Serial Week: Flash Gordon

Welcome, welcome welcome one and all back for Day 3 of Serial Week. My apologies for not doing this yesterday but family visits, chores and the like can take its toll. That being said, let's journey into some sci-fi. Alex Raymond (Cartoonist from the 1930s) hit the jackpot working on such strips as Tillie the Toiler and Tim Tyler's Luck. His work was hailed as some of the very best that it allowed him to persue the creation of the jungle adventure series Jungle Jim and spy adventurer Secret Agent X-9. Jungle Jim and Secret Agent X-9 was even set for radio dramas in the day but as he was deemed the artist's artist and most of his work is still a major influence in comic books and the strips, the notoriety of these titles did not give him the recognition as his most popular and well-known science fiction character did. In competition with Buck Rogers, our Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Famer brought boys and girls and many adult, a favorite for ages to come.   This is Flash Gordon.

Hope they don't notice me floating an air biscuit.

With the planet Mongo rocketing towards Earth at unbelievable speeds...yet somehow gravity and atmosphere seem normal as if in the orbit of a sun or moon, Doctor Alexis Zarkov (Frank Shannon of Anthony Adverse, The Texas Rangers, Roll Along,Cowboy, The Adventurous Blonde, Blondes at Work, Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars and You Can't Take It With You) ponders and calculates the precise trajectory of Mongo's arrival. Conferring with his colleague Professor Gordon that a daring attempt must be made to confab with the inhabitants of Mongo.

With the help of an experimental rocket ship, Doctor Zarkov abducts his colleague's son Flash (Buster Crabbe of Tarzan the Fearless, Flash Gordon, The Kid Rides Again, Fugitive of the Plains, The Renegade, Devil Riders and Valley of Vengeance) and his friend Dale Arden (Jean Rogers of Flash Gordon, Ace Drummond, Flash Gordon'sTrip to Mars, Charlie Chan in Panama, Whistling in Brooklyn, Gay Blades and The Second Woman) as hostages a.k.a. Assistants in this flight to save humanity.

It also makes Jiffy Pop Popcorn!

No sooner our would-be heroes land on the planet, they are startled by massive lizards (iguanas in super-imposed camera effect) and hoisted to safety by the Emperor's men for violating their airspace and sullying their lands with their filthy human disease. Gotta fear that polio.   Our armored thugs drag the threesome (stop it, ya pervs) to the Emperor himself and you know they are in the hands of a benevolent and kind ruler named...Ming the Merciless (Charles Middleton of The Good Earth, Hollywood Cowboy, Conquest, Stand-In, Jezebel, Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars and Jesse James). Our villainous ruler takes an almost immediate shine to Dale (Guess they don't see many blondes) and puts Flash into an arena for MORTAL COMBAAAAAAATTTT!!!!

Will Flash make it out alive? Can Ming be reasoned with? Will Princess Aura have even tinier outfits?

Interspursed with Stage 28 of the Universal Studios we also get to make yet more trips to Bronson Caves in Griffith Park. Look I know it is a prime location for Westerns and Sci-fi but c'mon! I could map this place out in my head I have seen the landmarks that many times.

With a scheduled 13 part chapter serial, the entire show was shot in six weeks meaning cast and crew were pulling fourteen hour days. A budget of $360,000, three times the normal for a chapter play it allowed for elaborate armored costumes, scale and full size models and even stunt choreography that was not seen in previous serials.

Despite the substantial budget of the day, most of the show used existing sets from other Universal films such as: the laboratory and crypt sets from Bride of Frankenstein, the castle interiors from Dracula's Daughter, the idol from the Mummy and even the outer walls of Ming's castle was actually the cathedral walls from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Pretty snazzy, huh?

Excuse me, I am on the throne. Wink wink!  Shut the door!

