Author: Michael Falkner

Timestamp #47: The Krotons

Michael Falkner5 Comments

Doctor Who: The Krotons
(4 episodes, s06e19-e22, 1968-1969)

Timestamp 047 The Krotons

 

The run of entertaining serials had to come to an end sometime, I suppose.

This one opens with a young man and woman being selected to be the companions of the Krotons. When they emerge on the other side of the door they entered in the Learning Hall, the man is vaporized and the woman is saved by the Doctor and his companions. When they visit the city to tell the people what they witnessed, they get greeted by spears and fisticuffs, which excites Jamie to no end because he’s spent most of his time on the TARDIS waiting to punch someone.

The planet was the site of a war with the Krotons that nearly destroyed the Gonds and ruined the landscape. The Krotons have been hiding in their organic ship (the Dynatrope) and haven’t been seen since, but demand the top students as companions. As it turns out, they’ve been using the mental energy of these excelling academics to recharge their systems, which the Doctor and Zoe discover after being accidentally selected by the Krotons.

Thing is, the Dynatrope is already dying without the energy from the Doctor and Zoe. Downside: The resulting explosion will devastate the city and surrounding area. Jamie escapes the Dynatrope and goes to work helping to create sulfuric acid. Zoe pours a bottle into the tank that the Krotons are using for survival, and Jamie pours a large quantity over the Dynatrope. The Gonds are free and the Krotons are dead.

I really like the subtle competition between Zoe and the Doctor. I don’t like the HADS (Hostile Action Detection System) as much, although it could explain the supposed indestructibility of the craft.

Once the story’s mystery unwrapped, it’s a basic run-and-gun base under siege with the twist of a primitive uprising. It had promise, but this one was just boring.

 

Rating: 2/5 – “Mm? What’s that, my boy?”

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: The Seeds of Death

 

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

 

 

Culture on My Mind – Movie Review: Nintendo Quest (2015)

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Culture on My Mind

Culture on My Mind
Movie Review: Nintendo Quest (2015)
October 23, 2015

“The game doesn’t start until you say YES.” –Rambo (1987)

The challenge: One man must purchase all 678 games made for the Nintendo Entertainment System in thirty days, but cannot use the internet to buy anything.

That man is Jay Bartlett, a Nintendo fan from the very beginning, and his challenge took him on an epic road trip through Canada and the United States. During his quest, documented by friend and filmmaker Rob McCallum, he learned some valuable lessons about himself and his passions, and discovered how every cartridge has a story.

Nintendo Quest chronicles Jay’s journey over ninety minutes, including a deep look at the enduring legacy of the NES and Nintendo’s fandom overall. Where most documentaries become encumbered by the weight of their subject matter, this film establishes a good variety of segments to break up what could be a monotonous sequence of visiting used game stores and watching the miles tick by. The music and visuals are very reminiscent of the NES atmosphere of the ’80s and ’90s, including a ticker in the corner of the screen that tracks Jay’s progress and budget like experience points and a health point bar.

There is some good drama in watching Jay deliberate over buying the games, especially since it tears him from his comfort zone and requires him to negotiate deals and confront his introverted personality. Jay still has to work his day job during the quest, and the reality show aspect for this part of the presentation makes you want to cheer for him. It also made my childhood, which spent thousands of hours mashing buttons on channel 3, grin ear to ear with the memories.

As Jay’s story progresses, McCallum takes the opportunity to interview fellow gamers and celebrities and experts in the field about what makes the original Nintendo system so special. Along with the common themes of memories and family, there is particular emphasis on Nintendo’s ethic during the height of the 8-bit system’s unparalleled popularity: The company and their developers set aside their inhibitions and embraced the zany and the imaginative. In today’s era, video games provide rich settings and deep stories, but the Nintendo plunked down a hero in a strange bare bones environment and let the player tell their own story with the press of every button, and perhaps that’s why the NES continues to thrive decades after it stopped being produced.

