two guest stars. Shirna in particular is very cute. The dinosaur is OK, not great but not terrible. The hand reaching down for the TARDIS isn't put into the picture very well, unfortunately.

The Three Doctors - Episode 4

The Doctors unite to defeat Omega.  Clever trick to use the lost recorder as the downfall of Omega.  Once again, seeing the sparring Second and Third Doctors is a delight to behold.  Shame to see Patrick go again, we miss him.  And dear old Billy Hartnell, in his final performance.  He deserved better, he deserved to be more than just a face on a TV screen.  We miss him, too.  The Doctor gets a new dematerialization circuit and his memory is restored.  Hooray!  The exile is over!  Fresh fun can begin anew...

Thumbs up enthusiastically for this story.  While the plot isn't the strongest, it's good enough to bring the Doctors together.  Seeing Patrick again is an absolute joy.  The show pats itself on the back, with a hearty congratulations at lasting 10 years.  10 years!  If only they knew.  A fine celebration, very enjoyable.  See this one.

The Three Doctors - Episode 3

Omega arrives.  Or, we finally reach Omega, if you want to be picky.  Stephen Thorne is excellent as the vengeful renegade.  He really fills the part with the big-ness that it truly needs.  Poor Brigadier, stubborn and refusing to believe he's travelled anywhere further than another country on Earth.  The Gellguards still suck.  The fighting sequence in the "dark side" of Omega's mind is pretty nifty, all black and in slo-mo.  The cliffhanger is a bit naff, though, as the Third Doctor is choked by Omega's bad side.

The Three Doctors - Episode 2

The tenth anniversary story continues in style.  Especially fun to see the Brigadier faced with his previous Doctor.  Patrick is a joy, it's good to see him having fun with the role once again.  The Brigadier enters the TARDIS for the first time ever in this episode, his reaction is priceless.  The quarry that is the anti-matter universe is OK, but maybe something more could have been done to "weird" it up a little.  The Gellguards are very lame.  We get a glimpse and a line or two of dialogue from the man behind this whole affair.  Good old William Hartnell pops up again to get the Second Doctor going.  Another decent cliffhanger as the whole of UNIT HQ is transported into the black hole...

The Three Doctors - Episode 1

Man, those Restoration Team guys do a heckuva job cleaning up these shows for DVD!  This story has never looked better.  Picture and sound are both excellent.  The story is fun, too.  We have the very welcome return of the delightful Patrick Troughton!  And an appearance by the original, William Hartnell, who sadly was not well enough to participate in this story as much as was originally intended.  The Second and Third Doctors immediately strike up a bickering rapport, which is wonderful to see.  The Time Lords are well done, too, especially the costumes, nice job by future Academy Award winner James Acheson.  Good cliffhanger, too, as the Third Doctor and Jo race out of the TARDIS to face the blob...

The Time Monster - Episode 6

See, I told you we'd see another "Star Wars" connection.  David Prowse, the man in the Darth Vader suit in the original trilogy, plays the Minotaur.  And gets beaten by Jon Pertwee in about 2 minutes flat.  The whole Atlantis thing is still silly.  Poor Roger Delgado, instead of interesting writing and plotting, he is forced to chuckle and laugh like a third-rate B-movie villain.  He's better than that.  The series is better than that.  Also a shame is that this is the last story featuring the famous "UNIT family", of the Doctor, Jo, the Brigadier, the Master, Mike Yates, and Sergeant Benton.  They would never all be together again.

A reluctant thumbs down for "The Time Monster".  This may have been the origin of the "any story with 'Time' in the title will suck" rule.  Sloppy writing and not very convincing acting cannot be saved no matter how hard Roger Delgado, Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning try, and that's too bad.

