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Post by Iain on Jun 16, 2004 3:59:27 GMT -5
Well I said this was my favourite time of Dr Who and now I start a topic based on it, in many ways the 1960's were Dr Who's Silver age but the 1970's with the advent of colour and a new Doctor was definitely the shows Golden Age I intend to use this topic to touch on many of those aspects. Jon Pertwee was the perfect choice to follow the Chaplinesque Cosmic Hobo that was the second Doctor, the tales had been action packed and the 60's had seen the rise of many evil monsters to battle him, but the production team felt that a more serious approach to the Doctor might help the change over and teamed with the Brigadier and UNIT the Pertwee Doctor brought a adult feel to the series, as we saw how important the Doctor was in foiling the many alien invasions of Earth. Spearhead from Space Was Pertwee's first story and his return to Earth was accompanied by many small plastic pods mistaken by some for meterorites, they were in fact the spearhead for a Auton invasion force that had an affinity for plastic. Robert Holmes did a fast paced tale of aliens that could animate plastic and mannequins walked and killed, I was very young when I first saw this and was always a bit unsure of those department store dummies, to see them come alive in a high street dept store and start mowing down civilians was quite unnerving to say the least. I think it comes down to the lack of body language like the Cybermen the Autons should no visable body language it seemed like the walking dead really, also the Autons did not speak, another thing that made them seem cold and unfeeling. In Terror of the Autons a year later they gave the Autons limited speech, I always thought that took something away from their coldness. (besides their dialogue was terrible! They sounded like reject Daleks! ;D)    1. An Auton, deadly killing machine even through plastic vision.
2. Autons break out of storefronts...
3. And begin wipeing out humanity, if only the bus had been on time...[/color] The Autons were the perfect foes for the new Doctor, they didnt talk back (except for Channing their controller) and they were a ruthless evil to be stopped at all costs, it also proved to the Brigadier that this was the same man that helped him against the Yeti and Cybermen years before despite his new 'look' and we also got a fellow scientist in Liz Shaw that was to be the Doctors compainion for season seven, although she was a intelligent woman (not a genuis like Zoe but a scientist ) she became an equal to the Doctor instead of a screaming compaion....Well at least for a few episodes anyway, its unfortunate she didnt last longer but I think writers had problems depicting her in storys and the later Jo Grant was a more traditional type of companion to ask the Doctor lots of dumb questions and explain the story to the kids watching, Liz didnt really fill that role if she knew what the Doctor was on about so she only lasted four storys, during that time her hair changed colour four times too.  The UNIT team was set and the Doctors time on Earth was just beginning. It was going to be an exciting few years.  Brigadier, Captain Munro, Liz, Doctor on stairs (Nicholas Courtney, John Breslin, Caroline John, Jon Pertwee) [/color] |
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hushicho
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Post by hushicho on Jun 16, 2004 18:14:22 GMT -5
The Pertwee years really were a golden age of sorts, and indeed it brought a new dimension to the series. Although I think 'Spearhead from Space' was a bit of a weak start, to its credit the story had to regenerate the Doctor, introduce the new setting, reintroduce old characters, and give an entirely new dimension to them with UNIT. Furthermore, it had a new alien menace to threaten the Doctor! So all in all, despite its weaknesses, it was quite strong in that the Autons were able to carry the action throughout. I was very fond of Liz and I was happy she was there, although it was apparent from the beginning that although she liked the Doctor, she didn't want to be there. I think that was perhaps why it made sense for Liz to leave after 'Inferno' (an extremely strong final serial to have!), because really the Doctor was more suited to be accompanied by someone who asked a lot of questions and, while clever and honestly trying hard, was nowhere near as competent as the Doctor himself. I did wonder a bit though if Liz wasn't originally supposed to be Zoe, as they had thought they'd keep Zoe on after the Doctor regenerated, as a sort of bridge, but Wendy Padbury wanted to leave with Pat and Frazer. So perhaps it was just that they wanted to have the element of a knowledgeable companion at first? It was such a new thing that the new Doctor had a very shaky start, with some serials that weren't to be continued as a trend, really, along his time as the Doctor. Of them all, only 'Spearhead from Space' was the classic type of adventure that fans would find familiar, with the others very much hard sci-fi tales that often presented dire circumstances and fearsome foes. Probably my favourite of this season is 'Inferno', which features one of the most terrifying scenarios ever presented in the show, as well as the hideous and chilling Primoids...which I'm glad were added, even if just as an afterthought! 'The Silurians' was good even if the ending seemed like an afterthought itself, and it had some very chilling moments. I'm not sure I liked the dwelling on politics in it though, and indeed they often weren't quite so intense in subsequent serials although they did come up from time to time. 'Ambassadors of Death' is one I haven't seen in a long while, but it was good and solid, even if it took a very long time to play out. Overall the first season of the third Doctor is an excellent and solid one, but at the same time I'm really very glad that since it was still finding its feet in its new feel that we weren't stuck in what it gave us. From the first story in the next season (despite it being utterly terrifying), the Doctor seemed more like he had been before and the situations more familiar. Although we did have some new and different things, for the most part we were on comfortable territory and I think that reflected in the enjoyable nature of the stories as well. The Brigadier of 'The Silurians' was all but brushed under the carpet. Well, what are your feelings on it?  Love! Hushicho |
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Post by Iain on Jun 21, 2004 2:28:24 GMT -5
The Pertwee years really were a golden age of sorts, and indeed it brought a new dimension to the series. Although I think 'Spearhead from Space' was a bit of a weak start, to its credit the story had to regenerate the Doctor, introduce the new setting, reintroduce old characters, and give an entirely new dimension to them with UNIT. Furthermore, it had a new alien menace to threaten the Doctor! So all in all, despite its weaknesses, it was quite strong in that the Autons were able to carry the action throughout. it really had a lot of the essentual ingredients I feel are needed to make the best Dr Who tales, properly the weakest element was the Doctor himself, it took nearly two episodes for him to start getting down to business after being unconscious for part one and some of part two, we are fortunately given the Brigadier and Liz to keep the story running nicely, Unit carrys the rest in their efforts to locate the pods and the Auton leader Channing gets some rare time to express himself to his human slave. Even the crusty old gezzer who finds a pod and hides it gets a fair bit to do, but then Robert Holmes always loved his 'Joe Average' characters, you can see them in all his storys. I think Liz was created to be a 20th century scientist able to at least assist the Doctor in his work, Zoe was a bit too useful, the human slide rule I called her, she was always handy for defeating computer programes and hard to crack electronic locks, one