the Doctor Who project part five
The Ribos Operation--When I was younger my favorite episode of the Key to Time series was The Pirate Planet, but now I think this one's my favorite. The actors who play Garron and the Graff really embody their parts. And wow is Mary Tamm great as Romana.
The Pirate Planet--Despite it being bumped from my favorite spot, Pirate Planet is still a close second. So much to love in this story. tightly plotted and funny as heck.
The Stones of Blood--This is one I loved as a kid (I suspect in part because of the camper scene freaking me out) but my love for it has faded as I've gotten older. I like Professor Amelia still, but the whole plot about Vivien and the Megara is not as cool as it once was to me. Still decent though.
The Androids of Tara--I like that they get the segment in the first five minutes, but then have trouble leaving the planet. However the rest of the story, with the dopplegangers and android doubles, is a bit silly in places. Plus it feels a bit long to me.
The Power of Kroll--The thinly veiled commentary on colonialism is a bit heavyhanded. Also feels a bit long.
The Armageddon Factor--Sadly, the worst of the Key to Time series, in my opinion, is this last story which concludes the arc. I like some of the ideas, like the final segment being a person, the suggestion that the Black Guardian and the White Guardian are one and the same (later abandoned), the time loop stuff, and Drax. But there's so much extra stuff that convolutes the finale quite badly. I almost wish there'd been a story of them getting the final segment, and then a finale two-parter to finish.
Destiny of the Daleks--Lalla Ward's debut as Romana is a shining moment. She really sells her fear of the Daleks in the first two episodes. But the defeat of the Movellans is SO lame. As is their look. In fact, every aspect of the Movellans is dumb. These idiots are at a stalemate with the Daleks? you can defeat them by removing their belt buckle! Must be too hard to do with plunger hands...
City of Death--Oh so much to love. Duggan is great. Cameo by John Cleese. Julian Glover and Catherine Schell are great too. Great great great!
Nightmare of Eden--And then there was Nightmare of Eden. Opposite end of the spectrum. Man do I like the IDEA of this story... but in some ways it's the same idea as in Carnival of Monsters isn't it? Which the Doctor objected to there, but has no problem with here. Man, the Mandrils are complete rubbish, aren't they? And so much of this story's success depended on them!
The Leisure Hive--From K9 just strolling into water and exploding to Lalla Ward's extreme overreaction to it, from balls dropping off of people's heads to bug-eyed monsters, this story is just bad bad bad. I loved this episode so much as a kid, but it's now to me a clear signal of many of the things that were going to go wrong with the JNT era.
Keeper of Traken--The story that introduces Nyssa, one of my favorite companions ever. How could I not love it? some character actions don't make much sense (pretty much anything Kassia does) but it's still a good episode. Great sets in this one if you ask me.
Logopolis--I like how this episode tried to tie in all these different elements from the rest of the season, in a very "New Who" style. But boy does the plot of this one make absolutely no sense. I mean, how does the whole walking-through-multiple-TARDISes thing work? How is it the Doctor saves the universe in the end? What was the Master's plan? What's the deal with the Watcher?
Castrovalva--The plot of this one ALMOST makes sense. But Davison is so good in it, it's hard to care that it never quite gets there. I like Nyssa and Tegan playing off each other. They worked well together, I felt. And of course Sarah does great in the bits when she's given something to do; every time she faces down the Master, it's frought with emotion.
Four to Doomsday--Watching this one again for the first time since I was young finally made me understand why people hated Adric. What a little shit he is in this episode. Even after the Doctor's life is threatened and they've tried to kill Nyssa, he wants to side with Monarch. Oh and he's got some sexist comments too! Awesome! I still love the space walk bit, even if it makes no sense that Tegan put the TARDIS out there and Adric's ease in defeating Enlightenment and Persusasion is a bit unbelievable. And how does Adric survive getting shot in that exchange exactly?
Also I've been reading a lot of the Target novelizations of old episodes since going to the UK. Before I left, Sarah got me a stack of them from the library, and then I bought a few in London and David gave me a few. And I bought some off of eBay when I got back. And I went to a used bookstore here in St. Louis to get some. And I joined a website called PaperbackSwap just so I could swap my old books for Target paperbacks. So yeah, a bit obsessed at the moment. Have recently read The Keys of Marinus and The Tenth Planet, and I'm in the middle of The Moonbase's novelization right now.
My next entry into the Doctor Who project will be a flashback entry, going back and watching a bunch of episodes that I missed before. They're going to include The Sea Devils, The Silurians, and all my Tom Baker videos (now that I have a working VCR again).