The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: The Faceless Ones
The Faceless Ones - Part One (08/04/07)
They're back on contemporary Earth again!This is starting to be a regular thing and works quite well. The Doctor has carelessly landed the TARDIS on a runway at what appears to be Gatwick Airport and they all split up when chased by a policeman. Polly entered a hangar belonging to a company called Chameleon Tours and saw a man being killed with a ray gun. It just shows how used she's become to travelling through time and space as she didn't twig that they don't have ray guns here yet! Also, I'm wondering how much time has passed since The Macra Terror cuz her hair is very long again. It's probably hair extensions, but where would she find those in the TARDIS? She found the Doctor and Jamie and they went back to the hangar to see the body, then went off to report the murder to the Airport authorities but the murderers from Chameleon Tours (who seem to be pilots) followed them and kidnapped Polly!
The Doctor and Jamie spent a lot of time trying to persuade the authorities that a murder had been committed, but the body had been moved. Then Poly turned up claiming not to know who the Doctor and Jamie were!
Ben was hardly in it this week, which was a huge let down after the last story seemed able to give each cast member plenty to do, but he was there for a bit. At the end, the two men from Chameleon Tours escorted a figure they'd kept in a box in the control room of their hangar (I should actually say 'hidden control room') to Gatwick Airport's medical bay and you saw a rear view (once his pilot's disguise had been removed) that seemed to show he'd been horribly burnt.
Haven't a clue what's going on in this story so far, but it's very intriguing and great that we're back on Earth again. This is only the second time they've done that and it works really well, bringing the action into a recognisable setting. Anyhow, this season's really picked up since the change of actor and the doldrums that followed, so I really don't need to say I'm looking forward to next week, do I?
The Faceless Ones - Part Two (15/04/07)
The mystery is deepening - it looks like these aliens who run Chameleon Tours are kidnapping young holidaymakers and using their forms to invade Earth or something. The woman who the Doctor and Jamie met looks like she was an alien wearing a copy of Polly's body! You saw the process early on in the episode when the alien from the cliffhanger was given the form of Meadows who works at Gatwick. Ben was in it more this week, finding the Doctor and Jamie and then going and finding Polly frozen in a packing case in Chameleon Tours' hangar. However, he was discovered and it worryingly looks like the aliens might have killed him. I'm really hoping not, but they did say they had to 'dispose of the body'!
Meanwhile, Jamie's hooked up with a Scouse lass called Samantha who's looking for her missing brother and seems quite good at figuring out the plot - she's only been in half an episode and she's closer to guessing what's going on than either the Doctor or Jamie are.
Also, another detective's come looking for Inspector Gillespie (the bloke killed at the start of episode one). The Polly look-alike has been told to return to base by the alien in charge, but I think it was the real Polly in the packing case. The cliffhanger had the Doctor see Ben gunned down and go to the hangar himself where he was lured into the office, locked in and seemingly gassed with freezing...gas.
There were a few scenes which didn't seem to accelerate the plot much, mainly those with the Doctor trying to convince the Commandant that he'd found a dead body. The plot isn't exactly rocketing along, but it's maintaining an air of mystery. Plus, there were one or two funny sequences, such as the Doctor, Ben and Jamie hiding in a photo booth to have a discussion, and Samantha flirting with an oblivious Jamie. Still, I hope it picks up a bit next week because the last month hasn't been bad at all!
The Faceless Ones - Part Three (22/04/07)
Curiouser and curiouser! It seems this is a story about alien abduction - using cheap Mediterranean holidays to lure in the Club 18-30 crowd. No doubt if Chameleon Tours were operating ow they'd be flying people out to Aya Napa! Not a bad idea, but the amount of people they seem to be taking (four flights a day!) you'd think more people would notice. I can only imagine they haven't been at it long.
No Polly or Ben this week; looks like they've been taken by the Chameleon Tours Aliens, and since the Doctor seems to think they're taking everyone somewhere other than Rome or the Black Forest (such as a spaceship) I reckon we'll probably see them next week when the Doctor goes there - I'm guessing that'll happen because not much has happened this week except the Doctor being given 12 hours to sort it out and Inspector Crossland being taken off by the aliens in their 'plane and seeing, just after take off, all the passengers have disappeared!
Samantha Briggs is quite a good character, and very modern and headstrong, leading Jamie off to the Chameleon Tours hangar and finding evidence there. Actually, if this is contemporary Earth and Polly and Ben decide to leave at the end of this story, it wouldn't surprise me if Samantha stayed on with the Doctor and Jamie. God knows she's a more interesting character than Jamie is, and we'd need somebody good to replace Polly and Ben!