The Time Monster - Episode 5

Well, we finally reach Atlantis, and things go a bit pear-shaped.  Atlantis is not impressive at all, especially the guy playing Hippias.  The Queen, however, displays something not previously seen on "Doctor Who", at least not to this extent.  Cleavage.  It's hard to believe they were able to get away with it in 1972.  Her meeting with the Master is quite interesting as well.  Jo looks so much more attractive in her Atlantean garb.  She shows a bit of chest, too, what there is of it.  King Dalios is a wily old fellow, well portrayed by George Cormack, I quite like him.  And we're almost about to see another "Star Wars" connection... but that's next episode...

The Time Monster - Episode 4

This has to be one of the most TARDIS-centric episodes, at least since "The Claws of Axos" if not ever.  Time Rams, the vortex, TARDISes within TARDISes all get a look-in here.  It's entertaining, if a bit dull and drawn out.  Poor Benton gets shrunk down and back to a baby.  And just after he nearly captures the Master, poor fellow.  Still don't like the tupperware-bowl roundels in the TARDIS.  Hope that changes soon.  I like the way the Master's TARDIS doors close, they appear to slide straight back into the wall from outside, not swing back in or out or whatever.  Neat and nicely different from the Doctor's.  Jo is extra irritating in this episode.  It appears that the Master may have finally won...

The Time Monster - Episode 3

The Master brings forth first an Atlantean priest, then Kronos the Chronovore himself.  The priest's acting leaves much to be desired.  The same can be said for the younger Atlantean who talks with the King in this episode.  The goofy machine the Doctor makes is just that, goofy science.  No plausible explanation given.  Oh, well.  The bits with the Master bringing men and weapons from the past to attack the UNIT convoy is entertaining, even if it is nothing more than padding.  Still, at least it's not "The Mutants".

The Time Monster - Episode 2

Good old reliable Sergeant Benton.  I like how he sees through the Master's ruse and doesn't believe it's the Brigadier calling him.  And the way he makes the Master think he's left, but doubles back and sneaks back into the lab, very clever, Sergeant.  The Doctor's hair is markedly different between the filmed and the taped footage.  Curly on location, much straighter style in studio.  Not as much leg from Jo this episode, sadly.  And the episode ends pretty much the way the last one did, with the Master working the TOMTIT machine and calling Kronos to him.

The Time Monster - Episode 1

We're back on familiar territory now, as the Master returns.  And the Brigadier and UNIT are back, for the first time since "Day of the Daleks" a while back.  Strange to think that they only appeared in the first and last stories of this season.  Nice to see them back.  TOMTIT is a ridiculous name, and it's hard not to laugh when everyone keeps spouting "TOMTIT" every few minutes.  Roger Delgado gives another great performance, this time with a Greek accent to fit with his Professor Thascales persona.  Odd to think that the young bloke playing Stuart eventually becomes the gravelly-voiced Omega in the 80's and the recent Big Finish audio.  Jo shows some great legs, with her miniskirt and knee-high boots, very nice.  I like the effect of the clock tower chiming slowing down due to the effects of the TOMTIT procedure.  Hmm, look at that, I've been able to write more about one episode of "The Time Monster" than I was able to write about the whole of "The Mutants"!  OK, so maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but still...

The Mutants - Episode 6

Finally!  It ends.  But not before some more bad acting and lazy writing.  The whole Solonians-turning-into-Mutants-and-then-into-superbeings idea is interesting, just real poorly done on several levels.  At one point in this episode, Ky actually kinda looked like Biggs, but without the moustache.  Kinda.  I'm just glad it's over with.

Thumbs down.  I kept saying it with almost every episode, bad acting, poor writing, it just dragged on and on.  Not a favorite, that's for sure. 

On a side note, today the Ninth Doctor's look was revealed in a press call for BBC Wales.  Interesting look, close-cropped hair, dark leather jacket, t-shirt.  Kinda disappointed at first, but as I look at it and think about it, it's definitely growing on me.  And it makes sense, in this 21st Century mode that we're in, rebooting the series, to get away from the silly "costumes" of the last few Doctors.  Good work, Christopher Eccleston, Russell T. Davies, and all the rest.  And best of luck to you all!

