I have done a very small review of this story previously when I was reviewing The Key to Time season but it was only a few lines so today I will review the first four parts of the season 16 epic 'The Key to Time', in which The Doctor is summoned by the mysterious and powerful White Guardian, and sent on a quest to find the six segments of the Key to Time, which, once assembled, will restore balance to the Universe. Joining the Doctor and K9 is the smart and sassy Romana , a Time Lord fresh from the Academy. Landing on the wintry planet of Ribos to locate the first segment, the TARDIS crew quickly find themselves embroiled in a little local trouble with a pair of conmen and an unstable warlord... The story opens with the TARDIS going dark then bright orange and a mysterious voice calling from outside. This was a very captivating way to start the season. The White Guardian is outside in what can only be described as an odd location, I got the impression he was at a beach which I found engaging as he was dressed in white, quite relaxed asking the Doctor to go on a quest to find the 6 segments of the Key to Time with a locator before the Black Guardian. Before disappearing. With the departure of Leela in the previous story, The Doctor was given a new companion - a Time Lady. Romanadvoratrelundar, Romana for short, played by Mary Tamm seemed quite smug and superior at first for example when she's talking about her grades from the Academy. But I loved The Doctor and K9 here, they sort of make fun of her, there is also another funny scene where a hole is put in the TARDIS for the locator. This is where we are introduced to the planet Ribos which is quite like Earth hundreds of years ago (things like on that planet they think the planet is flat) in particularly it reminded me of Russia from the snow and the clothes they wear. The planet is quite obviously a set in a studio, the snow is obviously polystyrene or something and when they have to move something heavy, they're obviously moving something that weighs as much as cushion, despite this every character in this story is unique and brilliantly acted. There is also a diverse range of Characters and some brilliant dialogue. My favourite characters are probably Garron and his younger assistant, Unstoffe who were the con artists trying to sell the planet of Ribos, they were funny characters that became allies, there was also some development especially with Unstoffe. Other characters included the lovely Binro and the warlike Graff Vynda-K. The first Key to time was a piece of Jethrik which was a very valuable mineral that was in the chamber where the crown jewels of Ribos were stored (which was a slightly better set). The Monster in this story was a terrible creation called Shrivenzales who only played a small part and looked terrible and when watching the story should be ignored. Overall a good (not great) story to start the Key to Time season.
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Can humans make peace with their reptilian ancestors? - The story in a nutshell. Quite an ambitious yet highly intelligent story about who are the monster here; aliens who once lived on Earth long ago and now want to reclaim it from the Humans. Or us. Which more than pays off. From their point of view, we are the monsters and need to be destroyed - quite a smart idea. Now if you haven't seen this story you may think that what I have said above is about the 2010 two-part, 'The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood' and you'd be right to think that. They are incredibly similar. Watching the 2010 two part again kind of makes me think it's a sort of rip-off of this story just with a higher budget. Similarities include; Both being woken by some experiment, both having captives throughout the story, both coming above the ground to attack, both stories involving a good Siluran that get's killed, both stories including one rouge Siluran with no power forming a revolution then ultimately dying etc... there are so many it actually seems a little ridiculous all written down. But anyway, back to the story. The cast of characters really bring a good vibe to the story, playing such a range of people. From the egotistic Dr Quinn to the disease ridden Major Baker. It felt like this story was split into two, the first 4-5 parts were about finding the Silurians then the final parts were about the plague that the Silurians had put upon the world and trying to stop it. Both plot's were great, and both included the right amount of tension to make you think Earth could be destroyed. Effects included the Dinosaur which the Silurians kept as a kind of pet. It felt like the shots of it coming down the corridor (using CSO) were a kind of experiment so it didn't look amazing. The atmosphere created down in the caves were very good as they created claustrophobia and tension as they go through the dark paths. The caves were also created excellently in the set and a good use of different levels too. Finally I enjoyed the fact the pretty average looking Silurians were hidden until part 3. Only giving small hints about them such as footprints and paintings. A negative point about the story is probably the music. I felt it became kind of annoying after a while. Overall an enjoyable story with strong points but some negatives