Randomise!

The Randomiser. Has a piece of equipment ever been so seriously misnomered? Introduced in the closing moments of the final episode of The Armageddon Factor, and seeing its final appearance in The Leisure Hive, this particular invention either never worked - or was continually bypassed.
The reason for employing it was supposed to be to prevent the Black Guardian from tracking the Doctor down to wreak his revenge. The history of the show up to this point, however, suggests that it wasn't really needed.
The Doctor spends two years trying to get schoolteachers Ian and Barbara back to the London of 1963. Trying and failing. True, he does get them back to the right country and time-zone once during this period - but unfortunately they are only one inch tall...

When the TARDIS materialises on Dido, the Doctor briefly entertains the idea of making out to the teachers that this was deliberate - until he remembers that he was fast asleep during landing.
Several of the early stories remind the audience that the Doctor cannot pilot his ship properly. When Vicki appears to have been left behind in the funfair "House of Horrors" (in The Chase) only the capture of the Dalek time machine will get her back - it is an impossible task for the TARDIS.
The ship travels randomly throughout the 1960's, which seems to please the Doctor. Note his utter delight at realising they have landed back on Dulkis again. Not knowing where you are going to end up is one of the joys of his jackdaw meanderings. None of the stories in this era relies on the dramatic device of having a controllable TARDIS to resolve any plot points - in the way that today's stories constantly do.

Once the Third Doctor has his exile terminated, he spends ages trying to get Jo to Metebelis III. He succeeds eventually, by physically wiring the co-ordinates into the journey programmer. He returns to that planet a few months later to rescue Sarah Jane Smith - presumably because those co-ordinates are still wired in - but the telepathic circuits also appear to play a part, as far as specific time / location of the landing are concerned.
The Doctor does seem to have a limited amount of control over the ship at times - such as managing to get back to Peladon. However, as it was the Time Lords who directed him there in the first place, they may have been behind this later visit as well.
Which all begs the question - why need the Randomiser?
The first location the TARDIS travels to after it has been fitted just happens to be Skaro - on the very day that Davros is brought back from the dead. With hindsight, knowing that Genesis of the Daleks marked the opening skirmish of the Time War, we can safely assume that the Time Lords are meddling again? Then again, this would be only the second ever landing on Skaro for the TARDIS - so maybe purely random. From this point on, however, the TARDIS is piloted exactly where the Doctor wants to go in every story in which the device is fitted.

It may have been the Randomiser that brought the ship to Paris in 1979 - the Doctor blames the device for the date - but in City of Death we then see the Doctor travel back to 16th Century Florence, return to Paris in 1979, travel to prehistoric times to waylay Scaroth, then back to Paris, 1979.

The next two stories both feature the TARDIS responding to a distress signal - from Erato's shell in Creature from the Pit, and the stricken space liner Empress in Nightmare of Eden. In the former adventure, the Doctor additionally pilots the TARDIS to intercept the neutron star that is on its way to destroy Chloris, then lands the ship back on the planet.

The last story televised, before the Randomiser is taken out to be used in the Tachyon Recreation Generator on Argolis - The Horns of Nimon - sees the Doctor able to pursue the kidnapped Romana to Skonnos. It is specifically mentioned, mind you, that the Doctor has dismantled everything at the start of the story in order to repair the control console - presumably including the Randomiser.
Even the unseen adventure - Shada - would not have been immune to a complete lack of randomisation. The Doctor pilots the ship specifically to St Cedd's College after receiving a message from Prof. Chronotis, and it then travels around throughout the rest of the story - turning up to rescue the Doctor from the mind-sphere, going to the field where Skagra's ship is hidden, and so on.
Finally, let's not forget that the TARDIS was able to travel to Argolis - intentionally - before the Randomiser was eventually removed from the ship.
As much as I love "Nu-Who", there are a couple of things I have never been happy about. One is the over-use of the sonic screwdriver - and the other is the controllable TARDIS. It is frequently argued that such devices are necessary for 21st Century story-telling - 45 minutes, fast paced plotting, etc. An excuse, I think, for a lack of ingenuity on the part of some of the writers.

This little trawl through some of the TARDIS travels has inspired me to concoct a new, occasional, series of posts - a look, season by season, at all of the TARDIS journeys through Space and Time.
Starting soon...

