Tom Baker MBE

Congratulations to Tom Baker on being awarded an MBE in the New Year's Honours List. A knighthood would have been nice, but a step in the right direction, and so much better deserved than many of the honours they dish out.

Joy To The World - Further Thoughts

The internet is back on, so here's some belated afterthoughts about Joy to the World...

I understand that a lot of people did like the episode - generally talking about the "heart" of the episode, tears in the eyes etc.

That's all very well, and we have come to expect this emotional manipulation since the series came back in 2005, but I do expect a lot more. For me, Doctor Who is an action / adventure series, and any plucking of the heartstrings has to emerge from the drama. Above all, an episode should be exciting - more so the festive special.

The only element of this special that was remotely exciting was the dinosaur segment, which we had already seen as a CiN preview clip.

Otherwise, the episode was devoid of jeopardy or threat. The whole business of the star seed potentially blowing up the Earth went absolutely nowhere. There wasn't even a threat to Joy in the end, as she simply absorbed the sun into herself and became part of it. This, of course, made no sense whatsoever. How can a person, even if they've been mentally conditioned, absorb a sun?

How could she disintegrate her dear old mum and make her part of this sun? And if she knew she did this back in 2020 how can she not have known about it in 2024?

There was zero logic behind the plot. It simply wasn't thought through. Criticise the classic series all you want, but the writers between 1963 and 1989 at least spent some time thinking about story logic. They might not always have got it right (see my regular "What's Wrong With... posts for starters), but at least they tried.

Moffat claimed his starting point was the mysterious door in your hotel room which is always locked. Clearly he has the money to stay in very large apartments on holiday which might have a connecting door (that's probably all it is) but I've never come across such a thing. 

The whole plot involves Villengard making use of the Time Hotel to send the star seed back 65 million years so that there will be power source for them to exploit in the future.

Last time I checked, there were billions of stars already kicking about the universe, so what was the point of going to those lengths to make another one? Why not just use an existing one?

If time travel is so common in the future that a hotel can use it for holidays, then why does big capitalist arms manufacturer Villengard not have access to time technology of its own?

Why resort to hypnotised people to act as couriers, when you can simply get one of your own loyal employees to check-in and deposit the seed in the room that links to 65 million years ago?

Why kill the couriers, only to have their consciousness uploaded into the case? Isn't having someone you've just murdered become part of the security system a bit of an accident waiting to happen?

And why is Villengard even a problem when we know from The Doctor Dances that the Doctor blew it up and it became a banana plantation, and the only time we've ever actually seen it it was a wasteland overrun with Daleks, with "Rusty" in residence.

If you want to bring something back from your era which you left unresolved, Mr Moffat, then why not GUS?

The Doctor claims that the Time Hotel is paradox-proof, yet we see him involved in a bootstrap paradox. Why is he not even remotely bothered about a commercial organisation which permits tourists to travel to any point in history they wish, including key moments in history such as the assassination of Julius Caesar?

And why would the hotel have a room in which its occupants can so easily be eaten by dinosaurs?

I've already mentioned the stupidity of him remaining for a year in the Sandringham when he has UNIT to call upon, or any one of his 21st Century companions. He works in the hotel because he needs to earn some money. But in a previous Christmas Special we saw how he could access cash machines with his sonic. Illegal, but he's done it before.

And why could he not summon the TARDIS with his sonic - or have his other self send the TARDIS back to him? It's that paradox which the hotel isn't suppose to have again.

Going back to some of those positive reviews, if the highlight was a few seconds glimpse of the old companion then there's something seriously wrong, both with the episode and your take on it.

As I said, a little heartstring-pulling is only to be expected at Christmas, but when you have an episode that's nothing but, then I've a problem with it. 

At least Chibnall gave us Daleks.

Christmas Who Roundup

Making use of free WiFi on the train to give a quick update. Of the three Doctor Who items this week, by far and away my favourite thing was the Prom. The only parts of that I wasn't too bothered about were the newer items, which I think says a lot. Even the music was better in previous years.

Joy to the World was bearable at best. I actually found it a bit dull, and overly sentimental to the point of schmaltz, especially the ending. Can't understand why the Doctor opted to stay in the hotel when he has UNIT to call on, or even his former self with Donna's family. He knew he couldn't do anything for a whole year, so why feel the need to stick around?

The trailer for next series was a little too brief and samey - people floating in space or being sucked out into space. Only a flying saucer attack on a futuristic city (Daleks possibly?) and the cartoon character emerging from a cinema screen proved intriguing. This latter comes from the 1950's Miami set story, which may see the return of the Harbinger from last series, as was seen on the cinema display outside the venue in photos taken during filming.

The War Games I've already covered. The DVD will be out sometime in the New Year, and apparently will include the original 10 episodes and extras. Joy to the World comes out on 27th Jan. No mention of any extras. Hoping for the Prom. If only the episode and Unleashed, certainly not worth buying as on iPlayer and probably on the next series Boxset.

I'll update again after Monday when, hopefully, internet sorted out at home.

IT Issues

Unfortunately we've got internet problems which are unlikely to be fixed before Monday, so I will hold fire on my review of Joy to the World until properly back online. Sunday's usual Episode post will also be postponed until through the week. Fingers crossed normal service will resume as soon as possible...

The War Games (In Colour) - A Review

The War Games becomes the second of the Sixties B&W stories to be colourised and re-edited into a more condensed running time. 

Depending upon which side of the fence you lie, this is either:

(a) a process of dumbing-down - making the stories more attractive to younger people who cannot cope with monochrome imagery and having to concentrate attention on something for more than 30 seconds at a time, or...

(b) it is simply a way to make the stories more accessible to modern tastes and so gain new fans to these classic episodes.

Personally, I am inclined towards the former but accept that some parents did claim that their kids enjoyed the last of these things - "The Daleks in Colour".

This story is the final adventure for Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor, as well as for companions Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Zoe (Wendy Padbury) barring later guest turns. It is also notable for introducing the Time Lords and so giving us some background as to the Doctor's origins. Added to that, it brings the B&W era of the programme to a close, ending the Doctor's seemingly random wanderings in the TARDIS - preparing the ground for a new Earth-bound format and the Third Doctor. 

The other thing to say about The War Games is that it was the second longest ever story for many years, running to ten episodes and, despite what its fans say, there is quite a bit of capture / escape padding, especially in the 1917 Zone. Even its co-writer (Terrance Dicks) and director (David Maloney) agreed that it was padded, so ignore anyone who says otherwise.

It's not quite as bad as "waiting for nine episodes until the Time Lords turn up" though - it is much better than that.

This reimagining of the story has a run-time of 90 minutes, so it was always going to be interesting to see how the edit was made. The trailer also showed that there would be a few CGI sequences thrown in, and then we heard that there would be a regeneration. It was also announced that a tiny alternative take was to be included - so a clip that no-one has ever seen before.

Going into it, the CGI was my first concern as to how well it integrated with the archive material. That added to The Daleks was a little pointless, and stuck out.

