The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: Colony In Space

Colony In Space: Episode One (10/04/11)

Ooh! Time Lords! An alien planet! Aliens and Colonists!

The Master has nicked some files on a Doomsday Weapon off the Time Lords so they've decided to send the Doctor to deal with it. So the next time the Doctor went into his TARDIS (to plug in his newly fixed Dematerialisation Circuit and show Jo around) the doors closed and they were off to the planet Uxarieus where a group of colonists crops are failing while they're being attacked by giant lizards.

Meanwhile, there are some weird local aliens who are green and lanky with fucked-up faces. Most of the episode was spent scene setting, introducing the characters - people from the year 2472 who have set off to form a colony away from the totalitarian and overcrowded Earth. They live in fear of mineralogists who come and gut planets for fuel, and now in fear of giant Iguanas! Two of their colony - the Leesons - have been killed by the lizards but the Doctor is suspicious because the giant lizard somehow managed to leave claw marks at the back of the Leesons' bio-dome even though it has a man-sized door.

I reckon it's the Master in league with the fuck-faced aliens. Mrs Leeson seemed to be talking to someone just before she was killed. And now a colonist from another community massacred by the lizards has turned up! Not only that, but the Doctor has now been attacked by some clawy machine that we saw just before the TARDIS landed.

It's very exciting and very entertaining being on an alien planet in colour for the first time! Pity it's so obviously a quarry in Sussex. Nonetheless, it's big and grim and bleak enough. Great start, and some nice acting by Katy Manning doing the same kind of thing William Russell did as Ian in the very first story. Plus the Doctor seems much less angry, although he does seem to have left the Brigadier investigating dead ends in search of the Master!

Colony In Space: Episode Two (17/04/11)

Well, that episode sped by! It continues to be entertaining. Turns out the machine belongs to a group of surveyors from the Interplanetary Mining Corps (IMC - no doubt once owned by Madeleine Issigri!) who, unsurprisingly, are behind the killings. This episode set up their plot with one of their surveyors, Caldwell, not liking the company's scare tactics when he found out his Captain, Dent, ordered over-eager psychopath Morgan to kill some colonists. Dent, however, has blackmailed Caldwell into keeping quiet and sent Morgan off to kill the Doctor with a clawy machine (having decided that the Doctor is a government spy).

Meanwhile, Jo is making friends with the daughter of the colonists' leader, Robert Ashe, and Norton (the guy from the other settlement) has first put doubts in the mind of David Winton (the fit blond colonist) then gone and killed the colony's only mechanic, smashed the generator and framed the mechanic's alien aide! Not sure why. Obviously a bit of a psycho.

The Doctor and Morgan had a run in with some hostile aliens who tried to ambush them, but the Doctor dealt with them. Then, back at the Leesons' dome, Morgan unveiled the special Claw Machine (which looks a bit daft, to be honest) and prepared to kill the Doctor.

Only one or two quibbles: firstly, why did Caldwell let the Doctor drive his IMC buggy back to the IMC ship? Secondly, what's happened to the plot about the Master stealing files off the Time Lords? Other than that, really good. Oh, and the aliens have nicked the TARDIS!

Colony In Space: Episode Three (24/04/11)

Pretty good again this week. The Doctor overpowered Morgan and escaped to inform the colonists that IMC are behind everything, so Jo and David went to the IMC ship to get some hard evidence. However, Norton is actually an IMC man and warned Dent that Jo and David were going to break into the ship. Dent caught them, took them to a Primitive ruin and strapped them to a bomb, then called the Doctor and threatened to blow Jo up unless the Doctor withdrew his accusation (since an Adjudicator has been sent for to decide who has the rights to the planet and since IMC have been killing people it's unlikely (s)he'll side with them!).

Jo and David got free, however, and David escaped. Jo got caught by their guard, though, and David was chased by other IMC guards. He was rescued by Caldwell, though, and returned to mount an attack on the IMC ship, with the Doctor's help.

By this time, the Doctor had figured out Norton was a plant and, after taking over the IMC ship, the Doctor demanded Dent free Jo. By this time, however, Jo had been captured by the alien primitives, her guard killed and had been taken of to their underground city!

Quite good, liking David, nicely rounded characters in both groups and some cool, muddy location work. Hope they end up doing more alien planet stories because this is quite promising!

Colony In Space: Episode Four (01/05/11)

So, there's three different types of alien: the green, lanky ones with the fucked-up faces; the short, half-blind priest-like ones in the white robes; and a tiny one who sits in a chair and lives in a cupboard! And they're all descendants of a highly advanced race who lived in an underground city but were almost wiped out by giant maggots, or so their History-In-A-Mural would seem to indicate.

