aRTy without the Drivel!

The beauty of a “Doctor Who” Radio Times cover is that you can admire the visual without having to listen to what passes for a script in this day and age, not unlike watching Girls Aloud or the Sugababes on television with the sound switched off!

The opening couple of minutes of “The Next Doctor”, seen twice on “Children in Need”, showed exactly where Russell’s mind is at, regarding a possible future incarnation of the lead character… and I’m talking about the Doctor, not his companion! The next Doctor’s few lines of dialogue were enough to present its audience with an identikit version of the current incumbent of the TARDIS.

I believed David Morrissey would make an interestingly swarthy Doctor, well before I knew he’d been cast in this year’s Christmas Special. When I saw him as Colonel Brandon in “Sense and Sensibility”, at the very beginning of the year, I thought there’s your man!

But, folks, like Mr. Morrissey’s immediate predecessor and his predecessor before him (that’s Chris Eccleston, if you’ve lost me!) Morrissey’s Doctor is incorrigibly rude and very up his own bottom!! RTD’s Doctors will always be characterised thus so it doesn’t really matter who the eleventh Doctor will be…

More pertinent a question is whether or not the style of writing will change radically under a new leadership, if indeed there really is a new man at the helm of “Doctor Who”. Russell, it seems, is holding onto the reigns of “The Sarah Jane Adventures” which also refuses to move forward following the introduction of… yawn… a new family. Pretty as Rani is, she has yet to make her mark!

I’m ever hopeful “The Next Doctor” will surprise me. I know David Morrissey is simply playing what’s written, and following orders like John Simm before him, but I’m praying the new arrival will still shine, despite!

Three reasons to look forward to the “Doctor Who” Christmas Special include David Morrissey, the return of the Cybermen (even despite their bastardisation, it’s about time a familiar foe was featured in a festive instalment), and the fact that part of the story was filmed in College Green in my hometown.

Time Lord Pensioned Off

Happy 65th, Sylvester! Today (August 20th, 2008), Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy turns sixty-five and becomes a pensioner!! He played the Time Lord for forty-two episodes, over three seasons, between 1987 and 1989. Each of his series consisted of four three-or-four part stories divided between fourteen episodes making a total of twelve “Doctor Who” adventures in total. Sylvester reprised the role, quite substantially in 1996, in the first third of the American TV movie before handing over the mantle to Eighth Doctor Paul McGann. Bonnie Langford played companion Mel during Sylvester’s first year while Sophie Aldred joined during “Dragonfire” and stayed for the duration under the moniker “Ace”! His stories are a mixed bag but, then, that’s the case for every era of the programme. Percentage wise, the actor does pretty well in the classic stakes! I would claim that, of McCoy’s dozen tales, a third of them should be regarded as “Doctor Who” classics. Best of all is “The Curse of Fenric”, a story steeped in Norse mythology set during the Second World War. “Ghost Light” some fans find overly complex but is a lovely little thesis, disguised as costume drama, supporting the ideology of Richard Dawkins who, recently, made a brief cameo in the new version of the series. “The Greatest Show in the Galaxy” is set in a circus, partly filmed in the BBC car park and all the better for it, again inspired by Norse myth, while “Remembrance of the Daleks” opened Sylvester’s Second Season and, following a couple of shaky years, bred new life into the show.

Of the other eight titles, most are worthwhile. From Sylvester’s debut season, I’m quite partial to “Paradise Towers” and “Delta and the Bannermen”. The former is written by Stephen Wyatt who the following year went on to write “The Greatest Show in the Galaxy” and whom I consider the most imaginative of the writers of this period of the programme. “Paradise Towers” isn’t to everyone’s taste but at least the domestic element, involving older “Rezzies” (residents) feeding off the youthful female “Kangs” (colour-coded gangs), integrates better into the narrative than any of today’s offerings! “Delta and the Bannermen” is just great fun and anyone who isn’t carried along with this holiday-camp nonsense probably has no joie de vivre! “Silver Nemesis” was the 25th Anniversary story, essentially a reworking of “Remembrance of the Daleks” but with Cybermen. It did include some gritty battle sequences to contrast the humour of the good Doctor showing his usual politeness (in raising his hat) towards the present monarch whilst walking her corgis! My favourite director of the period was Alan Wareing. He was as tough as Graeme Harper, from earlier in the decade, but shied away from showing as much violence on screen. Alan helmed “The Greatest Show in the Galaxy”, which went out as the climax of Sylvester’s Second Season, as well as “Ghost Light” and the Seventh Doctor’s ironically titled swansong “Survival” which reintroduced a much-reinvigorated Master and concluded the era and classic “Doctor Who” on a high.

