Doctor Who 'The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit' Review

The Tardis materialises inside a ‘Sanctuary Base’ used for deep space exploration.  The Doctor and Rose begin to explore the facility and discover a strange alien writing that the Tardis is unable to translate, something that both intrigues and disturbs the Doctor.

The duo discovers that the base is occupied by a small group of humans, and their servant race the Ood, who have come to the planet to investigate how it could even exist.  The crew are amazed to find that the Doctor and Rose have no idea where they are or what the planet is, at which point they reveal that the planet ‘Krop Tor’ is orbiting a black hole, something that should be impossible.

The crew are drilling down deep beneath the surface of ‘Krop Tor’ in order to reach the massive power source that is holding the planet in place.  As the crew are telling the Doctor this the base is hit by a powerful earthquake that destroys a section of the facility, including the area where the Tardis was housed, stranding the Doctor and Rose.

A dire warning greets Rose and the Doctor.

As the drill nears its target a malevolent presence begins to make itself know, with the Ood translators picking up messages about the Beast awaking and one of the crew, Toby, becoming possessed.  Once the drill reaches its destination the Doctor and a member of the crew, Ida, descend far bellow the surface.

Beneath ‘Krop Tor’ the Doctor and Ida find the remains of an ancient civilisation and a large seal in the ground, inscribed with more of the strange writing.  As they watch, the door begins to open; simultaneously, the Beast repossesses Toby and the Ood. The possessed Toby warns Rose and the remaining crew that the planet is now falling towards the black hole, and that the Beast is free, while the Ood, now claiming to be the Legion of the Beast, begin to close in on them, whilst the voice of the Beast says; ‘The pit is open and I am free...!’.

‘The pit is open and I am free...!’.

This two part story is one of the gems of season two, and the whole of the revived series.  It takes chances to do things other Doctor Who stories do not do, it introduces an element of the supernatural and isn’t afraid to leave questions unanswered.  Where most stories will go out of their way to explain everything to the audience this story does not tell you who trapped the Beast or when, what the mysterious writing says or if the Beast is some kind of alien or the actual devil.  However, instead of being a bad thing these mysteries make the episode more interesting.  Each person will take away their own answers from this episode, but I for one like to believe that the Beast actually was the devil.

The first episode also isn’t afraid to take its time to establish the guest characters and the mystery around ‘Krop Tor’ before it slowly introduces the threat of the Beast, giving the audience time to care before we stat loosing characters.  The guest cast itself is well cast, with each character being nicely played and characterised well, each of them bringing something different to the table.

This story also marks the introduction of the Ood, a species that would go on to be used several more times over the course of the seasons.  The Ood are used well here, providing the Beast with minions to chase our heroes around the base.  Whilst in future episodes they become something of a victimised race, in this first story they make an amazingly frightening monster.

Is the Beast really the devil himself?

The Beast itself is an amazing creation, a giant cgi monstrosity that well and truly lives up to the idea that it may very well be the devil.  The Beast is voiced brilliantly by Gabriel Woolf a veteran to Doctor Who previously having played the villain Sutekh in ‘The Pyramids of Mars’.

An amazing horror mystery episode that isn’t afraid to leave the audience guessing or explore aspects of the Doctor Who universe not normally touched upon.  10/10

Amy.
xx

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Doctor Who 'Fathers Day' Review

Pete Tyler comes face to face with his adult daughter.

Rose tells the Doctor the story of how her father, Pete Tyler, was killed in a hit and run incident on the way to a family wedding when she was still a baby.  She tells the Doctor that he died on his own and that she wants to be able to be there for him, to comfort him as he dies.  The Doctor reluctantly agrees and takes Rose to see her father.

As they watch Pete is hit by a car and lays dieing in the road.  Rose finds herself unable to move, frozen by what she is seeing.  Once she recovers Rose asks the Doctor if they could try it again.  The Doctor and Rose travel back to the same point in time once again, where the Doctor warns Rose to wait until their past selves leaves.  Unfortunately Rose ignores his warnings and runs out into the road and saves her dad, creating a time paradox.

Rose is initially thrilled with her achievement, with her dad now alive and well and able to be there for her as she grows up.  Unfortunately the Doctor is less than pleased with her, warning her of the consequences of creating a paradox.  Whilst Rose leaves with Pete to go to the wedding the Doctor storms off back to the Tardis only to find that it is now just an empty shell.

