The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: The Ambassadors OF DEATH
The Ambassadors OF DEATH: Episode 1 (21/03/10)
Well, that was just like The Sweeney! Welcome to 'The Ambassadors...OF DEATH'. It was all very fast and exciting. What to say?
Well, basically Mars Probe 7 blasted off from Mars with its crew seven months ago, then contact was lost. Recovery 7 docked with Mars Probe 7 in a weird-but-cool sort-of pre-titles bit and now communication has been lost with that! Meanwhile, the space station has received a coded communication which the Doctor heard on the News report and is trying to decipher. However, someone in a warehouse in London has already sent a coded reply - UNIT went in and had a gunfight, the lackies were caught but their bosses escaped, destroying their transmitter. And back at Mission Control, French Taunter, er, I mean the uncooperative Frenchman Doctor Taltalian has just pulled a gun on the Doctor and Liz.
It all looks very swish and is very gripping, if a little confusing, but just as good as last week. What else? Liz has had a haircut and is now sporting a somewhat bouffant bob. Oh! And we got to see the TARDIS console - IN COLOUR!!! It's a sort of pale egg-green, not what I expected! And either the Doctor's seriously redecorated inside the TARDIS or he's moved the console out to a rather charming sitting room with a TV and a lozenge-shaped, stained-glass window (?).
The episode utilised the device of a news report to get the basic info about the Mars missions across rather well, the gunfight was very well directed and shot (excuse the pun), and the sets are very impressive. Plus the Doctor referred back to the Silurians. All in all, a very promising start. Yay!
The Ambassadors OF DEATH: Episode 2 (28/02/10)
Another fantastic episode! After an odd start with the Doctor using 'transmigration of object' to make the tape Taltalian wanted disappear into thin air (WTF!), the said dodgy European doctor escaped and things got back to normal with the Doctor cleverly proving the man the Brigadier captured at the warehouse was an army sergeant. It wasn't long before someone had freed him, though.
But on to more important things. Recovery 7 eventually landed (somewhere on the South Downs by the look of it) but the astronauts wouldn't open the capsule so the Brigadier put i t on the back of a huge lorry to take it to Mission Control. On the way, however, they were attacked by a helicopter (Reg. G-AWFL, which this story is anything but!) dropping smoke bombs. Engaging in man to man/man to motorbike combat, UNIT were overpowered by Evil-Moustache-Guy's stun guns. He and Smart-Blond-Sidekick then took the lorry back the way they'd come only to encounter the Doctor who'd earlier been having comedy trouble with Bessie and fallen behind. He blocked the road and, armed with only a silly voice and an Anti-Theft Forcefield on his car, overpowered them and took the capsule to Mission Control.
After some trouble with their decryption machine, Liz made some headway translating the original transmissions to Recovery 7 (and vice versa) but French Taunter's lab assistant seems also to be a traitor, contacting and informing Sir James Quinlan (who is in charge of the project, had a set-to with the Doctor and the Brigadier about doing something pro-active, has been hiding Taltalian and is, yes - that's right - also apparently a traitor!).
Back with Recovery 7, upon getting a repeated couple of phrases as the only response from within, the Doctor's ordered it to be cut open! So plenty of silliness to raise this from being a rather serious conspiracy story. Really enjoyable with tonnes going on, and we're only on Episode 2!
The Ambassadors OF DEATH: Episode 3 (04/04/10)
What's going on? Looks like the conspiracy's deepening! Turns out the astronauts were taken out of the capsule by a group masquerading as UNIT soldiers - this, it seems, was easily done because Quinlan and Moustache-Guy (who's actually called General Carrington hence his henchmen being soldiers) organised it because the astronauts passed through a mysterious (contagious) radiation belt and have been taken to a safehouse. However, when Carrington and the Doctor got there they'd been kidnapped by a bloke in a laundry van and his heavies (which he let travel in the back of the van with the radioactive astronauts and later disposed of their corpses in a gravel pit), and shot the scientists looking after them. This guy (Reegan?) has his own safehouse and scientist (who knows Liz) but has lowered the radiation level in the astronauts' cell, nearly killing them.