Favourite Fours Week: The Horror of Fang Rock

Salutations good readers of this blog. Welcome to Day 3 of Favourite Fours. We stem away from Harry and Sarah as we move to the Doctor befriending a savage hunter, name of Leela (Louise Jameson of The Game, Tenko, Rides, The Upper Hand and EastEnders) to broaden her horizons and perhaps her educational standings. Making their way to Brighton, the TARDIS lands on the island of Fang Rock because the TARDIS detected a plot device. This is Horror of Fang Rock.

Your sexual magnetism melted it, Leela.

The Doctor insistent on investigating the lighthouse nearby as well as ask for directions as it would appear the TARDIS got lost in the fog. Leela is still untrusting of the craft's capabilities as this is a common trait for companions but she trusts the Doctor's judgement. No sooner have they have made their arrival that they discover a dead body of one of the lighthouse keepers. The other two keepers, Reuben (Colin Douglas of A Man from the Sun, The Crawling Eye, A Family at War, Doctor Who and The Pickwick Papers) and Vince (John Abbott of Doctor Who, Lady Jane, Treasure Island, Agatha Christie: Poirot, Revenge of Billy the Kid, Kappatoo and Four Weddings and a Funeral) are leery about their whole assignment as their paranoia falls immediately on the Doctor and Leela when the Doctor does his level best to defuse the situation at hand.

The Everlasting Gobstopper is stalking us!!!

With the lighthouse on the fritz the Doctor springs into action to best repair it when he observes that the generators seem to be drained of all energy. Remembering that Vince spoke of a light in the sky landing nearby the coincidences seem the most likely offenders. A luxury yacht comes crashing to shore. Its survivors four make their way to the lighthouse for shelter from the fog and rain. Concerned for these humans' survival, the Doctor concludes to keep the harmful alien life-form that may have killed the keeper away from everyone and fortify the lighthouse. One of the survivors a Lord Palmerdale insists they must commandeer a vessel to reach the stock exchange so he may make a killing. This of course was the reason their late ship was travelling at the speeds that it did.

Will the creature make short work of the humans? Can the Doctor prevent an impeding invasion? Will the fact the creature has been acknowledged as an alien decrease their chances of survival?

How about some fun facts on our serial now? Well tough, you are getting them anyway.

This was the only Doctor Who serial made at BBC Pebble Mill (the complex that housed, Pebble Mill at One, The Archers, Top Gear, Doctors and Gardeners' World). 6.8 million viewers gathered for its original transmission. Though it is not abundantly clear, this episode takes place in Victorian times 1900s. The use of language and costumes should have tipped their hats well enough but you know how thick some of us carbon based life-forms can be.

Director Paddy Russel did not care for Tom Baker's attitude during the production of the story. He apparently didn't like the script and tossed his out a window. With the tension between Baker and Jameson working together, Russel decreed she would never work on Doctor Who again after this. 

Yes, next time I swear I will ask for directions first.

  

Favourite Fours: Terror of the Zygons

Howdy Whovians and other such readers and welcome to Day 2 of Favourite Fours. This episode is the first of Season 13. In fact it is the first of the serials outright. The Doctor, Harry and Sarah have all returned from escaping the cold calculating claws of the Cybermen as they are summoned by U.N.I.T. Via Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart to deal with shenanigans in Scotland. Are these done because of specters or aliens? This is Terror of the Zygons.

So Ms. Cleo, that is 4.99 for the first five minutes.

Narrowly evading the clutches of the Cybermen the Doctor, Sarah and Harry have been summoned to Earth via the Space-Time telegraph, a device that can communicate with the Doctor throughout time and space but it must be used only in the direst of emergencies. The Brigadier explains to the Doctor that several oil rigs have been destroyed by a force or forces unknown and unseen. Structurally sound rigs have been demolished from something with more strength and force that a category 4 hurricane and aside from the mist rising up there have been no weather anomalies.

Sarah speaks with the landlord Angus in the village's inn, the temporary U.N.I.T. HQ and she learns of a folk legend of the land around Tulloch Moor, where a great many people have up and disappeared down through the centuries never to be seen nor heard from again. Given the sonar is not reporting of any creatures, ships or foreign powers operating in this area, the Doctor proceeds to construct a device to detect for signal jamming in the local area. Harry goes for a walk along the moor, when clearly An American Werewolf in London warns us of moors is ignored why he spots a fellow from the last oil rig Munro. Before Munro can tell Harry what happened to the rig he is shot in the back by person's unknown and Harry is shot as well.

