The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: The Moonbase
The Moonbase - Part One (11/02/07)
Quite an interesting episode this week, if a little slow. It was helped along by a good dose of mystery, some suitably eerie music and some great special effects/sounds. The sighing, mechanical breathing of the Moonbase's ventilation system (I imagine that's what it was, couldn't be much else) provided a good backdrop to the unease of the situation the Doctor et al. found themselves in. The Moonbase's commander, Hobson, was a bit eager and easy to persuade to let the Doctor help given their arrival and the mysterious disease that's broken out at the base, but that gave the plot room to breathe, I guess.
The Doctor, Polly, Ben and Jamie's space suits were...interesting. Not a bad design, though - I have seen worse! I still don't see the point of Jamie having joined them, though. A few lines in the TARDIS, some clowning about on the moon's surface and within 5 minutes he was unconscious and disappeared, only to surface a little later ranting deliriously about a phantom piper which has appeared to him in the medical bay at the cliffhanger.
I must say, the Doctor was a massive improvement this week! He hasn't clowned about as much and didn't pretend to be someone else or put on a silly accent when he met Hobson! Not only that but he seemed to be taking everything quite seriously! I hope he continues like this - I was beginning to lose faith in the series. It's nice to at last have something genuinely mysterious. I think only The Power Of The Daleks can compare for atmosphere, this season at least. Pity about the couple of cliches stuck in there - Polly did a bit of screaming (her being the only girl, and all that) and the one black guy on the moon was the first to die by whatever or whoever is spreading the virus. All in all, though, a vast improvement on the last couple of stories.
The Moonbase - Part Two (18/02/07)
WOW! THE CYBERMEN ARE BACK! This is the first time they've brought back a villain since the Monk, I'm sure, and the first returning monster since the Daleks!
A fairly good episode again, the Doctor's clowning has been cut to a minimum (his collecting samples was rather silly), and Jamie's spent about two minutes on screen in total (which isn't so bad, but backs up my 'why is he here?' argument). The mystery kept building even after the Cybermen were revealed, now focusing on how they're poisoning the humans. The way was quite well plotted - it's in the sugar, which explains why the disease is so random. And now they've found out that one of the Cybermen has been hiding in the sick bay (where the Doctor and Polly have been all episode!).
A fairly coherent and well plotted story which is slowly picking up pace. Hobson seems uncertain as to whether he trusts the Doctor and co. (an unrealistic indecisiveness which fortunately hasn't marred the story for me so far) but now the Cybermen have been revealed he doesn't seem to have a choice.
It seems that each episode is structured along the lines of a question at a time. Last week was 'who's doing it?'. This week was 'How?' and I guess next week should be 'Why?'. So far no motive has been given, nor where the Cybermen are taking the sick (for conversion?) but that doesn't matter. If they answered all the questions in two episodes, what else would they have to keep the viewer interested? Starting to settle into this Doctor now, too. Looking forward to next week.
The Moonbase - Part Three (25/02/07)
Really good this week, especially for Polly and Ben (Jamie, again, did next to nothing except piss Ben off). Polly came up with a way of attacking the Cybermen using acetone, and Ben saved Benoit when he was being chased by a Cyberman. The Cybermen have not only changed their appearance (being more sturdy and robotic than fabric - not sure if they're as creepy now, though) but their sing-song voice has been replaced by a robotic monotone.
The Doctor already seems to be formulating a plan to get rid of them. There was a scene where he was considering using gravity, so I reckon they'll use the Gravitron. Interesting device I don't think they've used before where we were privy to the Doctor's thoughts while he considered this. I must say, he's improved during this story. I haven't been at all keen on him since before Christmas. I still have no idea why they brought Jamie in as a companion. He was barely noticeable in The Highlanders, did bugger all in The Underwater Menace and has woken up three episodes into this story and has proceeded to do... yep, bugger all! The script writers could have had him save Benoit instead of Ben, but that wouldn't have necessarily made sense as he'd have had to put on a spacesuit and he's from the 1700s. So far, I doubt the stories would have been any different if he hadn't been there. Maybe Fraser Hines is shagging the Producer?
