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The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: The Nightmare Fair

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The Nightmare Fair: Part One   (04 /01/26) As was the case about six years ago, I've slipped through a crack in space and time to experience Doctor Who which never made it to the screen. Last time, strikes prevented Shada  from being completed, meaning Season 17 never got its six part finale. This time, dissatisfaction in the series by a Sci-Fi-hating upper management led to the entirety of Season 23 being scrapped! Of the six stories commissioned, three had completed (or as near as) scripts with a fourth by former Script Editor Christopher Hamilton Bidmead being close to completion. Robert Holmes' three part story Yellow fever And How To Cure it had draft episodes and planning had gone in to filming it in Singapore but that's as far as things had got. The Season was due to conclude with The Children Of January  which, like Holmes' script, has so far never seen the light of day. However, the first three stories - The Nightmare Fair, The Ultimate Evil and Mission To Mag...
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The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: Slipback

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  Slipback: Part One   (25/07/25) So, with the future of the show in the balance and the next series a long way off we've been given a bonus story c/o Script Editor Eric Saward consisting of six ten minute episodes broadcast on BBC Radio 4 - or 'Pirate' Radio 4 as this three hour kids magazine programme calls itself. Today we get Parts One and Two and they've got off to an interesting start aboard a ma-HOO-sive Space Freighter where the crew are being eaten by a large, growling monster in the ducting. This was set up in an effective pre-credits sequence relayed to another crew member, called Grant, by the ship's Computer who has a voice like that annoying bitch Peter Davison is married to; the one who played Trillian in The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy . We then joined the Doctor and Peri in the TARDIS, the Doctor hearing a voice in his head talking about 'Full Circle' as he woke with a hangover (!), and Peri informing him that he'd got his hangover a...
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The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: Revelation Of The Daleks

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Revelation Of The Daleks: Part One   (23/03/25) There was a hell of a lot going on this week but it was actually incredibly good. The episode is written by Script Editor Eric Saward who seems to be channelling Robert Holmes' approach with Davison's last story, or maybe that's down to it having the same Director. We're on the planet Nekros where the Doctor's old friend, Professor Arthur Stengos, has been interred at Tranquil Repose, a repository where the terminally ill are kept in suspended animation until a cure can be found for whatever ails them. The episode itself dealt with setting up the mystery of what's going on there and fleshing out the large supporting cast. This meant that the Doctor and Peri spent the entire episode travelling to Tranquil Repose and only encountered one other person (who Peri promptly killed!), but it was all done on wonderfully snowy location. The fact that they spent the entire episode in each other's company also did wonders ...
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The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: Timelash

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Timelash: Part One   (09/03/25) Well, that was marginally better than The Two Doctors  on some levels but seemed fairly similar to Vengeance On Varos .  Not that repetitive ideas are anything new to the series (just look at Seasons 5 and 13) but again we're on an alien planet where the citizens are held under an oppressive regime and everyone (all 500 of them!) seems to live in a citadel in an otherwise barren landscape. This time, at least, we see a few more of the locals, but our leading couple seem just as wooden as Jondar and Areta, and their (newly appointed) Leader (or Maylin) is played by Blake's 7 's Paul Darrow with the air of a ham Shakespearean actor. I wonder if the next story will feature Sally Knyvette or Gareth Thomas? The episode go t off to a decent start with three rebels trying to flee capture and failing. The leader was caught and taken to see the Borad, the planet's actual leader; a seemingly mutated (judging by his right hand) dictator hiding behin...
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The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: The Two Doctors

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The Two Doctors: Part One   (16/02/25) That was a somewhat odd episode but it started off rather nicely. As is clear from the title, this story features two Doctors and we were immediately shown which other Doctor features as the opening credits faded to a black and white shot of the Second Doctor and Jamie in the TARDIS which slowly changed to colour. It would seem this takes place (for them) somewhere during Season 5 since it was mentioned they'd just dropped Victoria off to study Graphology. This, however, didn't fit with how much older both look; yes, Season 5 did  air seventeen years ago and I could forgive Jamie looking thirty-something but, unlike in The Five Doctors , the production team have chosen to fleck the Second Doctor's hair with streaks of grey indicating he's older even than in any of his previous stories. Not only that, but there's a device fitted to the TARDIS console allowing the Time Lords to navigate it wherever they like, and the Doctor is cu...
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