Meanwhile, the Doctor doesn't think the astronauts are astronauts but aliens, and the astronauts are still up in Mars Probe 7. He wants to go up to find out, but Ralph Cornish says the Government may not allow it and Quinlan and Carrington definitely don't want anybody going up to the capsule - BUT WHY? Then the Doctor and Liz got a phone call requesting they travel to Herefordshire to look at the corpses from the gravel pit at the Brigadier's request but Liz ended up going alone. This was a trap, as the Doctor found out when the Brigadier turned up a little later.
Cue sequence where Liz, in Bessie, is pursued by two blokes in a Ford Capri. Forcing her off the road, they chased Liz on foot to a weir. She fought back but took a tumble over the railings. I have no idea what's going on and who the good guys and bad guys are, but it's all very entertaining. A lot different to the previous stories but still as good, if not better!
The Ambassadors OF DEATH: Episode 4 (11/04/10)
They caught Liz and took her to the safehouse to help Professor Lennox, but she escaped with Professor Lennox' help. Meanwhile, Reegan rang the Doctor (who was with Taltalian trying to decode the alien transmissions) and threatened to kill Liz if he interfered any more. The Doctor ignored his threat and carried on, though he still refused to trust Taltalian.
Liz made it as far as the road and flagged down a car, but it was Taltalian who is working with Reegan. They returned to the safehouse where Taltalian gave Reegan a machine he'd made that gave the astronauts instructions (like 'stand up', etc). Reegan in turn gave Taltalian a bomb disguised as a briefcase, but set the timer at zero, so back at Mission Control is killed Taltalian and only injured the Doctor. Since Taltalian also seemed to have been working for Quinlan, he sent for the Doctor saying he'd explain everything that's going on. However, Reegan sent one of the astronauts off to kill Quinlan and take something from his office safe. The Doctor turned up before it had left and it reached out towards him with it's radioactive touch...OF DEATH!
Also this week, Carrington continued to be difficult, Cornish figured out a way of getting a rocket up to Recovery 7, and the Brigadier seemed a bit miffed - likely because he'd got no idea what's going on or who's working for who. This is a lot more convoluted than previous stories and reminds me of 'The Enemy Of The World' (by the same writer, unsurprisingly) and is getting a little hard to follow. It's still good, though.
The Ambassadors OF DEATH: Episode 5 (18/04/10)
This story plays more like a Bond film, or something like Mission: Impossible or The Man From UNCLE. The Brigadier walked in and shot the alien/astronaut to no effect other than stopping it from touching the Doctor and strolling out the office, killing a UNIT soldier on its way. Upon its return to the safehouse, Reegan (who I noticed for the first time this week has a slightly Polish accent) informed Liz and Lennox of the numerous killings it had performed. This spurred Liz to persuade Lennox to go to UNIT at Mission Control and inform them of what's happening. He conned Reegan's lacky while Reegan was out and left.
Anyhow, Sergeant Benton is back; the guy from 'The Invasion'! Five episodes into the third story and he pops up out of nowhere. I have to say it was quite nice to see another familiar face. I wonder if we'll see anyone else like Travers (Senior or Junior) or Professor or Isobel Watkins? Benton informed the Brigadier of Lennox' arrival and put him in a holding cell to keep him safe while the Brigadier oversaw the Doctor's departure in Recovery 7. Reegan, however, learning of Lennox' defection got someone to smuggle an isotope into Lennox' cell and cut the alarm, while he sabotaged Recovery 7's fuel input. With too much M3 variant, Recovery 7 nearly went into the sun but Cornish jettisoned Stage 1 early to compensate and the Doctor made it to the rendez-vous with Mars Probe 7. However, a large object has appeared and is converging with Mars Probe 7 and the Doctor!