too. Quite a highly regarded episode that deserves all the praise. It is full of action and excitement as well as tension that is quite hard to come buy in a doctor who classic. The ending isn't as good as it could have been nonetheless the first 3 parts certainly make up for this with a well thought out plot which is almost like a murder mystery. The locations that make up the matrix particularly stand out as they are perfect. Also the set's have been used to their full potential with the set being mainly mirrors that make it look much bigger than it is. Scenes like when the doctor is almost drowned then hit by a train then a creepy clown then finally being chased by a masked villain who turns out to be the president elect are quite risky, but I think pay off. The Masters costume is really great and quite gory but great for the 1970's. Plus as well as the costume, the master, played by Peter Pratt since the sad death of Roger Delgado was magnificent. A good use of hand gestures as well as his voice create a brilliant villain and is very different from the (almost) playful master of the Pertwee era. Overall some risky stunts like the doctor being drowned, but it makes it stand up very well with hardly any boring parts and everything is used to it's full extent. Well this was actually quite surprising, I was expecting it to be another dull 6 part serial where I would be still watching it next week. But it turned out I rather enjoyed it. It starts off with the doctor and Jo arriving on a spaceship type thing, which is a great set although it is a little stereotypical of a doctor who spaceship. We then meet the pilots who see the doctor and Jo as Draconians who the people of Earth are about to have a war with but the Draconians are actually quite nice and your kind of made to feel sympathy for them, it is actually The Master, who's working with the Daleks, who's using the Ogrons to look like Draconians and start a war. It is a rather confusing plot, but there is a lot of the doctor and Jo being put in prisons so you can kind of keep up. The Daleks only appear very briefly at the end of episode six, the master is the main villain here (and I'll just say that at this point I haven't yet seen Planet of the Daleks, as these two stories are kind of an arc.) My favourite part is when the doctor and Jo are trapped on the Masters ship, there is some excellent dialogue here. My favourite character has to be The master beautifully played by Roger Delgado as usual, but I also like the president of Earth character (fitting she was female). There is some excellent model shots that were really ambitious for back them (even though they stole them from another programme it said in the features). Overall I could write more about this episode as it was great but oh well, for them to improve I will have to watch Planet of Daleks to see what they could have done better. Finally on a rather sad note, this is Delgado's last episode since he died in a car crash, so RIP Roger Delgado! A good episode which is well paced and a great script. First of all this episode features the return of the Ice Warriors who were last seen in 'The seeds of death'. The Ice Warriors are the complete opposite as to how we have seen them before. This time they show compassion and care as well as being quite innocent but because of the way it's written, it may seem pretty fake up until the end of episode 3. The episode is basically a murder mystery, which I personally love (which is why Unicorn and the Wasp is my favourite new who episode). It does the murder mystery well although at some points it can get a little confusing in the middle. The thing it does best is make the audience think it's the Ice Warriors but then it turns out to be (spoilers). My favourite part of the whole episode is the part at the beginning where the TARDIS falls down the cliff face. To think that it was a model, it just looks amazing and is so realistic. Another thing I really liked was the love story between Jo and the King, it was quite a development for Jo I thought. The only think I didn't like was the Alpha Centauri (the big green thing with an big eye), it looks kind of poor and the voice is just laughable. Overall a wonderful underrated gem hidden away in the middle of Pertwee's reign that's definitely worth a watch, with great acting, and set's. Now this review is going to be MASSIVE so I am doing it in sections (much like the key to time) I am going to start watching it next week and the review will follow soon, I will review each story separately in one Gigantic review, enjoy! The Ribos operation: Firstly I like the way it carry's straight on from Invasion of time, secondly I really love K9 so it was good to see the doctor pulling a brand new K9 out to carry the adventures on. The white guardian looked very mysterious and the set made me laugh because it was kind of the opposite of what you'd expect a magical guardian to have. Going back to what I said about K9 I really like the comical banter they both had when they first met Romana who I thought was very smug at first but I am growing to like her. The interior set's looked amazing but the exterior set's weren't as good i'm afraid. There is good music and acting all round. Overall a great start to a new series although there are some boring parts. The