Sunday 22nd March 2015
Well here we all were again (minus Jim), meeting around Leigh's house for another Troughton. However, unlike all the ones we've watched so far this four-parter has a proper DVD release! Woo-hoo!
Okay 2 episodes are missing (Parts 1 and 3) - BUT those lovely DVD makers have recreated the missing first and third parts with animation. Hoozah! Ahh but what style of animation? Will it be the choppy not-so-popular Reign of Terror style? Or will it tilt towards the slightly better Tenth Planet style? Well after the usual bout of hello's and all that jazz we put the DVD in Leigh's player and pressed play.....
Photo 1: MJ, Leigh (with the DVD cover), Mark (holding the sign)
and Jason around Leigh's house!
and Jason around Leigh's house!
...and I was very happy indeed! For me the animation was very good. Not too choppy, lots of nice atmosphere and the characterisation was pretty spot on. Polly and Ben had been animated before, but it was a first for Troughton and Jamie. Patrick Troughton must be a joy to animate as he has such a wonderfully characterful face! Anyhow the episode starts with the TARDIS making a bumpy landing and the Doctor declaring that they have arrived on Mars. Sadly the TARDIS (or his control of it) has planted them not on Mars but on the Moon in the year 2070! Instead of leaving they decide to lark about in space suits - which all looks quite fun, until Jamie leaps a bit far and knocks himself out! Before the can rescue him his body is discovered from strangers who have emerged from a nearby base. The Doctor, Ben and Polly decide to go after him and get welcomed by the workers there. After explaining that they've taken Jamie to sick bay one of their men suddenly sprouts coloured veins on his face (with a cool animation effect that we would see properly in later existing episodes) and collapses. He gets taken to sick bay whilst the guy in charge, Hobson, tells the Doctor that this base is a weather control station that keeps Earth's weather in check. They are using a
gravity machine called the Gravitron to control the weather. Offering to help them the Doctor then hears that a recent communication to Earth had been listened in on nearby on the moon.... Oooo!
Elsewhere in the sick bay Polly is looking after Jamie who keeps hallucinating and mumbling about about the Phantom Piper - a legend from his clan (a sort of Grim Reaper type). Ben has been sent to help another guy, Ralph, in the store-room. However whilst Ben is busy elsewhere Ralph gets attacked by a metal hand and, when Ben gets back, Ralph's body has gone!
Back in the sick bay another crew member dies - the Doctor tries to convince the Controller, Hobson, that something is wrong and they should warn Earth. However Hobson doesn't want to trouble Earth with something that might turn out to be nothing!
The episode ends with Jamie waking up alone in sick bay facing his Phantom Piper - which is really a Cyberman! A Cyberman who advances towards the bed as Jamie collapses again.....
Elsewhere in the sick bay Polly is looking after Jamie who keeps hallucinating and mumbling about about the Phantom Piper - a legend from his clan (a sort of Grim Reaper type). Ben has been sent to help another guy, Ralph, in the store-room. However whilst Ben is busy elsewhere Ralph gets attacked by a metal hand and, when Ben gets back, Ralph's body has gone!
Back in the sick bay another crew member dies - the Doctor tries to convince the Controller, Hobson, that something is wrong and they should warn Earth. However Hobson doesn't want to trouble Earth with something that might turn out to be nothing!
The episode ends with Jamie waking up alone in sick bay facing his Phantom Piper - which is really a Cyberman! A Cyberman who advances towards the bed as Jamie collapses again.....
Photo 2: Shaun (holding the sign), Leigh, Mark
and Jason (with the DVD cover) around Leigh's house!
and Jason (with the DVD cover) around Leigh's house!
Episode 2 exists! Hoozah! And we see the fully re-designed Cyberman. Certainly slicker than the previous ones from The Tenth Planet and I really like how they look, but I would have liked to have seen more stories with the previous design! Anyhow this Cyberman takes another body and leaves the unconscious Jamie. Polly arrives to see the Cyberman exit and she screams! The Doctor and Hobson rush back and she tells them what she saw - of course Hobson doesn't believe her! In fact he starts to see that all the bad stuff SEEMED to start with the arrival of the Doctor and his companions. Still he gives them the benefit of the doubt and 24 hours to find out what's really going on.
After lots of to-ing and fro-ing the Doctor works out why this disease is affecting some people and not others. The sugar supplies have been poisoned - some people take it, some don't! See, it doesn't just rot your teeth - it gives you dark veins and kills you as well! The Doctor says Cybermen must have contaminated the sugar, Hobson says the whole base has been checked and nothing found. However the Doctor asks about the room they are in - the sick bay? Hobson days they didn't need to as someone's always been in there! Bad mistake as soon as he says that the covers on one of the beds a thrown off revealing a Cyberman with a weapon!
After lots of to-ing and fro-ing the Doctor works out why this disease is affecting some people and not others. The sugar supplies have been poisoned - some people take it, some don't! See, it doesn't just rot your teeth - it gives you dark veins and kills you as well! The Doctor says Cybermen must have contaminated the sugar, Hobson says the whole base has been checked and nothing found. However the Doctor asks about the room they are in - the sick bay? Hobson days they didn't need to as someone's always been in there! Bad mistake as soon as he says that the covers on one of the beds a thrown off revealing a Cyberman with a weapon!
