KOOL TV REVIEW: 'DOCTOR WHO - HARVEST OF TIME' NOVEL

DOCTOR WHO: HARVEST OF TIME

Featuring the Third Doctor, Jo Grant, UNIT and the Master

A novel by Alastair Reynolds

Available 6th June 2013, from BBC BOOKS

“Nastiness comes in all sizes”

The Doctor

Current TV Time Lord Matt Smith may not be back on our screens until later this year, but DOCTOR WHO fans have lots to celebrate in this anniversary year with the Doctors of the past-splendid fellows, all of them!- within BBC BOOKS continuing evolving range of original fiction. Acclaimed British sci-fi author Alastair Reynolds follows Stephen Baxter’s prominent footsteps in helming his first, and hopefully not last, original DOCTOR WHO novel set within his favourite Doctor/era from childhood. Pacily written, Harvest of Time joyously captures the spirit of that five-year earthbound period starring the beaky nosed, cape-swirling hero Jon Pertwee.

Set at some point between the Classic WHO stories The Daemons and The Sea Devils, the incarcerated mind of evil that is the Doctor’s deadliest nemesis from Gallifrey, the

Master, is up to his old tricks again-desperate to escape his confinement and using the past, present and future as his weapon. But strange things are afoot linked to his unique presence. Time seems to be changing around him. And why are his UNIT captors suddenly and inexplicably starting to lose their memory of their Public Enemy Number One? What’s causing this “time fade? And can it be stopped?

Even with this looming threat of forgetfulness, however, a bigger catastrophe is quickly beckoning our heroes attentions, as the Doctor’s favourite planet is in danger once again. There’s metal killer crabs, pockets of Earth’s oceans being diminished or disappearing, collapsing North Sea oil rigs and an ancient alien ship which should be destroyed but isn’t, its lethal cargo intact and ready for revenge…

One of the most belligerent and vicious life forms who exist to conquer by sheer numbers, the Sild, have made their arrival on Earth, emerging from its once blue seas…and they want it!

The warm, comfy hint of the shows halcyon seventies days remain intact and finely recreated by Reynolds. The affectionate relationship between the mature Doctor and young Jo Grant recreates the charisma of stars Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning (even if they are separated for the vast majority of the book), whilst Pertwee’s mannerisms and dialogue in the overall scheme of things all feel right. So too do the UNIT regulars (the indomitable Brigadier, likable Etonian Mike Yates, reliable Benton), all given sturdy moments in the sun.

The story’s new supporting players are solid whilst keeping to the era: there’s corrupted ministers and lackeys, an oil rig boss with an important past and future history, and the disposable soldiers always getting killed by the threat of the week, set against some nice WHO location backdrops- an abandoned nuclear plant, oil rigs, dying planets and an epic-size spaceship, the former two appearing when the story kicks in to big sci-fi concept mode during its second half: Chapter Twenty-one, in particular, has a brilliant ending that’ll make you want to keep reading on into the night…

But it’s the Master that reigns supreme in this adventure- his hypnotic visage, diabolical evil, supreme intellect and all-round charm as personified by the late, magnificent Roger Delgado. His eventual and inevitable team-up with the Doctor, which was such a big and vital element of that era’s success, continues with aplomb.

With some nice links to old and new series, and one fun little plot element/tribute that fans of Douglas Adams time on WHO will greatly enjoy, Harvest of Time is easily one of the best original DOCTOR WHO novels in a very long time, and a true pleasure to read. A well-thought out, classic mix of nostalgia and sci-fi trappings within a lovely tribute to the TARGET books of old, but with added sophistication.

All we need now is some imaginary RADIO TIMES episode clippings made real, to give us some teasing plot elements and a cast list, and our nostalgia senses for Classic WHO are fully primed!

KOOL TV REVIEW: A lovely tribute to seventies tea-time horror and imagination-the spirit of Jon Pertwee, and the shows then dedicated and highly creative seventies production team, lives on! 5 out of 5

Get hold of HARVEST OF TIME here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Harvest-Alastair-Reynolds/dp/1849904189

KOOL TV REVIEW: 'DOCTOR WHO - THE MIND OF EVIL' DVD

The Master (Roger Delgado) wants revenge on the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) in the latest DOCTOR WHO DVD: The Mind of Evil. Images: BBC.

DOCTOR WHO: THE MIND OF EVIL (Two-disc DVD)

Starring Jon Pertwee as the Doctor and Katy Manning as Jo Grant

Written by Don Houghton

Directed by Timothy Combe

Available 3^rd June from BBC DVD

Reviewed by Scott Weller

Weapons of the mind and of physical carnage are the latest problems for our heroic DOCTOR WHO as the battle against his sworn enemy, dangerous fellow Time Lord singularly known as the Master, continues, in the classic six-part 1971 adventure of prisons and peace conferences: The Mind of Evil, finally available in restored full colour on two-disc DVD from the BBC.