pirate planet: Firstly I noticed there was a good use of camera skills because it starts of just showing the back of the captain and not showing anything else and I thought this was very effective. The captain really did look brilliant and they really worked hard and pulled it off with his robot parts. His parrot wasn't as well made which really showed in it's fight with K9 which by the way was great TV. I am beginning to like Romana more and more now, she's becoming less smug and obviously learning from the doctor. The set's especially inside the ship looked really great, it's really showing how hard they are working on this season. There were some AMAZING explosions! Making the doctor walk the plank was really genius considering this episode is very pirate like. Lastly there is a great twist in the story but you will have to watch it yourself to find out. The stones of blood: I am noticing more and more that female characters in this series are becoming very prominent, which I think is quite a good thing. This episode is my favourite of the key to time series, it is funny, witty and a great plot. The cast is really brilliant, I loved K9 and the archaeologist. There were some great cliff hangers (literally). The justice machines looked amazing and I thought looked quite high-tech, even now. I thought the Ogri were a good concept and would have been very easy to make so would have saved money. There were great plot twists, great set's (especially in the space ship) and I loved the cameo of the Wirrn. Overall a good episode also a good episode to mark the occasion that was doctor who was 15 years old. The androids of Tara: Another really good episode, probably my second favourite so far. There is a very good plot although it can easily get confusing due to this episode is all about androids and it can be a little hard to tell who's who and where everyone is. As usual I really liked K9 in this episode, they really use him well. There was great acting from both Tom Baker and Mary Tamm. The rest of the cast were all brilliant though (I would tell you who but the names were very weird). I noticed that this episode is incredibly fairy tail, they had a castle, a king, swordfights and other things like this. The swords had a really good concept because they could zap you if touched. There was the right amount of comedy moments, some great locations like Leeds castle where they filmed it (not in Leeds) and there were great set's. Overall a good episode, to improve they could have made the androids look more realistic. The power of Kroll: Now, I hate to say it but this story has taken the title of worst episode of the Key to time series. Of course not saying it is the worst episode ever, there are some very good parts unique to this story but there are some parts where you just want to fall asleep and it doesn't keep your attention very well. Anyway now we have got that out the way, let me tell you some good things about the episode; firstly the 'swampies' (people who live in the marsh land) look very good in my opinion although I wouldn't really want to be the actor getting covered in green paint. The set's as usual with this season are brilliant although the model they used to show the rig didn't look as well but still good. A thing I particularly liked was that John Leeson who play's K9 got to play a proper character due to K9 couldn't be in the episode because of the swamps. Overall great acting, great locations but a little boring in parts. The armageddon factor: The first thing I noticed was there is some really great set's in this story, everything was beautifully made. There was great directing on the opening sequence the way they explained everything going on in the first few minutes was genius. There was quite a few comical characters in this episode which I thought was a good thing as this episode was quite dark so it was good we had some funny moments. The main dark force in this episode was the mysterious shadow who worked for the black guardian, he actually was really scary and menacing, a perfect actor to play him as well. K9 about to get destroyed was very tense and the perfect amount of tension. I didn't really understand Princess Astra or how she was a part of the key to time, or how she is going to become Romana (I haven't seen 'Destiny of the Daleks'). I really liked Romana here and Mary Tamm said she left as she wasn't being able to show Romana's full potential but I can think of lot's of examples where she is brilliant, she even got to beat someone up (kind of). I didn't really understand the end because the doctor just scattered the key through space again which makes the whole season seem kind of pointless but oh well. Overall a brilliant way to end the series and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. Conclusion: I give the series as a whole 8/10. The best story is The stones of blood and the worst story is The Power of Kroll. I wouldn't really recommend watching the series all at once as there are some boring parts but it is still a brilliant series. And that is the end of the key to time review. I do hope you enjoyed it! Like 'The Ice Warriors' review I am not going to tell you about the plot since it is a new release but there is quite a big spoiler that I will mention so sorry. First of all, the cover. It is