Carrington made another appearance forbidding the Doctor to go up to Mars Probe 7 for no apparent reason so it would seem he's the one of Reegan's working for and might explain who put the isotope in Lennox' cell (or who ordered it as it didn't sound like him - though you didn't see his face). Anyhow, it seems the aliens have arrived! Very exciting!
The Ambassadors OF DEATH: Episode 6 (25/04/10)
The aliens have the three astronauts quite safe, comfortable and thinking they're in quarantine on Earth, because their alien Ambassadors haven't been returned. After speaking to them, the Doctor promised to find and return them, and headed back to Earth.
Meanwhile, Liz learnt first hand that the astronauts are alien and Reegan was sent to kill the Doctor while he readjusted in the decontamination unit. The Brigadier has twigged that Carrington has something to do with the situation as (to quote Cornish) the man is clearly 'insane' and plans to nuke the alien spacecraft and pin the blame on the Doctor. Against instructions, Reegan gassed the Doctor and took him back to the safehouse where he informed his boss over the phone that the Doctor was dead. The Doctor then agreed to make a communication device so that Reegan could have a two way conversation with the Ambassadors, but having been left on their own by Reegan, Carrington turned up, declared he was surprised to see the Doctor as he'd been informed he was dead, and that he had to kill the Doctor as part of his Moral Duty.
So Carrington is behind it all - god knows why, though it may be something to do with his being an astronaut on a previous Mars mission. The episode seemed quite quick today, but then there was a lot of info-dumping and new stuff happening with aliens. It's nice to have a story where the aliens aren't trying to take over the planet. They also have a very cool cell for the astronauts with a fancy telly that plays wibbly music to hypnotise them! The aliens themselves, however, look like green Medieval lepers. Ah well. Still a fantastic story, if a little contrived.
The Ambassadors OF DEATH: Episode 7 (02/05/10)
I think that, since the start of the very first series of Doctor Who, that has to have been the best story so far! Okay, maybe one or two of the stories from Season 3 are contenders, but I don't think we've had as good a production since before Patrick Troughton took over!
Carrington was convinced by Reegan to let the Doctor live and make a communications device, then Carrington took one of the aliens to Mission Control where he'd got the News reporter to organise a worldwide transmission unveiling the alien and calling for the destruction of the alien ship. Turns out Carrington encountered them on Mars where they killed his colleague by accident. In return, he organised their Ambassadors' visit intending to lure them close enough to annihilate them. It was quite sad, really.
He arrested the Brigadier and took over Mission Control, but the Brigadier escaped, learnt from Benton that UNIT had picked up an SOS on a multiple band that seemed to indicate the Doctor was being held in Surrey. They raided the safehouse, rescued the Doctor and Liz, and used the Ambassadors to get past Carrington's guards and into Mission Control in time to stop the TV broadcast. Carrington was arrested and the Doctor left Cornish and Liz to deal with returning the alien Ambassadors. Best of all, the Doctor sympathised with Carrington and allowed him to keep his dignity.
It was really nice to have such a bloodless end to the story, which was more about espionage and individual perceptions than alien invasion and monsters. A wonderful change in keeping with the new series, a bit grittier than the last story and more chaotic, but the best story so far. Loving this series! Can't wait to see what we've got next week.
Well, that was just like The Sweeney! Welcome to 'The Ambassadors...OF DEATH'. It was all very fast and exciting. What to say?
Well, basically Mars Probe 7 blasted off from Mars with its crew seven months ago, then contact was lost. Recovery 7 docked with Mars Probe 7 in a weird-but-cool sort-of pre-titles bit and now communication has been lost with that! Meanwhile, the space station has received a coded communication which the Doctor heard on the News report and is trying to decipher. However, someone in a warehouse in London has already sent a coded reply - UNIT went in and had a gunfight, the lackies were caught but their bosses escaped, destroying their transmitter. And back at Mission Control, French Taunter, er, I mean the uncooperative Frenchman Doctor Taltalian has just pulled a gun on the Doctor and Liz.
