Delta and the Bannermen Episode 3

Season24@30. We wouldn’t perhaps readily associate Sylvester McCoy as being the rebel Doctor but just look at what he gets up to in this episode. Tearing about the countryside on a motorcycle without a helmet, worrying cows, tying a ribbon on a goat and then being responsible for wrecking poor old Goronwy’s lovingly assembled collection of home made honey which he’s already mentioned goes back decades. Not that Goronwy seems to mind; in fact he makes a point of giving the Doctor a jar of the golden stuff at the end. Nothing much seems to phase him mind- the last shot of the story is of him seeing the Tardis dematerialise and looking as if he’s just seen the local bus go past. It is in this spirit that we too are invited to enjoy the final episode of a story that has managed to have a fairly high slaughter rate as Doctor Who goes yet still keep its shape as a rock and roll shindig of an adventure.

Any other story attempting to navigate such disparate waters would surely come unstuck but `Delta and the Bannermen` manages to see through it’s intent with style. Its very in your face this episode, lots of bangs and flashes and running around to the extent that you don’t notice the plot has more or less stopped. Perhaps the only cliffhanger resolved by the villain allowing the Doctor to give attitude then walk away is merely the beginning. We need to talk about Billy who must be the most sketchily penned character the series has ever shown. Right from the start when he gave her his heart Billy’s plot has been delivered off screen. This week he’s busy eating green stuff so he can turn into a Chimeron “as I’m coming with you” he says as if this had been discussed. Well not with us. Somehow the gunky food slicks back his hair and turns his face green which he equates with turning into a Chimeron but which could equally be a severe case of food poisoning. Even lovestruck Ray seems to have nothing to say about this change. Mind you I suppose as he is going to be continuing the Chimeron race he’s probably ready to do anything.

Malcolm Kohll’s band of peculiar characters do come together in a well composed stand off with the Bannermen – especially the two Americans who have been bumbling about on the sidelines for three weeks. Everyone gets their pay off, except Mel who is probably resting. Chris Clough directs this madness with such vigour- and some lovely wide shots and odd angles- to the extent that it all seems to come together. The final song playing over the goodbye scenes is called `Here’s to the Future` and while it fits the story beats it could also be seen as an anthem for the renewal of Doctor Who. Just 11 weeks earlier it had seemed to be flailing about desperately looking for an identity. Now at the end of a story so madcap and random it defies normal analysis we witness a programme brimming with brio and ready to do anything fronted by a Doctor that is both mercurial and amusing. I said I disliked `Delta and the Bannermen` thirty years back but if I could send a message to my 1987 self right now I would say `enjoy this story- it is creative, wild, untamed and just a little bit magical. Goronwy knew of course.