Doctor Who-The Time Monster

                                    In this final story of Doctor Who's ninth season, the Doctor awakens from a dream involving The Master and a series of images he does not recognize. With the help of Jo Grant,the Brigadier and UNIT in general the focus turns towards Cambridge where two physicists Dr. Ingram and Dr. Hyde are working on a device called TOMTITT (Transmission of Matter through Interstitial Time) that would allow solid matter to be transported to other locations,even through solid matter. Aided by the assistance of Professor Thascalos,the experiment soon goes bad when Dr. Hyde is aged decades in a few short seconds by an intentional overload shortly after the doctor and UNIT's arrival on the scene. Thascalos,which as it turns out is yet another name for the Master,is using TOMTITT as a means to contact Kronos. Thought of on ancient Earth,in particular of the city of Atlantis as a god of time,Kronos is actually an omnipotent being  called a Chromovore that consumes time more so than even the time lords can maneuver within it.

                          After thrawting The Master's attempts to use TOMTITT to manipulate time,and thereby reversing Dr.Hyde back to normal age (though Sgt. Benton is reduced to infancy) The Doctor and Jo pursue the Master,himself having kidnapped Krasis,high priest of Kronos in ancient Atlantis to the 20'th century and journeying with him to ancient Atlantis to find the crystal that will allow him to control Kronos and therefore time itself,in their TARDIS. In ancient Atlantis they meet the ancient King Dalios,himself the age of a time lord whom the Master cannot manipulate. His mate the Queen Galleia become infatuated with The Master and is nearly lured into using him to gain power for herself. The end result of this is the Master succeeding in releasing Kronos into Atlantis and being the result of the cities destruction. Having escaped in their TARDIS's the Doctor than plans to destroy the Master (and himself) with a time ram,whereby both TARDIS's would be destroyed so the Master would be deprived of his plan. When this happens,the two TARDIS's are removed from time to the domain of Kronos,who offers the doctor a debt for allow Kronos to escape to it's domain. He wishes he and Jo to return home,but also allows the Master to escape torment by Kronos in a moment of mercy. Although the Master escapes the TARDIS arrives in time for Ingram and Hyde's final attempt to exaust TOMTITT to restore the flow of time to normal,restoring everything including an adult,and naked Benton.

                This is probably one of the most spacious and elaborate of the Doctor Who serials of it's day. And it's somewhat hard for me to see why it generates so much negative responses from even strong Whovians. The pace is very exciting,the low budget special effects are very psychedelic and clever and the story elements are extremely clever. In the Chromovore Kronos,the doctor and the Master have met their match in terms of a life form that can deal with time even more broadly than themselves by consuming it. In this episode the Master's villainy is played up to frightening proportions. Not only does he show no remorse for his diliberate destruction of Atlantis for his own personal gains,but is even prepared to murder in an instant a terrified Jo Grant,dismissing her as "embarrassing to him" in the same manner as the doctor's antique TARDIS which,by the way was given a make over at the time of this episode. Between the captivating sciences of matter transportation and theology,as well as an excellent speculative recreation of a possible culture of Atlantis this is one of the finest serials of the third doctor era.

Doctor Who-The Mutants

                                                In this six part Jon Pertwee era story,the doctor receives an unusual package from the time lords that is set to be opened only for an intended party. Unaware of it's purpose he and Jo depart on th TARDIS to pre-set coordinates to investigate the matter further. They find themselves in the 30'th century in Sky Base,a facility in orbit around the planet Solos operated by the human empire. The empire,led in this particular case by Marshal are attempting to convert Solos's atmosphere into one compatible with human life,which would mean the end of the humanoid lifeforms already inhabiting this world. Inadvertently involved in this squabble regarding the Solanians near independence from the Empire and  Marshal's attempts to stop this to gain power,it's discovered the package opens for Ky,a Solonian involved in the struggle. The reason for this becomes apparent when Jaeger,Marshal's scientific head in charge of the atmospheric change operation is pressed to have the doctor help the empire in their endeavors.

