The Faceless Ones
Oh joy! I've finally got around to watching this story. And it only took a year and a bit. Well, it's not like I haven't been busy, y'know. ;)
Anyway...
I will give them credit, it is an intriguing storyline and certainly had a good deal of mystery. However, it could have been told in four episodes and would have been a lot better and more suspenseful. Then again, I think that can be said for a lot of the longer stories. Perhaps it's just easier to wish it were shorter when one is watching a recon. And not a great recon at that. (Really, the version that hubby has isn't the greatest. I think Loose Canon needs to redo it.)
It's also a point in its favor that it centers around airplanes and airports. For 1966, when international flying was still something of a rarity, it is a very timely story. (And then there's Time Flight, which is timely in the fact that Concorde was relatively new.) However, as I said to Kirk last evening, why have none of the stories ever taken place on a train? What could be more romantic? And as much as the seventh Doctor isn't my favorite, I think a story with him and Ace on a train would have been fantastic.
Anyway, The Faceless Ones wasn't really all that. The Airport Commandant was a thickie and I just wanted to kick him. If someone tells you that they've found a dead body, why wag around for three episodes telling them they're wrong without even going to look? And isn't it just possible that the murderer would have moved the body by now? Oh, I know there always has to be the token idiot, the token bureaucrat, the token stumbling-block to our heroes, but sometimes that token idiot is just too dumb to be believed.
Alas, Ben and Polly were given only a slightly better exit than Dodo was. They were barely in the story at all and I found that to be very frustrating. Nothing wrong with Samantha Briggs, I wish she would have stayed on. (And I realize that would have meant no Victoria, but I think I prefer Samantha.) But for a final story, Ben and Polly were gypped. At least they got to say good-bye to the Doctor in person, which is more than Dodo got, but their last story doesn't add anything to their characters. And a lot of the time, final stories add a lot to a character (see Dalek Invasion of Earth, Hand of Fear, and Planet of Fire).
So, while the sci-fi-ness of it was cool, the fact that Ben and Polly were barely in it, frustrated me, and the Commandant just drove me insane. Not a great story, but I think I would have enjoyed it more had it not been a recon. (It was terribly boring.) Alas, we'll never know.
Now on to season five!
Anyway...
I will give them credit, it is an intriguing storyline and certainly had a good deal of mystery. However, it could have been told in four episodes and would have been a lot better and more suspenseful. Then again, I think that can be said for a lot of the longer stories. Perhaps it's just easier to wish it were shorter when one is watching a recon. And not a great recon at that. (Really, the version that hubby has isn't the greatest. I think Loose Canon needs to redo it.)
It's also a point in its favor that it centers around airplanes and airports. For 1966, when international flying was still something of a rarity, it is a very timely story. (And then there's Time Flight, which is timely in the fact that Concorde was relatively new.) However, as I said to Kirk last evening, why have none of the stories ever taken place on a train? What could be more romantic? And as much as the seventh Doctor isn't my favorite, I think a story with him and Ace on a train would have been fantastic.
Anyway, The Faceless Ones wasn't really all that. The Airport Commandant was a thickie and I just wanted to kick him. If someone tells you that they've found a dead body, why wag around for three episodes telling them they're wrong without even going to look? And isn't it just possible that the murderer would have moved the body by now? Oh, I know there always has to be the token idiot, the token bureaucrat, the token stumbling-block to our heroes, but sometimes that token idiot is just too dumb to be believed.
Alas, Ben and Polly were given only a slightly better exit than Dodo was. They were barely in the story at all and I found that to be very frustrating. Nothing wrong with Samantha Briggs, I wish she would have stayed on. (And I realize that would have meant no Victoria, but I think I prefer Samantha.) But for a final story, Ben and Polly were gypped. At least they got to say good-bye to the Doctor in person, which is more than Dodo got, but their last story doesn't add anything to their characters. And a lot of the time, final stories add a lot to a character (see Dalek Invasion of Earth, Hand of Fear, and Planet of Fire).
So, while the sci-fi-ness of it was cool, the fact that Ben and Polly were barely in it, frustrated me, and the Commandant just drove me insane. Not a great story, but I think I would have enjoyed it more had it not been a recon. (It was terribly boring.) Alas, we'll never know.
Now on to season five!