Concern no.2 was always going to be the music for me. I really hated the way they stuck anachronistic radiophonic music onto The Daleks, and the least said about what was played over the whole lift escape sequence the better.

Third is obviously the edit. Will it flow? Will it make sense in light of the large amount cut out? And will they resort to overlaying dialogue designed to remind viewers of things they saw or heard less than 20 minutes before?

As for the actual colourisation, I don't really have any problem with that at all, so long as they steer clear of the shocking pink they used for Barbara's blouse last time out...

The above was written before I watched the programme, so how was it for me?

No issues with the colourisation. The episodes are in better condition than those of the earlier serial - much sharper - which certainly helped when it came to adding the colour.

Concern no.1 was the CGI. The Alien base kept popping up too frequently, as if they didn't believe we'd know from the pop-art sets that that's where we were. The little planes and tanks rolling out the doors were poorly done. 

(The Capitol on Gallifrey was shown too many times as well. Once is enough).

The TARDIS fleeing the Time Lords did look very much like a police box bubble bath container dangling on a bit of string.

Luckily not much CGI, so not enough to go terribly wrong.

Concern no.2 was the music. Nowhere near as bad as in The Daleks though I did think there was far too much of it. It was slapped over every scene, where some could have played well without it. Again we had a mix of 1969 music, courtesy of Dudley Simpson, alongside much more recent stuff. The thing everyone is sure to comment on is the use of music inextricably linked with the Master every time the War Chief did anything sinister. Terrance Dicks excluded him from being an earlier incarnation of the Master, though some spin-off material has run with the idea. I was half expecting them to cut to a regeneration from Edward Brayshaw to Roger Delgado.

Talking 'bout regeneration... I was all set to cringe at the end, but I thought they actually worked it quite well. I'm still a Season 6b fan, but if you must link directly into Spearhead From Space then this was perfectly acceptable.

Lastly, the edit. Here we definitely had problems. The first couple of episodes worked OK in condensed form, and we had a sizeable chunk of the ending, but in the middle... Significant characters just popped up out of nowhere. Von Weich hardly featured at all. Some sections were composed entirely of jump cuts. How many times were people still talking when the picture had moved onto the next scene? 

I was watching this with the background of having watched all 10 episodes multiple times, so know the intricacies of the plotting very well. I'll be interested to hear what new viewers thought of the middle section of the story, coming at it without that knowledge.

Overall, better than expected. As an alternative version, to watch when you might not have the time or inclination to work through the complete story, it's welcome. These efforts are never intended to take the place of the originals - just another way of watching them, and I sincerely hope this wins new fans for Troughton's Doctor. One thing the edit managed was to retain some of his best lines / scenes. He's always a joy to watch.

Episode 145: The Underwater Menace (1)

Synopsis:

The TARDIS is in flight, now with Jamie as one of its occupants, wondering what he has let himself in for. The Doctor gleefully longs for dinosaurs next, whilst Polly would love to see the Chelsea of 1966. Ben hopes not to encounter Daleks again.

The TARDIS materialises on a rocky shoreline. Exploring, they discover that they have arrived on a volcanic island. Polly is sure she sees movement amongst the rocks and then spots a piece of jewellery, but is abducted by a figure and dragged into a cave before she can show it to her friends. She manages to scream a warning however. The Doctor has found some pottery, which he identifies as Mediterranean in style. It is of an archaic type, yet recently fired.

When Polly screams, Ben and Jamie rush into the cave, only to be captured as well. 

They find themselves locked in a cage with Polly. Hopes that the Doctor might rescue them are dashed when he is also pushed inside. The cage proves to be a lift, which begins to descend.

The depth they travel is such that they pass out from the change in atmospheric pressure.

Waking in a cell, Polly reveals the jewellery she found - a bracelet of Aztec design. However, it proves to be a souvenir item for the Mexico City Olympic Games, due to be held in 1968.

They are attended by guards armed with tridents, wearing costumes decorated with seashells. They take them to a reception area where they find a feast of food which the Doctor recognises as processed plankton. 

A man named Ramo arrives, dressed in ornate robes and headdress. He informs them that their coming has been foreseen by their deity Amdo. He is her High Priest. The Festival of the Vernal Equinox is due, and they have an important part to play in this ritual. The Doctor doesn't like the sound of this, and insists on talking to someone named Zaroff. Ramo is surprised to hear that he knows of him. He explains that he knows of Professor Zaroff's specialism in producing food from the sea and has deduced that he must be behind the food they have just enjoyed.

The ceremony must proceed, but the Doctor gives a serving girl - Ara - a message to pass to Zaroff before they are taken to a temple.

A huge sculpted face, that of Amdo, looks down on a sacrificial area. The Doctor and his companions are tied to boards which are arranged around a pool of water in which sharks are swimming. The boards are designed to tilt as water pours from ceramic jars, so that they will all be tipped headfirst into the pool.

The sacrifice is presided over by another priest named Lolem. Ara goes to a nearby laboratory where she is met by scientist Damon. She informs him of the message for Zaroff. He reads it and sees that it claims a great secret will die with the writer if the professor does not see him.

At the last moment the ceremony is interrupted by the arrival of Zaroff, who has the authority to overrule Ramo. He orders the captives be freed. The Doctor reveals that he had no secret to impart - it was just a ruse to pique Zaroff's interest and have him intervene. He explains how he knows of the famous scientist's work, and the story of how he disappeared some 20 years ago. The Doctor then convinces him that he may be able to assist him in his work. The arrogant Zaroff agrees, but orders that his companions be put to work. 

They are taken to Damon, whose role is that of Labour Controller. Ben and Jamie will be sent to the mines. After they have gone, Polly is told that she will help gather food from the sea. He indicates a large window looking out onto the sea bed, and she sees gilled humanoid creatures swimming around. She will be transformed into one of them.

The Doctor is taken to Zaroff's laboratory where he learns that this island lies west of Gibraltar, south of the Azores, on the Atlantic Ridge. The Doctor realises that this must be all that remains of the lost civilisation of Atlantis. Zaroff confirms this, and tells him that he is working on a plan to raise the city to the surface once again.

Ara tells the Doctor that Polly is about to be surgically altered to become one of the Fish People.

In Damon's operating theatre, his companion is prepared for the procedure as the creatures look on...

Data:

Written by: Geoffrey Orme

Recorded: Saturday 7th January 1967 - Riverside Studio 1

First broadcast: 5:50pm, Saturday 14th January 1967

Ratings: 8.3 million / AI 48

Designer: Jack Robinson

Director: Julia Smith

Guest cast: Joseph Furst (Zaroff), Colin Jeavons (Damon), Tom Watson (Ramo), Peter Stephens (Lolem), Catherine Howe (Ara)

Critique:

The Underwater Menace was the culmination of a troubled period, script-wise, for the series. 

