What's Wrong With... Aliens of London / World War Three

Let's start with the way in which the government of the United Kingdom works. There's been a big incident - a spaceship crashing in central London. In any national crisis, a meeting of COBRA is convened - the name deriving from Cabinet Office Briefing Room A. The make-up of this meeting would depend on the nature of the incident, but here we would expect to see the Prime Minister taking the lead, and the other relevant Government Ministers would be the Secretary of Defence and the Home Secretary. There would also be senior representatives of the Police, military and health services. In the absence of the PM, the Deputy PM would lead. The official residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the third most senior government minister, is right next door to 10 Downing Street.

Even with the PM disposed of, there are an awful lot of people who would be convening before you would ever get to the bunch we see here.

The Opposition parties could have intervened if they didn't like the leadership of the country falling to so lowly a figure as Green.

Martial Law would have been instituted long before such a junior minister got to assume the Premiership.

No-one seems to link the disappearance of the PM with the arrival of the spaceship. Rather than be allowed to take part in the inner circle leading the government, Margaret Blaine is more likely to have been arrested on suspicion of being involved in his disappearance - being responsible for tracking his movements and seemingly the last person to see him. Likewise Oliver Charles.

How does someone like Dr Sato know about his disappearance, when people actually based in Downing Street are just confused about the situation? (Okay, so we'll later find out that she works for Torchwood and may have special access to information, but that's a long way off yet. This actually creates a bigger problem, as we'll find out that Torchwood have a whole tower full of people in Docklands, whilst she's based away in Cardiff - so what is she doing here anyway?).

Even with roads grid-locked, there are such things as helicopters. Horse Guards Parade would make an ideal landing site. There's also access to Westminster via the Thames.

Unless the Slitheen have gotten rid of all of the people mentioned above, a meeting could be held remotely if the key personnel couldn't physically attend - so government would continue to function. That's the whole point of COBRA - to manage the crisis and to ensure continuity of government.

We later see all the alien experts like UNIT arrive at Number 10, followed later by a whole bunch of other disguised Slitheen. If they could make it through the streets, then surely a lot of the genuine key figures could do so.

Also, COBRA meetings don't usually take place in Downing Street anyway - hence the name. There are far more secure places in Westminster for such meetings to take place.

The story begins with the Doctor bringing Rose home a year late - causing all sorts of emotional problems for her mother and boyfriend.

In a few weeks time, we'll see the Doctor happily take Rose back multiple times to see her father on the day he dies - so why does he not simply bundle her back into the TARDIS and cancel this out by getting her back on the right date? It can't be anything to do with crossing his own time stream or meddling with past events if he has no problem doing it in Father's Day.

The Missing Persons posters give Rose's age as 18, but a whole year has passed, so Jackie should surely have said that she is 19 now if they are freshly printed ones (and we see she has a pile in her flat). The one the Doctor removes to read can't be an old one, as it would never have survived 12 months outdoors in London due to weather, being plastered over, or vandalism.

There's no computer or internet at Rose's home - she had to go to Mickey's to use his - yet they get a US TV news station. (The Iraq War was televised primarily through US footage - but that was shown through BBC and ITN broadcasts. We didn't all magically get CNN in the UK).

The Doctor and Rose are captured after setting foot outside the TARDIS. A helicopter somehow manages to materialise immediately above them, but they don't hear it approach. The Doctor was in the TARDIS because he wanted to run some scans - yet these didn't pick up the helicopter.

Also, Mickey is with them at the time, and he manages to evade capture - despite them surely being surrounded by armed police / soldiers and observed from the helicopter above...

There are timeframe issues with the story - such as Mickey spotting the Doctor and rushing to Jackie's flat at 10pm, whilst the Doctor is then seen with Sato at 10.55pm. Did it take him nearly an hour to get to the hospital?

