Serial 106: The Creature From the Pit

Doctor: Tom Baker (4th Doctor)
Companions: Romana II, K-9

Written by: David Fisher
Directed by: Christopher Barry

Background & Significance: One of the things that strikes me most about working writers (or anyone in the professional entertainment industry, for that matter) is the notion of "Why do sucky people keep getting rehired even though their work sucks?" Take the Baker/Martin team for example. Those guys wrote literally the worst Doctor Who stories ever (or if not that, then my least favourites) and they were around for years and years and years, asked back over and over again. But why?

The answer to this, of course, is that they got the work done. Someone might not be the best writer or director, but they got the job done in good time and on a good budget. Quality is irrelevant. Money was saved.

Such is my thought on David Fisher, who returns to Doctor Who for the Douglas Adams season of Doctor Who with the last story of his we're going to be talking about here at the wonderful(?) Classical Gallifrey. Now, in the previous season he was responsible for the [what I still consider to be] absolute genius "Androids of Tara" and the very very strange "Stones of Blood", which was good except for the bit where it made a really weird and unwelcome left turn two thirds of the way through episode three and became a story I wasn't quite interested in. It's hard to count "City of Death" (because that was much more Douglas Adams than it was Fisher, who just did the base concept), so those two Key to Time stories and this one are all we really have to go on when it comes to judging David Fisher's contributions to the show.

But more on what he does with that in a little bit.

This story was the first story shot in that one Douglas Adams season and is surprisingly low budget seeming for such an early story (let's be honest, though: "Destiny of the Daleks", "City of Death", and "Shada"? Not cheap). It also is the first to not only feature Lalla Ward as Romana, but more specifically Romana II. It's a weird change, especially considering David Fisher had written all the scripts for this story before Lalla Ward was even cast (it was assumed Mary Tamm would be returning) and if you watch this you can totally tell that Fisher is writing Romana with a definite inspiration from her first incarnation than the second (it's the costume and the dialogue more than anything).

It also sees the return of veteran director Christopher Barry, who hadn't been seen on Doctor Who in three years (he'd previously done "The Brain of Morbius") and would never be seen on the programme again. The reasons are understandable, though. If that was the creature the production team came up with, I'd have left and never come back too. Same too with K-9, seen first here done by the voice of guy-who-is-not-John-Leeson, which is not exactly welcome. All in all it's a kickoff to this season I don't consider myself a huge fan of, which is weird because it's technically the third story of the season.

What I mean to say is it's a lot of things. Plenty. Too much. Worth discussing (yeah, boy). Ultimately a bit sour.

So let's get to it!

Serial 25: The Gunfighters

Doctor: William Hartnell (1st Doctor) Companions: Steven, Dodo

Written by: Donald Cotton Directed by: Rex Tucker

Background & Significance: There's a weird thing in Classic Doctor Who, where incoming producers and script editors are shouldered with some leftover stories commissioned by the previous production team. This happened with the first season of Hinchcliffe/Holmes, in which the two of them were forced to produce a commissioned Dalek story by Terry Nation and a commissioned Cybermen story by Gerry Davis even though Holmes had zero interest in returning Doctor Who villains (especially The Daleks), or even with Nathan-Turner, where he and Chris Bidmead were forced to produce "Meglos" despite knowing that it was totally ensconced in the previous regime's tone and feel rather than their focus on "hard science" (ha!) instead of comedic slapsticky.

"The Gunfighters" is that for Innes Lloyd and Gerry Davis.

Commissioned by the previous production team of John Wiles and Donald Tosh, who were interested in another fun historical story from Donald Cotton, who'd previously "succeeded" (as far as they were concerned) with his work on "The Myth-Makers" (which we'll talk about more in a couple of months), this time set in the old west, specifically focusing on the legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral with all the tropes and exciting adventures and all that. Much like with "The Myth-Makers", Cotton chose to focus on the spirit of the story rather than being historically accurate (spoilers for "The Myth-Makers": that story isn't "historically" accurate much at all either).

Personally, I think that's a good approach. I think as a rule I'm more interested in the spirit of the thing rather than complete historical accuracy (I am watching a fictional show, after all).