                                     Meanwhile there is a problem. Solos,with an atmosphere polluted by human settlers that natives can survive in but humans cannot is believed to have caused a plague in which natives are mutating into hostile,bipedal Scorpion-like creatures.  With Jo,Ky and even some of the disaffected personal of Sky Base being consistently held prisoner by Marshal for resisting his single minded mission Jo and Ky escape to the surface of Solos where,temporarily separated from Ky,Jo finds herself in an unusual glowing cave,and before fainting encounters a figure in some type of special suit. Upon the doctors reuniting with Ky and another confrontation with the Mutts,the local name for the Mutants they inspect the box only Ky can open. Inside are stone tablets with writing that Ky reveals would only be understood by a human teacher named Sondergaard,thought long missing.

                                 It isn't long before they meet up with Sondergaard however. Already aware that Marshal's reasons for declaring Marshall law on Solos is due to the presence of Thaesium,an important power source that would have great value for humanity. Sondergaard has come to understand the Thaesium is the source of mutations around him,but still unaware in what capacity. Upon studying the stone tablets gifted to Ky from the time lords the doctor and Sondergaard discover they are ancient local glyphs symobolizing the planets 2,000 year orbit around it's sun,and that each season of Solos is 500 years long. This leads the conclusion that these are not in fact mutations occurring but a natural stage of an evolutionary change in the Solarians that has been delayed by Jaeger and Marshal's experiments with the atmosphere. 

                            Upon escaping from Marshal yet again,Jo is able to contact a space shuttle containing Earth leaders. They arrive in time to hold a trail where Marshall actions are subject to scrutiny Sondergaard,who remained on Solos to try to bring the mutant Solarians to the council as proof presents them during this time. Meanwhile the doctor has discovered a crystal in this Thaesium gave that he researches and discovers it's a key regenerative favor in the Solarians evolutionary process. He gets it to Jo and Ky before they are again imprisoned. The combination of the crystal and the high Thaesium radiation dosages result in Ky undergoing the full evolutionary change into a nearly Omnipotent humanoid being who enevitably defeats and kills Marshall and frees the Earth council whom he'd held captive. Sondergaard agrees to stay on Skybase to help undo the damage done on Solos before the doctor and Jo depart.

                               This serial is one of the most complex and provocative episodes of the third doctor era. In addition to exploring the political improprieties of imperialism that Doctor Who was already well acquainted with,it also explored though in brief the inherent racism involving maintaining such a system. The "outworlder" humans and the Solarians were depicted as using "separate but equal" segregated facilities.  There's also an implication that Marshal had a better idea of the Solarian's evolutionary process than he led on,and feared it because it would spell the instant independence of the race from his falling and bloated empire. Throughout the serial too you notice that while Jo Grant,as is often the case spends most of the serial imprisoned in some fashion or other has learned to become very Wiley,and more than capable of getting out of trouble without the help of the doctor. This was an important step in the growth of her character. And this intricately written serial was in many ways an excellent way to express this point too.

                        
                      

                   

                              

Doctor Who-The Curse Of Peladon

                           The early 1970's were very fertile creative ground for TV and film writers,especially if you happened to be writing for science fiction where one could take ideas from real life situations and deliver them to the public in a way that was far enough from the truth to be safe but close enough to the situation to be familiar and plausible. During the Jon Pertwee era Doctor Who became much like Star Trek in America in that regard,focusing parallel issues from reality within the story. While this worked wonderfully with the stories involving UNIT on contemporary Earth,script editor Terrence Dicks and producer,the late Barry Letts both came to the conclusion that the idea of the time lords using the doctor as a time/space travelling secret agent as it were,as presented in 'Colony In Space' would not only work wonderfully with the third doctors James Bond-like manner,but also add some extra variety and vitality to the show. Not only that but real life again laid the groundwork when England was in negotiation's to join the European Common Market. All of these issues combined went into the making of this story.

