Yes I’ve been trawling through the original series of Dr Who and I came across this gem from the Jon Pertwee era and bought it on DVD. This was the first
story of the final series which regularly saw Pertwee as the Doctor and this is
also the first story to feature Sarah Jane Smith and introduced the Sontarans
(this is in the first 5 minutes of episode one so not much of a spoiler there).
This story was first screened in 4 parts from December 1973
– January 1974
Brief plot:
In middle age England a Sontaran ship has crash landed close
to a castle recently (and before the story begins) raided and taken over by
Irongron and his band of brigands. The Sontaran needs help to fix his ship and
perhaps these less than intelligent humans will be easily persuaded to help….
Back in the modern times (well 1970s) the Doctor has been
taken by UNIT to a top security facility for his own safety due to some top
scientists going missing. Here he meets Sarah Jane Smith for the first time and
soon realises that she is far feistier than his former assistant Jo Grant was.
As a further
scientist goes missing the Doctor knows something is wrong, he believes someone
is messing with time – this he must stop but can he do it in time, especially
as the TARDIS can be a touch unreliable. Can he succeed as well as keeping himself and
Sarah Jane alive. Especially when he realises that Sarah Jane is going to be
trouble….
What I thought of it:
Jon Pertwee has quickly become my second favourite Doctor
portrayed as a man of science and a deep thinker and a believer in pure mathematics.
Pertwee’s doctor became well known for his technobabble as well as his rather
nifty martial art moves. Also the Doctor appears to have lost his aversion to
computers which both the first and second doctor had. Pertwee’s doctor was also
more physical in not being afraid to attack any enemy when cornered and did far
more running around than the first two put together.
As with many of the original run the acting in this story is
top notch by nearly all the main cast. There is a touch of over acting by John
Carney as Bloodaxe and perhaps a few too
many extras but that always happens. June Brown (yes her from EastEnders) in
the part of Lady Eleanor steals several scenes and as the viewer you are left
with no doubt that when it comes to Wessex castle it is she who wares the
trousers. However, the best overall performance has to go to David Daker as
Irongron as his portrayal as a malevolent power crazed mercenary does shine
through also as does his exasperation at being surrounded by, in his view,
idiots. The only way this part could have been better would have been if Brian
Blessed had played it.
Some parts of the story do look as if far more has been
spent on them than the budget would have actually been. Some does hit the
quality of a mid budget film set in the same era. The writing and plot is, in
my opinion, far superior to any of the most recent series with Matt Smith as
the Doctor. The story line overcomes the
lack of any wiz bang special effects which are used in the more recent series
to mask any real writing skills. However, in the days before CGI it is still
amazing what they were able to do. None of the main cast seem to have the ‘well
it’s work’ look about them although some of the extras do seem to crop up in
different scenes and different parts – well it kept the costs down a bit.
The costumes for the parts in the middle ages have been well
made although how authentic they are will remain a mystery. Although with the
look of some of them I can hear a voice saying “fancy them having full polyester
back then”.
The sets are well made considering the budget they would
have had to work with and the gloominess of the ‘castle of Irongron’ does come
through in a number of scenes, however, sometimes the studio lights do reflect
off surfaces and so the feeling is partially spoilt by this. Some of the
interior walls do look a bit fake rather like stone cladding but I think we can forgive them that. The Sontaran ship looks like it has been made
out of polystyrene ceiling tiles (Well they were cheap). The computer banks etc.
in Lynx’s lab do look like ones that were removed from power station control
rooms when more up to date ones were put in but still look advanced for the
early 70s.
The exterior of the castles were shot at Peckforton castle
in Cheshire.
Summary:
A well written and for 90% of the time well-acted story. Far
better than some of the story lines used in the rebooted series.
DVD Extras:
Beginning the End (filmed in 2007):
This looks at the time this story aired the regular production team had decided to move on and
Jon Pertwee had said he would be leaving Doctor who during the series. Also,
tragically Roger Delgado who was the first person to play The Master had died
in a car accident. Producer Barry Letts opened by saying that Jon’s decision to
leave wasn’t a surprise as he had been doing it for five years and how the
success of the show had improved since casting him in the part. Terrance Dicks
the script editor says that Jon left as he was being offered lots of good work
but had to turn it down due to Dr Who. They also explain how they managed to
get over the problem that the historical stories got lower viewing figures as
viewers saw them as a history lesson.
Also included is how
they introduced Sarah Jane Smith and gave her more of a backbone and less of a
Penelope Pitstop crying for help the whole time. Elisabeth Sladen was also interviewed for this talking about
how she got the part and what she thought of her time on the programme and the
rest of the cast and crew.
Also included is how they got the rest of the cast for the
story and how they got on with each other and how when the first choice for
Irongron wasn’t available how they took advice to get David Daker for the part
and how some of the not so special effects were done.
CGI:
The same story but with some of the effects replaced with
more up to date CGI ones. These are only small changes such as a full beam for
Lynx’s weapon rather than just a coloured bulb. The changes are so slight it
doesn’t distract from the acting.
Photo gallery:
Self-explanatory
Trails and continuity:
All the announcements etc. made by the BBC at the start of
the first episode and then saying what the new story would be.
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