From: doctor8@jhuvms.hcf.jhu.edu (Jason Abner Miller)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.drwho
Subject: "Doctor Who" Season Reviews (An Ongoing Saga):  SEASON TWO
Date: 28 Jan 1993 17:35 EST
Organization: The Johns Hopkins University - HCF
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	Welcome to the second in a series of season-by-season reviews
of 26 years worth of "Doctor Who".  I use the traditional four-star
rating system to review each episode; below are the standards that I
used for awarding stars to each episode:

* * * *:  An all-time classic episode. The best the series has to offer

* * * 1/2:  An excellent story, achieving borderline greatness

* * *:  The generic "Who" episode; generally my standard rating for a good
	story without many exceptional moments

* * 1/2:  "Good".  A weaker script or weaker performances than those found abo
	  but still a very watchable story.

* *:  O.K., but has has several dull moments, and is in no way memorable.

 * 1/2:  Very boring, bad script or performances, or just a bad idea.

*:  Truly forgettable.  You probably don't want to watch this one

1/2 stars:  Dreadful.  Ought to have been forgotten

0 stars: THE ALL-TIME WORST "DOCTOR WHO" STORY EVER.  There's just 1.  Watch
         for it in the upcoming weeks.


SEASON TWO:  Produced by Verity Lambert and Mervyn Pinfield

"PLANET OF GIANTS" (Story J), by Louis Marks

Rating:  * * 1/2

Story:  Due to a TARDIS malfunction, the four travellers are shrunken to
the size on 1 inch in height.  Landing on Earth in the mid-sixties, they
solve a "small" mystery in a secluded country house.

	A very weak story, plot-wise, so much so that producer Lambert
ordered Episodes 3 & 4 to be merged into just one episode ("Crisis", Part
3).  Very strange in that The Doctor and his 3 companions never actually
meet, let alone see, the "villain" they are fighting.  There is a heavy
emphasis on size effects - the crew are always running into giant bugs,
cats, briefcases, and litmus books.   The main villain, Forrester, a
crooked manufacturer, never knows what happens to him since he can't
suspect that miniature gnomes are trying to thwart him.  Probably the
first of the below-average "Who" stories, although the cliffhanger to 
"Planet Of Giants", Episode 1 of the story, a close-up on the face of
a giant cat, is amusing.

"THE DALEK INVASION OF EARTH" (Story K), by Terry Nation

Rating:  * * * 1/2

	The second Dalek story, and the last under the reign of Script
Editor David Whitaker.  Set in 2164, we see the Daleks become the "masters
of Earth", and how the Doctor and Co. help a ragtag bunch of freedom
fighters conquer their Dalek nemeses.  "World's End", Episode 1, is
possibly the most effective individual episode of the season, as we
see a devestated Earth, dead bodies in the Thames, and the Dalek rising
from the water at the very end.  Part 6 ("Flashpoint") is also notable
in that the last half is dedicated to writing Susan out of the script.
Check out the Doctor's famous monologue at the end ("Someday, I shall
come back, yes, I shall come back ... "), and the neat closeup of
Susan's TARDIS key lying in the grass in the final shot.

"THE RESCUE" (Story L), by David Whitaker

Rating:  * *

	The first true "Who" clunker, this two-parter is dedicated
solely to finding the Doctor a new companion to replace Susan.  Vicki,
stranded on the planet Dido in the year 2493, is a cute teenager with
the usual outbursts of rage and fear, but she thankfully settles down
after she joins the TARDIS crew at the end.  The sets to this story
are very dark and murky, and impossible to make out in the black&white
they were filmed in.  The only other human actor, playing wicked
astronaut Bennett, is not very good.  Major disappointment from the man
who would later pen "Evil of the Daleks".

"THE ROMANS" (Story M), by Dennis Spooner

Rating:  * *

	New script editor Spooner wrote the first "Who" comedy, set
in 64 AD, under the reign of Roman Emperor Nero.  Historical accuracy
is dashed by the need for constant humor, and while Derek Francis is
funny as the fat Nero, the scenes involving him are often painful.
The Doctor is slightly out of character in ditching Ian and Barbara
at the beginning of the story.  Barry Jackson makes the first of many
"Who" appearances as the mute assassin Ascaris.  Donald Cotton's
novelization remains the worst ever written for a "Doctor Who" story.