Ahh!! the wanton destruction of scale models!!!

A phone call to HQ lets the Doctor know that Harry was found on the moor shot and is being treated for his injuries. He and Sarah try to find out what was the cause and realize he is too weak to speak. The Doctor leaves and with his impressive peepers to some wreckage with substantial holes in it, almost as it were caused by fangs. Will the Doctor solve this crisis? Is Sarah and Harry in danger? What of the secret of the Yeti? Does the Doctor know the Muffin Man?

A few bits of interest on our serial now. Over 8.5 million viewers enjoyed this serial on its original transmission. This is the first appearance of the Zygons and aside from Big Finish Audio, several novels and radio dramas, the shape-shifters are not seen for 38 years in Doctor Who's show until the 50^th Anniversary Special, The Day of the Doctor. Working titles for this particular serial were: The Secret of the Loch, The Secret of Loch Ness, The Loch Ness and the Zygons and Loch Ness.

At least you are not wearing a dickie bow or sand shoes.

Favourite Fours: Genesis of the Daleks

Good day to you one and all and welcome to Day 1 of Favourite Fours. This time around the Doctor (Tom Baker), Sarah Jane Smith and chief medical officer for U.N.I.T. Harry Sullivan are just leaving Nerva space station when their transmat beam is interrupted by the Timelords (the Doctor's species) and sent back in time with a time ring to Skaros, a war torn planet that is on the verge of creating the most genocidal creatures in existence. This is Genesis of the Daleks.

So a rock quarry is not an ideal picnic spot.  My apologies.

Finding the surface of the planet almost completely laid to wast between biological, chemical and even nuclear warfare, the lands seem desolate when a poison gas attack hits the Doctor and companions. The Doctor and Harry (Ian Marter of The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Doctor Who, North & South, Crown Court, Fell Tiger and The Return of Sherlock Holmes) are dragged in to the dome inhabited by the technologically superior Kelads while Sarah is befriended by the Mutos, a species of mutants descended from previous chemical weapons during the early years of the war. No sooner does Sarah (Elisabeth Sladen of Gulliver in Lilliput, Doctor Who, Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time, Peak Practice and The Sarah Jane Adventures) feel safe, she and the Mutos are captured to be slave labor for the Thals (other warring nation on Skaro).

The Doctor and Harry have to empty their pockets for a security check losing the Doctor's sonic screwdriver as well as the time ring, the only device to bring them back to the TARDIS. The Doctor attempts to explain they are aliens and not spies when they are brought before the Kelads greatest scientific mind Davros.

Fine, yes I dressed quickly in the dark... Are you happy now?

For even the most causal observer, it is blatantly obvious that Davros is both brilliant and completely crackers as he unveils his Mark III travel machine that looks identically to a Dalek. With a finite amount of scientists in the dome, they no longer trust Davros, given his monstrous creations having no conscience or mercy at all deciding to revolt against him.

The Doctor attempts to reason with Davros, maybe show him the error to his genocidal ways but it seems to no avail. The Doctor must stop this nightmarish war, find Sarah and recover the time ring to get back to the TARDIS.

A few points of interest on the episodes now. The basis of the fascist regime of the Nazi party is the building block for the Kelads as the Daleks would be the ultimate ubermench... on little wheels.... defenseless to stairs.

This six part weekly show had been viewed by 8 to 10 million viewers. This is also the first appearance of Davros and certainly not the last. The working title for this serial was Daleks- Genesis of Terror. For you fans of all that is Who, this would be the first domino to create the Last Great Time War. In a 2006 interview, Tom Baker named Genesis of the Daleks as one of his favorite Doctor Who serials.

Exsanguinate!!! Crap... LINE!!!

