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The Five Doctors Review
I think I might have set my expectations for The Five Doctors a bit too high, and I think it's mostly because its so frequently classified as something that stands out from the rest of the run of the show. In the end, it was less The Day of the Doctor and more The Three Doctors. Not bad by any means, but every much just another story in the ongoing arc of the show. And that's both an asset for it and what holds it back. Because the story is relatively thin, most of the runtime is taken up by past Doctors and Companions faffing about alongside the current cast. Which is fine, but it definitely feels like they could have accomplished something much more solid if they'd had more of a budget (and they'd actually gotten Tom Baker to return instead of having to rely on clips from the then-uncompleted Shada in order to cobble something together.)
I feel like I'm gonna be repeating myself a lot in this post, since I'm going to keep circling back to the points I just made. Part of me wants to try to find that 25th Anniversary Cut that supposedly fixes some of the technical/structural issues, but I'd rather wait for a remaster on the season 20 Blu-ray that they haven't announced yet but I'm pretty sure is coming out sometime next year. That's not to say I think this story is riddled with issues that need fixing. I actually thought this special was really good, and my reception is probably colored by the fact that the show just came off one of its strongest seasons in years. It had a lot to live up to, and I hadn't realized exactly how spoiled I'd been for this story in advance.
Like most of Classic Who, this special is available to watch via streaming on Britbox. Because it's only one episode, there's no ranking, but I'm going to format this entry the same as the others anyway.
The Characters
Peter Davison as The Fifth Doctor - Not surprisingly, Davison felt the most at home out of all of the Doctors because unlike them, he was still in the thick of the role. They also do him the courtesy of giving him the starring role in the story when it could have easily been handed off to one of his predecessors. (One can only imagine a scenario where Baker returned). He is the character that drives the story forward the most, conducting the most direct investigation of what's happening on Gallifrey and being the one who figured out who the villain behind everything was. His scene with The Master also felt the most compelling, since he and Ainley have the most onscreen history, and it was this story of all things that finally sent me down the path of shipping these incarnations together. I guess it was only a matter of time.
Richard Hurndall as The First Doctor - Hurndall is not a mimic of Hartnell the same way David Bradley is, and he's definitely a lot more spry in the role than his predecessor ever was, but he manages to tap into a kind of intensity that made Hartnell's portrayal so compelling to watch. By default, he's the authority, even though he's technically the youngest incarnation of the character onscreen. I also really enjoyed that his dynamic with the Fifth Doctor and Tegan is very reminiscent of the dynamic he later has with the Twelfth Doctor and Bill later in Twice Upon a Time. Out of all the guest Doctors, his role feels the most vital to the story, and its a treat to see him go up against Ainley's Master in particular, and him being the one to figure out the riddle at the end felt like the perfect way to put a capper on the story and make the whole thing feel worth it.
Patrick Troughton as The Second Doctor - Troughton may be a bit older and grayer, but just like in The Three Doctors he manages to slip back into the role with such ease that its hard to believe he's been away from it for ten years. It's fun seeing him go up against the Cybermen and the Yeti again, and though the Brigadier feels like a weird choice to pair him off with it mostly works, and they ride off that same chemistry they had in the few stories they share. I will segue to point out that this does give a lot of weight to the "Season 6B" theory, with the Second Doctor very pointedly referring to the events of The War Games when Jamie and Zoe appear. I'd thought the theory was a neat idea before, but now it's becoming clear there's some canon basis to it, and it seems like The Three Doctors also falls under this same, very strange umbrella of a later timeline for the Second Doctor. It's really made me curious to see what The Two Doctors has to offer in a couple of seasons, especially with Troughton still somehow in top form.
Jon Pertwee as The Third Doctor - The star of the last anniversary special, his real standout moment is not with the main arc of the story, but rather his encounter with Ainley's new incarnation of The Master. It provides a nice illustration of how much that dynamic has changed, as the Third Doctor regards him almost fondly as his "best enemy" and doesn't make any move to help him when he's surrounded by Cybermen (but not before stealing the badge The Master was carrying to prove he was sent by the Time Lords.) Returning to his dynamic was also an interesting choice (fueled mostly by casting availability) that also helps show how much Sarah Jane's relationship with the Doctor grew after he regenerated. Mush more the authoritative, professorial type, it was fun to see him engineer a way to get into the tower. After this though, he kind of fades into the background as the First and Fifth Doctors take over the story.