There's bright sunshine when the TARDIS arrives. It's March, so it can't be very early. The spaceship crashes into Big Ben at 9.50am - which means that the Doctor has only been questioned about a possible abduction for only an hour or so. Why did this take place in Jackie's flat anyway, and not down the police station?

I say the ship crashes at 9.50am, but as everyone knows they decided to flip the image and the numerals on the clock face are back to front.

The Doctor only gets flagged up on government security systems after Jackie reports him (which she takes all day to do) - yet he's been questioned by police for a while that very morning. Does the alert system only function if a crisis has already begun? As his arrival usually precipitates a national / global calamity, wouldn't it make more sense to have it search for mention of him all the time, rather than wait until after trouble has already arrived?

Talking of IT issues, the idea that UNIT have a one word password that lets you locate nuclear submarines and fire its missiles is an astonishingly stupid one.

Last, but by no means least, the Slitheen decide to discard their skin-suits to answer the phone call from the UN about access to the nuclear weapons. Not only does this mean that they no longer sound human - and they're taking a call, remember - but they have massive claws in their natural state. How do they propose to pick up the receiver...?

Blog Update - Holidays

Just to give you plenty of notice, but I've got some holidays coming up next month - two trips back-to-back in the second half of September. This will mean there won't be any regular posts after Thursday 10th September until the beginning of October. I'll put up a reminder before I go.

Episode 222: The Invasion (3)

Synopsis:

The Doctor and Jamie are in the warehouse area of the IE building, having heard Zoe and Isobel cry out. They are challenged by security guards, led by Packer. Jamie attacks him and they make for the exit - only to encounter more guards. Packer approaches, pistol drawn...

He is prevented from harming them by the sudden appearance of Vaughn. He does not deny that the two young women were here, but claims they left. Jamie insists that they heard them call out, and he saw Zoe's feather boa sticking out of one of the large metal cylinders. Vaughn invites them to search and they move away, but Packer quickly orders the freight train carrying these containers to leave immediately.

By the time the Doctor and Jamie reach the platform, the train is already on its way.

Vaughn explains that it is going down to his factory in the country, and states that he himself is going there now. They can come with him and inspect the containers on their arrival.

They take to Vaughn's Rolls Royce outside the offices and drive off. 

This has been observed by Corporal Benton, who reports back to the Brigadier at UNIT HQ.

Asked if he and Tracy should follow, the Brigadier instead instructs Sergeant Walters to send a helicopter to track them. On board will be Captain Turner.

He soon reports seeing the car enter the IE compound, and is advised to remain in the area.

The Doctor and Jamie are taken to Vaughn's office - which is identical to the one in London. He explains that uniformity is a key part of his business efficiency.

Vaughn tries to get information from the Doctor about the TARDIS circuits, which his own people have failed to explain. He then leaves to arrange for them to meet with Professor Watkins.

Jamie is worried that he is being far too nice to them, whilst the Doctor is more concerned about his interest in the circuits. Both are curious as to why Vaughn is letting them speak with Watkins.

Vaughn and Packer are in the professor's workshop, threatening to use Isobel to force him to collaborate with them.

The Doctor is looking out of the window and is intrigued to see a number of large white domes at the edge of the compound, of the sort which house long-range tracking systems. Jamie notices the UNIT helicopter in the distance.

They are then taken to see Watkins. He knows of the Doctor through Anne Travers, and wants to hear more about the TARDIS. The Doctor evades his questioning and produces a magnet from his pocket, which he uses to disable an electronic eye which has been spying on them. They then learn of the professor's work on a teaching machine he calls the Cerebratron Mentor, which induces emotional impulses.

Vaughn and Packer see the monitor in his office reduced to static. Vaughn had hoped to learn more of how his allies could know of the Doctor, and his presence on an alien planet. He has deduced that the Doctor must have some sort of travel machine, and the strange circuits are part of this.

He decides that the time to play games with them is over as he and Packer go to the workshop and remove the Doctor and Jamie, threatening Zoe if they won't co-operate with him.