It all looks very swish and is very gripping, if a little confusing, but just as good as last week. What else? Liz has had a haircut and is now sporting a somewhat bouffant bob. Oh! And we got to see the TARDIS console - IN COLOUR!!! It's a sort of pale egg-green, not what I expected! And either the Doctor's seriously redecorated inside the TARDIS or he's moved the console out to a rather charming sitting room with a TV and a lozenge-shaped, stained-glass window (?).
The episode utilised the device of a news report to get the basic info about the Mars missions across rather well, the gunfight was very well directed and shot (excuse the pun), and the sets are very impressive. Plus the Doctor referred back to the Silurians. All in all, a very promising start. Yay!
The Ambassadors OF DEATH: Episode 2 (28/02/10)
Another fantastic episode! After an odd start with the Doctor using 'transmigration of object' to make the tape Taltalian wanted disappear into thin air (WTF!), the said dodgy European doctor escaped and things got back to normal with the Doctor cleverly proving the man the Brigadier captured at the warehouse was an army sergeant. It wasn't long before someone had freed him, though.
But on to more important things. Recovery 7 eventually landed (somewhere on the South Downs by the look of it) but the astronauts wouldn't open the capsule so the Brigadier put i t on the back of a huge lorry to take it to Mission Control. On the way, however, they were attacked by a helicopter (Reg. G-AWFL, which this story is anything but!) dropping smoke bombs. Engaging in man to man/man to motorbike combat, UNIT were overpowered by Evil-Moustache-Guy's stun guns. He and Smart-Blond-Sidekick then took the lorry back the way they'd come only to encounter the Doctor who'd earlier been having comedy trouble with Bessie and fallen behind. He blocked the road and, armed with only a silly voice and an Anti-Theft Forcefield on his car, overpowered them and took the capsule to Mission Control.
After some trouble with their decryption machine, Liz made some headway translating the original transmissions to Recovery 7 (and vice versa) but French Taunter's lab assistant seems also to be a traitor, contacting and informing Sir James Quinlan (who is in charge of the project, had a set-to with the Doctor and the Brigadier about doing something pro-active, has been hiding Taltalian and is, yes - that's right - also apparently a traitor!).
Back with Recovery 7, upon getting a repeated couple of phrases as the only response from within, the Doctor's ordered it to be cut open! So plenty of silliness to raise this from being a rather serious conspiracy story. Really enjoyable with tonnes going on, and we're only on Episode 2!
The Ambassadors OF DEATH: Episode 3 (04/04/10)
What's going on? Looks like the conspiracy's deepening! Turns out the astronauts were taken out of the capsule by a group masquerading as UNIT soldiers - this, it seems, was easily done because Quinlan and Moustache-Guy (who's actually called General Carrington hence his henchmen being soldiers) organised it because the astronauts passed through a mysterious (contagious) radiation belt and have been taken to a safehouse. However, when Carrington and the Doctor got there they'd been kidnapped by a bloke in a laundry van and his heavies (which he let travel in the back of the van with the radioactive astronauts and later disposed of their corpses in a gravel pit), and shot the scientists looking after them. This guy (Reegan?) has his own safehouse and scientist (who knows Liz) but has lowered the radiation level in the astronauts' cell, nearly killing them.
Meanwhile, the Doctor doesn't think the astronauts are astronauts but aliens, and the astronauts are still up in Mars Probe 7. He wants to go up to find out, but Ralph Cornish says the Government may not allow it and Quinlan and Carrington definitely don't want anybody going up to the capsule - BUT WHY? Then the Doctor and Liz got a phone call requesting they travel to Herefordshire to look at the corpses from the gravel pit at the Brigadier's request but Liz ended up going alone. This was a trap, as the Doctor found out when the Brigadier turned up a little later.
