Doctor In Distress

 In March 1985 Doctor Who was paused. As the previous post makes clear this was initially intended as a cancellation but because the BBC has never been the most robust decision maker and also due to a tabloid led outcry (partly orchestrated secretly by the series' production office) the halt became a hiatus. Doctor Who would be back, said Bill Cotton, the King of the BBC, but not for eighteen months. We may smile now that this gap caused such consternation; in 2025 two years is the average gap between seasons of many major fantasy shows. In 1985 however, at least as far as fans were concerned, it was simply too long to wait and they wanted to do something about it.

Thus a plan was hatched to make a high profile song to highlight an issue which, as far the wider public was concerned, had already been sorted. The people to whom this task fell were Ian Levine and Fiachra Tench. Levine had a track record as a DJ and producer of HI NRG records that were popular in clubs and were also starting to infiltrate the charts.  As the name suggests HI NRG music is supposed to be powerful, up tempo and pulsing with intense vocals. Ian Levine’s own superb production of the song `High Energy` by Evelyn Thomas the previous year is a textbox example of the musical genre. `Doctor In Distress` is not.

Season 7 Collection: Extras

 

The Collection season seven doesn’t have as many new extras as others only because the DVDs of individual stories were replete with additional features. Even the usual shelf space saving isn’t possible as the width of the box is more or less the same as that of the four individual dvds together but there should always be ample room for one of the cornerstone seasons of Doctor Who. It’s no exaggeration to say that season seven saved the series at a moment when its future was in doubt. Yet it’s also a unique quartet of stories as season 8 onwards boiled the show down to primary colours so remains an outlier in the series’ style. 

I reviewed these four stories in detail on this blog five years ago, to read those reviews go to January- May 2020 posts in the Archive.

The Time when Doctor Who was nearly cancelled

 

Forty years ago, Doctor Who faced an existential threat that could take if off air forever. Or at least eighteen months. Yet thanks to a loose coalition secretly driven by the production office, the series lived on for another three years. This is the story of those tumultuous few weeks in 1985 when the Tardis doors could have been shut for good and what happened afterwards...

On Wednesday 27 February 1985 London's daily newspaper 'The Evening Standard' received a phone call from a never identified source at Thames Television repeating a rumour they'd heard to the effect that Doctor Who was being taken off the air "for at least 18 months". This was not a new rumour. Producer John Nathan Turner had already heard it himself the previous week from both lan Levine (his unofficial script consultant) and Robert Holmes (who'd been commissioned to pen a third Auton story) but he had, publicly at least, dismissed the idea. It's almost certain that the stories originated from one of many fans who were employed at the BBC and it was wishful thinking on the producer's part to ignore the signs of a television programme in crisis; signs that had been apparent for two months.

 Episode 1 of 'Attack of the Cybermen' had garnered impressive ratings of nine million but they had dropped to seven  million for the second part. By 'Mark of the Rani' part 1 they'd dropped alarmingly to around six and a quarter million; a fall of almost a third. This had been noticed by the press who were on alert for a cancellation/crisis angle, a situation heightened by rising complaints about the level of graphic violence in the season which had been voiced publicly in the 'Radio Times' and on Points of View. The casual viewer seemed to be turning off as the season progressed, frustrated by increasingly un linear storylines that baffled many, as did an increasing reliance on old motifs and continuity by the barrel load. In place of spectacle and dark corners came nasty violence epitomised by an unsympathetic Doctor whom kids simply did not like. At the same time the BBC was looking to re-route budgets to enable the launch of breakfast television and the expansion of daytime programming. Some senior figures saw this as a chance / excuse to axe their least favourite sci-fi adventure. So when the ratings for season 22 took such a dramatic tumble Doctor Who was already vulnerable. 

 

Season Two@60 - The Web Planet

 

Long before I saw this story I read the Target novel upon which it is based, `Doctor Who and the Zarbi`. That book’s strange Chris Achellios cover and descriptive Bill Strutton prose conjured up a totally alien world for young me. For ages I imagined that the televised episodes were as elegant and bizarre and imaginative as that book. So inevitably when I eventually saw it on a grainy video it was hugely disappointing. I wanted those descriptions; I wanted it to look like that book cover and it just didn’t. So, I sort of left it to one side.

 

Season Two@60 - The Romans

 

Opinions I’ve heard about this story range from it being the best Sixties story to being throwaway nonsense. Its neither of these things yet certainly drifts closer to the former. I think I’d only seen it once before, probably on some grainy videotape in the days when Sixties stories were passed around fandom like rare commodities. All I could remember was a hectic farce which it is but maybe I appreciate that more now plus finding out it was intended to embody those attributes makes it easier to enjoy. Like a lot of seldom seen Doctor Who stories it pays to re-watch and discover just what makes it tick.

 

Season Two@60 - The Rescue

 

Though ostensibly made to introduce a new companion, `The Rescue` is an interesting story whose brevity means that the usual meandering that fills many a Sixties episode is absent. Instead, David Whitaker’s script is tight (even if it contains some unlikely contrivances) and on a handful of sets plays quite theatrically in a good way with some excellent direction courtesy of Christopher Barry. Visually and narratively it is reminiscent of one of those pulp sci-fi stories from the 1930s especially with its twist of the alien monster not being an alien at all. It does have a few flaws but I would rate it as one of the top first Doctor tales. 

Season Two@60 - Planet of Giants

Season opener is a glimpse of ambitious things to come.