Still a good story, then, if a bit slow. Very atmospheric, rather than a runaround adventure - the plot leans toward the insidious as opposed to the frantic and frightening. Not as good as The Macra Terror or The Power Of The Daleks, but better than anything else this season.
The Faceless Ones - Part Four (29/04/07)
A bit of a slow episode this week that picked up toward the end. There was a good bit of James Bond when the Chameleon Tours Aliens set up a laser to kill the Doctor, Jamie and Samantha whilst they were paralysed on the floor. The rest of it was the Doctor fanny-arsing around to prove there was something dodgy with the medical bay, and Samantha being interesting and pro-active and booking a ticket on the next Chameleon flight. Then Jamie nicked her ticket and took her place, and when Samantha couldn't find her ticket at the boarding kiosk she was caught by the Chameleon Aliens.
On the 'plane, Jamie got airsick and rushed to the loo before the passengers were shrunk (I'm guessing that's what's happening) so it looks like he's still on the loose, but the 'plane turned into a rocket, shot down an RAF fighter 'plane and has docked with what appears to be a Mothership in Earth orbit!
Having written the plot down, it sounds quite exciting, but the pace is a bit slow and the episode dipped in the middle. It's still good, but is obviously being stretched out to six or seven episodes when it really only needs four.
No Polly or Ben AGAIN, though they were referred to (whoopty-doo). Looks like the plot may pick up next week, though, now that we're on the alien spaceship.
The Faceless Ones - Part Five (06/05/07)
Much better this week. The reason for the Chameleons kidnapping the holidaymakers was revealed, the Doctor persuaded the Chameleon Meadows to help him, and Meadows killed the nasty Chameleon Nurse Pinto. This freed real Nurse Pinto who went with the Doctor on the final flight to the Chameleon ship.
Meanwhile, Jamie met the Director of Chameleon Tours who now looks like Inspector Crossland and has been used by a Chameleon to become a duplicate. Samantha and Jean Rock are searching for the Human templates used by the Chameleons to infiltrate Gatwick Airport so they can threaten to remove the armbands of the Humans (which kills the Chameleons and is how Chameleon Nurse Pinto was killed). Oh, and still no Polly and Ben.
It's quite refreshing that they've essentially introduced a new character (Nurse Pinto) so far into the story and are having her play quite a big part - she and the Doctor were surrounded by Chameleons in the cliffhanger. What makes it even more refreshing is it's a woman and she seems quite unfazed by the fact that she's been taken aboard a spaceship full of aliens and ended up aboard their Mothership quite intentionally. If the last couple of weeks had been like this the story would have been much better - the premise is good, the aliens are creepy and driven, the idea and location is inspired and there are some good, strong female characters. Looks like things might be winding up next week, though. Hope it continues the upward trend.
The Faceless Ones - Part Six (13/05/07)
A bit of a downbeat ending with a cliffhanger.
Polly and Ben returned for the last five minutes before saying goodbye and staying on contemporary Earth. Very disappointed they've gone, especially since they were absent for the majority of this story. Also rather surprised Samantha didn't replace them as a companion; she stayed behind to wait for her brother.
As far as the storyline goes, it was quite a good tale with the ending being satisfactory but without any massive explosions or major drama - sort of at odds with some of the visuals and plot ideas (the Bond-style laser) but on the whole in keeping with the series and the calm pace of the rest of the story.
The Doctor talked the Chameleons round, Captain Blade killed the Director and his accomplice-who-looked-like-Jamie, and the Doctor offered to help the Chameleon scientists come up with a way of dealing with their condition without using Humans. The majority of the episode was the Doctor delaying the Chameleons while Samantha and Jean Rock searched for the template Humans.
On the whole, then, not a bad story, not the worst of the season and not the best but acceptable with a disappointing exit for Polly and Ben. They seem to have suffered the same ill treatment as Dodo. However, this (I think) is the first story where the Doctor et al. haven't left in the TARDIS at the end - why? Because it's been stolen! Looks like we're still on Earth next week. Which is cool. You wait months for a contemporary Earth-based story to come along, then two turn up at once!
They're back on contemporary Earth again!This is starting to be a regular thing and works quite well. The Doctor has carelessly landed the TARDIS on a runway at what appears to be Gatwick Airport and they all split up when chased by a policeman. Polly entered a hangar belonging to a company called Chameleon Tours and saw a man being killed with a ray gun. It just shows how used she's become to travelling through time and space as she didn't twig that they don't have ray guns here yet! Also, I'm wondering how much time has passed since The Macra Terror cuz her hair is very long again. It's probably hair extensions, but where would she find those in the TARDIS? She found the Doctor and Jamie and they went back to the hangar to see the body, then went off to report the murder to the Airport authorities but the murderers from Chameleon Tours (who seem to be pilots) followed them and kidnapped Polly!