wonders why the Doctor even needed a sonic screwdriver with so much handy intelect around him, plus she fequently made the Doctor look not quite as all knowing as someone who had then lived about 500 years should be. The Doctor has all this scientific know how team Zoe up with him in the 70's episodes and they'd be off Earth in no time. Hideous indeed with those hairy wigs and cheap fangs, I'm glad I was young and innocent back then because they look kinda cute now  Still the practice of someone slowly losing their humanity to these primordal creatures was an unerving one and one wondered if the Doctor would make it back in time to save our world? He failed to save that 'other' Earth that was more Nazi-like, I thought that was very important to the Doctor and I was glad to see they remembered that in the 8th season story Mind of Evil when the Doctor expriences a harsh reminder that he couldnt stop a whole world die to fire and lava. Inferno was a powerful story, and it never dragged despite being seven episodes. Blame writer Malcome Hulke, he seemed to have quite liberal views on politics and environmental destruction if you ever get to read his novelisations of his own storys (The Sea Devils, The Green Death, Invasion of the Dinosaurs) they read quite differently than the screened versions, quite amazing really that they got given that much freedom in writing in the 70's, the villains in Hulkes stories are often described well and portrayed almost sympathetically.(I may do a topic on the writing of Malcome Hulke sometime) The bitter Major Barker was portrayed as a patriot to England trying to see his country do well, and saw the Silurians as enemy agents in his blind loyalty to his country, a bit different from the standard trouble maker he was in the televised version. It is good but gets bogged down in the seven episodes and I think the character Regan was simply included as padding really, I mean how many times can Liz escape and get re-captured?? And consider this, the Troughton season six had nearly double the episodes of Pertwees Seventh!! The rumour at the BBC was that six years had been perhaps a safe enough run, ratings were down on some of the later Troughton storys like the mammoth War Games where some episodes barely got 4 million viewers (at the Hartnell/Dalek height it was over 10 million) If Pertwee didnt suceed in bringing viewers back, the show may not have gotten a eighth season. They built on the strength of the two characters there, and the alien Doctor became more at home in his new base of operations, maybe this wasnt as good as the Brig and Dr being untrusting of each other, but then this way was safer to travel for the show that had half the episodes of its previous year and was still finding its feet, fortunately the show did suceed again and the Pertwee Doctor sent the show into its glory years. Well, thats my feelings on it, more to come soon.. ;D |
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hushicho
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Post by hushicho on Jun 21, 2004 21:08:58 GMT -5
I thought it was nice we got a reintroduction to the Brigadier, and an introduction to Liz, but that could've easily been accomplished by the rest of the story. The Doctor really did take far too long to get going, which annoyed me and I'm sure bored more than a few of the viewers...in 'Power' it hardly took him more than a few minutes to find his feet and get moving. In 'Robot', as well, he was on the move with scarcely a pause! 'Castrolvalva' had a reason to be slow-moving, but 'Twin Dilemma' he's active from the get-go (although more than slightly mentally imbalanced!) and 'Time and the Rani' he tried to be but through no fault of his own was a bit scrambled, thanks to the Rani's machinations. You'd think that since the Time Lords themselves supervised this particular regeneration that it would go a little smoothly at least! That's true, although some are better than others. This one was just sort of...I don't know...like I said before, 'Spearhead' was not really a favourite of mine because of its plodding pace. I think a lot of the stories in the third Doctor's first season suffered from attempts to be too 'adult', which to most people seems to indicate a need to be unnecessarily dark, depressing, and/or boring. Personally I'd rather have adventures that don't drag me through the emotional torture chamber, which I can rewatch again and again, rather than ones that make me uncomfortable or annoyed to watch. But then again there's a fine line...there are stories on the other side of the coin that are just unengaging because there really is no conflict at all. Actually that might've been pretty fun to see! My imagination just went with that statement and I can imagine it would be an interesting team-up. Certainly dynamic and probably very enlightening too, with the Doctor's softer side undoubtedly showing through at his dear longtime assistant Zoe. I think all the Doctors had different strengths and weaknesses, because if they had at their disposal all of their knowledge and strengths at any given time, they wouldn't have any personality at all; they'd be too perfect. Therefore it didn't really seem out of place for the silly and avuncular second Doctor to sometimes lose out on battles of intellect with Zoe...she had been trained all her life to be the way she was! She was a brilliant scientific and mathematical mind, and the Doctor, while a genius in his own right, was much more concerned with vast numbers of other things. Zoe could easily focus on a single topic at any given time, but the Doctor had to deal with the greater situation at hand. That was the beauty of the second Doctor, he had the entire crisis on his mind at any time and his companions were often only subjected to specific this or that situations because the Doctor so often shielded them from the rest of what was going on, out of concern. It was nice to see Liz being very assertive and, from time to time, figuring things out on her own. It was really especially nice to see a companion who could hold her own intellectuall with the Doctor around. But I still think that it was more or less a case of the writers having expected Zoe to stay and then being surprised when she didn't, as Wendy Padbury has from time to time indicated in her interviews. It ended up working out perhaps better than Zoe staying on might have, but at the same time they created a companion whose potential could really never be realised. I was quite happy though when they did it again later (and more successfully) with Romana, who more times than not resolved large aspects of the situation by herself. Although due to her relatively youthful age and sheltered upbringing she could get herself into bother just as well as any of the Doctor's other companions, more often she stood as a peer (and sometimes superior) to the Doctor, with an attitude every bit as alien and inscrutable as his own. Yes, honestly I could never think of them as cute due to the surrounding story and the absolutely terrifying sounds they made. Honestly who's to say what a creature like that would look like? Its premise alone is enough to scare the pants off you! I suppose that's why I could take some of the monsters that others constantly ridicule, at face value since the story would build them up and I could sit there and say 'that is a really terrifying concept' whether or not the design or costume was awe-inspiring. My attitude was (and is), we ultimately don't know how something like that is going to look, so one way is just as likely as another! Might as well buy into it and be scared! Yes, 'Inferno' also brought up a lot of issues that were really difficult to bring up otherwise; the fact that obviously there were good people in this world, and people as well who disliked the status quo and how things had become, people working to change that, but the selfishness and single-mindedness of the people in charge doomed the entire world to destruction. It was one country, one group of politicians whose selfishness caused the ultimate destruction of the planet! Now if that isn't scary, I just don't know what is. The Doctor did handle it well though, and instead of moving like the fifth Doctor would, the third Doctor accepted that there was no way to save the Earth he was on, and decided to work that much harder to get back to his own, before it was too late. I have this odd thing about slipping other Doctors into stories that they weren't in, and I always find myself wondering about the fifth Doctor in an 'Inferno' situation. I can't help but wonder if he'd have made it out! Somehow I think the fifth Doctor would've probably played along until he reached the end of his patience (almost too late by that point) and then scrambled around trying to save the world...and failed! Of course, if it were a fifth Doctor story we'd hardly have had it end with Liz laughing. It probably would've ended in a huge eruption of lava and destruction, with the Doctor and companions gloomy-faced in the TARDIS bemoaning how they failed to save anyone... |
