Underwater Menace 3 reviewed 12 Nov 09
The Moonbase 1 reviewed 13 Nov 09
The Moonbase 2 reviewed 15 Nov 09
The Moonbase 3 reviewed 16 Nov 09
The Moonbase 4 reviewed 17 Nov 09
The Faceless Ones 1 reviewed 18 Nov 09
The Faceless Ones 3 reviewed 21 Nov 09
Evil of the Daleks 2 reviewed 21 Nov 09
The Abominable Snowmen 2 reviewed 21 Nov 09
The Enemy of the World 3 reviewed 23 Nov 09
The Web of Fear 1 reviewed 24 Nov 09
The Wheel in Space 3 reviewed 25 Nov 09
The Wheel in Space 6 reviewed 28 Nov 09
The Space Pirates 2 reviewed 28 Nov 09
Underwater Menace 3
Underwater Menace, episode 3
Written by Geoffrey Orme
Directed by Julia Smith
The Second Doctor and his companions, Jamie, Ben, and Polly, are on Atlantis. Yes, that Atlantis. And there is a scientist who is working with the ruler of Atlantis, claiming that he has the ability to make the city rise to the surface.
Having sunk to the ocean floor long ago, they no longer have the ability to make their own food, so they control what is basically a slave race of mermaid-like creatures, who go off and bring the inhabitants food. Little catch, it only lasts for 3 hours. After that, in the Atlantean air, it goes bad and they need replacements.
The scientist dude, knowing exactly what he's doing, starts ordering around the religious folks and basically making himself a total and complete ass.
* * *
Earlier this year, I checked out a cd set from the library. It's the audio of this complete story. In addition to the full audio from all four episodes, it also includes "linking narration" and by that, what I mean is that one of the actors involved in the story (in this case, the woman who played Polly) provides brief description - they enter a room, it's golden from floor to ceiling, the Doctor is dressed up like Lucille Ball, etc.
Because I was able to listen to the full story, I was able to appreciate this specific episode even more. I got to SEE what I had only heard before. One of those things is seeing the Doctor dressed up as an outer space hippie. I don't remember when I've laughed as hard as I did when seeing that.
This whole story, in my opinion, is a delightful one, and it is such a shame only one episode still has its video. But really, if you get the chance, visit your local library and see if they have this available to check out. For me, it was well worth it, and made the experience so much better.
The Moonbase 1
The Moonbase, episode 1 (audio only)
Written by Kit Pedler
Directed by Morris Barry
The Doctor, Jamie, Polly, and Ben land. They initially believe they are on Mars, but quickly realize they're on the Earth's moon. It's a moonbase, in the year 2070.
There is some kind of virus affecting the base, and they're all pretty paranoid.
Jamie, I think, gets a virus. Or something happens. Either way, he is sick and talking in his sleep in the sickbay.
The Doctor tries to explain the concept of a body's internal clock to Polly. The doesn't understand AT ALL. She is very ditsy in this episode.
Later, Polly screams. They (the people on the base) try to comfort her. Jamie ends the episode by saying "It's you, the phantom piper."
* * *
I'm guessing Polly saw a Cyberman, since they're in this story, and they tend to show up at the very end of episodes as cliffhangers. Though, maybe it's a Cybermat? Well, I'll find out tomorrow, since they do reprises.
The "internal clock" business was hysterically funny. Can't wait to see tomorrow's episode, though, to see if it was a Cyb. And to see if Polly remains ditsy.
The Moonbase 2
he Moonbase, episode 2 - Originally aired 2/18/67
Written by Geoffrey Orme
Directed by Julia Smith
Jamie wakes up - the piper IS a Cyberman. The Cyberman grabs another patient and walks out. The doors are inches away from being closed when the door across the room opens. Polly enters, holding a Styrofoam cup. She looks at the clearly now-closed doors and screams. At doors.
The have a conversation about the Cybs. Ben and Polly think they were all destroyed when planet Mondos blew up, but the Doctor isn't so sure.
The Doctor offers to help find a cure for the virus.
The Cyb comes back, knocks Jamie and Polly both out, then takes another patient away.
