I grew up with Doctor Who. Born in the late 1970s, a child of the 1980s, my mother was a fan, so we never missed an episode while the show was airing. Most of the novelisations made their way onto our bookshelves over the years, and I read them all. When the show began to be released on VHS, we began to acquire them. When old episodes were shown on UK Gold, we watched them.

The Doctor and his many faces and even more numerous companions have been indelibly imprinted on my consciousness for as long as I can remember, ( Continued behind cutCollapse )

Since my long-ago last encounter with Classic Who, I have got into the habit of writing about the TV that I love best, often at length. So I thought it might be an interesting experiment to try to write down my thoughts about and reactions to the classic stories I'm re-watching. And, you know, because I'm me, those thoughts are likely to centre around character rather than plot, even if Classic Who is more about plot than character. This is just me renewing my acquaintance with the show and its characters, exploring the history and watching as that history shapes the Doctor into the character he is today. Being me, fickle, of course I won't get anywhere near writing about every classic story. But even if I only manage a fraction, it'll still be something. And the project will keep me re-watching for a while yet to come, I hope.

So - tally-ho, and on to the reviews!

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( In order of posting orderCollapse )

Coming soon - The Web Planet, The Space Museum, The Crusades, The Chase!

I've been working on this for what feels like forever, so it's about time I stopped tweaking and let it go - the story is complete, but I'm only going to post a chapter at a time, and will put up a masterpost when all seven chapters (well, six plus epilogue) are posted.

Title: The Freedom of Lindos
Author: Llywela13
Show: Classic Doctor Who
Characters: Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith, Harry Sullivan
Rating: PG
Spoilers: This story is set immediately after the season 12 serial 'Revenge of the Cybermen', slotting in before 'Terror of the Zygons'
Disclaimer: The Doctor, his TARDIS and his companions belong to the BBC. I have borrowed them for this story and am making no profit from this.
Summary: En route to Scotland, the TARDIS accidentally lands the Doctor, Sarah and Harry in the middle of a desperate struggle for freedom on the other side of the galaxy.
With thanks to Sue for support, advice and encouragement

Previously, in 'Revenge of the Cybermen':

DOCTOR: "I'm needed back on Earth."
SARAH: "How do you know?"
DOCTOR: "I left the Brigadier a space-time telegraph system and told him not to use it unless he had a real emergency on his hands."
SARAH: "And he's used it?"
DOCTOR: "He has. Come on, you two."
HARRY: "I say, what about the Commander? Aren't we going to stop and say cheerio?"
DOCTOR: "Come on!"
SARAH: "Don't argue."
[Sarah drags Harry into the Tardis just before it dematerialises.]



Part One: Lindos - at AO3 because the chapters are too long to post direct to LJ...

When I first started writing up my thoughts about Classic Doctor Who serials, I did so in a very off-the-cuff manner, jumping around from era to era as the whim struck, in most cases offering little more than first impressions, without much depth of analysis. Then recently I decided to revisit the Doctor's first ever season in a more structured manner, watching and reviewing each serial in sequence. I reviewed a story I hadn't previously written about (Marco Polo), re-wrote two reviews from scratch (An Unearthly Child and The Daleks) and refreshed and revised the rest, with an especial focus on story progression and character development - this is the masterpost for those season one reviews.

The first season of Doctor Who is made up of 42 episodes, 8 serials – and one long ongoing story in which the coming and going of the various individual adventures is rather less important than the question raised in the first episode, asked by the Doctor shortly after Ian and Barbara entered the TARDIS for the first time. "The point is not whether you understand," he said. "What is going to happen to you?" Every episode of every adventure they have been through during this first season asks that same question; those two characters, perfectly ordinary people from contemporary London, have stepped through the Looking Glass into Wonderland, in effect, and this is the story of what happens to them on the other side.

The current fashion for TV shows is for a variety of 'arcs', both plot- and character-based, to play out over the course of each season, with clearly defined start and finishing points. Well, in 1963-4 there was no such thing as an 'arc', the term hadn't been invented, but what Doctor Who had in this its first ever season was progression, progression of both the characters and the story of their adventures together. There was no such thing as a standalone episode, or even a standalone adventure, because the show as a whole was one long ongoing story which was constantly moving forward. Each episode builds on what has come before, while the relationship between the characters evolves constantly and naturally over the course of the season, as they get to know one another better and learn from their experiences.

This is vintage television and it shows, of course it does. The production values are primitive, the narrative style outdated and the acting theatrical, all of which can appear alien to our modern sensibilities, accustomed as we are to watching shows that conform to more up-to-date values and fashions. Yet if you look past those surface drawbacks to the story being told and to the characters at the heart of that story, the 42-episode season as a whole really is gripping and wonderful to watch.



1.01 An Unearthly Child
1.02 The Daleks
1.03 Edge of Destruction
1.04 Marco Polo
1.05 The Keys of Marinus
1.06 The Aztecs
1.07 The Sensorites
1.08 The Reign of Terror

The Third Doctor with Jo Grant
Follows on from Terror of the Autons, The Mind of Evil and The Claws of Axos

MASTER: "Look at all those planetary systems, Doctor. We could rule them all!"
DOCTOR: "What for? What's the point?"
MASTER: "The point is that one must rule or serve. That's a basic law of life. Why do you hesitate, Doctor? Surely it's not loyalty to the Time Lords, who exiled you on one insignificant planet?"
DOCTOR: "You'll never understand, will you? I want to see the universe, not rule it."