The Doctor and Jamie spent a lot of time trying to persuade the authorities that a murder had been committed, but the body had been moved. Then Poly turned up claiming not to know who the Doctor and Jamie were!
Ben was hardly in it this week, which was a huge let down after the last story seemed able to give each cast member plenty to do, but he was there for a bit. At the end, the two men from Chameleon Tours escorted a figure they'd kept in a box in the control room of their hangar (I should actually say 'hidden control room') to Gatwick Airport's medical bay and you saw a rear view (once his pilot's disguise had been removed) that seemed to show he'd been horribly burnt.
Haven't a clue what's going on in this story so far, but it's very intriguing and great that we're back on Earth again. This is only the second time they've done that and it works really well, bringing the action into a recognisable setting. Anyhow, this season's really picked up since the change of actor and the doldrums that followed, so I really don't need to say I'm looking forward to next week, do I?
The Faceless Ones - Part Two (15/04/07)
The mystery is deepening - it looks like these aliens who run Chameleon Tours are kidnapping young holidaymakers and using their forms to invade Earth or something. The woman who the Doctor and Jamie met looks like she was an alien wearing a copy of Polly's body! You saw the process early on in the episode when the alien from the cliffhanger was given the form of Meadows who works at Gatwick. Ben was in it more this week, finding the Doctor and Jamie and then going and finding Polly frozen in a packing case in Chameleon Tours' hangar. However, he was discovered and it worryingly looks like the aliens might have killed him. I'm really hoping not, but they did say they had to 'dispose of the body'!
Meanwhile, Jamie's hooked up with a Scouse lass called Samantha who's looking for her missing brother and seems quite good at figuring out the plot - she's only been in half an episode and she's closer to guessing what's going on than either the Doctor or Jamie are.
Also, another detective's come looking for Inspector Gillespie (the bloke killed at the start of episode one). The Polly look-alike has been told to return to base by the alien in charge, but I think it was the real Polly in the packing case. The cliffhanger had the Doctor see Ben gunned down and go to the hangar himself where he was lured into the office, locked in and seemingly gassed with freezing...gas.
There were a few scenes which didn't seem to accelerate the plot much, mainly those with the Doctor trying to convince the Commandant that he'd found a dead body. The plot isn't exactly rocketing along, but it's maintaining an air of mystery. Plus, there were one or two funny sequences, such as the Doctor, Ben and Jamie hiding in a photo booth to have a discussion, and Samantha flirting with an oblivious Jamie. Still, I hope it picks up a bit next week because the last month hasn't been bad at all!
The Faceless Ones - Part Three (22/04/07)
Curiouser and curiouser! It seems this is a story about alien abduction - using cheap Mediterranean holidays to lure in the Club 18-30 crowd. No doubt if Chameleon Tours were operating ow they'd be flying people out to Aya Napa! Not a bad idea, but the amount of people they seem to be taking (four flights a day!) you'd think more people would notice. I can only imagine they haven't been at it long.
No Polly or Ben this week; looks like they've been taken by the Chameleon Tours Aliens, and since the Doctor seems to think they're taking everyone somewhere other than Rome or the Black Forest (such as a spaceship) I reckon we'll probably see them next week when the Doctor goes there - I'm guessing that'll happen because not much has happened this week except the Doctor being given 12 hours to sort it out and Inspector Crossland being taken off by the aliens in their 'plane and seeing, just after take off, all the passengers have disappeared!
Samantha Briggs is quite a good character, and very modern and headstrong, leading Jamie off to the Chameleon Tours hangar and finding evidence there. Actually, if this is contemporary Earth and Polly and Ben decide to leave at the end of this story, it wouldn't surprise me if Samantha stayed on with the Doctor and Jamie. God knows she's a more interesting character than Jamie is, and we'd need somebody good to replace Polly and Ben!
Still a good story, then, if a bit slow. Very atmospheric, rather than a runaround adventure - the plot leans toward the insidious as opposed to the frantic and frightening. Not as good as The Macra Terror or The Power Of The Daleks, but better than anything else this season.
The Faceless Ones - Part Four (29/04/07)
A bit of a slow episode this week that picked up toward the end. There was a good bit of James Bond when the Chameleon Tours Aliens set up a laser to kill the Doctor, Jamie and Samantha whilst they were paralysed on the floor. The rest of it was the Doctor fanny-arsing around to prove there was something dodgy with the medical bay, and Samantha being interesting and pro-active and booking a ticket on the next Chameleon flight. Then Jamie nicked her ticket and took her place, and when Samantha couldn't find her ticket at the boarding kiosk she was caught by the Chameleon Aliens.