Favourite Fours

Back again oh readers of this drek. Well you were warned many times over. This week I thought we would touch base with a certain time and space traveler and no this is not a transparent attempt to get more readers by enlisting Whovians around the globe. That in mind, I wish to share some of my favorite episodes involving Tom Baker (4^th Doctor for those that... I guess avoid all forms of media archiving) and his pantheon of companions.

NONE SHALL PASS!!!

Ranging from adventures with journalist Sarah Jane Smith to packing the TARDIS jam full of two extra-terrestrials and an Australian air hostess, Baker is one of the most beloved by children and adults alike. With Big Finish audio dramas under his belt, it is almost as his voice has not aged with him at all. Just hearing him narrate his first Doctor Who episode Robot filled me with am overwhelming sense of joy.

We shall see if your favorite fourth Doctor episodes and mine match up with this week with Favourite Fours!

Personally I liked this look.

The Doctor's Greatest Adventures Week

Hello and welcome my tasteful readers and thank you again for joining me this week.  As was mentioned several months ago I stated I would get back to the iconic science fiction character of Doctor Who, "The Doctor".   I have decided to share a bit of my childhood with you gentle folk.  When I was a boy, the Iowa Public Broadcasting  made my Saturday night by giving me three whole hours of Science Fiction of Space: 1999, Blake 7 and 4 serial episodes of Doctor Who.

Silly humans, fiddling in technological marvels.

 
















My eyes were open to a otherwise peaceful man that interfered with these creatures and species to stop their evil objectives.  Utilizing his advanced technological know how, a sonic screwdriver and encyclopedia like knowledge he confronted, thwarted and confused his enemies.  With that I am compiling my favorite collection of episodes throughout time and space... or you know, the series throughout 50 years.    From each of his incarnations offered adventure and death defying encounters with monsters and aliens.  It's up to the Doctor and his companions win the day and save countless planets and their civilizations.  With great pleasure I welcome you to The Doctor's Greatest Adventures.

Hmm, I think it is a reproduction.

Larson 80s Week: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

Howdy doodly doo!!! Back again for more Larson 80s TV Week and  what better way for Larson to be on top of his game I believe given its collection of action figures, vehicle and playsets that this particular marketable show got almost as much love as Battlestar Galactica.  Based on comic strip artist Philip Francis Nowlan’s work which became novellas, radio shows and even serials starring Buster Crabbe; this phenomenon swept the nation is a big rush. So strap your blaster, prep your starfighter and get ready to defend Earth in the future.  This is Buck Rogers in the 25^th Century.

Thanks to Head and Shoulders I'm not afraid of flakes.

Twiki: Put me down, you big spoiler.

Due to the popularity of Star Wars dominating the big screen and Empire Strikes Back carving itself a slice out of the box office, Larson felt now was the time to hit the Sci-Fi market and hit it hard to squeeze as much material out of it as possible.  Revamping the old serial formula and putting a handsome and built guy in the lead role was a sure fire bet to win over America’s youth and possibly entertain the adults as well.  

Damn you, space vortex!!!

Captain William “Buck” Rogers (Gil Gerard of Man on a Swing, Not Another Affair, Johnny Blue, Sidekicks, The Stepdaughter and Ghost Town) is a 20^th century astronaut caught is a freak accident blown out of orbit of the planet and causing his return trip to lapse him 500 years into the future.  By this time the planet has recovered from nuclear fallout but is under constant attack by the Draconian Empire (D&D nerds are giggling).    The Earth Defense Directorate in need of combat pilots and hand to hand combatants (because apparently since we are done blowing each other up, we all forgot how to fight) Buck is drafted in.   Somehow his superior officer Colonel Wilma Deering (Erin Gray of The Fall Guy, Six Pack Born Beautiful, Code of Vengeance, Silver Spoons and Friday the 13^th Part 9: Jason Goes to Hell) adheres to most of Rogers’s make it up as you go plans leading them into fire fights, starfighter dog fights and more of Buck trying to outdo Kirk in the making out with aliens category.   Personally, I think Kirk’s record is safe. 