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hushicho
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Post by hushicho on Jun 21, 2004 21:09:24 GMT -5
Well, I don't dislike them, I just disliked how sometimes they dominated the stories. 'The Silurians' might have been a more satisfying and faster story had it not been mired down by so much politics, but at the same time 'The Claws of Axos' practically hinged on politics. I think at the time it was also something that was very much on the public's mind, insular thinking and the old-fashioned, outdated politicians who ran the risk of ruining the country (and indeed the world, as was mentioned earlier) due to their ways of thinking that didn't allow for any other philosophies. It's a timeless narrative...even today we have the same problems...but it hits home a bit more easily when you see very clearly that these people are ignoring the evidence right in front of their faces and dooming people to death or worse because of their own stubborn stupidity. Environmentalism had really started to come into its own in the 60s, and the 70s gathered steam too...even today, despite so many people saying it reached its end in the 90s, it's very important. So stories from the third Doctor's era that outline the essential need to respect the planet and which clearly set up what's going on can still be seen as applicable today. Perhaps that's why these stories are still watched today and still powerful today. There is a fine line in these stories between welfare of the people, welfare of the planet, and personal rights and freedoms, illustrated in so many of the third Doctor's stories. It really says a lot that these shows tend to reflect that delicate balance and the problems therein than a lot of shows do today! They also do it with a lot more edge and daring dialogue than we see today as well, and it's done subtly and without trying to go for cheap shock value. Even though stories like 'Inferno' are terrifying, thought-provoking, and at times quite shocking, it's not tasteless and it's all dependent on buildup, which is done quite well indeed. Yes, that was my big peeve with it too, its dependence on Liz carrying the story while the Doctor was off doing his own thing, and all Liz ended up doing was getting captured, escaping, etc. It might have been more interesting had the writers thought up something for her to do that might be useful! But I think that was the problem, they weren't sure how to have her play a role without either dumbing her role down or having her resolve the situation herself...because it really wasn't that complex a problem. That's very true, I had heard the same things. Honestly I can see why 'War Games' didn't score a big hit...to me it was a huge great yawn, and I didn't think a lot of people were too pleased at the ending either. But many of the other stories of the second Doctor's last season were quite good. Personally I absolutely have adored almost everything I've seen of his, but I think he was especially compelling during his second and third seasons. The second is commonly regarded as his best, but the third was still very, very good. I suppose that's why they invested in serials that for the most part were long, serious, and drawn-out in terms of story, giving a more classic, epic impression that was enjoyed in the second Doctor's heyday. Yes, I think it would've just been unnecessarily unpleasant had the Brigadier continued to be portrayed as an unsympathetic clod or a puppet of greater political ambition. More often, later, the Brigadier settled into a position where he knew the Doctor was in the right but was often put in an awkward position and unable to help the Doctor overtly. I think though that 'Invasion of the Dinosaurs' was one of UNIT's strongest and fondest-remembered outings, as almost everyone everyone within UNIT knew and trusted the Doctor, and worked to help him despite orders. It really showed how far we had come from the depiction in 'The Silurians'. More to come later, I'll be waiting eagerly! Love! Hushicho |
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Post by Iain on Jun 24, 2004 2:40:41 GMT -5
I kep remembering how much the brig tried to convince Liz Shaw about alien invasions in season seven, (Spearhead from Space) but by the Three Doctors he was totally disbelieving that the Doctor even had a Time Machine or the UNIT HQ had been 'moved' to an alien planet, I think I heard "Oh come on now Doctor, surley you dont expect me to believe.." more times from the Brigs mouth than any other character, shame on him after all the alien invasions he saw.. I'd like to dwell a bit on Inferno before I move onto Season eight. This tale truely was quite unlike others because it showed us the Doctor 'failing' to rescue a world and the effect it had on him, I take your points on what other Doctors would have done in the same situation hushicho and agree that Davision would have tried too hard to help, with Pertwee it was simply he couldnt convince people fast enough, plus his Doctor could be arrogant too, I shudder to think of Tom Baker or Colin Baker Doctors in that situation, they'd be shot quickly I suspect. Funny thing back in the 1980's in my Dr Who club days I was working on a few fan fiction 'what ifs' and one of them concerned the Doctor staying and succeding in helping the other 'doomed' Earth, it would have invovled a far stricter relationship with the Brigade Leader and Ms Shaw but I think it would have been interesting to see following events unfold like the Master arriving and other invasions like Axos and the Daleks, personally I could see Axos getting creamed by the suspicious nazi-like forces protecting Earth, and the Master would be hung for sure.  This was of course another enviroment in danger tale, since such deep drillings were going on around that time and nobody really knew what would happen if we drilled deep enough and ruptured the earths core. the amazing thing is nobody seems to think it is a bad idea really except the Doctor, maybe he was put on Earth by the Time lords at the right period in our growth, to help us over these enviromental goofs as well as Alien Invasion. The Nazi-like world that the Doctor was trasported to was so much like our own, but careful use of sound effects, camera angles and incidental music convinced us it was a bad place to be long before we saw the Brigade Leaders eyepatch.  The Tardis consule was seperate from the Tardis shell for this story and 'Ambassadors of Death' no real reason is given except that the Doctor was running tests, one wonders however just how he got that huge six sided control collum out through those small doors, (maybe he re-built it) That was a powerful quote (worthy of my quotes list even ) the Doctor was a force to be reckoned with here you could see him convincing Liz and others by his words, even the Brigade Leader started to see the sense in what he said near the end.     1. The quite sinister looking Brigade Leader.
