Robot
The Ark in Space
The Sontaran Experiment
Genesis of the Daleks
Revenge of the Cybermen
Season Twelve
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Robot The Ark in Space The Sontaran Experiment Genesis of the Daleks Revenge of the Cybermen |
BBC Season Twelve |
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"Harry Sullivan is an imbecile!" by Joe Ford 20/6/02
An entire season linked together? A return to SF stories of the Troughton era? A new apparently loopy Doctor? A pair of seriously fashion victimized companions? A new gritty diection… after the comfortable homeliness of the Pertwee era surely these radical Hinchcliffe changes couldn’t take hold. Season Twelve was a big bold move in 1975 but will it survive the test of time…
A story I used to loathe. It is such an awkward transition watching now, all the Pertwee elements are there, the earth setting, the monster roaming about the countryside, the Brigader being a right idiot, UNIT firing before thinking, a cheesy score…it’s all there. It only feels awkward because we know how dark Tom Baker’s first three seasons deveop but at the time it must have been comfortably familiar for the audience and easier to accept the new Doctor in this archetypal story. After Robert Smith?'s revisionist review on the story I was compelled to go back and watch it again. I was astonished. I had ignored the manical improvisation of Tom Baker’s performance, the sweet King Kong parallel using Sarah Jane in a critical way for a change, the superb location work, the witty lines courtesy of stalwart Terrance Dicks (his stories may seem familiar but they are all great escapist adventures). It’s not perfect, some of the FX are cheesy beyond belief (the tank) and I can’t deny the story has a really comic book feel but then considering the shows great diversity that can’t be a criticism: 7/10
Top dialogue: “But you can’t take on the whole world! Don’t you understand they’ll destroy you!” The great Lis Sladen’s ability to make the situation dramatic through her corny dialouge is unparalleled.
Top moment: The hysterical scenes between Harry and the insane Doctor in episode one.
Tightly plotted, deadly serious and absolutely riveting. People suggest this is just another ‘monster story’ but it’s far more than that. The depth that Robert Holmes brings to the script is breathtaking, he carves a future for us that is brutal yet optimistic and sketches in with vivid details of solar flares, thermic shelters, the ministers voice…his ability to create fascinating worlds through words alone was second to none. The plot itself is gripping, with all humanity at stake and with the quite horrible threat of the Wirrn it becomes a tense, have to finish in one sitting experience. Tom Baker is already in his swing, dominating the proceedings with his charisma and wit and Sarah and Harry are used well, poked fun at of course but treated intelligently too. Watch this on your crystal sharp DVD player with the enhanced CGI effects… I’m not one for updating these stories but with such a classic in hand the stylish shots of the Ark merely enhance it’s power: 9.5/10
Top dialouge: “Besides we can’t let the Wirrin eat throught the cryogenic sleepers as though they were a load of…” “Jelly Babies?”
Top moment: The Doctor baits Sarah when she gets stuck in the conduit. Very funny.
This is spoilt by its title as the cliffhanger is brilliant and worth conserving as a surprise. Why leave clues like “The creature in the rocks!” when it’s right there in the title? Still when that’s my only complaint things can’t be that bad can they? This is a superb little two parter and a great change of scenery after the stifling atmosphere of the Ark. The location work is wonderful, I always love watching the Doctor and friends wondering about outside it adds a sense of realism missing in certain studio based stories. There are a few moments where the production crossed the line, the guy chained up dead is pretty sickening but then we are never left in any doubt about the seriousness of the situation. The all action finale is great and Sarah and Harry make a great companion team. Two minor complaints: the silly robot and the horrid accents (and I think they’re real!): 8/10
Top dialouge: “Don’t worry I’ll get you out of there even if I have knock his bally head off and grab his keys!” Love that Harry!
Top moment: The Doctor goading Styre. “You unspeakable abomination!”