I had a few fun facts about the show.   The production managed to recycled a buttload of props from Battlestar Galactica from scale model effects, costumes, blasters and even more than a few of the cockpits of the Viper starships.   Universal studios were so thrilled to receive a good Neilsen run that it opted to release the Buck Rogers TV movie.

With the rising popularity amongst kids, two sets of action figures were produced by main toy distributor Mego for a 12 inch high line as well as a series of 3 ¾ figures and scaled starships.  Milton Bradley released a board game and several jigsaw puzzles while model kits were created by Monogram.  A few die cast space and land vessels were created by Corgi, Topps has a hand in a series of trading cards and of course a Buck Rogers lunch box to follow.  

Even Gold Key Comics produced comics of the very same stories from the pilot and the second episode but there after followed the old comic strips and novellas.

Colgate: Earth's official toothpaste for 500 years.

Doctor Who Week: Peter Davison

Hello all and welcome to Day 5 of Doctor Who Week and we shall end this endeavor on the final entry of the week playing catch up with the Doctor and his on growing collection of companions from here and there.  When we last left the Doctor he had taken on 3 new companions Adric (Matthew Waterhouse of To Serve Them All My Days and The Killing Edge), a brilliant mathematician from an dimension outside of normal space and time known as E-Space, Nyssa (Sarah Sutton of Menace, Play for Today, Oil Strike North and The Moon Stallion) daughter of an aristocrat consul Tremas (later to become the Master’s new life vessel) and lastly Teegan (Janet Fielding of Hammer House of Horror, Shelley, Minder and Jim’ll Fix It), an aspiring flight attendant from 1981…she got roped in by faith playing silly buggers with everyone.   The Doctor (Tom Baker of The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Nicholas and Alexandra, Max Bear, And Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising) and the Master were required to join forces in order to stop total universal entropy from occurring.  In doing so, the Doctor pummeled to his death…or did he?  So grab your cricketer outfit, dust off the TARDIS and ordain your lapel with a decorative vegetable.  This is Dr. Who: The Visitation.

 

The Doctor has joint custody of the universe.

Try to understand, Spoiler: because you can get away with something, it doesn’t justify it.

After escaping the insane paradise planet Deva Loka and the indigenous tribes and colonists squabbling, it is time to get Teegan back for her career as an air hostess.  Yeah she is a striver that one. The Doctor (Peter Davison of A Very Peculiar Practice, Mystery!: Campion, All Creatures Great and Small and The Complete Guide to Parenting) calculates his trusty TARDIS and heads back to Heathrow Airport only to be a bit off in his time coordinates…by three hundred years.  Probably due to nothing more than a temperamental cellanoid on the lateral balance cones.  Nothing one should get their feathers ruffled about.

The four gather outside to scoop things out and then are almost overwhelmed by the smell of sulphur and proceed to investigate like some space and time traveling Scooby gang.  

Oh your singing wasn't that bad Teegan.

Adric of sound mind brings a homing device to find the TARDIS.  No sooner as they mill about in the lust forest they are attacked by villagers but manage to escape only to break up the group.  A highwayman name of Richard Mace encounters the Doctor and companions, leading them to safety inside a disused barn.   It is there that the Doctor proceeds to question a few things for example: Richard tells the Doctor of a comet that landed nearby and the rest of the team notices power packs for laser weapons and a scorch mark embedded in stone.  All accounts most peculiar for medieval England.

And now comes the part where I amaze and annoy you with fun filled facts.  Writer Eric Saward’s first writing for Television experience is this episode and went on to write 83 more episodes afterwards.  The initial story arc feels similar to some of the Tom Bakers at the time but over the course of the four episodes serial mark you get the feeling that Adric and Nyssa actually get more depth in their collective characters and they both become closer. 

NEVER QUESTION THE CELERY!!!!

In fact the only creature of this party that needs to be taken out in the street and drawn and quartered is Teegan.  She is virtually useless apart if you need a scream queen, gets captured more often than Daphne of Scooby Doo and frankly has a voice that feels like nails on a chalkboard.  The Doctor’s adventures shall continue on but not this week…perhaps in the future or maybe the past.