A story centred around Atlantis, to be written by Geoffrey Orme, was originally intended to be the second Troughton adventure, provisionally slated to be directed by Hugh David. The third story was planned to be "The Imps", by William Emms - writer of the previous season's Galaxy Four. This would have been set around a spaceport, plagued by the small imp-like creatures of the title as well as a rampaging hostile plant. Production on this - to be directed by Julia Smith who had handled The Smugglers -  was quite far advanced, even down to costume design, when Emms was taken ill and unable to work on any rewrites. As they waited for Emms to recuperate, Innes Lloyd and Gerry Davis began to have qualms about his story, and The Highlanders had now been tabled as Troughton's second story.

Despite reservations about a story with an undersea setting, the Atlantis story was brought back into play, now to become the third Troughton adventure.

Orme had begun his writing career in the 1930's, much of it for theatre. He had written for Variety comics like Arthur Askey, Flanagan & Allen, and Old Mother Riley - writing some of the latter character's feature films. More recent TV work had included episodes of Ivanhoe and The Avengers.

He had submitted a story idea called "The Evil Eye" to the Doctor Who office in the spring of 1966. This had been rejected by Davis, but Orme had been invited to submit other ideas. The one accepted was for a time known simply as "Doctor Who Under the Sea".

Hugh David had a friend who had worked on the latest Bond movie which was in production at Pinewood - Thunderball. As this had a heavy underwater element David approached his friend for advice. Hearing of the budget and facilities available to him, the friend informed him that he faced an impossible task.

David went back to the production office and had himself taken off the story, and he was assigned The Highlanders instead. As she had efficiently handled filming both on the coast and offshore on her earlier production, Julia Smith was then swapped over to take on the Atlantis tale.

With filming dates rapidly approaching, Orme was obliged to make some rapid rewrites whilst Smith and designer Jack Robinson prepared. He was a late replacement for Raymond London, who had been due to design "The Imps". This would prove to be Robinson's only contribution to the series.

At this stage, the story had the working title of "Doctor Who and the Fish People". 

With Frazer Hines joining the TARDIS crew as a regular in a last minute move, Davis found himself heavily involved in the rewrites to cover the new character - which sadly meant mostly reallocating lines away from Michael Craze.

Whilst the trio had got on well during the making of the Highlands story, Craze and Anneke Wills were somewhat wary of Hines joining the show, realising that he would inevitably take away screen time from them.

Another change Davis made was the motivation for Zaroff's actions. Orme had written that he sought revenge for the deaths of his wife and child, and whilst this was retained in the official story synopsis, it was never mentioned on screen.

Zaroff was to have had a female scientist as his assistant, named Steen. It was she who distracted the professor at the end of this episode, allowing Ara to slip the note about Polly to the Doctor.

Filming got underway at Winspit Quarry in Dorset on Tuesday 15th December. The regulars had rehearsed the location sequences the day before, travelling down to the production base at Swanage that night. The bulk of the production crew had already travelled down on the Sunday to set up and to film some establishing shots prior to the cast members arriving.

This location, with its distinctive square-cut cave entrances would later feature as the planet Skaro in Destiny of the Daleks.

Filming was only required for the first and fourth instalments, with the TARDIS arrival and the crew's exploration of the island in the opening episode. For this only three extras were required, wearing Atlantean guard outfits. These were based on fishing net outfits decorated with shells and armed with tridents - the symbol of the sea god Neptune / Poseidon. The guards wore bushy eyebrows, which costume designer Gillian James had decided on for all the Atlanteans.

Continuity with the previous episode was maintained with the companions wearing the outfits they had worn at the end of The Highlanders Episode Four. They would then change into new outfits to film the scenes for the conclusion of this story.

Further filming took place on Wednesday 16th December, this time at Ealing. This was for the model work for the serial. For this episode, that included the volcanic mountain and the lift descending the rock shaft. 

Tests were also made with two of the performers who were to play Fish People, being flown on Kirby wires to simulate swimming underwater.

We'll discuss the Fish People design and costumes when we get to the third instalment, in which they feature more prominently.

It was decided to make some changes to Troughton's costume from this story. The trousers were replaced with a pair with a smaller check, and it was agreed that the tall Paris Beau hat would be discarded after this story. Troughton had been advised by friends to drop this anyway.

As mentioned last time, having a week's break for Christmas now meant that the series was being broadcast only one week after recording, leaving no room for error. A sudden illness in a principal cast member or a set or prop not being ready could prove catastrophic.

Tensions were high from the start as Smith was concerned about the technical challenges of the story, after having only had to cope with a historical adventure previously. Troughton felt that the production looked cheap - partly due to it being a late replacement but mainly due to this story being allocated a smaller budget. The regulars did not like the scripts and made sure that their feelings were known. There was also a conflict between director and star over the level of comedy Troughton was putting into the role. It is claimed that the cast sometimes upset Smith so much that she burst into tears.

Matters were not helped by the studio being unavailable for setting up on the eve of recording, thanks to a live current affairs programme taking over Riverside Studio 1. The Doctor Who crew could only get in after 6:30pm and had to work overnight to have the studio ready for camera rehearsals and recording next day. It was decided that the first evening would see recording run from 8:30 - 10pm, 15 minutes longer than the subsequent three instalments.

The opening captions played over a shot of the Doctor's hat sitting on a table in the TARDIS, then Troughton standing at the controls. A "thinks" track was recorded by the cast that afternoon to be played into studio as the camera dwelt on each person - letting the viewer know what each was looking forward to next. The Doctor wanted dinosaurs, whilst Polly wanted to be back home in the King's Road. Ben wanted Daleks - not - whilst Jamie simply wondered what madness he'd let himself in for. The three companions wore their outfits from the previous week, to tie in with the location filming at Winspit and to show that events continued immediately after leaving Scotland, 1746.

The script stated that they had just come from 1745, but Troughton stated the correct year on screen.

The compression chamber was redressed mid-evening to act as the operating theatre, which also doubled as Zaroff's laboratory in close-up - the full set for which wouldn't be seen until the following week.

The biggest set was the Temple of Amdo. On one side was the huge carved face of a fish-like female appearance, behind which were hidden steps, whilst four see-saw planks were set up around a square well - the sacrificial pool. Young acolytes removed plugs from water-filled pots, which caused the planks to slowly tilt.

Stock footage was used of swimming sharks, and Smith also used mirrors to get some interesting angles, such as overhead shots of the TARDIS crew during the sacrifice.

Whilst the script referred to Zaroff having a pet octopus, a scorpion fish was actually provided in studio.

Back projection was employed to show the Fish People at a window, filmed earlier at Ealing. To bulk out the population of Atlantis, some extras were called upon to play multiple roles - as guards, priests and medical attendants.

There was one significant cut made to the episode before broadcast. The Doctor initially resisted being taken to the temple by Ramo's guards - overturning the food on the table and running round the room, hiding behind the tapestries until finally caught. Other trims removed the odd line of dialogue at the end of a scene.