The Mutants - Episode 5

More running around caves and corridors.  Mostly corridors.  Capture, esape, capture.  Talk about lazy writing.  This story should definitely have been 4 episodes, not dragged out to 6.  Garrick Hagon as Ky is actually pretty effective, he makes his character not simply a cardboard cutout, he gives it some life and energy.  The shouting match between the Marshal and Professor Jaeger is laughable, because of how poor the acting is from both of them.  Thank goodness there's only one episode left of this turkey.

The Mutants - Episode 4

Just about the only thing that's interesting in this episode is the arrival of Professor Sondergaard, and that's only because the actor played Lobot, Lando Calrissian's assistant in "The Empire Strikes Back"... you know, the guy with the computer thing that wrapped around his head.  Yeah, that guy.  Otherwise, it's more poor acting and bad effects, especially the CSO where the Doctor and Sondergaard enter the radiation area to get that rock crystal thing.  Interesting also, now that I come to think of it (watched it a few hours ago, so forgive me) is the puzzling out of the message pieces from the Time Lords.  We also get a ridiculous cliffhanger as part of SkyBase is ripped open to space.  And does everyone get sucked (or blown) out into space?  No, of course not.  *sigh*

The Mutants - Episode 3

Geez, am I only halfway through this one?  Yikes.  More running around in caves.  At least the caves were filmed on location and look pretty cool, especially with the terrific multicolored lighting effects.  The CSO-trippy place Jo ends up in is pretty daft, though.  Acting still needs work, Varan in particular is annoying.  Ky does OK, playing the hero and protecting Jo.  Dumb cliffhanger.
 
As a side note today, I'm instituting a "bedtime" episode.  Since I began this marathon, I've stuck with just during meals.  However, as I spend more and more time with my girlfriend, eating either out or at her place, it tends to consume my time more, and the viewing marathon drags out longer.  In order to keep up a relatively regular pace, I'm aiming for watching an episode right about 10:00pm.  That way, even if I'm not home for meals, I can still catch an episode.  Then crap stories like this one won't seem to last forever.  I hope.

The Mutants - Episode 2

*Yawn*  I admire the show's efforts at depicting a story about colonialism and independence, but the un-subtle way it goes about it just doesn't work.  And the crap acting doesn't help at all, either.  In particular, Professor Jaeger struggles to get out his lines on several occasions.  We're only in Episode 2, and the story is d..r...a...g...g...i...n...g terribly.  It's a shame that the writers were just plain lazy.  Cotton gets rid of Jaeger by telling him the Marshal wants to see him.  He goes.  He comes back angry because the Marshal did not want to see him.  Cotton says, "Oh, well" and leaves.  Huh??  This is going to be a long 6 episodes...
 

The Mutants - Episode 1

It's uncanny how the opening of this story is like an opening from "Monty Python's Flying Circus" with the "It's" Man stumbling towards the camera. Not an auspicious beginning. The idea of the special message box from the Time Lords is interesting. It's also good to see the Doctor travelling in time and space again, even if it's only at the Time Lords' bidding once again. The set of the SkyBase is really dull, and for a future Academy Award winning costume designer, the costumes are pretty crappy too. Good to see Geoffrey Palmer again, haven't seen him since "Doctor Who and the Silurians." Also nice to see Biggs Darklighter from "Star Wars" as Ky. That's kinda neat. Might be another Star Wars person in another episode or so. The cliffhanger is just plain clumsy.

The Sea Devils - Episode 6

This has got to be one of the most action-packed final episodes in Doctor Who ever. Lots of action, lots of gunplay, lots of speeding vehicles, the Master, the Doctor, the Sea Devils, the military... all great. Walker is such a spineless wimp. Good to see Jo still staying strong, participating in some of the action and not just standing by. The speedboat chase between the Doctor and the Master is fun, and we get to see the Doctor get positively drenched. The final scene, where the Master gets away, is a classic. Oh, and we also get to hear Pertwee's rare "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow" line! Of course, since neutrons have no polarity, that makes no sense, but still, it sounds cool.

