When I first saw this story, my TV developed a fault, forcing me to watch it in black and white. The idea of journeying-to-the-centre-of-the-brain was quite popular that week - Danger Mouse went through four episodes of this just like the Doctor. Looking back, I was surprised I could take the middle segment of the story seriously as a cartoon mouse and gerbil beat the Doctor and Leela into the controlled brain of a main character (in their case Colonel K) to find the evil squatters at the heart. While Time Lord and Savage fought phagocites and evil clones, DM found himself fighting literal funny bones as well as getting lost inside the body. However, this story has K9 in it, so it must be taken with all the respect it deserves. 

Looking at it today, I do notice how disparate the episodes are. The first one is a sort of 1970s Event Horizon with a ship full of well-rounded characters (well, as well-rounded as you can get with one minute of dialogue between them) being plunged into chaos then, possessed, begin to kill off their innocent co-workers as they return. The scenes of the spacesuited carriers hunting down the crew room are more eerie than when they reveal their infection (presumably capitalizing on the success of The Ambassadors of Death). I do wonder, though, why the infected spacemen begin to grow silver fur around their eyes. Why? If, for example, they were beginning to mutate into giant prawns, it would be more scary if you asked me. Of course, seeing the pregnant prawn in the final episode, it would not have done to story any favors to show the mutation complete, but it could be mentioned in passing. 

I'm surprised I liked the fourth Doctor so much during my childhood. His only competitor was the Seventh, but all the stories of the fourth Doctor seemed to have him possessed or evil. The Invisible Enemy, The Invasion of Time, The Face of Evil - his uncharacteristic anger during the Horror of Fang Rock included. Of course, now I know the Seventh Doctor is the manipulative, evil and amoral Time Lord, but back then he seemed like Davison at his most naive. Well, I had only seen Season 24 at the time. 

The second episode has a cool ER 5000 feel to it and maybe the story could have been better if they'd concentrated on that angle, with Leela wandering round the hospital and seeing how different the hospital of the future is from now. The Doctor suddenly cured for five minutes long enough to re-explain the plot confuses me even now, but I am easily-confused. Oh yes, and while the explanation of the Kilbracken technique explains the clothes, it doesn't explain why they are linked telepathically to their hosts - and if so, why isn't the cloned Doctor infected? 

The Fantastic Voyage in part three is supposed to take less than eleven minutes. I suppose it could work if you think of every few scenes happening at the same time, or if the clones' reduced size increases their lifespan, but the idea of time running out is clumsy. Why not simply have the virus ready to take over in ten minutes unless they are stopped. While I was intrigued by the Doctor's airy claim that his telepathy was curtailed when the Time Lords kicked him out (and the fact he instantly changes the subject when Leela asks him about it) I didn't really feel the clones knowing they were going to die whatever happened worked. Leela seems very cheerful despite the fact she will be dead in five minutes. 

The scene where the Doctor argues with an intelligent virus about sensible ambition inside his own brain feels very normal considering three episodes ago he was discussing strategy with a blob of jelly on the steps of a lighthouse. The death of the clone Doctor and Leela could have been very dramatic but, well, it isn't. It's shot terribly: the Virus shouts that it has won; the Doctor falls over, shouting 'get out of my brain'; Leela runs in and falls over; the Doctor turns see-through; a gunshot; and then all that's left is a smoky hole in the ground and Leela's knife and hair. Knife and hair. That don't dissolve. Give me strength. 

The fourth episode tries to pull itself back into reality - and this is no mean feet with the pregnant prawn burbing in the background. Why couldn't it be red? WHY? The Doctor taking the piss out of the monster normally works in alleviating tension, but there is no tension here in the first place. I was surprised the scene shown in the novelization when Marius tries to infect the Doctor and fails isn't in the program. Assuming it never happened, that would explain why they think he can 'be consumed' when he is clearly immunized. Back to Titan for a race-against-time, the third in the story and better. K9 breaking down could have worked better if this didn't happen so often but it does re-state the Doctor's 'never trust gimmecky gadgets' philosophy. Him leaving Leela and K9 behind was quite exciting the first time, but it's supposed to be comic relief. Also, there's a terrible bit of editing - Lowe fires at the Doctor, who drops the box of antibodies, smashing it and forcing h! im to use Leela's plan. What we see is a shot of the eggs bubbling while we hear Lowe firing, so the box of anti-bodies seems to disappear and we have no idea why the Doctor changes tactics. 