Tom Baker as The Fourth Doctor - No, he's not actually in this. His role is entirely comprised of very awkwardly edited Shada footage. Even if I wasn't familiar with the actual context of this footage, I would find everything happening in it to be really confusing. (I know the return sequence specifically is cut differently in the Special Edition, so maybe this issue isn't as glaring). I should note that this is the last time the Fourth Doctor actually appears... and it's kind of nice that the last image of him is from Shada instead of Logopolis.
Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka - Tegan ends up being the companion with the most to do in this story, being paired off with the Fifth Doctor and First Doctor at various points in the story where there's the most plot momentum. She also provides a very striking example for how much the role of the companion - particularly female companions - has changed over the course of the show. As much as she fights with the Fifth Doctor, she openly bristles when the First Doctor suggests she makes tea for everyone, and refuses to stay behind in the TARDIS in favor of the men taking care of things. Her journey with the First Doctor into the tower is probably the most engaging of the bunch, thanks in no small part to them both being very strong personalities (and having an encounter with The Master and The Cybermen).
Mark Strickson as Vislor Turlough - Turlough ends up being the companion with the least to do in the story, with his most memorable scene probably being the opener when he's sketching the scenery of the planet they've landed on. After that, he picks up the slack doing mential tasks that Tegan (rightfully, IMO) refuses to do such as making tea and tending to the TARDIS. That's where he spends the rest of the story, paired with Susan as they try to move the TARDIS out of harms way before the Cybermen can blow it up. I know they were successful, but I honestly can't remember anything he did after that.
Anthony Ainley as The Master - While Ainley continues to inhabit the role above and beyond expectations, the show has been very repetitive with the way he's been used in the Fifth Doctor's era. Especially coming off The King's Demons, which only really stood out by introducing Kamelion, I was worried what they were going to do with The Master in this assuming he made an appearance. I was really happy and not just how much material they gave him, but how much Ainley was able to elevate it beyond that. His interaction with the Third Doctor had enough of the essence of the Delgado incarnation that it was clearly the same character, while also making it obvious how different this incarnation was and how much he's grown and changed since that era. This is especially evident paired with his confrontation scene with the Fifth Doctor, which is layered with a lot more complicated history and doesn't feel as cut as dry. (And definitely helped me see why people are fans of this pairing). I'm really looking forward to seeing if we get any more with these two opposite each other, since the Fifth Doctor's tenure is rapidly winding down. Something I didn't expect was seeing him face off against the First Doctor as well, an incarnation he doesn't have any history with, which was kind of an interesting exercise to watch since Tegan was in the unusual position of knowing more than the Doctor.
Carole Ann Ford as Susan Foreman - Oh Susan. I'm not sure how happy Ford was with this script since it doesn't really acknowledge any of the character's growth (of any of what happened after her character left the TARDIS). Instead we get this older version of Susan that immediately regresses back to her beginnings, complete with tripping over nothing and hurting her ankle. It all feels like a series of missed opportunities, since none of the other Doctors react to her presence and the Fifth Doctor's is rather muted. The biggest miss, though, is that after all this time Susan is back on Gallifrey. A lot of the show's mythos was established after she'd left, but more than once during her time on the show she'd spoken of how much she missed her home world. And the fact that none of this was explored beyond Susan actually saying the word "Gallifrey" really just feels like shallow writing. Only revisit the hits, no actual character progression.
Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Building off his return in Mawdryn Undead, the Brigadier is shown being reluctantly pulled back into the world of the Doctor in the midst of a UNIT reunion. (Side note, I completely agree with John Levene's decision to bail on this, but it was a bummer no familiar faces were seen there.) His dynamic with the Second Doctor is an interesting one to focus on, considering his much longer history with the Third Doctor, but there's still enough to mine here that makes it work. Overall though, his presence here is much more understated than in the previous story, which is inevitable but ultimately fine.
Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith - I appreciate that the Sarah that appeared in this story was the one from the present day, rather than from the beginning of her tenure with the Third Doctor. Not only does it give more weight to the events of K-9 and Company, but it also allows us to re-contextualize the relationship she had with the Third Doctor. And while some regression does happen (her not seeming to understand the Fifth Doctor was the Doctor came across as odd, since she'd seen him regenerate once before), it's nowhere near as bad as it was with Susan, and the way the feel somewhat out of sync feels very true to what their dynamic would be. I also believe this is the only time Sarah's met the Master onscreen, and her concern over leaving him behind to die did touch me a bit. In the end, I'm glad this isn't her last appearance (both within the show and for me).
Philip Latham as Borusa - Borusa is a character that appeared in four stories and was played by a different actor each time, and I didn't realize until watching this how much that fact lessons the impact of his villain reveal at the end. In my mind the definitive version of the character is still John Arnatt's turn in The Invasion of Time, and I have a really hard time meshing that character with the one seen here. It all feels like a regression in order to be able to use an established character for the dramatic effect, even though the twist was obvious from a mile away. Latham was fine enough in the role, but it all feels like something the script writers should have reconsidered, or at least taken another pass at.
John Leeson as K9 Mark III - He only appears in one scene, but I wanted to make a special mention since I thought his appearance was very endearing. I'm also happy that he's continued to live and thrive with Sarah Jane, and inadvertently acts as a nice setup within the show for their return as a team in School Reunion.
A handful of previous companions also made cameos in this, including Frazer Hines as Jamie McCrimmon, Wendy Padbury as Zoe Heriot, Caroline John as Liz Shaw, and Richard Franklin as Captain Mike Yates. It was a clever way to include more characters, and I found it especially amusing that the Third Doctor was accosted by sinister illusions of his queer-coded companions (who'd never actually met on the show). It was also nice seeing those characters again ever briefly, and just that little taste reminded me how much I enjoyed their time on the show. And as clumsy as the recycled footage of Shada was used, it was nice seeing Lalla Ward as Romana in that character's prime again.
The Story
No rankings, only takes.
1) Season 20, Serial 7 - The Five Doctors
I've already covered a lot of my thoughts on this story, since a lot of them are more about the characters themselves than the actual story, which is surprisingly thin. I guess that makes sense though, since a lot of this story's real estate needed to be taken up by introducing old characters and letting them vamp for a bit as fanservice for the audience. The plot itself revolves around and oft-mentioned but never seen figure - Rassilon. He appears in New Who, but his whole deal is very confusing for me and I was expecting Classic Who to provide better context for it. Seeing as this is his only appearance though... it doesn't quite do that. Rassilon is in what's essentially an eternal sleep, entombed in the Death Zone on Gallifrey, where the rest of the cast is deposited by the Time Scoop. From what I can gather, the scoop used to be used in order to gather entities for some kind of game/contest, but that it hasn't been used in ages and those games never involved entities like the Daleks or the Cybermen. I kind of wish more time had been spent on exploring this, to be perfectly honest, since most of the runtime is taken up by the Doctors and their companions walking over to Rassilon's tomb, while fending off the villainous offenses of the Cybermen.
I don't think is stories suffers so much from my apparent disinterest in Gallifrey stories as much as I didn't care for the Gallifrey council room set they chose to use, which aside from some flourishes such as the painting feels like the most boring version of the planet they've showed yet. It's all the more striking when juxtaposed by some of the non-quarry scenery of the Death Zone and the dark, sprawling tower hallways. I do think the final confrontation with Borusa and Rassilon was very well done though, and the way it unfolds allows both the Fifth Doctor and his predecessors to take central stage. That said, the way everyone parts ways feels very strange, and there's no catharsis to finally seeing all these characters in one room since they all just leave without really interacting with one another.