Most definitely thumbs up for "The Sea Devils". Excellent location work, great cooperation from the Royal Navy, Roger Delgado, cool monsters. Everything comes together to make this a rip-roaring fun time. More suited to a season ender than a midseason story, but what can you do. Lots of fun, this one!

The Sea Devils - Episode 5

That Parliamentary Permanent Secretary (or whatever his title is) Walker is really an ass. Captain Hart makes a fine Brigadier substitute, not a cardboard cutout character, but one who eventually comes to understand and side with the Doctor. Great to see the Doctor and the Master both trying to make the Sea Devils see their side of the argument. More naval action with stock footage and new footage. The chaps from the sub give a good account of themselves, they're not just wimps standing by, they get into the action when they need to. Nice use of the Sea Devils as they attack the naval base.

The Sea Devils - Episode 4

Wow, now we're seeing bunches of Sea Devils. Coolness as the Doctor and Jo negotiate the minefield with a Sea Devil in pursuit. And more Royal Navy action as the Doctor attempts to communicate with the Sea Devils by descending in a diving bell. I love the shot of the Sea Devil peering inside the window at the Doctor. The cliffhanger feels a bit too drawn out, I think.

The Sea Devils - Episode 3

The production team really liked that duel between the Master and the Doctor, didn't they? They used the entire fight as the recap at the beginning of this episode. That's got to be one of the longest recaps ever in Doctor Who, I swear. It struck me during this episode that this story would make a great motion picture. Scary creatures, a villainous villain, action involving the military, submarines, all sorts of cool stuff. Jo gets to show some moxy as she fights some guards, good for her. That one line by Trenchard, to Captain Hart... "Fancy a quick one?" Rather disturbing, I thought. One of the most famous cliffhangers is in this episode, as the Doctor and Jo are trapped on the beach, and a Sea Devil rises from the water, advancing menacingly...

The Sea Devils - Episode 2

Is it me, or is Jon Pertwee in great form here? He seems to really be relishing his role as the Doctor, halfway through his tenure. Oh, and that approaching Sea Devil from the cliffhanger? No, just the guy who played Jabba the Hutt in the original Star Wars. The Master looks great in uniform, like he really means business. That Governor is really annoying. I love the scene of the Doctor blindfolding himself and putting golf shots in the Governor's office. Still keeping the Sea Devils back a lot. The famous swordfight between the Doctor and the Master is done rather well, not exceptional but quite good. The cliffhanger is a neat shot of the Master throwing a knife at the Doctor, with the camera whip-panning with the knife to the closing titles. Nice effect.

The Sea Devils - Episode 1

Ah, now this is more like it! Back to Earth, and the Master returns! I love him being "stuck" in prison, which is all just a sham. But what is he up to? Apparently enjoying TV, like "The Clangers." Roger Delgado is always great, it's good to see him again. Wow, and that Royal Navy secretary is pretty hot. Great location work here. The controversial electronic musical score is not nearly as intrustive or off-putting as one might think, in fact it fits in rather well, in my humble opinion. Holding back the Sea Devils to glimpses is a wonderful Doctor Who touch, leading up to a neat cliffhanger as one of the creatures approaches the marooned Doctor and Jo...

The Curse of Peladon - Episode 4

Y'know, the video quality of this story is pretty sub-par. I don't know if that's from the episodes themselves, or the transfer made at the time, or what. It just looks unsharp and degraded. The story comes to a conclusion, albeit rather abruptly. Then it takes several minutes to actually end. The scene with the real Earth Ambassador is unfortunately played for laughs, but isn't funny.

I gotta give this a thumbs down. I used to think I liked the world of Peladon, but now as I rewatch it, it feels cheap, poorly scripted, lamely plotted, and at times badly acted. Good bits include Katy Manning getting some good acting scenes, the Ice Warriors not being the bad guys, and a pretty well done fight between the Doctor and Grun. Oh, and we also meet Alpha Centauri, too. Otherwise this episode just plods along, without much energy.