The Other Doctor

Things are looking up in the world of “Doctor Who”! After a run of five poor episodes, beginning with the last two of last year’s season, taking in the Christmas special, and concluding with the first two of the latest series, we’ve now had three good ones on the trot, up to and including last night’s “The Poison Sky”!! I had my doubts about the return of the war-loving clones but all involved seemed to pull it off with more than a twinkle in their eye. It helped that the masks actually moved with each actor’s facial performance together with the fact that these marauding aliens are far more chatty than those from either Skaro or Mondas. Christopher Ryan, last seen in “Doctor Who” nearly twenty-two years ago as Mentor Kiv in the “Mindwarp” segment of “The Trial of a Time Lord”, really seemed to be enjoying himself! Rose popped up briefly again, this time on the TARDIS monitor, and appeared to be mouthing the syllables of “Doctor” in a panicked state. But, best of all was Bernard Cribbins who reminded me of the proprietor of the Shangri La holiday camp, Burton, as played by “Please Sir” actor Richard Davies in the seventh Doctor story “Delta and the Bannermen”, in that he accepts the situation, however bizarre, and just gets on with it. Donna’s grandfather is truly a refreshing change from every single family member we’ve been introduced to over the last few years!

And, next week’s story looks like being a corker, too! Not only does the episode ironically feature fifth Doctor Peter Davison’s real-life daughter Georgia Moffett, as “The Doctor’s Daughter”, but also accomplished Shakespearean actor Nigel Terry, whom you may have seen in “The Ruth Rendell Mysteries” whodunit “A Guilty Thing Surprised” or, more recently, as Professor Stephen Curtis in two episodes of “Spooks”. 2008 is shaping up to be a monster year for our favourite science fiction series, in more ways than one… We’ve seen the return of the Ood and the Sontarans, which may well have had something to do with the upturn in quality, though not necessarily, and the Daleks are still to resurface with the Cybermen at the end of the year. The original “Monster” Season was the Fifth, from the classic era of the programme, despite not actually featuring any Daleks, with the exception of a repeat of “The Evil of the Daleks” from the previous year. Nearly two decades later, producer John Nathan-Turner tried to emulate this theme in Season Twenty-One. So, maybe at the back of the mind of Russell T. Davies is a desire to have a go at this himself. He wouldn’t want to feel left out at not having left his mark in every conceivable area!

While the latest episodes have been transmitting, the “Doctor Who” crew have been filming just a few miles down the road from me, at Gloucester Cathedral, the location used for many of the school sequences in the earlier “Harry Potter” movies. David Tennant’s Doctor has been attending a funeral. College Green was covered with artificial snow for a scene in which mourners, in Victorian costume, marched in front of a horse-drawn carriage carrying a coffin. It isn’t clear who is in the coffin but, at one point, Tennant watches with a grim expression as the hearse passes him. Neither Billie Piper, Freema Agyeman or Catherine Tate were present for filming, so your guess is as good as mine! While none of the familiar ladies of the new series were here, actress Velile Tshabalala was. She is rumoured to be a new companion. But, whose? Also on location was David Morrissey and attached to his trailer were the mysterious words “The Other Doctor”!! As you can see, he is certainly dressed to look like a Doctor but is he the eleventh or an incarnation from another dimension? The two Davids have worked together before on the BBC musical serial “Blackpool”. Since seeing David Morrissey as Colonel Brandon earlier in the year in “Sense and Sensibility”, I’ve been thinking what a terrific Doctor he might make. Maybe Russell caught his performance, too?

Warden’s Watch: The Invasion (or… Lifting the Lid on the Cybermen!)

With the news that a pair of Cybermen have been photographed stomping round a cemetery in Newport, filming for this year’s “Doctor Who” Christmas Special, it seemed an appropriate moment to look at the story I consider to be their finest hour! That “The Invasion” is also Wendy Padbury’s best “Doctor Who” serial is a happy coincidence, as well as the fact that this eight-part epic just happens to be my second favourite “Doctor Who” story. When I was consciously choosing an order of preference, perhaps some twenty odd years ago now, it was a toss up between this Cyber-adventure and the previously discussed, ecologically minded, “Fury from the Deep” as to which should claim pole position in my affections, and the tale of the demented seaweed won out in the final analysis! Incidentally, it’s about time the producers of the new version of “Doctor Who” resorted to using one of the programme’s giants as villains in their seasonal offering. The creative choices taken, thus far, to fill the Christmas episodes have been quite odd, to say the least. The Doctor hardly appeared in the first, we were treated to a screaming bride in the second and the third relied on the notoriety of an unsinkable ship that sank! Personally speaking, I’ve always wanted to spend my Christmas with a Dalek!! I know… there’s no accounting for taste! Anyway, onto the main thrust of what I hope will be a very buoyant discourse…

“The Invasion” was directed by Douglas Camfield, the most-assured figure to work in this capacity on “Doctor Who” at any time in the programme’s history, and therein lies the strength of this serial. The Cybermen look very good on screen, due partly to the superb new costumes designed for them by Bobi Bartlett but perhaps more particularly to Douglas Camfield’s excellent direction. The helmets, for example, were now a lot bulkier in appearance with the addition of what can perhaps best be described as “tyres”, preventing the notorious handlebars from attaching directly to each side of each creature’s face. The teardrop effect, on the underside of each eye, was retained in the revamp but dropped from the lower lip, which became wider and narrower. It hadn’t been long since the monsters, originally from Mondas with Telos as their adopted home planet, were last dispatched by the present TARDIS incumbents, with only two five-part serials separating the earlier “The Wheel in Space” from the creature’s surprise reappearance halfway through this escapade. The first repeat of a complete adventure in the programme’s history, “The Evil of the Daleks”, undoubtedly helped put some distance between the two Cyber-serials. One of the really good things about “The Invasion” is the Cybermen’s seeming indestructibility. Attacking them with all manner of military hardware does nothing to stop their inevitable nihilistic onslaught…