Story 109 - The Leisure Hive

In which the Doctor and Romana have a rather disastrous outing to Brighton beach - K9 blowing its fuses when it ventures into the sea to fetch a ball. Romana suggests an alternative holiday destination - the Leisure Hive on the planet Argolis. Around the year 2290, this world hosts a vast entertainment complex - the Hive - where the science of Tachyonics has been employed to create all of the amusements. The surface of Argolis is highly toxic - the after effects of a war which took place some years ago between the Argolins and the reptilian Foamasi. The conflict lasted only twenty minutes, but the radiation has laid waste the planet and the people are now sterile. Tachyonics are also being investigated as a possible means of securing the survival of the race. Recently, the Hive has seen dwindling visitor numbers, thanks to competition from rival complexes on other worlds and, to make matters worse, a guest dies horribly soon after the Doctor and Romana arrive - one of the demonstrations going wrong. Other faults are appearing throughout the Hive. The Hive's business agent from Earth - Brock - contacts leader Morix with a Foamasi offer to purchase the complex. Fiercely opposed to this is Morix's son Pangol. Morix passes away shortly after, and his wife Mena is recalled to the planet. She arrives and assumes control. She has commissioned a scientist from Earth - Hardin - to develop a means of rejuvenating her race. Hardin is expected to arrive at the Hive - but the Doctor is mistaken for him and taken to see Mena.

He and Romana witness a video of one of Hardin's experiments, and realise that it has been faked. Brock arrives unannounced with his taciturn colleague Klout, ready to press Mena to accept the Foamasi buy-out offer. Hardin's business partner - Stimson - starts to panic that their deception will be found out. He makes ready to flee in a shuttle, but is soon after found murdered - the Doctor's scarf wrapped rather too tightly around his throat. The Doctor is accused of the crime. In reality, the Hive has been infiltrated by a small number of Foamasi. It was they who killed Stimson, and they have also been carrying out various acts of sabotage. Mena insists that Hardin conduct an experiment with the Tachyon Recreation Generator device. The Doctor finds himself having to act as guinea-pig. Thanks to Foamasi sabotage, he emerges from the machine as a frail old man.

Romana realises that Hardin is actually close to success and agrees to help him perfect his experiments. Pangol has been working on a scheme of his own. He points out that he is too young to have been born since the war - when his race was made sterile. He is really a product of the Tachyon Recreation Generator. He is now going to use it to replicate himself a thousand-fold - creating an army which will make Argolis great once more. Mena ages rapidly - her death near. Most distraught about this is Hardin who is in love with her. The Doctor and Romana meet a Foamasi government agent, who reveals that the Brock and Klout on Argolis are imposters - the Foamasi saboteurs in disguise. They are members of the West Lodge crime syndicate, who have been attempting to buy the Hive for a reduced price. Pangol takes control. He blows up the departing Foamasi shuttle, then enters the Generator - unaware that the Doctor has hidden himself inside also. It is the Doctor who gets duplicated and returned to his normal age. The duplicates are unstable and begin to vanish. Pangol re-enters the device, followed by the dying Mena. She emerges rejuvenated, with Pangol now a baby in her arms - thanks to the work of Romana and Hardin, with a little help from the TARDIS' Randomiser unit. It transpires that only the criminal Foamasi, trying to escape, had been killed by Pangol. Mena starts diplomatic talks with the Foamasi government agent - and determines to bring up Pangol a bit better next time...