Nintendo Quest strikes a variety of tones from high and low to happy and sad, and as Jay meets his heroes and pushes to the very end of the road to succeed, you can tell that he has gained so much more than a collection from the journey. Just like the object from the surprising resolution of the quest, he now has a story to go with his passion. It’s not so much about checking the boxes and putting the plastic on the shelf, but really about loving what you love regardless of what everyone else thinks, and going where that passion takes you.

It’s a book we could all afford to take a few notes from ourselves.

Nintendo Quest is available via Vimeo on demand.

My Rating: 8/10
IMDb rating: 5.6/10

Originally published to RevolutionSF on October 19, 2015

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Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

Timestamp #46: The Invasion

Michael Falkner11 Comments

Doctor Who: The Invasion
(8 episodes, s06e11-e18, 1968)

Timestamp 046 The Invasion

 

This one starts with the ending I expected from the last serial, and it kicks things off with a bang.

After the jump to the Land of Fiction and back, the TARDIS is malfunctioning. It materializes near the moon, and has to immediately dodge an incoming missile. The visual stabilizer circuit has gone bad and causes the TARDIS to turn invisible. The travelers leave to go find Professor Travers in what they think is 20th century London. They hitch a ride and the driver tells them about International Electromatics (IE), an electronics company that has bought out the locals and caused some of them to vanish without a trace. The travelers escape the IE compound, but the pursuing security guards kill the driver outside of their jurisdiction.

Professor Travers has moved to America, but his flat is occupied by Professor Watkins and his niece Isobel (played by Sally Faulkner, no relation). Watkins works for IE, but no one can reach him, so the Doctor and Jamie go there to investigate. They are subdued and meet Tobias Vaughn, non-official Bond villain and managing director of IE, who eventually gets the TARDIS circuitry to go with the strange alien computer in his closet. That computer recognizes the duo from Planet 14 (where?) and determines that they must be eliminated.

Jamie and the Doctor leave Vaughn and are promptly followed by suits in cars. It turns out that they are from the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT), and work for recently promoted Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, who we last saw in The Web of Fear. It’s been four years since the Yetis, and the Brigadier and UNIT are investigating IE. I absolutely loved how the Doctor and Jamie try to escape, realize that they can’t, so accept their situation and start playing cards in the street.

Zoe determines that if there is trouble, the Doctor and Jamie are in it (I love this!), and she pulls a Captain Kirk on the reception computer by causing it to try solving an unsolvable problem. It goes boom, and she and Isobel are captured shortly thereafter. The Doctor and Jamie return to IE to search for the ladies, and are also captured.

After this, it’s a very Bond-flavored cat and mouse game with moles in the government and staying one step ahead of Vaughn’s plans for world domination. How is he trying to take over the world? Cybermen.

I have a long list of things I love from this serial. The Doctor’s pockets are like miniature TARDISes and are a source of unending amusement as he pulls random items from their depths. It goes well with his overall character, especially with his comic running from the shooting Cyberman and jumping at each explosion. I love seeing a modern (for the serial) era feminist working with a strong female character from the future, especially when it compares with Jamie’s period-specific sexism that seems to be integral to his character. The dynamic is fantastic, and the chemistry really makes it work.

The Bond feel is a reflection of the era and the country, and it extends beyond Vaughn to the technology and the setting overall. I like the James Bond movies, so this was fun to watch. I also like the pop culture nods (“Kilroy was here” and “Teddy Bears’ Picnic“) and the in-universe “Bad Wolf” nod in the animated reconstruction.

The march of the Cybermen from St. Paul’s Cathedral was also very similar to the march in Dark Water and Death and Heaven. It’s good to see the inspiration for those scenes. It’s also good to see the links between those modern episodes and the classic ones: The Cybermen corpses in this serial are used by UNIT to develop defenses for future invasions, and that iteration of UNIT is being led by the Brigadier’s daughter. Speaking of the Brigadier, he’s an awesome character. I’m looking forward to seeing more of him in coming series.