2. The Tardis consule gets a spot of fresh air.
3. Benton discovers his roots, as he becomes a Primoid.
4. Another hairdo for Liz, this time however it comes with jackboots and a gun.[/i] Agreed and perhaps a scary thought at what a Nazi world would have achieved if WW2 had gone their way, I think that could be the factor that brought about such a change, I cant really see England getting that facist without some outside help, unless they were always that way... This story probably is one of my most favorite Pertwee tales so forgive me if I have rambled on a bit tonight, I'll continue this facinating discussion on the Pertwee years tommorrow. Stay tuned.. |
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hushicho
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Post by hushicho on Jun 24, 2004 10:46:33 GMT -5
You know, I hadn't thought about it all that much but now that you mention it, he did sort of start doubting after that. Perhaps they were attempting to sort of brush his portrayal during season seven under the rug more than we thought! But then again, perhaps it was simply due to the fact that he had actually never personally been to another world, just heard about it from the Doctor, and while he had no reason to disbelieve the Doctor's claims and even supported them in terms of alien invasions and the Doctor's TARDIS, he may not have really believed deep down that interstellar travel was possible at all.
And of course there's dealing with the human mind, which can tell itself all kinds of things to protect itself from the truth if it's too shocking!
Well, I don't think that would've happened, since the events would've transpired differently. The fourth and sixth Doctors would rarely play along as long as the third often did, because they oftentimes felt like they were wasting time. I've talked before about how subsequent regenerations often changed in response to things in their previous incarnations, and I think perhaps the fourth Doctor's ease at misleading people and cutting right through to the top...he disliked dwelling in bureaucracy and intermediariies...came as a reaction to the fact that his third incarnation was so mired down in the bureaucracies of the time and was constantly getting captured, shuffled about, and intimidated. Although the third Doctor did possess a truly indomitable will, he often found himself interrogated harshly and even tortured a lot. The third Doctor was perhaps the most imprisoned Doctor of them all!
On the other hand, the sixth Doctor was a direct result, I think, of the fifth Doctor's seeming inability to act right off. The sixth Doctor never liked waiting and wasting time with things that he viewed as irrelevant to the situation. He might have a plan brewing from the beginning...he never went into any situation without at least a rudimentary outline of a plan...but that rarely meant that he would leave it to the last minute as he had in his previous incarnation; when the sixth Doctor acted, it was always decisively and usually in a very carefully-planned manner. I always quite admired him for that, it seemed that once the sixth Doctor was ready to resolve the situation...he did! Almost always a step ahead of his foes.
But I digress. I think in that situation the fourth or sixth Doctors probably would've found a different way to go about it, as would the second Doctor. Whereas I think the second Doctor would try to find a way to preserve his and his companion's safety and 'get back to the TARDIS' as soon as possible (see 'The Enemy of the World'), the fourth would probably play along until it annoyed him so much he muscled his way through and went about sorting people out. I think the sixth probably wouldn't have mucked about much at all, but he would have certainly found a way to show the people that what they were doing was in fact wrong, and that they were entirely in the wrong for supporting it. He did not suffer fools lightly, especially not ones that abused power. Really 'Inferno' would've been a quite excellent story for the sixth Doctor, as his approach often dealt with entire societies and social structures that needed to be shown the problems inherent from within themselves, which only a total outsider like the Doctor could show.
I'm not really so sure, I don't think that the entire country was really of the same mind, and the last few elements of 'Inferno' in the alternate universe seem to indicate that the iron fist rule isn't working at all and is slipping entirely from the ruling party's grasp. That was just the impression I got, but I certainly came out of 'Inferno' thinking that even had the Doctor saved that Earth, it was the end of a world...the end of the world for that particular social paradigm.
In many ways though I think alien invaders who would win the trust of the world (such as Axos) might find it even easier to infiltrate a world governed by that kind of group. Oftentimes it's that sort who are very easily misled by their own misguided code of ethics, easily taken advantage of by an outsider, at least in Doctor Who!
it's especially amusing too, that the Doctor more often than not could really care less about the whole situation until it shows signs of going wrong that simply cannot be ignored...at least, not by a Time Lord or anyone with half a brain. Unfortunately the problem in most of these stories is that the people in charge of the situations don't think things rationally, they operate on a totally bureaucratic level and most don't even think for themselves! That seemed to be a recurring theme, as we've discussed, for the third Doctor to come up against. A little rational thought could've curtailed many, many hostile alien invasions and attacks.
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hushicho
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Post by hushicho on Jun 24, 2004 10:46:53 GMT -5
That's so true, I was uncomfortable from moment one the Doctor found himself on the alternate world. The atmospheric music really did give it a totally different feel, and the excellent direction and use of sound effects (or absence thereof) really painted quite an eerie picture. I think anyone that dismisses Doctor Who really didn't give it a chance at all, more often than not it was brilliantly done. I seem to remember feeling that it was implied he piloted it out of the TARDIS, that it could operate for short jumps but nothing more than that. And it was stated in the story that he needed somewhat sizable amounts of power to do that. So perhaps it's just that he detached the console and did a hop outside the TARDIS to work on it? It really doesn't seem to make too much sense though if you sit down and think about it, why would he take the console outside to work on it? Why not just leave it in the TARDIS? Yes, I liked how they slowly started to realise that the Doctor was right and that there was nothing they could do but help him. I was especially moved by the alternate-Liz and her former aspirations to be a scientist, one that our Liz realised and which fulfilled her as a person. One got the impression from the alternate-Earth crew that their lives were lacking and incomplete, unfulfilled as they had thrown away their personal ambitions for the sake of something they had been brainwashed into thinking was greater. It only makes it all the more sad that this world was such a disaster, and that they began to 'wake up', so to speak, too late. My favourite quote from