When it came to broadcasting the story in Australia, scenes depicting Polly being threatened with a hypodermic syringe were cut. This scene caused controversy in the UK at the time as well, with the production office being accused by the National Society for the Welfare of Children in Hospital of scaring children who were due to be given vaccinations or other injections in the coming days. Lloyd countered that children watching could understand that the programme was fantasy.

This episode is now lost, apart from the Australian censor material. The story has a bad reputation overall, and we can see from the above that concerns were being raised before it even went before the cameras. However, there is nothing to complain about with this opening instalment. We kick off with the entertaining TARDIS scene with the thought-track, then go in to some visually interesting location filming. From telesnaps we can see that the sets were not overly lit and performances are perfectly fine (so far). Even the Fish People look suitably spooky and ethereal when glimpsed briefly on the screen at the cliff-hanger. It will start coming apart at the seams later on, but it's a great pity that this opening episode is one of the two missing ones.

Trivia:

• The ratings begin strongly - the highest figure of the Troughton era to date. Only one episode of The Power of the Daleks had managed to make 8 million. The AI figure is under 50, but par for the course for the time.
• Future guest star Ken Dodd was the main opposition on ITV in the London region, with Batman screening in the north.
• This is the first story since The Savages to have specially composed music, as opposed to the use of library tracks. The composer is Dudley Simpson.
• There's a scene in which the travellers attempt to speak to their guards, who speak a language which they do not understand. These were the days before the TARDIS translation effect was ever considered, and everyone simply spoke English no matter where or when the ship landed. It is unusual for someone not to speak English in the series at this time.
• We've mentioned previously Gerry Davis' belief that the main character is actually called "Doctor Who" and there's another example of it here. The Doctor signs his note to Zaroff "Dr W".
• There was some discussion about Troughton's portrayal of the Doctor at the BBC weekly review meeting on Wednesday 18th January. Some thought he was "too human", whilst others felt he was giving a richer performance than Hartnell had managed. There were worries from Sydney Newman that the Doctor was coming across as an "anti-hero".
• Vienna-born Joseph Furst's biggest role is as Professor Metz, Blofeld's pet scientist in Diamonds Are Forever (1971).
• Tom Watson was well-known to TV viewers in Scotland. One role of note was as Taggart's original superior, Chief Inspector Murray (aka "The Mint") in the early days of the long-running police series.
• Peter Stephens had previously played multiple roles in The Celestial Toymaker - as the Knave of Hearts and kitchen boy / schoolboy Cyril.
• Colin Jeavons would not return to the world of Doctor Who until the Sarah Jane / K-9 spin-off at Christmas 1981.
• William Emms' abandoned "Imps" story would later form the basis of a make-your-own-adventure book featuring the Sixth Doctor, titled "Mission to Venus":

• Radio Times elected to highlight new regular Frazer Hines with a photograph, along with another featuring the latest "monster". The brief synopsis actually gave away specific details of Zaroff's scheme a week before viewers would have heard of them in the televised episode.

Tom Baker Bookazine

Fans of Tom Baker, which is pretty much all of us, have a wonderful Christmas present from Radio Times. Available to download for free, as of today, is a 64 page collection of archive interviews and profiles from the magazine's archive, lavishly illustrated with exclusive photographs. Of particular delight are the B&W studio shots from Tom's Doctor Who days.

Daleks- The Ultimate Guide

DWM have been producing a new range of bookazines since the 60th Anniversary. They have a uniform format and design - smaller than A4, with blue text on a white background for their covers, and coming in a cardboard slipcase. They are substantial volumes, with 224 glossy colour pages.

We had a long wait for the second release - "Into The Vortex" - which had a lengthy gap between publishing date and appearances in shops. However, this was quickly followed up with another release which I mentioned a few weeks back- "Daleks - The Ultimate Guide".

This volume runs through each Dalek story from The Daleks in 1963/4 to Eve of the Daleks in 2022, giving each a four page spread. 

The first page gives some background information about the making of the story, whilst the second features a full page CG image of a Dalek from that particular story - either the basic model or one unique to that particular adventure.

The other two pages outline the development of the creatures over time in narrative terms, highlighting how each story has added to their mythos.

The accompanying photographs are a mix of publicity stills and telesnaps.

The two 1960's Dalek movies have a couple of pages each to themselves, one of which is a big CG image (the Red Dalek from the first, and the Black Dalek from the second).

Stories in which Daleks cameo - from The Space Museum to Flux - get a smaller box-out to themselves.

In between each story feature we have a Dalek-related documentary item, of 2 - 4 pages, depending on the subject. Everything is covered from the spin-off items like toys, comics, audios, novels, action figures / figurines, comic strips and annuals to behind the scenes material - actors who have portrayed Davros, Dalek voice artistes, or how different directors have handled the props over the years. Naturally we have items on Terry Nation and Ray Cusick, and the Mechonoids get a feature to themselves as well. There are a few miscellaneous features as well, such as the story of how one particular movie prop was recently refurbished, or an item on the new CGI VFX on the recent Season 25 Blu-ray special edition of Remembrance of the Daleks.

Hopefully we will see more of them in the coming months. Obvious candidates for a bookazine include the subjects already covered by the previous range which began to appear from the 50th Anniversary onwards (Cybermen, Companions etc).

Sadly, it looks like the "Chronicles" range has been discontinued (perhaps due to a lack of Nu-Who, whereas these new publications can cover the full 60-odd years and therefore please fans of either era).

You may find it hard to spot these in the shops, but they can be ordered directly from Panini or an online retailer. 

I would highly recommend.

Season 7 Boxset Confirmed

The set is now confirmed. The Matthew Sweet interview is with John Levene.

4 new documentaries - one on the science of the day and how it influenced these four stories; one on Malcolm Hulke; one on Nicholas Courtney; and another on the new Earth-based format.

One of the Behind the Sofa panels features Caroline John's husband, Geoffrey Beavers, and their daughter.

Presumably the two docs on the Spearhead Blu-ray are also included. One was about Pertwee, and the other about Caroline.

There are also two omnibus versions included: The Silurians and Inferno.

The Collection - Season Seven

This turned up on an online retailer site, then quickly disappeared - but not before people had downloaded the image. Announcements for the Blu-ray boxsets usually come out on Thursdays, so expect the official news, including the various bonus materials, later this week...

Inspirations: Hide

Hide is, basically, Nu-Who's attempt at a haunted house story. All the trappings of a good ghost story are present:

• the setting is a big old rambling house,
• it's night-time,
• there's a storm in full blast, with rain, thunder and lightning,
• the house is empty but for only a couple of people,
• despite the late 20th Century setting, much of the house has no electricity so people have to wander about in the dark with candles,
• there's a weird cold spot,
• a figure is fleetingly glimpsed scuttling about in the darkened corridors,
• another is a white shape with a skull-like countenance,
• someone holds another's hand - only to discover that it was not that of their companion...

The Doctor has come specifically because he has heard of the "Caliburn Ghast" - an archaic word for an evil spirit, and presumably where we get "ghastly" from.

