The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: The Space Pirates
The Space Pirates - Episode One (08/03/09)
Well, that was different!
Firstly, it was a full 15 minutes before the TARDIS even arrived - that's well over half way in - and then all the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe did was run away from some space soldiers and get trapped in an exploding beacon!
Secondly, what wonderful model work! In a script which comes across as some sort of space adventure akin to Flash Gordon (but without the planets) or Barbarella (ditto) the production have really pulled out the stops with the design. I don't think I've seen such cool spaceships in the entire series - miles away from the last story's crappy rocket. That kind of makes sense, in a way, as the rocket was meant to be primitive and contrasts greatly with this far future society for whom space travel is like cycling.
So, what was it about? Um, well, there's some space pirates (duh) who are attacking beacons, breaking them up and carting them off to plunder for their Argonite (the most precious metal in the universe) content. They're being chased by General Hermack (a man with a weird Germanic accent and a habit of using phrases like "I must be right!"), and his Space Captain, Ian (who has the worst American accent I've heard since the OK Corral!). They put some men on a beacon but the Doctor arrived and while they were chasing him, the real pirates (led by Caven) turned up and shot them all. Then they blew the beacon apart after leaving with the sole soldier survivor. The Doctor et al. stayed on the beacon.
So, not much happened, but there was a lot of detailed exposition setting up the universe it's taking place in. Don't know if I like it - it needed more Doctor - but great models and great score. Script-wise, I'd expected something better from Robert Holmes after he got the main cast spot on in 'The Krotons'. Still, we're only on Episode One. It may improve now the Doctor's finally here!
The Space Pirates - Episode Two (15/02/09)
Getting better, although the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe spent the entire episode trapped in the beacon section. This, however, was balanced by the oddest character I've ever seen in the series - Milo Clancy, an old Space Prospector, has turned up on the heels of the pirates who've been stealing his ore ships and he's improved the story no end. Suddenly, we're in a Western pastiche, in space! Strangely, it works. Openly ridiculing Hermack and Major Ian, Clancy has changed this from a rather dry Space Opera into something much more fun. He's over the top, very much a stereotype, but at least his comedy Texan drawl isn't as earnest as Major Ian.
Meanwhile, General Hermack suspects Clancy's behind the pirates (as in their leader) and has visited Madeleine Issigri (she of the odd, metal, beehive hair hat) whose father died in'mysterious' circumstances regarding Clancy and his chief rival. There's something dodgy about her, and it isn't the hat.
Major Ian has followed Clancy to the beacon segment and Clancy has boarded and shot Jamie - one can only assume he thought he was one of the pirates which sort of rules him out as their leader, unless he knew they weren't, but then why shoot? Again, low on plot and low on the Doctor's involvement (just some silly fannying about with magnets which went wrong) but no less entertaining for it!
The Space Pirates - Episode Three (22/03/09)
A bit more happened this week. Clancy quickly figured out that the Doctor et al weren't pirates (I'm convinced he's nothing to do with them now) and Jamie was only stunned. He took them aboard his ship, but Major Ian had located them and opened fire.
General Hermack is now convinced Clancy's running the pirate operation and not suspecting Madeleine Issigri at all (even though she's got ships identical to those of the pirates!). Clancy escaped Major Ian with a dump of copper needles which fucked up his navigation and headed to Ta, where the Issigri Mining Corporation is based.
Zoe figured out (through mathematical deduction using Clancy's navigational equipment) that the pirates were heading for Ta and should be within 10 miles (along with the TARDIS) and there was some great dialogue for her and the Doctor:
Doctor: "I should have worked that out myself!"
Zoe: "Yes. I wonder why you didn't?"
Anyhow, Clancy went off somewhere, and the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe went to look for the TARDIS. However, in the tunnels of the disused Mining Spaceport, they were chased by mine workers (or is it smugglers?) and hid in a crevice which turned out to be a hole!
Actually enjoying this one more than the Ice Warrior story now. The plot's taking a while to kick in but at least it's entertaining with a proper mix of drama and humour. I almost completely ignored the silly accents of General Hermack and Major Ian this week. The cliffhanger was a bit weak, but never mind. I hope the silliness and good writing continues because this is a breath of fresh air.
The Space Pirates - Episode Four (29/03/09)
Week four and the plot has dried up. Having fallen through a crack in the mine, the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe found themselves in a cell where the space pirates were keeping the space policeman they kidnapped in Episode One. Then they spent most of the episode fannying about trying to escape until Milo found them again. Then they ran through the mines chased by pirates until they got to Issigri HQ where, shock, horror, they found Madeleine is in cahoots with Caven, the pirate leader.