Finally, Titan is destroyed (surely wrecking the solar system's balance and not a good thing) and the Doctor gets out his Sedan chair in his new control room to match the hatstand and using the scanner alcove and a bookshelf. K9 fits in quite well, and it would have been simple for the TARDIS simply to have gone wrong while trying to return the marvellous metal mutt to Marius (ooh, aliteration). Instead there is the annoying scene with Leela acting like a four-year old to the Doctor's brooding parent. 'All right, Leela, you can have K9 but you'll have to feed him and take him for walks because a dog isn't just for Christmas, especially when you're a time traveller'... 

The Invisible Enemy isn't perfect. But it entertains for the two hours needed to watch it.

How many fans can claim the expectant pleasure of sitting down and watching a Tom Baker story that they had never seen before and better still, knew very little about? Oooh, how many times I have sat and watched Who, wishing to supernatural entities, that somehow, at the age of 29, no matter how infeasible, I could forget that I had watched a favourite story 50 times before, and experience its excitement afresh?

Well, now I can, and crumbs it was almost like a saturday teatime. The story in question was fan "not-favourite", Underworld. How I came to have not seen it before, is (rather like Underworlds repute) a dull story, consisting of UKGold video mishaps, late teen "I'm too old for it now.." pretentions, and general apathy to a story that everyone says is a steaming pile of cakka....

Revisionism is all the rage in fandom right now, not surprising, given that all of us are at a stage where we have endlessly raked over a finite number of stories an infinite number of times and lets face it, what we thought was cool at 10, looks like Resurrection now. On the face of it, Underworld has committed more heinous sins than most of the loathed stories over the years, the at a glance loathometer sites the following reasons to loathe: 

1. It was done on the cheap with 80% of sets being CSO travesties.

2. It appeared in Graham Williams "Silly" era

3. Tom Baker is as mad as a fish in it.

4. The story's poop.

Now, I hate to succum to the revisionist fever, so I won't, because I've never seen Underworld before. But, I will say this, I thoroughly enjoyed every second of this wretched adventure!!

Firstly, lets address the number one gripe, the CSO. I find it very odd that this is the oft sited reason for this stories alleged Turkeydom, surely crap budgets are part and parcel of what Doctor Who is? "Its about the scripts!" was the oft quoted defense on the school playground when someone laughed at cybermen with cricket gloves...(and boy, didn't it put that bully in his place..) but we digress...let me tell you something, the CSO's not as bad as you've been told, at no stage did it detract from the believability of the programme, at no stage did anyones foot disappear (as I've often heard said) and by and large, considering what it is, its done amazingly well. The perspective is always correct, people walk accurately behind things and Tom Bakers hair is never ablaze with electronic fuzz like ole Perter's is in the Green Death mine shaft...

Funnily enough, considering the story is awash with what must have been a nightmare workload for the VidFX folk, the rest of the video effects and model work are very, very good by Who standards. The opening Nebula is tremendously effective (100 times more so than the mandragora helix just a couple of years previously) and all the ray gun zaps are also well done. I think we know where the budget from the sets went....

Okay, point 2 and 3. I like Tom Baker being a crazy assed mofo and I like Who being silly, and whats more, so does my girlfriend who easily bores of Who without Tom's arrogantly witty put downs. Whats good for her, is good for me.