Like the second William Hartnell Dalek serial, “The Dalek Invasion of Earth”, “The Invasion” benefits enormously from the use of location filming around familiar London landmarks. Whereas, in the earlier story, we were treated to Daleks patrolling the likes of Westminster and Trafalgar Square, in this Cybermen outing the aliens appear through street manholes from out of the sewers, at the end of the sixth episode, to march triumphantly down the steps behind St. Paul’s Cathedral. It is, indeed, an imposing sight. Also something of an arresting display, and without skirting around the issue, Wendy Padbury’s and Sally Faulkner’s knickers are frequently revealed! Douglas would insist on filming things using low camera angles!! The director had the reputation for organising his shoots with military precision!!! He’s also responsible for my favourite episode of “The Sweeney”, “Thou Shalt Not Kill”, which prominently featured another lovely of the day, Harriet Philpin, better known to “Doctor Who” fans as Bettan in the second half of “Genesis of the Daleks”. As for the Cybermen themselves, and despite not having much dialogue in “The Invasion”, they would never again be this good. After their fifth and final black and white story, writers seemed to forget that the creatures are supposed to be emotionless, when terms like “Revenge” and “Excellent” started creeping into future scripts! They seem harder to write for than Daleks, with only “The Tomb of the Cybermen” being truly comparable in quality to the pièce de résistance that is “The Invasion”.

Telly Visions: Wendy Padbury

Deborah Watling’s successor in “Doctor Who” was the diminutive, but equally lovely, Wendy Padbury. Wendy became something of an icon for me in my formative years. Not only did she have a regular part to play in the adventures of the second Doctor but also with the team on children’s drama series “Freewheelers”. She joined “Doctor Who”, as Zoë Heriot, during another encounter with the Cybermen, in “The Wheel in Space”, and was returned to her own time and place, after forty-eight episodes, at the end of the epic ten-part story “The War Games”. It is during her final episodes on the series, the end of the Sixth Season, that we discover the Doctor’s race is known as Time Lords. I suspect this came out of desperation on the part of writers Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke having had problems securing enough scripts for the programme’s final days in black and white and having to hurriedly write new instalments themselves! Ms Padbury’s bottom gained great notoriety at the beginning of her third story on the show, “The Mind Robber”, when, at the end of episode one, the TARDIS explodes and she and fellow companion Jamie are left clinging to its console as it slowly spins round, becoming engulfed in swirling mist. I hasten to add she was wearing a close-fitting lamé catsuit with said derrière pointing directly at the camera! No wonder I was enamoured!!

After leaving “Doctor Who”, Wendy Padbury found employment as co-presenter on a BBC game show, alongside Paul McCartney’s brother Mike McGear, in a short-lived series called “Score with the Scaffold”. The Scaffold were a well-known pop trio of the day, with a humorous slant, who themselves scored great success with hits “Thank U Very Much” and “Lily the Pink”. Wendy returned to acting in the brilliant and controversial British horror film, dealing with witchcraft and superstitions, “Blood on Satan’s Claw”. Appearing as Cathy Vespers, she is ritualistically raped. The actress renewed her acquaintance with the small screen in the fondly remembered, by me at least, Southern Television series “Freewheelers” as Sue Craig. Then in its fifth series, “Freewheelers” can probably best be described as a sort of junior James Bond, being action-adventure orientated. Like “Doctor Who”, a series usually comprised several serials, each episode closing with a cliff-hanger. It had a jaunty opening theme tune but ended with a different part of the same composition, creating a more sombre mood. The credibility of the show declined in its final days but I loved it and used to rush home from school to catch it, in an era before the introduction of domestic video recorders! Towards the end of her career, Wendy played Rosemary Roberts in the ITV soap opera “Emmerdale Farm”, to give it its original title, where she was reunited with Frazer Hines, her co-star from the good old days of “Doctor Who”!!

Dead Giveaway

Beginning on Saturday March 15 and running to Thursday March 20, as a daily freebie with The Sun and News of the World tabloids, earthlings may collect six prize episodes of “Doctor Who” on DVD from the last two series. This follows a similar publicity incentive two years ago but, whereas, on that occasion, the episodes were culled from a selection of past Doctors, together with Christopher Eccleston’s début in “Rose”, this promotion’s six segments of the key to time are all from the David Tennant era. Pictured above, from Series Two, are “School Reunion”, the two-parter “Army of Ghosts” and “Doomsday”, and, from Series Three, “Smith and Jones”, “Blink” and “Utopia”; although, contrary to popular belief, “Blink” doesn’t really star David Tennant!

The Sun’s irresistible offer is masterly news, not least for this victim, because it’ll give me a chance to be hypnotised by Derek Jacobi’s brief-but-brilliant contribution to “Doctor Who” all over again without having to invest in the disastrously dire dénouement of last year’s season. Similarly, I can also delicately place my surgeon’s hands on a pristine copy of Freema’s medicinal début, in order to check up on yet another bloody call to a Rusty hospital and revisit the exquisite craftsmanship of Roy Marsden’s consultant Mr. Stoker. Being of totally logical disposition, though temporarily illiterate inclination, I ain’t afraid of no ghosts except when I fear they’ll haunt me for the rest of my life! The best of the bunch is “Blink” which, did I mention, doesn’t really star David Tennant!!