We get to see the Ghast, and it looks like a ghost. It is white, has what looks like a screaming, skull-like visage, and is only glimpsed in flashes of lightning.

It turns out that, unlike most ghosts, this one doesn't mind having its photograph taken, and the scientist who has purchased the house in order to investigate the haunting, has many images of it, from different parts of the house.

Apparently the works of authors Susan Hill and Shirley Jackson were major inspirations. The former is the writer behind The Woman in Black (1983) which was subsequently adapted for TV by Nigel Kneale (more of him shortly), then made into a movie by Hammer. The latter wrote The Haunting of Hill House (1959) which was filmed in 1963, retitled simply as The Haunting.

Susan Hill also wrote the ghost story The Small Hand in 2010.

The last time the Doctor and his companion went ghost hunting in a big old house was in Day of the Daleks, and this story has other links with the Pertwee era. The setting is 1974 - year of the Third Doctor's final season, and the Doctor produces a blue Metebelis crystal. How this relates to the ones we saw in The Planet of the Spiders (1974 again) isn't explained. They all seemed to get blown to bits when the Great One popped her (8) clogs.

This being Doctor Who, our hero knows that this is nothing to do with the supernatural so there has to be some sort of sci-fi explanation to events. He dons the orangey-red spacesuit he took from Sanctuary Base 6 back in The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit and travels to the site of the house through the entirety of Earth's history, taking pictures as he goes. Sure enough, the ghast is present throughout and it turns out it's all to do with a bubble universe and time travel.

The episode actually shifts from being a ghost story to a romance. Not only do we have the relationship between the scientist - Prof Alec Palmer - and his helper, Emma Grayling (whose role in events has parallels with the psychic Theodora in The Haunting) but we also have two crooked-looking aliens who have been accidentally separated.

Palmer was originally going to Professor Bernard Quatermass, created by Kneale. The Manx writer often bemoaned the fact that for years Doctor Who had "borrowed" his ideas, and the Pertwee era isn't short of material that is ever so slightly close to the Quatermass serials.

Another inspiration for Hide is clearly Kneale's The Stone Tape, in the way that the ghast is inextricably anchored to the site of Caliburn House - even before it was built, and long after it was demolished.

Links between Doctor Who and Quatermass were hinted at in Remembrance of the Daleks, with reference to the British Rocket Group and "Bernard".

The Clara story arc is continued with the TARDIS taking a dislike to her and locking her out. This will be built on in the mini-episode in which she can never find her bedroom, and encounters multiple versions of herself, lost every night - all the work of the ship.

Next time: a Jules Verne-inspired title accompanies an effort to improve on the final two episodes of The Invasion of Time...

Episode 144: The Highlanders (4)

Synopsis:

Aboard the Annabelle, Solicitor Grey watches on as Trask has Ben tied up and dropped into the murky waters of the harbour...

When the rope is pulled up there is no sign of Ben, and everyone assumes he has drowned. However, he surfaces on the other side of the ship and makes his way to the quayside. Unfortunately, he is immediately confronted by a wounded Redcoat soldier, sporting a thick black moustache.

This proves to be the Doctor in another disguise. He is loading a rowing boat with weapons.

On the ship, Grey and Trask discuss their plan for the vessel to sail the next morning. Grey has ensured that his transportation scheme is legal as he has signed contracts.

Willy Mackay is upset that his own crew have all signed, whilst he, Colin McLaren and Jamie fear that they will be disposed of once out of sight of land.

Ben has been taken to the barn behind the inn where he is reunited with Polly and Kirsty. A plan is agreed amongst them. Ben will take the Doctor out to the Annabelle where he will cause a diversion. He will then pick up the women and return to the ship to distribute the weapons through a porthole into the cargo hold.

The Doctor assumes his German accent once again when he is brought before Grey. He produces the gold ring which Kirsty was carrying - the one given to McLaren by Bonnie Prince Charlie himself. He then begins bartering for the information as to where the fugitive Pretender is, claiming that he was taken captive after the recent battle but is hiding his true identity.

Kirsty is able to get the attention of her father, and she and Polly begin passing guns to him and Jamie.

The Doctor reveals that Jamie is the prisoner they are looking for, and when Trask rushes down to the hold to seize him he is attacked. The Scots prisoners begin fighting with Trask and his men, the struggle spilling out onto the deck.

Trask is knocked over the side into the sea, and soon Mackay has regained control of his ship. 

It is quickly agreed that he will set sail for France, taking Colin and the other prisoners to safety there.

The Doctor will hold on to Grey as a hostage to allow them  to get back to the TARDIS. Perkins, his clerk, decides to take the opportunity to free himself of his bullying master and asks to remain on the ship, acting as an interpreter for when they get to France.

The ship sets sail, disappearing into the fog which will aid their escape. Polly regrets not having said farewell to Jamie - only for the young piper to suddenly appear. He will escort them to the TARDIS.

Grey manages to escape. At the Sea Eagle Polly spots Lieutenant Ffinch, who is with his Colonel. The Doctor produces the Pretender's gold ring and claims to know where he is, so Colonel Attwood orders Ffinch to accompany the Doctor - inadvertently providing them with safe passage back to the TARDIS.

When they arrive at the old cottage where they first met Jamie and the others, they are confronted by Grey, who tries to have them arrested. He is in turn accused of being responsible for illegal slave transportation. When he tries to produce the signed contracts, he discovers that they have vanished - victims of the Doctor's sleight of hand. Ffinch has the crooked solicitor arrested.

The Doctor and his friends, meanwhile, slip off to the TARDIS.

Concerned that Jamie sacrificed his chance of freedom in France to help them, and now faces a life on the run after they have gone, the Doctor invites him to join them on their travels - so long as he teaches him how to play the bagpipes...

Next week: The Underwater Menace

Data:

Written by: Gerry Davis & Elwyn Jones

Recorded: Saturday 24th December 1966 - Riverside Studio 1

First broadcast: 5:50pm, Saturday 7th January 1966

Ratings: 7.3 million / AI 47

Designer: Geoffrey Kirkland

Director: Hugh David

Additional cast: Guy Middleton (Colonel Attwood)

Critique:

The Highlanders is the final story in the long run of "Historical" adventures which began with a visit to the Stone Age in the very first story. (Some will argue that this ought to be Black Orchid, but I'd argue that the Davison story is less a Historical and more a literary genre piece - the country house murder mystery beloved of Agatha Christie and her ilk. The '20's setting is quite irrelevant - it could just have easily been set in the 1950's or in the present day).

The Historical stories had been an important part of the programme's educational remit from the outset, and it is notable that they alternated regularly with the futuristic ones for much of the first two years. We also have the Coal Hill schoolteachers representing History (Barbara) as well as Science (Ian). 

The early success of the Daleks obviously led to a re-engineering of the programme as a Sci-Fi adventure series, though it took some time for this to work through, with the Historicals appearing less frequently.