This four part adventure was written by David Fisher, and was broadcast between 30th August and 20th September, 1980. It was the first story of Season 18, and is significant for a number of reasons. For some years John Nathan-Turner had worked as Production Unit Manager on the show - a role mainly concerned with finance and logistics in support of the Producer. Graham Williams had left after the stresses of the previous season, and JNT was eventually felt to be a suitable replacement. He, and one-time director on the show David Maloney, had stepped in to cover some of the production on Season 16 when Williams had been ill. However, he was inexperienced in many specific aspects of the programme, especially the creative. As such, Barry Letts was asked by Graeme McDonald, Head of Serials, to act as exec-producer for the first year - to help ease JNT into the role. Script editor Douglas Adams had also moved on - to concentrate on Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy in all its myriad forms, and so Christopher Hamilton Bidmead was brought in to replace him (Johnny Byrne had been first choice). He and Letts hit it off straight away - both determined to get rid of the fantasy elements (and under-graduate humour) that had crept in. Letts wanted the series to take itself more seriously, and both wanted more hard science to underpin the drama. JNT concurred, and had no intention of being bossed by his lead actor, and so they all embarked on a collision course with Tom Baker. Baker had a lot of respect for Letts - as he had given him the job in the first place - and quickly realised that the Fourth Doctor's number was up.
JNT had decided on a clean sweep. The theme music was rearranged by Peter Howell - using the Radiophonic Workshop's latest - and more contemporary - technology. Howell and his colleagues would take over all the incidental music as well. Sid Sutton provided a new title sequence - based on a star-field with a more recent image of Baker's face and a neon tube logo.
June Hudson came up with a new costume for the Doctor - in sombre, deep red shades. JNT informed her she could get rid of the scarf, but she decided to retain the basic shape of the familiar outfit.

John Leeson was brought back to voice K9 for its final year - as JNT and Bidmead were determined to get rid of it. The Doctor should get out of trouble using his own ingenuity - and not have his own personal mobile weapon. K9 had actually undergone an expensive refit after Season 17 - including replacing the wheels with caterpillar tracks. On its first outing, however, the shingle beach at Brighton defeated it, and it can be clearly seen on screen that it is the lightweight dummy prop being pulled along by nylon wires. Regular operator Nigel Brackley was not present, as his boss at Slough Radio Control was in dispute with the BBC over the costs of the refit at the time.
That the programme has a new look is evident from the beginning (and I don't just mean the titles). Director Lovett Bickford opens the first episode with a slow panning shot across the beach - taking in a number of brightly coloured beach tents before the camera reaches the similarly shaped TARDIS. "Oh, we do like to be beside the seaside" plays plaintively in the background, with Tom Baker's snores becoming ever louder as we approach the ship. (Baker had actually just flown back to the UK on the morning this was shot and was terribly jet-lagged - so not much acting required).
Stylistically, we had never seen a shot like this before - and it does succeed in stamping JNT's (and Bickford's) mark on the show. Of course the shock of the new only ever works first time, and the sequence is regarded as rather boring now. If it's boring you are after - wait 'til we get to Argolis...
Yes, the actual story isn't that great. There is very little incident. The science (Tachyonics) gets mentioned just a bit too much. The new regime have sucked all the joy out of the programme.
Good things: Lalla Ward's Edwardian schoolboy bathing suit (very Death In Venice), some good video effects, and a very good cast. Musically, I quite like the bombastic shuttle arrival theme.

Morix is played by Laurence Payne, who had previously appeared as Johnny Ringo in The Gunfighters. Mena is Adrienne Corri (a Hammer films stalwart). Pangol is portrayed by David Haig, who has since gone on to great things on TV, film and stage. Hardin is Nigel Lambert, and Brock is John Collin. Usually, non-speaking roles don't get a credit, but Ian Talbot - as Klout -does.
I suppose I should say a word about the Foamasi. That word is "rubbish".
Episode endings are:

1. The Doctor has gone into the Tachyon Recreation Generator - and on the video screen appears to have had his limbs torn from his body...
2. The Doctor emerges from the Generator as a wizened old man...
3. The Foamasi agent attacks Brock - tearing away his face and suit to reveal another Foamasi...
4. With a rejuvenated Mena taking charge on Argolis, the Doctor and Romana slip away...

Overall, a lot of cosmetic changes on view. It is still the same programme underneath, and Tom Baker is still the Doctor. Great shame the story itself can't live up to the new look.

Things you might like to know:

• There is a new TARDIS prop - this time made out of fibreglass rather than wood. It doesn't have the flat roof of its predecessor (introduced back in Masque of Mandragora).
• At heart the story is taken from gangster books and movies. Foamasi is an anagram of Mafiosa. They are running the business down through sabotage so they can buy it up cheap.
• The off screen problems of Season 17 had not gone away when this story was recorded. Tom Baker and Lalla Ward were in conflict throughout, and there is a lovely out-take on the DVD of this story where we get to see the "controlled fury" of Mr Baker when he is not happy with the time it is taking to film a scene.
• The Quantel VFX system is used for the first time - allowing for the first ever materialisation of the TARDIS in a moving shot. (Up to this point, roll-back-and-mix always necessitated a static shot).
• Lovett Bickford went so over-budget he was never asked back. JNT got an official reprimand for the budget issue.
• Previously, John Leeson had had his voice modulated electronically to portray K9, but for his final series he uses his own, unmodified vocals.
• ITV elected to launch glossy US TV series Buck Rogers in Britain on Saturday 30th August 1980 - i.e. right opposite part one. It tempted a lot of viewers away from Doctor Who (resulting in episode four dropping out of the top 100 programmes for the week for the first time ever), until people realised how crap it was.
• The Audio-Go version of the novelisation for this story is another one of those where David Fisher has written it as he would have liked it to have been, rather than how it was.
• The Randomiser makes its final appearance in the TARDIS. More of this wonderful gizmo shortly...
• A criticism that has always dogged this story is how could the bulky Foamasi fit into the Brock & Klout disguises. Such a pity Fisher did not think of Gas Exchangers, as RTD would a quarter of a century later. We could have had farting Foamasi...
• Those bloody awful question marks appear for the first time...

Ian Fairbairn

Very sorry to hear that actor Ian Fairbairn has passed away (on Tuesday 2nd December).
He guested in four Doctor Who stories - three of them highly regarded. The first was the early Troughton story The Macra Terror (as Questa). Not so highly regarded an adventure but the next three appearances were all for director Douglas Camfield. He was the cowardly and ineffectual International Electromatics scientist Gregory in The Invasion; technician Bromley - who becomes a Primord in both this Universe and the parallel one - in Inferno; and finally (hidden in a parka in a blizzard so you'd be hard pushed to recognise him) as Dr. Chester in episode 3 of The Seeds of Doom.
He features prominently amongst the DVD extras for all the Camfield stories.
RIP.

Underwater Menace for 2015

Looks as if we are finally going to get the DVD release of The Underwater Menace sometime next year. BBC DVD have said so, and confirmed that the missing two episodes will be animated - so not sure what that means for the great "Omni-rumour" debate. The excuse for the delay is put down to them "spreading their output effectively". Sounds like another word for shoemakers to me.
Are we finally going to get some more Special Editions? Perhaps more Blu-ray releases. Remember, a SE of Earthshock was strongly rumoured to be on the cards back in 2013. We are still waiting for the second half of that "Tales From TV Centre" documentary that began on The Visitation SE after all.

Last Christmas - Radio Times

Yesterday (Thursday 4th December) saw the traditional Doctor Who Christmas Special cover for the Radio Times. In recent years, it has never gained the cover of the actual Xmas / New year double issue (few programmes ever get that honour - usually it is a more generic festive image, though there have been DW elements included in the past). The DW Special has tended to get the cover of the issue immediately before, and that goes the same for this year.
Inside there is a pair of interviews - one with Nick Frost and one with Steven Moffat. SM does not give much away - save that Santa will be introduced in a "science fiction" way - so he isn't the magical / legendary figure after all. Looking ahead to Series 9, he will only confirm that Michelle Gomez has been asked back to reprise Missy at some point.
It is that time of the year when multiple issues of RT overlap in the shops. The double issue covering Xmas and New Year is out tomorrow - with a Peter Capaldi interview.

Story 5M - Shada

In which the Doctor, Romana and K9 would have visited Cambridge University - responding to a call from the Doctor's old friend and fellow Time Lord, Professor Chronotis...
Sadly, we were never to see this story in its entirety, but can enjoy the scenes that were filmed on DVD, with linking material by Tom Baker and special effects commissioned by John Nathan Turner for the VHS release. Alternatively, you can listen to the Big Finish version which replaces the Fourth Doctor with the Eighth. Or you can read Gareth Roberts' novelisation, based on what there is of the story plus writer Douglas Adams' notes.

