Watched a few more serials in the past fortnight...
Robot (Tom Baker) - Obviously the main thrill of this show was seeing Tom Baker's version of the Doctor come into vibrant being. At one point he hilariously has a sulk, uttering the line "Well, of course I'm being childish! There's no point being grown-up if you can't be childish sometimes!" which echoed the Jon Pertwee line "What's wrong with being childish? I like being childish!" that I liked from 'Terror of the Autons'.
It's one of those serials that starts off well but falls apart somewhat in the second half. A great story about a peaceful Robot being forced against it's programming to perform wicked deeds by a cabal of fascistic scientists was very interesting. But then this all gets thrown out the window when the chance for some silly plot twists come along. So the benevolent creator of the Robot suddenly turns out to be evil in episode 3 then just as suddenly turns out to good again in episode 4. Quite why an evil Doctor would create a good Robot but then force it to do evil things against it's nature is beyond explanation. Plus the final episode's 'King Kong' pastiche is fairly clunking. Yet overall depite the flaws, I enjoyed it a lot and it's sad that some of the wonderful people interviewed on the DVD have since died (some quite recently).
The Mutants (Jon Pertwee) - The writing and production values of this 6-parter where terrific. It also has plenty for the dual Star Wars/Doctor Who fan to enjoy as two of the main characters are played by Lobot (John Hollis) and Biggs (Garrick Hagon), both giving superb performances. I wonder if Lucas saw these 1972 performances long before he cast them in ANH and ESB.
Especially as much of the episode revolves around a suspiciously 'Death Star' like orbitting space station with the power to lay waste to the planet below...
It's also tempting to see R2 and C3PO as less inspired by Kurosawa's 'The Hidden Fortress' and more by Cotton and Stubbs (LOL). The political tones come thick and heavy with the end of the British Colonial Empire and South-African Apartheid both transposed brilliantly to the far flung future. Unlike a few Pertwee 6-parters I've watched of late, the whole enterprise doesn't unravel in the last episode. The twisting, turning plot builds and builds and all wraps up in the end.
Curse of Fenric (Slyvester McCoy) - Being from the final season of classic era Who it's surprise on re-viewing how close this serial was to how the show returned. Ace the Doctor's companion takes a central part in the plot (Like Rose or Amy) and easter-egg like elements from other episodes all come together in the finale (Think Badwolf). Also great that the writers take the Doctor to a very dark place we rarely see. This ruthless take on the Doctor was nicely developed over the course of the last two seasons so it's a real shame we didn't see more of it.
It was a good choice to set the serial in a 'Bletchley Park' like millitary base, as it gives The Doctor and Ace the chance to make casual refrences to modern computers, illiciting astonishment from the code breakers of the time. Nicholas Parsons (More known now for his wonderful hosting of radio panel game 'Just A Minute') steals the show as a Vicar who has lost his faith after the horrors of war. It's a shame Nicholas didn't do more acting as he's just fantastic.