Inferno was of course the climax of the adventure, where the Doctor screams at the scientists, 'Listen to it! It's the sound of the planet screaming out its rage!' which is a quote that will live forever in my memory. When I was a child and saw this episode, that moment was when I sat up straight and my jaw dropped, my eyes were glued to the television! No matter what your favourite part, though, 'Inferno' was one of the most powerful serials in the series. Yes, I think the concern at the time was the nervousness over the balance between socialism and democracy, and this was illustrated in an extreme measure, to compare and contrast. I forget if it was implicit that the second World War had been lost and Nazi Germany had taken Britain...either way, the country was in a dire situation. What was especially brilliant about it was the sense of horror at the proceedings, accomplished by evoking revulsion in the viewer, as any good horror should do. From the moment we entered this other world, we wanted to leave. We wanted it to be destroyed, we wanted anything as long as the Doctor (and us, who were experiencing it with him) would just get out! But the brilliance of the narrative lied in the fact that gradually, we came to know more about this world and became more hopeful. And when it was falling apart and breathing its last, it was a genuinely tragic and sad moment, because we had begun to think that perhaps we were too quick to judge and that this world had the potential to become better, that maybe it could have recovered. That's fine, I don't mind! I think it is undoubtedly the best of the season in which it appeared. It's certainly the most engaging. I do hope to hear from you soon! Love! Hushicho |
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Post by Iain on Jun 27, 2004 3:54:52 GMT -5
Just a bit on Inferno still... I'm not really so sure, I don't think that the entire country was really of the same mind, and the last few elements of 'Inferno' in the alternate universe seem to indicate that the iron fist rule isn't working at all and is slipping entirely from the ruling party's grasp. That was just the impression I got, but I certainly came out of 'Inferno' thinking that even had the Doctor saved that Earth, it was the end of a world...the end of the world for that particular social paradigm. I got the distinct impression that at least Europe was under some kind of greater dictatorship, and the horrible thing about facist rule is that things advance very quickly and run efficently, the Doctor himself noticed how much more advanced the 'alternate universe' world was. If things had gone the same on both worlds then I feel that the facist forces would have learned from the eariler Yeti and Cybermen invasions and been more than prepared to repell the Autons, the Silurians probably wouldnt have been discovered and the Ambassadors of Death would have been the Ambassadors dead!! I always kinda thought the Brig was holding back a bit in many of those alien invasions and at times I saw a frustration and temper in him that reminded me too of his alternate world Brigade Leader, look at Robot where he grabs the Robots disguarded lazer gun and turns it on it (unknownly of course) I think the Brigade Leader could have taken on a few stuck up aliens, its an interesting concept anyway I think. Ah but dictators are notorious for being suspicious, they would probably order a huge strike on Axos before it had a chance to land, paranoia breeds hasty action.. The Doctor was ever up against political and bureaucratic maneuvering Day of the Daleks, Claws of Axos, The Sea Devils, The Silurians, The Green Death all had a heavy political theme to them, and a lot of them were penned by Malcome Hulke too.  It could have been the times too hushicho, the 1970's were a time of political unrest in England, coal miners strikes and power cuts were commonplace and the future even was uncertain with world problems always in the news and the Iron curtain still firmly up tight. The 70's were proberly reflected quite well in our favourite Saturday night show Dr Who. You are probably correct on the 'piloting' out of the Tardis consule, I seem to remember he made to leave on the Brig and Liz at then end of part seven of Inferno and landed on the Rubbish dump nearby. So his consule was capable of short hops it seemed, refresh my memory hushicho was the consule also out of the Tardis in Ambassadors of Death? I think I saw a different background for the walls there. (I really need to dig out all my old Dr Who tapes) I still am unsure why he did remove the consule though, saving on the budget for the interior sets perhaps? I still remember the Masters shock when he saw inside the Tardis control room and found the Doctors mess, "Oh no, what has he done!!?" ;D I agree and Caroline John was a very good actress in my view to convince us that way, she went from a friendly scientist we all knew in our world to the by the book nazi we met as the Doctor landed on the other world, she slowly became more sure of herself and much more relaxed, especially when she realised all was lost, and she was so convinced that she saved the Doctors life by shooting the Brigade leader before he could injure the Doctor. (mind you she may have wanted to shoot the pompous Brig-Leader for years. THe Doctor ever the name dropper during his interrogation, did mention the royal family, and was saddened to hear that they were all killed, so maybe a WW2 seanaro isnt so far fetched, Hitler apparantly wanted peace with England early on, maybe events changed from our worlds, maybe Churchill was never trusted and England surrendered, who knows? Oh thats beautifully put there hushicho, I really couldnt have said it better myself, I wanted the world fixed and made like our own when I watched this in my impressible youth, I came to realise it was too late for this other Earth but found myself agreeing with the Brigade Leader that the Doctor should try to save them by transporting them to our world, (maybe the Brig could use a tough sidekick in UNIT?) I didnt like the idea that the Doctor left them behind, even though it was completely wrong in the paradox theory, without a working Tardis he couldnt take them anywhere else. It affected me that he would leave people to die like that, I've never been too convinced by the 'noble death' attitude really, I have trouble believing anyone would meet their deaths as bravely as Sutton, Petra and Liz did. Anyway enough depressing talk, next post I'll discuss my next favourite Pertwee tale Terror of the Autons  Take care... Iain. |
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Post by Iain on Jul 2, 2004 3:43:29 GMT -5
Terror of the AutonsFrom the first appearance of the Masters Tardis at Rossini's Circus you just knew you were in for an exciting storyline. The Master bent the will of Rossini quickly and set upon a misson of Terror for the Autons and revenge for himself. Series eight of Dr Who opened with quite a few changes, Liz Shaw was gone replaced with the cute but thick as a plank Jo Grant, UNIT HQ was moved to the coast, the dashing Captain Yates was added to the growing unit staff, and the UNIT uniforms became more like traditional British army garb, (making you wonder how impartial UNIT was now staffed by brits) Benton became a regular now and the Doctor himself felt more relaxed and an employee of UNIT really.    1. Brig, Doctor, Jo and the Master in a publicity picture.