Overview

Colony in Space is an interesting one. The penultimate adventure of the Third Doctor's second season, it marks his very first off-planet adventure, signalling a new phase in his life and exile on Earth. With the production team having explored the limits of the new Earth-bound formula of the show since the start of season 7, it was time to introduce a new twist, which is nicely delivered here in a manner that further develops his relationship with the Time Lords, as they loftily decide to use him as an agent without his consent.

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The Verdict

Overall and taken as a whole, I enjoy Colony in Space. In many ways, it's a study of human nature in high pressure situations, and although it isn't the most exciting plot ever to grace a Doctor Who adventure, and taken as a whole the serial falls more under the banner of 'pedestrian' than 'memorable', lacking the sparkle and polish of some of the stories around it, it's nonetheless a decent story well told, with a strong cast, both regular and supporting.

The First Doctor with Susan, Ian and Barbara
Follows on from An Unearthly Child and The Daleks and The Edge of Destruction – all three of these reviews have been refreshed and re-posted for a clearer and closer examination of the continuous ongoing story they tell



Background

Marco Polo is the first of the famous lost adventures of Doctor Who. The serial began its run on 22nd February 1964 and played out over a seven week period, a true historical with lavish sets and gorgeous costumes. All that remains of those lavish sets and gorgeous costumes today, however, are a series of still photographs, as all seven parts of Marco Polo are among the 106 Doctor Who episodes that remain lost, their master tapes wiped with no copies known to survive anywhere in the world. Fortunately, the production of Marco Polo was well photographed, and the existence of this photographic material along with off-air recordings of the soundtrack has enabled a wonderful reconstruction to be put together by those clever folk at Loose Cannon. Meanwhile for those with a shorter attention span who want edited highlights rather than a full seven-episode serial, there is also a half-hour cut-down reconstruction available on the DVD of the preceding adventure, The Edge of Destruction, intended to bridge the gap between that serial and the next, The Keys of Marinus.

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The Verdict

Well, for a serial that doesn't actually exist any more, I certainly found a lot to say about it! I just love this one a lot, okay – it's so rich in character and development, it's gorgeous. One to savour: a sumptuous, evocative story peopled by vivid, well-developed characters, each with a clearly defined journey to take through the serial, both the regulars and the guests.


The review of the following serial, The Keys of Marinus has also been revised and edited.

(This is an updated and expanded re-write of a review I have previously posted.)

The First Doctor with Susan, Ian and Barbara
Follows on from An Unearthly Child



Background

Only the second ever Doctor Who story to be aired, The Daleks can be quite a daunting serial to watch for the uninitiated – even hard-core fans of the classic era have been known to find it hard going, and I certainly did the first time I watched it. Re-watching it, however, having become more familiar with the First Doctor and his companions and the structure of their stories, I find it quite delightful, packed full of character insight and development.

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Carry on to Part Two - Observations and Analysis
(apologies for length! Apparently I had a lot to say about this one)

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The Verdict

Well, overall and taken as a whole, the fact that I have written as much as this tells its own story about how much I love these characters and what we learn about them in this story. The Daleks isn't an easy serial to watch for anyone who is unfamiliar with Classic Who and the First Doctor era in particular. But this was the story that really launched Doctor Who and gave the show the legs it has been running on ever since, for almost 50 years now, and there are good reasons for that. It's a long story, it's a slow story, and it is theatrical in both the acting and directorial styles, but once you have acclimated to that style and structure and have engaged with the characters and their story, it really is a wonderful adventure to watch.

The Seventh Doctor with Ace
Follows on from Remembrance of the Daleks and The Happiness Patrol

ACE: "Who'd want to kill us?"
DOCTOR: "I'm afraid there's an infinite number of possibilities."



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The Verdict

Overall and taken as a whole, this is one of those stories that could have been so much more than the sum of its parts, had it been given more depth and development. The serial skims over the surface of some big and complex ideas, but remains on the surface of those ideas, perhaps in keeping with its nature as a children's show. The plot is a bit of a mess, but it is nonetheless a lot of fun to watch, with some really good character development to enjoy.

(This is an updated and expanded re-write of a review I have previously posted.)

The First Doctor with Susan, Ian and Barbara

DOCTOR: "We are not of this race. We are not of this Earth. We are wanderers in the fourth dimensions of space and time, cut off from our own planet and our own people by aeons and universes that are far beyond the reach of your most advanced sciences."



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The verdict

Overall and taken as a whole, An Unearthly Child is a bit of a mixed bag. It can be very difficult to watch at first, for a modern viewer coming into it cold without any knowledge or experience of vintage television. Yet once you have adjusted to the limitations of the material, if you approach it with the benefit of hindsight and knowledge of the development of the Doctor in the years after this point, it is a lovely story to watch, full of valuable character exploration that is truly delightful at times. The show and the character of the Doctor have both come so very far since these humble beginnings that it is easy to lose focus and objectivity. Touching base with how it all began lends a lot of perspective to the later years of the show. This is the story of how the Doctor started out on the path toward becoming the hero later generations came to know him as, and it is the beginning of the story of how the Doctor came to fall in love with mankind and began to develop the principles of compassion and fair play that he has lived by ever since. I love it.