I have to say, on a script writing note, this is much better structured than The Tenth Planet which really was all over the place. Like I guessed last week, this episode we found out 'why' the Cybermen are doing this: they're going to destroy all life on Earth so they can live there without threat. Not the most convincing plot, but at least it's an improvement on the 'blowing up the Earth to prove I can' plot of the last story.
Oh, I was right about 'conversion', too, and the Cybermen recognise the Doctor - does this mean he'll meet them again? I hope so. They're much better than the Daleks!
The Moonbase - Part Four (04/03/07)
Not bad, though badly let down by the conclusion. The Cybermen tried desperately to get in, there was some dodgy business concerning a large puncture in the Moonbase's dome and a tray. A very strong tray. Possibly the strongest tray in the universe. Then the Doctor came up with the idea of using the Gravitron against the Cybermen, pointed it at them, and anti-grav'ed them off the moon. Can't see how that solved anything, though. Surely the Cybermen in their Pie Ships could pick up all the floating Cybermen and come back to try again? Nevertheless, with the Cybermen 'gotten rid of', the Doctor et al. scarpered.
Jamie still has to give me a reason for being there - once more he did nothing except help Ben carry a table. Polly did her 'weak and feeble girl' bit again after being so good for the last two weeks, but I guess that's due to bad scripting. And the Doctor has much improved. He's not being so daft now, and has begun acting as mysterious as he did during The Power Of The Daleks. Maybe he should encounter past foes more often!
All in all, not a bad story, let down by the deeply unsatisfying anticlimax of the ending.
By and large I've agreed with you so far, but my eyebrows almost shot off my head Gravitron vs Cyberman-style when I saw you describe this as "a fairly coherent and well plotted story". It's absolute nonsense from start to finish, even more so than The Tenth Planet, and continues a trend that will accompany the silver giants pretty much forever: convoluted plots that make little to no sense whatsoever. As you point out, it's also a very uneven story for Polly (who's let down as a character quite badly overall) and a poor one for Ben and Jamie, since once the latter is incorporated into the story proper the only thing they have them do is face off.
ReplyDeleteOn the plus side, the Doctor does come out of it well - this for me is where the 2nd Doctor becomes who he is; that great little speech about terrors that must be fought is a pivotal moment. A multi-nationality, multi-accent cast is back again (a recurring feature of the Troughton era), and this is the first true 'base under siege' story, which would become the template for Season Five. Some nice design and music as well. But since the plotting (and to a large extent also the scripting) is so poor it never rises above B-movie mediocrity for me.
I think my meaning of it being fairly coherent and well plotted came off the back of the narrative messes which preceded it and were more a comment on the structure rather than the actual events of the serial. The plot itself is immensely silly, and I stated myself that the conclusion is basically no conclusion at all. However, the trick of revealing a little information at a time, episode by episode, and (regardless of how convoluted and illogical the Cybermen's plan was) how the script hits certain beats at exactly the right points and comes up with a solution (however nonsensical) which results in the Doctor defeating his enemy (however briefly) makes the story itself very clear and very easy to follow. The Tenth Planet, for example, is a structural and narrative mess, and while the ideas are great, this just makes it very difficult to follow. While this is very 'realistic', it doesn't make for great TV, whilst The Moonbase very clearly states what's happening, why it's happening, and paces it so that you don't get lost in the turmoil. The ideas may not hold water, but as a story (a piece of entertainment written and acted so that it can be easily followed and featuring jeopardy and action in 25 minute segments) I think it's very successful. It's a formula which the subsequent Base-Under-Siege stories would emulate and in some cases do better. The Moonbase is basically a remake of The Tenth Planet, but with a clear (coherent) structure to it and some decent thought put behind how the story would play out, even if little thought was given to the sense of it all.
DeleteOK, I get what you mean now, and yes, you're right - you're never unsure what's going on, even if you *are* unsure why or how...
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