                      On a test run with the TARDIS,an attempt to return to Earth results in a crash landing on the planet Peladon,where the TARDIS is knocked over the cliff. Searching for help in the nearest populated area,the Doctor and Jo find themselves forced to pose as Earth delegates who along with representatives from Alpha Centauri ,Arcturus and Mars are trying to persuade Peladon,the young heir to his planets royal thrown,to join the Galactic Federation. The delegates are all attempting to persuade Peladon,himself about to be crowned king,to join while his ward Repesh is repeatedly standing in this way,insisting that a cursed creature called Aggedor will run amok killing people if the planets old ways are discontinued.  The divided and lonely Peladon tries to ask Jo,posing as an Earth princess to join him in marriage. But one member of the royal family has already been killed before the delegates arrived and Peladon is compelled to go by the wishes of Hepesh in all things.

                        The Doctor,based on past experience that the Ice Warriors,the delegates from Mars are involved. And he proceeds to investigate the situation. He finds Aggedor is actually merely a wild animal rather than a mythological monster and that he,along with the Arcturan delegate are being used by Hepesh in order to assure that Peladon does not join the Galactic Federation. Due to his divided position,Peladon is not in the position to grant the doctors request upon returning to present Aggedor for what he really and instead settles on a fight to the death with his mute kings champion Gran. Gran loses by default during what turns out to be an assassination of the Arcurtan delegate. With the help of Joe and the realized interest of the Ice Warriors and the Centurian delegate,the doctor is at last able to convince Gran of Aggedor's true nature and Aggedor,suddenly aware of Hepesh's deceit ends up killing Hepesh before the the thrown. After Peladon makes one last marriage plea to Joe,she leaves with the doctor in the recovered TARDIS...just as the real Earth delegates arrive.

                        While very much a story of political intrigue and therefore based heavily in plot and dialog,this is one of the finest stories of the Jon Pertwee era and justifiably considered one of the all time best classic Doctor Who serials ever made. David Troughton,son of Patrick who portrayed the second doctor is magnificent as the torn and unenviable Peladon. Realizing he's been put in the position of either betraying his own people's traditional ways or starting a war,his anxiety manifests itself in his personal loneliness in trying to wed Jo Grant. For her part,it's easy for us in the audience to empathize with Jo's lack of understanding how he cannot see the correlation between his personal needs and political ambitions. Repesh is the embodiment of the ultimate conservative character,defeating his own purpose in terms of his views by conniving and conspiring in order to keep his people from joining the Galactic Federation. Even he admits his wrong headedness just before his death. Though interestingly enough the doctor's unraveling of the conspiracy itself came from his own self protective act of fruad the act did,in his case,end up justifying the means.

Doctor Who-The Daemons

                                    During Doctor Who's eighth season,a single adversary was chosen for during this entire season who'd present a challenge for the Doctor. This was The Master,a renegade time lord only with the opposite agenda of the Doctors. He used his intelligence and adept mind control abilities to manipulate others,including human beings,into facilitating his attempts to have absolute power over all living beings and destroy the doctor. Up until this point the character had focused much of his energies on economically oriented corporations on Earth. As the season went on his attempts at completing his mission of achieving absolute power began to grow quite a bit broader in scope. In this final story of the eighth season,The Master begins to tango with powers that were in fact somewhat beyond even his control.

                               The BBC is televising a broadcast about a legendary Pegan legend revolving around evil doings at a place called Devils End. Interrupted only by a lady announcing herself as a local  white witch named Olive Hawthorne,the members of UNIT watch the program for amusement while the Doctor seems to take news of an evil occurrence is to take place very soon involving the opening of a rock door known as Devil's hump. Upon the doctors arrival,he and the BBC reporter are frozen by a message freezing wind. Surprised by the sudden TV blackout,Yates and Benton go to investigate. Once the doctor is recovered,he and Jo return to the dig site to find a tiny space ship in the shape of the cavern surrounding it though weighing tons. Meanwhile the area church has a new Vicor known as the Magister,actually the Master using the latin peculiar of his name.