Cue sequence where Liz, in Bessie, is pursued by two blokes in a Ford Capri. Forcing her off the road, they chased Liz on foot to a weir. She fought back but took a tumble over the railings. I have no idea what's going on and who the good guys and bad guys are, but it's all very entertaining. A lot different to the previous stories but still as good, if not better!
The Ambassadors OF DEATH: Episode 4 (11/04/10)
They caught Liz and took her to the safehouse to help Professor Lennox, but she escaped with Professor Lennox' help. Meanwhile, Reegan rang the Doctor (who was with Taltalian trying to decode the alien transmissions) and threatened to kill Liz if he interfered any more. The Doctor ignored his threat and carried on, though he still refused to trust Taltalian.
Liz made it as far as the road and flagged down a car, but it was Taltalian who is working with Reegan. They returned to the safehouse where Taltalian gave Reegan a machine he'd made that gave the astronauts instructions (like 'stand up', etc). Reegan in turn gave Taltalian a bomb disguised as a briefcase, but set the timer at zero, so back at Mission Control is killed Taltalian and only injured the Doctor. Since Taltalian also seemed to have been working for Quinlan, he sent for the Doctor saying he'd explain everything that's going on. However, Reegan sent one of the astronauts off to kill Quinlan and take something from his office safe. The Doctor turned up before it had left and it reached out towards him with it's radioactive touch...OF DEATH!
Also this week, Carrington continued to be difficult, Cornish figured out a way of getting a rocket up to Recovery 7, and the Brigadier seemed a bit miffed - likely because he'd got no idea what's going on or who's working for who. This is a lot more convoluted than previous stories and reminds me of 'The Enemy Of The World' (by the same writer, unsurprisingly) and is getting a little hard to follow. It's still good, though.
The Ambassadors OF DEATH: Episode 5 (18/04/10)
This story plays more like a Bond film, or something like Mission: Impossible or The Man From UNCLE. The Brigadier walked in and shot the alien/astronaut to no effect other than stopping it from touching the Doctor and strolling out the office, killing a UNIT soldier on its way. Upon its return to the safehouse, Reegan (who I noticed for the first time this week has a slightly Polish accent) informed Liz and Lennox of the numerous killings it had performed. This spurred Liz to persuade Lennox to go to UNIT at Mission Control and inform them of what's happening. He conned Reegan's lacky while Reegan was out and left.
Anyhow, Sergeant Benton is back; the guy from 'The Invasion'! Five episodes into the third story and he pops up out of nowhere. I have to say it was quite nice to see another familiar face. I wonder if we'll see anyone else like Travers (Senior or Junior) or Professor or Isobel Watkins? Benton informed the Brigadier of Lennox' arrival and put him in a holding cell to keep him safe while the Brigadier oversaw the Doctor's departure in Recovery 7. Reegan, however, learning of Lennox' defection got someone to smuggle an isotope into Lennox' cell and cut the alarm, while he sabotaged Recovery 7's fuel input. With too much M3 variant, Recovery 7 nearly went into the sun but Cornish jettisoned Stage 1 early to compensate and the Doctor made it to the rendez-vous with Mars Probe 7. However, a large object has appeared and is converging with Mars Probe 7 and the Doctor!
Carrington made another appearance forbidding the Doctor to go up to Mars Probe 7 for no apparent reason so it would seem he's the one of Reegan's working for and might explain who put the isotope in Lennox' cell (or who ordered it as it didn't sound like him - though you didn't see his face). Anyhow, it seems the aliens have arrived! Very exciting!
The Ambassadors OF DEATH: Episode 6 (25/04/10)
The aliens have the three astronauts quite safe, comfortable and thinking they're in quarantine on Earth, because their alien Ambassadors haven't been returned. After speaking to them, the Doctor promised to find and return them, and headed back to Earth.