Unfortunately, "The Gunfighters" is something of a final gasp of air for historicals. Innes Lloyd and Gerry Davis were more interested in taking Doctor Who to a more serious and science fiction place (hence the hiring of Kit Pedler) and making the show more focused on entertainment and adventure than the educational whatever place it had been for the previous several seasons. It was this team that implemented the first regeneration, after all, and the one that went head on into big sci-fi stories as soon as they could ("The War Machines", "The Tenth Planet", "The Moonbase", just to name a few), employing the base under siege meme in just about all their stories... I mean, the only time they ever even ventured into the past in any sort of way that mattered was when they picked up Jamie in "The Highlanders".

Regardless. I have made my point. This isn't exactly a story they wanted to make, nor is it one that did exceptionally well when it aired, nor is it one that's been well received in the many years since its airing.

But the problem, I think, comes from... I dunno, people being stupid, I guess. "The Gunfighters" is basically anything you could ever want out of Doctor Who. It's big and exciting and fun and funny and badass and a super huge huge blast. If only the production team at the time could have seen the merits of making a story in which The Doctor goes to the old west to take care of a toothache, because this is the stuff of good and continues the hypothesis that season three is possibly the weirdest and most eclectic season of Doctor Who that's ever been made. I mean, this story is basically the why of all that.

So let's get to it!

Serial 67: Frontier in Space

Doctor: Jon Pertwee (3rd Doctor)
Companion: Jo Grant

Written by: Malcolm Hulke
Directed by: Paul Bernard

Background & Significance: "Frontier in Space" was one of the five stories of Doctor Who's tenth seaso; as such, producer Barry Letts wanted to let out all the stops and do some good old fashioned homaging. He already had a Multi-Doctor crossover, but that wasn't enough. He set his sights on "The Daleks' Master Plan", seeking to challenge that story's record for "The Longest Doctor Who Story of all Time".

Okay. Before moving on... Flaw in his logic? Maybe he should have worried himself with  "Best" Doctor Who story of all time, instead of "Longest". "Daleks' Master Plan" was an overpadded session of ADD, in my opinion. Really good, but way too long.

But enough of that. What of this?

Because twelve episodes is a lot to do, Letts decided to split up this epic twelve parter (TWELVE! Anything longer than FOUR generally fails) into two halves, with each half featuring one of the two [at the time] iconic Doctor Who villains. The first half, (this half, the one we're talking about today) "Frontier in Space" would feature The Master. The second half, "Planet of The Daleks" would feature The Daleks and we'll talk about that at some point in the nearish future. (It's our next Pertwee story).

Inspired by The Cold War, this serial sees the creation of a new race of aliens, The Draconians, the return of the previous season's Ogrons (who were ape-like brainless servants of the Daleks... So... The Jem'Hedar?) from "Day of the Daleks" and also an attempt to turn Doctor Who into a space opera.

It also sees the return of Malcolm Hulke in his second to last story for the series. Also present, some Pertwee-era padding, perhaps the most ridiculous amount of capturing of The Doctor and his companion I've ever seen in a Doctor Who story, and a mostly useless use of The Master. A damn shame, if you ask me, especially considering this is Delgado's final Master story and the last Master story until the greatness that is "The Deadly Assassin".

And yet not so much, especially considering the plan they had for The Master, which I personally would have hated. But enough rambling!

So let's get to it!

Serial 43: The Wheel in Space

Doctor: Patrick Troughton (2nd Doctor)
Companions: Jamie, Zoe

Writtten by: David Whitaker and Kit Pedler
Directed by: Tristan de Vere Cole 

Editor's Note: Hey guys! Matt here reminding you that this week Cassandra's in to talk a little bit about... well... some Cybermen. I guess she's back to the weaker stories? BUT I DON'T KNOW! It's not like I planned this. (Wait. I did.) But oh well. She'll get some good stuff again quite soon, but for now let's hear her talk about the much maligned "Wheel in Space" and I'll be back next week for some more "in Space" action. But for now: TO HER.

Background & Significance: Cybermen were the new Daleks.

At least, that's how it was during the Troughton era. Much like Daleks kept popping up all over the place in Hartnell stories, so too did the Cybermen in Troughton stories. Which increasing the probability of really terrible Cybermen stories, but who doesn't love our funny-talking cybernetic kindred from Mondas? I mean, really.