brilliant, not as good as 'The Ice Warriors' DVD cover but still good, it includes everything it should; the doctor, Zygons and the Loch Ness monster. In the episode he only wore the tartan scarf as you can see on the cover for only a little part of the episode which is a shame, it should really have been worn longer. I don't really like when the picture goes onto the 'doctor who' part of the cover but I suppose it shows the size of the Zygons towering over the fourth doctor. The first thing I noticed about the episode was the music. There is some really brilliant musical parts which really helps the story, it changes from slow to fast which is also good and the music is perfect for the story and the bagpipes were the icing on the cake. The Zygons look brilliant especially the head pieces, you can tell they have worked very hard on them, the leg section of the costume isn't very good but at least they have tried. The loch ness monster isn't very good but it still look kind of realistic. The plot is amazing but I can't tell you about it but it is very good. Now here comes the spoiler: When the doctor destroys the Zygon ship it looks amazing! There are quite a few explosions in this episode but this one looked particularly dramatic. The tenth doctor wouldn't really approve of the fourth destroying the ship with the Zygons still inside and I didn't approve of it really either. Lastly we didn't really learn lot's about the Zygons so hopefully we learn more about them in the 50th since they are returning. The ending is very good but I am afraid I am once again running out of room. Overall another great episode and in terms of plot it is probably better than 'The Ice Warriors'. This was actually my favourite classic episode before I saw 'City of death' so I am surprised I haven't done this episode before. It is a great episode with a great plot and the plot is one of the reasons why the episode is so good. The plot I complicated yet simple, you have to watch the whole thing to understand it (a bit like one of Steven Moffat's story arc's) but once you understand you see why it is a good episode. Basically the doctor and Jo arrive in a machine (but they don't know it) the machine is basically like a zoo where you can look at things. The doctor and Jo brake out of their 'exhibit' let's call it and walk around inside the machine they then enter another 'exhibit' with weird creatures in it. So basically the plot is about the doctor and Jo in a futuristic zoo. The acting and effects were all great. The set's were spectacular. My only fault is that we didn't see more 'exhibits'. Overall a great episode and definitely worth watching. I really enjoyed this episode and definitely recommend watching it. The whole murder mystery thing is brilliant for this episode and I love murder mystery episodes. The fourth doctor is great here and so is Leela they work very well together in this episode and great acting especially when the doctor is in that cupboard filling with whatever, great acting here. The robots I thought were fabulously made and look absolutely brilliant, I wouldn't mind one for my collection. One of my only faults with this episode was the set's, don't get me wrong some were brilliant but there were some like the outer view of the ship weren't very good but I understand they had a small budget. One of the great aspects of the episode was seeing how the 'robots' react to things because this episode really goes into things, I thought this made the episode so great. The effects were good but not amazing. The features were very good especially one called 'Robophobia' which was amusing and interesting. Overall a good episode and definitely worth watching. Jon Pertwee's swansong, and what a great swansong it is. My only criticism with this episode was that the brigadier wasn't in it very much, for Pertwee's last episode I would have thought the UNIT family would play a bigger part. The spiders I thought were quite well made and looked quite good. The plot I thought was very interesting because it starts with meditation and ends with a giant spider, and I liked the way they manage to get it like this. One of the most pointless things about this episode, it just went on forever, nearly all of episode two was the chase and basically it was all pointless because after they had gone on road, on water, and in the air they nearly captured him then the villain disappeared and reappeared back in the manor, so basically it was all pointless, but although it may have been pointless I still found it enjoyable and I am sure Jon Pertwee did too. In this episode we see LOT'S of characters that had worked with Pertwee in previous episodes and in one of the special features it said that this was to make Pertwee more comfortable and enjoyable in his last episode. The cover is very good, it shows the 3rd doctor, Sarah Jane with a spider on her back in one of her most famous poses and the great one in the background. Overall a great episode to end a great doctor. |
About this areaThis area will be where I write reviews on Doctor Who DVD's classic and new. The area is split up into episodes of the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and new who to make it easier for me and you to see them. Enjoy! Archives
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