Finally, since this is the last appearance of the Cybermen for a while, I should mention the music. I haven’t really keyed in on a lot of the background music, but I really enjoyed the theme for the Cybermen. It’s so simple, but menacing at the same time. It’s also very mechanical without taking the use of creaking and beeping sound effects. I’m going to miss it.

The only two drawbacks to this serial are writing related: First, why does UNIT continue to attack the Cybermen with pistols and rifles when only grenades and rockets are working? Second, the final rocket strikes and wrap-up scenes are kind of anti-climatic compared to the rest of the episode.

Overall, this one get a 4.5, and I round up.

 

Rating: 5/5 – “Fantastic!”

 

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: The Krotons

 

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

 

 

Timestamp #45: The Mind Robber

Michael Falkner7 Comments

Doctor Who: The Mind Robber
(5 episodes, s06e06-e10, 1968)

Timestamp 045 The Mind Robber

Picking up right where the last one ended, the fluid links go nuts again. I wonder if they’re still under warranty. As a result, the TARDIS goes nowhere. I mean, actually to a place the Doctor calls “nowhere,” but we find out later is the Land of Fiction.

Each companion sees their home on the scanner and are lured into the setting where characters from fiction are real. The TARDIS is unavailable because it appears to have exploded. The travelers are separated and start looking for each other, solving riddles along the way to find a way out of this odd little story that was actually quite entertaining once it got past the first couple of episodes.

The use of a different actor for Jamie two episodes was a nice cover for Frazer Hines, who took time off after contracting chicken pox. I also liked the stop motion for Medusa’s head, as well as the twist with the Karkus, who cannot be proven fictional (and therefore nullified) by the Doctor since he has never heard of the character. Zoe kicks some butt and saves the Doctor.

The Doctor looks like he recognizes the name “The Master”, and even seems amused by the charge of treason – “Treason, again, really?” – It’s not the same character, but, knowing the future, the coincidence is neat. This Master is an Earth-based author who was abducted and forced to rule this land. He’s looking for a replacement, but the Doctor refuses, so the Master decides to simply take over the Earth if he does not comply. The Doctor uses the power of the fictional characters against the Master to destroy the Master Brain (which controls this little pocket universe), save the companions, and escape the Land of Fiction.

Overall, the first couple of episodes were pretty bad, but the serial resolves nicely in a battle of imagination and wits. I was disappointed by the ending, or really, lack thereof. The TARDIS reappears and… credits.

At eighteen minutes, one would think that with the shortest episode ever in the history of this show, they could have spared an additional couple of minutes to write a proper ending and set up the next serial. Alas, no.

 

Rating: 3/5 – “Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.”

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: The Invasion

 

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

Timestamp #44: The Dominators

Michael Falkner5 Comments

Doctor Who: The Dominators
(5 episodes, s06e01-e05, 1968)

Timestamp 044 The Dominators

 

With a setting like the Island of Death, how could this not be a Doctor Who tale?

The focus of this simplistic serial are the odd couple called the Dominators. Navigator Rago, who I shall refer to as Felix, wants to drill the planet for an energy source to fuel their fleet and would prefer to use the indigenous people as slave labor. Probationer Toba, who I refer to as Oscar, just wants to blow everything up. A century or so before the Doctor’s arrival on the island, the Dulcian society experimented with atomic weaponry. After seeing how badly it mucked up the works and made perfectly good real estate uninhabitable, they swore of warfare and became a planet of pacifists. By coincidence, a spaceship with two General Zod lookalikes and a handful of spiky-headed Quarks arrived and hoovered up all of the radiation on the island. If it weren’t for the slavery and death aspect, these guys could make killing in picking up after the galaxy. I mean, look at all of the plots so far from the Daleks and the Cybermen alone.

Meanwhile, a pleasure craft is headed to the Island of Death for an unsanctioned extreme vacation. I got distracted by their wardrobe, which is some kind of bath towel/drapery toga motif, and I’m guessing that they did too because they certainly weren’t watching the road. Crash, boom, bang, and now they’re stuck on the island. Moments later, they encounter the Quarks and… oh, well… the vacationers are dead. Mostly.

