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Tag: Jamie

Friend of My Heart

Review of The Enemy of the World (#40)

iTunes Release Date: 11 Oct 13
Original Air Date: 23 Dec 1967 – 27 Jan 1968
Doctor/Companion: Two, Jamie McCrimmon, Victoria Waterfield
Stars: Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Deborah Watling
Preceding Story: The Ice Warriors (Two, Jamie, Victoria)
Succeeding Story: The Web of Fear (Two, Jamie, Victoria)

I can’t even describe the thrill I felt watching The Enemy of the World unfold before my very eyes. I’d long since inured myself to the idea that my only chance to see Troughton in his double role as the Doctor and Salamander was to watch Episode Three, which had previously been the only one remaining in the archives. And while I’d read both a full synopsis and the BBC’s photonovelization before, it’s a completely different experience to see it for oneself.

For anyone who has never seen the Second Doctor in action, you could hardly ask for a better introduction. I’ll admit it’s probably an advantage to know him so one can appreciate the differences between Troughton’s two characters better, but the story itself is a real cracker. Each episode unfolds another layer of intrigue until we see what a truly tangled web the players have woven.

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Revival of the Fittest

Review of The Ice Warriors (#39)
DVD Release Date: 10 Sep 13
Original Air Date: 11 Nov – 16 Dec 1967
Doctor/Companion: Two, Jamie McCrimmon, Victoria Waterfield
Stars: Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Deborah Watling
Preceding Story: The Abominable Snowmen (Two, Jamie, Victoria)
Succeeding Story: The Enemy of the World (Two, Jamie, Victoria)

For some reason, Troughton’s second season (Season 5, by the original count) was into cold climes. Starting things off with the cryogenic Tomb of the Cybermen, it proceeded on to Tibet and The Abominable Snowmen before landing the TARDIS crew in the glacier-covered future wasteland of The Ice Warriors.

Regardless of the seeming repetition of setting, I was glad to see another Troughton story I hadn’t had the privilege of watching before. Even when you’ve read a blow-by-blow plot synopsis, seeing it on the screen in front of you is a different kettle of fish. Besides, how can anyone resist any performance involving that infamous cosmic hobo?

As with many early stories, one has to take this one with a largish grain of salt. Not only are the Ice Warriors’ creature costumes ridiculously unconvincing (its the rubber mouths that don’t move in sync with the actors’ jaws that really does it), but the science is sorely outdated. The idea that extreme deforestation (not that the script calls it that) would lead to less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere might have been a believable hypothesis at the time, but these days we’re seeing the opposite effect. So the very premise comes across as extremely retro-futuristic.

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Retro-View #3: The Games Are Afoot

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The War Games (Story #50, 1969)
Viewed 25 Sep, 04 Oct 2012

Doctor/Companion: Two, Jamie, Zoë
Stars: Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Preceding Story: The Space Pirates (Two, Jamie, Zoë)
Succeeding Story: Spearhead from Space (Three, Liz Shaw)
Notable Aspects:

  • Two’s final story
  • First mention of the Time Lords (by name)
  • First appearance of the Doctor’s home planet

It is an utter joy to watch Who with G. She’s an ideal audience for indoctrination from the beginning, as she comes into it willingly and with love and appreciation for television of the ’60s anyway. You can always count on her to giggle with absolute glee at the poor stage fighting, Two’s gurning, or the long-since-outdated science fiction props.

On the other hand, she’ll also ask the kinds of questions I imagine the audience at the time would have asked, and is often completely quiet because she’s just soaking it all in, getting involved in the plot. Either that, or she’s exclaiming about something being revealed on screen, “uh-oh”ing at all the right moments or gushing about the “wonderful” sets. I can just imagine if those responsible for creating this story were on hand to observe her they’d be grinning ear to ear the whole time.

For my part, I had a hard time not interjecting things left and right (“Look! The sonic screwdriver is being used as an actual screwdriver!” “He just said his name was Doctor John Smith!” “He just mentioned the Time Lords for the first time ever!” “It’s Philip Madoc! Isn’t he brilliant in this role?”). It was worth it, though, to get her unadulterated reactions (e.g., “I like the War Lord. He’s kind of cute.”).

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Add Crunch to Your Salad

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Review of The Krotons (#47)
DVD Release Date: 10 Jul 12
Original Air Date: 28 Dec 1968 – 18 Jan 1969
Doctor/Companion: Two, Jamie McCrimmon, Zoë Heriot
Stars: Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Preceding Story: The Invasion (Two, Jamie, Zoë)
Succeeding Story: The Seeds of Death (Two, Jamie, Zoë)

It’s amazing how different a Doctor Who story looks when comparing the picture in your head whilst reading a synopsis to the picture on the screen as broadcast. The Krotons certainly looks nothing like I envisioned it, but I don’t think that’s altogether bad.

When I first read that synopsis, I was also unfamiliar with several parts of the Whovian mythos that make them items of interest here. First, I really didn’t know beans about Robert Holmes. The Krotons is Holmes’ first stint as a writer for Who, but certainly not his last. He penned more than a dozen stories before he was done, was script editor for a goodly chunk of the show’s “heyday” (depending on which fan you ask about the definition of heyday), and introduced a vast number of important characters and concepts to the Whoniverse. In retrospect, then, it’s interesting to see how he makes his start.