Unfortunately, "The Wheel in Space" is one of those really terrible Cybermen stories and all because Terry Nation wouldn't agree to a Cybermen/Dalek team-up. (Which quite possibly could have been the greatest thing ever if Nation stayed out of it and David Whitaker scripted, but alas, that only leads to frustrated speculation on my part. And now yours too. (You're welcome.))

The great irony of this story, for me anyway, is that it is scripted by David Whitaker, who wrote "Power of the Daleks" and "Evil of the Daleks", among other things. We know he's a good writer, so how did he go from that level of awesome to "Wheel in Space" level of dull? Personally I think it's the story by Kit Pedler, but I'll get into that a little more in the commentary.

Another thing I do need to talk about before we dive in, though, and that's the fact that this story is the first appearance of Zoe Heriot, played by the adorable Wendy Padbury, who we all know goes on to be a Companion alongside Jamie for the duration of Troughton's tenure as the Doctor. Her predecessor, Victoria, departed in the previous story "Fury from the Deep", and the character of Zoe is a sort of response to Victoria's character; Zoe is from the future and extremely intelligent and forward-thinking, which contrasts with Victoria being from the past and her more conservatively Victorian-era sensibilities.

But enough of all that. Let's take a closer look, shall we?

Serial 11: The Rescue

Doctor: William Hartnell (1st Doctor)
Companion: Barbara, Ian, Vicki

Written by: David Whitaker
Directed by: Christopher Barry

Background & Significance: "The Rescue" is a bit of an odd entity. It's the second of the seven two-part-length stories in the Classic series' history. And because it doesn't really have a big giant mega monster or a big giant mega crisis for The Doctor and his crew to solve and/or experience, the story exists purely to introduce a new character into the TARDIS crew.


The serial itself starts almost immediately after "The Dalek Invasion of Earth", with everyone still kinda dealing with the loss of Susan (and oh such a tragic loss it is), so the time is ripe for the advent of the first ever "new companion" and because that's a new thing, they gave her her own story.

More than that, there's really not a lot to say. The story is written by outgoing story editor David Whitaker (who is perhaps most famous for being the first ever script editor for Doctor Who, thereby being the first person to really define the stories, characterizations, and inter-character dynamics seen on the TARDIS) and is really a whole lot more of an interlude/bridging-the-gap story than anything else. Sure, it has a really neat mystery (that is... fairly obvious, but hey. Mysteries are hard) and it goes to a pretty friggin dark place, but... Yeah. I can explain as we go.


It's also here that we see the first real paradigm shift in terms of Doctor Who stories. Because this is the last David Whitaker story under his reign (even though it is, technically, edited by new script editor David Spooner), this really becomes the last sort of legacy of the Lambert/Whitaker era, where it's a lot about the mystery and the majesty of the traveling through space crew, when it's all new and exciting and stuff. Not that the Spooner stuff isn't exciting or there isn't the presence/feeling of Verity Lambert in there, but it's VERY much more comedically driven (see "The Romans", "The Space Museum", "The Chase", or even "The Time Meddler") than the early stories, which (while still humourous) were focused a lot on the adventure and almost mythological realism of the story in question.


What I mean to say is, in a lot of ways, this story really brings the Lambert/Whitaker era full circle. They started with The Doctor getting his first ever companions and now they end it with The Doctor replacing the only family member we've [as far as we know] ever seen. Now The Doctor's journey is on for good and so begins the [seemingly endless but not unwelcome] cycle of introducing new companions who will replace those who have left The Doctor's side (even though this is just about as replacey a replacement as they come). It's kind of a gorgeeous little circle really and really helps to establish the future of the series, which is really what the David Whitaker stuff is all about.

So let's get to it!

Serial 131: The Awakening

Doctor: Peter Davison (5th Doctor)
Companions: Tegan, Turlough

Writtten by: Eric Pringle
Directed by: Michael Owen Morris

Background & Significance: Believe me when I tell you it was completely unintentional that we'd burn through the three Davison two parters in such a short short span. It just happened. I don't know how, but trust me, it did. So.. yeah. Here we are, talking about the last of these two parters (and really the last two parter of the classic series) because all the Colin Baker ones don't count (okay, maybe "The Ultimate Foe" counts, but that's... a tricky topic).