Whilst all of the shows Doctors and eras are being well catered for in the BBC’s DVD releases during the Fiftieth Anniversary, Jon Pertwee’s era has shined the brightest so far, what with this and the prior release last month of another of that period’s most regarded stories, the nightmare parallel Earth story Inferno.

Trailer: Mind of Evil - Doctor Who DVD - YouTube

A solid and hugely successful second script from that story’s same writer, Don Houghton, The Mind of Evil is just as thoroughly entertaining but goes for a less depressing scenario-here we’re firmly entering James Bond-esque territory mixed with prison drama intrigue and an interesting sci-fi monster of the week twist that proves an original new threat to our hero. Mind is a satisfying hybrid in many ways, mixing the Quatermass style realism of the show’s previous season with the fantasy elements that would become so indicative and enjoyed of the Terrance Dicks and Barry Letts’ full creative takeover of the series with Season Eight- keeping the big concepts, but making them further audience friendly, in a more fast paced, flashy comic book style than had been seen before. It’s also one of the few six-parters of the time that successfully maintaining its story duration, and never flags.

 

Prime Pertwee! The Third Doctor begins his investigations.

Star Pertwee clearly enjoys the seriousness of the dilemmas and dangers the Doctor faces here, but also has the chance to show some charm and humour, especially in his scenes with the Brigadier (the Wise to his Morecambe) or with relatively new companion Jo Grant (the always endearingly sexy Katy Manning), their relationship starting to blossom whilst captured in Stangmoor Prison, during their examination of an unusual new device to temper hardened criminals, planned to replacing capital punishment, which soon goes awry-alien interference and manipulation quickly discovered behind the stone walls and confinement cells.

 

The Master (Roger Delgado) revels in the chaos.

Arch-foe Roger Delgado as the Master makes the most of his season-long guest star appearances, and is very much the Bond villain here, what with his chauffeur and limo, a big cigar to puff down on and a femme fatale, in the shapely form of the controlled Chinese delegate liaison (played by Don Houghton’s wife Pik-Sen Lim), to do his bidding. Never has the clicking of fingers been more sinisterly effective.

Away from his Nehru high-collared suits, “the Doctor’s Moriarty” has the world’s fate in his vice like grip, stealing a deadly nerve gas missile and planning to attack a vital World Peace Conference that’s simultaneously taking place. (As a continuity side-note, world diplomatic relations with the Chinese reaches a state of escalating tension by the next season, and the return of the Skaroan tinpots, in Day of the Daleks.)

Jo Grant (Katy Manning) and the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) feel the mental terror of the Keller Machine.

Of all is appearances in the Pertwee years, this is the closest that the Master gets to almost defeating his pest of an enemy, and he certainly puts the Doctor through the ringer at numerous times: beaten up psychologically by the alien inhabiting Keller Machine, and physically by the prison thugs enjoying their freedom in the madhouse.

And the Master’s “pet” in the Keller Machine – an equal mind of evil to him- is certainly one of the most formidable monsters of the shows era, despite its box-like appearance. The concept of a creature that feeds on fear and terrifies victims to death remains a strong one- its on-set realisation pretty effective, accompanied by some memorable sound design from Brian Hodgson and a hauntingly dangerous electronic whirly-gig theme of Machiavellian malevolence from the series then regular composer, Dudley Simpson, effectively utilized in the scenes that show the device disappearing and re-appearing to drain and kill its victims.

 

Prisoner Branham (Neil McCarthy) is an early victim of the Keller Machine.

Soon, the out of control Keller machine is freed from even the Master’s enslavement, as the classy villain once again, despite his determined abilities and grand ambitions to destroy the Earth in front of the Doctor’s eyes, makes a complete mess of things and is forced to rely on his rival and former friend to help him contain its influence.

In the midst of all this, the Master’s other plans for the planet, namely the takeover of a nerve gas missile, gather momentum, and it's here that the Doctor’s loyal friends at the top secret UNIT organisation come into story play.

 

The impressive nerve gas missile stolen by the Master.

A more cozy set-up than what had been previously shown last season, our small band of Britain’s finest alien-fighting troopers show their mettle by the end of the story, though early on they prove no match for the abilities of the Master’s assembled, hardened criminals when they attack their missile convoy- of which even our friendly Sergeant Benton (John Levene) gets seriously hurt in the battle, whilst Captain Mike Yates (Richard Franklin), who should never be put anywhere near a motorbike!- becomes a captive of the renegade Time Lord for a brief period.