As they are marched towards a lift, the Doctor causes a distraction. Packer is shoved aside and they enter the lift and ascend to the upper levels. The Doctor sabotages the controls so that it can't be brought back down.

Packer has guards sent to every level - unaware that the Doctor and Jamie have exited the lift through a hatch in its ceiling and are climbing a ladder up the shaft to the roof of the building.

When the lift controls are overridden, Packer is surprised to find it empty - but Vaughn is furious with him for failing to realise that they would have gotten out the way they did. Packer sends the lift up to the top of the building - hoping to crush them, despite Vaughn wishing them to be taken unharmed - but they are already safely outside.

They find a fire escape and climb down to ground level. Packer is forced to report to Vaughn of his failure to capture them on the roof - infuriating him further. 

The entire compound is put on full alert.

The Doctor and Jamie have found their way to the railyard. As Packer and his men approach, they decide to hide in one of the freight cars - Jamie climbing inside one of the metal cylinders, which appear to contain large cocooned objects.

He is shocked to discover that he is not alone in the darkness of the container. There is something alive, stirring within the cocoon...

Data:

Written by Derrick Sherwin (from a story by Kit Pedler)

Recorded: Friday 4th October 1968 - Lime Grove Studio D

First broadcast: 5.15pm, Saturday 16th November 1968

Ratings: 7.1 million / AI 54

VFX: Bill King & Trading Post

Designer: Richard Hunt

Director: Douglas Camfield

Additional cast: Edward Burnham (Professor Watkins) 

Critique:

In writing The Invasion, Derrick Sherwin first concentrated on the opening few episodes, which are the ones which more closely resemble a conventional spy thriller. The action concentrates on Tobias Vaughn and his henchman Packer, with the Doctor investigating International Electromatics with only Jamie as companion. Zoe has been side-lined in the plot, with Isobel, and doesn't feature at all this week.

We are only drip fed the information that Vaughn has less than conventional allies. There's the strange machine hidden in his office, which alerts him to the fact that the Doctor is known to it and has been seen on an alien planet. This pins down who might be behind all this, and the voice of the Cyber-Director would probably have given the game away for those who might not have read the Radio Times for the week of the first episode. The Brigadier and UNIT have been introduced, but they are very much sitting on the side-lines for now - held back until the invaders finally show themselves, though they will have something exciting to do in the fourth instalment.

This week, we move away from London to IE's rural compound. Visually, there's not a lot of difference as the same locations are used, and Vaughn likes his offices to look identical.

We get one new character introduced - Professor Watkins, whose disappearance got the Doctor into this in the first place. As mentioned last time, he was initially going to appear in Episode Two but his first appearance was kept back until now.

Filming for this episode began on Thursday 5th September, at Kingston Minerals in Gloucestershire. This was for scenes involving the UNIT helicopter which tracked Vaughn's Rolls Royce - a Silver Cloud. The 'copter was an Alouette supplied by Gregory Air Services, who had previously contributed to Fury From The Deep. A nearby field was used, and close-ups of Robert Sidaway (Capt. Turner) in the machine were filmed on the ground from a low angle.

The following day saw the crew move to Associated British Maltsters at Wallingford, for the sequence where the Doctor and Jamie climb down a fire escape. The company provided a modern office block and more railway sidings. This filming made the local press.

On Saturday 7th, Troughton, Hines, Stoney and Halliday were filmed exiting Millbank Tower and getting into Vaughn's Rolls Royce. Hines would later borrow the vehicle to drive around London to impress his friends.

Last time, we mentioned that Troughton, Hines and the crew had finished filming in Notting Hill on Wednesday 11th September, and moved to Acton - the location of the Guinness Brewery. This had been identified by local resident Chris D'Oyly John who was Production Assistant on the story (pictured below right).