Point 4. Bob Baker and Dave Martin get a lot of very unfair stick. I have to say I think these two have come up with some of the best, most imaginative stories of all time and they always write excellent dialogue for the Doc. Concepts seem to be their strong point, but not at the expense of plot or story. As most folk probably know, there are vague allusions to Jason and the Argonauts through out, it doesn't really add anything, but its an additional layer to muse over. OK, so I was left wondering if the guards were robots or simply wearing radiation suits, but as long as you don't scratch too deep...The concept of the Timelords being gods to the minyans and effectively ruining them in the process is excellent. We all imagine that this sort of Galifreyan interventionist/imperialist bashing only happens later in TOTL and such, but here it is, much more subtly and understated. I'll grant you, the idea of a computer gone megalomaniac is not the worlds most original premise, but look at the other concepts; a spaceship that has a planet formed around it, legends being the portents of things to come..etc. Even the design ideas are spot on, the radiation suits and robots look wonderfully old fashioned and the shield guns, whilst clearly made of lightweight plastic, are far more interesting than the usual bog standard generic space laser we are treated to.

At the end of the day, without looking too closely and doing anything silly like drawing a comparison with Talons of Weng Chiang, I found Underworld to be hugely enjoyable romp with excellent ideas and some smart direction. Tom always makes these stories for me and its easy to forget that really, Tom IS the show, just like he thought he was. I cant imagine any of the later Doctors carrying this story so well. He always elevates it above the bog standard. On any other day of the week, this would be a 3 stars or less, but for pure enjoyment, (and surely thats what its all about?) I'm gonna give it 4. The TV viewing public agreed with me, ratings at this stage of the shows history were high and any future producers of the show would do well to remember that and do their damndest to ignore the fanboys....

Season twenty-two can be a difficult season to watch. The tackiness, the arrogant Doctor, and the annoying companion have made many fans dislike the season and its Doctor. Of late there has been a kind of reevaluation of the era thanks to the excellent Sixth Doctor audios produced by Big Finish. I have always had a soft spot for the braggart in the clown coat. One of my first experiences with Doctor Who was watching Attack of the Cybermen. I continue to love that serial even though I recognize its not high art. My favorite Sixth Doctor story (and probably yours too according to the OG polls) is Revelation of the Daleks. 

The serial has the distinction of probably being the strangest Dalek story to date. The story turns the typical “covert alien invasion” plot into a dark horror comedy. Davros has taken control of a galactic funeral parlor, intent on using corpses as Dalek building materials. The Doctor and Peri arrive on the planet because Professor Stengos, a friend of the Doctor’s, has died. What the Doctor doesn’t know is that Stengos has been transformed into a Dalek.

The scene where we are shown Stengos remains one of the most disturbing images in the show’s history. He is encased in a glass Dalek shell, his body gone. His head is barely recognizable as human. His voice alternates between human and Dalek. This scene is one of the key points in the serial and manages to make the Daleks scary again.

Davros is also at his most terrifying. Terry Molloy outshines even Michael Wisher (Genesis of the Daleks) in the role. Revelation of the Daleks features Davros at his most cunning and evil. This serial not only shows Davros as a mad scientist, but as a master manipulator. The scenes between him and the fawning Tasambeker feature some of the finest villainy in all of Doctor Who. 

The human cast is also noteworthy. A criticism that can be laid against the story is the fact that the Doctor and Peri are only accessories to the story. This does not stop Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant from giving fine performances. Both characters have their less likable attributes toned down for this story. In Revelation of the Daleks, Colin Baker gives one of his most noble portrayals of the Doctor. The supporting cast, however, are the real stars. Clive Swift dons an orange toupee for the role Jobel, the sleazy chief mortician. His character is human, but his portrayal of Jobel is as creepy as Terry Molloy’s Davros. The same goes for Jenny Tomasin as Tasambeker. She endows the character with much pathos and feeling. William Gaunt as the mercenary Orcini is another highlight. His performance brings life to the somewhat stereotypical character. Also of note is Alexei Sayle (The Young Ones) as the somewhat annoying DJ to the dead. All in all, Revelation of the Daleks has one of the greatest casts of any 1980’s Doctor Who story. 