2. The Master, Nemesis of the Doctor.
3. Master in defeat after all Autons are destroyed.For the next four episodes we were treated to the Doctor in a search for his old foe, surviving deathtraps left by the Master to destroy him, of course the Master never expected the Doctor to actually get killed by any of these little suprises... The book version written by Terrance dicks put it nicely as when the Master was told by farrel yet another plot to kill the Doctor had failed, the Master took it in his stride enjoying the hunt, of course as soon as Farrell left the Master soundly hit a fileing cabinet..Foiled again eh? Robert Holmes the author wrote a fast paced storyline that probably showed the Master as much as the Doctor, (its been said that Pertwee got quite 'miffed' at the fan mail that Roger Delgado got for his portrayal of the Master, its said it rivaled Pertwee's) and the Autons were better realised now being more than just stock silent bad guys they could talk now. (not very well but enough to give the Master some orders) The Master's hypnotism was a powerful weapon, but right away we are shown it is not infallible as Farrell's father is strong enough to throw off the Masters gaze, of course that would have been too easy if the Master didnt have to resort to other methods to tackle Farrell senior. With kiler dolls, Policemen with removable faces, plastic flowers that sprayed death and a plastic chair that ate people the questions about Dr Who being too scary for kids were raised again, the timeing of plastic products taking the world by storm couldnt be better in the plastic 1971 era really and the police werent too happy about being shown as faceless Autons either. (but it made a good cliffhanger) One memorable stunt was the car driven by Captain Yates into one Auton that knocked it clear over a steep slope in the quarry, the camera crew stayed focused on the stuntman as he rolled and fliped down the slope, staying quite in 'auton' character he then gets up and starts to climb back up the slope, showing the Auton invincibility quite impressively. In the end Terror is a fine season opener as well as a good Auton story and a great Master story, UNIT has a good showing as do the Brig, Benton and Yates and the new girl Jo isnt too bad either. Oh and Jon Pertwee was good as the Doctor too... ;D
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hushicho
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Post by hushicho on Jul 2, 2004 15:20:40 GMT -5
Dear Iain, Hello again! I'm sorry I've not posted for a day or two but I've been insanely busy for some reason around here, and I did want to take some time to plant some flower seeds I'd ordered specially from California, so that's been taking up a goodly bit of my time! However, I did finally get around to getting back today, and just in time I see as you've posted about the next season; I think we've analysed 'Inferno' to its limits and beyond! 'Terror of the Autons' is still one of my favourites to this day due to its truly horrific shocks and terrifying villains. The Master rather played second-fiddle to the Autons, in my mind at least -- when I saw this serial again for the first time in years, a few years ago, I was absolutely chilled to the bone. The cliffhanger where the Doctor leans forward very matter-of-factly and pulls off the policeman's face is one of the most utterly chilling moments in the entire series. The Autons speaking was really a necessity, although I am glad that they made minimal use of it. Like the Cybermen in 'The Invasion', it's more chilling that they hardly speak at all. If they'd been chatty with those voices, I'd probably not remember them being scary. But this was a good story and everyone was well-used. I felt that the Autons were sort of divided almost like the aforementioned Cybermen in it, with only some actually speaking and seeming to be more in authority, whereas others were merely drones. Indeed, if I remember correctly weren't the police officers silent the whole time? So they probably couldn't even speak at all. The Master made quite a strong first showing, and indeed he did seem quite unflappable although I'm sure he did do a fair amount of punching file cabinets! He was shown as totally ruthless and evil, and it was a good job the Doctor was there to balance out his cruelty. However, the Master was probably responsible for as many deaths as the Autons were...if not more! I think the telephone cord attack was rather creepy too...in fact, so many of the Auton attacks were very chilling because there was no way of knowing which items were Autons and what would activate them! I remember being very scared as a child of the way their hands would hinge open so abruptly, and then they would commence dealing the destruction! Jo Grant made a grand first impression, and truly the Brigadier was quite right in saying that nobody suited the Doctor quite so well as someone who will pass him test tubes and tell him how brilliant he is! Perhaps that's why he got on so well with Jo, he always seemed to treat her as an uncle would his favourite niece and she always seemed to regard him as her favourite uncle. It's something of a pity too, because in 'The Green Death' as she left, as all companions tend to do, we had to be reminded that although she always loved her time with the Doctor, it was her time to 'grow up' I suppose and have her own adventures. I'm sure some of his companions would have stayed with the Doctor had circumstances allowed though. Captain Yates is so adorable. I adore him to pieces, and it was such a shame in 'Invasion of the Dinosaurs' when his naive passion was taken advantage of. It was painful and hurtful in many ways, it felt like we were being betrayed ourselves, yet we could understand why it happened and it wasn't something that was just from nowhere. It was really heart-wrenching there too. But I do adore Mike and I think he was always one of the best. Seems like he's quite popular with the 'slash fiction' group, and admittedly he did have more than his share of quite suggestive dialogue and scenes!! It certainly didn't hurt that he was quite attractive too! I think 'Terror of the Autons' set up the new season and the new direction for the series immensely well, with everyone seeming a lot less tense in the circumstances than they were the previous season. Perhaps this was due to the series not being in such danger any longer! Indeed the public response was great to the introduction of the Master and the new, somewhat less dire tone to the stories. I'd imagine there were concerned parents...I know even as an adult I still get the chills at some of the situations in some of the stories! But I think Jon Pertwee was right then, and his advice is applicable to this day: if parents don't want their children to watch it, they needn't watch. They can just switch off. I wish more people would take that into account today instead of insisting that we have to cater to their children...who don't want to be catered to!...and sanitize everything beyond belief, at least in this sadly censored country. But back to Doctor Who! So yes, an excellent and extremely strong beginning to a season that had its share of truly brilliant and exciting serials. Unfortunately it also began a heavy dependence on the Master's presence to carry them, resulting in a somewhat forced inclusion in every story which made some of the serials suffer. However, at the same time it's also quite believable as the Doctor was limited to one place and time (and when he got off Earth at all, we were to believe that either the TARDIS was looking out for his best interests or the Time Lords were controlling!) So logically if the Master were around that time and place, he'd try every opportunity to take out his chief stumbling block! Anyway, I look forward to discussing more of this with you! Love! Hushicho |
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Post by Iain on Jul 5, 2004 3:05:45 GMT -5