They arrived in time for lunch, which included several bottles of the company's famous product. The visitors were gifted Guinness Christmas Puddings. (Troughton would later report that the alcohol fumes caused his to explode). Troughton organised a water fight after the meal. Everyone got a little merry, but fortunately only some action scenes were required from the cast that afternoon, with no dialogue.

For one scene where the Doctor and Jamie had to peer round the corner of a building, both actors kept falling over.

The final filming for Episode Three took place at Ealing on Friday 13th September, for the sequence where the Doctor and Jamie climb up the lift shaft. "Kilroy Was Here" graffiti was added to the set for a touch of verisimilitude. This had been at the suggestion of Hines who argued that British workmen would do this sort of thing, after Douglas Camfield had initially objected.

Prior to recording on Friday 4th October, a few script amendments were made - including Packer using a wrist-mounted communicator instead of a conventional telephone next to the lift.

Watkins was described as short, bald and short-sighted.

The US Information Office supplied footage of an Early Warning System, which would be used when the Doctor spied on it from Vaughn's office. This was viewed through a circular mask to indicate the Doctor's POV through his telescope.

The compound office was simply the existing London set with a new backdrop behind the window blinds. As well as saving on creating a new set, this obviously tied in with Vaughn's ultra-efficiency through uniformity nature.

John Levene had been hired to play Benton in this episode, but did not feature on screen - only providing a radio narrative for the Brigadier.

Recording breaks were mainly for cast movements. The last was for Hines to move from the cylinder prop to another which had a cutaway section, for his close-up as he sees the object within the cocoon begin to stir.

"Our friend the Doctor's a resourceful man. No wonder our allies fear him".

"Our allies know him?"

"Oh yes, I was ordered to destroy him. But first I must learn the secrets of this extraordinary machine of his"

"If you've been ordered to destroy him - "

"I don't take orders, Packer, I give them!..."

"You know something? You're a clever wee chappie".

This episode is really about two pairs of characters - a couple of double acts. One is humourless and regimented, the other funny and anarchic. 

The Brigadier does feature briefly and we get to meet Professor Watkins, who gets two scenes - one with each of these pairs, and which very much highlight their different characteristics.

Vaughn and Packer are deadly serious (though Vaughn has a smirking charm about him). Vaughn threatens, and Packer bullies. We also get to see how the boss is infuriated at the incompetence of his underling (which takes us back to why he not only employs him, but seems to rely on him a great deal. Last week we also met Gregory, who doesn't exactly inspire confidence as a head of research). 

There is some humour to be had from watching Packer becoming increasingly exasperated at what is his own incompetence. 

The Doctor and Jamie, meanwhile, do what they do best - get into trouble then find clever ways to get out of it. It's very clear that Troughton and Hines are completely in tune with each other as performers. Hines has said as much in interviews, claiming they could each tell what the other was thinking - and this sometimes comes across with their characters. They've not only worked together solidly since The Highlanders, but they had acted opposite each other in previous drama productions. 

Troughton and Kevin Stoney were both character actors, who had found steady work in supporting roles. Halliday had been a leading man for a time, starring in low budget British movies such as Dilemma (a suburban thriller written by Pip & Jane Baker) as well as on TV in the two Andromeda serials. 

Hines had been a juvenile lead, but at this stage in his career was being pressured by his agent to get into films, so was hoping to land leading (or more prominent supporting) roles.

We're concentrating on the main characters this week, as it's another episode which is really treading water. 

We're biding our time until Vaughn's allies make themselves known, and the promised invasion gets under way. All that's really happened is that we've moved from one location to another, which in many ways is identical to what we've already seen so far. 

Being a technocrat, it was easy to have him obsessed with uniformity and duplication - so that his offices would have the same overall design and layout (which was obviously a blessing for the designer and for the budget).

One new element of significance is the work which Watkins is being forced to carry out for Vaughn. A machine which generates emotional impulses. 

It's a 'Chekov's Gun' - introduced now because it must have some relevance later. 

