My Thoughts On Season 4 of Classic Doctor Who
I'm most probably posting this on The Fourth of July, but no matter. Another season down. We have a new Doctor. I keep worrying I'm going to not like the new one and every time I'm proven wrong and really come to love them. The 2nd Doctor is no different. We've got new-ish Companions. We've got the debut of the Cybermen! And twice the Daleks. And we got new graphics and music for the theme. But first let me comment on the last two serials of William Hartnell's run.
I don't have a lot to say about “The Smugglers” but pirates! Argghhh! Actually, you know, I liked that Ben and Polly didn't think twice about trying to protect The Doctor in this story, even throwing themselves in harms way. A good trait in a Companion I think, even if that means they're much more liable to be killed. We see our first black character too, but he er...is of course badly stereotyped and discarded lol.
Next was “The Tenth Planet”, which is of course Hartnell's last serial. It also marks the debut of the Cybermen. I really wasn't expecting that. I thought for sure the Cybermen didn't come until later and certainly not be meeting the First Doctor. It was a cool surprise and I'm glad I wasn't spoiled about it beforehand. Of course the costumes were pretty goofy, but nonetheless it was a good story. There were official animations done for the missing episodes, which look spectacular. They have an almost anime-like style to them. I wish all the missing episodes could have been done this way. The Doctor had to die, yes. He was wearing thin as he would say. Nothing sad about the regeneration though. Hartnell was great. I'd even say he was kind of cute. If you can call an old guy cute. And I mean that in a charming way.
Ben and Polly have to deal with this new regeneration in “The Power of the Daleks.” Yes, already having to deal with Daleks. Polly accepts the new Doctor, but Ben takes longer to come around to accept him. As for me, my first impression is that he's bonkers in a silly way. He somewhat reminds me of the 11th Doctor or vice versa. Maybe it's his penchant for hats. Plus he wears a bow tie too. :) He enjoys playing the Recorder. I remember one of the Doctors liked playing that instrument, but I didn't know which one. And now I have flashbacks to the sixth grade, where they made you learn to play that instrument and I was horrendous. Never been good with instruments. He also seems to be a bit of a trickster and sneaky. As for the serial itself: They end up on the planet Vulcan. *Snickers*. Actually I knew that The Doctor visits Vulcan at one point, but I didn't know when. Vulcan isn't really seen much and no Vulcans live there, just a bunch of humans. But they really could have used Spock's logic for these dumb dumb scientists. Really dumb. They've got these dead Daleks, which they want to bring back to life for their rebellion, which they do. Then they try to control them. Why does everyone think they can control the Daleks? Of course that turns out real well...the Daleks do get destroyed of course, but they will rise again.
“The Highlanders.” Unfortunately, I don't have much to say about this one because my attention span went out the window. Nothing wrong with the story per say, but certain stories don't grab me as much as others do. No Sean Connery in this. We get another Companion out of this though in the form of Scotsman Jamie.
In “The Underwater Menace,” the travelers find themselves going deep down underwater via an elevator. My first guess was that they were going to Rapture from Bioshock. My second guess was actually more correct, Atlantis! Really Doctor Who? OK. Anyway, there are Atlanteans, and there are fish people. I knew they would be called fish people before they said it. :P The Atlanteans aren't that friendly however and are all ready to sacrifice the travelers until The Doctor recognizes someone he knows, named Professor Zaroff. We never learn how The Doctor knows this guy and he doesn't seem to be a Time Lord, but he's just as bonkers as The Doctor so they make a pair. Actually he turns out to be an insane mustache twirling villain. He wants to raise Atlantis back to the surface and the Atlanteans believe him. What he really wants to do is drown the Atlanteans and fracture the earth's crust. And why? For shits and giggles? I couldn't think of any other motivation for this guy. But the day is saved again and the Atlanteans are saved too from the madman. Silly serial, but fun.
“The Moonbase” has the return of the Cybermen again. So soon? They've got a bit of an upgrade, but now they're harder to understand than before. I love the suspense in this story. So, the Cybermen find a way to control people by infecting them with a virus, which they put in the sugar. I guess if you take your coffee black, you're safe from Cybermen attacks. Good to know. This also had those professional animated reconstructions that look cool. They defeat the Cyberman by...turning off the gravity controls? They will be back.
The travelers arrive at a new colony in “The Macra Terror.” They are taken to get all cleaned up and everything. Are they about to go see The Wizard of Oz? Well, there is a Controller and something behind the curtain. What seems to be another dystopian tale, actually turns out kind of different. The Macra. Oh, I remember them. The crabs from “Gridlock.” Except this is another planet and I still don't know how they ended up on far future earth. They're actually the ones controlling everyone. Everyone seems happy with their cheerleader chants... what a funny scene. Ra ra ra! But the Macra depend on the people to provide them their gas they need to survive. Ben gets brainwashed, but eventually the rest of the group sort everything out and destroy the Macra.