This is what Doctor Who is all about. I’m not sure if I have ever seen any show that reached utter perfection but this is as close as it ever got. The scripts are just ace, more Holmes than Nation I’m inclined to think unless he had a profound influence on the chap! The production values are rock solid, the acting phenomenal, the pace is perfect. The very idea of going back to see where the Daleks began is genius but to twist it into such a frightening idea was thanks to the talent involved in the show at the time. David Maloney's direction (and later with Talons of Weng-Chiang) just shows how underated the guy is…he doesn’t miss any attempt to keep us enthralled (even the Muto shot dead and the electric fence made me catch a breath!). The cliffhangers not only add to the story but remain some of the most memorable in the show (I still LOVE Sarah falling away from the scaffolding despite the resolution!). And not to mention the two stars, Tom Baker and Michael Wisher, who bring to life the Doctor and Davros with such aplomb. Davros is the ultimate bad guy, no arguments. I could just rave on all day…even the ending is just perfect (it would have been such a memorable departure!): 10/10
Top dialogue: Do I have to choose? Okay ignoring the oft quoted Davros speeches…”I realized out of their evil must come something good…”
Top moment: When you realize how Davros is playing the two sides against each other just to continue his research! What a bastard!
No! Nonononono! NOOOOO! How could they? How could they end such a fantastic run on such a crappy, worn out second rate hack of a story? The mind boggles! Okay good things first: the location work is excellent, creepy and stylish. Bad things: Everything else! The plot…just a rip of the far superior Genesis, the logic… the Cybermen beam on to the planet of gold, the only substance they fear nobody think to pick some up and attack them with that?... the acting with the exception of Kellman is atrocious, those US accents are just embarrassing and when I realised I had Kevin Stoney (The Invasion), David Collins (Robots of Death) and William Marlowe (Mind of Evil) on board it just makes me weep! The Cybermen look ridiculous (their tubing and jug handles are more comical than ever and I don’t think I need to go near the Cyberleader's accent!) and the music is just bad. The regulars try so hard to make it watchable but are fighting a lost cause but given their material (Sarah holding up the cybermat! Pur-lease!) why bother? The weakest Tom Baker story by far simply because it could have been so much more… you can’t give such criticism to duds like Underworld and The Power of Kroll: 1/10 (an all time low score for me!).
Top dialogue: Erm…. I’m trying…nope sorry, even the “You just a pathetic bunch of tin soldiers…” is rubbish.
Top moment: The TARDIS takes off at the end leaving this horrible nightmare behind.
Well, well, well, what a year! It was a real time for change on the show and in nearly every way it was successful. The regulars adjusted well into their whacky adventures and gave solid, charismatic performances. The increased violence and serious material was welcome and Robert Holmes script editing meant we were never short of excellent dialogue. My enjoyment is tainted somewhat by the inclusion of Revenge…and it would have helped considerably to have kept Terror of the Zygons in this season to finish things off on a real high but c’est le vie… you can’t win them all. Hinchcliffe and Baker had made their mark… it was now up to them to prove what they could do!
New Directions on old situations by Terrence Keenan 4/12/03
Season 12 is a bit of an odd duck. Three of the stories have returning villains. One is an old-fashioned UNIT story. The Doc gets sent on another mission for the Time Lords. In a way, it's treading on very familiar ground.
It's the approach that sets Season 12 apart from the Pertwee years. There's a new Doctor, new producer, new script editor on the scene. And for the first time in five years, the show gets a rethink while touching on the past in fresh ways.
Robot is the most conventional of the season. Sarah, Benton, The Brig and Bessie all are on the scene to keep the viewers oriented. But, Big Tommy B is definitely not Pertwee. Younger, less conventional, more alien. The other kicker is that the villains of the piece are a bunch of loony British scientists who want to take over the world with the help of a giant robot and the codes for the nukes of the superpowers. Familiar, yet fresh.
The Ark in Space shows off the new direction. More horror elements. A well motivated, powerful foe. Tom Baker really establishes how he would play the Doctor for the next three seasons. And there are moves to push the show in a more adult direction.
The Sontaran Experiment is an exercise in concise storytelling. The regulars are tossed into trouble right away. In fact there's no chance to catch your breath as you bounce from scene to scene.
Genesis of the Daleks takes our beloved pepperpots and reinvents them. We meet their creator. The Daleks are kept on the sidelines and come across as savage weaponry than an actual race until the end. The meat of the story revolves around Davros and concepts of changing history and the moral implications thereof.