The Doctor parks the TARDIS in Professor Chronotis' rooms at St Cedd's College - where he himself once studied for a while. He and Romana go punting on the Cam whilst they await the Professor's return. Meanwhile, on the Think Tank research station in deep space, a scientist named Skagra uses a spherical device to drain the mental energies of his colleagues. He then travels to Earth in a spaceship which lands near the University town, rendering itself invisible. Skagra sets off in search of the Professor also. As he passes them, the Doctor and Romana hear strange whispered voices. A third person seeking Chronotis is his student Chris Parsons, who is looking to borrow a book. The Professor, an extremely eccentric character, allows him to take a few volumes and, after he has left, the Doctor and Romana return. Eventually Chronotis remembers why he asked the Doctor to come here. He borrowed a certain book when he left Gallifrey, and needs the Doctor to return it. The book is "The Worshipful And Ancient Law of Gallifrey", and the Doctor is appalled as he knows that all Gallifreyan books are extremely dangerous in the wrong hands - having unusual properties. The Doctor and Romana search the bookshelves, but cannot find it - as it was earlier borrowed in error by Chris. The Doctor goes off to find him, and Skagra arrives soon after - seeking the book. He uses the mind-draining sphere to attack Chronotis.

Romana had been off looking for milk when Skagra attacked, but she and K9 are able to help maintain Chronotis' basic life functions. He uses his heartbeats, morse-code fashion, to warn them of Skagra and the sphere before dying. The Doctor locates the book which has been studied by Chris and his colleague Clare Keightley. Whilst returning the volume to St Cedd's, he is attacked by Skagra and the sphere - but rescued by Romana. The Doctor, Romana and Chris go to find Skagra's ship, along with K9. They are captured. Skagra takes a copy of the Doctor's mind using the sphere - as Chronotis had failed to tell him what he wanted to know.  Skagra forces Romana to accompany him in the TARDIS to a waiting spaceship, belonging to the brutal Krargs - a crystalline lifeform. The Doctor, Chris and K9 follow in Skagra's ship. Clare turns up at St Cedd's looking for Chris - and meets the Professor, now dressed in his night-shirt and cap. It transpires that these rooms are his disguised TARDIS, and it intervened to save his life. He links with Clare telepathically to help him operate the ship. College porter Wilkins is shocked when he discovers that the rooms have disappeared.
The Doctor and Chris visit the Think Tank and see Skagra's old colleagues - now totally mindless. With K9's help, they beat off an attack by the Krargs.

Skagra's plans are soon revealed. The Gallifreyan book is a key to finding Shada - the Time Lord prison world whose existence is hidden from everyone, including the Time Lords themselves. One of the inmates is a criminal named Salyavin, who possessed incredible mental powers. Skagra wants to steal his mind so that he can use these powers to project his own mind into every sentient being in the Universe.
Everyone reaches Shada where it is found that Salyavin's cell is empty. Chronotis reveals that he is Salyavin. Skagra uses the mind-controlled inmates of the prison to attack the Doctor and his friends. Romana destroys the Krargs and the Doctor builds a device which stops the inmates - as his own mind is mixed in with the controlling force. Skagra seeks refuge on his ship, which promptly imprisons him - having earlier fallen under the Doctor's influence. The inmates are returned to Shada, and the book to the Time Lords. Chronotis' TARDIS returns to Cambridge in time for afternoon tea - to the further consternation of Wilkins.

Douglas Adams' six part adventure should have closed Season 17. As it was, it fell to the underwhelming Horns of Nimon to mark the ending of Graham Williams' tenure as producer, Adams' own tenure as script editor, and to see the departures of Dudley Simpson as "court composer" and David Brierley's interpretation of K9's voice.
What director Pennant Roberts was able to film, before industrial action intervened, were all the location sequences in and around Cambridge as well as the first of the studio blocks. These involved the scenes set in Chronotis' study cum TARDIS, Skagra's spaceship cell, and the Think Tank set - both when Skagra is first seen and later, when it is derelict and the scientists are all wizened old men.
As such, most of the first two episodes are intact, we get to see one sequence involving the Krargs, and Skagra's ultimate fate is also recorded for posterity. Visual effects model shots were also filmed at Ealing.
The location shoot was also affected by industrial action. The entire chase sequence with the Doctor on his bike was planned as a night shoot, and had to be hastily rearranged for daytime when the lighting men downed tools. The studio sessions were cancelled after a union demarcation dispute over the Play School clock - i.e. which union was responsible for operating it.
Several attempts were made to complete the story, but a backlog of high profile light entertainment Christmas Specials made this impossible. The story was officially abandoned in June 1980. 1992 saw the VHS release of the existing material with Tom Baker filling in the gaps - filmed at the Doctor Who exhibit at London's Museum of the Moving Image on the South Bank (sadly no longer in existence). 2013 saw a DVD release.
The punting sequence from the first episode was used in The Five Doctors, once it was known that Tom Baker would not be taking part.
For a fascinating first hand account of the filming of Shada, pick up a copy of Steve Cambden's book The Doctor's Affect (FX Fanzines, 1999).