Putting the final pieces in play, the Doctor and the travelers arrive looking for a holiday. The Island of Death apparently used to be quite the vacation spot. They find a war museum and then encounter the a scientific team that explain the brief flirtation with nuclear weapons, and after splitting Zoe from Jamie and the Doctor, the latter two are captured by Oscar and Felix.

These Dominators are arrogant in their power. The Dulcians end up being well-built as slave workers (two hearts, even) but Jamie is not. The arrogance is in full display as they fail to examine the Doctor and assume that his physiology is identical to weak and frail human’s. Their mistake.

The other big highlight for me in the examination phase was the Doctor’s fantastic way of thinking: Is the point Dominators’ intelligence test to be more clever or stupid? Which is more highly prized in slave labor? They choose to play stupid and be less of a threat to their captors.

I’m still not sure what to make of Zoe. She seems less of a damsel-in-distress and a bit more intellectual than recent companions. She’s also a good community organizer and able to convince at least one of the Dulcans to fight. The Doctor certainly loves to tease her about her intellect.

The Dulcians are intellectually lazy. Ballan, the leader of the expedition, displayed poor reasoning skills in the analysis of the radiation, and acts like a typical person illiterate in the sciences by not asking questions with respect to his observations. If more people continued to ask questions instead of just accepting what their eyes tell them, the world would be a much better place.

The story comes to a climax as Jamie spearheads the resistance against the Dominators, and saves the day with his idea to tunnel through and catch the seed device to prevent the destruction of the planet. The Doctor has a somewhat bloodthirsty but innovative way to get the explosive seed device off the planet, and Oscar and Felix become background radiation.

Final notes: First, the Quarks were a bit difficult to understand with their over-processed voices. Second, the sonic screwdriver acting as a cutting torch continues to display that the new-Who series is not unique in using it as a convenient-to-the-plot multifunction tool. At least it wasn’t a time vector generator.

I liked this one, but not as the drama is was intended to be. Instead, it comes across as quite humorous with the odd couple aliens and the pacifist message that is so heavy-handed, it squashes the serial. All in all, a mediocre start to the sixth series.

 

Rating: 3/5 – “Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.”

 

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: The Mind Robber

 

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

 

 

 

Timestamp: Fifth Series Summary

Michael Falkner15 Comments

Doctor Who: Fifth Series Summary

Timestamp Logo Second

 

I am of two minds with this series/season. Before I get there, I do realize that I’ve been using the terms series and season interchangeably. The TARDIS wiki that I use as the reference for Timestamps tends to call the classic years by season and the new years by series. Most BBC shows I’ve watched tended to use series regardless of production year, so I tend to use series more frequently. I may eventually settle on a standard, but I think it’s pretty clear what I’m talking about within the confines of Timestamps, especially since I hyperlink frequently.

On to Series Five…

Starting with the negative, the entire group of stories was in the “base under siege” style. From what I understand, this was a move to save money and time, especially since the show was constantly under the threat of cancellation. This set was also mostly reconstructions, and none of the stories were known to have survived the BBC’s tape purges until the 1990s when The Tomb of the Cybermen was unearthed. Between the repetitive storylines and the visuals of the reconstructions, it was difficult to be motivated to watch. I did, however, try to be fair by judging each story on its own merits rather than judging it against the feel of the series overall.

On a tangent, I do need to revisit The Enemy of the World and The Web of Fear at some point in the future since they have been recently discovered.

On the positive, this was one of the strongest set of performances in the show so far. The scores reflect that, with Fury from the Deep taking the low end with a middle of the line rating. When compared against the Second Doctor’s serials in the fourth series, it’s also a strong improvement. This series received the top average of any series so far.

