Frontios (S21 - The Collection)

Disc 3 covers Frontios, and it also has the option to watch with new VFX. 

The first thing you notice is the view of the planet on the TARDIS scanner. It was grey originally but is now red, to match the studio establishing shot of the crashed colony ship. This looks a lot better. We also have new meteorite effects.

For the scenes where Tegan, Turlough and Norna go up to the top of the ship with the acid battery, the sky is now reddish. It was an annoying brilliant white in the broadcast version.

Victims of the Tractators are still bathed in a purple light, but the creatures themselves now have a purple glow at the tip of their antennae when they use them. 

The biggest change comes with the sequence in which the Gravis reconstitutes the TARDIS in Part 4. As well as an overlaid video effect we have some CGI scenes of the rocks dissolving. We also get a glimpse of other parts of the TARDIS interior.

As well as a hitherto unseen area - almost TV Movie-ish - there's actually a glimpse of Kamelion in one of these. It was always an annoyance that he was never even referred to in any of the stories between The King's Demons and his departure in Planet of Fire, with one scene in The Awakening being deleted. He should certainly have been talked about when the TARDIS is seemingly destroyed in this story.

As far as the extras are concerned, the sofa panels all seemed to like this one. On the Fifth Doctor sofa for this story is Jeff Rawle, who played Plantagenet.

There is a short (3' 53") interview with Verity Lambert from the Did You See? programme as well as other TV spots and trailers.

A series I used to watch due to its sci-fi trappings was The Adventure Game. The butler always reminded me of the First Doctor. We have an instalment of it here, featuring Janet Fielding as one of the trio of competitors. I shan't say how she got on...

The Awakening (S21 - The Collection)

On to Disc 2 of the Season 21 Blu-ray box set, and The Awakening also offers viewers the chance to watch with new VFX. But if you're expecting any new Malus - big or small - you're in for disappointment. The only new effects concern the apparitions, getting rid of the blocky BBC Micro computer graphics and replacing them with twinkling lights. The phantoms also fade in and out in more satisfying fashion - but that's your lot. There's not a lot you could have done with the big face in the church, other than to give it more expression, but I did think they might have replaced the smaller creature which appears in the TARDIS. Even the church's destruction remains intact from the broadcast version - a none too bad model sequence.

This two-parter had a larger than usual percentage of location filming, and this is where this new remastered version really impresses. The footage looks great, and there's not really much more to say about this one - other than I think it is the best of the three Davison two-parters.

As the Behind the Sofa teams say, everyone really looks like they enjoyed making this. After the overly-lit studio work in the season opener, we have a lot more atmospheric lighting in the secret passages and church crypts designed by Barry Newbery - his final contribution to the show after joining it for the very first story back in November 1963. The BBC always excelled at historical costume drama, and this little story certainly benefits from that expertise.

Keith Jayne, who played Will Chandler, joins the Fifth Doctor sofa line-up for this one. Sadly he doesn't contribute much. Waterhouse and Padbury get competitive as to who was the greater genius - Adric or Zoe. It's a shame no-one pointed out to Padbury that writer Eric Pringle had Peter Bryant for an agent - the producer who cast her as Zoe.

This disc is the new home to The (TV) Centre of the Universe - originally split across two DVD releases.

A highlight of this disc - and of the set as a whole - is the Matthew Sweet conversation with Mark Strickson. Fascinating mainly due to the fact that he has led such an eventful life. As with all these items, there isn't a great deal of talk about Doctor Who, but in Strickson's case this is no big deal as his career, and personal life, have been so full of incident - especially his later vocation as a wildlife filmmaker. Definitely one of Sweet's more memorable interviews.

Warriors of the Deep Special Edition (S21 - The Collection)

On previous occasions, when it's come to The Collection box sets, I've waited until I've watched all the stories plus the extras before posting one big review of the whole set. This meant me not reviewing until almost 2 weeks had passed, by the time I'd worked through everything.

This time, as most of the stories of Season 21 have been given updated VFX and there is a lot of additional material, I thought I'd do it differently and post individually on each disc.

We start with Warriors of the Deep, which not only gives you the option of watching new effects but has been quite radically reworked.