                               It is at this point the Doctor realizes that the Master is conjuring the power of an ancient alien race called the Daemons who,for thousands and millions of years have been assisting humans in their technological progress as part of a scientific experiment for their own benefit. They are depending on the power hungry emotions of the Master and the spiritual fear of the members of the local cult he's surrounded himself with in order to summon the Daemon Azul,in part by striking terror through the autonomous stone gargoyle Bok,to gain the power he seeks. Even as these locals attempt to murder the doctor in a May day ritual it's up to him and ally Hawthorne to convince the fearful locals they are facing science and not magic. In the end it's not the psionic amplifier the doctor constructs that stops the Master,but rather Jo Grant's plea of sacrificing herself to save the life of the Doctor before the resurrected Azul that defeats him and saves the planet from destruction and at last brings the Master to justice,at least for now.

                        This particular serial is said to have been Jon Pertwee's personal favorite. And it's easy to see why in it's captivating,provocative plot,well written story and uncommon use of convincing special effects-such as the murderous stone gargoyle Bok. In terms of the story line,this is also a creationists nightmare. Over and over it champions that what people consider the demonic is,in fact,ancient science and with the idea that even the Devil himself is only a mythological understanding of an ancient alien race. The people of Devil's end are seemingly incapable of understanding this,until the Doctor is able to explain to them-even the benevolent Olive Hawthorne that "magic is only the science of the mind" as Pertwee himself once put it in song. The significance of Jo's relationship with the doctor is confirmed when she selflessly offers her life in exchange for the doctors. This is not only the event the is the defeat of Azul but exposes the townspeople to the Master's exploitation of them. This is one of the very finest episodes of Doctor Who from it's time,as well as a wonderful treatise on how,through religion and superstition, the power of fear to overcome knowledge.

                               

Doctor Who-Colony In Space

               In reality done for budgetary concerns,and within the cannon of the Whoinverse as a reprimand from the other time lords regarding the his interference in time,the Doctor had remained stranded on Earth during the first season of Jon Pertwee's tenure in the role. This allowed for the program to have a somewhat more cohesive flavor since it was set primarily in one location with a set group of actors on each episode and serial. On the other hand Doctor Who wasn't about a cohesive flavor. It's basic premise was set anywhere in time and space. And having it set in one particular part of that continuum ,with the Doctors memory of the TARDIS's de-materialization circuit's function blocked by the time lords,was beginning to seem like something of a contrived plot complication than a motivation for change within the series. So considering that,as well as the Doctors fellow time lord nemesis The Master having departed Earth in his own TARDIS the show presented itself with the opportunity to again leave the bounds of Earth and again journey through time and space.

               While looking into the possible new location of The Master,the Doctor decides to finally show Jo Grant the inside of the TARDIS. Ironically it is at that moment the TARDIS is whisked away by the time lords to the planet Uxarious,with vague information about a "doomsday weapon". There the doctor and Jo find a group of Earth colonists terrorized by what they believe is a giant monster created by a supposedly primitive native culture who,it seems have stolen the TARDIS. Unfortunately the colonists,escaping from a polluted and overpopulated Earth  in the mid 25'th century are in physical,often armed conflict with an Earth mining group called the IMC (Interstellar Mining Corporation) who are planning to strip mine Uxarious for a mineral needed for the power supply on Earth. IMC have in fact created this giant monster using a mental manipulation device and giant robots as a way of getting the colonists out of the way of their operation. It is suggested that an Earth adjudicator be sent to mediate the matter. Interestingly enough,upon arrival it's learned by all parties it is in the fact The Master.