Doctor Who Week: Tom Baker

Howdy Whovians and welcome to Day 4 of Doctor Who Week.  When we last left the Doctor he was in this third incarnation.  As the years passed and companions left his company, the Doctor (Jon Pertwee of the House That Dripped Blood, Adventures of a Private Eye, SuperTed, and The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Attack of the Hawkmen) had remained with UNIT and had teamed up with a charming lady reporter by the name of Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen of Take My Wife, Dempsey and Makepeace, K-9 and Company: A Girl’s Best Friend and The Sarah Jane Adventures) and at the advice of a fellow Timelord K’anpo that the Doctor must face his fear and defeat this Planet of Spiders by returning a crystal to the Great One.  Through thick and thin the Doctor manages this very task but at the cost of his own life…of course that is not really the end is it?  So grab your 9 foot scarf, break out the sonic screwdriver and get your tin dog on the case.  This is Dr. Who:  Robot.

 

Stop looking up my nostrils. It is disconcerting.

You may be *a* Spoiler but I’m *the* Spoiler. The definite article, you might say.

The Doctor’s regeneration has left him yet again a bit barmy (another technical term, often medical) and seems a bit out of sync.  Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart (Nicholas Courtney of Then Churchill Said to Me, Downtime, TravelWise, Doctors and The Sarah Jane Adventures) finds his friend altering his appearance yet again and this time into a tall curly haired hawkish nosed man bounding around and complaining about his clothes.   Brigadier begins to calm Sarah down and explain that the Doctor has done this sort of thing before and best to take it in stride.  

Must saving the world interrupt my LARP time?

Meanwhile in the National Institute for Advanced Scientific Research or “Think Tank” as it is more colloquially known, the top secret plans for a disintegrator gun have gone missing.  The Doctor (Tom Baker of The Hound of the Baskervilles, Black-Adder II, The Silver Chair, Selling Hitler, Medics and Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior) and the Brigadier with a cadre of men from UNIT have gone to investigate when the Doctor notices large rectangular footprints and crushed flowers.

  Sarah Jane goes off to interview one of the former members of Think Tank a Professor Kettlewell and he proceeds to tell her of a immense robot called the K-1 he developed years ago but its learning processes were too advanced and he felt it was a power that could easily go out of control.  He further explains that no one at Think Tank have the responsibility or morals to use the K-1 properly.

 

Two for tea?

I have just a few thoughts or interjections at this time.  While the massive robot is clearly superimposed (placing an image or video on top of an already existing image or video), the bulky costume that it was clearly has hinge joints and seams where a man would enter it and it did seem a bit farfetched to have that effective an AI I felt this story gave a great example of brilliant minds feeling they could not only do better at managing the world without the aid or need of politicians or governments I can say I see their point of view.

Twiki's big brother, Crusher.

That being said this lot was completely crackers and was perverting the concept of science which is to better humanity and bring a sense of accomplishment to benefit all.  OH and a FYI, Tom Baker was the first Doctor to have his own action figure made by Mego along with Leela, a Dalek and the robot of this episode. That is all for this day and join me for the final day of Doctor Who Week tomorrow.  Don’t skip away too soon Tom Baker fans.

Doctor Who Week: Jon Pertwee

Welcome boys and girls to Day 3 of Doctor Who Week as we leave Patrick Troughton as the Doctor was last seen in War Games alongside his companions Zoe (Wendy Padbury of Charlie Bubbles, The Blood on Satan’s Claw, Freewheelers and Emmerdale) and Jamie (Frazer Hines of Peril for the Guy, Go Kart Go, Emmerdale and Out of Sight) as the Doctor and rogue Timelord know as Warlord were being held for trial by the Timelords, they felt Troughton had misbehaved, blatantly ignoring the rule of non-interference and stealing the TARDIS the Timelords forced a regeneration on the Doctor, wiping all memory of the TARDIS operation and sent him into exile to Earth.  Enough of that twaddle.  Let’s get to the heart of the matter and introduce you to the Third Doctor Jon Pertwee.   So grab your best running shoes, learn to hide behind a boulder and avoid extermination.  This is Doctor Who: Terror of the Autons

I'm hardly a dandy.

