Plot: The Doctor is frozen and it's up to Ian to save him while Vicki helps the Xerons plan their rebellion.
Good: A little bit of that badass "I'm taking everyone hostage" Ian is back this episode and it's fun to watch, until he get's knocked out rather easily. Hartnell is also back in true form, the show is always weaker when Hartnell isn't around. I'm also enjoying getting to see more of Vicki as she is probably the best thing about this serial, and yes I'm aware of how crazy that sounds. The crew talking about how they might have not changed the future at all almost brought back some of that charm the first episode had...almost.
Bad: The same problem that plagued the last two episodes plagued this one, it was dull, plodding, and not a whole lot interesting happened, a real disappointment. The Morok leader, Lobos has the distinct pleasure of being my least favorite villain since the Trapper back in "Marinus." Lobos has the uncanny ability to make all the scenes he's in boring and uninteresting, quite a noble feat.
Overall: This episode gets a 3 out of 5. An average, if slightly dull, ending to what has been an average serial.
Plot: The Doctor and friends end up in a strange desert planet and discover that the Daleks are chasing them with their own time machine!
Good: This episode starts out with Vicki being her annoying self and then uttering the phrase "I'm completely redundant," at least she realizes it. Seriously though that had to be the most unintentionally funny line this episode. Also despite it's pointlessness the actors playing both Lincoln and Shakespeare did a good job and made me almost forget to question why this was happening. I also enjoyed Ian's reaction to Vicki calling the Beatles classical music.
Bad: This episode tries to be funny in parts and fails to a certain degree, some of the jokes were just laughably cliche. A good sign of how an episode of Doctor Who is going to go is the first three minutes, and not just the first three, but the first ten minutes of the show are filled with pointless padding as the Doctor uses the Time-Space Visualizer to watch Lincoln, the Queen, and, of course, the Beatles. If there was one moment in this episode that had no reason being there (and trust me, there were a lot) it was the Beatles. Other than setting up for a funny joke they served no point, and I'm a big Beatles fan!
Overall: This episode gets a 3 out of 5. A disappointingly average start to what could have been a great episode, if the gang had actually done something.
Plot: The Doctor and the gang are split up and the Daleks are hot on their trail.
Good: While their costumes seem a bit troublesome at times, the Aridians were actually quite interesting creatures and I wouldn't have cared if we spent the entire serial with them. I must say Vicki is slowly proving herself to be useful. While Ian spent most of this episode lying around it was Vicki who found the TARDIS AND The Doctor and Barbara.
Bad: First and foremost, the music of this episode is just bad. Never in the series has the music destroyed scenes as this one. Scenes that could have been powerful and dramatic are ruined by music that is more suited for a comedy. There in lies the problem with this episode, and if I were to guess, this serial. The serial is suppose to be a comedy but the majority of the episode is drama with the few jokes being terrible at best (such as The Doctor and Ian planning a trap for the Daleks by shouting at them to come near where the trap is.) The second problem being that the Daleks should NEVER be featured in anything made for the purpose of being a comedy. They are ruthless killing machines and are essentially Nazis, there is no comedy, no matter how dark, that can make the Daleks work without making them seem less threatening.
Overall: This episode gets a 2.5 out of 5. A disappointing continuation of this serial, maybe it will turn around but don't consider me hopeful.
Plot: The Doctor and friends are trying to outrun the Daleks through time or something, that's not really important to the episode though, there's hardly any of that.
Good: To be honest, I enjoyed the bit at the Empire State Building (at first) and thought Peter Perves (who will show up again later as Steven Taylor) did a good job (at first).
Bad: To make this easier on both of us I'm going to hit the big points. This is by far the worst episode of Who I have yet to see. This episode contains two very unfunny "sketches" between one-note characters and the Daleks while the cast does pretty much nothing. Never in my life have I been so frustrated with a TV show as to audibly say to the screen, "What the F*&$ was that?!" and sure enough I did tonight. Why you might ask? Well let me list of the reasons why I was on edge and then the actual tipping point. First, we get an incredibly dragged out scene in the Empire State Building that loses it's comedic value before the 5 minute mark (it takes up roughly half the episode.) In said scene the "funny" hick character Morton Dill believes the Daleks are some ugly Hollywood movie alien and how do the Daleks take it? They do nothing. Let me repeat that, the Daleks, the most ruthless killing machines on the planet do NOTHING as this puny human makes fun of them. Next we get a scene on a ship where everybody notices the Daleks on the ship and decide it's time to overact and start jumping overboard, why? Because it's funny right? And you know what's funnier, what if a Dalek decided to jump in the water after them. Isn't that hilarious!? Seriously...WHAT THE F^&*!!