The last time we talked about a Davison two parter it involved The Master and was rather odd. The time before that, Cassandra was talking about a "delightfully whimsical" historical. And this?

Well... it's the same consistently odd that the other one is.

Part of what makes these two part stories interesting is the way Classic Who writers have absolutely no idea how to flesh out a story and paint it in all its tapestryness in just two short episodes. To make things even more confusing, there's the same amount of characters as would appear in a standard four parter and the same amount of scope, but it ends up making the whole thing feel incredibly rushed or what have you. So it's a little strange to watch because it feels like they're racing through, leaving me with the sensation that it's all just a little too rushed and sloppy to be anything super amazing or memorable.

That's a shame, of course, because what we have here is probably easily the strongest of the Davison two-parters.

Eric Pringle and Michael Owen Morris are interesting to me because they're in that club of "one-offs". You know the types: the ones who come in and do one Doctor Who story and one Doctor Who story only. And then that story becomes their one, lone Doctor Who legacy, the story that will forever represent their association with the show. Normally, I equate this with the first episode because (if you think about it) it's the story the writer's been wanting to write for all his/her life. As an example, Steven Moffat's would be "The Girl in the Fireplace", which really does a good job exploring the themes and motifs Moffat would later explore in greater depth in his stories going up till today.

For Christopher Bailey the thesis story would be "Kinda", for Neil Gaiman it would be "The Doctor's Wife". And so on and so forth.

"The Awakening", though, is something of an odd, odd bird. Without spoiling the general conceit of the episode, it's a total blending of classic historical while putting on a crazy unique interesting twist on it to make it a "simple" sci-fi story. And yet, it's really not THAT simple. At the time, Pringle was originally commissioned for a four part story and when his outline revealed that he didn't have enough to make a compelling four part story they curtailed it to two parts. But Pringle's condensing led to Saward adding and rewriting making it longer to fill out the time (and yet the initial cut of the first episode way overran. So good on getting that one right, Eric Saward) so it ends up being a bit of your standard Davison era hodgepodge where it doesn't QUITE work out the way it should be.

But that's the era, I guess. Can't do anything about that.

So let's get to it!

Serial 83: The Android Invasion

Doctor: Tom Baker (4th Doctor)
Companions: Sarah Jane

Writtten by: Terry Nation
Directed by: Barry Letts

Background & Significance: In the middle of Tom Baker's second season, you'd almost think that Hinchcliffe/Holmes were trying a little too hard to move away from the stories that came before them. As if it wasn't enough that they had clearly moved away from them and into new territory ("Ark in Space", "Genesis of the Daleks", "Revenge of the Cybermen"), it's strange that they would go to such lengths to attempt to reinforce the notion that the UNIT years were over and they weren't coming back again.

So it is that "The Android Invasion" continues the whitewashing of the walls of Doctor Who before Hinchcliffe/Holmes took over.

If I have one problem to fault them on, it's that. Isn't it enough that you've gone and made UNIT almost redundant in "Terror of the Zygons"? Do you really have to go and needlessly include them here or in "Seeds of Doom", where basically they're the LAPD to The Doctor's John McClaine? You'd think they'd have more confidence in themselves or whatever to not have to resort to kicking an old era to seem better than they actually are. By insisting on returning to Earth (not just Earth, though. UNIT era Earth) instead of forging ahead and making the stories that matter to them (Season 14, anyone?)  the Hinchcliffe/Holmes team really are doing a strange thing by not doing stories that play to their strengths. I mean, doesn't it make sense for them to do that?

To add to the confusion, the production team brings in Terry Nation to write and ex-producer Barry Letts to direct.

What we're left with is a bit of an uneven jumble. For one thing, it's totally strange to see Terry Nation write for Doctor Who not utilizing The Daleks as this is the second of only two stories he ever wrote to not feature his beloved creations (meaning that eight of the ten stories Terry Nation wrote for Doctor Who WERE Daleks stories), especially when Nation isn't able to fall back on any of the usual tricks he does with his Daleks. It's also strange to see Barry Letts behind the camera, especially when he was so instrumental in defining the basic everything of the UNIT era and this is so decidedly... not.

Couple those together and this is something of a weird story. It's the return of Benton and Harry (although why, I am not sure) in each of their last appearances on the show and features (as always with a Nation story) some great ideas that never quite congeal in the way you want them to.

