Send in the clowns: 'Doctor Who' Season 25 (1988/9)

I don’t know why I came here tonight…

 

After the turmoil of the previous two seasons,  Doctor Who now entered a relatively stable final two years. Producer, script editor, Doctor and companion would not change until the axe fell on the show, although this was not for want of trying on the part of the first, who was still trying to get reassigned.

 

With the first year of clowning past them, JNT and Cartmel started to move the Doctor in their planned darker direction – Cartmel briefing the writers to cast doubts on what was known about the Doctor’s background in their stories. As it was the 25^th anniversary, Nathan-Turner also wanted to bring back the two biggest villains from the show – the Daleks and the Cybermen – something he managed to do.

 

Season 25 saw the show move timeslot again – from Monday to Wednesday. However, it was still against Coronation Street, a place it really did not want to be[1]. The plan had been to start Season 25 in September 1988, but coverage of the Seoul Olympics forced the start into October and meant the season did not end until 4 January 1989… which forced a change in running order, namely the swapping of stories two and four, as JNT wanted to have “Silver Nemesis” air over the anniversary while still starting with a Dalek story[2].

 

There was one major problem during the course of production  - the near loss of “The Greatest Show in the Galaxy” after the discovery of asbestos in Television Centre caused a temporary closure. The circus-themed serial was saved by filming in tents erected in the car park of the BBC’s Elstree studios, but the delays ate into rehearsal time for “Silver Nemesis”.

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This 14-episode run is an improvement over Season 24, by virtue of having a story that everyone agrees is good over four that divide opinion at best.

 

There was also a significant technological development in this run – the show started being broadcast in stereo sound as opposed to mono, albeit only in the London area until the TV movie. Doctor Who was in fact one of the first British shows to use a now-standard technology.

 

On the other hand, there are no TARDIS interior scenes in this season – the console room set being junked, although the console itself survived.

 

Remembrance of the Daleks (4 parts)

 

The Doctor and Ace arrive in London in 1963 to deal with some unfinished business  - the Time Lord has to stop a powerful piece of Gallifreyan tech falling into the hands of the Daleks…

 

Written by Ben Aaronovitch, this has a strong argument for best story of the Seventh Doctor’s era. Some great scenes (a Dalek levitating up stairs and Ace having a go at one with a baseball bat[3]), some well-done visual effects[4] enhance an epic story.

 

The Happiness Patrol (3 parts)

 

The time travellers Terra Alpha, a world where happiness is mandatory and sadness is a capital offence…

 

A mixed bag of allsorts – pun intended, as this features the notorious Kandy Man, who resembled Bertie Bassett (a mascot for sweets) and provoked a copyright complaint to the BBC, which was resolved with a promise not to use him again. While the Doctor has a superb scene where he faces down two snipers (“Look me in the eye. Pull the trigger. End my life.”) and there is a subtle but obvious parody of Margaret Thatcher’s Britain[5] in here, the sets are lacking.

 

Silver Nemesis (3 parts)

 

In 1638, the Doctor sent a hugely powerful statue into space. In November 1988, its decaying orbit brings it back to Earth, where a time-traveller, some Neo-Nazis and the Cybermen are out to get their hands on it.

 

The official 25^th anniversary tale is far worse than the unofficial one (“Remembrance) - the lack of rehearsal time (which led to considerable edits to get the story to a proper length[6]) is not an excuse for silly characters, an unnecessary bit involving the Queen[7] and a tale with basic plot howlers like Ace walking around in a T-shirt in a British November.

 

Some interesting trivia: Nicholas Courtney makes a cameo appearance as a tourist here and this story was broadcast in its entirety in New Zealand on 25 November 1983, only the second time that the show was premiered outside the UK.

 

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy (4 parts)

 

After getting some junk mail from the famous Psychic Circus, the Doctor drags Ace along to see it. Ace is afraid of clowns and in this case, her fear is justified…

 

Heavy-handed parody of a certain segment of fandom aside (Whizz Kid), this dark tale was the one filmed in a tent and actually works better because of it. McCoy got magic training for some key scenes and turns in a great performance here, in a serial with a lot of good ideas. In fact, you could make something like this today, with suitable updating.

