A Baker´s Dozen (well, almost)

Actually I lied, boys and girls. That's NOT completely all. Here's one I prepared earlier...

You know, I haven´t written much about the carnival of classic Dr Who stories which have been released on DVD. Thanks to the sterling efforts of The Doctor Who Restoration Team, we´re getting more and more DW serials released on DVD each year, which is wonderful to behold. The carnival is turning into a veritable avalanche.

2007 in particular has surely been a goldmine for Tom Baker fans. By the end of 2007 the following TB stories will all have been released on DVD, in the following (not story) order: "The Keeper of Traken", "Logopolis", "Robot", "The Ribos Operation", "The Pirate Planet", "The Stones of Blood", "The Androids of Tara", "The Power of Kroll", "The Armageddon Factor", "Planet of Evil" and "Destiny of the Daleks"! (Not to mention a re-release of "Genesis of the Daleks" as part of a forthcoming Davros boxset). It´s a bloody Tom Baker DVD fest! A Baker´s Dozen, if you count the "Genesis" re-release.

By contrast William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee fans must feel rather bit hard done by this year, with only one Pertwee release, "The Time Warrior", and absolutely zilch from Hartnell and Troughton! However 2008 is already looking promising with both "The Silurians" and "The Sea Devils" coming out (along with the somewhat sh*t Peter Davison story "Warriors of the Deep") in a Silurians/Sea Devils boxset. "The Sea Devils" is one of my all time fave Pertwee stories. Highlights include those famous monsters of le mer with their bulgy eyes and string vests emerging from the sea, Jon Pertwee at his strident best, Jo Grant in a flared white trouser-suit and a star turn from Roger Delegado, the definitive Master who knocks John Simm's recently superficial, campy performance into a black hole. Can't wait for that one. Boxsets ahoy!

Anyway, getting back to Tom Baker, as he's my favourite Doc, I felt like posting some random musings on those Fourth Doctor stories which have, or are about to be, unveiled on DVD this year...

The Keeper of Traken / Logopolis

Released as part of the "New Beginnings" boxset, you know. (And WHY do I keep thinking of the Bucks Fizz track with virtually the same name?) I've already posted my (expansive!) thoughts on these two TB stories, here! And as DW stories go, "Logopolis is" one of my all-time fave raves and a fabulous ending to the Baker reign. I was so glad it finally got the release it deserved on DVD having previously owned a (rapidly deteriorating) VHS copy.

Robot

From Baker's swansong to Baker's debut! And my, doesn't he look SO much younger in this one! Die-hard fans are not ultra-keen on this story. It's a fairly pedestrian tale with a UNIT backdrop but this was all deliberate - introducing an unfamiliar Doctor in a familiar setting kind of helped to cushion the blow.

The story still has a fair amount going for it. There's a great villain in Miss Winters, the head of Think Tank and all round bitch with a lovely pudding bowl hairdo. Still at least she isn't quite as sartorially or follically challenged as Professor Kettlewell (the inventor of the robot of the story title) who looks like someone presenting Open University circa 1974. And he probably did.

Ian Marter also makes his debut as the dashing Dr Harry Sullivan, a bit of a stereotypical English hero but likeable all the same.

The giant robot itself is quite an impressive creation - big and metallic with a booming voice. The idea of the robot being used by the twisted scientists to do their dirty work and kill people - so conflicting with its prime directive - is an interesting one, as is its (almost human) characterisation and the relationship it forms with Sarah Jane Smith. There are "King Kong" resonances too when the robot mutates to giant proportions and holds poor old Sarah captive. This however is where the special effects go t*ts up - cue hilariously bad 1970s CSO with a fuzzy robot clutching a Sarah Jane ragdoll.

The biggest reason to watch is of course the debut of Tom Baker, who makes an immediate impact with his eccentric ways, staring eyes, toothy grin and wonderfully fruity voice. As I said, he looks positively youthful in this story (compare to the worn-out, cynical Doctor of Logopolis - light years off!) and has an energy and enthusiasm that cannot help but engage. Seven years later it's all kind of drained away!

