Delta and the Bannermen

Delta and the Bannermen is a relatively simple tale of the Doctor helping an alien queen escape the genocidal army that has massacred her people. This is, strangely, mixed with a trip to Wales in 1959, a wayward American satellite and lots of Rock n’ Roll. However, what could be an unholy hodge-podge actually works out as a rather charming little tale. There is a degree of vagueness in Malcolm Kohll's storyline- we never find out why the Bannermen are so intent on wiping out the Chimerons. The baby food that Billy takes might be the Chimeron ‘royal jelly’ (The Chimerons seem to be eusocial) but that does not mean that it will turn Billy into a Chimeron, any more than him eating actual royal jelly will turn him into a bee. However, the scripts are nicely written and contain good characterisation- Ray, for example is based on a very recognisable stereotype, but the script makes her seem fresh.

One potential pitfall is the varying tone of the story (something that was a problem on Paradise Towers). The Navarino ’50s nostalgia tour is a rather light-hearted concept, whereas Gavrok has to rank as one of the most despicable villains ever seen on the programme. It is easy, therefore, to underestimate the skill of the production team in making the story work in terms of tone. The story was made entirely on location (apart from the TARDIS scenes) which lends an organic reality to the settings. The idea to set the story in a Welsh holiday camp is inspired- Hi-de-Hi is a clear influence on the look, and also manages to convey the British ‘50s without exposing us to the rather drab reality of Britain in that period. Chris Clough’s direction is good and the story is generally well realised- the opening battle sequence is very impressive as are most of the model shots, with the exception of the shot of the TARDIS towing the Navarino bus. There are also the rather poor destruction of the bus and Gavrok himself, but these are exceptions. Keff McCulloch’s ‘50s pastiche music is actually rather good, although his use of the Devil’s Galop/Gallop is about as effective nowadays as using Souza’s Liberty Bell for a military march. In addition, McCulloch’s own chase music would be more suitable for Chucklevision.

There are some very fine performances, most notably, Don Henderson as Gavrok. Henderson gives the character a real aura of bestial evil, at one point chomping on a haunch of raw meat and spitting it out at the Doctor. Sara Griffiths is great fun as Ray as is Richard Davies as Burton. There is also the wonderful Hugh Lloyd as Goronwy and Broadway legend Stubby Kaye as Weismuller. Unfortunately, the key characters of Delta and Billy are less than ideally played. Belinda Mayne is not very expressive as Delta, but she is better than David Kinder, who is perilously close to awful as Billy (who, for some reason doesn’t have a Welsh accent). More seriously, their romance is rather unconvincing, both in terms of how it is written and how it is performed.

However, the regulars are on fine form. Sylvester McCoy is brilliant throughout, imposing his authority on the Bannermen and dancing with, consoling (and very nearly groping!) Ray. More astonishingly, Bonnie Langford is actually very good here- especially well played is the scene after the destruction of the Navarinos’ bus.

Delta and the Bannermen is by no means perfect, but it is great fun with some wonderful moments and is well worth a spin.

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