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Season 25 saw an uptick in ratings to an average of 5.3 million, with every episode clearing four and a half million. This was a respectable performance and the show was renewed.

 

Unfortunately, while Season 26 saw further improvements, it would see a fatal decline in viewership…

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[1]Being opposite Coronation Street is still not the best place to put a show, so a heavy hitter would not go against it – the listings for Wednesday 6 March 2013 had BBC1’s The One Show against its 7.30pm edition, a relatively cheap weekday magazine show.

[2]This caused a couple of minor continuity errors, as Ace is seen with an earring in “Nemesis” that she acquires in “Galaxy” and wearing a rucksack in the latter destroyed in the former.

[3]This scene, described by Aldred as one of the best moments of her life, inspired the entire Crowning Moment of Awesome section at TV Tropes. The Dalek casing actually got damaged as Aldred was handed a real bat by mistake.

[4]The serial ran £12,000 over its visual effects budget and the explosions in a climactic battle made the police think that a terrorist attack was occurring. This is in fact the debut of the ‘skeleton effect’ for exterminations – now used as standard.

[5]The “Iron Lady” does not tend to be popular among British TV writers and provokes considerable division of opinion still over 20 years after her leaving Number 10 – she is either the saviour of . I shudder to think what’s going to happen when she dies.

[6]An extended edition was released on VHS, but not on DVD.

[7]Played by an actress. JNT tried to get the real Queen and later Prince Edward to appear on screen, but was declined. He was also not allowed to film at the real Windsor Castle.

'From the Ashes' mentioned on Wing Commander CIC

Thanks to Chris Reid for posting this.

Let's Play Persian Incursion: Turn 9

USN F/A-18F Super Hornet

 

It’s been a while, but I’ve managed to get another turn done for this game.

 

As the sun set on the third day, 14 US naval jets were preparing for an attack mission – the destruction of the S-200 site guarding Isfahan. Eight Hornets would be tasked with suppressing the two I-Hawk units guarding it, while four more would accompany two E/A-18G Growlers on the main strike.

 

Rolled a US airstrike. I considered going for the S-200 and the I-Hawks with a strike each, but decided that was against the spirit of the rules.

 

The suppression Hornets did their job and while the S-200 got a shot off at a Growler, it was easily dealt with by the jamming systems on board. However, the US had a slightly bigger problem as two F-5Es from 41 TFS headed in to intercept. However, it wasn’t that big a problem as the Tiger IIs were spotted early with one being destroyed (the pilot survived) and the other going home damaged, reducing 41 to only 7 available aircraft.

 

The main element launched 2 AGM-88 HARM missiles against the main radar and that ended that.  With the I-Hawks down, the Iranian sent another solitary F-5E to go against the strikers, but it too was sent packing. Then the second lot of interceptors came in – two pairs of F-4s (three from 92 TFS and one from 62 TFS respectively). One Hornet each broke off for the enemy aircraft.

 

The US crossed two air defence sectors on the flight in and the flight out, so Iran got two intercept chances  - although it lacked alert aircraft in the southern sector for the inbound strike. I actually rolled for three pairs of aircraft, but there weren’t the available jets in that sector for that. The order of the latter two attacks were determined randomly.

 

The first strike was from 2 aircraft from 92 Tactical Fighter Squadron. The Super Hornet fired one missile at each of them and four Iranian aircrew did a parachute jump compliments of the US Navy. The other element actually got into dogfight range, but two Sidewinders resulted in something similar – although only two lived to post on Experian about it. 62 TFS was down to 9 aircraft, but 92 only had four.

 

16 Iranian jets broke down in additional, leaving 55 aircraft available for operations. They would need many more as the main Israeli strike on Isfahan loomed.

 

I realised I’ve been reading the breakdown rules incorrectly – it’s one roll for the entire IRIAF with the results applied to all the active squadrons. While I continued to use the old method for this turn, I’ll do the quicker and proper method next time.

 

Israel is doing very well internationally, but we are now a third of the way through the game and they need to start influencing the Iranian opinion track in a big way to win this game.