The Doctor races back to the church to find Rose when they come under attack from Reapers, creatures that have appeared to ‘sterilise’ the wound in time that Rose has created by consuming everyone they come across.  Taking shelter within the church Rose must come to terms with the fact that whilst she has saved her father she may have doomed everyone else on earth.

The Reapers have come to 'sterilize' the paradox in time.

‘Fathers Day’ is the first story of the revived series to really take the time to delve into the past of the Doctors companion and shows the motivations behind Rose joining the Doctor in the Tardis.  The story also marks the first appearance of Shaun Dingwall as Pete Tyler.

Despite being a story about the end of the world and the dangers of time travel at its heart ‘Fathers Day’ is a love story, a love story between a father and a daughter.  We see what Rose is willing to do to save her fathers life, and what her father is willing to do for his daughter to ensure she has a future.  The sacrifice the Pete makes for Rose is one of the first truly emotional moments of the show, one that goes on to be remembered long after the story ends.

The performances in the episode are all top notch, with Eccleston playing a Doctor that has to fact the prospect of having chosen a ‘bad’ companion, Billie Piper acting her heart out as her character must live through the death of her father, and Camille Coduri taking a rather soft turn as Jackie Tyler.

The stand out performance of the episode has to go to Dingwall’s Pete Tyler.  Pete is set up as just a regular man, something of a wheeler-dealer and a flake, someone that’s not always reliable but come the end of the episode he’s the hero of the story.  His realisation that Rose is in fact his daughter and that he has to die to set things right is the real heart of the story, and his willingness to give his life to ensure that Rose has a future is amazing and echoes the Doctors sentiment earlier in the episode that ‘ordinary’ people are amazing.

A great episode that shows the heart and emotion that Doctor Who is able to achieve and gives its cast the opportunity to go to places they don’t normally get to go.  7/10

  
Amy.
xx

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Doctor Who 'Day of the Daleks' Review

When British diplomat Sir Reginald Styles is attacked and almost killed by a mysterious guerrilla fighter who vanishes into thin air before he can kill Sir Reginald Unit and the Doctor are called in to investigate the events.

As Sir Reginald leaves for Peking to prepare for an important peace talks Unit takes over his estate to try and get to the bottom of the mystery.  When the man reappears he is killed by a strange creature called an Ogron, and is then discovered by the Unit personnel.  Before they can examine his body in any great detail, however, it vanishes.  The only things left behind by the body are a pistol made of future technology and a crude time machine, leaving the Doctor to conclude that the man must have been from earth’s future.

As they are investigating the incident further the Doctor and Jo are captured by another group of guerrilla fighters, who reveal that have travelled back through time from the 22^nd century and intend to kill Ser Reginald to prevent a series of events that would eventually lead to the Daleks taking over the earth.

The monstrous Ogrons attack the Doctor.

‘Day of the Daleks’ is a great time travel story that could almost be seen as something of an inspiration for the Terminator series, with freedom fighters travelling back through time to stop the destruction of humanity.  The story also marks the return of the Daleks since their apparent ‘final end’ in the Second Doctor story ‘The Evil of the Daleks’.

This serial also introduces the Ogrons, the Daleks bestial alien servants that act as vicious enforcers in the Dalek ruled future, and would be used again in a number of books, comics and other television serials. 

The Doctor must convince the future rebels to trust him.

‘Day of the Daleks’ has a number of similarities to the William Hartnell story ‘Dalek Invasion of Earth’ in the way it depicts the earth as ruled by the Daleks, and is even set in similar time periods.  The third Doctor gets very little actual screen time with the Daleks in this story, instead fighting the Ogrons and the humans serving the Daleks, but it does serve as a great re-introduction of the Daleks into the new, revamped colour era of the show.

A great action romp through time (where the Doctor even uses a gun to kill!) that brings the Daleks into combat with Unit on modern day earth as well as giving us a glimpse of the Dalek ruled future.  8/10

Amy.
xx

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Doctor Who 'Mawdryn Undead' Review

On earth in 1983 the Brigadier, now retired from U.N.I.T., is teaching mathematics at Brendon Public School, where one of his students, Turlough, a stranded alien Trion posing as a human, steals the Brigadiers car and takes it for a joy ride.  Turlough crashes the car and is knocked unconscious, where he is then contacted by the Black Guardian who promises to return Turlough to his home if he agrees to kill the Doctor.  Turlough reluctantly agrees and is given a small crystal which the Black Guardian can use to communicate with Turlough and give him orders.