The TARDIS lands in not such a good spot at an airport in “The Faceless Ones.” This one is probably my favorite, just edging out the final Daleks serial of the season. It has an interesting start. People are being replaced and my first thought was Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but later I thought it reminded me more of the Zygons. They are Chameleons though, and they take the people in planes up to their spaceship. All this so they can repopulate their planet. Jamie meets a gal from Liverpool here named Samantha and he pretty much falls in love with her. I thought for sure he was going to stay behind for love like Susan and Vicki did, but nope. In actuality, it was Ben and Polly who wanted to leave once they realized they were back where they started. Hey, if the opportunity is there you take it. The Doctor lets them leave and their goodbyes are the most I've felt for them since the season started because I didn't have any strong feelings towards them, either love or hate. I've come to like Jamie pretty well though. Maybe because he's Scottish. I know the actor isn't, but whatever, could have fooled me. :P He continues to travel with The Doctor. As for the Chameleons, they were stopped, but the TARDIS has now been stolen. Oh noes!
Who would steal the TARDIS? One could guess by the title of this final serial, “The Evil of the Daleks.” This is actually a Doctor trap. Jamie and The Doctor become teleported to Victorian 1867. The Daleks are there (sort of). Traveling through a sort of time machine these two guys, Maxtible and Waterfield created. The Daleks have Waterfield's daughter captive and they want the Doctor, hence the Doctor trap. They also promised to Maxtible that they would show him how to transmute metal into gold, which the guy fully believes. The Daleks also want The Doctor to create a human factor for them so they can become more powerful. He goes along with this. Why? Maybe because deep down he knows that making them more human-like would actually make them weaker. Jamie goes off to rescue Waterfield's daughter, Victoria with a er...stereotypical “Turk”? The Doctor is successful and makes three Daleks with the human factor and they act like human toddlers and they can question authority. But then everyone ends up on Skaro and they meet the Dalek Emperor. The Emperor orders The Doctor to use his TARDIS to Dalekize everyone. Yeah, that's a verb. How about nope? Finally, and to my surprise The Daleks show Maxtible how to turn metal into gold, but instead of exterminating him afterward like I thought, they Dalekize him. The Doctor appears to be Dalekized too, but I know better. Instead, he slips in the human factor which affects most of the Daleks. Dizzy Daleks is comedy gold. And they turn against the Emperor. The Dalek city is destroyed. Unfortunately, Victoria's father gets killed, but they can't leave her there, so she joins Jamie and The Doctor as a new Companion. It's always interesting when they take people from the past along.
And there you have it. Looks like we're going to be seeing the Cybermen again already in season five. Onward we march. And I leave you with a screenshot from "The Faceless Ones."
I don't have a lot to say about “The Smugglers” but pirates! Argghhh! Actually, you know, I liked that Ben and Polly didn't think twice about trying to protect The Doctor in this story, even throwing themselves in harms way. A good trait in a Companion I think, even if that means they're much more liable to be killed. We see our first black character too, but he er...is of course badly stereotyped and discarded lol.
Next was “The Tenth Planet”, which is of course Hartnell's last serial. It also marks the debut of the Cybermen. I really wasn't expecting that. I thought for sure the Cybermen didn't come until later and certainly not be meeting the First Doctor. It was a cool surprise and I'm glad I wasn't spoiled about it beforehand. Of course the costumes were pretty goofy, but nonetheless it was a good story. There were official animations done for the missing episodes, which look spectacular. They have an almost anime-like style to them. I wish all the missing episodes could have been done this way. The Doctor had to die, yes. He was wearing thin as he would say. Nothing sad about the regeneration though. Hartnell was great. I'd even say he was kind of cute. If you can call an old guy cute. And I mean that in a charming way.
Ben and Polly have to deal with this new regeneration in “The Power of the Daleks.” Yes, already having to deal with Daleks. Polly accepts the new Doctor, but Ben takes longer to come around to accept him. As for me, my first impression is that he's bonkers in a silly way. He somewhat reminds me of the 11th Doctor or vice versa. Maybe it's his penchant for hats. Plus he wears a bow tie too. :) He enjoys playing the Recorder. I remember one of the Doctors liked playing that instrument, but I didn't know which one. And now I have flashbacks to the sixth grade, where they made you learn to play that instrument and I was horrendous. Never been good with instruments. He also seems to be a bit of a trickster and sneaky. As for the serial itself: They end up on the planet Vulcan. *Snickers*. Actually I knew that The Doctor visits Vulcan at one point, but I didn't know when. Vulcan isn't really seen much and no Vulcans live there, just a bunch of humans. But they really could have used Spock's logic for these dumb dumb scientists. Really dumb. They've got these dead Daleks, which they want to bring back to life for their rebellion, which they do. Then they try to control them. Why does everyone think they can control the Daleks? Of course that turns out real well...the Daleks do get destroyed of course, but they will rise again.