Cast wise, Christopher Neame portrayed Skagra. He is hampered in the first scenes by the most ridiculously camp silver and white "space-age" costume with big floppy hat. From the little we see, I think he would have gone down as a very good villain, however. A pity they didn't get him back to do something else. Chronotis is Denis Carey, and luckily we get to see a lot of his wonderful performance. A lovely turn as the doddery old Time Lord who turns to steel in later episodes. Being a Douglas Adams script, there is great dialogue throughout, and Carey gets some of the best lines. My favourite is, when told about the strange garbled voices heard by the Doctor and Romana whilst punting: "... Oh, probably undergraduates talking to each other. I'm trying to have it banned." Carey would get another couple of chances on the programme - he is The Keeper of Traken, and the public face of the Borad in Timelash.
Chris Parsons is played by Daniel Hill, who met his wife-to-be on the production (Olivia Bazalgette - production assistant). Clare Keightley is Victoria Burgoyne. This should have been her first big TV role. Wilkins is Gerald Campion - famous for portraying the mischievous schoolboy Billy Bunter on TV in the 1950's.
Episode endings would have been:

1. Skagra is informed by the Krarg commander that his Carrier Ship is prepared...
2. Pursued through the streets by the sphere, the Doctor becomes trapped under a gate...
3. Believing the Doctor and his friends to be already dead, Skagra's ship turns off their oxygen supply...
4. In the Think Tank, K9 is unable to hold back the Krarg any longer, and it lumbers towards the Doctor...
5. The mind-controlled inmates of Shada advance on the Doctor and his friends...
6. Wilkins has brought a policeman to St Cedd's - only to find the missing rooms have returned. The TARDIS dematerialises before their eyes...

Overall, I suspect Shada would have gone down as a good story - maybe a very good one, but I can't quite see greatness in it. The Krargs are a rubbish design, and some of the later unfilmed sequences might have struggled with the FX of the day. Good performances from what we can see, however, and witty dialogue.

Things you would have liked to know:

• The inmates of Shada were to have included some monster cameos - including a Zygon, Dalek and Cyberman.
• Skagra's scientist colleagues on the Think Tank all have names relating to volcanoes - Thira, Akrotiri, Santori, Caldera. Indeed, the same Greek volcano.
• Adams reused elements from Shada in his novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.
• Chronotis' TARDIS is only the third we have seen the interior of in the programme, other than the Doctor's - and the first not to appear to have a central control console (unless it is in the kitchen...). The Monk's and the Master's were invariably redressed versions of the Doctor's. We never got to see any of the other rogue Time Lords' ships up to this point (Omega, Morbius, Drax, War Chief).
• Skagra comes from the planet Dronid - which was once ruled by a schismatic Time Lord President (Morbius?) - hence his knowledge of the Time Lords.
• Chronotis' body disappears when he dies. Up until The Name of the Doctor, this might be what was expected when a Time Lord finally expires - their body as well as their mind totally subsumed to the Matrix back on Gallifrey. Clare's tampering with his ship causes him to be brought back. As he says, by way of an explanation: "Think of me as a paradox in an anomaly, and get on with your tea...".

Last Christmas - transmission details confirmed.

After all those late evening starts for Peter Capaldi's first series, for UK viewers at least, the 2014 Xmas Special will be going out at 6.15pm on the 25th of December - according to the Radio Times. Appearing at his first ever convention at the weekend - in aid of Janet Fielding's charity Project Motormouth - Capaldi described the Special as "scary and jolly". Being Xmas, and with a much earlier time-slot, I suspect more jolly than scary - though the Radio Times describes the aliens which threaten an Arctic base as looking like Aliens.
After meeting Robin Hood a couple of months ago, could Santa really be the Santa? Some of the speculation currently doing the rounds has him either (a) the Meddling Monk, (b) the White Guardian, or (c) an Eternal.
The DVD / Blu-ray of Last Christmas is already available to pre-order, due for release on 26th January 2015.