Similarly, Krotons is the first story in which eventually-iconic Who villain Philip Madoc made an appearance. Madoc (who passed away this past March) is perhaps best known for his role as Solon in The Brain of Morbius, but his Eelek here is just as oily and commanding. He is perhaps the strongest of a fair-to-middlin’ batch of supporting cast here (though the Vana character is utterly useless, and in my opinion not well portrayed).

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Sssuccesssful Ssstory

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Review of The Seeds of Death: SE (#48)
DVD Release Date: 12 Jun 12
Original Air Date: 25 Jan – 01 Mar 1969
Doctor/Companion: Two, Jamie McCrimmon, Zoë Heriot
Stars: Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Preceding Story: The Krotons (Two, Jamie, Zoë)
Succeeding Story: The Space Pirates (Two, Jamie, Zoë)

Although it is the franchise’s second encounter with them, Seeds of Death is our first real chance to see the Ice Warriors in action, since two episodes of The Ice Warriors are no longer extant. It’s a great intro, too, because the POV shots give it an interesting sense of mystery at the beginning – “who has invaded Moonbase?”, the (original) audience is left to wonder. And we don’t find out until the end of Episode 1, which works quite well.

They’re suitably creepy and threatening, too. What are they up to? Their plan appears so complex, and has so many pieces, that it takes even the Doctor five or six episodes to suss it out completely. And I just love their weaponry. It’s unique and interesting, especially for 1969. I can’t help but wonder how that would (or “will,” if rumor can be trusted) be adapted today. OK, so some of the effects are dodgy (in what story weren’t they, really?) – those rubber suits are just unwieldy, and the “fungal spores” are absolutely laughable (though at least imaginative) – but the overall timbre is nice.

I also really like the timely commentary on the space age. Humanity has become too dependent on one particular technology (T-Mat), and needs to go back to a more “primitive” technology (rocketry) to get itself out of a pickle. It’s totally a cautionary tale.

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Retro-View #2: Change-Up

The Romans (Story #12, 1965)
             and
The War Games (Story #50, 1969)
Viewed 28 May 2012

Doctor/Companion:   One, Ian, Barbara, Vicki / Two, Jamie, Zoë
Stars:  William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, Maureen O’Brien /
Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Preceding Story:  The Rescue (One, Ian, Barbara, Vicki) /
The Space Pirates (Two, Jamie, Zoë)
Succeeding Story:  The Web Planet (One, Ian, Barbara, Vicki) /
   Spearhead from Space (Three, Liz Shaw)
Notable Aspects:

  • Two’s final story

So far, G and I seem to be averaging about 3 episodes a session. That could make things “interesting” in the long term. For now, though, it just means we finished The Romans and barely scratched the surface of The War Games (the story that got the most votes in the what-should-we-watch poll). We also tossed in the surviving footage of the first regeneration (and the resolution of the Episode 1 cliffhanger – G’s not one for too much suspense) for good measure.

After a brief recap from last time, we jumped right back into the middle of The Romans. Right off the bat, we get Nero’s first sight of Barbara. G’s immediate reaction: “You old letch!” She proceeds to giggle at Nero’s antics, chuckle at our heroes’ repeated near misses, and chortle at the (very bad) stage fighting between a pair of gladiators. She’s thoroughly enjoying herself, and I’m enjoying that. Then she proceeds to put her finger on one reason I like this story so much: “every cliché possible is in this thing!”

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Buried Treasure

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Review of The Tomb of the Cybermen: SE (#37)
DVD Release Date:  13 Mar 12
Original Air Date:  02 – 23 Sep 1967
Doctor/Companion:  Two, Jamie McCrimmon, Victoria Waterfield
Stars:  Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Deborah Watling
Preceding Story:  The Evil of the Daleks (Two, Jamie, Victoria)
Succeeding Story:  The Abominable Snowmen (Two, Jamie, Victoria)

This particular story seems to engender reactions on polar opposite ends of the scale. Either it’s the greatest Cybermen story of all time (it’s reportedly Matt Smith’s favorite), or it’s racist schlock. I personally find myself somewhere in the middle. There are distinctly racist facets, I can’t deny that. However, they don’t put me off the story entirely because I find I’m able to approach them as “historical context” – that is, I can recognize that society has evolved in the past 45 years, and like everything, Tomb is a product of its time. I don’t have to agree with the presentation of the dark-skinned Toberman as a nigh-mute servant (“dumb muscle,” if you will) to find the rest of the story entertaining.

If we’re going to nitpick about yesterday’s attitudes that irritate us today, we may as well talk about the women, too. As actress Shirley Cooklin (Kaftan) puts it (see Commentary Track 2, below), female characters in that day and age were primarily “set dressing.” The dark-skinned characters were the baddies; the ladies were there to look good. Interestingly enough, the character Victoria even comments with frustration on her lot when told she doesn’t get to go with the others down to the catacombs: “Who’d be a woman?” (It doesn’t help that the spaceship captain with the bad fake-American accent responds with “How would you know, honey?”, marking her as even further down the social ladder due to her youth.) Despite all this, I can’t help enjoying Tomb.

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