In many ways these adventures in the past had proven the more experimental ones - despite the fact that the inclusion of real events would normally restrict the story-telling. Donald Cotton and Dennis Spooner saw them as an opportunity to do some comedy - usually of the blackest sort  as it was often followed by mass slaughter. Donald Tosh, meanwhile, took the opportunity to cover more obscure historical events, such as the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre.

Latterly, Gerry Davis had been concentrating on historical fiction as the backdrop to the non-Sci-Fi adventures. Both The Smugglers and The Highlanders look to the works of Robert Louis Stevenson, as well as the likes of Sir Walter Scott and Russell Thorndike. The historical period is key to the stories, but no real life historical figures are necessary to tell them.

The Historicals were certainly a good thing for production budgets, as the BBC had all the sets, props and costumes readily to hand for any chosen period - so why were they discontinued?

Feedback from the audience was certainly a factor. Radio Times did get the letters from people claiming that the more fantastical science fiction episodes weren't for them, but more came in claiming that the stories set in history were boring and could they have more Daleks, please.

One criticism is that the Historicals looked cheap. Despite all that knowledge and the visual trappings, Doctor Who's trips into the past could not compete with the big drama productions set in the same eras.

The prestigious TV adaptations of Dickens, Scott or Stevenson showed up the limitations of the Doctor Who versions. 

Ironically, the axe fell on these stories just as the programme was escaping the studio and getting out and about on location more regularly - going as far afield as Cornwall for The Smugglers. 

Another factor is the personalities of the people making the series. Davis seems to have been happy to have carried on the history-based stories, but it is clear that Innes Lloyd was less happy with them. He would become involved in some hugely popular and - that word again - prestigious adaptations of classic novels, so perhaps it was that sense of cheapness which annoyed him.

The Gunfighters has to take some of the blame. It used to be argued that it got the lowest ever viewing figures and this is why the Historicals were scrapped, but we now know that it was the audience appreciation figures - how much people actually enjoyed it - that were the problem. 

Patrick Troughton made his views clear in issue 78 of Doctor Who Monthly: "I didn't like going back in time. They weren't my favourite ones".

Lloyd and Davis had been especially happy with The Tenth Planet, from both a narrative and production point of view, and decided that this would act as a template for the series  moving forward.

The Highlanders is also best known for the introduction of Jamie, played by Frazer Hines, as a companion. The more you tell a misremembered story, the more that this version of events becomes fact in your head. I saw Hines being interviewed just last year, and he was still repeating the story of how he was asked to stay on due to the positive public response to Jamie. If you've been paying attention to the synopses to these Episodes posts you will have noticed that Jamie does very little in the story beyond the opening instalment. He would have figured more prominently in this final episode, whether he was going to be kept on or not. The dates don't add up either. Hines and the regulars were recalled to Frensham Ponds in Surrey to film a revised ending to the episode before  the first one had been broadcast. 

If there is any one reason for Hines being made a regular on the series, it's the relationship between Patrick Troughton and Shaun Sutton - Lloyd's boss. Liking Hines anyway, and hearing good things about him from Troughton as well, Sutton surely then advised the producer and script editor to take him on. There certainly isn't any narrative reason to take on a third companion, so soon after a new actor has taken on the lead role. We will see that his arrival wasn't prepared for in any way, as Hines is either rationed some of Michael Craze's lines, or side-lined entirely in the plot, such as when bedridden for two-thirds of The Moonbase.

The original departure scene was filmed on Monday 14th November at Frensham, alongside all of the material for Episode One, plus the cliff-hanger resolution at the start of the second instalment. It was at the end of the filming week when Hines got the call from Lloyd enquiring if he would be interested in staying on. Troughton, Craze and Anneke Wills lost out on a day off to join Hines back at the location on Monday 21st November to film the revised scene, where Jamie now enters the TARDIS.

The following Monday a writer's guide was issued for the new character, which categorically states that Jamie should be seen as the "Young Hero" of any story. His superstition and belief in the supernatural, as a means to accept alien concepts, was stressed, as was his lack of knowledge of modern inventions.

Only a year before, a new companion - Katarina - had been hastily written out because of the very things which were being put across as positive character traits for Jamie.

Joining the cast for rehearsals on Tuesday 20th December was actor Guy Middleton, who had been a big star either side of the war, tending to play the sort of dodgy charmer roles which Terry-Thomas would soon make his own. A couple of films of his which are repeated on TV often are the supernatural drama The Halfway House (1944) and the comedy Laughter In Paradise (1951).

He's underused here, with a single scene and only a couple of lines.

A couple of amendments were made to the script late in the day, some to reflect the change of plans for Jamie. Ben fights a duel with Trask, whereas the villain had originally only fought with Jamie. Another scene set in a boathouse with the regulars in hiding was added when the episode was found to be under-running.

The sequence in the barn as the rescue plan is made saw a number of ad-libs from the cast. Referring to his new disguise, Hannah Gordon's Kirsty told the Doctor that he had made a good granny, whilst he had reprised his "I would like a hat like that" line, after seeing Ben cover his face with a Tam O'Shanter bonnet.

The fight scenes on the deck of the Annabelle were all recorded in studio, under the supervision of Peter Diamond. At one point he accidentally struck Hines on the forehead, leaving a small scar at the eyebrow.

I'm sure viewers at the time were satisfied with the conclusion to the main plotline, but in hindsight there are a couple of worries. Trask is simply knocked overboard, and we've no way of knowing if he simply swam ashore and ran off. It is a fact that sailors in times past did not learn to swim, and drowning was the biggest cause of death for them, but something more conclusive might have satisfied better for Trask.

Likewise Grey. His only crime has actually been to try to profit by his official job as Commissioner for dealing with the Jacobites, so is he really going to suffer too harshly for being found out? He might simply get a slap on the wrist, but nothing more serious. We do know that a number of Jacobites were transported to the West Indies to work in the plantations though, not being African, were generally given roles like supervisor or overseer to perform.

The cast and crew joined a Christmas party after recording, and would then have a week's holiday before assembling for rehearsals on The Underwater Menace. Troughton was already concerned about the punishing schedule of the programme. However, having lost a week at the beginning of his tenure whilst his character was still being developed - which reduced the time between recording and broadcast to a fortnight - this festive holiday would see the series going out on Saturday evening just one week after production. 