Meanwhile, Liz learnt first hand that the astronauts are alien and Reegan was sent to kill the Doctor while he readjusted in the decontamination unit. The Brigadier has twigged that Carrington has something to do with the situation as (to quote Cornish) the man is clearly 'insane' and plans to nuke the alien spacecraft and pin the blame on the Doctor. Against instructions, Reegan gassed the Doctor and took him back to the safehouse where he informed his boss over the phone that the Doctor was dead. The Doctor then agreed to make a communication device so that Reegan could have a two way conversation with the Ambassadors, but having been left on their own by Reegan, Carrington turned up, declared he was surprised to see the Doctor as he'd been informed he was dead, and that he had to kill the Doctor as part of his Moral Duty.
So Carrington is behind it all - god knows why, though it may be something to do with his being an astronaut on a previous Mars mission. The episode seemed quite quick today, but then there was a lot of info-dumping and new stuff happening with aliens. It's nice to have a story where the aliens aren't trying to take over the planet. They also have a very cool cell for the astronauts with a fancy telly that plays wibbly music to hypnotise them! The aliens themselves, however, look like green Medieval lepers. Ah well. Still a fantastic story, if a little contrived.
The Ambassadors OF DEATH: Episode 7 (02/05/10)
I think that, since the start of the very first series of Doctor Who, that has to have been the best story so far! Okay, maybe one or two of the stories from Season 3 are contenders, but I don't think we've had as good a production since before Patrick Troughton took over!
Carrington was convinced by Reegan to let the Doctor live and make a communications device, then Carrington took one of the aliens to Mission Control where he'd got the News reporter to organise a worldwide transmission unveiling the alien and calling for the destruction of the alien ship. Turns out Carrington encountered them on Mars where they killed his colleague by accident. In return, he organised their Ambassadors' visit intending to lure them close enough to annihilate them. It was quite sad, really.
He arrested the Brigadier and took over Mission Control, but the Brigadier escaped, learnt from Benton that UNIT had picked up an SOS on a multiple band that seemed to indicate the Doctor was being held in Surrey. They raided the safehouse, rescued the Doctor and Liz, and used the Ambassadors to get past Carrington's guards and into Mission Control in time to stop the TV broadcast. Carrington was arrested and the Doctor left Cornish and Liz to deal with returning the alien Ambassadors. Best of all, the Doctor sympathised with Carrington and allowed him to keep his dignity.
It was really nice to have such a bloodless end to the story, which was more about espionage and individual perceptions than alien invasion and monsters. A wonderful change in keeping with the new series, a bit grittier than the last story and more chaotic, but the best story so far. Loving this series! Can't wait to see what we've got next week.
Well, I don't have quite the same enthusiasm for the story that you do (one of the best ever?!) but it's definitely better than its reputation suggests, with some great direction, interesting music and ideas and some dedicated performances. The overall feel of the piece is quite unique as well. That said, the plot's a mess for much of the time - the product of the story having about 57 writers, no doubt - and as innovative as the use of CSO was at the time, the effects are some of the most haven't-aged-well in the entire series. But it's a lot more enjoyable in practice than it should be in theory.
ReplyDeleteIt may not be my favourite ever overall as a fan, but it's certainly my second favourite Pertwee and at the time I watched it I was hugely impressed. Watching it an episode a week hides some of the flaws and I'd argue that there were much worse effects and CSO which hasn't aged as well in the years to come. It's certainly the show at its grittiest and most hard edged and, despite all the upheaval behind the scenes with the various rewrites, it holds together very well. With a limited episode count and a new, focused production team, this season emulates Season 4 in that, with the new Doctor, they provide very different stories which stretch the format and explore new ground, but they also bring a clearer and more defined style to the series now that the Doctor is exiled on Earth. It's an approach which would reappear with Season 19 and Series 11 as the show reinvented itself as something new yet the same as what had gone before.
DeleteAmbassadors is the height of the new 'adult' series which would subsequently tone down to a more family-oriented show from here on. It deserves its 7 episodes (like its predecessor) but has more scope and a more frenetic pace. I think that's why I love it so much. Plus it shows the Doctor and Liz at their best and is a brilliant showcase for HAVOC.