From all this chaos, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart’s leading from the front attitude- a rallying call for his brave soldiers- proves its worth in a successful Trojan Horse-style attack on Stangmoor Prison (represented in some lovely location filming at Dover Castle) to seize the missile and rescue the Doctor. The sequence is easily one of the character and actor Nicholas Courtney’s finest moments in the series, effectively utilizing Derek Ware’s at-their-prime stunt team, HAVOC.

 

Mailer (William Marlowe) plans to kill the Doctor.

A fine supporting cast caught in the drama and conflict includes THE GENTLE TOUCH’s William Marlowe, always at his best when playing hardened baddies, Michael Sheard, in his second of several appearances throughout the series classic era, as a friendly prison doctor taken prisoner, and Neil McCarthy, making a worthy impression as brain-sapped gentle giant Barnham, a survivor of the Keller Machine’s early operation, who also plays an important part in its defeat by story’s end.

 

The Doctor has no choice but to incapacitate Barnham.

Having steered WHO success the year before with his directing of the hibernation emerging Silurians, Timothy Combe’s work on Mind is fast paced and has some great angles. It’s a real shame that unforeseen filming problems and some expensive additional shooting on this already over budget big story meant that he was never to return to direct future episodes of the show – a policy decision made by the BBC at the time that was well and truly wrong, and one which, to this day, haunts and clearly upsets the director, having been involved in so many previous and successful WHO stories in various behind the scenes capacities. Combe clearly gave one hundred per cent to this story and was surely a much missed creative force during the Pertwee era.

 

The inmates have taken control of Stangmoor Prison.

Bringing extra greatness to little money, and stretching the BBC studios to their fullest resources, Combe, under the gun all that time, is capably assisted by designer Raymond London, showing greater range here than he did on his previous B/W Patrick Troughton story- the woefully budget inadequate The Krotons.

There’s really only one very small negative to this otherwise superb adventure: a mythical Chinese dragon monster that appears in hallucinatory but deadly form at the end of episode two/the beginning of episode three, which is more cute-looking than ferocious, affectionately and derogatorily nick-named Puff the Magic Dragon at the time by Terrance Dicks!

A selection of stills from the excellent colourised episode one work.

Dream dragon aside, it’s truly a shame that The Mind of Evil doesn’t exist in its original pal 625 line state-of all the Pertwee tales this is one of the most deserving. Though, in some respects, its earlier B/W life did give it some story-telling atmosphere. The new colourisation, a lengthy time-consuming process which delayed the release until pretty much the end of the WHO DVD run, is a visual marvel, done with the best available technology. Episodes One, Four to Six show the best overall quality, though the middle episodes regrettably have some so far uncorrectable streaking problems. However, colour detail pulled out in the best sequences-especially within the prison interiors- is very good. Full marks to Stuart Humphryes, Jonathan Wood and Peter Cricker for all their dedicated efforts, and to stalwart Mark Ayres for the audio restoration.

Beyond the huge behind the scenes work, the overall extras accompanying the release are solid if not quite as expansive as previous releases. There’s a big-time audio commentary from Katy Manning, Pik-Sen Lim, Fernanda Marlowe (who played UNIT Corporal Bell in several Season Eight adventures), Timothy Combe, Barry Letts, Terrance Dicks and Derek Ware that proves a rewarding listening experience, moderated by Toby Hadoke.

Barry Letts, Fernanda Marlowe and Pik-Sen Lim, with Timothy Combe, return to Dover Castle in The Military Mind documentary.

But the standout is the all-new documentary, The Military Mind, taking many of the cast and crew back to Dover Castle for some happy (and not so happy) reminiscing (a then and now look at the location is also included as a separate featurette). Contributors here include Nicholas Courtney and Barry Letts (recorded several years before their sad passing), Pik-Sen Lim, Fernanda Marlowe and Timothy Combe. Combe once again proves very enthusiastic about his time on WHO and his sadness at not doing more directing for it shows through at the end. Another fine production from producer/director Chris Chapman.

From the archives comes an intriguing 24 minute day in the life documentary from 1971 on the now sadly defunct BBC television Centre, at its iconic powerhouse drama and comedy making best (shot at the same time that WHO’s eighth season was continuing studio production). It’s a fascinating slice of nostalgia from a time when TV, in the days before iPlayer and DVD recorders, really did mean something to its audiences.

 

The Keller Machine wants your mind!