Usually, new VFX means replacing model shots with CGI versions, but in this case all of Mat Irvine's model work is preserved. They've simply overlaid new effects to make the models look as though they really are underwater. The only CGI added is an exterior shot of Sea Base 4 with the missile silos opening in Part 4, plus internal shots of the base seen on the control room screen, depicting the missiles in their bay and a small internal harbour in which a mini-submarine can be seen.

The biggest change to the broadcast episodes is the total replacement of the Myrka. The only time you see the original costume is when the beast is already dead, and Nilssen falls on top of it.

The Myrka does other things now as well. Its first victim is killed by it lashing out its tongue to electrocute him.

The notorious scene in which Ingrid Pitt's Dr Solow attempts to kung-fu it is now quite different. We see only her begin her moves, then the Myrka lurches forward and snatches her up in its jaws. This scene was followed by a shot of the command disc lying on the floor, with the dead Solow's outstretched arm. The arm is now seen to be detached from the rest of her!

If you've read the recent DWM Chronicles 1984, you'll know that additional Silurian and Sea Devil material was filmed and edited into the episodes. This comprises mostly close-ups, either of them speaking or of their weaponry in action. All the weapons now fire VFX shots.

One thing you'll notice right away on watching is that the Silurians' third eyes no longer light up when they speak, and the rather squeaky voices have been deepened to make them sound more menacing.

The only time a third eye lights up is when Icthar uses it to show some clips from their previous stories on the control room screen, when he tells the Doctor about their earlier disastrous encounters with humanity.

The episodes have also been reedited to tighten up the pace, so there are fewer scenes of the Sea Devils ambling rather slowly down corridors.

We no longer see any wardrobe malfunctions either, of which there were several on view back in 1984. CGI has also been used to add the occasional eyeball movement to the Sea Devils.

One thing this Special Edition might have benefited from was an omnibus version, if they really wanted to make it feel more fast paced.

Of course, no amount of CGI and reediting can fix all of the problems. The sets are still over-lit, the performances variable, and the continuity errors with those earlier stories persist. Actually, The War Between the Land and the Sea now fits chronologically between this and The Sea Devils - but as that didn't feature the Doctor, the Myrka or Silurian battle-cruisers then those problems remain.

Apart from trailers and other brief TV spots, the only new extra for this story is its Behind the Sofa. They're doing it differently this time by having a guest actor from each story on the sofa with Peter Davison, Janet Fielding and Sarah Sutton. For this story we have Tara Ward, who played Preston.

The two other sofa line-ups comprise Matthew Waterhouse, Sophie Aldred and Wendy Padbury forming a companions one, and Colin Baker with his two companions, Bonnie Langford and Nicola Bryant, making up the third.

Having just watched the Special Edition, it is a little jarring to watch them watching the original broadcast version. It would have been nice to see their reaction to the new Myrka, but of course these panels will have been recorded long before that work was completed.

Personally I found the Aldred / Waterhouse / Padbury one the most entertaining. When one of them observes "Look at them trying to look macho, in their camp outfits", Waterhouse replies that they've just summed up 1980's Doctor Who in a nutshell...

It's a long time since I watched Warriors of the Deep, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I actually enjoyed watching it again, thanks to this new version. I know there are a lot of purists out there who are only interested in watching the original versions, but I really can't see myself ever revisiting the broadcast version.

Worth the price of the box set alone? Maybe not quite, but there are another 9 discs to come...

Episode 200: Fury From The Deep (3)

Synopsis:

The Doctor warns his friends not to touch the piece of seaweed they have found on the floor of the Harris' living quarters, pointing out that Victoria has said that it can move. He sends Harris back to the compound to arrange for Maggie to be transferred to its medical bay, then carefully collects up the seaweed - intending to take it to the TARDIS to examine it properly there.

As they leave, they fail to notice fronds of seaweed sprouting from the comatose Maggie's sleeve.

Van Lutyens informs Robson and the Chief Engineer that he is sure there is some living organism at the base of the impeller shaft, and it is this which is causing the blockages. Robson dismisses the idea and sticks to his own belief that it is a mechanical fault - even though they have all heard the heartbeat sound.

The TARDIS has drifted to shore. The seaweed sample has been taken into the Doctor's laboratory where Victoria is running some tests on a small piece of it - the rest being placed in a glass tank. They have discovered that it emits a toxic gas, and under the microscope see movement.