Two workers go outside to conduct repairs. Jules and Fern, I think they were called. They are beaten up by a couple Cybs who then steal their lunch money and mock them.
The Doctor discovers the virus is in the sugar. Anyone who uses it in coffee or anything gets it.
The Doctor and the others realize the Cybs are on the base and track one down, hiding in plain sight - under a blanket in the sickbay. As they approach, it throws the blanket off and comes for them.
* * *
I'm not sure what the heck is going on here. The Cyb who is in the sickbay repeatedly stands over Jamie in a sort of not quite menacing way. It almost seems like he's sizing him up, as if wondering whether or not he should try to break up the Doctor and his boytoy.
(don't give me that look, you're all thinking the same thing)
Polly is hilarious. I mean sure, it may just be the editing, but screaming at a closed door? That's comedy gold right there. And I only remember her screaming once in this episode, so she's not even trying to be a replacement for Susan the queen of all screamers.
This story is set before Tomb of the Cybermen - meaning, it aired something like seven months before Tomb - and explains why Jamie was familiar with them.
There certainly was a touch of the First Doctor here. When everyone is trying to one-up each other and just before someone suggests getting a measuring stick out, the Doctor tries to calm everybody down by suggesting they drink. And he sends Polly off to make coffee. The First Doctor was, shall we say, a bit sexist, and liked women to be in their proper place. A little of this is highlighted later in the Five Doctors movie, with Five apologizing for One's behavior. I just thought it was a funny reminder of that.
The Moonbase 3
The Moonbase, episode 3
Written by Kit Pedler
Directed by Julia Smith
The Cyb reveals the patients who have been taken are not dead; they are simply prisoners.
The Cybs plan on changing the weather on Earth, killing everyone there. It's their revenge. (I guess for Mondas going boom)
Ben and Polly come up with something that might kill the Cybs.
As with the earlier Crusade part 2 episode, the end is almost all music, and just kind of ends. I suppose something interesting happened. *shrug*
* * *
So much about this episode is annoying. First up is the annoying "boom boom boom" crap whenever the Cybs are around. It wouldn't be so bad, I think, if we could see something but since it's just audio, it really takes over everything and is crazy annoying.
Second is Ben, who is a complete sexist pig. He really is an asshole both to Polly and to Jamie, and there's no reason for it.
This is the last of the audio-only episodes from Lost in Time. Everything else is in bits and pieces as far as stories are concerned, but they have at the very least full video.
I don't know why I have such a hard time with these audio episodes. I love the Big Finish audios. Maybe because those are written to be descriptive with their dialog and this just isn't. Who knows? Get it, Who knows?
The Moonbase 4
The Moonbase, episode 4
Written by Kit Pedler
Directed by Julia Smith
Lots of Cybermen are walking around on the moon's surface. Like not just 2 or 3, but a BUNCH of them all together in the same shot.
Evans wakes up in sickbay and grabs some piece of technology. His body has implants all over, looking very much like an early Borg prototype.
Another one with the name "Becket" on his shirt walks around avoiding people. Then a third and fourth join him.
The Doctor uses some convoluted mumbojumbo to make the Cybs float off into space, thereby ending the current threat. He and his companions depart - flying the Tardis right into the claws of a Macra. (giant crabs)
* * *
Honestly, who cares what it's about? It's classic Cybermen vs the Doctor in a hopeless situation. No matter what happens, there's certain doom. While we mostly think the Doctor and his companions will escape, as seen earlier with Sara Kingdom, the show *can* and *will* kill off its characters, so the Cybs could win.
It's a pretty decent story.
It's getting to the point with these lost stories, I am thinking that once I finish with the Seventh Doctor's released stories, I might start hunting down some of the reconstructions. Translation - more Cybermen, please. :D
The Faceless Ones 1
The Faceless Ones, episode 1
Written by David Ellis and Malcolm Hulke
Directed by Gerry Mill
At an airport, as planes fly around, the Tardis materializes on one of the landing strips. Jamie, Polly, Ben, and the Doctor depart.