Meanwhile, General Hermack and co didn't fire on an Issigri vessel because it was an Issigri vessel when they were tracking a pirate vessel and only an Issigri vessel was around - and didn't twig that maybe she's involved. There was some other twaddle, but aside from the still-first-rate model work, the scenes with the Space Corps are intensely dull and I tend to switch off.This must be the biggest shift in quality week to week in the series! I haven't even filled a page! Hopefully the only way is up!
The Space Pirates - Episode Five (05/04/09)
Hmm. Okay. As far as plot twists go, this week provided one of the weirder ones. Caught by Caven, the Doctor, Jamie, Zoe and Milo Clancy were locked up in the old office (decked out like it's 1900) of Madeleine's father, Dom Issigri (who's been dead for several years) only to discover that they aren't alone. Their fellow prisoner is, yep - shock reveal - Dom Issigri! He isn't dead. Caven's men kidnapped him and when Madeleine decided to have his office locked up forever (eh?), Caven decided it was the perfect place to keep him (er...).
Meanwhile, Madeleine, shocked by the way Caven gunned down Lt. Sorba (the Space Policeman), contacted Hermack on the Space Telephone to hand Caven in. She didn't believe that a ruthless space pirate could be so... er... ruthless. Silly bitch. She was stopped by Caven who revealed her long-thought-dead father is alive and if she doesn't co-operate he'll soon be dead (but really dead this time).
Meanwhile, Hermack's troops are on the way to Ta. The Doctor et al. escaped their 'prison' with the aid of some candle wax and some marbles (bear with me, it gets sillier) and headed back to Milo's ship which Caven has got rigged by remote control to act as a decoy/bomb to lead Hermack away from Ta. The Doctor, Milo and Issigri Snr. board but Jamie and Zoe disappeared. The Doctor left the ship as Caven started the engines and was caught in the back blast! I wonder how he'll get out of this one?!?
Except I don't because it'll have something to do with Jamie and Zoe. This could easily be a good action story if the plot silliness was sorted out, or a really funny comedy if the guest cast weren't so sincere and flatly written. As it stands, after a hopeful start, I'm quite glad it finishes next week.
The Space Pirates - Episode Six (12/04/09)
What a very odd story. Jamie and Zoe did rescue the Doctor, but in a more subdued way than I expected. Caven decided he'd rig and detonate a huge bomb on Ta, killing the space police and Madeleine while he got away, and the Doctor spent the first half of the episode trying to switch off the remote control driving Milo's LIZ79 and the other half deactivating Caven's bomb. Obviously, he managed both and Hermack turned up just in time to catch Caven and his lackey flying away from Ta and blew them up. Having rescued her father (of sorts) Madeleine prepared to go back to her home planet for trial, and Milo offered the Doctor a lift back to the TARDIS in the LIZ79 (much to Jamie's dismay) - cue forced laughter.
I can honestly say this was unlike any other Doctor Who story I've seen! Whilst it had similarities to the huge Dalek story with Mavic Chen it's tone was entirely different. It even had similarities to 'The Enemy Of The World' (the jetting about and fractured plot) but again was a complete contrast. This series we've had a rollercoaster of a journey, beginning with some out and out turkeys, then picking up before plummeting into the mediocre. I would never have seen this coming, though. It was clearly trying to be a comedy whilst remaining a drama, but ultimately felt like a badly put together parody of Doctor Who. Each episode saw the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe in a different prison, Milo is one of the first out and out comedy characters (to be a main character) and Caven's threat was just plain dull. Add a few comedy accents and some classy model work and what have you got? A mess, that's what. I really want to like it, and I know I don't hate it. Ultimately, I'm just confused by it. Roll on next week!
Well, that was different!
Firstly, it was a full 15 minutes before the TARDIS even arrived - that's well over half way in - and then all the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe did was run away from some space soldiers and get trapped in an exploding beacon!
Secondly, what wonderful model work! In a script which comes across as some sort of space adventure akin to Flash Gordon (but without the planets) or Barbarella (ditto) the production have really pulled out the stops with the design. I don't think I've seen such cool spaceships in the entire series - miles away from the last story's crappy rocket. That kind of makes sense, in a way, as the rocket was meant to be primitive and contrasts greatly with this far future society for whom space travel is like cycling.