Pudsey Malone

Do you trust the BBC? I’ve long since lost faith in them. It didn’t take this week’s melodramatic revelations, that some of their competitions were faked, for me to feel this way but it certainly bolstered up my argument against the almighty corporation. The BBC have been found guilty of cheating the public during “Children in Need” and “Comic Relief”, to name but two! Is this not a criminal offence, to encourage the public to spend their hard-earned phoning in, essentially, to simply give it away to big business? Were I a charity, and who’s to say that I’m not (!), I would want to distance myself from such shenanigans. It makes the BBC look like gangsters, fiddling money from people any way they can. It even happened on “Blue Peter”, which makes one think that Fagin is running the show! But, in actuality, television lies all the time, especially in the world of marketing and advertising. Pre-recorded video cassettes used to be sold under the slogan, “Own it for life”! That’s assuming the player didn’t mangle the tape during rewind! Now, you can’t purchase a player assuming you still have the tape! You may still own the tapes, you just won’t be able to use them!! When the digital switchover arrives, you won’t be able to record programmes onto videotape in the way that you used to. There won’t be anything worth recording on them anyway! So, what exactly is the incentive to make the investment in order to be able to carry on watching, once the analogue signal is switched off?

Russell T Davies (Yes, him again! You just knew I’d get around to the “Doctor Who” impresario!!) stated a few months ago that Kylie couldn’t possibly be in the Christmas Special because a woman of her stature would be fully-booked for at least two years in advance. Obviously, this was said to dispel internet rumours. But, the writer lied to the public. He deceived us or, at least, attempted to! The truth is that Ms Minogue isn’t in as great a demand as Russell would have us believe!! In other words, she’s not really as popular as the media want us to think she is. It’s all marketing, hype, lies, to manipulate the public into a position where they will feel compelled to watch. Wouldn’t the world be a better place without it? If Russell puts out a statement that “Voyage of the Damned” will be the biggest and best episode yet, there are gullible people out there ready-and-willing to believe him because he is well-known and in the public eye. It must be the truth, it was in the newspaper or on television! There are some of us, in television la-la land, that feel the very-title “Doctor Who”, as used currently, is a misnomer. The series I understand as “Doctor Who” finished in 1989. The current version hasn’t retained enough of the original’s characteristics. So, is it alright to lie? Is avoiding the truth, in truth, a lie? And, is lying only an issue when it affects us financially?

Santa Baby?

The “Doctor Who” rumour mill has been working overtime again! The “News of the World” announced last Sunday that Australian actress and pop star Kylie Minogue will be guest starring in this year’s Christmas special of everyone’s favourite science fiction series. The report claims that Ms Minogue was persuaded to take the role by her friend and stylist Will Baker, a “Doctor Who” fan who has included several sets and costumes inspired by the programme in her stage tour in recent years. The paper also claims she will appear in the programme as a Cyberwoman, but this is not substantiated in any of their “insider” quotes.

Kylie is, of course, best known for hits such as “I Should Be So Lucky”, which I believe she has recently remixed, and “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”. She began her acting career, however, in Aussie soap opera “Neighbours” moving to the big screen for films such as “Street Fighter” and “Moulin Rouge”. Maybe she should’ve been one of the showgirls in the latest “Doctor Who” story! No disrespect to Kylie but I would’ve thought her a little on the short side if she is indeed going to appear as the next Cyberwoman. I always thought they should be at least six feet tall, and the novelisations describe them as having the strength of ten men.

One thing Kylie has in her favour is her lack of arrogance. I would definitely prefer to see her in “Doctor Who” than a certain loud-mouthed comedienne who shall remain nameless! But it does seem to continue the trend for stunt casting. Who will Russell consider next? Mariah Carey as the Rani?! Billie Piper as the companion?!! Oh, he’s already done that. Silly me, I was forgetting! If he casts Robbie Williams as the Doctor I will stop watching. I had enough difficulty accepting Billie because, unfortunately, I could remember the awfulness that is “Because We Want To”! Never forget, Robbie was once a member of a boy band!!! Anyway, “break a leg”, Kylie.

Frankenstein created “Cyberwoman”

“Cyberwoman” was possibly the most satisfying of the first four episodes of “Torchwood”. I say possibly because there was nothing in it to match the two minutes screen time allotted John Normington in last week’s third episode, “Ghost Machine”. It wasn’t his dialogue, either, that captured the moment but the history of his character was all in John’s facial expressions. Gareth Thomas, too, made the most of his few scenes in the final twenty minutes of the same episode. His body language, especially the stooped gait, was spot on. This week’s fourth episode was similarly structured, in terms of the introduction of guest characters, in that we meet a Japanese Doctor early on, who has arrived to save the half-converted Cyberwoman’s soul, and a pizza delivery girl, who actually achieves, temporarily, what the Doctor couldn’t, towards the conclusion.

