Season Two@60 The Crusade

 

The early years of Doctor Who did seem to like wholly historical stories which in theory were easier to produce than sci-fi ones. While there would be no issue with the Tardis landing amongst ordinary or fictional people, constant encounters with well-known historical figures creates limitations on the storylines. The BBC’s educational remit could be tested by depictions of the likes of Marco Polo or Nero interacting with the Doctor while not all stories are as strict about the effect the travellers have on history as `The Aztecs` is. Its probably why the wholly historical adventures were replaced by pseudo historical ones mixing supposedly real history with some alien antagonist. Though generally intelligently written and made `The Crusade` harbours these issues. All the way through you do get a sense that the production would be more interesting without the Doctor and his companions in it at all. It sits at the point where adherence to facts crashes into the need for some drama.

 

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.