Harris learns from Price that their doctor still hasn't returned from D Rig, and communications are still down. Harris begins organising his wife's transfer to the medical bay, telling Van Lutyens and Robson that she has been poisoned by some form of gas. The latter is more concerned that Harris has lost their prisoners, whom he still believes to be saboteurs.

The impeller starts up again - only to stop moments later. Robson is becoming increasingly agitated by events and continues to ignore the Dutchman's advice to shut off the gas flow and conduct a thorough inspection. He accuses Harris and Van Lutyens of deliberately trying to damage his reputation.

He goes off to rest in his cabin for half an hour, and Van Lutyens lays out his plan for what they ought to do next - including locking down the compound and evacuating the rigs.

The Chief reluctantly agrees to approach Robson with their plan, hoping he will listen if they all present a united case.

In the TARDIS, the Doctor has found an old book which has an illustration of a ship being attacked by tentacles rising from the sea. It dates back to the 18th Century. Showing it to Victoria, she confirms that this resembles what she saw in the oxygen storeroom.

The main mass of seaweed they brought has been fed natural gas, and they suddenly discover that it has grown in size and is emitting toxic fumes. It threatens to climb out of its tank. Victoria screams and it retreats before the Doctor seals it in. He deduces that the creatures feed on natural gas, converting it to a toxic form.

Robson refuses to listen to Van Lutyens, Harris and the Chief, and they see that he is becoming increasingly unhinged. Van Lutyens approaches Price and asks him to contact his superiors in The Hague. He will ask them to put pressure on Robson's own superiors in London for action to be taken.

Mr Oak creeps along the corridor and locks Robson in his room, before operating the ventilation controls. Robson cries out for help as he smells the room begin to fill with gas.

Luckily Harris is nearby and he frees his boss - and spots seaweed tentacles and foam emerging from the vent just before he slams shut the door. Robson runs off.

The Doctor and his companions return to the Harris home and find it once again full of gas. The Doctor and Victoria go to the bedroom and find it full of foam, with a seaweed tentacle lashing around in its midst. Victoria screams and it retreats. They notice that the bed is empty, and assume that Maggie has been taken to the medical bay already.

They then hear a shout from Jamie, who had gone to the kitchen to check for the gas source. He has been forced to climb up onto a table as the room is filling up with foam. Another tentacle is reaching for him. The Doctor and Victoria mount an external set of stairs to the roof and open the kitchen skylight. They are able to pull Jamie to safety.

Harris takes Van Lutyens to Robson's room, but there is no trace now of gas or the creature responsible for it. The Dutchman still accepts his story, however.

He orders Harris to take charge and suggests Robson be found before he harms himself or causes any damage.

Harris notifies the Chief and Price that he is taking control, and instructs the latter to contact Megan Jones in London, British director of ESGO.

As they head back to the compound, Victoria expresses her disquiet about their lifestyle to the Doctor - how they are seemingly always being put in danger.

Harris announces that Jones will be here in a few hours, but worries how he is going to justify taking over. Robson was placed in charge here at Jones' insistence and she regards him highly.

The Doctor arrives and informs them of his findings regarding the seaweed creature. It is a parasite, which latches onto other organisms - including people - and produces the toxic gas as a means of defence.

Harris is then shocked to learn that his wife wasn't brought to the medical bay after all - and the Doctor tells him she wasn't at their home.

She is on the beach with Robson, her hands and face now covered in weed-like fronds. She confirms with him that he knows what he must do, before calmly walking out into the sea.

Robson watches silently from the shoreline, until she disappears beneath the waves...

Data:

Written by Victor Pemberton

Recorded: Saturday 9th March 1968 - Lime Grove Studio D

First broadcast: 5.15pm, Saturday 30th March 1968

Ratings: 7.7 million / AI 56

VFX: Peter Day

Designer: Peter Kindred

Director: Hugh David

Critique:

In the third of his scripts Victor Pemberton outlined the fact that seaweed was feeding on natural gas, which it then converted to a toxic form. Maggie was said to be transforming into a weed creature at the conclusion. Her infection was described as a "frond-like weed formation growing down her exposed arm", and later "a small formation of hair-like weed on her neck and face".