“Cyberwoman” was a roller coaster of an episode only marred by the intrusion of attempted light relief. Gwen’s boyfriend phoning in order to get her to record “Wife Swap” was more of the same pop culture references that currently clog up new “Doctor Who”. Totally unnecessary; as was the need to engage the characters in yet more tedious tonsil tennis. I wonder if those scenes were written by the episode’s writer Chris Chibnall? James Strong’s direction lived up to the standard he set himself in “The Impossible Planet” except, here, he was allowed the luxury of more gore. The consequences of failed conversion were more explicitly explored in the demise of the two guest characters mentioned previously. What we really had in this episode was a reworking of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”, with Ianto in the role of the obsessive Doctor character, of that novel, the Cyberwoman his creation, and the Japanese Doctor and pizza girl, not forgetting girlfriend Lisa, sacrifices to out-of-control science. “Doctor Who” has reworked “Frankenstein” before, of course, most obviously in “The Brain of Morbius” and therein lies the clue to the twist in this tale.

Some loose ends weren’t readily tied up. “Cyberwoman” required a big leap of faith for the audience to easily accept that Ianto had never before aroused suspicions or that some other thing hadn’t drawn the Torchwood team’s attention to the possibility of something nasty in the basement. I’m pretty certain there isn’t an Ice Warrior in my loft though perhaps I better go and have another look! There is no way on Earth that Ianto should be allowed to stay on the team after this incident but “Torchwood” doesn’t seem bothered by any moral implications. In the first episode, “Everything Changes”, it was explained by Tosh that the body of a hospital porter, having been killed by a rogue Weevil, would be reported missing before being washed up on shore a few days later. I would like to have known how the bodies of the victims in “Cyberwoman” were to be disposed? You could hardly explain the Japanese Doctor’s Cyber eye away too easily or the pizza girl’s brain transplant! Surely she would be missed at work, at the very least. Unless they’re totally stupid, the takeaway services who supply Torchwood must already be becoming suspicious!

Finally, I did enjoy the brief fight between Lisa the Cyberwoman and Myfanwy the Pterodactyl. It occurred to me that this was the dinosaur’s revenge for extinction in “Earthshock”, essentially at the hands of the Cybermen, and this provided the episode with an interesting cyclical aura; but maybe that’s just my fancy!

Attack of the Cyberwoman

Obviously, I don’t know (yet) whether or not it’s a good or a bad thing but, certainly, one of the most interesting developments of the “Doctor Who” universe, in its spin-off series “Torchwood”, is the introduction to television of the first Cyberwoman. The female of the species has already appeared in comic strip form, gracing the pages of “Doctor Who Magazine”, and, in a few weeks’ time, is set for even greater stardom in Chris Chibnall’s “The Trouble with Lisa”, the fourth episode in the show’s opening season. If you read the synopsis in my previous post, the storyline does sound a little like the “Doctor Who” episode “Dalek”, or even “Paradise Towers” from back in the late Eighties, with Ianto (Gareth David-Lloyd) fulfilling the role of billionaire collector Henry van Statten (Corey Johnson). As the face of the Cyberwoman has been left unmasked, the suggestion is that, as Christopher Eccleston’s sixth episode explored the feelings of the inhabitants of Skaro, “Lisa” will be an exploration of the emotional side of the Cyber race. Excellent! To begin with, she has a name. “I, Robot”, anyone? But, if you’re going to borrow, borrow from the best and “Dalek” is the finest single episode story of new “Doctor Who” to date.

Cast in the role of Cyberwoman Lisa is Caroline Chikezie. She is probably best known to television viewers for her role as Elaine Hardy in season three of “Footballers’ Wives” but, following a little research, I realise I’ve already seen her in Channel Four’s teen drama “As If” in which she played Sasha Williams. Caroline has also appeared in a two-part “Holby City” and an earlier episode of “Casualty”. She is not without SF credentials, however, having appeared on the big screen as Freya in last year’s “Aeon Flux” in which she does appear to be carrying something not dissimilar to a Cyber gun, circa “Earthshock”. I’m guessing RTD saw her in this role and thought of her for the part in “Torchwood”. The revealing nature of the Cyber costume also suggests that RTD is after something akin to Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) in “Star Trek: Voyager”. Maybe the production team should cast Caroline as a regular!

Revelations and Reservations!

The final two episodes of the second season of new “Doctor Who”, “Army of Ghosts” and “Doomsday”, followed a similar path to the concluding two-part story of last year’s opening season. Although not as pronounced as last year, it was still really a case of two single episode stories tenuously linked together. “Army of Ghosts” was protracted padding up to the supposedly big reveal. I’d already guessed the Daleks were in the sphere, just from watching the trailer, despite the script’s desperate attempts to wrong foot us into thinking the void ship contained more Cybermen! It had to be something bigger otherwise the episode would simply have been replicating the climax of “Rise of the Cybermen”. I was more surprised, though only slightly, knowing these concluding episodes were shot back-to-back with the earlier Cybermen episodes, by the reappearance of Mickey towards the end of “Army of Ghosts”!! After that, it was only to be expected that Pete would put in an appearance in “Doomsday” and, surprise surprise, not to leave anyone out, up pops resistance-leader Jake, restraint being an unknown concept to RTD!!!