Spoiler is a complete jackanapes! All he ever does is cause trouble.

Starting with episode 1 of Season 8 and this particular show has a myriad of firsts. the Doctor (Jon Pertwee of Carry on Cowboy, Carry on Screaming!, The Avengers and Jackanory) is aware of who he is and what has occurred and promises to behave himself in exile.  Rejoining UNIT (UNinfied Intelligence Taskforce) and baffling the hell out of his superior Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney of Endless Night, Watch This Space, Sink or Swim and To Catch a King) he proceeds to conduct his various experiments as his former companion Liz Shaw has left the Brigadier has hired a new assistant for the Doctor, Jo Grant (Katy Manning of Don’t Just Lie There, Say Something!, Eskimo Nell, Whodunnit? And Target). Prior to this bit of chitter chat, a rogue Timelord called the Master (Roger Delgado of Pursuit of the Graf Spee, First Man Into Space, The Road to Hong Kong and Aquarius) visits Earth in a TARDIS of his own, hypnotizes one of the locals to do his bidding and proceeds to steal a vital component called the Nestene Energy.

You are getting very sleepy.

His plan is simple enough; to create living plastic entities that follow his bidding and start taking over the universe.  You have to give it to the man, he never thinks small.  So with this in mind the Doctor, Brigadier and Jo are off to the carnival where all this started.

And now I have a bit of background on the origin of the Master and some observations thereafter.

The creative team that conceived the Master felt the Doctor would benefit from a reoccurring villain.  He was deemed the Professor Moriarty to the Doctor’s Sherlock Holmes if you will. Like the Doctor, his title is purely an academic degree and the Timelords would refer him as Lord Master. 

LINE!

The irony is his disdain for Pertwee could not be further from the truth as they were dear friends prior to working on Doctor Who.   The creation of the Nestene appeared in 1970 Spearhead from Space a hive mind sentient living plastic was deemed a bit daffy and was not among the Doctor Who Rogues gallery until 2005 when it was reintroduced in the Ninth Doctor’s intro story titled “Rose”.    Tomorrow we regenerate to Tom Baker.  Stay tuned!

Doctor Who: Patrick Troughton

Hiya kids we are back with Day 2 of Doctor Who Week and in spite of some requests for me to skip on ahead to Tom Baker I am sticking with the chronological order.  To recap, the Doctor had a lengthy battle with the Cybermen and seemed run down.  His stalwart companions Ben and Polly are worried and follow him into the TARDIS where the Doctor appears to be rapidly aging only to transform into a shorter and younger man.  Have they flipped?  Were they on a planet that makes you drop acid?  Have the writers pulled the wool over your eyes?  Let’s find out kids.  This is Doctor Who: The Power of The Daleks.

TV Viewers? Bah!  Go read a book.

Spoilers advance and attack! Attack and destroy!

The Doctor has gotten up from the floor of the TARDIS where it would appear he had simply dropped dead but instead of that matriarch scholar stands a man shorter and younger than he. The Doctor (Patrick Troughton of Hamlet, Macbeth, Treasure Island, The Phantom of the Opera, Jason and the Argonauts and The Omen) seems a bit perplexed, baffled as starts referring to himself, his past self in the third person.  Suffice to say things can go a bit wonky (that’s a technical term) with the regenerations.  Ben (Michael Craze of The Exorcism of Hugh, Terror, Evil Heritage and The Healer) and Polly (Anneke Wills of Some People, The Avengers, The Pleasure Girls and Strange Report) are bit of amiss to what is happened to the Doctor but  clearly it is still him as they head out of the TARDIS from its landing.  Ben and Polly protest as that they are not even certain they have landed, wither or not there is radiation or oxygen rich atmosphere.  The Doctor cracks up the 500 year old diary and without even looking up from it announces the temperature, oxygen content, negative on radiation and a curiously high concentration of mercury then proceed to stroll on out.

