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FishyFish

By FishyFish
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^ I like that variation of the music. Is that from something?

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Resurrection of the Daleks

(Blog has pictures)

It's time to wheel out the pepper pots again, as the Daleks return from the brink of annihilation to retrieve their creator Davros, after losing horribly in their war with the Movellans. How the Daleks ever managed to survive before Davros was retconned into their genesis, I will never know!

[Picture: The Supreme Dalek observes events through its crystal ball.]

Resurrection of the Daleks has a rather complicated plot, particularly by the standards of most Dalek episodes. Although the Daleks free Davros from his space prison, they are not under his command and want to merely use him to find a cure for their deadly virus. Likewise, Davros is unhappy with the Daleks and wants to create a new breed. But the Daleks are also after the Doctor, having snagged him into a time tunnel and pulled him to 1980s Earth, which is also where they're keeping the virus samples and from where they're taking humans and then cloning them and brainwashing the clones to use as slaves, and hope to create a clone of the Doctor to invade Gallifrey and kill the Time Lord high council [breathe], all the while Davros tries to reprogram his Daleks to obey him instead. Ambitious bunch, aren't they?

[Picture: There are lots of meaningless deaths in this story, the most memorable of which is when one of the fake-policemen shoots some poor sod on the beach.]

With all the twists and double-crossings, even between Daleks, it's hard to know what's going on at any one time or what anybody's motivation is. Many of the ideas aren't expanded upon. The Daleks creating genetic duplicates of humans and brainwashing them could be a huge deal, but they're basically just slaves or "Dalek agents" to do their dirty work for them. The briefest of concern over a possible invasion at the end is just shrugged off with "oh, don't worry, the clones are unstable". Riiiight.

[Picture: A brainwashed clone of Stien attaches the Doctor to the mind scanner. His performance is poor, even after we learn of his true nature.]

Davros is Davros, of course, and as over-the-top as ever, but is becoming a generic babbling villain now, with repetitive prose. The Doctor, however, seems to have developed a more ruthless side to him, since he has no qualms with killing the Dalek mutants, nor Davros himself. Who says the Doctor doesn't use guns? Ultimately, Davros is left to die on the spaceship as it explodes due to the conveniently named "self destruct room", but is this really the end of him? I can't believe it. Besides, the Daleks have time travel; they'll find a way back. I do hope next time it's a more straightforward adventure. Sometimes less is more.

[Picture: The Doctor finally confronts Davros in a dramatic conclusion.]

This story sees Tegan finally decide to give up the stressful life of adventuring and stay behind on Earth, not unlike several others before her. It's not the first time she's considered leaving the Tardis behind, but this time it is for good. A reluctant companion from the offset, Tegan was caught up in the adventure by accident, but stuck around for a surprisingly long time considering how much she complained about everything. Her departure is a reminder to me that Davison's tenure is almost up. It's strange, it feels like it's barely started.

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"A glossy mess" is I think how the Discontinuity Guide describes Resurrection of the Daleks, and I think that's accurate. It has some memorable scenes and images (such as the guard with his face melted off!), but makes zero sense and is blighted by some appalling performances and stunt casting.

Rodney Bewes deserves singling out for his atrocious performance. "Hello boys, just in time to join the fun" he says, whilst doing "injured" acting that looks more like he's just got a stitch.

And yeah, too much going on, none of which makes sense under even the gentlest scrutiny.

I do have a soft spot for Terry Malloy's version of Davros though. Some seriously OTT ranting in certain scenes.

Edit: And yeah, not long to go now for Davison. On the plus side you've got one of the all-time great stories to come. On the downside, that's basically the end of decent Doctor Who. :(

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.

Edit: And yeah, not long to go now for Davison. On the plus side you've got one of the all-time great stories to come. On the downside, that's basically the end of decent TV Doctor Who. :(

Fixed.

I think Davison himself once said that he'd just figured out how to play the doctor when he left!

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Planet of Fire

(Blog has pictures)

As Peter Davison's era comes to an end, changes are afoot. Gone is Tegan, and in her place arrives Peri, an American student. Kamelion finally reveals he's been hiding in the Tardis cupboard for the past four serials but his story comes to an end as he is destroyed by necessity. Finally, Turlough leaves us to return to his own people, after meeting his long-lost brother and finally revealing why he was exiled.

[Picture: The Master redirects the Doctor's Tardis using his link with Kamelion.]

This may be a story about a doomed volcanic planet and the Master's attempt to mislead a god-fearing tribe of primitives in his ongoing attempt to gain immortality, but nevertheless, character drama features more strongly here than it usually does. There are some nice moments with Turlough and the Doctor, particularly when the Doctor tells him their friendship will be over if he is withholding important information. The large amount of on-location filming also lends a more natural (less staged) style to the events. It'd be nice to see the whole show shot on film, but I know that wasn't the style at the time.