Trivia:

• The Historicals end with reasonable ratings - more than 7 million and 66th place in the Top 100 programmes for the week. The appreciation figure hasn't moved more than a single point between first and last episode, making this one of the most consistently enjoyed stories of the classic era.
• Wednesday 21st December saw Craze and Wills step out of rehearsals to make a guest appearance on children's variety series Crackerjack. This week they were staging a panto based on Alice in Wonderland, and host Leslie Crowther and his regular sidekick Peter Glaze dressed as the Second and First Doctors to sing Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys. Glaze had featured as the City Administrator in The Sensorites, and it is widely believed that Brian Wilson was influenced by the original Doctor Who theme when he lived in London for a time.
• The Scotsman newspaper reviewed the serial on 9th January, highlighting how, stylistically, it had resembled Culloden - the acclaimed drama-documentary filmed by Peter Watkins and shown in December 1964. Script editor and director would have been pleased as this had been one of their inspirations.
• Radio Times published a letter from a viewer who felt that the story had presented events as too much of an England v. Scotland conflict. This isn't actually all that evident on screen. Yes, some Scots are presented as victims who have to be helped by the Doctor and his companions, emerging, like Jamie, as heroic figures - but the villainous Grey is also a Scot.
• The Highlanders is believed to be the earliest victim of the great archive purge, as far as its studio video tapes are concerned. These were wiped less than a month after recording. 16mm film copies had been made for overseas sales. Hong Kong, Singapore, Uganda and Zambia all bought the story at the end of the decade. Copies were known to exist in 1974, after which it disappears.
• All that remains of the story now are some very brief clips courtesy of the Australian censors, plus a film offcut of the TARDIS location scene - which features Production Assistant (and future director) Fiona Cumming announcing the take number. This last item is held by a private collector but can be seen on the Lost in Time DVD set, along with the censor clips.

The Savages Animated

The Savages will be the next missing adventure to be animated. Release date according to online retailers, in the UK at least, is March 24th.

This is one that has no surviving episodes, and there aren't even any decent clips, and early fandom dismissed it due to its lack of monsters. Let's see if a positive re-evaluation takes place, though no doubt many will take issue with the very basic animation style we've come to expect from the official releases.

What's Wrong With... Terminus

Apparently we aren't supposed to call him the Black Guardian anymore - he's the one of Darkness and Chaos as opposed to Light and Order.

Whatever he's called, he doesn't seem to have a clear plan for the Doctor, other that to destroy him. Last time, he seemed content just for Turlough to bash his brains in with a rock, but then he wants the Doctor to suffer before he's destroyed. 

Turlough must surely realise that the Doctor is one of the good guys, and that the Guardian is a figure of pure evil - so why does he trust him to rescue him when the TARDIS breaks up. Destroying a thing you are travelling in whilst still on it is surely going to make the boy think twice about going ahead with the sabotage.

Why is Turlough given Adric's bedroom when the TARDIS must have loads of empty ones? Why is Tegan so blasé about her dead friend's belongings being disposed of by someone she doesn't like?

Going back to last time again, I asked what was going on in the Doctor's mind regarding Turlough. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, we could say that he knows exactly that there's some mystery to solve with him, and his actions are suspicious. But if that is the case, why would he leave him alone in the console room for so long? The alternative is that the Doctor is a bit of a gullible idiot to be taken in by him. He's ignoring the opinions of his companions as well. Tegan is warning against Turlough every five minutes, and even Nyssa - the one whose opinion he values the most - is only reserving judgement for the time-being.

It's very confusing what is going on with the Lazars. The Vanir don't seem to know about the transport ship, so how do they think the Lazars get there? Olvir says the illness is incurable, but we're told that lots of people do return cured - or at least think they've been cured.

Nyssa thinks that the company won't retaliate as people are scared of the disease - yet there is a known cure. And what's to stop the company retaliating without putting soldiers on Terminus. They could simply blow it up and write it off for tax purposes, or send in robots. We've seen that they have such things at this time in this region of space.

Are the Vanir - supposed warriors - really going to stick around and act as nurses once they get a source of synthetic hydromel?

Lazar's Disease is clearly based on leprosy, so the programme was quite rightly criticised for depicting this as teatime entertainment and demonstrated ignorance of the subject.

The writer / script editor haven't structured this story very well - despite the reported interventions of the latter in the writing process. Tegan and Turlough - who's the new companion, remember - have nothing to do for much of the story, and have to be parked in an airduct for a significant part of the running time.

Whilst there Turlough is ordered to press a few buttons. How can doing this, on a converted space-liner docked with Terminus, cause the engines on the station to overload? How can they possibly be connected? The way this is edited is a little confusing.

The engines are shut down, but surely the danger still remains? What's to stop a malfunction occurring five minutes after the Doctor leaves? We ought to have seen the Doctor fix things so that there would be no possible danger of such an event happening again. Why not shift the station somewhere that it can't do much damage?

We're told how the universe was created by an earlier accident, but how can some exploding fuel possibly create a universe-destroying event under Terminus' current circumstances? The conditions are totally  different now.

When the company which runs Terminus took over, did no-one bother to have a look round and notice a giant dead astronaut in one of the control rooms? Did they not think of fixing the engines themselves, or were they happy to have a money-making business blow up at any minute?

Actually, where exactly is the money-making opportunity in this set-up?

Kari and Olvir are set up as highly trained pirates, but Olvir comes on a mission with a gun whose power pack runs out after a single shot.

And who ever thought that the Garm was an acceptable costume to be seen clearly on screen, rather hidden in shadows with only glowing eyes showing, as the writer intended?

O is for... Optera

A race of subterranean creatures encountered by the Doctor's companion Ian Chesterton on the planet Vortis. He and a Menoptra friend named Vrestin stumbled into their domain after falling down a crevasse, where they were captured by the grub-like creatures. They feared the world above, having lived below ground for generations, and they were going to sacrifice their captives by throwing them into a pit of fire. However, Vrestin recognised their origins. They had once been like her, but had retreated underground in the past and devolved into their present form - losing the power of flight and developing extra limbs for burrowing. They also made use of broken stalactites and stalagmites as tools and weapons.

They still recalled their former existence by making the Menoptra their gods, and when Vrestin spread her wings they recognised her as one of these.

Their leader Hetra explained that the acid pools used by the Animus to feed its Carsenome would leak down into their world, endangering them. When Ian and Vrestin explained that they sought to destroy the creature which they called "Pwodarauk", they agreed to help - taking them to a cavern directly below the Carsenome from which they could launch and attack. On the way, they encountered an acid leak, and one of their number - Nemini - sacrificed herself to block it by pushing her body into the crevice.

After the Animus had been destroyed, the Optera were encouraged to return to the surface, where future generations might have the power of flight once more.

Played by: Ian Thompson (Hetra), Barbara Joss (Nemini). Appearances: The Web Planet (1965).

• Thompson had previously appeared as the Aridian Malsan in The Chase, also directed by Richard Martin.
• Joss had featured in the same Dalek story, as Maureen O'Brien's double on the location filming for the Aridius scenes.
• The Optera did not feature in Bill Strutton's original scripts. They were created by Martin and story editor Dennis Spooner as they felt that the latter half of the story lacked incident.

O is for... Ood

The Ood originate on a world known as the Ood-Sphere, which lies in the same region of space as the Sense-Sphere, home to the Sensorites. The two species may well be related, both having some telepathic abilities.

In appearance they were bipedal, with large domes heads and a mass of facial tendrils covering the lower part of the face. From this emerges a white plastic globe - an artificial device which allows them to speak, lighting up as it does so. They speak in a calm, level voice. Like the Sensorites, they are all physically identical.