So, what was it about? Um, well, there's some space pirates (duh) who are attacking beacons, breaking them up and carting them off to plunder for their Argonite (the most precious metal in the universe) content. They're being chased by General Hermack (a man with a weird Germanic accent and a habit of using phrases like "I must be right!"), and his Space Captain, Ian (who has the worst American accent I've heard since the OK Corral!). They put some men on a beacon but the Doctor arrived and while they were chasing him, the real pirates (led by Caven) turned up and shot them all. Then they blew the beacon apart after leaving with the sole soldier survivor. The Doctor et al. stayed on the beacon.
So, not much happened, but there was a lot of detailed exposition setting up the universe it's taking place in. Don't know if I like it - it needed more Doctor - but great models and great score. Script-wise, I'd expected something better from Robert Holmes after he got the main cast spot on in 'The Krotons'. Still, we're only on Episode One. It may improve now the Doctor's finally here!
The Space Pirates - Episode Two (15/02/09)
Getting better, although the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe spent the entire episode trapped in the beacon section. This, however, was balanced by the oddest character I've ever seen in the series - Milo Clancy, an old Space Prospector, has turned up on the heels of the pirates who've been stealing his ore ships and he's improved the story no end. Suddenly, we're in a Western pastiche, in space! Strangely, it works. Openly ridiculing Hermack and Major Ian, Clancy has changed this from a rather dry Space Opera into something much more fun. He's over the top, very much a stereotype, but at least his comedy Texan drawl isn't as earnest as Major Ian.
Meanwhile, General Hermack suspects Clancy's behind the pirates (as in their leader) and has visited Madeleine Issigri (she of the odd, metal, beehive hair hat) whose father died in'mysterious' circumstances regarding Clancy and his chief rival. There's something dodgy about her, and it isn't the hat.
Major Ian has followed Clancy to the beacon segment and Clancy has boarded and shot Jamie - one can only assume he thought he was one of the pirates which sort of rules him out as their leader, unless he knew they weren't, but then why shoot? Again, low on plot and low on the Doctor's involvement (just some silly fannying about with magnets which went wrong) but no less entertaining for it!
The Space Pirates - Episode Three (22/03/09)
A bit more happened this week. Clancy quickly figured out that the Doctor et al weren't pirates (I'm convinced he's nothing to do with them now) and Jamie was only stunned. He took them aboard his ship, but Major Ian had located them and opened fire.
General Hermack is now convinced Clancy's running the pirate operation and not suspecting Madeleine Issigri at all (even though she's got ships identical to those of the pirates!). Clancy escaped Major Ian with a dump of copper needles which fucked up his navigation and headed to Ta, where the Issigri Mining Corporation is based.
Zoe figured out (through mathematical deduction using Clancy's navigational equipment) that the pirates were heading for Ta and should be within 10 miles (along with the TARDIS) and there was some great dialogue for her and the Doctor:
Doctor: "I should have worked that out myself!"
Zoe: "Yes. I wonder why you didn't?"
Anyhow, Clancy went off somewhere, and the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe went to look for the TARDIS. However, in the tunnels of the disused Mining Spaceport, they were chased by mine workers (or is it smugglers?) and hid in a crevice which turned out to be a hole!
Actually enjoying this one more than the Ice Warrior story now. The plot's taking a while to kick in but at least it's entertaining with a proper mix of drama and humour. I almost completely ignored the silly accents of General Hermack and Major Ian this week. The cliffhanger was a bit weak, but never mind. I hope the silliness and good writing continues because this is a breath of fresh air.
The Space Pirates - Episode Four (29/03/09)
Week four and the plot has dried up. Having fallen through a crack in the mine, the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe found themselves in a cell where the space pirates were keeping the space policeman they kidnapped in Episode One. Then they spent most of the episode fannying about trying to escape until Milo found them again. Then they ran through the mines chased by pirates until they got to Issigri HQ where, shock, horror, they found Madeleine is in cahoots with Caven, the pirate leader.
Meanwhile, General Hermack and co didn't fire on an Issigri vessel because it was an Issigri vessel when they were tracking a pirate vessel and only an Issigri vessel was around - and didn't twig that maybe she's involved. There was some other twaddle, but aside from the still-first-rate model work, the scenes with the Space Corps are intensely dull and I tend to switch off.This must be the biggest shift in quality week to week in the series! I haven't even filled a page! Hopefully the only way is up!