PDFs of the RADIO TIMES and a 1971 Kellogs Sugar SmacksWHO promotion are there for downloading, there’s a surviving off-air recorded voice over trailer for the story from 1971, a photo gallery of mostly BW images, and production info subtitles that shore things up. And there’s a spiffing trailer for the next Jon Pertwee release- the all-film Blu-ray release-a first for the Classic Series- of his debut adventure against the plastic-loving Autons menace, in Spearhead from Space!

KOOL TV RATING: Exciting and efficiently made, The Mind of Evil is another genuine All-Time Classic WHO making its brain-drain presence felt on DVD. Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5

Get hold of The Mind of Evil here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-The-Mind-Evil/dp/B00BPCNNXS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369231695&sr=8-1&keywords=mind+of+evil

The recent BFI screening of the story with a lively cast and crew talk: Doctor Who: The Mind of Evil Event - YouTube

KOOL TV REVIEW: 'DOCTOR WHO - THE CLAWS OF AXOS' SPECIAL EDITION DVD - 2 DISCS

Golden Armageddon! The Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and Jo Grant (Kate Manning) face a new threat from The Master (Roger Delgado) and the Axons in the latest Classic DOCTOR WHO Special Edition release: The Claws of Axos. Images: BBC

DOCTOR WHO – THE CLAWS OF AXOS: SPECIAL EDITION DVD (2 DISCS)

Starring Jon Pertwee as the Doctor and Katy Manning as Jo Grant

Written by Bob Baker and Dave Martin

Directed by Michael Ferguson

Available from BBC CONSUMER PRODUCTS

Reviewed by Scott Weller

Beware Greeks bearing gifts. Or rather charismatic “we come in peace” golden skinned alien humanoids happy to provide us with a miracle new energy source! Earth falls for the ultimate intergalactic Trojan Horse as the alien infestation known as Axos quickly embeds itself into the crust of the planet, its chilling tentacles ready to drain the world of its life and power, and only the heroic Third Doctor, unwillingly joining forces with his sworn enemy, The Master, can defeat them in this splendidly colourful action packed romp from 1971, now available in a glorious and restored new 2 disc Special Edition DVD: THE CLAWS OF AXOS!

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w3lPEf2pko

Originally known as THE FRIENDLY INVASION followed by the jazzy B-movie sounding THE VAMPIRE FROM SPACE, Bristol boys Bob Baker and Dave Martin premiere script for WHO, is brimming with action, characters and big ideas, trimmed down to just the right compactful four-parter length from its original, way to big seven episodes form.

All that glitters...the friendly Axons...

Aptly referred to as “sensible silliness” by its innovative director, Michael Ferguson, returning to the series after his fine work on the previous seasons The Ambassadors of Death, the story is a certainly a visual treat alongside the big concept, splendidly using the emergent technology of CSO colour separation overlay (or the television version of Blue Screen) which dominates its realization most effectively, almost capturing us at times with an arresting psychedelic but dangerous-a triumph from designer Kenneth Sharp. On the practical built side of things, the Axon ship’s organic miasma interior and orifice exterior (the latter scenes filmed in the worst, and most varied, conditions in the shows behind the scenes history) is packed with swishing tendrils, other strange protrusions and a weirdly effective background sound effect, backed up with an alien electronic heartbeat, from WHO stalwart Brian Hodgson.

...and their real personas!

The adventures of the Doctor and his UNIT family, originally warmly ensconced on Saturday evening TV screens of yesteryear are back in full highly entertaining nostalgia mode with this release- contained nuclear explosions, time travel loops and conundrums, UNIT once again overwhelmed by a superior alien force and the Doctor and his sworn enemy, The Master, at first locking heads but then both ending up completely over their heads when the situation gets out of hand, are the kind of repetitively warm and wonderful ingredients that would make WHO’s eighth season such a notable success with audiences and critics, and be a comfortable and exciting presence on a BBC 1 in the prime of it’s new youthful early seventies vigour-all pioneering and bold in its storytelling techniques.

The Doctor and Jo outsider the Axon spaceship.

Pertwee is as adventuresome and welcomely on-screen dominant as ever, whilst companion Katy Manning’s charms, and mini-skirts, continue to delight. The late great Roger Delgado is once again on cracking form as the debonair diabolic Time Lord enemy, oozing charm and menace along with those fiery and all- consuming eyes of his, whilst his scenes opposing and conferring with Pertwee’s Doctor and the Brigadier (Nicholas Courtney) are always great fun and have now become classic.

The Master returns to cause trouble...