Photo 3: MJ, Leigh (with the DVD cover), Mark (holding the sign)
and Jason around Leigh's house!
Episode 3 and we're back to animation! The Cyberman reveals that they have been taking the sick bodies to convert to Cybermen - but they left Jamie as his head had been bashed - they don't like damaged goods! The Cybermen reveal that they want to take over the Gravitron to destroy Earth so that they eliminate any danger! I assume they mean just to eliminate the humans as surely the Earth would be a better place to live than the moon? And surely they ought to keep the human's alive so they can convert them??
Anyhow the whole episode ends with an army of Cyberman marching across the Moon to the base! THAT is an impressive site - I can't remember how many there were but it looked good to see them trudging slowly across the Moon set - watching as slow cloud of dust moved up. I think it being in black and white really helped the atmosphere.
and Jason around Leigh's house!
Episode 3 and we're back to animation! The Cyberman reveals that they have been taking the sick bodies to convert to Cybermen - but they left Jamie as his head had been bashed - they don't like damaged goods! The Cybermen reveal that they want to take over the Gravitron to destroy Earth so that they eliminate any danger! I assume they mean just to eliminate the humans as surely the Earth would be a better place to live than the moon? And surely they ought to keep the human's alive so they can convert them??
Anyhow the whole episode ends with an army of Cyberman marching across the Moon to the base! THAT is an impressive site - I can't remember how many there were but it looked good to see them trudging slowly across the Moon set - watching as slow cloud of dust moved up. I think it being in black and white really helped the atmosphere.
Photo 4: Close up of sleepy, but content, Shaun (holding the sign)
and Leigh around Leigh's house!
and Leigh around Leigh's house!
Episode 4 begins with the base being told that "Resistance in futile" and they should give in!
They refuse of course as a relief ship is on it's way to help - however that gets deflected by the Gravitron towards the Sun. They check out the Gravitron's controller and see that it's Evan's - a crew member who has been taken over by the Cybermen! Before they can rush him the Cybermen radio the base to tell them not to touch him - and to make the point fuller they fire a laser at the base causing a hole to be blasted in the plastic window and the air starts escaping rapidly (again - why didn't this happen in the other hole earlier? Anyhow...). This is solved by Hobson and Benoit placing a plastic tray over the hole!
Another Cyber Ship lands and more Cybermen march towards the base - but our Doctor has an idea! If they can lower the Gravitron down lower than it usually goes, then they can shoot it at the Cybermen and their ship and that should knock them all off the Moon. So with a bit of fiddling, they manage this and so the day is won. The Moonbase crew all turn to thank the Doctor but he (and his crew) are already away in the TARDIS. Here the Doctor shows where they are going next (on his time scanner) and Polly screams when she sees a menacing large claw moving on the time scanner screen. Ooooo - that would be the Macra Terror - but that's next time....!
So what about this time? Well I thought The Moonbase was excellent! The story zipped along nicely, I thought the set design was excellent - It looked like it COULD be on the Moon. The base seemed small and claustrophobic (which added to the atmosphere), the story and acting seemed good and the were some excellent costumes and effects (I especially enjoyed the redesigned Cybermen - though I wish we could have had some more adventures with them in their previous costumes and way of talking! I especially liked the grumpy commander and of course Benoit - the French guy with his very French -style scarf! Actually why did the crew all have name badges with their countries flag on them?
Anyway apart from some possible dodgy science (and plot holes - well a couple of actual holes. As I said before wouldn't that first big hole in the base suck all the air out?) this was a great serial, in my view.But what about Jason's view?
"The Moonbase - review by Jason
The more I think about this episode the more I like it. I declare it PROPER DOCTOR WHO!
In fact I actually did declare that during the episode. The Doctor announced that he must stay and see the adventure through instead of escaping in the Tardis. I could easily see any of the later Doctors acting in exactly the same way. Though there have been some moment I felt that it was at this key-point that the Doctor became fully-formed as to who his core-character would become. He now definitely sees it as his role and responsibility to take control and save the day.
I feel that all of the characters were written and portrayed as well-rounded and believable individuals. The office-politics and bureaucracy that I see in a lot of the 60s episodes, no matter what species or location, was again present here. I loved the interplay between those stationed on the moon and their bosses back on Earth. Also there were moments where Ben lost his cool and displayed growing concerns about losing his close relationship with Polly. I'm not too sure of Jamie's intentions, but sailor-boy seems especially threatened by the Scottish lad and it made Ben all the more human.
As for the actual story, I could see no plot holes other than not explaining how the Cybermen survived the events of the Tenth Planet. If that bothers you, then you may want to skip the next forty-odd years of Who's recurring villains. I loved the continuity of the people already knowing of the Cybermen, but as a thing of the past.
The Moonbase is a proper thrilling sci-fi base-under-siege story full of mystery, threat and creepy villains.
My favourite part though is that they not only continued the 'Polly put the kettle on' running gag (at least in my mind), but it was actually a plot point. 10/10."
Well that was a lovely addition by Jason.
Well next time we have to deal with giant crabs - even though, there is no such thing...
That will make sense next time!
Until then, I shall return, yes I shall return!
MJ - 25-03-15
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