The top score don’t necessarily mean that I like the Second Doctor more, though. Hartnell’s Doctor was very strong even when his stories were not, and in his curmudgeonly yet caring grandfatherly portrayal, he brought to the show what was needed to get it moving. Troughton’s Doctor has been a different take that keeps the undercurrent of grumpiness with a whimsy and childlike outlook that makes the lead character relatable in what was historically a children’s show. The First Doctor made audiences identify with the companions as they explored time and space, and the Second Doctor (so far) makes audiences identify with the team as a whole. Whether it was intentional or accidental, it is a beautiful formula that I have enjoyed watching develop.

I’m looking forward to watching it continue to grow as the sixth series starts, and I’m also looking forward to saying goodbye to the reconstructions as Timestamps enters the homestretch of the Second Doctor’s adventures.

 

The Tomb of the Cybermen – 5
The Abominable Snowmen – 4
The Ice Warriors – 4
The Enemy of the World – 5
The Web of Fear – 4
Fury from the Deep – 3
The Wheel in Space – 4

Series Five Average Rating: 4.1/5

 

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: The Dominators

 

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

Timestamp #43: The Wheel in Space

Michael Falkner11 Comments

Doctor Who: The Wheel in Space
(6 episodes, s05e34-e41, 1968)

Timestamp 043 The Wheel in Space

 

The Wheel in Space is still the basic “base under siege” story that was typical of the fifth series, but this one feels more unique.  First, the crew of the titular space station doesn’t believe in the Cyberman threat until it actually shows itself. Second, the antagonists partially control the escape route (the TARDIS is stranded on the rocket with the Cybermen) and are a bit more menacing in this story, finally bringing the boys in aluminum foil suits back to nearly the same threat level that they displayed in The Tenth Planet. There’s also the added twist of the impending meteor shower which adds dramatic pressure to the plot and prevents the protagonists from taking too much time or waiting for the enemy to make a move.

We also see a considerable amount of hand waving combined with smoke and mirrors in this serial. Classic Who fans complain about how the recent era (the “New Who” era) of the show treats the iconic sonic screwdriver like a magic wand – and the show runners even make fun of it themselves, as seen in the 50th anniversary special Day of the Doctor – but the “time vector generator” is a much more egregious example of a magic MacGuffin and overall problem solver. It acts as an improvised gun to destroy the robot on the rocket (wait, doesn’t the Doctor abhor using guns?), produces radio interference to signal the space station and save Jamie and the Doctor, supercharges the station’s X-ray laser to destroy the Cyberman spaceship, and controls the entire “bigger on the inside” element of the TARDIS itself. It’s less iconic than the sonic, and stretches the entire joke of the Second Doctor’s skill at pulling the right tool for the job from his pockets to a non-humorous extreme. That little metal bar feels overly convenient and considerably lazy scriptwise, and I kind of hope that we never see it again.

Okay, enough with that.

The motivations of the station crew are believable, and that helped sell me on this serial. They want to destroy the rocket because its erratic flight poses a collision danger to the station. They’re also skeptical of the Doctor and Jamie because the travelers are conspicuously unable to fit in with the current time, and act suspiciously at every move. even right down to the genesis of the Doctor’s long-term alias, John Smith. It’s also fascinating to see how the crew relates to Zoe, an astrophysicist relegated to librarian, which (ironically) is a role that the station couldn’t operate without. She feels underappreciated and completely enthralled with the mystery of the Doctor, so she joins the team as the new companion. She’s definitely quite smart and innocent, but somewhat shy and introverted, and I’m eager to see how she manages with the Doctor and Jamie.

Other positives on this serial include the TARDIS defense mechanism driven by Powerpoint slides of serene temptations, the decorations in the Cyberman control center that are giant lava lamps, and a callback to the infamous fluid link that keeps the TARDIS grounded after a power overload vaporizes the link’s mercury supply.

One minor downside was the Cybermen marching through space. That was rather silly.

This was a really good serial, but the convenience of the time vector generator really soured it for me. I settled on a 3.5 out of 5, but, as always, I’m looking forward and working with whole numbers.

 

Rating: 4/5 – “Would you care for a jelly baby?”