Revenge of the Cybermen shows the Cybermen at their very end of existence. This is a tired race gambling on the chance to destroy a planet that caused their extinction. The more I watch Revenge, the more I dig the gold plot line in concept. It's a way of showing historical context with a well known alien race. The ultimate weapon was found and used. And although future Doctors encounter the Cybermen, this is their last moment of existence, in chronological terms.
The big question: is it any good? Yeah. Ark and Genesis are brill. Robot is loads of fun. Revenge and Sontaran are flawed, but work well enough. The new production team were finding their feet and pushed the show into directions that would be more prominent in the next couple of years.
Thematic Review by Phil Fenerty 23/3/04
Season 12 is something of an oddity in the early Tom Baker run. The established production team of Letts and Dicks was giving way to the Hinchcliffe/ Holmes combination which would create memorable, entertaining stories in the seasons to come. Given that the five stories making up this shortened run were partly commissioned by the previous team, it is hardly surprising to find little of the hallmarks of future seasons in here.
Given the popularity of Jon Pertwee's Doctor, and the relative obscurity of Tom Baker, it is not surprising that the stories form a linked arc, running from one to the other with nary a seam between them (despite what some MA's might have you believe). This is, consciously or not, a return to the original "loyalty series" concept written into the 1963 format document for Season 1. The only deviation from this concept is the lack of cliffhanger leading from one story to the next.
The impression given is that of trying to ensure viewer loyalty to the series whilst the new lead actor is being installed.
The season has other links to the past as well. Robot features (basically for the final time) the Pertwee stalwarts of UNIT, providing a bridging link between the different incarnations of the Doctor. Sontarans, Cybermen and Daleks all make re-appearances in pivotal stories. Even The Ark in Space harks back to previous stories: Part One features only the regulars exploring a strange, deserted location whilst uncovering mystery and enigma - similar to (for example) The Dead Planet or The Web Planet from the early Hartnell stories. So, despite having no obvious trappings of past eras, The Ark in Space resonates with a previously-employed method of story-telling.
Strangely, in a Season which is using so many past elements to create a feeling of familiarity in Doctor Who, one major element is missing. From The Ark in Space Part Four to Revenge of the Cybermen Part Four, the TARDIS does not appear. Eleven episodes (over half of the season) with the one constant factor from the previous twelve years not present. Perhaps this was an attempt by the production crew to "play against type" and confound expectations.
Much has been written, both on the Ratings Guide and elsewhere, about the themes and roots of the individual stories in the Season. But, whether by accident or design, there is a recurring motif which runs through Season 12.
There are two obvious examples of this: Robot and Genesis of the Daleks. In Robot, the Doctor is re-born, changed from the Dandy to All Teeth & Curls. Genesis of the Daleks shows us the process by which Davros changes the Kaled race into the Daleks. In both cases, the the change is total, prolonging the lifespan of the subject at the expense of the being which previously existed.
Change and re-birth is present in The Ark in Space, too. Whilst Noah has been changed by the Wirrn, this is more a consumption than a re-birth, a metamorphosis if you will. The Wirrn Queen's actions on the Ark are those of a desperate being trying to ensure the survival of the race. But Robert Holmes' optimistic view of humanity (encapsulated in the 'sleeping amongst the stars' speech in the Cryogenic Chamber) shows the race being re-born after their hibernation.
The Sontaran Experiment continues the theme of humanity's re-birth, this time showing Earth re-born as a habitable planet. The two stories almost form a six-part "whole" sharing common themes and ideas (if different plots and protagonists). The Sontaran Experiment also shows how humans have survived outside of the Ark, the colonists now believing the sleepers to be a myth.
The closing story, Revenge of the Cybermen, continues the re-birth and survival themes. The Cyberleader boasts that they have a sufficient stock of parts to re-build their army - the only thorn in their side being Voga's existence. However, it is the re-birth of the Vogans, and their escape from isolation once the Cybermen have been destroyed, which highlights the over-reaching theme best.
Terror of the Zygons (originally slated to close Season 12) contains fewer of the re-birth/ survival elements which percolate through the rest of the season, and its transition to ease the Season 13 recording block highlights the themes present in the stories which remained.
Whilst Season 12 is not unique in its having recurring themes in the component stories, it seems to have more resonant motifs running through it than have been seen in any other. The re-birth elements inherent in each of the component parts contribute to a satisfying whole, one of the strongest seasons presented in the series' history.