Why yes the pants are a breathable cotton/wool blend.

The misbegotten three find themselves on Earth colony Vulcan where the local scientist has made a 200 year old discovery and in spite of the Doctor warning this government and scientists and being slightly odd they unearth a vessel containing three Daleks.   The Daleks immediately recognize the Doctor based on his intelligence and Timelord DNA. Ben and Polly are somewhat at ease then.   Now it is up to the Doctor to thwart his old enemies, save the day and keep his young companions from harm.

I have just a few comments about this particular episode.  All six episodes were wiped by the BBC and there is no visual record of it, however through still and production shows and a wire recording the production company managed to piece together an almost radio drama of those original episodes and this is literally the only way to view it.  

Mammy!!

This story points out political and social upheaval between the working class, activists and a police state.  The Daleks take advantage of this chaos by behaving almost benevolently then the double cross ensues, followed by the triple cross for pudding.  A powerful and well thought out piece of science fiction but alas we do not have it in the medium we are accustomed to.

Doctor Who Week: William Hartnell

Welcome and hello to Day 1 of Doctor Who Week and I thought I would start us off with the very first actor to portray this monumental character of science fiction and start ushering a golden age for the genre.  So batten down the hatches, flip that defensive screen and take off the hand brake.  This is Doctor Who: The Dead Planet.

 

Gee, I wonder what this episode is about?

The only interest we have in the spoilers is their total extermination!!

The Doctor (William Hartnell of Sabotage at Sea, The Peterville Diamond, The Dark Tower, The Ringer, Hell Drivers and The Army Game) has shanghaied his granddaughter Susan (Carole Ann Ford of Horrors of the Black Museum, The Ghost Train Murder, The Day of the Triffids and Mix Me a Person) and her teachers Ian Chesterton (William Russell of The Great Escape, Breaking Point, This Man Craig, Harriet’s Back in Town and Superman) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill of Joyous Errand, Out of This World, No Hiding Place and Romeo & Juliet) off  to an alien world with the TARDIS (Time and relative dimension in space) and the teachers demand to leave but our fuss budget  Doctor purposely sabotages the TARDIS so they need to look for mercury to repair it.   

Donner! Party of four.

Wandering out into this alien world it is noted that there are high concentrations of radiation and the party makes their way to a huge metal city.  As our brave four explore the city, Barbara gets separated from the rest of the part and is threatened by a creature with a metal arm.  Before too long the entire crew is captured by the Daleks.  Ian and Barbara feel horrible from the radiation in the area and Susan is sent back to the TARDIS to retrieve some anti-radiation pills when she comes across a second alien species known as the Thals.  These people have been engaging in war with the Daleks for some time.  Susan attempt to broker a peace treaty between the two warring factions and for a time it appears to be working but the Daleks open fire upon the Thals during a friendly exchange of food and supplies.  Yeah didn't see that one coming.

And now I have just a few remarks and observations about this particular episode.  This episode is the first appearance of the Daleks as a long running animosity towards the Doctor and his fellow Timelords.  This episode was watched by a little over 6 million viewer when it was originally aired. Their re-occurrence has of course continued into the current series as the 9^th, 10^th and 11^th Doctor has had to face his most hated enemy time and time again.

Vacuum cleaner salesmen will be exterminated!

 

This story follows almost a hostage escape scenario and the genocidal Daleks are completely devoid of emotion and mercy and have been a staple of this particular series.   This was filmed in 35mm anamorphic lens which does take the focus off your main foreground but can capture the whole surroundings of the film project.  As William Hartnell developed arteriosclerosis and made it near impossible to say his lines let alone run about, it was the producer Mervyn Pinfield came up with the concept that the Doctor could regenerate himself by altering his physiology into a completely different man but in essence the same fellow.  All memory and personality is still his and changes into Patrick Trouton and we shall go over the second doctor tomorrow.