Along for the ride, and its alien invasion antics, are a bumbling political idiot (the kind that the shows producers liked to make fun of in their early seventies era-justifiably so, too!), Chin (played by Peter Bathurst), out to make a name for himself against UNIT and win acclaim from his superiors with the Axons and Bill Filer, a stereotyped Yankee action man spy (played by husky voiced Paul Grist) who, later in the story, has a fun fight scene with himself playing an alien doppelganger! Plus, scientists running about the local nuclear plant threatened by Axon interference- Don’t panic! Don’t panic! - include David Savile and a pre-IT AIN”T HALF HOT MUM’s Donald Hewlett.

Having looked at various stills of the episodes growing up as a kid, it was the Axons of the title, and the actions by UNIT against them (courtesy of those fine stuntmen talents of HAVOC), that intrigued me the most with this story, especially seeing the beasties in the flesh, so to speak, when a prop of one of the tentacled metamorphosing creature caught my real-life attention when it held court for a time in the far corner of the FORBIDDEN PLANET 2 book store back in the early eighties. Luckily, I was happily surprised how, on first viewing of THE CLAWS OF AXOS a few years later, the tale actually lived up to my expectations as both a monster tale and a UNIT showcase within the Pertwee era.

With repeat viewings to come years on, I continue to be very fond of it.

An Axon takes out two UNIT soldiers.

Its fuzzy transatlantic episodes 2 and 3 restored to better quality alongside the original UK PAL colour masters for 1 and 4, CLAWS is colourful and exciting, of which I’m sure younger viewers will particularly enjoy it, whilst older WHO fans in general can sit back and enjoy the warm feelings in their hearts remembering this classic era. They recently came back to fight the Doctor in a Big Finishaudio adventure, but I think the time is now right for the Axons to make an actual big screen return to the Modern WHO series.

The Axons bring out a test subject.

Out of the starting gate with the new Special Edition features is Axon Stations! A glistening documentary to compliment the tale, as co-writer Bob Baker, Ferguson, a very giggly Katy Manning, stuntman Derek Ware, and seventies script editor Terrance Dicks talk about the show and its sometimes difficult location filming. One of the best contributors here has to Baker, more known these days as the co-creator/writer of WALLACE AND GROMIT, who reminisces about his partnership with the late Dave Martin, the genesis of CLAWS and its original bonkers ideas pitch to script editor Dicks. There are also further notable contributions from supporting actors Paul Grist and Bernard Holley, the latter away from the golden face of his controlled monster performance.

Another major new documentary premiering on the disc concentrates itself on one of the key supporting stars of the Pertwee UNIT era, as the controversial and seemingly eccentric figure of John Levene, who played Saergent Benton in the show on and off for ten years, comes under the investigative microscope of WHO super fan Toby Hadoke, going all Louis Theroux on us, turning up in Bristol on a mission Living with Levene, determined to discover the true person behind the larger than life smile and personality. To be honest, I was fearful of watching this, worried about what might be dredged up and used as part of a potential character assassination piece against the actor, back on UK shores after years away in Los Angeles. But, I’m happy to say, this documentary, again from the reliable hands of Chris Chapman, though indeed quirky, is fun and a highlight of the BBC DVD extras range of Classic Who. In conversation with a quietly probing Hadoke, Levene comes across well: spirited and likable, and, whilst offering some intriguing anecdotes of his life and period spent on WHO, willingly, talks without any façade, wearing his heart on his sleeve with a what you see is what you get personality. Living with Levene is well worth a look.

Pertwee, Delgado and an Axon pose for a special publicity photo for the story.

Along with the standard info text and PDFs, the material from the previously deleted DVD release of CLAWS adds fine completism, including an audio commentary from a once again cheeky and endearing Katy Manning, Richard Franklin (who played UNIT man Mike Yates) and late producer Barry Letts, deleted and extended scenes (mostly from Episodes 1 and 2), this time in their entirety rather than edited highlights (which give us a wonderful rare look into the way the series was made), Now and Then looks at the various exterior filming locations (see an unchanged nuclear power station forty plus years on!), and Then and Now, where a younger Michael Ferguson talks about the process of making the story back in the seventies compared to the 2000’s. There’s also some great colour and black and white stills photography showing the detail and thought behind the design realisation of the golden Axons facades and their true alien spaghetti bolognaise monster forms. Finally, as a mouth watering taster of what will surely be some fine collectible goodies on the shows 50^th Anniversary next year, there’s a Coming Soon preview of next January’s DVD combo of the unfinished Tom Baker 1979 classic Shada, and the affectionate 1993 documentary Thirty Years of a Time Lord.

KOOL TV RATING: Another WHO classic gets the DVD treatment it deserves. Axos is calling Earth. Make sure you answer it! 4.5 out of 5

Get hold of the adventure here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Claws-Axos-Special/dp/B008KZVNKS/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1350481243&sr=1-1