[Picture: Turlough reveals the marking on his arm and what it means.]

Peri's story naturally begins on Earth, as she expresses boredom to her stepfather and wants to get away and travel. I think it's good to have a more international cast of characters (even if her accent isn't entirely convincing). Of course, it also helps that she looks good in a bikini. Conversely, Turlough should never wear shorts. Ever.

[Picture: Rescued from drowning, Turlough brings Peri back to the Tardis to recover.]

There wasn't much I didn't like about Planet of Fire. In an otherwise disappointing season so far, this stands out as pretty good. A relatively straightforward story with some good twists, nicely handled themes of faith and science, actual character development with the main cast and a shake-up to keep things fresh for a while.

[Picture: The Doctor has a difficult time in siding with the 'unbelievers', almost getting them burned alive.]

I also liked the reveal of the Master's true predicament at the end of part 3, and he was a pleasure to watch throughout. His fiery demise was... unexpected. How can he possibly return from that?!

[Picture: Ow, ow, ow, oww!!!]

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The Caves of Androzani

(Blog has pictures)

It's been a while since Robert Holmes wrote a Doctor Who script; it's almost like he'd been saving this one up. It's an uncharacteristically sophisticated story, mature and quite dark, dealing with themes of corporate corruption, terrorism, betrayal, greed, violence and sacrifice.

[Picture: The unnecessary monster. Seriously, what was the point of this thing?]

That being the case, the silly-looking man-in-a-rubber-suit monster is rather perfunctory. The story doesn't need the added threat of a creature when the various sides are already ruthlessly butchering each other. Caves of Androzani doesn't pull any punches; it's violent when it needs to be, and its large cast of characters are largely dead by the end. If anything, the story is a little too complicated - with everyone backstabbing each other, it took me a while to work out what was going on!

[Picture: Morgus "witnesses" the president's death in an unfortunate lift "accident".]

At the heart of the story is Sharaz Jek, who is using his supply of spectrox drug to seek revenge on the man who left him horribly scarred. It would have been more effective if we never got to see his face, just the reaction to it - no amount of makeup can match one's imagination, after all. Jek is quite a dramatic character, very intense and threatening but, like all good villains, he has a tender side, and seems to develop affection towards Peri, although I'm not quite sure why; did I miss something?

[Picture: In these tenderer moments, he's like a clown in bondage gear. Now there's a chilling thought.]

Caves of Androzani is also well made, with some interesting camera angles. I suspect some of it must have been shot handheld to get the dramatic close-ups and awkward angles that you don't usually see in a video production. The androids' thermal vision is also a good-looking visual effect, and the Doctor's two visible hearts a nice touch of detail. Another nice detail is that we finally learn what the Doctor's piece of celery is for! Poison detection, Gallifrey style. It didn't save him from the spectrox spores, though.

[Picture: The stand-out moment for me is during the ship's descent towards Androzani Minor. Davison's Doctor is desperate, panic-stricken and clearly over his head, but pulls off a miraculous turnaround.]

This was a very good ending for the fifth Doctor, and a thorough test bed for his best qualities to shine through. It's a shame that this version comes to an end, but I will have some more to say on the fifth Doctor's character and adventures shortly.

[Picture: Moments before "death", the Doctor remembers his former companions. You just can't get rid of that kid Adric, can you?]

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Caves of Androzani is on rotation with Horror of Fang Rock and Robots of Death as my favourite ever Who story. There is a fair amount going on, but that means it's a story that stands up to repeated viewings.

His attraction to Peri is fairly obvious to me! But seriously, he's been down some caves for years, horribly disfigured, starved of beautiful things, and frankly...mad! It's classic Beauty and the Beast stuff that manages to be both sad and chilling.

John Normington as Morgus is a brilliant villain, but even more brilliant is that his downfall is partly engineered by his PA! That plus the fact that Jek gets his revenge makes for a very satisfying pay off. "Do you think bullets could stop me now?! You stinking offal Morgus, LOOK AT ME!!!". Brilliant.

Peter Davison is incredible in this story. The end of Part 3 sends shivers up my spine, it's just so well performed and filmed. Pure desperation that you totally believe.

The rest of the cast are all suitably nasty and violent, giving the whole thing a very adult vibe. Alas, no Doctor Who story is perfect and I wish so much that they had scrapped the Magma creature. Apparently it had a far larger part to play in the script, so I guess the production team realised it was a bit naff. Shame, as there's a "monster" later in the form of the Giant Bat, which is well realised.