Anyway an enjoyable tale with enough to recommend and I'm glad it's now out on DVD.

The Key To Time Season (Season Sixteen)

From "The Ribos Operation" through to "The Armageddon Factor", this is a six story boxset bonanza! It actually came out in the US a few years ago, but finally gets a proper UK release with loads of brilliant extras.

I have fond memories of this season from when I grew up:

The White Guardian looking very refined in his suit under the tree.

The Dr's new assistant Romana rubbing the Doc up the wrong way right from the start.

A c-c-c-craaaazy pirate captain and his robotic parrot.

The evil Queen Zania going all negative as people try to shoot her.

Moving stones sucking the life blood out of unsuspecting campers.

Romana in an ecky-thump cloth cap and slingback heels falling off a cliff, with a crap filmed backdrop.

A wonderfully eccentric Earth professor teaming up with the Dr.

The nasty Vivienne Fay being turned into stone (serves you right, madam).

Two Romanas for the price of one in an aristrocratic, swash-buckling setting.

A pre-"To The Manor Born" Peter Jeffrey doing his best moustache-twirling villain bit (actually he's a bit better than that).

The Black Guardian freaking out when the Dr denies him the Key to Time.

And K9 is also showcased to the max during this season, shooting down the pirate captain's parrot and stopping those nasty blood-sucking stones in their tracks! Go K9! And did you know that 2007 is the metal mutt's 20th anniversary? (1977 saw his debut in the Baker tale "The Invisible Enemy"). If you wanna know why I love K9 so much, try here.

There's a downside to this season too. If pushed I admit that the Philip Hinchcliffe-produced era of TB comes off better than the Graham Williams period. Mr Williams had a rather "slapdash" approach to producing and a more notably "kiddy" element snuck in during his tenure on the programme. Tom Baker had also settled into his role very comfortably by this time and had become pretty arrogant and difficult to work with - and this comes out sometimes in his performance; it's like he's on auto-pilot or thinks he's too good to fully exert himself. I'm probably being a bit unfair - it also didn't help that daft old bat Mary Whitehouse had complained about the show, so leading to a toning down of the "adult" element - less violence and horror for instance - boooo!! You boring old cow!! And whilst entertaining enough, I certainly wouldn't rank any of the stories in this season with the likes of "Genesis of the Daleks", "The Deadly Assassin" or "Talons of Weng-Chiang", for instance.

The first four stories of the "Key" season probably fare best, whereas the last two are undoubtedly the worst :

"Power of Kroll" is pretty mediocre (green-painted swampies running away from giant CSO squid) .

Whilst "The Armageddon Factor" is a hilariously cheap, tacky finale (John Woodvine hamming it up and getting stuck in a time warp, The Shadow's naff mask, a cockney Time Lord, horrible shoddy sets...once again it's all too apparent the Beeb have exhausted the budget). But overall there is lots of fun to be had watching the Key to Time season.

Old Tom does slip into pantomime theatrics at times, especially his (literally) eye-ball rolling performance at the end of "Armageddon" when he contemplates how the Key might corrupt those who gain control of it. However throughout Season Sixteen he enjoys a great rapport with newcomer Mary Tamm as the icily aloof Romana and this is one of the series' strengths. Sample dialogue:

The Dr: ...One more thing. Your name.

Romana: What about my name?

The Doctor: It's too long. By the time I've called out, "Look out..." What's your name?

Romana:[slowly] Romanadvoratrelundar.

The Doctor: By the time I've called that out, you could be dead. I'll call you "Romana".

Romana: I don't like "Romana".

The Doctor: It's either "Romana" or "Fred".

Romana: All right, call me "Fred".

The Doctor: Good. Come on, Romana.

He he...

