By Alex Doust
“What’s the point in being grown up if you can’t be childish sometimes?”
The fourth doctor, portrayed by Tom Baker was certainly lived up to his statement. He could be serious, he could be violent but he took the eccentricity of Patrick Troughton and escalated it!
(Took Troughton’s Jelly Babies too!)
“What’s the point in being grown up if you can’t be childish sometimes?”
The fourth doctor, portrayed by Tom Baker was certainly lived up to his statement. He could be serious, he could be violent but he took the eccentricity of Patrick Troughton and escalated it!
(Took Troughton’s Jelly Babies too!)
Robots of Death
Trusting every aspect of your continued existence to the hands of machines is never going to be a good idea, as this episode proves. Landing on a sand mine ship the Doctor and Leela are accused of murder immediately, they are however quite obviously not the killers, the killers are the robots who are supposed to be serving the humans who run the ship. Someone made threats before the mining operation started, someone has managed to hack the robots, reprogram them to serve another, and to kill. This begins in secret to begin with, but before long all the robots are out to kill the humans, and the doctor and the miners enter a tense battle of survival against robots that are stronger and faster than them.
The design of the robots is fantastic, especially for the budget they were on at the time, they managed to pull of a really effective and creepy image. The sets are done brilliantly as well, as is the acting! It’s a great episode and if you’ve not seen it, where have you been?
Trusting every aspect of your continued existence to the hands of machines is never going to be a good idea, as this episode proves. Landing on a sand mine ship the Doctor and Leela are accused of murder immediately, they are however quite obviously not the killers, the killers are the robots who are supposed to be serving the humans who run the ship. Someone made threats before the mining operation started, someone has managed to hack the robots, reprogram them to serve another, and to kill. This begins in secret to begin with, but before long all the robots are out to kill the humans, and the doctor and the miners enter a tense battle of survival against robots that are stronger and faster than them.
The design of the robots is fantastic, especially for the budget they were on at the time, they managed to pull of a really effective and creepy image. The sets are done brilliantly as well, as is the acting! It’s a great episode and if you’ve not seen it, where have you been?
The Horror of Fang Rock
This is a personal favourite of mine, where we meet the Rutans for the first time, the race with which the Sontarans are at war. The Doctor and Leela arrive on the island of Fang Rock, where the only inhabitants are the lighthouse staff. The Doctor soon determines that there is something wrong, and before long people begin to die…
This episode really does keep you on the edge of your seat. It’s a brilliant adventure and one of the first episodes I ever watched. It’s about survival, it’s about human strength and weakness, and it’s an unusually sombre episode for the fourth Doctor.
This is a personal favourite of mine, where we meet the Rutans for the first time, the race with which the Sontarans are at war. The Doctor and Leela arrive on the island of Fang Rock, where the only inhabitants are the lighthouse staff. The Doctor soon determines that there is something wrong, and before long people begin to die…
This episode really does keep you on the edge of your seat. It’s a brilliant adventure and one of the first episodes I ever watched. It’s about survival, it’s about human strength and weakness, and it’s an unusually sombre episode for the fourth Doctor.
Logopolis
Ahh Logopolis, the last ever Tom Baker episode, I can both complement and slate this episode, the acting from Tom Baker is superb as always, however we have a new character added in this episode, Tegan, and Tegan isn’t a very well thought out character, in this episode she discovers her Auntie Vanessa has been murdered by the Master, but she recovers disturbingly quickly when traveling around with the Doctor…
Enough on that, this episode is brilliant because it shows us the re birth of the Master, a character not properly used since the seventies, the Doctors true archenemy. At the end of the previous episode (The Keeper of Traken) the Master managed to steal someone’s body and he was reborn after using all his regenerations. The Master inadvertently brings about the destruction of all reality, and teams up with the doctor to save it, once done he yet again defies the Doctor and tries to take control. After foiling the Master, the Doctor, already aware of his impending fate, falls from a radio telescope. Laying on the ground, surrounded by his allies, he speaks the immortal words “It’s the end… But the moment has been prepared for”. Next thing we see is a baby faced Peter Davison lying in Tom’s scarf!
As much as I love Peter, I cannot help but loathe him when I see him there, he’s a marvellous doctor, but I always feel really bad saying goodbye to Tom!
Ahh Logopolis, the last ever Tom Baker episode, I can both complement and slate this episode, the acting from Tom Baker is superb as always, however we have a new character added in this episode, Tegan, and Tegan isn’t a very well thought out character, in this episode she discovers her Auntie Vanessa has been murdered by the Master, but she recovers disturbingly quickly when traveling around with the Doctor…
Enough on that, this episode is brilliant because it shows us the re birth of the Master, a character not properly used since the seventies, the Doctors true archenemy. At the end of the previous episode (The Keeper of Traken) the Master managed to steal someone’s body and he was reborn after using all his regenerations. The Master inadvertently brings about the destruction of all reality, and teams up with the doctor to save it, once done he yet again defies the Doctor and tries to take control. After foiling the Master, the Doctor, already aware of his impending fate, falls from a radio telescope. Laying on the ground, surrounded by his allies, he speaks the immortal words “It’s the end… But the moment has been prepared for”. Next thing we see is a baby faced Peter Davison lying in Tom’s scarf!
As much as I love Peter, I cannot help but loathe him when I see him there, he’s a marvellous doctor, but I always feel really bad saying goodbye to Tom!
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