Dear Iain, Hello again! I'm sorry I've not posted for a day or two but I've been insanely busy for some reason around here, and I did want to take some time to plant some flower seeds I'd ordered specially from California, so that's been taking up a goodly bit of my time! However, I did finally get around to getting back today, and just in time I see as you've posted about the next season; I think we've analysed 'Inferno' to its limits and beyond! Agreed and my posting has been sporactic to due to work and the other forums I mod at as well as my own free time disapearing, I really wish I typed faster sometimes as I want to say so much but get so stuck for time sometimes. I will always make time for Dr Who discussion though I promise. ;)And I thank you for your patence with me. It was quite the scarey scene I was still quite young and shocked by this scene, I am sure many kids gave their friendly local policeman a second look back then. Yep the auton cops were strong and silent, I'd always imagined the one that got his face torn off was about to say something to the Doctor though... Ha I guess I forgot about the 'lunch box' killing and the basic murder of the other scientist by post-hypnotic suggestion at the circus, the Master killed so stylishly though (sorry I hope that doesnt sound bad) he had such a flair for doing things his way and also to annoy the pure Doctor in his attempts to capture him, the Master was probably one of the greatest villians ever to grace the show. Jo Grant and Mike Yates were as I mentioned before quite good additions to the UNIT family, in a sense the Green Death marked the end of both of them as Jo was taken from the Doctor by 'love' for a younger version of himself, and Mike was taken by mind control by the boss computer, something that Milke never really recovered from as ghe became invovled with the group in Invasion of the Dinosaurs that were attempting to ake a new world and they preyed on his 'idealolgy' by the time Planet of the Spiders came around Mike was finished with UNIT and by shows conclusion finished with the show. (save a cameo in Five Doctors) I totally agree with you and Pertwee there we dont need people telling us what is fit for our familys to watch, ever T.V. comes with a on/off switch and they are great for deciding when to censor our own eyes, I guess too many people use the television as a baby-sitting device, sit them down and the screen will keep them amused, well dont complain when the kid see death and destruction on the news then by accident. As do I, Time may force me into bed early tonight but I was going to move onto "The Mind Of Evil" next but theres no need for us to go exactly in order, we can jump around the storys of season eight if that sounds less regimented or do each tale in order to give this thread a chronicle feel, I'll start thinking up stuff to say about Mind of Evil, even though I've only seen it once in black & White too. (I really need to dig out my tapes) but feel free to jump in if I get slow. ;D Take care Iain. |
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hushicho
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Post by hushicho on Jul 6, 2004 21:38:27 GMT -5
That's fine, I type a mile a minute according to my friends. *chuckles* I am happy to wait on your wonderful responses though, because they're such a pleasure to experience. I've been kind of swamped lately, I've been trying to catch up on some projects I've let pile up in the background and eep...what a fearsome task that is! Yes, I think there was a small outcry from concerned parents and actually some policemen that the serial would teach children to fear police officers. Ah, those were the days...now we have 'hard crime dramas' that would teach more fear than someone's face getting ripped off to reveal that he's an Auton. Still, it's scary as hell, getting back to the Autons!! I mean, the whole way it was carried out, the way that whole scene unfolded was utterly terrifying. I think that's another brilliant scare of the Pertwee years, carried out immaculately. You couldn't actually ask for a better buildup and then that chilling climax...punctuated by Jo's shrill scream...wow. What a great story! The stunt was also very impressive with the Auton getting knocked off the cliff. I think it set a record for a fall and was actually not supposed to be quite like that, but it was so impressive that they kept it. The stuntman was actually not badly hurt at all, hence the way he got right back up again. Very lucky man! Very impressive too. But the policeman thing is very creepy too, especially since, well, British constables didn't (and hopefully still don't?) carry guns. That was something that always struck me in 'Resurrection of the Daleks' that some of my friends missed, since they had never known any culture but American, where of course police often carry guns. The fact that Tegan knew the policemen were Dalek agents because they carried guns was lost on that audience! And that was particularly astute of Tegan to notice as well. Scary. Chilling. Scary, scary, scary. Yes, the Master had a talent for mucking about with the Doctor's chances at doing what he did best. Oftentimes the Master would unleash something, then work behind the scenes to try and cause the Doctor problems that otherwise might not have been there. Can you imagine how much easier the whole affair with Azal or the Sea-Devils might have been, had the Master not been there pulling strings all over the place? You're very right of course in that, and I think really 'The Green Death' marked the end of UNIT. They would only make a real appearance in one other story, as the Brigadier's almost casual inclusion in 'The Time Warrior' didn't really amount to much. 'Invasion of the Dinosaurs' was intended, very much so, as the final real UNIT story of that era, and it did seem like in it we were saying goodbye to so many parts of the third Doctor's era, so many things that had made it what it was. It's almost funny, but 'Invasion of the Dinosaurs' really was too perfect a throwback to all the other third Doctor adventures, even going to the extreme measure of having the captured-escape-recaptured-escape and other various padding that at times plagued the earlier Pertwee serials! It was a very nice finale to the UNIT era though, and once it got going it really had them all at their best, although poor Mike was in the position of the turncoat again. I'm glad they let that rest after 'Invasion of the Dinosaurs' and he got the chance to do at least a little bit in 'Planet of the Spiders' rather than just fading into the background. Yes, and kids can't constantly be sheltered from the world either. Sooner or later they're going to be exposed to the reality of it, and the more you shelter them, the more ill-prepared they're going to be. It really only ends up ultimately hurting the kids and making them into more ill-adjusted adults. I think making something forbidden tends to make it more alluring, so when they get the opportunity they go nuts with it. Thanks for breeding the excesses of tomorrow with the suppression of today! I seem to remember 'Mind of Evil' being a rather slow-moving tale with some exciting moments nonetheless. It's an interesting story with a lot of potential that is mostly but not entirely realized. Among the best moments I recall are Jo's actual competence at espionage work, the fact that although she's a bit vacant at times, she actually is a fully-trained UNIT agent and does extremely well under duress! I was very surprised to see her do so well. In fact, I rather think it's more of a Jo episode than a Doctor or Master episode, despite both of them featuring highly of course. It's been a while since I've seen it, but I always remembered Jo being particularly good during it. I need to get my tapes and rewatch it here in a bit too, it has been altogether far too long since I've experienced 'Mind of Evil'. But we can jump around to whatever or wherever you like. Just let me know. I'm always happy to hear from you and discuss! Love! Hushicho |
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Post by Iain on Jul 7, 2004 4:29:10 GMT -5
The Mind of EvilOnly in Dr Who in the 70's could you get along on a loose plot like UNIT transporting a deadly nerve gas missile across the English countryside with minimal security, I just was thinking about it now as I sat down to type and boy the prison and missile storylines just sort of fell together really didnt they? Time seems to have passed between the end of Terror of the Autons (where the Master finds himself trapped on Earth also, thanks to the Doctor) and the start of Mind of Evil, the Master (as Dr Keller) has had many months it seems to set this all up and perform 112 mind lobotomys with his 'evil mind sucking machine' indeed . The Keller machine just happens to be the best way to deal with the criminal mind these days, just suck out all those negative impulses like a hoover really.(another way would have been Stanley Kubericks "A Clockwork Orange" out at about the same time also about toying with the criminal mind) And store them in the machine that later turns out to be a creature that feeds on negative impulses, it would have a field day in New York City!    (Left to right)
1. The Thunderbolt missile (a nerve gas missile) Naughty UNIT transporting that through Englands countryside.
2. Benton and the Brigadier, (Brig in 'working' clothes for a change)
3. A terrible fate for the Doctor the evil Master locks him in a room alone with Jo Grant, unable to stop the constant babble of her questions!!