The Doctor first encountered them when the TARDIS materialised in Sanctuary Base 6, which had been constructed on a hostile planet in perpetual orbit on the edge of a Black Hole. The Ood were being used as servitors for the human crew stationed there - come to investigate a power source located deep within the planet. Their telepathic field was continually monitored.

Buried there was an ancient evil known as "The Beast" which exploited that telepathic field. It was able to possess them and turn them against their human masters - utilising their speech globes to kill by electrocution. Their eyes glowed red when taken over. The Ood could be stunned with a psychic shock, though only for a short time.

The Beast planned to use the creatures to scare the humans into fleeing the planet - carrying it with them as it had possessed the body of one of the crewmen.

The Ood were left trapped in the base as the planet fell into the Black Hole.

The Doctor regretted not being able to save the Ood, and some time later the TARDIS brought him and Donna Noble to the Ood-Sphere itself. There they learned that the Ood were basically a slave race, exploited by humans. Many years before, Earth explorers had visited the planet and found its inhabitants to be a benign but extremely docile people. Natural-born Ood had a second, hind, brain, which they held in their hands. This made them particularly vulnerable and trusting, and a man named Halpen discovered that they acted as a form of gestalt, their society organised through its mental link with a gigantic brain which was located in an ice cavern beside their settlement. With this isolated from them, the Ood would be leaderless and malleable - the perfect slave race. Halpen had the great brain sealed up in a subterranean bunker and ringed with an electromagnetic field, which cut its telepathic link with the Ood.

The Doctor and Donna had arrived on the Ood-Sphere during a period in which Ood across Earth's empire were beginning to turn on their owners - using their communications spheres as weapons. The condition was known as "Red Eye", as the affected Ood's eyes turned bright red. 

 

Ood Operations was now being run by Halpen's descendant Klineman. He was constantly tended by an Ood servant designated "Sigma". A growing number of people were coming to the realisation that the creatures were being exploited as slaves, and a militant group calling themselves the Friends of the Ood decided to do something about this. Working on the Ood-Sphere was a Dr Ryder, who was supposed to be helping find a cure to the Red Eye illness. He was actually a member of the militant group and had secretly been reducing the strength of the electromagnetic field - enough for the giant brain to make a link with the Ood but not enough to be noticed by Halpen's people. When he found out, Halpen killed him. A full-scale revolt broke out. Ood Sigma had been providing Halpen with a hair tonic, but this was laced with Ood genetic material - and the ruthless businessman who had exploited the creatures for so long was suddenly transformed into one himself.

Ood Operations was closed down and the Ood were permitted to return home from across the empire. Before they left, Ood Sigma appeared to foretell the futures which lay in store for both the Doctor and Donna.

The Doctor later attempted to alter the course of history by saving the life of a significant figure who was supposed to die. However, Time corrected itself and she died by her own hand instead, and the Doctor was then confronted by an image of Ood Sigma - which he took to be a sign that his current incarnation was soon to die. He wilfully avoided responding to the vision, which he knew to be a mental projection channelled back through time. By the time he returned to the Ood-Sphere, he realised his error in delaying as the Ood had been trying to warn him about the return of the Master and a threat to Time itself. The Doctor had known that something was wrong when he saw how advanced the Ood civilisation had become in just 100 years, as well as Sigma's ability to mentally project himself through time. Sigma took him to a cave system in which the Ood Elder showed him a vision of the Master's movements back in 2009. This Elder had a larger, brain-like cranium and wore a distinctive white robe.

After defeating the Master and preventing the Time Lord President Rassilon from destroying Time to escape the Time War, Sigma appeared once more to the Doctor - on the Powell Estate on New Year's Eve 2004 - to signify that it was time for him to regenerate.

In his next incarnation, the Doctor met an Ood known as Nephew, which acted as a servant to an entity called House - which inhabited the inside of a planetoid in a bubble universe. House fed on the energy of TARDISes, and used Nephew to assist with the transfer of their matrices - the sentient part of them - into short-lived biological shells. Later, when House hijacked the Doctor's TARDIS to enter the prime universe in search of other TARDISes to feast on, he sent Nephew to kill Amy and Rory who were trapped onboard. Whilst possessed by House, Nephew's eyes glowed a sickly green. Nephew was destroyed when the Doctor landed a makeshift TARDIS on the spot where he was standing.

After Amy and Rory had stopped travelling with the Doctor on a full-time basis, they awoke one morning to discover an Ood in their home. They had been visited the night before by the Doctor, who had been taking this Ood home after rescuing it from the Androvax Conflict. However, it had managed to leave the TARDIS. The couple found it extremely willing to help around the house whilst they endeavoured to get the Doctor back to collect it. Both enjoyed its help but were concerned that they were exploiting its subservient nature. The Doctor did turn up eventually and took it home to the Ood-Sphere. 

On another occasion, the Eleventh Doctor had taken Albert Einstein on a trip in the TARDIS, and the scientist had temporarily been transformed into an Ood.

When the Doctor, in their thirteenth incarnation, was captured by Weeping Angels who were working for the shadowy Gallifreyan organisation known as the Division, she found herself in a huge space station which was slowly passing through a void between two universes. The only beings on board were Tecteun - the Doctor's foster parent and leader of the Division - and her Ood servant. Tecteun was busily destroying the universe with the anti-matter force called the Flux, and the Doctor was able to get this Ood on her side when she pointed out to it that all of its own kind would perish due to the Flux. It then helped her escape.

Ood are widely travelled creatures, and have also been seen in a variety of locations, such as the Maldovarium trading post.

Played by: Paul Kasey (Sigma), Simon Carew (Division Ood), Ruari Mears (Ood Elder). 

Voiced by: Silas Carson, Brian Cox (Ood Elder).

Principal appearances: The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit (2006), Planet of the Ood (2008), The End of Time (2009), Pond Life (2012), Survivors of the Flux, The Vanquishers (2021).

• Ood have appeared as background characters in a number of episodes, including The Magician's Apprentice and Face The Raven. Ood Sigma first appears as a projection to the Tenth Doctor at the conclusion of The Waters of Mars.
• Images of them have been seen in The God Complex and Time Heist amongst others.
• The creatures' very first appearance was in the Tardisode short for the eighth episode of Series 2.
• Russell T Davies originally intended The Impossible Planet to include Slitheen as the base's servitors, but then decided on creating a new alien instead.
• They were inspired by the Sensorites, which is why he later had their planets in the same region of space. Identical in dress and appearance, they have large domed heads, are partially telepathic, and the Ood have tendrils where the Sensorites have beards.
• Davies regretted killing the Ood at the end of The Satan Pit, and of not exploring their subservient nature, so decided on a sequel which could look into this more fully.
• Einstein - played by Nickolas Grace - is turned into an Ood in a piece called Death is the Only Answer, which was the winning entry in a writing competition for schools, organised by Doctor Who Confidential.