 

UP NEXT – Fifth Series Summary

 

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

 

 

Timestamp #42: Fury from the Deep

Michael Falkner8 Comments

Doctor Who: Fury from the Deep
(6 episodes, s05e29-e34, 1968)

Timestamp 042 Fury from the Deep

 

The TARDIS arrives in the middle of the ocean, and thankfully it floats. Of course, any danger of drowning in a time machine is casually tossed aside by the Doctor endangering his companions by smearing anomalous sea foam in their faces. How reckless, since that foam is the precursor to the titular fury from the deep.

The pumping station, which moves gas from the platforms in the ocean to the mainland is experiencing both a spy problem and a flow problem. The flow just messes with monthly efficiency ratings and causes the station’s supervisor, Robson, to act like a petulant child. The spy lets an invasive seaweed-and-foam entity into the base to – yawn – take over the base and eventually – yawn – the world.

I tried to judge this serial based on its own merits rather than against the problems of the entire fifth series. They’ve been enjoyable, but this season’s theme of defending the base under siege combined with longer serial formats that could have been seriously slimmed down is getting really hard to ignore. This story was an okay break from the alien of the week formula, but it’s still clichéd.

On the upside, we get a chance for Victoria to directly save the day before taking her leave of the TARDIS. She finally breaks the tradition of companions getting terrible send-offs with Victoria having a strong role in the story and getting a family and home in the end. On the downside, where did all of this concern about Victoria feeling unsafe come from? Before now, she hasn’t voiced much of this concern aside from her incessant screaming.

Other positives include the first use of the sonic screwdriver, actually using the TARDIS and its resources in the middle of a serial, and the excellent use of two of the creepiest looking men I’ve ever seen for the station’s killer spies.

A major drawback was Robson. I seriously wanted to feed him to the seaweed-foam-monster and leave him there. He’s a terrible supervisor.

This story was decent enough, but the real high point (and low point) was saying goodbye to Victoria. I wasn’t happy with her sudden change of heart in this story, but I am happy with her final resolution. I’m also ready to be done with the base siege story format.

 

Rating: 3/5 – “Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.”

 

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: The Wheel in Space

 

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.

 

Dragon Con 2015

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Dragon Con 2015
September 4th to September 7th
Atlanta, GA

dragoncon_logo

 

It’s just about time for what I fondly refer to as a family reunion. Every year over Labor Day weekend, Dragon Con, my favorite fan-run convention, invades Atlanta with 65,000+ geeks from across the genre spectrum.

If you plan on being at the party, this is where I plan to be. Stop by and say hi!

 

Dragon Con Newbies Walking Tours
Thursday 2:30p-5:00p (Marriott A601 – A602)
Want to learn the best ways to get between the hotels? Did you know there’s a food court? Come on a walking tour to find out and meet other newbies.

Dragon Con Newbies Q&A
 Thursday 5:30p-6:30p (Marriott A601 – A602)
First Dragon Con? Are you confused or overwhelmed? Several long-time con attendees will share tips & tricks and give you a chance to ask questions.

Dragon Con Newbies 101
Friday 10:00a-11:00a (Hyatt Regency V)
First Dragon Con? Are you confused or overwhelmed? Several long-time con attendees will share tips & tricks and give you a chance to ask questions.

Jaws: The 40th Anniversary
Friday 7:00p-8:00p (Marriott M303 – M304)
This movie is legendary. We’re gonna need a bigger track room.

Classic Sci-Fi Roll-A-Panel
Sunday 10:00a-11:00a (Marriott M303 – M304)
A random roll of a 20-sided die determines this lightning round of mini-panels about classic sci-fi that we didn’t have time to cover this year.

Back to the Future: 30th Anniversary & Costume Contest
Sunday 5:30p-6:30p (Marriott M303 – M304)
Where this celebration is going, we don’t need roads. Hoverboard over for our Back to the Future cosplay contest!

RevCast Live!
Monday 11:30a-12:30p (Hilton 203)
Commentary, criticism, & comedy about movies, TV, & all corners of geeky genres and culture. A sci-fi convention in your pocket. Join them as they wrap up Dragon Con 2015!