Final Thoughts
While I did enjoy this special quite a lot - and I'm looking forward to watching the Special Edition at some point in the future - I think I came into it with too many expectations (and hype from other fans). Part of that definitely stems from this being the last time a lot of these characters will be seen onscreen (in canon anyway). I think the other two anniversary specials I saw made me expect more forward character momentum than this special ever set out to do. Really the biggest thing I came away from this with is a need to consume Fifth Doctor/Ainley Master fanworks, since their one big scene together was so good and really capitalized on all the history that's been built up over the last couple of seasons.
Aside from some of the moving pieces (i.e. the timing of when certain characters are entering and exiting the show) I don't actually know much of anything about the contents of season 21. I know the Fifth Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough (and Kamelion) will all be leaving but I don't know the exact nature of their exits, and Peri is a companion I've seen mentioned a lot but I don't have any real idea of who she is or what she's like. This is also only the second instance of a Doctor leaving mid-season, though Five will be around for almost all of it. I plan on finishing out the year with his portion at least, and I'm happy I ended up liking his Doctor quite a lot despite a shaky beginning. Season 20 has been a high point in his run, and I'm excited to see where these next stories ultimately take him and the show. Because when it's over it's going to be completely different.
I feel like I'm gonna be repeating myself a lot in this post, since I'm going to keep circling back to the points I just made. Part of me wants to try to find that 25th Anniversary Cut that supposedly fixes some of the technical/structural issues, but I'd rather wait for a remaster on the season 20 Blu-ray that they haven't announced yet but I'm pretty sure is coming out sometime next year. That's not to say I think this story is riddled with issues that need fixing. I actually thought this special was really good, and my reception is probably colored by the fact that the show just came off one of its strongest seasons in years. It had a lot to live up to, and I hadn't realized exactly how spoiled I'd been for this story in advance.
Like most of Classic Who, this special is available to watch via streaming on Britbox. Because it's only one episode, there's no ranking, but I'm going to format this entry the same as the others anyway.
The Characters
Peter Davison as The Fifth Doctor - Not surprisingly, Davison felt the most at home out of all of the Doctors because unlike them, he was still in the thick of the role. They also do him the courtesy of giving him the starring role in the story when it could have easily been handed off to one of his predecessors. (One can only imagine a scenario where Baker returned). He is the character that drives the story forward the most, conducting the most direct investigation of what's happening on Gallifrey and being the one who figured out who the villain behind everything was. His scene with The Master also felt the most compelling, since he and Ainley have the most onscreen history, and it was this story of all things that finally sent me down the path of shipping these incarnations together. I guess it was only a matter of time.
Richard Hurndall as The First Doctor - Hurndall is not a mimic of Hartnell the same way David Bradley is, and he's definitely a lot more spry in the role than his predecessor ever was, but he manages to tap into a kind of intensity that made Hartnell's portrayal so compelling to watch. By default, he's the authority, even though he's technically the youngest incarnation of the character onscreen. I also really enjoyed that his dynamic with the Fifth Doctor and Tegan is very reminiscent of the dynamic he later has with the Twelfth Doctor and Bill later in Twice Upon a Time. Out of all the guest Doctors, his role feels the most vital to the story, and its a treat to see him go up against Ainley's Master in particular, and him being the one to figure out the riddle at the end felt like the perfect way to put a capper on the story and make the whole thing feel worth it.
Patrick Troughton as The Second Doctor - Troughton may be a bit older and grayer, but just like in The Three Doctors he manages to slip back into the role with such ease that its hard to believe he's been away from it for ten years. It's fun seeing him go up against the Cybermen and the Yeti again, and though the Brigadier feels like a weird choice to pair him off with it mostly works, and they ride off that same chemistry they had in the few stories they share. I will segue to point out that this does give a lot of weight to the "Season 6B" theory, with the Second Doctor very pointedly referring to the events of The War Games when Jamie and Zoe appear. I'd thought the theory was a neat idea before, but now it's becoming clear there's some canon basis to it, and it seems like The Three Doctors also falls under this same, very strange umbrella of a later timeline for the Second Doctor. It's really made me curious to see what The Two Doctors has to offer in a couple of seasons, especially with Troughton still somehow in top form.