Everything RTD does is so obvious. I wonder how many children actually got the “Ghostbusters” reference in “Army of Ghosts”? Only those whose parents own a copy of the film on DVD I suspect, or have seen it by chance on TV. He seems to have a checklist of things “Doctor Who” has never done and wants to be the first to do them. Three examples spring immediately to mind. Firstly, a Dalek had never appeared inside the TARDIS until “The Parting of the Ways”; secondly, a Dalek and Cyberman hadn’t appeared in the same frame until “Doomsday”… One question that occurred to me, before “Doomsday” aired, was how well would the Daleks and Cybermen look together, bearing in mind their difference in size? It would obviously have to be shot quite carefully to avoid making the Cybermen seem ridiculously tall or, conversely, the Daleks too short; and finally, Martha Jones, to be played by Freema Agyeman, will be the first black female companion. There is nothing wrong with any of these ideas as long as they evolve naturally out of a good script.

Good scripts are currently very scarce in “Doctor Who”. Matt Jones wrote the strongest story this year, with “The Impossible Planet” and ”The Satan Pit”. You could argue even those episodes are highly derivative but when has that not been the case in “Doctor Who”? Jon Pertwee’s first two seasons borrowed unashamedly from “The Avengers”, “Adam Adamant Lives!” and especially the Fifties’ “Quatermass” trilogy, for example. There’s nothing wrong with borrowing intelligently from the best! Tellingly, Matt is the one writer who won’t talk about his work on the show. Could that be because it was tampered with too much by a certain Executive Producer? It didn’t need jokes about Walford, just as the plot of “Army of Ghosts” wasn’t advanced with the inclusion of Peggy Mitchell. Not all of us are slaves to “EastEnders”. Could it be RTD wants us to think of “Doctor Who” as “EastEnders” in space?!! I’ve only ever watched one episode of “EastEnders” and that was because, ironically, it was directed by Graeme Harper, the man at the helm of these closing Cybermen episodes!!!

Just the Doctor and Rose?

The TARDIS "family" seems to be very dysfunctional, in "Doctor Who", under the guidance of Russell T Davies! The departure of Mickey, at the end of "The Age of Steel", means that Rose has seen off no less then three male companions in the space of just twenty episodes, less if you take into consideration that the first of this triumvirate, Adam, only joined the crew at the end of "Dalek", last year's sixth episode. He was dumped a week later, in, for him, the inappropriately titled "The Long Game", and after Rose redeemed her Dad in "Father's Day", Captain Jack hopped on board in the tenth episode, "The Doctor Dances"!

Jack Harkness lasted all of another three weeks before being killed off, brought back to life, then left behind in the appropriately titled final episode of the first season, "The Parting of the Ways"! And now, last year's finale has essentially been remade, not just with the Cyber Controller replacing the Emperor Dalek in grandiosity, but by following the death of Ricky with his "rebirth" in Mickey and, this time, having the companion opting to stay behind after another similarly short stay aboard the Doctor's transcendental ship.

With a similar dynamic, I can think of only one other companion who has remained in the series through the successive terms of three other companions of the opposite sex and his name was Jamie. But at least Polly, Victoria and Zoe lasted, approximately, a whole season each, and in the Sixties a season meant a season! The programme was, virtually, on screen all year round. These days, you get the feeling we are being treated to bite-size companions, to go with our beloved chips! I have wondered if Russell wants to work through as many combinations as possible, as quickly as possible, in case it should all end tomorrow! The original, so-called "classic", series ran for twenty-six seasons. I know it's all relative but that really was playing "The Long Game"!

One of the interesting things about the recent two-part Cybermen story was an acknowledgement that the creatures had only been defeated in London. In previous "classic" adventures, it was always understood by the viewer that once victory over an enemy is attained, the triumph is worldwide. Presuming Cybus Industries are global, as we are told, surely the irony of the conclusion of "The Age of Steel" is that the signal from Rose's mobile phone would have disenabled the entire Cyber force. For once, there is the means to accomplish what was always assumed but it isn't acted upon, in favour of sending Mickey off, in his new role as freedom fighter, to Paris, for some unexplained reason, to have a go at the French Cybermen! Perhaps he was taken by his all-too-brief meeting with mistress Madame Reinette a couple of weeks ago!!

Staying Steely-eyed!

I have read a fair amount of criticism concerning the most recent episode of "Doctor Who", "Rise of the Cybermen". The finger of failure seems pointed at Graeme Harper but I don't believe any shortcomings, in the latest adventure, should be attributed to him. He has been given a script to work with, from which he cannot radically depart! He has said he wasn't sure about revealing even the silhouette of the creature in the teaser sequence but that Russell T Davies insisted. If Graeme is interested in further work on the show, he's not exactly in a position to argue! In the commentary on this episode, he refers back to his previous work on the show, during the Eighties, as "in his day", thus revealing he sees this outing as a second lease of life.

It has been a tradition in Cybermen stories, with some notable exceptions, to keep their initial appearance back until the mid-point of the story and this he did, save the aforementioned pre-titles suggestion. With the word Cybermen in the title, everyone was watching and waiting for them to appear, me included! Had they appeared halfway through the 46-minute episode, the same criticism that was made against "Attack of the Cybermen", in 1985, would have applied; namely, that two twenty-five minute episodes had simply been joined together. Here was an attempt, successful or not, within the current style of "Doctor Who", to structure the episode according to its length and build to the smashing revelation!