From the newsletter: Writing Challenges

Deborah Leighton Plom has started writing challenges for players of Firefly sims. The challenge is to write a story of up to 400 words in which play-ers expand on characters in various ways.

The posts (which are not in-game) are posted on a separate forum thread and are supposed to give insight in the back-ground of players’ characters. They are also a possible re-source for GMs to use as a reference when writing storylines for those particular characters.

The first writing challenge is set on Unification Day roughly two years ago from the date most of our Firefly sims are currently taking place on.

So far, four players have posted a story. The stories are about a doctor working in a hospital on Londinium, a secu-rity officer working in a burlesque club on Greenleaf Skyplex, a man in the resort city of Rishi on one of Ariel’s moons which seems to have a mysterious connection to the Londinium doctor, and an Alliance officer who is commanded to report to his superiors at once.

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Leighton Plom posted on Facebook, asking whether people would be interested in writing challenges. The positive feedback was enough for her to put the idea into practice. (mb)

From the newsletter: Matrix Sim still recruiting

The Matrix is still in the character creation phase and is still accepting new players. In character play has not commenced yet as we are still in character creation, so anyone interested should consider applying soon.

The sim will center on fighting exile programs of the supernatural variety, i.e. werewolves, vampires, demons, windigos, etc. Characters specializing in knowledge of such creatures (whether knowledge of the supernatural from myths within the Matrix or exile programs from the red pill perspective) are welcome, but any and all character concepts are welcome and do not need this specific knowl-edge.

Other roles that players may consider include medic, a character with ‘connections’ within the Matrix, characters with thief or military scout skills, and many others.

Contact Robert Longtin to join. (rl)

The beginning of the end - 'Doctor Who' Season 24 (1987)

Everybody gets sick of lift music eventually

 

The condition for the show’s renewal was the replacement of its star – Michael Grade insisted that Colin Baker go over the objections of John Nathan-Turner.

 

JNT had been informed that he would reassigned from Doctor Who in exchange for being the one to tell Baker he was going, something he had hoped would happen after the production problems of Season 23. However, that agreement was rescinded by his superiors and he would have to remain on the show. He now faced a situation where he had no star, no script editor and no stories.

 

An agreement was reached between Grade and JNT that Baker should appear in an opening four-parter where he would regenerate, so Pip and Jane Baker were commissioned to write what was then called “Strange Matter”. However, Baker declined to even appear in a regeneration sequence and any hope of him changing his mind was ended when he had a public go at Grade in an interview with The Sun. So, in the end the new guy would have to wear a wig for the opening scene…

 

The search for a new Doctor very quickly settled on a comic actor and performer named Sylvester McCoy – although others were auditioned (all alongside Janet Fielding, who had played Tegan[1]) at the BBC’s insistence.

 

Getting the script editor was somewhat easier – although the choice was an unlikely one, a Canadian-born man called Andrew Cartmel who had graduated in computer science and gotten an agent based on some unproduced scripts. Cartmel began working with the other writers on what has been called “The Cartmel Masterplan”, an arc that restored some of the mystery to the Doctor and would have eventually revealed his true identity had not cancellation intervened – the Virgin New Adventures novels cover much of the planned ground.

 

We now turn our attention to a man who could well have been the final Doctor…

 

Sylvester McCoy – the dark clown

 

The Seventh Doctor does not rate as highly as some of the others, but he has his fans. Starting off as an intelligent man who disguised his intelligence with clownishness, he later developed a darker personality, becoming a grand manipulator of events and people, including companions, to achieve a greater end (he really liked chess too). Usually seen with a Panama hat and a question mark umbrella used for purposes other than protection against rain, his costume became darker as he did. It’s a strong point of the EU that the other incarnations of the Doctor don’t like him. He is also the first Doctor with a noticeable regional accent, hailing from Dundee and using a slight Scottish lilt – he also liked to roll his Rs.