Jon Pertwee as The Third Doctor - The star of the last anniversary special, his real standout moment is not with the main arc of the story, but rather his encounter with Ainley's new incarnation of The Master. It provides a nice illustration of how much that dynamic has changed, as the Third Doctor regards him almost fondly as his "best enemy" and doesn't make any move to help him when he's surrounded by Cybermen (but not before stealing the badge The Master was carrying to prove he was sent by the Time Lords.) Returning to his dynamic was also an interesting choice (fueled mostly by casting availability) that also helps show how much Sarah Jane's relationship with the Doctor grew after he regenerated. Mush more the authoritative, professorial type, it was fun to see him engineer a way to get into the tower. After this though, he kind of fades into the background as the First and Fifth Doctors take over the story.
Tom Baker as The Fourth Doctor - No, he's not actually in this. His role is entirely comprised of very awkwardly edited Shada footage. Even if I wasn't familiar with the actual context of this footage, I would find everything happening in it to be really confusing. (I know the return sequence specifically is cut differently in the Special Edition, so maybe this issue isn't as glaring). I should note that this is the last time the Fourth Doctor actually appears... and it's kind of nice that the last image of him is from Shada instead of Logopolis.
Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka - Tegan ends up being the companion with the most to do in this story, being paired off with the Fifth Doctor and First Doctor at various points in the story where there's the most plot momentum. She also provides a very striking example for how much the role of the companion - particularly female companions - has changed over the course of the show. As much as she fights with the Fifth Doctor, she openly bristles when the First Doctor suggests she makes tea for everyone, and refuses to stay behind in the TARDIS in favor of the men taking care of things. Her journey with the First Doctor into the tower is probably the most engaging of the bunch, thanks in no small part to them both being very strong personalities (and having an encounter with The Master and The Cybermen).
Mark Strickson as Vislor Turlough - Turlough ends up being the companion with the least to do in the story, with his most memorable scene probably being the opener when he's sketching the scenery of the planet they've landed on. After that, he picks up the slack doing mential tasks that Tegan (rightfully, IMO) refuses to do such as making tea and tending to the TARDIS. That's where he spends the rest of the story, paired with Susan as they try to move the TARDIS out of harms way before the Cybermen can blow it up. I know they were successful, but I honestly can't remember anything he did after that.
Anthony Ainley as The Master - While Ainley continues to inhabit the role above and beyond expectations, the show has been very repetitive with the way he's been used in the Fifth Doctor's era. Especially coming off The King's Demons, which only really stood out by introducing Kamelion, I was worried what they were going to do with The Master in this assuming he made an appearance. I was really happy and not just how much material they gave him, but how much Ainley was able to elevate it beyond that. His interaction with the Third Doctor had enough of the essence of the Delgado incarnation that it was clearly the same character, while also making it obvious how different this incarnation was and how much he's grown and changed since that era. This is especially evident paired with his confrontation scene with the Fifth Doctor, which is layered with a lot more complicated history and doesn't feel as cut as dry. (And definitely helped me see why people are fans of this pairing). I'm really looking forward to seeing if we get any more with these two opposite each other, since the Fifth Doctor's tenure is rapidly winding down. Something I didn't expect was seeing him face off against the First Doctor as well, an incarnation he doesn't have any history with, which was kind of an interesting exercise to watch since Tegan was in the unusual position of knowing more than the Doctor.
Carole Ann Ford as Susan Foreman - Oh Susan. I'm not sure how happy Ford was with this script since it doesn't really acknowledge any of the character's growth (of any of what happened after her character left the TARDIS). Instead we get this older version of Susan that immediately regresses back to her beginnings, complete with tripping over nothing and hurting her ankle. It all feels like a series of missed opportunities, since none of the other Doctors react to her presence and the Fifth Doctor's is rather muted. The biggest miss, though, is that after all this time Susan is back on Gallifrey. A lot of the show's mythos was established after she'd left, but more than once during her time on the show she'd spoken of how much she missed her home world. And the fact that none of this was explored beyond Susan actually saying the word "Gallifrey" really just feels like shallow writing. Only revisit the hits, no actual character progression.
Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart - Building off his return in Mawdryn Undead, the Brigadier is shown being reluctantly pulled back into the world of the Doctor in the midst of a UNIT reunion. (Side note, I completely agree with John Levene's decision to bail on this, but it was a bummer no familiar faces were seen there.) His dynamic with the Second Doctor is an interesting one to focus on, considering his much longer history with the Third Doctor, but there's still enough to mine here that makes it work. Overall though, his presence here is much more understated than in the previous story, which is inevitable but ultimately fine.
Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith - I appreciate that the Sarah that appeared in this story was the one from the present day, rather than from the beginning of her tenure with the Third Doctor. Not only does it give more weight to the events of K-9 and Company, but it also allows us to re-contextualize the relationship she had with the Third Doctor. And while some regression does happen (her not seeming to understand the Fifth Doctor was the Doctor came across as odd, since she'd seen him regenerate once before), it's nowhere near as bad as it was with Susan, and the way the feel somewhat out of sync feels very true to what their dynamic would be. I also believe this is the only time Sarah's met the Master onscreen, and her concern over leaving him behind to die did touch me a bit. In the end, I'm glad this isn't her last appearance (both within the show and for me).
Philip Latham as Borusa - Borusa is a character that appeared in four stories and was played by a different actor each time, and I didn't realize until watching this how much that fact lessons the impact of his villain reveal at the end. In my mind the definitive version of the character is still John Arnatt's turn in The Invasion of Time, and I have a really hard time meshing that character with the one seen here. It all feels like a regression in order to be able to use an established character for the dramatic effect, even though the twist was obvious from a mile away. Latham was fine enough in the role, but it all feels like something the script writers should have reconsidered, or at least taken another pass at.
John Leeson as K9 Mark III - He only appears in one scene, but I wanted to make a special mention since I thought his appearance was very endearing. I'm also happy that he's continued to live and thrive with Sarah Jane, and inadvertently acts as a nice setup within the show for their return as a team in School Reunion.
A handful of previous companions also made cameos in this, including Frazer Hines as Jamie McCrimmon, Wendy Padbury as Zoe Heriot, Caroline John as Liz Shaw, and Richard Franklin as Captain Mike Yates. It was a clever way to include more characters, and I found it especially amusing that the Third Doctor was accosted by sinister illusions of his queer-coded companions (who'd never actually met on the show). It was also nice seeing those characters again ever briefly, and just that little taste reminded me how much I enjoyed their time on the show. And as clumsy as the recycled footage of Shada was used, it was nice seeing Lalla Ward as Romana in that character's prime again.
The Story
No rankings, only takes.
1) Season 20, Serial 7 - The Five Doctors
The Five Doctors coasts mostly on how fun it is to see old Doctors and Companions onscreen again for the first time in years. The plot itself is thin, and the lore it relies on is somehow really confusing. Hurndall is a surprisingly effective recast for the First Doctor. (x)
I've already covered a lot of my thoughts on this story, since a lot of them are more about the characters themselves than the actual story, which is surprisingly thin. I guess that makes sense though, since a lot of this story's real estate needed to be taken up by introducing old characters and letting them vamp for a bit as fanservice for the audience. The plot itself revolves around and oft-mentioned but never seen figure - Rassilon. He appears in New Who, but his whole deal is very confusing for me and I was expecting Classic Who to provide better context for it. Seeing as this is his only appearance though... it doesn't quite do that. Rassilon is in what's essentially an eternal sleep, entombed in the Death Zone on Gallifrey, where the rest of the cast is deposited by the Time Scoop. From what I can gather, the scoop used to be used in order to gather entities for some kind of game/contest, but that it hasn't been used in ages and those games never involved entities like the Daleks or the Cybermen. I kind of wish more time had been spent on exploring this, to be perfectly honest, since most of the runtime is taken up by the Doctors and their companions walking over to Rassilon's tomb, while fending off the villainous offenses of the Cybermen.
I don't think is stories suffers so much from my apparent disinterest in Gallifrey stories as much as I didn't care for the Gallifrey council room set they chose to use, which aside from some flourishes such as the painting feels like the most boring version of the planet they've showed yet. It's all the more striking when juxtaposed by some of the non-quarry scenery of the Death Zone and the dark, sprawling tower hallways. I do think the final confrontation with Borusa and Rassilon was very well done though, and the way it unfolds allows both the Fifth Doctor and his predecessors to take central stage. That said, the way everyone parts ways feels very strange, and there's no catharsis to finally seeing all these characters in one room since they all just leave without really interacting with one another.