The direction is by Graeme Harper who regularly directs the show now. He really gives it a filmic quality which is no mean feat in a BBC studio.

What else? Love the Android "dummies", just a simple, creepy, faceless design. The final image of Jek held in the android Salateen's arms. The music. The regeneration scene ("is this death?"). Peri's cleavage.

In short, it's brilliant. Alas, what happens for the next two seasons is the polar opposite...

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The sequence at the start of part four where the Doctor is chased out of the wrecked ship by bastards with machine guns only to be saved because the whole landscape starts to convincingly explode is also epic. Perfect send off, dropping the most innocent optimistic Doctor into a super bleak narrative full of dreadful people.

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The Fifth Doctor: Summary + Best Episodes

Davison's run of episodes is the shortest so far. Even though he had three seasons plus a special (roughly what Hartnell and Troughton both had), each season has been shorter since the show went to colour, which means, in terms of episodes, Davison's time on the show feels remarkably short-lived!

Not much has really changed since the latter half of Tom Baker's stories. The show still flirts with science, mythology, humour and darkness. There are still scary monsters, disturbing imagery and a fair dose of silliness. There are still over-the-top villains, good and bad theatrical performances and action scenes that range from competent to absolutely dreadful. Peter Davison takes on a more action-heavy role, but it hasn't really changed very much overall.

The show has begun to indulge in its own history a bit more, but this was in part due to the anniversary year. Season 20 and the anniversary special contain a lot of fun throwbacks and some good stories too. Season 21 is rather poor until it picks up at the end. Overall, the range of stories in these three seasons is quite mixed, with some more lighthearted adventures than usual sprinkled throughout.

The Doctor's companions don't change much over his shorter run. He almost always has a group, as that seems to be how he works best. Tegan is with him for almost the entire time (having joined shortly before his regeneration, and left shortly before the next one!). Nyssa and Adric are bland and awful respectively. The arrival of Turlough is intriguing and he becomes very entertaining and over-the-top. Kamelion might as well have not been there at all, appearing all but twice. And Peri has only really just settled in, but she makes quite an entrance. Then there's the younger model, the new Doctor himself...

Thoughts on the Fifth Doctor

If Tom Baker was your mad uncle, Peter Davison is your favourite school teacher. On the whole, he's a friendly type, but if you step out of line, he will not hesitate to scold you for it. The fifth Doctor is very much an adventurer, with all the same curiosities inherited from his previous incarnations, but with the energy of youth within him too, who wants nothing more than to share the wonders of the universe with his "students".

He's wise beyond his years, naturally, but at times he is pushed to physical violence and aggression. I think it's fair to say that Davison has had a mixed time as the Doctor, but when he's written well, he can really pull off a good range. As he's often written into situations where he is virtually powerless, he does handle desperation and panic well. He's not an eccentric like Baker or Troughton's versions, but he has some funny lines or quirks. More than once he's done that thing where he tosses a coin to choose a direction, but tosses it again anyway to get the outcome he wanted.

Mostly, Davison's Doctor is just a "nice guy". It's difficult to dislike him, but at the same time, it's tough to say that he has a strong personality either. Coming after Baker, the worst you could say is that he's a little bit bland. However, he is never a detestable bore or anything less than likeable, so that leaves my order of preference looking something like the below (feel free to disagree, naturally):

Tom Baker > Patrick Troughton > Peter Davison > Jon Pertwee > William Hartnell

Episode Highlights

I haven't had too much trouble picking out my favourite Davison serials. There aren't as many to choose from and the good ones are fairly easy to pick out. That said, there are some stories that had potential that was squandered by poor plotting or bad production (such as 'Earthshock'). Likewise, there are those that are glossy and well-made but make very little sense (like 'Resurrection of the Daleks'). My list favours originality, style and good fun. Naturally, I'm open to discussion and I always reserve the right to completely change my mind. Here are my picks:

The Visitation (4 parts)

A standard historical alien invasion, accompanied by a loveable rogue highwayman. Good fun!

Mawdryn Undead (4 parts)

A clever use of time travel, some excellently grotesque creatures and the return of the Brigadier.

Enlightenment (4 parts)

Nicely wraps up the Black Guardian Trilogy and provides a big sci-fi idea in a unique setting.

The Five Doctors (1 special)

Is it cheating to include this? A smorgasbord of nostalgia, the best bits of Doctor Who join forces for a fun romp.

Planet of Fire (4 parts)

Character drama comes through as Turlough leaves and Peri joins. A good story and nicely filmed.

The Caves of Androzani (4 parts)

This dark and sophisticated story pushes Peter Davison to his best performance.

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