Meanwhile on the Tardis, the Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa find themselves caught in the warp ellipse of a starliner and are forced to materialise onboard the ship.  The three of them explore the ship and discover that the source of the interference trapping the Tardis is coming from a transmat device.  Joined by Turlough, who has arrived on the ship via the transmat as per the Black Guardians orders, they set out to stop the interference. 

Turlough is tricked into helping the Black Guardian.

The Doctor and Turlough travel to earth using the transmat and disable the device, allowing Tegan and Nyssa to follow in the Tardis.  Unfortunately the Tardis only appear for a moment before dematerialising again, leaving the Doctor and Turlough stranded.  The two of them make their way to the school where they find help from the Brigadier, who for some reason has no memory of the Doctor.

Tegan and Nyssa re-materialise on earth, in the exact place they should have been, but at the wrong time.  Tegan goes out looking for the Doctor and comes across a younger version of the Brigadier, who does know who the Doctor is, and a badly injured man they are led to believe is a regenerated Doctor.

The two groups must try to find a way to reunite, whilst also solving the mystery of the older Brigadiers missing memories, as well as the mysterious individual claiming to be the sixth incarnation of the Doctor.

Can he really be the new Doctor or is he something else entirely?

‘Mawdryn Undead’ is an intriguing little story that plays out brilliantly over the course of the four episodes.  Despite being the introduction of new companion Turlough and the return of the Black Guardian and his plot to kill the Doctor these take second place to the fin of seeing our heroes tackling a mystery from two different time periods.  Plus who doesn’t want two versions of the Brigadier in the same episode?

The story is also an important one for revealing some of the past of the Doctor, and the science behind regeneration.  It is hinted at that regeneration may not be a completely natural part of a Time Lords physiology, but something that the Time Lords created through scientific experimentation.  It is also revealed in this episode that the Doctor can only regenerate twelve times and that he has done so four times already, confirming that the first onscreen Doctor was indeed the first form of the Doctor.

The Brigadier and the Doctor together again.

A great little mystery story that introduces a new companion in a fun and interesting way, as well as bringing back the Brigadier after an eight year absence from the show.  A good fun story that is one of the best examples of the Davison Era. 8/10

Amy.
xx

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'Doctor Who Prisoners of Time' Issue One Review

Prisoners of Time is IDW’s celebratory mini-series for the 50^th anniversary of Doctor Who.  A twelve issue series that will have an issue focusing on each of the Doctor’s eleven incarnations and is set to be one of the biggest stories the company has ever produced.

Issue one kicks off with a mysterious figure studying the eleven forms of the Doctor and his various companions, narrating what makes the Doctor the Doctor, no matter what incarnation is the companions he surrounds himself with.  The mysterious figure sets out on a plot to separate the Doctor from his companions.  The scene is a great set up for the story and features various companions and events from both the classic series and the modern show.

The rest of the issue follows the First Doctor, as played on screen by the late great William Hartnell, and his three companions Ian Chesterton, Barbara Wright and Vicki as they visit one of the Doctor’s old friends for a lecture.  After the lecture the Doctor discovers that a number of students have gone missing from the school in the newly constructed London Underground and volunteers to help.  Once underground the team discovers that the Zarbi are behind the disappearances.

The story is very much an echo of the era it was set in, with a rather dull story that sidelines the female characters to allow the men to save the day.  It fits in with the way the show was in the early sixties, but unfortunately just doesn’t work too well in a modern comic.

The art in the book is not the worst I have ever seen but is very far from the best, with a number of panels feeling rather lack-lustre and dull than thrilling.  I can only hope that other artists come on board for other issues of the book otherwise it’s not going to be one of the most visually engaging reads.

Issue one sets up the premise of the story well enough but isn’t the most interesting of reads.  The danger with the format of the series focusing on different Doctors each issue is that whilst an average issue one can sometimes be expected (after all it’s just set up) each issue should also be treated as a stand alone one-shot story.  As such issue one isn’t the best and drags in a number of places.

Hopefully the quality will pick up over the course of the series run so that it can be an exciting part of the 50^th anniversary of the show.  6/10

Amy.
xx

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