When the Doctor examined the weed sample in the TARDIS - "its tendrils hanging menacingly over the side of the edge of the tank, covered in foam" - he pressed a button and "the lights dimmed to near darkness as a flap on the wall reveals a projector screen. He presses another button and the microscope slide appears on the screen".

In his radio drama The Slide, the scientist Gomez (Roger Delgado) had examined some of the sentient mud in similar fashion using the local school's aquarium.

Derrick Sherwin rewrote a number of sequences including the rescue of Jamie from the kitchen, Robson's near breakdown in the impeller room, and Van Lutyens urging Harris to take charge.

This episode included more filming than the previous week.

On Tuesday 5th February the sequence was filmed at Botany Bay of Maggie (June Murphy) walking out into the sea, watched by Robson (Victor Maddern) which would form the cliff-hanger to the episode. Murphy, wearing latex seaweed make-up, did not realise that the shallows were so extensive and so had to go quite a way out into the freezing waters. She eventually had to go down on her knees and duck down under the water to fully submerge. She was then unable to hear the crew calling the end of the action, and someone had to wade out and fetch her.

Later that week filming moved to Ealing and the scene with the foam retreating from Victoria's scream at the Harris home was recorded - the film being reversed to show it withdrawing.

Use of the BBC foam machine in the TV studio would be difficult to manage (and dangerous, as the foam was water-based) so any scene involving it was mounted at Ealing where conditions could be better controlled. This included the sequence where Jamie is threatened by the foam in the Harris' kitchen, and his rescue by the Doctor and Victoria through the skylight. Putting ceilings on sets was a problem in studio as well, due to the need to light sets from overhead rigs and get microphones into position.

During the period of rehearsals for this instalment, additional filming took place at Ealing on Monday 4th - Wednesday 6th March for scenes which would go towards the climax to the final episode.

Doctor Who's 200th episode went into studio on the evening of Saturday 9th March. The session began with a re-enactment of the ending to the previous instalment, but then the episode proceeded with recording out of order. All of the scenes in the Harris' living quarters were recorded first.

The weed emerging from the vent in Robson's cabin as seen by Harris had been filmed earlier at Ealing along with the similar shot seen at the cliff-hanger to part one.

A new set this week was the TARDIS laboratory, seen for the first time. This was simply a small set with a television monitor on which the microscope slide could be shown - actually the same footage which had represented the fungus in The Web of Fear - plus a fish tank in which the latex weed prop could be held. Sherwin had reworked this scene just before recording.

Shortly after completing this episode Patrick Troughton accompanied Frazer Hines and Debbie Watling to a pub and told them about his wish to leave the series. However, he needed the regular income due to having two families to support, plus a large tax bill to pay. He already knew that Watling was leaving, and learned that Hines was also looking to go soon. Troughton then decided that he would stay in the role for one more year, by which time he would be financially stable. With his contract up for renewal that week, he asked for some better conditions such as an extra week for filming, to avoid giving up days off, and hopefully a reduction in the number of episodes each year. These were some of the things he had previously discussed with director Barry Letts during the making of The Enemy of the World. 

In the end he would be granted an extra week's holiday, and be excused location filming on two of the stories planned for Season 6.

Another famous scene from the story, noted for its creepiness, is when Maggie Harris calmly walks out into the sea as Robson watches from the beach. It's certainly a striking image and the viewers of the day would have assumed that Maggie might be committing suicide. You'll recall last time that the script had been amended to ensure that the audience knew that she wasn't killed by the toxic gas - for fear they would assume she was some sort of zombie in this episode.

Considering that they cut one short scene where you saw the seaweed fronds on someone's arm later in the story, I'm surprised that the Australian censors did not eliminate this sequence, or at least trim it down a bit.

The suggestion in the dialogue is that the creature isn't actually the seaweed itself - Victoria talks of microscopic things wriggling on its surface - and the Doctor claims he hasn't worked out the relationship between the creature and the weed yet. This implies that the real threat comprises millions of tiny organisms which simply use the seaweed as a host and manipulate it.

It is unusual at this time to feature a TARDIS scene in the middle of a story. Some recent stories such as The Ice Warriors and The Web of Fear didn't have a TARDIS interior scene at all, whilst the console room only featured at the beginning of The Abominable Snowmen, or at the conclusion of The Enemy of the World. In the first Yeti story, the Doctor does return to the TARDIS mid-story to fetch some equipment, but there wasn't an interior scene accompanying this. Usually, if the TARDIS interior is going to appear, it is only at the start of the opening instalment, designed to introduce viewers to the new storyline and deliver the regulars to their latest destination.

