Frontier in Space

The Doctor and Jo land in the 26th century, a time of great tension between the Earth Empire and the Draconian Empire. Despite the peace treaty between them, reports of piracy of Earth ships by Draconians and vice versa have been reported. The Doctor finds out that the culprits are actually Ogrons, but Ogrons never act alone…

Malcolm Hulke was always interested in telling more sophisticated stories than Earth invasion standards and, whatever the eventual quality of stories penned by him, they are always interesting thematically. The characters are well drawn with believable motivations (although General Williams's change of heart about the Draconians is a bit too sudden). Frontier in Space paints a vivid picture of Earth's future, a world where the government is benevolent, but not above suspending due process and imprisoning dissenters. Draconia too is presented as a culture, rather than as monsters and shock troops. This is bolstered by the outstanding design work. For once, the décor is subdued, rather than extrapolating from the worst excesses of 70's gaudiness. The make up for the Draconians is fantastic- if they were brought back now, there is very little the current production team would have to do to improve it. It is a bit disappointing that all the Draconians wear the same types of clothes, but this is a mere quibble. Fake newscasts add a real sense of a world existing outside the sets, and there is some great location work. Paul Bernard does excellent work as the director (perhaps attempting to atone for The Time Monster!) The script demands an expansive environment and, surprisingly, this is what we get.

The main problem with the story is that it is, yet again, a padded six-parter. The Doctor and Jo spend a lot of time in cells and are captured, interrogated and escape many times. However, although the padding is there, it is not boring so it is forgiveable.

The performances are very good across the board. Vera Fusek is regal and dignified as the President and Michael Hawkins makes General Williams very believable. The regulars are as good as ever, with the great chemistry between Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning working its usual magic. This is also, sadly, Roger Delgado's last performance as the Master and one of his best. He is given some great lines, which Delgado performs with panache and a real master plan (sorry) to decimate the Earth and Draconian Empires and assisting a third party to claim what is left. The third party is, of course, the Daleks and it sends a real chill down the spine to see Delgado share scenes with the diabolical dustbins.

The last episode ends on a cliffhanger, of course, and this intelligent and highly enjoyable story whets the appetite for an epic concluding half…

NEXT: Planet of the Daleks

The Time Monster

It is interesting to compare The Time Monster with The Mutants. In the earlier story, a conceptually ambitious and intelligent idea is let down by poor storytelling and variable acting. The Time Monster is the same, except for the conceptual ambition and intelligence bit.

The basic plot is this. The Master, disguised as Professor Thaskalos has set up a project called TOMTIT. The real purpose of the project is to summon and control a being called Kronos, from a race called the Kronovores. The key to true control of Kronos lies 3500 years in the past, in the lost realm of Atlantis, where Kronos created a golden age.

There is nothing really wrong with that as a plot. However, in turning that plot into a script, would you a) get to the Atlantis part as quickly as possible or (b) waste four episodes with increasingly ludicrous set pieces that all make the same point- time does funny things when there’s a Kronovore about. In these four episodes, we learn nothing new about the characters and not only is there no actual worsening crisis, there is no plot progression at all. As if this wasn’t bad enough, the dialogue varies in quality from forgettable to excruciating and we have some truly awful guest performances. Wanda Moore and Ian Collier aren’t actually bad actors, but their characters are irritating. Donald Eccles is clearly doing proper acting, but utterly failing in turning that into a performance. This is the worst example of directing an ensemble in Doctor Who since The Underwater Menace- in their scenes together Roger Delgado and Eccles seem to be saying their lines without realising there is another actor in the room. However, I sympathise with Paul Bernard- if I was presented with a script this awful, I would consider it dramatically unsalvageable and simply try to make the actual production as bearable as possible for myself, even if it stretches to zooming for no reason or getting the actors to pretend to run on the spot in slow motion.

Part four is much better, purely because it is a competently made piece of television. Then we get to the Atlantis part, which contains the one outstanding performance from a member of the guest cast. George Cormack is suitably dignified and sympathetic as King Dalios. Ingrid Pitt is less skilful as Queen Galleia, but she’s so damn sexy, I can forgive this. Aidan Murphy as Hippias gives a performance that is, what people who have never been to the theatre call theatrical, with unsubtle gesturing and vocalisation. Susan Penhaligon, however, is quietly effective as Lakis.

The design work is sound, particularly in Atlantis. However, the realisation of Kronos is absolutely awful- a monster that not only looks like, but is treated as a pigeon that has accidentally flown into a room. The final appearance of Kronos, as a vast disembodied head, is far more effective. Dudley Simpson seems to be as annoyed by the story as Bernard and seems to be improvising badly at some points.

The regulars are about as effective as they can be in this fiasco- bizarrely, this is one of Katy Manning’s best performances. Pertwee manages to be effective throughout, as does Courtney. Delgado is very good, considering what he had to work with, especially in the sexual tension he has with Galleia. However, the scene where he begs Kronos for mercy is pitched and performed in the wrong way.

This story is an overlong, brainless, lumbering mess, the worst story since The Underwater Menace. I had to watch it. You don’t.

NEXT: The Three Doctors

Day of the Daleks

Day of the Daleks features an interesting proto-Terminator plotline- a global peace conference organised by a Sir Reginald Styles is bombed and future generations will blame him for it- for the bombing results in a global war that will leave the Earth open to invasion by the Daleks. Commandos are sent back in time to assassinate Styles, to prevent that future coming to pass.

This is one of the few stories to use time travel as more than the means to get the Doctor from adventure to adventure and it is reasonably well thought out. There is a discussion between the Doctor and Jo as to why the time travellers cannot keep coming back to the same point in time to correct any mistakes they might have made (although the Doctor is conveniently interrupted before actually explaining the ‘Blinovitch Limitation Effect’). There are a few problems, most notably that the Daleks are aware of the real cause of the explosion. It would have been better had they been unaware as well, rather than adding an unnecessary and confusing dimension to the plot. However, Louis Marks’s script tells an effective story with little padding and holds up quite well.

Of course, the main selling point is the return of the Daleks to Doctor Who after 5 years. Unfortunately, they are considerably underused (it is easy to see that they were a late addition to the script) and it is obvious that there are only three of them. Their voices are very different to those used in any other story which jars somewhat. However, it is good to see them back. The story also introduces their dim-witted henchmen, the Ogrons. The Ogron make-up is outstanding and these lumbering super-apes manage to be both menacing and comical at the same time.

The guest cast is generally good (although the technician at the Dalek base has an odd manner of speaking, which is never addressed). The best performance is definitely Aubrey Woods as the Controller, giving a very sympathetic portrayal of the latest in ‘a family of Quislings’. The scene where he expertly gets Jo to freely divulge the information he needs is very well acted. Paul Bernard directs with great fluidity, with some very effective editing. The whole production is of a high standard, although the fact that there are only three Daleks is particularly obvious in the assault on Auderly House.

Jon Pertwee is fantastically unflappable as the Doctor- there is a scene which the viewer will either love or hate, where the Doctor does his Venusian aki-do on a commando and then takes a sip of wine. UNIT is also on good form here- there is the great ‘RHIP’ scene between Benton and Yates. Jo Grant has to spend a good portion of the story being hoodwinked, but Katy Manning still manages to make her appealing.

Although by no means a great story, Day of the Daleks is entertaining and stands up to repeat viewings well.

NEXT: The Curse of Peladon