The Chinese addition with Chin Lee seems to have only been there to get the story going as she is quickly written out after two episodes as are the rest of the delagates as the Keller machine at Stangmoor Prison takes center stage for the remainder of the adventure. It was good to introduce the Master in episode two instead of revealing him right away to be the main villian, although this would become a regular occurence throughout season eight and some of season nine it was the first time done here and probably more of a suprise to regular watchers. (The Master tended to show up so often, it was a shock when he wasnt involved with a dangerous scheme.) Jo did get to do more in this episode and showed she was not the bumbling companion some feared she might be, she bravely stood by the Doctor in his time of need and helped stop at least one prison riot with her 'training.' Although the moment the Master orders the beaten Doctor thrown into a cell with Miss Grant, that actually sounded like a form of torment perhaps the way he said it with such glee. ;D Oh one small point the Master shows how he gets truely evil by listening to bad guy music on his 'transistor radio' and smoking big cigars (those things will take a regeneration or two off you Master) In fact the Master looked very much the 'mafia' type with expensive limo and driver, he seemed to be enjoying his situation on earth quite nicely. The prison scenes make up the 'meat' of this tale though the prisoners themselfs range from fairly good ( Barnam) to really awful the scenes of UNIT storming the prison were done quite well thanks to the stunt team HAVOK they gave Dr Who a polished look in the early 70's much fun as well was earned by the Brigadier's undercover work as a delivery man and the reactions from Benton afterwards. And the Doctor's greatest fear was shown here to be the Inferno earth he couldnt save, a very nice addition to the shows continuity, Daleks and Cybermen of course increase the fear later on, while the Master only seems to be afraid of being mocked by the Doctor...Poor chap I almost feel sorry for him, all those missed attempts on the Doctors life.. The plot twist that a mind with no evil thoughts was safe around the Keller machine/creature was a good one, and it gave them a way to get rid of the Thunderbolt, creature and Master in one blow.....Well two out of three isnt bad. It was a good action story that could have used a bit of editing, perhaps even a whole episode worth. It tends to get missed between all the other Master storys of that season, but it is worth another viewing I recommend. You are way too quick want a job as my personal typist?  Anyway till the next review I hope you enjoyed this one hushicho. Take care. Iain.
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hushicho
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Post by hushicho on Jul 13, 2004 19:14:26 GMT -5
Oh my... It seems that the first time I speak of my usually quick response times, I forget about things and get caught up in other things!! I am so very sorry, it has been an extremely odd week and a lot of things have needed my attention. I'll try to get back on task as I can. Again, I think as you're fond of saying (and accurate in saying) it was a product of the time period. The missile and its precarious nature were terrifying by themselves, but couple that with rioting prisoners and an intergalactic menace and you have a truly horrific scenario that could well mean the end of the world as we know it! As we discussed earlier about the political aspects of these stories at the time, this one as well incorporated some very obvious political concerns that were surely on the public mind at the time, especially in the case of the Chinese. Yes, something that I really liked about the stories of that period was that there was quite a lot of time that obviously passed between some of them so that you could believe the Doctor had done the various other things and pursued the other interests that he always claimed! In the Davison days, unfortunately everything was so rushed that it constantly seemed difficult to believe they did anything between adventures for the first season. The second season was almost like that, but thankfully most of the third season did not suffer from the same condition. I think it's really a pain...as we said, it's tiresome after it keeps happening again and again. It's funny really, because even though the episodes that must have inspired them to do that, from the first Doctor's era, still managed to incorporate 'holiday' episodes where the TARDIS crew were going somewhere for leisure, or parts of their adventures where they were allowed to relax. As we have previously discussed, the fifth Doctor's new crew only got to do that for about an afternoon in 'Black Orchid'! But I digress, I think it was quite nice to leave it up to the imagination as to exactly what happened between 'Terror of the Autons' and this story, so that we weren't quite sure what the Master had been up to, or even that it was the Master at all at work here. That made it a little more of a surprise when he turned up as this scientist who obviously had quite the reputation built. He seemed to do that a lot better than the Doctor, but then the Doctor never was really a plotter. He'd just stumble onto situations and resolve them. The Master, conversely, created whole situations around himself through months or more of careful planning and building himself up. And yet despite this, the Doctor always managed to confound him at whatever he was doing. Yes, I think the underlying message of this story was that the negative impulses are necessary, and what was being done was quite wrong at heart anyway. There were several very interesting statements that were made without being overtly made that I thought were quite good and very applicable even today, especially dealing with the Keller machine. Yes, I think it was necessary to make it clear that the situation had international if not worldwide repercussions and then leave it at that, getting to the core of the situation instead of dallying on the sidelines as at the beginning. They had reached the heart of the matter and there was no need to retreat to the other details. I think that was a big problem with the so-called 'New Adventures' -- the authors tended to want to dwell in minutiae, to flesh out a culture, civilisation, or situation in its entirety when there was absolutely no need to and it was entirely unessential to the plot (and of course there was all that superfluous sex and violence, but that goes without saying to anyone who's read them!) I'm sorry to say that, no matter how interesting a situation is, if it has nothing to do with the plot or doesn't make something more compelling then there is no place for it in a story. A tale should never grind to a halt for lengthy explanations of things that the characters themselves don't even know, especially on television or movies; if it isn't apparent by the rest of the writing it's a sign of poor writing! Isn't that the truth! After a while I expected him to be involved with everything. I was more than slightly surprised that the Cybermen didn't throw themselves in some zany plot with him at some point, but I forget the reason why the Cybermen weren't actually used during the third Doctor's time as the Doctor. They had more or less been overused during the second's, although all of their appearances with him were pretty much uniformly excellent. Anyway, you're entirely right. Although I think the Master was a great villain and played perfectly by the masterful Roger Delgado (pun half intended!), you can get too much of a good thing. It might have made the Master much more threatening to have him appear only occasionally, because by the time he made his final appearance in 'Frontier in Space' I think a lot of viewers were hoping he'd be out of the picture for a long while. I am sad, however, that he was out of the picture for so long afterwards, and in such sad circumstances. |
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Still the practice of someone slowly losing their humanity to these primordal creatures was an unerving one and one wondered if the Doctor would make it back in time to save our world? He failed to save that 'other' Earth that was more Nazi-like, I thought that was very important to the Doctor and I was glad to see they remembered that in the 8th season story Mind of Evil when the Doctor expriences a harsh reminder that he couldnt stop a whole world die to fire and lava. Inferno was a powerful story, and it never dragged despite being seven episodes.