Conclusion: This episode get's a 1 out of 5. Only because I was still kind of entertained by it. And here I thought we couldn't get worse than the Web Planet.
Plot: Trying to escape the Daleks, the Doctor and crew find themselves in a haunted mansion. But there's something odd about this particular mansion.
Good: I must admit I was enjoying the haunted mansion for a bit, until Frankenstein showed up, it had a good air of horror to it. The last couple scenes are the most interesting of the entire serial so far. They show the Daleks using a replicator machine to make a robot copy of the Doctor, much to the horror of Vicki who has been forced to stowaway on their time machine after splitting from the group. The scenes really do a good job of actually making me interested in seeing more of this serial.
Bad: I really was enjoying the haunted mansion bit until Frankenstein and Dracula showed up, and in a "great" twist of comedy, they were robots in a House of Horrors (in 1996 no less!). To add insult to injury, these robots are apparently set to "Kill" mode as they attack and DESTROY some of the Daleks. I find it quite hilarious that Terry Nation, the man who created the Daleks and made them such an intimidating threat, is going to such great lengths to make them look so weak. Nation also had the audacity to have the Doctor actually say that he thought the haunted mansion might be a collective thought that they had traveled to. As if the Doctor knew so little about his time machine that it could suddenly travel into thoughts!? It might seem niticky but that bit really bothered me.
Overall: This episode get's a 2.5 out of 5. A bit of an improvement over the last episode but really anything would have been.
Plot: The Doctor and friends land on the planet Mechanus, determined to rid themselves of the Daleks. Little do they know that the Daleks have their own plans to get rid of them.
Good: This episode is a vast improvement over the past episodes of this serial. First we get some interesting aliens in the Fungoids (they're not actually given a name but this seems to be the most widely excepted.) But the best part of this episode is the Doctor and his robot clone. The Doctor's battle with his evil doppelganger is actually quite interesting and fun to watch. The episode also ends on another interesting bit that makes me interested for the conclusion.
Bad: While the Fungoids are cool in design they don't seem too threatening, I mean how can they when all they really do is wobble all over their "victims"? The Doctor fight is cut short by the Doctor imitating the voice of a Dalek and causing the robot to shut down. I found this part to be a weak end to the fight and a poor excuse of trying to make the Doctor uses his wits when there were better ways. The last problem I had was the appearance of the Mechanoid at the end, while his appearance worked I couldn't understand a word the thing said. Luckily, Ian apparently understands robo-mumble and tells us what it pretty much said.
Overall: This episode gets a 3 out of 5. The best episode of this serial to date, let's hope it ends just a strong.
Peter Purves now does quite nicely fronting Crufts, I believe.
DW
Episode 77: The Planet of Decision
Plot: The Doctor and friends find themselves trapped by the Mechanoids. If only there was another group of evil robots that could come and cause a distraction for them to escape.
Good: While the design ultimately fails I like the idea behind the Mechanoids. Robot helpers who build a city for humans who never ended up using it and are imprisoning those that they believe are trying to break in, it's a cool concept and deserving of way more than one episode. I enjoyed the climatic battle between them and the Daleks, if only for the camera work, it was truly entertaining to see the two races battle with each other. We're also introduced to Steven Taylor this episode, who is a much better role for Peter Purves than Morton Dill was. Purves does a pretty good job of making me interested in the character and I'm sure that's it more than just coincidence that he is similar to Ian. The final part of this episode is dedicated to the goodbye of Ian and Barbara. While not as powerful as Susan's goodbye it held it's own weight. It was interesting to see the Doctor furious at the thought of being left alone, until Vicki informs him that she has no intentions of leaving (yet.) Hartnell reaffirms my feeling that he's a truly great actor in his simple, underplayed, announcement of "I shall miss them. Yes, I shall miss them." Me too Doctor. Me too.
Bad: Other than getting us rid of the Daleks and giving us Steven, the Mechanoid's and their city didn't really do much during this entire episode. Speaking of the Mechanoids, who decided it was a good idea to make them so damn bulky!? I mean these things can barely make it through a doorway! And then to add to that by giving them a voice that sounds like something from a garbled CB Radio and you have a waste of a good idea.
Overall: This episode earns a 4 out of 5. While The Chase is nowhere near the best of Doctor Who it isn't the worst. Just a little uneven with what it really wants to be.
You've not got to her era yet, but the actress who played Sarah Jane Smith has died.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news...ertainment-arts-13137674
Not actually the best article at the moment, as the Beeb is being uber-slow (or possibly just cautious on what it reports) on this one.
Not a good year for companions - Nicholas Courtney (The Brigadier) died earlier.
DW
I read this and was gutted, I can't believe she died, especially at the height of her return to the spotlight in the Sarah Jane Adventures.