Spotting a policeman, they scatter, some being chased by police, others by some other persons. After witnessing a murder, Polly freaks out and finds the Doctor. She tells him about what happened. They go off to see the body and Polly gets herself kidnapped. Unable to find the body or Polly, they go into the airport and try to find someone in charge to report the murder to.
And it's just comedy gold. If Doctor Who ever did their own version of Who's on First?, this would be it. Eventually, they find someone to go outside with them, and of course they can't find a body. They come back in, and there's Polly. Only, she's had her memory tampered with and she doesn't remember them, and claims her name is not Polly.
Then we go back outside and uh-oh, there's somebody who might be a bad guy. And he's an alien. Cue credits and stuff!
* * *
It isn't bad. It's just funny. I have to imaging the whole "someone in charge" scene was intended to bring out laughter, because it just does. And not "ha ha, this sucks" but "ha ha, the Doctor's going to hurt you."
The Faceless Ones 3
The Faceless Ones, episode 3
Written by David Ellis & Malcolm Hulke
Directed by Gerry Mill
The Doctor is trapped in a room. Smoke comes out of a vent and he tries to block it with a handkerchief. He then blocks a camera with his coat. He pretends to pass out.
Elsewhere, a man (one of the aliens) watches him on video, then comes to check on him. The Doctor knocks him out, grabs his coat off the camera, and escapes.
The Doctor meets up with Jamie, an inspector, and some annoying woman. The Doctor and the inspector go off, leaving Jamie and the Woman (named Samantha) to argue. A lot.
The Doctor believes aliens are kidnapping young people. He tries to explain this to the inspector and other policemen, but they basically laugh at him and say he's a fool. That is, until Samantha and Jamie come in with a stack of postcards. They're all filled out, each addressed to a mom or dad, and supposedly from a young person - each of them, missing.
The Doctor is given 24 hours to find ... something. The missing people, the aliens, something. So he busies himself by standing around.
There are lots of scenes of wondering around and then standing around just talking.
* * *
Not a whole lot to say about this particular story/episode, since most of it is the cast standing around talking, and no Cybermen to menace our heroes.
Ben and Polly are mentioned as missing. I *think* this is the story where they depart. (goes to wiki and yep) ok yeah, this is where they depart. Not this episode, I mean, but this story. And that means episode 1 was the very last appearance of theirs still in existence. In the next story, Evil of the Daleks, they are already gone.
That could have left a nice gap during which the two had adventures without other companions, but this story leads directly into the next without time in between, and Victoria is introduced there.
Evil of the Daleks 2
Evil of the Daleks, episode 2
Written by David Whitaker
Directed by Derek Martinus
A Dalek materializes in a room, shoots a man, then fades out.
The Doctor and Jamie break into a store that is full of clocks. They are all old, and seem to be from various points in time, not reproductions.
Waterfield (Victoria's father) is working with the Daleks.
Kennedy is the man the Dalek killed. He had an appointment to meet the Doctor, and he carried part of a picture of the Doctor.
The Doctor and Jamie discover a hidden room. Inside,they find a box, with the rest of the picture near it. Jamie opens the box and gas is released. Waterfield walks over, presses something and they all dematerialize just as police enter the shop and find the body.
The Doctor and Jamie wake up in a Victorian-style mansion's living room. The mansion is owned by Theodore. He dismisses the maid, Molly, and tells the Doctor the date - June 2, 1866, a century earlier than they had been. Jamie is still passed out.
Next, we meet Victoria. She is in a cell, a prisoner of the Daleks. She is refusing to eat, instead using the food to feed birds outside her cell's barred window. She has lost 17 ounces so far.
Theodore is rich. He is financing Wakefield's research into time travel. Their work involves using mirrors.
As they're explaining this, a Dalek enters and threatens to destroy the Tardis unless the Doctor helps them in their time travel experiments. It threatens to use Jamie as a test subject, and the Doctor freaks out.
Jamie wakes up. Molly brings him some tea. She leaves and another woman, Ruth, enters.
She leaves and Jamie starts snooping. A scary-looking man enters through the outside door and knocks Jamie out with a club. Then he hides. Molly comes back. He quickly comes up behind her, puts his hand over her mouth, and knocks her out.