Where it not for Susan leaving at the end of `Dalek Invasion of Earth`, that epic would surely have opened season two rather than this slight tale. `Planet of Giants` has a reputation for being quite dull though the decision to reduce it from an intended four episodes to three does move it along a bit. It is an unusual story though in that the TARDIS crew’s presence is never detected by the guest characters and though the Doctor and co do affect the outcome, they rely on guesswork to figure out the gist of what is going on.

Review- The War Games in colour

 

The idea of taking a vintage monochrome programme, colourising it and editing it down to less than half its original length is unusual. How many other series has this been done to? As someone who has really enjoyed the additional effects on some of the Seventies stories I’m glad that it is being done. Those who complain about it can be assured that the original versions are still there and still the official ones. This is a more fun way of watching old Doctor Who that may also help its appeal to younger audiences. It is art in a contemporary way, no less so than sampling or cover versions. So you can either enjoy them or ignore them.

 

Season Two@60- The Dalek Invasion of Earth

 

Its sixty years since the second season of Doctor Who was first broadcast so I thought I’d take a look at these stories courtesy of the Collection box set, recently re-issued in standard packaging. To begin with, a story that brings back the Daleks at the height of Dalekmania and waves goodbye to a companion for the first time ever…

I originally knew of this story when it was called `World’s End` back in the days when the `official` titles of many First Doctor stories were actually those of the opening episode. Certainly most viewers in 1964 would not know the overall name with which we are now familiar so would have no idea till the end of part one that the Daleks were returning (unless the excitable press gave it away- these days there would be location shots on TikTok) and the suspense is well built. What I’ve noticed about these Sixties stories is how grounded they are from the travellers' perspective.  So, each predicament or puzzle is debated initially in the context of something every day- it could be this, it could be that- until those options are discounted slowly to unpeel the real problem.  The modern series rarely does that preferring to leap to the Doctor explaining something that he already knows.

The Season 25 Collection- The Greatest Show in the Galaxy

 

This is a curious story with two facets. On the one hand, it is a very clever sort of story of the type that increasingly became the norm during the original series’ closing couple of seasons. Elliptical happenings, unorthodox visuals, symbolism aplenty  and a sense that we’re a long way from standard invasion of Earth stories.  Yet there appears to be something darker here as well, about entertainment, fandom and most of all depression. The events may present in bright colours and vivid locations but, rather like a circus, it’s just face paint.

 

The Season 25 Collection- Silver Nemesis

 

I’ve never rated this story very highly, so though this is the second time I’ve owned it that is only because it was packaged with other content. Last time it came out with `Revenge of the Cybermen` , now with the Collection you get the entire season whether you like it all or not! The fact that there seem to be more different editions of this story than any other suggests the original needed more work. I wondered if time would be kind to this peculiar adventure and I have to say its not quite as bad as I recall. The latest Special Edition is an improvement simply in that it makes the narrative more coherent though nothing can hide the fact that this is quite similar to the plot of `Remembrance of the Daleks` and that many of the developments seem unnecessary.

 

The Season 25 Collection- The Happiness Patrol

 

Its curious how time can alter one’s opinion of things. For example, if you’d asked me twenty years ago to compare the opening two stories of season 25 I would have placed `The Happiness Patrol` above `Remembrance of the Daleks`. Now, I would reverse that ranking after recent watches. `Remembrance` has not only stood the test of time but seems stronger now. On the other hand, there’s something odd about `Happiness Patrol`, something suggesting that not everyone is on the same page.  In isolation each element of the story is interesting; the stage flats providing an atmospheric backdrop, the idea of not being happy a crime, a creature made of confection yet subject to mood swings, people living in the pipework underground, the idea of the blues as a salve for life’s problems and a revolution taking place over night. Yet put all these together and they don’t quite gel. That’s not to say this isn’t a good story, it is very good, it’s just that the visuals sometimes get in the way of what the story is trying to say. 

The Season 25 Collection - Remembrance of the Daleks

 

The popular conception of Doctor Who in the second half of the Eighties is of a series in terminal decline yet the material in this latest Collection set contradicts that notion in quite a significant way. In fact, the last three seasons of what has become known as Classic Doctor Who show a new creative energy invigorating the series and it was outside problems rather than artistic ones that would lead to the cancellation. Had Doctor Who enjoyed more support from BBC management and been scheduled properly this story could be looked back on nowadays as the starting point of a successful comeback. This box set offers different versions of each story so I thought I’d look at the newest version of each plus also some highlights from the extras.

The Visitation

 

A well- remembered story from 1982, `The Visitation’s` position in the history of the show is enhanced by following in the footsteps of `The Sea Devils` and `Robot` in having its production examined for the `Making Of Doctor Who` books. As a result we are almost as familiar with behind the scenes stills as those taken front of camera. The so-called pseudo historical was always a popular option for the show making the most of its limited budget in a way that gleaming spaceships and alien worlds would always struggle with.  This was a popular story with viewing figures over nine million for each episode peaking with 10.1 million for part four, very healthy even by early Eighties standards.

 

Review- The Season 15 Collection

 

Season Fifteen brims with character and is bristling with ideas. If the production values sometimes flag you hardly notice because there is so much going on. Admittedly it’s not always cited as a fan favourite because it was the point at which Tom Baker’s presence became larger than life but if you enjoy that- and I certainly do- this is essential classic Doctor Who. Season Fifteen is a changeover season and these can be the most interesting ones where a production team are finding their feet and yet aspects of their predecessors remain. The results here are more varied than you’d expect.