More than anything it really cements the notion of how radically new and awesome the Hinchcliffe/Holmes era ended up being. Utilizing new writers/directors/talents was the name of the game during their time, writers who wouldn't ever appear again (I'm looking at you Chris Boucher and Robert Blanks Stewart) and directors who saw their epic last swansong on the show (Rodney Bennett, David Maloney, and Douglas Camfield). But to see such old veterans slash crusty old dudes mixed in amongst this brand new, glossy, shiny, badass interpretation, the story really goes out of its way to make it clear that these two have no business in this new world order.

Which is rather sad, but understandable. I guess we should talk about that.

So let's get to it!

Serial 154: The Greatest Show in the Galaxy

Doctor: Sylvester McCoy (7th Doctor)
Companion: Ace

Writtten by: Stephen Wyatt

Directed by: Alan Wareing

Background & Significance: It's interesting to take note of Producer Jonathan Nathan-Turner's influence on Doctor Who after his "supposed" departure from the show. (For those who don't remember, he was desperate to leave the show after "Trial" but only stayed on because his leaving the show would have resulted in Doctor Who's cancellation, as the BBC didn't want to replace him with anyone else.)

Any excuse to cancel Doctor Who, yeah?

Anyways, you can tell that the work Nathan-Turner did after "Trial" was decidedly less involved and hands-on, opting instead to let other people steer the ship. There were other ideas, sure, but whenever I think of Nathan-Turner's influence on the McCoy era, I always imagine it as purely background. It's less about flashy Nathan-Turner who was once a blazing firebrand, hungry for work beyond just Doctor Who; instead, he was reduced to something akin to Murphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, trying to make it the best he could by stepping out and letting Cartmel steer the creative ship. Honestly, I'm rather glad he let this happen during Cartmel rather than Saward.

Oh wait. Nevermind. My bad.


But the point still stands.

"Greatest Show in the Galaxy" was meant to be the story after "Remembrance of the Daleks", but when Nathan-Turner demanded that "Silver Nemesis" air on Doctor Who's 25th Anniversary, the story became the season finale as opposed something stuck in the middle of the season. And honestly, I like that it's here rather than there. The originally intended season finale story ("The Happiness Patrol") wouldn't have made as strong an ending I don't think, and this way the season is bookended by this new McCoy Doctor at his absolute schemiest best, don't you think? Not only that, but it really dials into the so-called Cartmel plan, especially because it's a strong story for both The Doctor and Ace whereas "The Happiness Patrol" was good but nowhere close to ideal.

It's written by Stephen Wyatt who wrote "Paradise Towers" for Doctor Who's previous season, and I honestly think he did a lot to progress the perception of McCoy. I mean, "The Happiness Patrol" is fine for showing off McCoy, but this, man. Whooo doggy. This is a whole different ballgame, and one I happen to enjoy very much.

So let's get to it!

Serial 137: Attack of the Cybermen

Doctor: Colin Baker (6th Doctor)
Companion: Peri Brown

Written by: "Paula Moore" (but really, Eric Saward)
Directed by: Matthew Robinson 

Background & Significance: We've talked about the controversy of the Colin Baker years plenty by this point. So know that I'm saying something when I say "Attack of the Cybermen" is one of the most controversial Colin Baker stories. Like, really really.

Colin Baker, as we all know, is probably the most widely unpopular Doctor for fans of the old series. That's terribly unfair, I think. Slap a dude with extremely weak stories amidst a new and wildly radical interpretation (which itself is dependent on slow growth over time) and of course people aren't going to like him. It's just not going to happen.

"Attack of the Cybermen" is the first story of Colin Baker's first full season. It's important to note, however, that this isn't the first Colin Baker story; it's the second. The first Colin Baker story, "The Twin Dilemma" (which we'll be talking about eventually and is widely considered to be one of, if not the, worst Doctor Who stories of all time) was tacked onto the end of Peter Davison's final season in an effort to get people warmed up to his Doctor and excited about the radical change brought about by the influx of a new Doctor.

Without going into it too much here, people hated "The Twin Dilemma" and they hated Colin Baker and they hated his portrayal of The Doctor. So now he had even more to prove moving forward and "Attack of the Cybermen" certainly couldn't have helped anything.