The Doctor and Wakefield enter. They think Jamie's still asleep. The Doctor pulls a blanket off and finds it's Molly underneath. Jamie is missing.
The Dalek orders Theodore to tell The Doctor to begin the tests.
* * *
Few things here ...
1 - There seem to be connections to later stories here. The character Ruth looks almost exactly like Chessene in The Two Doctors. There's no real connection between the two characters beyond the look, but when I first saw her, I wondered if it was the same actress. It's not, but still, remarkable how much they look alike, twins almost.
2 - The mirrors thing. I don't know if it's intentional or not, but in the Tenth Doctor story "Turn Left" almost the same thing is done. Instead of time travel, it's travel between different universes, but the same sort of concept. Did Rose look through the Tardis's database sometime during her two years as a companion? It might explain that connection.
3 - The writing in this episode is miles better than Terry Nation's writing. I know he was their creator, but Whitaker is just so much better. I wish more of his stories still existed, but we can see how great he was in stories like Edge of Destruction and The Rescue, both of which are still available.
The Abominable Snowmen 2
The Abominable Snowmen, episode 2
Written by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln (writing as "Norman Ashby")
Directed by Gerald Blake
Jamie yells at Victoria to run. They are in a cave and it quickly collapses. There is just enough room for them to squeeze by, followed by a Yeti.
The Doctor is in a cell, playing his recorder (flute). Tomney, a guard, comes in to talk with him.
Three others come in and take the Doctor away. Tomney stays behind, at the Doctor's request. He finds something that was apparently lost by the monastery (ah, so that's where they are!) two centuries earlier. He brings it to the Abbott. It's something called a Ghanta, some sort of holy bell, but really it looks like the bottle from I Dream of Jeannie.
The Doctor is chained up at the front gate, food for the Yeti. Jamie and Victoria run down the mountain, trying to escape those darned hairy beasties, only to find themselves at the same monastery, just in time to rescue the Doctor.
On the Abbott's orders, the Doctor is freed. They go inside, then watch as three Yeti approach. At the Doctor's request, Jamie and some of the men go out and attack one of them, killing it. The Doctor starts an autopsy (what? yeah, it happens) and discovers it is a robot wearing a dead Yeti's skin.
* * *
The coat the Doctor is wearing is the same one he later wears in the Five Doctors. There are two things that are cool, that's one of them. The other is seeing him playing his recorder (the flute). The multi-Doctor stories reference the flute. It's even seen playing a crucial plot point in the Three Doctors story. But so far, it hadn't been seen.
That's five full stories, plus a few surviving episodes, and none of them had shown either the coat or the flute.
Each of the Doctors has some sort of "thing" about him, which is magnified and that's the most important thing we see in the multi-Doctor stories. The First Doctor is a crotchity old grouch. The Second Doctor is a bumbling fool obsessed with playing his flute and saying things like "Oh, my giddy aunt" which, so far, he hasn't said once.
As with the Macras, it's nice to be able to see some of these classic series baddies/monsters. I mean, we've heard them referenced over the years, but with the exception of that cameo from the Five Doctors, their existence has been wiped.
Some of the stories are downright awful, but as bad as they may be, these few surviving clips allow us to see what has been lost to the hands of time, to travel back and for a few brief moments, see what was seen by past generations.
The Enemy of the World 3
The Enemy of the World, episode 3
Written by David Whitaker
Directed by Barry Letts
The Doctor and Jamie pretend to be bad guys, both using hilariously bad accents.
Victoria pretends to be a cook, working for a chef with a bad attitude.
Jamie joins Victoria in the kitchen while the other employees leave her alone.
It's making a bit more sense when the Doctor talks to a man in his home about a bad guy named Salamander. Salamander is trying to take over the world by controlling the weather. Each of them is gathering evidence against him by playing their parts.
Victoria brings a cart of food for a prisoner. A man stops her and grabs the salt. He tells her she forgot it. As she goes back to the kitchen for more, he puts something in the food ... poison, perhaps.