This Saturday, there will be no waiting! The Cybermen will be in it throughout. I hope nobody attributes the supposed slower pace of the first episode, of what is a two-part story, to the fact that Graeme is approximately 20 years older than other directors on the series. He has learnt from experience and gave us the strongest mid-point of any of his "Doctor Who" stories. Using traditional low angles and wide lens shots of real actors in full Cyber-regalia is preferable to CGI any day. You feel their physical presence! Breaking through the panes of glass reminded me of the Sixties' Cybermen breaking out of their tomb on Telos. Harper's imagery will stay in the minds of today's children as much as previous, now iconic, representations have stayed with us. The Doctor crashing through a mirror on horseback, reinforced with a knowing wink seemingly to Reinette but really for the benefit of the audience, from the previous story, is another such image.

Mickey, mumbling ominously about being nothing more than a "spare part", near the beginning of "Rise of the Cybermen", not only references the Big Finish audio detailing the creation of the Cybermen, obviously an influence on the current story, but is also how the Cybermen describe themselves in their original story, "The Tenth Planet". An interesting turn of events might be if Mickey is "upgraded", in an act of self-sacrifice, while Ricky, his less-likeable doppelgänger, gets to join the crew of the TARDIS! Something similar was done with Chief O'Brien in an episode of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", though immediately forgotten the following week! This would go some way to explaining the ninth Doctor's inability to call Mickey by his correct name, other than sarcasm or indifference.

Of course, other aspects of the story may try one's patience. I'm sure you know which character I'm thinking about, or trying not to! As predicted, this being an alternate Earth, Jackie wasn't indeed her usual self... She was even worse!! I'm sure, with that sharp tongue of hers, she could talk to death, the Cyberman which followed her down into the cellar, as part of the double cliffhanger!!! She'll probably rise from the grave singing "I will Survive", which would be no less camp than Tight Fit's "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"! As an aside, there's a more unusual version of that song, which could've been used instead, by current U2 producer Brian Eno, recorded after leaving Roxy Music in the mid-Seventies. But I digress... I'll leave you with the thought that isn't the above image of the Cyber Controller, from this Saturday's forthcoming episode, starting at the earlier time of 6.35pm, entitled "The Age of Steel", reminiscent of H R Giger's designs for Ridley Scott's 1979 film "Alien"?

Mondas, Telos, Hippie Daze!

I'm really looking forward to the next couple of episodes of "Doctor Who". The Cybermen are back, after an 18-year absence, and they're back in force! Coincidence or otherwise, it's also actually 40 years since they first appeared, opposite original Doctor William Hartnell in "The Tenth Planet", leading up to his, the initial, regeneration back in 1966. My anticipation over the return of the Daleks, last year, became a little curbed when I learnt there was only going to be one in their first story. The whole point of them had always suggested a Nazi army of tinpot dictators milling around their control room waiting for the command to "Exterminate".

"Dalek" turned out to be a good episode but it was still a distinctly odd way of reintroducing Skaro's finest to those of us already in the know and an even odder way of introducing them to a new audience. Then, when the Daleks did turn up en masse, it wasn't until Rose and the Doctor had spent almost an entire episode getting past friend-of-the-Welsh Anne Robinson and failed chat show hostess Da Vinci McCold! Autons in wedding dresses, the now ex-presenters of "What Not to Wear", and, most recently, clockwork droids masquerading at a lavish French ball! What is it with Russell and robots in fancy dress?!! There are maybe better ways of keeping us in suspenders!

I have to admit, after Sarah Jane and K9, I really wanted to skip the next episode, as much as I love Lady Penelope, and continue with "Rise of the Cybermen". It's not just the Cybermen attracting me to this pair of episodes either. It's the Cybermen directed by Graeme Harper. Yes, you knew I'd mention him sooner or later! It's 21 years since his last directorial contribution to our favourite programme and where would Eighties "Doctor Who" be without "The Caves of Androzani" and "Revelation of the Daleks"? Yes, you knew I'd mention them as well!! Anyway, the point is it's a double return, like "School Reunion". It's his work you'll see on screen, after all.

There's even more! Roger Lloyd Pack guest stars in "Rise of the Cybermen" and "The Age of Steel" as wheelchair-bound cyber-creator John Lumic. Best known for snogging Dawn French in "The Vicar of Dibley" and, of course, as Trigger in "Only Fools and Horses", he also showed he is quite capable of serious roles in a recent episode of "Doc Martin". When he comes face-to-face with the Doctor though, how on earth will he be able to stop himself from saying "Hello, Dave"?!! The other big name is Don Warrington, playing the President, possibly most famous as the butt of Rigsby's jokes, as tenant Philip, in Seventies' sitcom "Rising Damp". If you're familiar with "Revelation of the Daleks", you might also recognise Colin Spaull who played Lilt in that story and here appears as Mr Crane.