“The Highlanders.” Unfortunately, I don't have much to say about this one because my attention span went out the window. Nothing wrong with the story per say, but certain stories don't grab me as much as others do. No Sean Connery in this. We get another Companion out of this though in the form of Scotsman Jamie.
In “The Underwater Menace,” the travelers find themselves going deep down underwater via an elevator. My first guess was that they were going to Rapture from Bioshock. My second guess was actually more correct, Atlantis! Really Doctor Who? OK. Anyway, there are Atlanteans, and there are fish people. I knew they would be called fish people before they said it. :P The Atlanteans aren't that friendly however and are all ready to sacrifice the travelers until The Doctor recognizes someone he knows, named Professor Zaroff. We never learn how The Doctor knows this guy and he doesn't seem to be a Time Lord, but he's just as bonkers as The Doctor so they make a pair. Actually he turns out to be an insane mustache twirling villain. He wants to raise Atlantis back to the surface and the Atlanteans believe him. What he really wants to do is drown the Atlanteans and fracture the earth's crust. And why? For shits and giggles? I couldn't think of any other motivation for this guy. But the day is saved again and the Atlanteans are saved too from the madman. Silly serial, but fun.
“The Moonbase” has the return of the Cybermen again. So soon? They've got a bit of an upgrade, but now they're harder to understand than before. I love the suspense in this story. So, the Cybermen find a way to control people by infecting them with a virus, which they put in the sugar. I guess if you take your coffee black, you're safe from Cybermen attacks. Good to know. This also had those professional animated reconstructions that look cool. They defeat the Cyberman by...turning off the gravity controls? They will be back.
The travelers arrive at a new colony in “The Macra Terror.” They are taken to get all cleaned up and everything. Are they about to go see The Wizard of Oz? Well, there is a Controller and something behind the curtain. What seems to be another dystopian tale, actually turns out kind of different. The Macra. Oh, I remember them. The crabs from “Gridlock.” Except this is another planet and I still don't know how they ended up on far future earth. They're actually the ones controlling everyone. Everyone seems happy with their cheerleader chants... what a funny scene. Ra ra ra! But the Macra depend on the people to provide them their gas they need to survive. Ben gets brainwashed, but eventually the rest of the group sort everything out and destroy the Macra.
The TARDIS lands in not such a good spot at an airport in “The Faceless Ones.” This one is probably my favorite, just edging out the final Daleks serial of the season. It has an interesting start. People are being replaced and my first thought was Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but later I thought it reminded me more of the Zygons. They are Chameleons though, and they take the people in planes up to their spaceship. All this so they can repopulate their planet. Jamie meets a gal from Liverpool here named Samantha and he pretty much falls in love with her. I thought for sure he was going to stay behind for love like Susan and Vicki did, but nope. In actuality, it was Ben and Polly who wanted to leave once they realized they were back where they started. Hey, if the opportunity is there you take it. The Doctor lets them leave and their goodbyes are the most I've felt for them since the season started because I didn't have any strong feelings towards them, either love or hate. I've come to like Jamie pretty well though. Maybe because he's Scottish. I know the actor isn't, but whatever, could have fooled me. :P He continues to travel with The Doctor. As for the Chameleons, they were stopped, but the TARDIS has now been stolen. Oh noes!
Who would steal the TARDIS? One could guess by the title of this final serial, “The Evil of the Daleks.” This is actually a Doctor trap. Jamie and The Doctor become teleported to Victorian 1867. The Daleks are there (sort of). Traveling through a sort of time machine these two guys, Maxtible and Waterfield created. The Daleks have Waterfield's daughter captive and they want the Doctor, hence the Doctor trap. They also promised to Maxtible that they would show him how to transmute metal into gold, which the guy fully believes. The Daleks also want The Doctor to create a human factor for them so they can become more powerful. He goes along with this. Why? Maybe because deep down he knows that making them more human-like would actually make them weaker. Jamie goes off to rescue Waterfield's daughter, Victoria with a er...stereotypical “Turk”? The Doctor is successful and makes three Daleks with the human factor and they act like human toddlers and they can question authority. But then everyone ends up on Skaro and they meet the Dalek Emperor. The Emperor orders The Doctor to use his TARDIS to Dalekize everyone. Yeah, that's a verb. How about nope? Finally, and to my surprise The Daleks show Maxtible how to turn metal into gold, but instead of exterminating him afterward like I thought, they Dalekize him. The Doctor appears to be Dalekized too, but I know better. Instead, he slips in the human factor which affects most of the Daleks. Dizzy Daleks is comedy gold. And they turn against the Emperor. The Dalek city is destroyed. Unfortunately, Victoria's father gets killed, but they can't leave her there, so she joins Jamie and The Doctor as a new Companion. It's always interesting when they take people from the past along.
And there you have it. Looks like we're going to be seeing the Cybermen again already in season five. Onward we march. And I leave you with a screenshot from "The Faceless Ones."