             Meanwhile the Doctor and Jo find themselves trapped in an underground city with the natives,only to be warned away staving off an execution and observing curious hieroglyphics describing a catastrophe that turned the once advanced native culture into primitives who practice ritual sacrifices.  The Master meanwhile is using his legal trickery posing as the Earth adjudicator to convince the IMC and the colonists the Doctor is an agent for the "primitive natives" until the doctor arrives and tries to expose the Master's identity. The doctor and Joe are then taken prisoner by The Master,still trying to play the already adversarial IMC against the colonists  and demands that he be shown the way to the primitives dwelling otherwise Jo will be gassed to death. Upon arrival The Master explains how he stole information from the time lords records about the native Uxarians as having been a once technologically advanced race who were diminished to their current state from the radioactive effects of an enormous doomsday device that could,in effect create a nova from any star. The doctor is able to convince the Uxarian leader to destroy the doomsday device,as well as the dying Uxarian race to prevent the master from wrecking havoc with the device. Afterward the colonists,at the sacrifice of their leader to keep the IMC from evacuating them forcibly,help retrieve the TARDIS as the Doctor and Jo return to Earth as the IMC and the colonists begin a more fruitful relationship.

           While this serial is a bit overlong and could've been somewhat better stated in four parts rather than six,and the Master does ultimately escape from the Doctor as always,this story is a very complex and telling one. Basically it tells the story well of an extreme example of the exploitation of the working class by economically motivated corporations. The IMC become so intent on their goal,they become corrupt against their own people. And the colonists are forced into taking up arms and even mistrust of one another as a result. Amid this conflict,they are unable to see the Master's deception at first since he has again played the bureaucracy card to his favor. The Uxarians are an example of the end product of possessing ultimate power: the destruction of their advancement in the pursuit of it. They are more than happy to commit self genocide to stop The Master from gaining the same device that destroyed their civilization. Also notable is the closening of the Doctor's relationship to Jo Grant,either as a father figure or unrequited lover perhaps, as they take their first steps journeying into time and space together. While the first parts of the serial drag on a bit long,when Robert Delgado's Master comes into the story,the plot and the pace quicken to a captivating speed and vitality.

Doctor Who-The Claws Of Axos

                            During the first couple of years or so of the Jon Pertwee era of Doctor Who,the doctor was stranded on Earth with his memory of how to run the TARDIS's dematerialization circuit blocked by the time lords. Not only that but,during this entire season of the show he was continually menaced by The Master,the Professor Moriarty to the doctor's Sherlock Holmes. This necessitated a lot more creative writing on the part of the Doctor Who staff. One major reason being the unavoidable fact that any alien encounters would have to come the doctors way rather than his usual method of either seeking them out or stumbling into them. This was particularly effective when human beings vulnerabilities were addressed directly in the story.

                            A group of rather petulant scientists from a nuclear plant supplying power to all of Britain are in the process of pressuring UNIT for assistance when UNIT is called upon to investigate a UFO crash in the same area. The scientists travel along and encounter an unusual spaceship belong to gilded,sculpture like golden skinned humanoids calling themselves Axos. They offer the team a substance called Axonite,which they claim will not only help refuel the Axos dwindling power and nutrition  supply but offer humans a nearly unlimited source of power. Before long one of the scientists Chinn,involved with the British government is ready to distribute Axonite to all the major powers in the world.

                            It takes the bio replication of Filer,one of the scientists,Jo Grants capture and a near catastrophic accident while studying Axonite for the doctor (and later UNIT) to realize the truth: the AXOS are not in fact humanoids but merely a part of a multi faceted living organism that is on Earth to drain the planet of all it's living energy to maintain it's nutritional needs. And the Axos,their ship and Axonite are all one and the same. Finding that the Master is being held prisoner by the Axos in lieu of him leading Earth and the Doctor to the slaughter via the parasitic alien UNIT,the doctor and the scientists all go out to stop Chinn from distribute the Axonite. In the end the doctor is forced into an uneasy alliance with the Master in order to use his TARDIS just enough to lock Axos in a time loop and stave off it's catastrophic hold on Earth.