Then, lots of fighting, and Salamander interrogates Jamie and Victoria.
* * *
Holy wheat of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, what the hell was going on in this one? I mean, ok, so The Doctor has an exact duplicate, and this duplicate is trying to take over the world. So he and his companions are pretending to be bad guys working for him, all with hilariously bad accents. It's nice to see the regulars in new costumes (they do tend to wear the same costumes over and over again, like uniforms), and the idea behind the episode seems to be pretty good (and I've always loved this writer's stories before), but the execution is just plain laughable.
I don't know if it's supposed to be a comedy, but that's what it is.
The Web of Fear 1
Web of Fear, episode 1
Written by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln (as Normal Ashby)
Directed by Douglas Camfield
The Tardis is tilted. The door is opened. The Doctor holds onto the console with one hand and Victoria with the other. Jamie stumbles to the console and sets it right. This immediately follows Enemy of the World - The Doctor says Salamander tried to take off without closing the doors.
Professor Travers is studying a Yeti, looking very nervous, as his daughter enters. They talk. I'm not sure whether she is being understanding or condescending. It plays both ways. Anyway, the robot Yetis are lifeless husks unless someone has a remote control. Thing is, Travers does have one. Only, it's been stolen.
The home's owner throws both Travers and his daughter out, and doesn't live to regret it - the Yeti comes to life and kills him.
The Tardis materializes in space. It is quickly and completely covered in a web, like a fly in a spiderweb.
Travers is brought to a military office where he meets Captain Knight, who has just been interviewed by a journalist.
The Tardis is transported to Earth, though the Doctor doesn't know it yet. They're in an underground platform. The Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria go exploring.
They find a body, covered in the same webs that had covered the Tardis.
Later, they come upon three men wearing military uniforms. Jamie and Victoria are captured, while the Doctor continues exploring, not realizing his companions are missing.
On a platform above the Doctor, a Yeti uses some sort of gun. This gun shoots out webbing, not bullets, and it covers everything in the area.
Jamie and Victoria are taken to Captain Knight. They find out they're about to blow up the tunnel/platform. A soldier flicks the switch. Back to the Doctor, he is touching the webbing. At the same instant the soldier flicks the switch, electricity races through the webbing, and the Doctor gets such a powerful jolt that he passes out, possibly dead!
* * *
Ok, this one is another fun one. I know Travers doesn't die, because he is referenced in the later story The Invasion, but I am wondering about these soldier dudes. They aren't behaving like typical UNIT members. They may be another military organization, the Army for example. Whoever they are, they're going to be in trouble when the Doctor wakes up.
Only three episodes to go, then we're done with Lost in Time. Man, this has gone buy quick!
The Wheel in Space 3
The Wheel in Space, episode 3
Written by David Whitaker based on a story by Kit Pedler (so you know it should be good)
Directed by Tristan de Vere Cole
There's a countdown timer that has reached zero. We see a round space station. Inside, orbs are neatly stacked, and inside each is a Cyberman. They're slowly breaking out of the orbs.
Jamie gets in trouble for spraying a machine with "quick set plastic." Elsewhere, Zoe stares at a piece of paper, a map perhaps.
Cybermats begin exploring the station.
Jamie is taken to the sickbay, where The Doctor is resting. He is having memory problems, but does remember that he and Jamie arrived on the station by rocket.
Zoe is introduced to "Doctor John Smith." Though it's not the first time we've heard the name John Smith, I think this may be the first time the Doctor has used it to refer to himself.
Later, two men are taking a space walk when they encounter Cybermen. Their minds are immediately taken over by the Cybs, and we fade out.
* * *
There's some good stuff, and some hilarious stuff.
Zoe, for instance. She comes off as such a spoiled brat. You know how Hermione was really, um, a bitch in the first Harry Potter movie? Total know-it-all, and a girl who loved to prove everybody else wrong, no matter what it was about? Yeah, like that. In later stories, she was completely different, but here, she needed a big old bitch-slap.
The station commander (or whoever he was, the tall guy) sure couldn't decide on an accent. Depending on the scene, he was Australian, British, or had a Southern USA accent.
