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Tag: K-9

A Load of Bull

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Review of The Horns of Nimon (#108)
DVD Release Date: 06 Jul 10
Original Air Date: 22 Dec 1979 – 12 Jan 1980
Doctors/Companions: Four, Romana II, K-9
Stars: Tom Baker, Lalla Ward, John Leeson
Preceding Story: Nightmare of Eden (Four, Romana II, K-9)
Succeeding Story: The Leisure Hive (Four, Romana II, K-9)

I tell ya, I really took one for the team this time. On that io9 list I’ve been using for reference, only six stories (out of 254) ranked worse than The Horns of Nimon. It did not earn that ranking for nothing.

On its surface, Nimon is another retelling of a Greek myth (which may or may not be clear to the viewer; more on that below). When you drill down further, it’s… erm… a mess.

Several of the hallmarks of this era of Who are present: the TARDIS unexpectedly arriving on or near a lonely spaceship, K9 being sidelined for most of the adventure, and Romana swanning about in a fabulous outfit. And while the sets, creature design, and even costuming (though is this throw-away character in Part Four wearing the Black Guardian’s feathers?!) are pretty good for 1979, head-bad-guy Soldeed’s overacting is truly epic.

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Underperformance

Review of Underworld (#96)
DVD Release Date: 06 Jul 10
Original Air Date: 07 – 28 Jan 1978
Doctors/Companions: Four, Leela, K-9
Stars: Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, John Leeson
Preceding Story: The Sun Makers (Four, Leela, K-9)
Succeeding Story: The Invasion of Time (Four, Leela, K-9)

As I went back to my list of un-reviewed stories to determine which ones to use for the rest of this year’s Bad Reputation entries, I couldn’t help but think of others’ comments about the suitability of some of my previous selections. Thus I went searching for a second opinion.

What I found was a Best-to-Worst list on io9 complied in September 2015 by Charlie Jane Anders. Charlie is someone I know of from other SFF circles, and while I don’t agree with all of her rankings (e.g., my previous choice of The Creature from the Pit, which I think is quite bad, only ranks at #162 of 254 entries on the io9 list), I think at least in terms of broad groupings we’re on approximately the same page.

Since it was time to whittle down my Fourth Doctor backlog again, I perused the options and landed immediately on Underworld. Checking against Charlie’s rankings, I was glad to see it near the bottom, at #236 of 254 (right after The Power of Kroll at #235). I was certain no one would challenge my choice of this one as a stinker, but it’s nice to have an external measure as confirmation.

So what makes Underworld so putrid? If I were being generous, I’d say that the story is simply overly ambitious for the technology (and budget) available to the production team. It was filmed during the early days of CSO (Colour Separation Overlay)—actors were filmed against a blue screen, and superimposed on model sets—and the technique has, to say the least, not aged well. But even if you look beyond this version of “wobbly sets syndrome,” the story itself doesn’t quite work for me.

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Out Like Apathy

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Review of The Leisure Hive (#109)
DVD Release Date: 07 Jun 05 (Out of Print)
Original Air Date: 30 Aug – 20 Sep 1980
Doctor/Companion: Four, Romana II, K-9
Stars: Tom Baker, Lalla Ward, John Leeson
Preceding Story: The Horns of Nimon (Four, Romana I, K-9)
Succeeding Story: Meglos (Four, Romana II)

It’s the beginning of the end for the Fourth Doctor, as he takes one final victory lap around the universe before handing over the keys of the TARDIS to a younger, blonder version of himself. By this point the Four/Romana II team functions like a well-serviced TARDIS, comfortable with each others’ foibles and confident in each others’ roles in the partnership as much as their own.

As usual, I find Romana’s quiet competence to be one of the highlights of the story. The Doctor is mostly watchable as well, since Baker has yet to decide he’s So Done With the role, though the spring is certainly gone from his step. The guest cast also performs well—only as campy as the script requires.

The script, though… Well, it could be worse. In fact, I remembered it as being worse before I re-watched it for this review. But it’s certainly not a shining star in the oeuvre, either. Remembering that this is the season opener makes the director’s choice of spending nearly a full minute on an establishing shot panning across an Earth beach scene (Brighton) feel even more questionable; why would you think that would entice your audience to stick around for more?

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Waking Nightmare

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Review of Nightmare of Eden (#107)
DVD Release Date:  08 May 12
Original Air Date:  24 Nov – 15 Dec 1979
Doctor/Companion:  Four, Romana II, K9 Mark II
Stars:  Tom Baker, Lalla Ward, David Brierley
Preceding Story:  The Creature from the Pit (Four, Romana II, K9)
Succeeding Story:  The Horns of Nimon (Four, Romana II, K9)

I’m not gonna lie; this was a bit of a slog. Four does nothing overly clever, funny, or inspiring. Romana’s boring window dressing. The Mandrels are crap. The effects are crap. And the plot is nothing to write home about.

As soon as I realized it was all about drug smuggling, I pretty much completely lost interest. I watch Doctor Who to escape, to be inspired, or to make me look at things with a fresh perspective, not for a futuristic spin on modern crime. Maybe I’m just not the target market for this one, but my one-word “note to self” at the end of this one was “weird.”

Having watched some of the extras, I can see where there might be some endearing parts to Nightmare, but for me, there was not much to love. I mean, it wasn’t even John Leeson voicing K9. But seriously, the plot itself was… OK, for being all about drugs – blatantly so, rather than metaphorically, as pointed out by Joe Lidster (see below). There are some interesting concepts, though I was at least twice put in mind of Carnival of Monsters (the CET machine itself is reminiscent of the miniscope, and the Mandrel crashing through the walls at the end of Episode 1 similarly made me think of the Drashigs). Much of it was executed so poorly, though (the bad guy has a Germanic accent? srsly?), that it was hard to look past the rubbish. I’m really not that interested in metaphorical truffle hunting…

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Misleading Title Goes Here

Review of The Sun Makers (#95)

DVD Release Date:  09 Aug 11
Original Air Date:  26 Nov – 17 Dec 1977
Doctor/Companion:  Four, Leela, K-9
Stars:  Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, John Leeson
Preceding Story:  Image of the Fendahl (Four, Leela)
Succeeding Story:  Underworld (Four, Leela, K-9)

Robert Holmes is widely regarded as one of the best writers in Who history, and he certainly contributed vastly to the franchise. In The Sun Makers, he takes a time of personal irritation and molds it into a weirdly engaging dystopian tale of excessive taxes and stagnating humanity. Having fled Old Earth, the human race now lives on distant Pluto, in constant daylight from its six artificial suns (the only mention of any “sun makers” we are ever to get).

It starts out wonderfully creepy with a Citizen apparently pleased to hear of his father’s death, and continues with lots of stereotypical tromping (not much running, really) through corridors from there. However, to my eye, it soon took a rather darker turn – something I feel was unintended, or at least reflects the change in times since its original broadcast. Things are quite violent on this future Pluto, as people threaten each other with all sorts of tortures (not just Leela, either, who seems actually to be on par with the locals for a change). Public torture and execution – viewable in person, for a small fee – also appear commonplace. Near the end of the story, there’s even a cheerful – not angry, mind you; cheerful – mob of revolutionaries who throw an official to his doom.

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