 

See you in one week!

For more information about Dragon Con, visit the official site at DragonCon.org.

 

Timestamp #41: The Web of Fear

Michael Falkner16 Comments

Doctor Who: The Web of Fear
(6 episodes, s05e23-e28, 1968)

Timestamp 041 The Web of Fear

 

Picking up right after the last serial, we get the return of Professor Travers, the Yeti, and the Great Intelligence. It’s been forty years and two serials since we last saw these guys, and the professor has provided a way for the Great Intelligence to return from being blown up and take over the world.  He kept a control sphere, reactivated it, and there you go.

The TARDIS gets trapped in a web, which is intriguing because it tells me that the Great Intelligence can intercept the ship’s random flight plans. Is it an analogue to a bow wake or propeller noise in the depths of time? It’s never explained. Regardless, the Doctor breaks them free and the TARDIS materializes in the London Underground. And now the cute little reference to London’s subway in The Snowmen makes more sense.

They explore, find it abandoned, and encounter some soldiers. Jamie and Victoria get apprehended by the soldiers, and the Doctor is waylaid by a couple of Yeti who prevent an explosion from destroying the subway tunnels by covering it in the same web that snared the TARDIS.

We get to meet up with Travers again – I absolutely love his revelation that holy crap these are the same people I met forty years and two serials ago – and get introduced to new players Anne (the professor’s daughter) and Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart (hey, I know that guy!).

It turns out that the Intelligence has a mole in the base, and a reporter known as Chorley really wants to get away from the whole situation. Victoria lets slip about the TARDIS, Chorley go in search of it, and the travelers chase after him. I’m presuming that it’s because they don’t want him to die because I assume that the TARDIS is locked. Of course, that’s only because the First Doctor made a habit of locking it when he left, but I don’t know for certain that the Second Doctor has that habit.

The actual plot gets explained by the Great Intelligence: It was impressed that The Doctor defeated it forty years and two serials ago, and instead of destroying such talent, the Intelligence wants to possess it. The Intelligence gives the Doctor twenty minutes to surrender, takes Victoria as incentive, and promises to leave once it has the Doctor’s intellect. Realizing that a full-frontal assault is futile after Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart loses all of his troops, the Doctor rigs a control sphere to control a single Yeti and leaves to meet the Intelligence face to figurative face.

Everyone comes together at the lair of the Intelligence, and the being speaks to everyone through the mole, the now lifeless body of Staff Sergeant Arnold. The Doctor submits to the mind absorption, but Jamie looses the controlled Yeti to disrupt the proceedings and free everyone. The Doctor is angry because he had reversed the headset to absorb the Intelligence, but now it’s free (free fallin’) in space and no longer connected to the Earth. Crisis abated… at least for another 44 years in our world, anyway.

I question the Doctor’s efforts in this one. The Great Intelligence is so immense and powerful, and I don’t know if the Doctor could handle that kind of download to his brain. I feel that 1) it would have killed him, or 2) it would have backfired and given the Intelligence a corporeal form. That’s one hell of a gamble.

It was fun to see the Yeti again, even if it was in a poorly done reconstruction. The reconstructions are starting to wear on me, and while I’m still enjoying the journey, I’m really looking forward to the coming seasons just to see the stories a bit more clearly.

I need to seek out the recently discovered film version (which is still missing episode three), but my enthusiasm to do so is a little less for this one. It was a good story overall, but really slow. It needed to be tightened up and streamlined to four or five episodes. Even with that complaint, it’s still a good missing link in the mythology and a good springboard for things to come, and I did enjoy it.

 

Rating: 4/5 – “Would you care for a jelly baby?”

 

UP NEXT – Doctor Who: Fury from the Deep

 

The Timestamps Project is an adventure through the televised universe of Doctor Who, story by story, from the beginning of the franchise. For more reviews like this one, please visit the project’s page at Creative Criticality.