 

Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith (1943-present), far better known by his stage name, started off life training for the priesthood, but then chose to went into insurance. After a variety of jobs, including working as a bodyguard for the Rolling Stones, he was spotted by comedian Ken Campbell working in a box office and became part of his comedy act. There his most notable role was as stuntman ‘Sylveste McCoy’, who liked to put ferrets down his trousers and explode bombs on his chest. As a joke, the programme had the character as being played by Sylvester McCoy and when a reviewer thought that was a real person… you get the idea.

 

More work followed, including a two-year stint on ATV’s anarchic Saturday morning show Tiswas and just before DW, appearing in a B-movie called Three Kinds of Heat, where his character killed Mary Tamm’s one.

 

After his tenure, he has mostly focussed on theatre including appearing in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of King Lear, but he still does TV and film work. Recently, he appeared in an episode BBC daytime soap Doctors playing an actor who had done a role similar to the Doctor – the part written for him. His biggest role to date, however, is as Radagast in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy.

 

He likes to recite Matt Smith’s speech from “The Pandorica Opens” at conventions – and does it very well indeed. Finally, he is the second Doctor that I have actually met.

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The 14-episode Season 24 was moved from Saturdays to Mondays – directly opposite the nationally-aired Granada soap opera Coronation Street… a show that it did not stand an ice cube’s chance on Venus of doing well against. Indeed, the modern show would struggle in a slot like that, although DVR would help it… However, it must also be said that this is probably the weakest of the three McCoy seasons.

 

The show also got a new title sequence and version of the theme tune, arranged by Keith McCulloch. For the former, McCoy’s face was painted silver for some reason.

 

Time and the Rani (4 parts)

 

The Rani brings the TARDIS to the planet Lakertya, in the process forcing the Doctor’s regeneration[2]. There she wants him to help her complete a machine that will allow her to use history’s greatest minds to reshape the universe.

 

The final Pip and Jane Baker story; this one has a dire reputation and came 198^th in the Mighty 200. Featuring bad dialogue ('I have the loyhargil - nothing can stop me now!') and the Rani impersonating Mel, the excuse that they were writing this story ‘blind’ does not entirely wash. Sue Perryman handed this one a -1 on The Wife in Space; her lowest score to date.

 

Paradise Towers (4 parts)

 

The Doctor and Mel decide to go on holiday to a famed tower block – only to discover that it has fallen into a very bad state indeed…

 

Some very interesting concepts in this one, but it’s let down by a lot of bad production decisions and acting. This one also has two cannibal grannies, something which probably isn’t best for a show like this.

 

Delta and the Bannermen (3 parts)

 

Team TARDIS wins a free trip to Disneyland in 1959 on an alien tour bus. However, the tour bus gets hit by a satellite and ends up in Wales, where a beautiful princess is on the run from her would-be killers…

 

Guest starring Ken Dodd[3], this has been described as Hi-de-Hi![4] directed by James Cameron and has some surprisingly adult moments in it. Might watch this again sometime. Bonnie Langford considered leaving mid-season and a character was written as a potential new companion here –the end, she stayed a bit longer.

 

Dragonfire (3 parts)

 

Sabalom Glitz ropes the time travellers into a treasure hunt on the space trading colony Iceworld, ruled by a literally cold-blooded criminal.

 

An at times chilling [Ba doom tish – Ed.] story that contains an awful literal cliff-hanger moment (the Doctor for some reason hanging off a cliff by his umbrella – after climbing off it[5]), the villain’s face literally melting, an in-joke reference to a 1983 media studies book on the show and Mel for some reason deciding to leave to tame Glitz, although her leaving scene is very good. Her replacement is a waitress who may be 16, but certainly acts a lot older…

 

One Wicked Batter – Dorothy “Ace” McShane[6]

 

Ah, Ace… the companion who is arguably closest to the modern five ladies of Who. She certainly has the sass for it, but Amy Pond never carried around home-made high explosives or had a go at a Dalek with a baseball bat.

 

Hailing from Perivale, West London, after blowing up her school and being a generally troubled teen, Ace was swept up in a ‘time storm’[7] and ended up on Iceworld, where she got a job as a waitress and slept with Glitz[8]. She goes with the Doctor (who she calls “The Professor” over his repeated objections) at story’s end, travelling with him through cancellation. As she was the companion as the hiatus arrived, Ace’s expanded universe appearances are extensive – although she still turns up in Big Finish stuff.