The reason for this is generally the desire not to have to erect the TARDIS console room set for an episode, freeing up studio space for that week's sets.

This week we are actually being treated to a brand new room in the TARDIS - the Doctor's laboratory. The only time we had seen anything similar was in The Web Planet, when an alcove off the main console room seemed to be used as a work area for the Doctor.

As mentioned previously, one of the main rewrites Sherwin carried out on Pemberton's story was to pave the way for Victoria's departure. In the opening episode she was unhappy at having to go and wait in the crew cabin whilst the Doctor and Jamie went off investigating - leading to her coming under attack by the weed creature. 

In this instalment she begins to voice her desire for a quieter life:

Victoria: "Doctor, why is it that we always land up in trouble?"

Doctor: "Well Victoria, it's the spice of life, my dear".

Victoria: "Oh well, I'm not so sure. I don't really like being scared out of my wits every second".

Doctor: "Is something wrong?"

Victoria: "Well I just wish that once... Oh, never mind".

Trivia:

• The ratings continue their gradual slide - but the appreciation figure actually improves.
• In interviews Frazer Hines would always claim that his reason for leaving was due to pressure from his agent to return to higher profile - and more lucrative - movie work. He had appeared in films as a child actor - including Hammer's X... The Unknown (1956) and A King In New York (1957), starring Charlie Chaplin.
• Watling, on the other hand, hoped to do more theatre work - though her agent stated that they were working on a film role for her.
• The animated Episode 3 includes a little visual in-joke. In the Doctor's laboratory is a test tube labelled RR-200 - "RR" being the production code for Fury From The Deep and this being the 200th episode.

The Master Plan Find

The finding of the two missing episodes was announced by the Film is Fabulous team. They were in the collection of someone who has recently died, and who is said to have mostly collected transport material - dealing with trains and canals. His family wished the collection catalogued and preserved. Some films were water damaged, but the collector seems to have looked after The Nightmare Begins and Devil's Planet.

How they came into his possession, no-one knows.

We already have the second episode of The Daleks' Master Plan, so these now give us the whole first quarter of the story.

As well as having more Daleks material, and more of William Hartnell's performance as the original Doctor, these episodes are significant for being among the very few to feature companion Katarina, as played by Adrienne Hill. She joins Peter Purves as Steven. The Nightmare Begins also provides us with the very first appearance by Nicholas Courtney in the series, as he plays space security agent Bret Vyon throughout.

We can also look forward to more of Kevin Stoney as Mavic Chen, and the alien Planetarians.

Devil's Planet, meanwhile, introduces the criminal inhabitants of Desperus, including Kirksen.

If you're familiar with the soundtrack then there'll be a lot of sequences to look forward to actually seeing, be they the Doctor's magnetic chair in action, the Dalek spaceport or the execution of Zephon.

What will the Screamers look like, if they are seen at all, and are there any spaceship model shots other than at the spaceport?

With five episodes now in the archive, it would be nice to see this story animated for completion and released, as Season 3 is likely to be the last to be added to The Collection due to the amount of missing material and absence of telesnaps.

Update: Apparently the episodes will be available from Saturday 4th April on the BBC iPlayer.

More Master Plan!

It's been announced this morning that two more episodes of The Daleks' Master Plan have been found, and will be released on the BBC iPlayer at Easter. The episodes are the first and third of the adventure - The Nightmare Begins and Devil's Planet. 

This brings the missing episodes total down to 95.

What's Wrong With... Silver Nemesis

When you've only got four stories to produce in a season, you would think that the producer and script editor could at least make them different...

The first thing that strikes you about Silver Nemesis is its similarity to the season 25 opener, Remembrance of the Daleks. 

Once again we have the Doctor revisiting something he did a long time ago - though we never got to see it - which is going to have an impact on the present. It's the Earth which will be affected once again. The threat revolves around some ancient Gallifreyan device which can be used as a super-weapon, which the Doctor was somehow able to take away with him when he left the planet with Susan.

The Doctor basically tricks the villains into using said device, so that it destroys them instead.

