From: jogulin@pub_one.fia.dmg.ml.com (Joseph Ogulin)
Subject: ARCHIVE: Review of the JN-T Era of Doctor Who, Part 2
Organization: The Rift from Here to There
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1992 14:02:24 GMT

And now for part 2...

************************* CUT HERE *************************
Here we are again....silly as ever...
Hey Joe...pass the Cognac....
 
 
Castrovalva -
 
     Pick up with a brief recap of the  regeneration  scene,
cut to the opening credits, then on with the story...
 
     Trying to recover from regenerating, the  Doctor  seeks
the  zero  room,  and actually manages to get in there for a
while.  Unfortunately, Event 1 is not a  pleasant  place  to
be,  and  when  the Doctor jettisons a quarter of the TARDIS
(how large is a quarter  of  infinity?),  and,  accidentally
(yeah,  right...PLOT DEVICE!), the zero room.  Needing some-
place quiet to rest, the trio (Adric's with  you  know  who)
journeys  to  Castrovalva.   Unfortunately,  recursion  does
nasty things to an unstable mind  after  regenerating.   You
know  who  turns  out to be the Portrieve, the ruler of this
recursive town.  The Doctor rescues  Adric  (unfortunately),
recovers,  and  leaves you know who to be trapped in his own
creation as it collapses in on itself.
 
     Louis:  to quote an old lady, "Wheeeere's the PLOT?"
 
     Entertaining, and quite an interesting  idea.   Finally
we  get an explanation as to why the Doctor NEEDS the TARDIS
after regenerating.
 
 
Four to Doomsday -
 
     This one doesn't even deserve  a  summary  of  it.   We
didn't  think  that the "Four" meant four episodes.  It does
have two memorable cliffhangers:  1  and  2.   If  this  one
comes  around,  ignore it, unless you really want a complete
video library of all stories.
 
 
Kinda -
 
     This is what happens when the writer has never  written
for  television  before, and doesn't understand cliffhangers
or the term 25 minute episodes.
 
     Anyway,  the  story  itself  involves  Tegan's  journey
"behind"  a mirror (hello, Alice....) and her picking up the
Mara in this place.  It has the Doctor and Adric  trying  to
find  her,  and when they do, they have to suppress the Mara
without killing Tegan and what's-his-name...no, not you know
who...
 
     Yuck!  Isn't even worth a review, except that the story
has character (about OCT 177)...
 
 
The Visitation -
 
     The Doctor just kinda goes to London around the time of
the  Great  Fire  (see what's coming yet?) near Pudding Lane
(need more help?).  There, he  meets  an  android  and  some
Terileptils  who  are very artistic and totally war-like and
want to  destroy  London  for  no  very  good  reason.   The
Terileptils  breed an extremely virulent strain of the black
plague, and the Doctor destroys the infected rats with fire.
 
     As you can see, we don't  particularly  care  for  this
story.  It has no redeeming features whatsoever, and neither
of us understands how they kept the rats in those  cages  if
they were carrying a disease.
 
 
Black Orchid -
 
     The Doctor, et al, land in Victorian England at a rail-
road station.  There, he is met by a chauffeur, who mistakes
him for another doctor.  After playing  cricket  (show-off),
the  Doctor is invited to a masquerade ball.  There, we meet
Nyssa's double, Ann.  A rash of murders brings suspicion  on
you know Who (no, not that you know who...), but it is even-
tually found that it is the  mad  George  Cranleigh,  having
returned from Africa, minus a tongue.
 
     Louis:  my favorite of the season.
 
     Lo  and  behold,  an   historical   story!    Accurate,
even...well, almost.  It is actually authentic in style, and
Adric is kept out of most of it by keeping him near the buf-
fet (keeping fat, wouldn't you say?).
 
 
Earthshock -
 
     The compilation Cyberstory.  For a summary, see  below.
(Oh no, not again!)
 
     The best part...the end of episode 4...
 
     Louis:  it should be noted that the  reason  Tegan  and
Nyssa  have  to hide their faces is so nobody sees them gig-
gling.  That scene convinced me  that  PD  is  an  excellent
actor...he actually looks hurt.
 
     Wow!  We even get to see new Cybermen!   Complete  with
metallic  chins  under  their masks/helmets.  They even have
emotion, too.  Despite all this, they actually  look  really
sharp.
 
 
Time-Flight -
 
     You know who is back trying to get you know Who.   Kid-
napping  concordes via time corridors (yes, you'll see these
again) seems a bit contrived.  The passengers  on  the  con-
cordes  are  used to dig out the Xeraphin consciousness.  In
the end, you know who is trapped by you know Who,  and  left
within the Xeraphin consciousness. (Sound familiar?)
 
     Do we really need to review this one?  See  Castrovalva
for  a  little  more on plot devices.  This is the prototype
wimpy you know who story.
 
 
 
Overall -
 
     Take a  good  guess....*YAWN*   "wake"  us  "when  it's
over."
 
 
 
Seasonal trivia:
 
     For  each  of  the  following  plot  devices  found  in
Earthshock, name the story from which first it came:
 
-    The Cybermen crashing a ship into a planet
 
-    Humans trapped in a small place
 
-    Cybermen breaking out of their eggs
 
-    Revamped Cybermen - unexplained, of course
 
-    Cybermen kept in hibernation
 
-    The human working for the  Cybermen,  who,  of  course,
     they kill
 
-    The Cybermen being vulnerable to everything handy
 
NOTE:  this is considered  one  of  the  all-time  classics.
(and you wonder why we didn't like it that much...)
 
                                        --Him and me
 



-- 
==> "You never f**king know the answer when it's important." --The Doctor <==
Joe Ogulin

jogulin@camelot.fia.dmg.ml.com		joe@monroe.pilot.dmg.ml.com
jogulin@apollo.stevens-tech.edu		gcs_jogulin@stevens.bitnet

Disclaimer:  The above article is solely my opinion and does not necessar-
ily reflect that of my employer.  The content is my responsibility alone.