I'll have more thoughts as we go through, but "Attack of the Cybermen" is widely criticized for its violent content, something which I thought I could handle because I'm not exactly the squeamishest or flinchiest of persons; I've watched and relished in my fair share of violent movies, be they over the top or not. Turns out I couldn't, and you'll see why. I mean, there's a line, and "Attack of the Cybermen" WAY crosses it and people project that onto Colin Baker's Doctor, who, let's also point out, does in fact contribute to a fair amount of the violence in this.

Not only all that, but this story is also totally ghost written by script editor Eric Saward. As script editor he wasn't allowed to write any stories under the BBC guidelines, but he underhandedly weaseled his way into writing this using front men (like his then-girlfriend, but why she dated him god only knows) because he had a major major crush on the Cybermen. And the result is horrifically Sawardian in all of the worst ways. Saward, like Jonathan Nathan-Turner, is a man of ups and downs. I thank him for such gems as "The Visitation" and "Earthshock" but for every one of those there's one of these, and the stuff that's like "one of these" is rife with problems and I can't say I'm a huge fan. So ummm.... know that, I guess. Cuz I might not be kind to this story.

Honestly, this is where my (and most people's) criticisms of Saward and Producer Jonathan Nathan-Turner start because... well... it's a poster child. (For some reason they think it's a good idea to "sequelize" the great "Tomb of the Cybermen", but more on that in just a bit). All the best and worst of their eras are neatly wrapped up in this story and it's at this point that their "themness" starts to stop helping the programme (because they're "new" and "revolutionary") and start to negatively impact the stories and show they're making, especially towards Colin Baker, who should have been legendary and well-remembered but instead ends up being derided, reviled, and something of a scapegoat on all counts. It's unfortunate, because Colin Baker is SO good, especially in this, despite being in this. He's the thing that makes it better.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

So let's get to it!

Serial 110: Meglos

Doctor: Tom Baker (4th Doctor)
Companions: Romana II, K-9

Writtten by: John Flanagan and Andrew McCulloch
Directed by: Terence Dudley

Background & Significance: "Meglos" is one of those infamous little Doctor Who stories. It's unique because it's apparently "one of the few weak Tom Baker stories" (I say that tongue-in-cheekly) and because it's the... odd one out that doesn't quite fit into this, Tom Baker's final season on the show. It's not the kickoff story. Nor is it about E-Space of the return of The Master. So what is it?

I think it's safe to say that it's... a pretty rote and standard Doctor Who affair for being the second Johnathan Nathan-Turner story. Which is exactly what he was worried about, so....

It's strange. I think if anything, this is still one of those stories that's trying to shake off the old reign of the show, that really pushed Nathan-Turner into the paranoid, self-obsessed dude he more-and-more increasingly ended up being as the years went on. He wasn't super hot on "Meglos" in theory (he thought it "a bit too typical even for Who" and "uninspired." I doubt he was hot on the writing team (they never made another story although there were attempts) and he must have at least liked Terence Dudley because he did invite him back (although never in a directing capacity, which either means Dudley is a phenomenal writer (which he's.... ehhhhhhhhhhhh...... alright, I suppose) or Nathan-Turner didn't really care for him as a director.

Or Dudley really enjoys writing.

(Also, interesting to point out: JNT's reservations about this were probably right in the end meaning he could be justified in any future stranglehold he would make over the show or whatever. I mean. With this lack of quality? I would...)

But yes. "Meglos".

There's a lot of interesting mythology around Meglos, although none so uniquely interesting as the story itself. Although other things come close, the most interesting thing (to me, admittedly) is that Gareth Roberts's original pitch for "The Lodger" was designed to have the bad guy turn out to be Meglos in an attempt to wrap up the lasting mystery of this story (of course, the ever elusive "Just who the hell is Meglos and what is his deal?"). Apparently when they were to meet, The Doctor wasn't going to remember Meglos (and honestly, aside for "That cactus thing" what is it that's memorable about him? Come on. That's a fair question).

All this cheeking aside, it does do something interesting for Tom Baker, and that's allow him to be double-cast as the villain of the story, which was done for Troughton in "Enemy of the World" and Hartnell in "The Massacre". My question? Does it work? How does Tom Baker take the opportunity? Well... it's an interesting driving question, I suppose.

So let's get to it!