The story is set on an alternate Earth so, hopefully, Jackie won't be her usual self! Something like the Brigade Leader, from the soon-to-be-released (on DVD) 1970 Jon Pertwee story "Inferno", would be good, but without the eye patch! Rumour has it, Jackie falls for John. I wonder how Rose's late father, Pete, will feel about that?!! Let's hope the domestic side of the plot doesn't dominate but that the Cybermen do! I would like to see the Cyber army seemingly invincible as they were in what I think is their best story, "The Invasion". There are also rumours that, in this dimension, and like the aforementioned "Inferno", Earth falls. We don't have long to wait now and yet it seems like an eternity...

All Rise!

Last night's BBC Radio 2 documentary, "Doctor Who: Regeneration", exclusively revealed that the first of the four episodes to feature the long-awaited return of one of the series most popular adversaries is entitled "The Rise of the Cybermen". This will appear fifth in the run of thirteen episodes likely to air from the end of March 2006. The title of the concluding episode of this two-part story is still unknown while both episode titles of the Cybermen story that concludes the second season are now known. Episode twelve is called "Army of Ghosts", as stated in a previous post, and is followed by the apocalyptic sounding "Doomsday".

The first of the two two-part Cybermen stories is set on an alternate Earth doomed to disaster, making it sound like a reworking of the Jon Pertwee classic "Inferno" which incidentally is due out on DVD next year. The second outing sees the Cybermen awaken in our universe where they have allied themselves with something from the Doctor's past. All four Cybermen episodes are directed by Graeme ("The Caves of Androzani" and "Revelation of the Daleks") Harper, as seems likely is the other two-parter. Set on a nightmarish alien world, and opening with the episode "The Satan Pit", this would make a total of six episodes, almost half the season under the helm of the classic series director. Good news indeed.

Other news concerning the next run is that the Face of Boe, originally seen in second episode "The End of the World", will be making a return appearance and this time in a speaking capacity apparently having "some important words for the Doctor"! Stephen Fry's episode is being held over to season three because of the demands it makes on the effects department. His episode, the eleventh, is now being written by Matthew Graham. Episode ten will feature the Abzorbaloff, the creature created by a "Blue Peter" viewer.

Meanwhile, returning to the Cybermen episodes, Roger Lloyd Pack was worried he wouldn't be able to take on the role of enemy John Lumic after he fell down the stairs at home and broke a leg. Scripts have been rewritten to accommodate his injury and now sees him wheelchair-bound. Apparently, this has had the effect of adding to the mystery and intrigue surrounding his character! Let's hope he makes a speedy recovery.

Harper to direct Cybermen!

"The Christmas Invasion" filming is well underway and the second season of new "Doctor Who" seems to be shaping up nicely. Best news is that Graeme Harper has been allocated the two Tom MacRae written Cybermen episodes. When I heard Harper would be working on the programme again, twenty years on from "The Caves of Androzani" and "Revelation of the Daleks", I kept my fingers crossed hoping he would direct this story and it has come to pass! Wise move, Russell!! I hope Graeme retains the style and flair visible in his two Eighties classics. There is a tendency to homogenise these days and I just hope they allow him free reign within the structure of the series. He is also directing the second two-parter, which opens with an episode called "The Satan Pit" by Matt Jones, the first story to be set on an alien planet since the show's return.

The organisation of the second series is slightly different from the first. The aforementioned two two-part stories have been pulled towards the centre of the season so that the first one is an episode later than in the first season and the second an episode earlier meaning they are separated by a single episode at the exact middle of the series, set in England during the 1940s/50s, to be written by Mark Gatiss ("The Unquiet Dead"). "The Long Game", regarded by many as the weakest episode of the first season, occupied the central position of Christopher Eccleston's year and it seems as though Russell is aware of the need to strengthen the midpoint of the run judging by the revised structure.

Returning directors from the first season are those that made the strongest stories, not surprisingly! That may have more to do with who is available or who wants to work on the programme again more than the design of the executive producer but you never know. Russell isn't stupid and I'm sure he wants to harness all the strongest elements to make the best series possible. Regardless, it is good to know James Hawes ("The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances") is returning who, as well as directing the Christmas special, is also working on episodes one and three. The first is tentatively titled "The Sunshine Camp" and written by Russell who is writing five of the thirteen episodes for the second season, three less than in the first year, including the season's two-part finale which opens with an episode entitled "Army of Ghosts". The other James Hawes directed episode, "School Reunion" by Toby Whithouse, features the return of Elisabeth Sladen as Pertwee/Tom Baker era companion Sarah Jane Smith and co-stars Anthony Stewart Head, Giles from "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer", promoted from librarian to headmaster of a very strange school!

The second returning director is Euros Lyn ("The End of the World"/"The Unquiet Dead") who will helm episodes two and four. The first of these, written by Russell, is entitled "Tooth and Claw" and features an evil race of cat women. The other is set in 18th Century France and penned by Steven Moffat ("The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances") who is writing just one episode this time round. Writers new to the fold include comedian and actor Stephen Fry who is scripting episode eleven.

All in all, the second season looks very promising and I wish detractors, both in fandom and the press, would keep their mouths shut until they have something to criticise. Personal attacks over David Tennant's appearance are infantile. I think he looks the part, the unbuttoned shirt collar behind the tie reminiscent of Troughton and the footwear suggesting Davison. There is a lot to look forward to.