Planet of Evil

Not one of my favourites of the Baker era, though still a good example of producer Philip Hinchcliffe's "gothic" style, including a very creepy invisible monster and a convincing-looking jungle set:

And I distinctly remember the bit when Professor Sorenson is taken over by the anti-matter and his eyes start to glow in a weird way with this horrid crackling sound - it scared the sh*t out of me as a kid. (Probably the scariest Dr Who moment for me though is from "The Android Invasion" when Sarah-Jane turns out to be an android facsimile, and pulls a gun on the Dr after which her "face" falls off to reveal a load of wires and circuitry underneath. Ugggh! Again this terrified me as a kiddie and I even got my Uncle to draw me a picture of it! Perhaps I liked it more than I thought, then).

Erm, didn't have much to say on that one, did I? Says it all...

Destiny of the Daleks

This is the one in which Davros came back and everyone wishes he hadn't, played by David Gooderson, in a pale imitation of Michael Wisher's portrayal. Mind you it can't be blamed entirely on the actor; this was the period when Douglas "Hitch Hiker's Guide" Adams was script-editing the show, hence the jokey approach for most of the season.

We also get the Movellans, the arch-rivals of the Daleks who must have looked very trendy at the time in their beaded fright-wigs and quilted body suits but now resemble rejects from Boney M. This female Movellan is pretty foxy though isn't she?

The story doesn't have anywhere near as much depth or darkness as preceding Dalek tale "Genesis" - the tone shifts about all over the place - but is reasonably watchable. The Daleks look pretty run down though and badly in need of an overall. "Destiny" was not a high point of the show.

On the plus side, "Destiny" sees the debut of Lalla Ward, replacing Mary Tamm in the role of Romana, and she makes an immediate impression as the Dr's intellectual equal, even if her opening regeneration scene is pretty dumb - suggesting that Time Lords can just regenerate if they feel like it rather than out of necessity. Doh!

And whilst on the subject of Ms Romanadvoratrelundar, here's a fascinating story for y'all...Did you know, I met Lalla Ward?

Once upon a time in York, my friends and I all belonged to the DWAS (that's Dr Who Appreciation Society) and used to have regular get-togethers watching badly copied episodes of the old series (in those days nothing was available on VHS and DVD was but a glint in some techno-boffin's eye). We also used to stalk Dr Who actors on a regular basis, or should I say, whenever they appeared in plays at the York Theatre Royal, we used to queue at the stage door for their autograph, or, when we were being particularly daring, beg the theatre staff for the opportunity to actually interview one of these STARS!

Anyway, one day we managed to get through the stage door and ... gasp! ... meet The Honourable Sarah Ward herself! Being nice considerate young men, we went off and bought a box of chocolates prior to the meeting and repeatedly practiced a speech which we were to make to Ms Ward: "We wanted to give you this box of chocolates because we really liked you as Romana and you're such a good actress." We must have said it 100 times and I remember some lady outside the theatre who was putting up posters, overhearing us and laughing. By the time we got through the stage door I was so nervous. Lalla materialised (not via TARDIS but the normal way) in her dressing gown, post-performance. I distinctly remember my friend Derek asking if he could take her picture and her reply: "I don't think it's quite right to have one's picture taken in one's dressing gown." Well laaaa de daaaaa, get you, love! (In view of Ms Ward's response I recall one of my mates later suggesting that we should have said back to her: "Well in that case, perhaps one would look better WITHOUT one's dressing gown"??! Er, perhaps not. Look, we were sexually frustrated adolescents, alright? And yes, at that time I wasn't fully aware that I would have rather seen say, Turlough, without his dressing gown on rather than Romana). But returning to the subject of the aristocratic Time Lady/actress, she did, before leaving, say to us: "Thank you for the chocolates" and signed my copy of "Warrior's Gate". Oh Lalla, you ARE a BRICK!

And after the Silurians/Sea Devil extravaganza, I wonder what's on the DVD release menu for 2008? So my fellow Who fans, what would YOU like to see come out on DVD next year?