The medical guy who got all attached to the Cybermats was funny. He treated them like little pets, even petting one of them and hiding it from the other humans.
There sure where a lot of Cyberman stories in the Second Doctor era. The costumes are modified just a bit from the last time we saw them, suggesting they are beginning their upgrade to the next version of Cybermen. Subtle, and nice.
The Wheel in Space 6
The Wheel in Space, episode 6
Written by David Whitaker
Directed by Tristan de Vere Cole
Jamie and Zoe are in spacesuits, floating around in space as meteors fly by. In the station, the Doctor watches as the humans around him press buttons and talk.
Zoe and Jamie enter the rocket and hack into the Cybermen frequency. They can hear the Cyb's conversations now.
The Doctor goes back to the equipment room (where Jamie poured that plastic stuff in the earlier episode) and starts gathering ... stuff, starting with mercury.
The Doctor is captured by the Cybs. But then he interrogates them. Using the stuff he'd acquired earlier, he electrocutes one and the other runs away.
With the Doctor's help, the station's crew blows up the Cyb's ship.
The Doctor and Jamie prepare to leave in the Tardis. Zoe sneaks her way in, then begs to come along. The Doctor shows her a video with clips of previous adventures, saying that if he wants to come along, she must understand what her life will be like.
* * *
Well, Zoe has calmed down considerably here, and that's a welcome thing.
The second Cyberman is really funny, I think. When he and his partner have the Doctor captured, the second one goes all 'splody. Just before he runs away, he sticks his arm out and starts his threatening, "I'm gonna beat you up and steal your lunch money" type routine, then scurries out of there in a rather un-Cyberman like way. I got a furious case of the giggles when that happened. I had to pause the dvd, I was laughing so much.
Interesting, though. Zoe did ask to come along. The Doc gave his whole "here, look at this" speech, then we get a close-up of Zoe. And she doesn't say yes or no. Just roll with the credits.
The Space Pirates 2
Space Pirates, episode 2 - Originally aired 3/15/1969
Written by Robert Holmes
Directed by Michael Hart
Spaceship V41-L0. On the ship, a general is berating his crew. Then he goes for coffee and has an attitude adjustment. Together with his first officer, he engages in a discussion about a beacon he's just launched. The Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe appear to be on that beacon.
They track a C-class freighter, captained by the love child of Yosemite Sam and Roscoe P. Coltrane, named Clancey.
The General boards his ship and keeps threatening him, then interrogates him thoroughly.
The Tardis crew stays trapped aboard the beacon, losing oxygen. They are about one mile from the Tardis, but since they are in space, they cannot get to the ship.
In trying to free his companions, the Doctor ends up making things worse - they fly off in the wrong direction. Somehow, Clancey finds them and burns his way in, then shoots Jamie.
* * *
Zoe's look is rather shocking here. She's always had long hair. Shoulder-length is the shortest we've seen her in. Here, he's in a severely-short bob.
What? Ok, The Doctor and his companions barely have three minutes of screen time here, and it's all on one set. I get it, they were busy with rehearsals and preparing themselves for The War Games, but still, three minutes?
The entire episode centers around the General, and he's just about bipolar or something. Schizoid, maybe? As soon as he finds out who is on the little ship, he goes into total fanboy mode, obsessing with Clancey's history as a pilot and one of the first men in space and blah blah blah. A few seconds later, he's all business, then back to fanboy. Get a grip, man!
At the very beginning of the episode, if you look quickly, there is a close-up of the ship's pilot. He only gets a few seconds of screen time before the camera pans around and we never see him again. I swear, he looks exactly like Wolowitz on Big Bang Theory. If not for the 40 year gap between when this was filmed and now, they could be twins.
Well, this has been an interesting experience, traveling with the Doctors and their companions through lost stories in time. But I wouldn't want to do it again. Without context, the stories are pretty much meaningless. This is the end of that group.
Beginning Monday, I'll be starting in on the Second Doctor's last story, the 10-part "War Games" epic, which will lead into the first Third Doctor story "Spearhead From Space." And, the first-ever episode filmed in color.