Edward Burnham will get a very good scene with Kevin Stoney later, but otherwise the professor's invention is the character's only real contribution to the story. You can see why they decided it wasn't really worthwhile hiring Jack Watling again. 

Trivia:

• The ratings remain stable, with the appreciation figure actually rising by a point.
• Edward Burnham will return to the series as another professor - Kettlewell - in Robot.
• There is some confusion as to just what the professor's invention is called. I've gone with what appears in DWM's The Complete History. A transcript site has "Cerebraton", whilst the TARDIS wiki insists on "Cerebration". Burnham certainly doesn't pronounce it as "Cerebration".
• Packer presses Floor 3 to get to Watkins' workshop - yet Jamie declares that they are 6 floors up when he and the Doctor first escape into the lift, having just come from the workshop...
• The Guinness company's in-house magazine covered the filming at Acton, including a photograph of Troughton and Hines with some of the workers:

Blake's 7 Season 3

In the absence of any news on the next Doctor Who - The Collection box-set, we can at least look forward to Season 3 of Blake's 7 coming this Autumn. This is the first one following the departure of the title character, so Paul Darrow's Avon really comes to the fore.

As with the previous seasons, there's plenty of Doctor Who crossover in terms of guest stars and even the odd prop and costume.

Each episode comes with brand new VFX. There were a few very good model shots in the broadcast episodes, but generally I was always disappointed in the standard of effects in the series (like the Federation Pursuit Ships and even the Liberator itself looking like cardboard cut-outs).

There are usually a lot of excellent extras.

No confirmed release date yet - Season 2 came out in November last year. It has been on pre-order on the usual sites since March, RRP in the UK £39.99.

As for the next Doctor Who box-set, well that was expected late October, going by previous years - but the Autumn release was usually advertised before now. 

All but one of the outstanding seasons has major technical issues to resolve or missing episodes which have yet to be animated (and the stand-alone animations have pretty much dried up it seems). 

It may well be the case that we are only going to get one release a year going forward. The one season which is relatively "good to go" is the one most people do think will be next - Season 16, the Key to Time. 

Whichever one comes next, I just hope that they lay off the AI picture "enhancements", which have been universally criticised...

R is for... Rattigan

Luke Rattigan was a teenage scientific genius, best known for inventing ATMOS, a system which effectively removed carbon dioxide from vehicle emissions. 

He had begun by inventing new computer software aged only 10, and by 12 he had created the successful Fountain Six search engine.

He used his wealth to set up a private academy in North London, which accepted only the most gifted of students. Much of the work they did was around space exploration, including terraforming technology.

He had secretly entered into a partnership with the Sontarans, who sought to exploit Earth's pollution to turn it into a clone-breeding planet as part of their long-running war against the Rutans. ATMOS was really designed to pump out the gases necessary to change the atmosphere of the planet. 

It also had a built-in satellite navigation system, which could be overridden to eliminate anyone who tried to investigate what Rattigan was doing, such as journalist Jo Nakashima.

General Staal of the Tenth Sontaran Battle Fleet had a flagship in hidden orbit above London, and had set up a teleport unit at Rattigan's academy, as well as another at the ATMOS factory. 

The latter was investigated by UNIT after a number of simultaneous deaths globally, all involving the device.

Rattigan had been promised a new life with his students on the planet Castor 36. 

When ATMOS was activated across the planet, he found that his students were unwilling to abandon their families and follow him. When he reported this to Staal, he was shocked to learn that the Sontarans had never intended to honour their promise.

The Doctor elected to use a terraforming device to destroy the Sontaran flagship, even though it would mean his own death. Seeking revenge, his dreams of a new society shattered, Rattigan swapped places with him at the last moment and activated the device.