The audacity of the story might take some aback. Eric Saward’s scripts are known for their viciousness. It wasn’t till the second viewing that I fully appreciated the story. Revelation of the Daleks was the final story of Season 22 which is a shame because they seemed to have just gotten the feel of the era right. In this serial the shows makers finally managed to find the right balance of gaudiness, gruesomeness, and drama. Season 23 was a good season, but none of the stories seemed to have the quality of this serial.

Revelation of the Daleks is one of the Doctor’s quirkiest adventures. It’s an important serial because it showed how Sixth Doctor stories could actually be good. It also made the Doctor’s arch enemies scary again. The story stands as an excellent story in a somewhat questionable era

When the Time Lords exiled the Doctor on Earth, and we were introduced to his third generation, the series made a fresh start. The regular UNIT team had been phased in Patrick Troughton’s last two seasons, but other than that Jon Pertwee’s first two seasons had focused on new foes, concentrating more on stealth invasions and the malevolent machinations of the Master.

It was only a matter of time before one of the series’ famous faces from the past made an appearance, and in 1972, the Daleks made their first appearance in colour on TV. Oddly, compared to later colour Dalek stories – where the first episode is a kind of foreplay building up to their orgasmic ‘surprise’ appearance (somewhat undercut by the title of the story, but never mind) – the Daleks are sidelined in “Day Of The Daleks”. Perhaps this was a ploy of the production team, not wanting to cash in too heavily on the past. It seems fashionable to knock the Letts era, but you have to admire their determination to avoid rehashing old villains and more or less start anew. Whatever the reasons, it works quite well. The Daleks as mostly unseen, shadowy conspirators and manipulators gives them a stature that was often lacking in later stories. It is, however, unfortunate that the production could not disguise the fact that they only had three usable Dalek props! The Dalek voices – always a big part of the impression they make – are terrible here, hardly surprising as they are not performed by their usual vocal artists.

At the centre of this story is not another unfeasible Dalek scheme, but a fascinating time travel paradox. The series very rarely addressed the issues of time travel, but “Day Of The Daleks” tackles it head-on with its central enigma of changing history. The discovery that the guerrilla who is trying to prevent the third world war is in fact the instigator of it, is a brilliant revelation, years ahead of a similar paradox in “Twelve Monkeys”. Shades of the brilliant “Inferno”, with its alternate Earth timeline, which is always a winning basis for comparison. The guerrillas are not particularly interesting in themselves, although Anat is another one of those feisty women that Doctor Who throws up every now and then. Guerrillas are a very 1970s element of the story – the Badher Meinhof terrorists were in the news at the time, although I’m not sure if that was before or after “Day Of The Daleks” was written.

Aubrey Woods is excellent as the Controller. The Third Doctor’s era is often criticised for its ‘woolly’ politics, but it is certainly no less idealistic than the dubious moralising of some of the New Adventures – and in the Controller, the series acknowledges that corrupt regimes are not merely comprised of ‘pure evil’ bogeymen like the Daleks but equally quislings such as the Controller. The two sides to the Controller’s Earth that Jo and the Doctor see is a good representation of the Seventh Doctor’s philosophical rumination, “You live in Paradise, you start to wonder who empties the bins”. Jo sees the fine food and wine, and is charmed by the Controller’s smooth talk of productivity and efficiency, and is so dazzled by the surface that she does not question the inner workings, whereas the Doctor – by no means a materialist, although the Doctor and Jo’s ghostbusting slumber party does show that the Doctor appreciates the finer things in life – sees the corruption and oppression. In the real world, there are many people like the Controller, cogs in the machine – reminiscent of the characters in Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil” – and it’s good to see the series acknowledging that ‘evil’ can be complex and ambiguous.

“Day Of The Daleks” is a noteworthy story for many reasons, although the Daleks are one of the least significant of them! It has a certain believability lacking in later Pertwee stories, possibly because of the use of a BBC newsreader as himself in one scene, the world powers setting, and UNIT here at their most competent and serious.