On the 'plane, Jamie got airsick and rushed to the loo before the passengers were shrunk (I'm guessing that's what's happening) so it looks like he's still on the loose, but the 'plane turned into a rocket, shot down an RAF fighter 'plane and has docked with what appears to be a Mothership in Earth orbit!
Having written the plot down, it sounds quite exciting, but the pace is a bit slow and the episode dipped in the middle. It's still good, but is obviously being stretched out to six or seven episodes when it really only needs four.
No Polly or Ben AGAIN, though they were referred to (whoopty-doo). Looks like the plot may pick up next week, though, now that we're on the alien spaceship.
The Faceless Ones - Part Five (06/05/07)
Much better this week. The reason for the Chameleons kidnapping the holidaymakers was revealed, the Doctor persuaded the Chameleon Meadows to help him, and Meadows killed the nasty Chameleon Nurse Pinto. This freed real Nurse Pinto who went with the Doctor on the final flight to the Chameleon ship.
Meanwhile, Jamie met the Director of Chameleon Tours who now looks like Inspector Crossland and has been used by a Chameleon to become a duplicate. Samantha and Jean Rock are searching for the Human templates used by the Chameleons to infiltrate Gatwick Airport so they can threaten to remove the armbands of the Humans (which kills the Chameleons and is how Chameleon Nurse Pinto was killed). Oh, and still no Polly and Ben.
It's quite refreshing that they've essentially introduced a new character (Nurse Pinto) so far into the story and are having her play quite a big part - she and the Doctor were surrounded by Chameleons in the cliffhanger. What makes it even more refreshing is it's a woman and she seems quite unfazed by the fact that she's been taken aboard a spaceship full of aliens and ended up aboard their Mothership quite intentionally. If the last couple of weeks had been like this the story would have been much better - the premise is good, the aliens are creepy and driven, the idea and location is inspired and there are some good, strong female characters. Looks like things might be winding up next week, though. Hope it continues the upward trend.
The Faceless Ones - Part Six (13/05/07)
A bit of a downbeat ending with a cliffhanger.
Polly and Ben returned for the last five minutes before saying goodbye and staying on contemporary Earth. Very disappointed they've gone, especially since they were absent for the majority of this story. Also rather surprised Samantha didn't replace them as a companion; she stayed behind to wait for her brother.
As far as the storyline goes, it was quite a good tale with the ending being satisfactory but without any massive explosions or major drama - sort of at odds with some of the visuals and plot ideas (the Bond-style laser) but on the whole in keeping with the series and the calm pace of the rest of the story.
The Doctor talked the Chameleons round, Captain Blade killed the Director and his accomplice-who-looked-like-Jamie, and the Doctor offered to help the Chameleon scientists come up with a way of dealing with their condition without using Humans. The majority of the episode was the Doctor delaying the Chameleons while Samantha and Jean Rock searched for the template Humans.
On the whole, then, not a bad story, not the worst of the season and not the best but acceptable with a disappointing exit for Polly and Ben. They seem to have suffered the same ill treatment as Dodo. However, this (I think) is the first story where the Doctor et al. haven't left in the TARDIS at the end - why? Because it's been stolen! Looks like we're still on Earth next week. Which is cool. You wait months for a contemporary Earth-based story to come along, then two turn up at once!
The Faceless Ones is a curious story - it has lots of elements that should make it really good, but together they add up to one of the messiest and least convincing plots ever when you start to think about it. Elements of it certainly work well, including the ambivalent morality of the whole tale (a Malcolm Hulke trademark) and the setting, but overall it's a bit of a disappoint. Especially for the way it treats Ben and Polly, and then again promising us a great companion in Samantha and then pulling that rug out from under us as well. The 'cliffhanger' ending's quite unusual though - by this point in the series - and is a welcome return.
ReplyDeleteRelated to the timing/dating of this story, I once started thinking about it in great detail and ended up writing a short story based on the fact that when you think about it, the events of The War Machines, The Faceless Ones and The Evil of the Daleks are all happening simultaneously. My story was very much fanfic - it involved Dodo and Victoria and other characters from both TWM and TEOTD - but was considered good enough that it was accepted for a Decalog (the Virgin-published shorty story collections in the '90s) that was being put together to showcase stories by authors from outside the UK - right at the point where the Virgin licence was revoked, so it never happened... Sigh. Oh well! :D