Final Thoughts
While I did enjoy this special quite a lot - and I'm looking forward to watching the Special Edition at some point in the future - I think I came into it with too many expectations (and hype from other fans). Part of that definitely stems from this being the last time a lot of these characters will be seen onscreen (in canon anyway). I think the other two anniversary specials I saw made me expect more forward character momentum than this special ever set out to do. Really the biggest thing I came away from this with is a need to consume Fifth Doctor/Ainley Master fanworks, since their one big scene together was so good and really capitalized on all the history that's been built up over the last couple of seasons.
Aside from some of the moving pieces (i.e. the timing of when certain characters are entering and exiting the show) I don't actually know much of anything about the contents of season 21. I know the Fifth Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough (and Kamelion) will all be leaving but I don't know the exact nature of their exits, and Peri is a companion I've seen mentioned a lot but I don't have any real idea of who she is or what she's like. This is also only the second instance of a Doctor leaving mid-season, though Five will be around for almost all of it. I plan on finishing out the year with his portion at least, and I'm happy I ended up liking his Doctor quite a lot despite a shaky beginning. Season 20 has been a high point in his run, and I'm excited to see where these next stories ultimately take him and the show. Because when it's over it's going to be completely different.
no subject
There was a comic I read as a kid, like in an annual or something, and it showed the Second Doctor doing work for the Time Lords after War Games but before his sentencing, and there were these horrifying scarecrows who captured him and injured him so much that he began regenerating and then was taking back to be sentenced, and it was really scary.
I remember watching this as it aired, and again, on a video tape at Christmas after my nan had recorded it form TV—my grandparents were the only people I knew at that point who were well off enough to own a video recorder—and I definitely felt some anxiety, mostly because my parents kept hyping up the Daleks and how I should be afraid of them. I was never really scared of the Daleks, but I was scared of the idea that there was something called "Daleks" that I should be scared of, lol.
I must have liked it though, as I remember being told off by a teacher at school because instead of reading new books, every week, I would just check out the Target novelisation and re-read that.
no subject
LOL, oh dear. It's great fun and I love it, but it isn't a good story, really. It's just a party where they didn't even know who'd be turning up on the day till quite short notice (probably partly to blame for some of the writing where there's not follow up as to which character it is - Sarah Jane would have been with Four, but Four fell through and so on and so on with pretty much every aspect of it. In that context if no other, it's pretty much genius.)
I think it's not so much categorised as a stand-out, but literally as something that was done separately - it wasn't part of a season and it was the only feature-length episode until the TVM.
The thing to do with it is bring popcorn and possibly drink and chant along all together: "NO NOT THE MIND PROBE!"
(I read the novelisation to death, though. Five Doctors and everyone bickering and Tegan, OMG. Heh.)
no subject
I don't think I've ever been frightened by the Daleks (I suspect that has a lot to do with starting the show when I was 21) but I do appreciate the show's continued efforts to try and make them "scary again." The concept of the Daleks will probably always end up being scarier than the actual things themselves though.
no subject
I definitely appreciated that they were able to put this special together at all, considering all the behind the scenes stuff that was happening with it. I do feel like once I'm actually done watching the Classic series, this is going to be one of the stories I ended up revisiting a lot.
no subject
I think it's adorable that they make this effort too. I haven't seen the new stuff, but points out of ten for trying. Scarecrows however are a different deal, I think one of the sub-par BBC missing adventure books brought them back at one point? Maybe?
no subject
It's the Party of Rassilon, that's what it is. Bring your own silly hat! XD
I do wonder if the First Doctor is hanging out in the same garden he was chilling in during The Three Doctors though.
Having a busy day, heh? I think there used to be speculation that One had a rose garden in the TARDIS, which I rather liked, but I haven't heard that one doing the rounds since my first fic incarnation (which was *mumbles* years ago).