Producer:  Verity Lambert


"THE WEB PLANET" (Story N), by Bill Strutton

Rating:  * *

	The most peculiar story ever written for "Doctor Who", it
features only 4 human characters, the TARDIS crew.  Everyone else
is either a butterly, an ant, a disembodied voice, or a short dyspeptic
slug.  Featured on the planet Vortis, the villain known only as "The
Animus", is an evil intelligence that conquers the mindless Zarbi
insects for the purpose of galactic domination or something using
a giant spiders' web.  The Menoptera, the good butterflies, help
Barbara thwart the Animus; the Doctor and Vicki generally sit around
and look helpless.  Again, a very odd story that people generally consider
to be either brilliant or stupid.

"THE SPACE MUSEUM", (Story Q), by Glyn Jones

Rating:  * * *

	A clever concept in which the TARDIS jumps a "time track", and
the four travellers see themselves as exhibits in a Space Museum, in
a possible future that might happen if they aren't careful.  The      he
villains, the Moroks, wear white clothes.  The good guys, the Xeron
teenagers whom Vicki befriends, wear black.  The Doctor impersonates
a Dalek, and goes on vacation in Part 3 ("The Search").  The sequence
at the beginning of Part 1 ("The Space Museum"), showing the TARDIS
jumping the time track, is well done, involving a lot of still shots.


"THE CHASE" (Story R), by Terry Nation

Rating:  * * * 1/2

	Another fine Dalek story, this one involves the Daleks
constructing a time machine for the purpose of hunting the Doctor
and friends through time, to punish them for thwarting their Invasion
of Earth earlier in the season.  The first story to capitalize on
the space/time capabilities of the TARDIS in a major fashion, we see
quick flights to the Empire State Building, the Mary Celeste,
Frankenstein's House of Horrors in Ghana, and the jungle planet
Mechanus.  Peter Purves debuts first as Morton Dill, a dumb American
stereotype, in "Flight Through Eternity" (Part 3), and then becomes
Steven Taylor, a new companion, in "The Planet of Decision" (Part 6).
The fight between the Daleks and Mechonoids at the very end gets
very bad, as we see cartoon fireworks represent colossal explosions.
But Ian and Barbara's departure is handled very well; we see how
much the Doctor has come to care for his friends.  The SPace/Time

Visualiser sequences seem superfluous, but we do get to see Abe Lincoln
deliver part of the Gettysburg Adress, and the Beatles performing "Ticket
To Ride".  A good epic story, featuring an interesting episode name
for Part 5, "The Death of Doctor Who", referring to a robot double of
the Doctor that the Daleks had built.

"THE TIME MEDDLER" (Story S), by Dennis Spooner

Rating:  * * * 1/2

	Spooner finally hits jackpot with this comedy about a fellow
Time Lord, the Meddling Monk, tinkering with history in 1066.  The
Doctor, William Hartnell, is at his spluttering best in dealing
with the Monk in Part 4, aptly entitled "Checkmate", and the new
companion Steven is shown to be headstrong and forceful, a nice contrast
to the slightly wimpy Ian.  Peter Butterworth is great as the childlike
Monk, taking great delight in all he does.  The "Let's cook breakfast
for the Doctor" sequence in Part 2 is funny, as is the Doctor's
introducing Steven to the TARDIS at the beginning of Part 1.  The
season ends with animated portraits of The Doctor, Vicki, and Stephen,
before the credits begin to roll at the end of Part 4; a picturesque
finish to a charming episode of "Doctor Who"


OVERALL:  A much weaker season than Season 1, partly because new script
editor Dennis Spooner seemed intent on writing comedies like "The Romans".
The only memorable stories left are the two Dalek serials and "The Time
Meddler", while we also get stuck with "The Web Planet" and "The
Rescue".  The original crew all departs, and we wind up with Vicki
and Steven, two charming companions from Earth's future.  Donald
Tosh becomes Script Editor before "Time Meddler", which helps a
tiny bit as we head into Season 3.

MISSING EPISODES:  "THE CRUSADE" (Story P) by David WHitaker