By screening the Dalek story first, this looks like a weak imitation.

Remembrance of the Daleks featured the junkyard at 76 Totters Lane and Coal Hill School and other references to An Unearthly Child - yet Silver Nemesis is supposed to be the anniversary story?

There's cameo appearances by a number of people associated with the show - actors, writers and directors, including Nicholas Courtney - but they all appear in group shots with their backs to us, so what was the point? If you hadn't read about this somewhere, you'd never know they were there - just a bunch of extras.

The story really isn't very good, and certainly isn't well regarded - so why give it to someone who had never written for the show before and was relatively new to the business anyway?

As for the plot, we're told that the Doctor sent the Nemesis statue into space to stop it falling into the hands of Lady Peinforte in 1638 - though she clearly must have possessed it at some point for her to have fashioned the living metal into a likeness of herself. Did the Doctor deliberately put it into an orbit which meant it passed the Earth every quarter century?

As each orbit results in some major upheaval on Earth, then isn't the Doctor responsible for centuries of death and destruction? If launching it into space was just to get it out of Peinforte's hands, then why not simply move it somewhere else afterwards - like parking it on the dark side of the Moon or in orbit around Pluto? Why leave it going round the Earth for 350 years?

And why have it land in 1988? It can't have been in a decaying orbit as its passing was too regular. It must have been programmed to come back in November 1988 - but the question is why.

How could the Doctor have known that Lady Peinforte would be able to time travel to her home in that year, or that the Cybermen were going to turn up looking for the statue? Or that a bunch of mercenaries led by an old Nazi war criminal would come looking for it. Is it all just coincidence? A very big one if it is.

If it's been going round and round for 350 years, why did the Cybermen not simply hijack it in space?

And one everyone knows - the mathematician employed by Lady Peinforte couldn't possibly have known that the calendar was going to be amended, losing 11 days on the adoption of the Gregorian calendar by Great Britain in 1752. His calculations ought to be out.

Do we know if major upheavals actually occurred every 25 years between 1663 - its first pass - and 1963 - it's last pass? JFK was assassinated in '63, but the world was much closer to disaster two years before that with the Cuban Missile Crisis.

If the statue only reaches critical mass when complete, you also have to ask why the Doctor didn't do anything sooner about the bow and the arrow.

There's mention of Roundheads being about when the Doctor first launched the statue into space, and it's the Doctor who says this early in Episode 2. But the Roundheads weren't founded until 1641. (It refers to their haircuts, not their helmets, and was initially a term of abuse).

When the Doctor first visits Lady Peinforte's home with Ace he states that it has been months since he was last there - so it has to already be 1639. But all the dialogue, and even captions, state it's 1638.

Another timing issue is the speed with which De Flores and his mercenaries manage to get from South America to Windsor - managing it in a matter of hours when they've only just worked out the date and location of the landing.

And did they book into their hotel and hire the van dressed like that?

It's looking unseasonably warm for late November in England, and an awful lot seems to happen in broad daylight, which would only be about 8 hours maximum at that time of year.

As for the Cybermen - they are at their weakest here (until their heads start exploding due to the power of Love). Their spaceship manages to land and move around without the military swarming the area - considering they're next door to Heathrow Airport and Windsor Castle, and the Queen in is residence.

(Talking of which, the Doctor and Ace manage to get extremely close to the monarch before security bother doing anything about it).

The Cybermen are actually scared just to be in the vicinity of gold now, and are easily despatched by gold coins fired from a catapult - despite having armoured bodies.

Why do the Cybermen bother capturing De Flores and Karl - why not just shoot them? De Flores is given the earmuff-like devices, presumably to mentally condition him, yet they don't appear to have any effect on him.

The silvered coating on the new helmets of the Cybermen oxidised and turned a golden colour, rather defeating the whole "silver" theme of the story.

The Cybermen falling from the gantry are all too obviously dummies.

Another big problem for me is that there are far too many incidental characters in what is only a three part story - and yet it still feels padded. The skinheads are utterly pointless and add nothing to the story, as does Dorothea Remington. Dolores Gray was only cast in this so that JNT could have a big Broadway / West End star in the show for publicity value - even though she wasn't terribly well known to the general public. The peak of her career was in the 1950's. Her scenes with Lady Peinforte are at least funny.