 

The role went to Sophie Aldred (1962-)[9], who had in fact auditioned initially for another character in “Delta and the Bannermen”. Aldred had started in children’s theatre and most of her work outside of DW (before and after) has been for young kids, although she started by singing in working men’s clubs to get her Equity card. She is currently voicing CBeebies series Tree Fu Tom – alongside David Tennant.

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The average rating ticked up to 4.9 million, but the show never troubled the 6 million mark – with the highest figure all season being 5.5 million for the first part of “Dragonfire”, which aired on the show’s 24^th birthday. However, the show was safe for the time being and BBC management were happy with their new star.

 

For the 25^th season, two monsters would be returning. One story would be considered a classic, but the other…

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[1]Bonnie Langford was unavailable due to other commitments. McCoy’s audition tape with Fielding, a companion departure scene, got its script largely re-used for Mel’s departure at the end of this season – it was that good.

[2]The precise reason for the Doctor being ‘killed’ and Mel surviving isn’t made clear on the screen, but it is stated in the EU that he hit his head on the console.

[3]A British stand-up comic and singer, who specialises in one-liners and has the world record for the longest joke-telling session at 3½ hours.

[4]BBC sitcom (1980-1988) written by renowned duo Jimmy Perry and David Croft, set at a holiday camp in Essex and revolving around its staff, mostly struggling or past-it entertainers.

[5]It made sense in the script – the passage was a dead end. However, it was really badly shot)

[6]Ace’s surname is never given on screen, but is given in the novels. The production team used Gale internally and eventually her full name become Dorothy Gale McShane. We just call her Ace.

[7]The Wizard of Oz parallels were quite intentional, although the stuffed dog idea was dropped.

[8]That was in the production notes only and never even hinted at on screen for obvious reasons.

[9]Most teenagers on TV are played by fully-grown adults for a number of reasons, including legislation on child actors. Somehow we adjust to it.

The Copenhagen Gambit (Grand Review: 'Borgen' Season 2)

(This one is a bit later than I’d hoped – a lot on my planner at the moment)

 

Sarah Lund has hung up her gun, but BBC4 isn’t done with the Danish television. Oh no, not at all. We’re back in the turbulent world of Danish politics.

 

After the first season where she sacrificed a marriage for a premiership, the now Birgitte Nyborg is two years into her reign as Statsminister of the Kingdom of Denmark. Meanwhile, Katrine Fønsmark is no longer working for TV1 (she quit over an editorial decision), but for the tabloid newspaper run by former Labour leader Michael Laugesen, a man for whom journalistic scruples do not fit in the same elevator. Together (well not really together), they experience problems at home and abroad, ranging from the deaths of Danish soldiers in Afghanistan to the loss of Nyborg’s majority in the Danish legislature to Birgitte’s daughter Laura) suffering from mental health problems.

 

The ten episodes of this run are nearly all excellent – although I can see the objections to the two-part Africa episode, which has a distinct triumphalist feel that reminds one of some of the poorer episodes of The West Wing and some plot developments are clearly telegraphed (Laura’s hair reminded me of another mentally ill person from Scandi fiction – Lisbeth Salander). The writing is superb, there’s a lot of humour and you feel for the characters, especially when we discover some of Kasper Juul’s backstory. Indeed, this show has many great characters from all the parties and the press – such as Svend Åge Saltum, the bigoted yet comedic leader of the Freedom Party (think he’s played by a comic actor) or Hanne Holm, an alcoholic TV1 journalist.

 

What I also really like is the portrayal of Denmark – a country similar and yet different to my own.

 

Conclusion

 

Another superb season of a brilliant Danish import. We will be getting Season 3 and from the great big spoiler on the Guardian news story reporting its acquisition (Tak for that – not!), it will be very interesting.

 

It’s a shame that our political culture is far too cynical to make something like this – instead we get the inferior new version of Yes, Prime Minister…

 

9/10