Played by Ryan Sampson. Appearances: The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky (2008)

• Sampson began his acting career at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, but is best known for long running TV comedy roles, including Brassic and Plebs.
• He was a fictionalised Charles Dickens in The Frankenstein Chronicles, and played Dudley Moore in an episode of The Crown.
• More recently he has been seen as Mr Collins in The Other Bennet Sister.

R is for... Ratcliffe

An East End businessman who led an organisation known as The Association. Ratcliffe had been a supporter of Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists before the Second World War, leading to his imprisonment. The Association carried on many of its racist ideals. 

In 1963 he was running a builders merchant business in the Coal Hill area of Shoreditch.

One young member of the Association was Sergeant Mike Smith, who was attached to the Intrusions Counter-Measures Group, a specialist military force.

Together they worked with the Supreme, leader of a renegade Dalek faction, to obtain a stellar manipulator device which had been left in the area by the Doctor. This was the Hand of Omega, which had first helped give the Time Lords the power they needed to begin time travel experiments.

Ratcliffe allowed the Supreme to install its battle-computer in his office. This was operated by a schoolgirl under the Supreme's mental control.

His reward for helping the Daleks was the kind of fascist society he longed for, one in which he would have a leading role to play.

However, a second Dalek faction - loyal to the Emperor - also came in search of the Hand.

Through Mike, Ratcliffe was able to steal the remains of a destroyed Dalek to prevent the ICMG from investigating it. He then located the Hand, buried in a local cemetery, and had it dug up and moved to his yard.

Imperial Daleks attacked and seized it. When it became clear that the Daleks could not be trusted, Ratcliffe and Mike tried to steal the Supreme's time travel device to use as a bargaining chip. The schoolgirl had also been given special powers by the Daleks, including the ability to fire lethal energy bolts from her fingers. As Ratcliffe tried to flee, she killed him.

Played by George Sewell. Appearances: Remembrance of the Daleks (1988).

• Sewell (1924 - 2007) was best known for playing policemen or villains. 
• He came to acting only in his mid 30's through Joan Littlewood's company at Stratford East, after meeting actor Dudley Sutton in a pub. He appeared in the stage productions of Sparrers Can't Sing (and its film adaptation Sparrows Can't Sing) and Oh, What A Lovely War!.
• For Gerry Anderson, he played Colonel Alec Freeman in 17 episodes of UFO. 

R is for... Raston Warrior Robot

One of the most lethal killing machines in the universe, according to the Third Doctor. He and Sarah Jane Smith encountered one in the Death Zone on Gallifrey. It inhabited a cave on the far side of the mountain which loomed over the Dark Tower, tomb of Rassilon. This cave contained spare weapons, though it had many built-in. These included spears, a sword and razor sharp throwing discs. It moved with lightning speed, causing it to appear to vanish as it moved.

In appearance, it had a sleek silver body with a featureless mask. It may have been left over from the ancient war games instituted by Rassilon, or a recent arrival brought into the Zone by President Borusa using the Time Scoop.

The Doctor and Sarah witnessed a party of Cybermen wander into its territory. It quickly destroyed them all. The distraction allowed them to escape, the Doctor taking some steel rope from its cave with which to reach the top of the Tower.

Played by Keith Hodiak. Appearances: The Five Doctors (1983).

• Hodiak Hampden Sears (1950 - 2025) was a Guyana-born actor and dancer.
• He featured in the movies An American Werewolf in London, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Full Metal Jacket and Revenge of the Pink Panther, whilst TV roles included The Chronicles of Narnia and Are You Being Served?.
• The robot's origins are obscure, and the name doesn't help. Is it a robot created by Raston Warriors, or a Warrior Robot created by the Rastons? Or indeed a quite distinct autonomous robotic race?
• The non-fiction BBC book The Monster Vault claims that the name Raston derives from "Rassilon Automaton", suggesting they were created specifically for the Death Zone.
• Ironically, the costume was a reused version of the Cyberman sentinel androids seen in Earthshock.
• The Robot was a late addition to the script, replacing a sequence set in a village populated by Autons.