                           This story  one of the most compelling and engaging of the Jon Pertwee era. As the faux humanoid Axos pointed out,while they were acting primarily on their biological imperative,that it was the greed of the humans as well as the egoism of the Master that were the real enemy. One is left to wonder if Axos were an invading race or a type of cosmic cleanup crew for psychologically doomed worlds. In this story you get the sense the doctor and the master's relationship is more co dependent than it seems too. The Master,when actually faced with a nearly sure fire attempt to kill the doctor in order to destroy Axos seems hesitant to do so. And although exercised as a deception,the doctor seemed genuinely protective of the Master's well being during their temporary alliance. This story not only has a great morality play on the consequences short term politics,but also gives us yet another glimpse into the character of the doctor (and for that matter the time lords) complex psyche.

Doctor Who-Terror Of The Autons

                        Following the departure of Caroline John,and therefore the doctors companion Liz Shaw the producers of Doctor Who had a necessity to create a new companion for the doctor. The fact that he was stranded on Earth also meant that there would have to be someone from within the UNIT organization he was advising to do so. Enter Katy Manning,an eccentric actress who got the part of the new companion Jo Grant largely on the basis of her strong charisma and personality. This completed the lineup of what is sometimes called the UNIT family,consisting of the doctor,Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart,Sgt. Benton and new arrivals Captain Mike Yates and companion Jo Grant. Since previous villains such as the Daleks and Cybermen seemed to be unwieldy at this juncture a new villain was created. This time it was someone from the doctors own race as well.

                      A mysterious traveller referring to himself only as the Master arrives at an English circus where he hypnotizes one of the carnies. He uses him to get to a nearby radio telescope where he does the same to one of the researchers there and shrinks the other to death. This incident draws in the attention of UNIT,where the doctors new companion Jo Grant has just arrived much to his chagrin. When he goes to investigate the incident at the telescope he finds the door booby trapped with a bomb and Jo follows him to investigate. Her encounter with him ends in her being hypnotized in the same manner and used to nearly blow up UNIT with the similar bomb. 

                   While her revelations,plus a visit from an advising time lord help the doctor in understanding whom he's actually dealing with,The Master has put himself into an advisory position in a polymer manufacturing plant,hypnotizing or even murdering anyone who stands in his way with autons he's created from the Nestene consciousness he plundered earlier with the help of one of his hypnotized companions. These autons take the form of humanoids,chairs,artificial flowers and even a murderous doll-all with the intention of allowing the Master to destroy humanity,take over Earth and destroy the doctor.  While the doctor is successful in destroying the Masters attempts to contact the Nestene consciousness to accomplish his mission and thereby stopping the autons as well,the Master manages to escape. Though the doctor managed to plunder the dematerialization circuit from his TARDIS so if the doctor was trapped on Earth,so would the Master.

                This is one of the most exciting and compelling Doctor Who adventures of the Jon Pertwee era. And an excellent introduction for Katy Manning. While at first perceived as a clumsy interloper who was  involved with UNIT purely through nepotism,her willingness to succeed and eventual helpful assistance to the doctor following her being hypnotized by the Master endear her to the doctor and the rest of the UNIT staff as well. The Master for his part is an excellent adversary for the doctor. Not only is he on his intellectual level,but his mission being essentially the polar opposite of the doctors makes him the ideal counterpoint. Given his suave portrayal by the late Robert Delgado,the Master's ability to manipulate key industries and institutions on Earth to facilitate his misdeeds point to the avarice and inefficiency of the modern industrial world. That plus the addition of darkly comic characters such the murderous "devil doll" and the new smiley faced autons add a fractured fairy tale element to what was already a well written and developed story.