The Space Pirates - Episode Five (05/04/09)
Hmm. Okay. As far as plot twists go, this week provided one of the weirder ones. Caught by Caven, the Doctor, Jamie, Zoe and Milo Clancy were locked up in the old office (decked out like it's 1900) of Madeleine's father, Dom Issigri (who's been dead for several years) only to discover that they aren't alone. Their fellow prisoner is, yep - shock reveal - Dom Issigri! He isn't dead. Caven's men kidnapped him and when Madeleine decided to have his office locked up forever (eh?), Caven decided it was the perfect place to keep him (er...).
Meanwhile, Madeleine, shocked by the way Caven gunned down Lt. Sorba (the Space Policeman), contacted Hermack on the Space Telephone to hand Caven in. She didn't believe that a ruthless space pirate could be so... er... ruthless. Silly bitch. She was stopped by Caven who revealed her long-thought-dead father is alive and if she doesn't co-operate he'll soon be dead (but really dead this time).
Meanwhile, Hermack's troops are on the way to Ta. The Doctor et al. escaped their 'prison' with the aid of some candle wax and some marbles (bear with me, it gets sillier) and headed back to Milo's ship which Caven has got rigged by remote control to act as a decoy/bomb to lead Hermack away from Ta. The Doctor, Milo and Issigri Snr. board but Jamie and Zoe disappeared. The Doctor left the ship as Caven started the engines and was caught in the back blast! I wonder how he'll get out of this one?!?
Except I don't because it'll have something to do with Jamie and Zoe. This could easily be a good action story if the plot silliness was sorted out, or a really funny comedy if the guest cast weren't so sincere and flatly written. As it stands, after a hopeful start, I'm quite glad it finishes next week.
The Space Pirates - Episode Six (12/04/09)
What a very odd story. Jamie and Zoe did rescue the Doctor, but in a more subdued way than I expected. Caven decided he'd rig and detonate a huge bomb on Ta, killing the space police and Madeleine while he got away, and the Doctor spent the first half of the episode trying to switch off the remote control driving Milo's LIZ79 and the other half deactivating Caven's bomb. Obviously, he managed both and Hermack turned up just in time to catch Caven and his lackey flying away from Ta and blew them up. Having rescued her father (of sorts) Madeleine prepared to go back to her home planet for trial, and Milo offered the Doctor a lift back to the TARDIS in the LIZ79 (much to Jamie's dismay) - cue forced laughter.
I can honestly say this was unlike any other Doctor Who story I've seen! Whilst it had similarities to the huge Dalek story with Mavic Chen it's tone was entirely different. It even had similarities to 'The Enemy Of The World' (the jetting about and fractured plot) but again was a complete contrast. This series we've had a rollercoaster of a journey, beginning with some out and out turkeys, then picking up before plummeting into the mediocre. I would never have seen this coming, though. It was clearly trying to be a comedy whilst remaining a drama, but ultimately felt like a badly put together parody of Doctor Who. Each episode saw the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe in a different prison, Milo is one of the first out and out comedy characters (to be a main character) and Caven's threat was just plain dull. Add a few comedy accents and some classy model work and what have you got? A mess, that's what. I really want to like it, and I know I don't hate it. Ultimately, I'm just confused by it. Roll on next week!
Copy/paste everything I said elsewhere here - there's nothing more I can add really. Apart from yes, I agree with you that it doesn't quite know what it wants to be, but isn't so bad for all that.
ReplyDeleteI was actually quite shocked at how much I turned against it from Episode Four onwards. It really isn't as bad as its reputation and I'd choose to listen to this/watch the recon over The Dominators, The Mind Robber and The Seeds Of Death from this season (and certainly a handful more from the Troughton era). It's muddled, drawn out, full of plot holes (or, at the very least, characters who are immensely dim) but it really does draw an intricate picture of a society in the future with a handful of very well characterised individuals. It doesn't surprise me in the least that Robert Holmes' wife cited this story as her favourite of his scripts largely down to the character of Milo Clancy - he really is brilliant. Taking it in context, I can forgive it its faults because it was a last minute four part story expanded to six episodes which also required Pat, Fraser and Wendy to be free in the final episode to do pre-filming on location for The War Games. But production issues aren't something I take into consideration when I'm viewing the episodes as part of my marathon - I purely try to approach it as a viewer with almost no knowledge of the making of the show as possible (which really isn't that easy). Well, only two more blogs and we conclude the Troughton era. Summing this one up is going to be tough!
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