The Doctor went to rescue/trade food for Jo, they ran about a bit, then got threatened with death but reasoned their way to freedom with the tiny alien. They'll be killed if they return, though, which I think they probably will because the Adjudicator has arrived to sort out the colonist/IMC dispute and he's shown an interest in the planet's history because - BA BA BA BOM!!! - he's the Master. What's the betting the 'Primitives' built the Doomsday Weapon the Time Lord files were about?

The Doctor and Jo returned to the colony in time to hear the 'Adjudicator' rule that the colonists had to leave, but the Master talked them into not giving him away as a fraud because his forged papers were convincing enough and the Doctor has no papers which is a crime in the future.

Robert Ashe tried to find a way to appeal legally (hence - is there any historical significance to the planet) but David set a trap for the IMC lot (who got drunk after the hearing) to take the planet by force. Norton overheard and tried to warn IMC by radio, but Leeson's brother found him and was killed for doing so, Norton warned IMC when they arrived and was shot dead by David (Yay!) and a Western-style gun battle ensued, during which the Master pulled a gun on the Doctor and Jo saying they were about to become the victims of stray bullets!

Whoa! Lots going on! This is a much better Space Western than The Space Pirates. Looking forward to next week.

Colony In Space: Episode Five (08/05/11)

Obviously, the Master didn't shoot them as he was interrupted by Ashe asking him to stop the bloodbath. He didn't have to, however, because David snook up on Dent, held him at gunpoint and ordered all the IMC lot to hand over their weapons. Then he ordered them off Uxarieus.

While they were gone, the Doctor and Jo broke into the Master's TARDIS (crawling under a detector beam in the door - a bit remiss leaving a gap at the bottom if you ask me) but Jo stepped into it while the Doctor was going through the Master's files and the Master set off some sleeping gas and knocked them out.

Up in orbit, Dent did an ID check on the 'Adjudicator' and found out his photo didn't match exposing the Master as an impostor, so they returned to the colony and mounted a surprise attack. The Master, meanwhile, had roused the Doctor and Jo and ordered the Doctor to take him to the alien city (having learnt from Ashe that the Doctor had been there) otherwise he'd gas Jo and kill her! Dent, meanwhile, regained control of the colony and sentenced Ashe and David to execution unless the whole colony left the planet. However, their spaceship was defunct when they left Earth and is likely to explode before it even gets off the ground!

The Doctor and the Master set off for the alien city, fending off an alien ambush on the way, but stopping outside, the Master was alerted to Morgan and Caldwell entering his TARDIS (disguised as the Adjudicator's ship) on Dent's orders to find the phony lawman (they found the key the Doctor used to break into the TARDIS - the one he'd nicked) and started moving his finger V E R Y   S  L  O   W   L    Y  towards the button of the Gas Release Jam Fancy Mini Video Screen he had with him.

A bit silly, and the colonist story is much more interesting than the Master's motives, but it was cool seeing inside the Master's TARDIS. Doubt the Master will kill Jo, though.

Colony In Space: Episode Six (15/05/11)

Um. This was very close to being good, but one or two unbelievable plot holes turned up in the final episode.

Obviously, the Doctor prevented the Master from gassing Jo and they went into the 'Primitive' city where they were locked up in the mural room again, and the Master revealed that he was there to steal a Doomsday Weapon that the 'Primitives' had created before their race degenerated (thanks to the weapon poisoning the soil, as the Midget Alien later revealed: Hole #1, so why haven't they completely starved?).

IMC forced all the colonists to board their dodgy space ship, but Mary Ashe lied to the guards and said David had been on board for hours when he was actually hiding and waiting to knock out the guard and let everybody off (Hole #2: would IMC really have been so lax?).

Encountering the Midget Alien, the Master and the Doctor argued about who should do what with the Doomsday Weapon, and the Midget Alien decided to Self Destruct the weapon, destroying the city and everything in it (Hole #3: if the decision was so easy to make, why hasn't it done this before? Hole #4: I really don't believe that the Alien wold be so willing to kill itself and its entire species when it surely would have been much easier and less homicidal to just kill the Master and up security!).

The colonists' space ship took off and blew up and for ages it looked like everyone was dead but David (which was cool). Caldwell had taken Jo to the city where they met the Doctor and the Master escaping, were found by Morgan and his patrol (looking for Caldwell), were caught in a gunfight with the surviving colonists during which the Master escaped and, well, next thing IMC have gone, an Adjudicator is on the way, David is in charge since Ashe was killed single-handedly piloting the doomed space ship, Caldwell is joining the colonists, and the Doctor and Jo are off in the TARDIS which was found in a primitive dwelling. And returned seconds after they left.

A bit of a mess. Could've been good just focusing on the colonists, but all the guff about the Master and the 'Primitives' was just a bit silly.

Never mind. New story next week, and it was good to leave Earth for a change!