The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: Frontier In Space
Frontier In Space: Episode One (24/02/13)
Ooh! Space Opera! This one looks quite stylish already, and the Ogrons are back (properly, this time, not just a cameo) so could this be a Dalek story? (The Doctor doesn't think so - the Ogrons are mercenaries and will work for anyone).
So, the TARDIS materialised in yet another cargo hold, this time on a spaceship transporting bulk flour. Almost immediately, the ship was attacked by Ogrons who are using some form of transmitter to make their victims see Draconians. Now, Draconians are the other great power in the Universe at this point in History who are at peace with Earth following a nasty, intergalactic war (very B5) and the Ogrons seem to be trying to provoke another war as they appear to be attacking Draconian ships disguised as Humans, too. The Doctor reckons they're being employed by someone quite advanced as the technology they're using is too advanced for them alone (I'm hoping Cybermen, personally).
Jo hallucinated a Drashig and she and the Doctor got locked up a lot. The Draconians themselves are really rather good - nice masks and costumes. And Earth has a President who's a woman and they're using the device of news reports to get across a lot of background colour and information.
The Ogrons cut through the ship's airlock and stunned the Doctor and the two crew (who thought they were Draconians) then locked Jo up. When the Doctor came around, he freed Jo but by this point the ship's Mayday had been answered and a military rescue patrol was docking (the Ogrons having left with the flour and the TARDIS!). However, once revived, the crew had no idea who the Doctor and Jo were and said they were stowaways who were signalling to the Draconians, denouncing them as traitors!
It all looks very good and is very interesting and complicated. It's very Star Trek in parts, too, but in a good way. A very promising start!
Frontier In Space: Episode Two (03/03/13)
Hmmm. The Doctor and Jo spent most of this episode locked up in one place or another. And when they weren't, they were being interrogated and not listened to. First, they weren't listened to by the Earth patrol and locked up in the brig while the ship was escorted back to Earth. Then they weren't listened to by General Williams, the Earth President's vaguely insubordinate and very closed-minded right-hand-man. Next, they weren't listened to by the Earth President in front of the Draconian Ambassador, she choosing to believe General Williams' assertions that the Doctor and Jo were working for the Draconians, even when they and the Draconians repeatedly refuted it! Then, after being locked up again (and again) they were, or rather, the Doctor alone, was kidnapped by the Draconians who refused to listen to him, instead accusing him of working for General Williams (who apparently started the previous war between the two Empires - makes you wonder why he still holds an office that has him so close to the President! It's like having Bush hang around as Obama's International Relations Adviser *shudder*!).
The Doctor escaped from the Draconian Embassy and was immediately captured by the Earth military and locked up again with Jo (who, meanwhile, had again not been listened to by the President) when a group of Ogrons turned up and broke into their cell.
Anyway, very nice locations this week. Apparently, that awful concrete monstrosity, the Royal Festival Hall, on the South Bank of the Thames is now a high security prison (best use for it!). Lots of cool shots of the Doctor and Jo being escorted along its walkways and stairs. Also, great location and interior design for the Draconian Embassy - very Oriental in style! If the plot spent a week treading water, we at least got colour added to the two cultures and some nice comedy scenes for the Doctor and Jo. It did get a bit frustrating, though, hearing the same things over and over. Still, looks like they've been kidnapped now, so we can expect more cells but possibly a further advancement to the plot!
Frontier In Space: Episode Three (10/03/13)
Really good this week. General Williams tried to use the mind probe on the Doctor (the Ogrons' kidnap attempt having failed) but the Doctor blew it up by telling the truth. Must say that the women working for Earth's Government have a very 'interesting' uniform - long, silky evening dresses with high collars and arm-length gloves!
Anyhow, the Doctor got sent to the penal colony on the Moon (wonder if it's the same building from 'The Moonbase') where he teamed up with a couple of members of the Peace Party - one of whom was an Indian guy with a very RP accent who was in there for bombing a rally or something! - who informed him the Moon is where all Political Prisoners are sent for life!
Meanwhile, on Earth, the Master turned up!!! He's the one hiring the Ogrons, not the Daleks, and is masquerading as a representative of Sirius 4 with false files on the Doctor and Jo, two Sirian (?) outlaws. He's come to fetch them after the Ogrons brought him the TARDIS, in order to stop them interfering, I imagine.
Anyway, on the Moon, the Doctor's new allies have organised an escape attempt (after spending most of the episode telling him there's no escape) with the aid of one of the Governor's bully-boys. After being told the events of episodes one and two, the elder of the Peace Party members has decided to take the Doctor with him and they made their way to an airlock where two spacesuits have been left for them. However, the Governor's bloke has betrayed them (obviously, I suppose. They apparently have 'thousands' of prisoners from the Peace Party on the Moon and I just can't see that being feasible unless they organise tragic accidents to keep the numbers at a manageable rate) and provided empty air tanks. Locking them in, he's started pumping out the air. End of episode.
Really good, and nice to see the Master back with a decent scheme - although I hope his reasons are believable. Nah, it's the Master. He could just be doing it for fun! Really enjoying this one!
Frontier In Space: Episode Four (17/03/13)
Hmm. A mixture of padding and silliness, this week. It seems that so far the Doctor and Jo have spent 80% of this story locked up and held prisoner! The Doctor and the old man were rescued from the airlock by the Master who'd come to take the Doctor back to Sirius 4. There was a good scene where the Master 'convinced' the corrupt Lunar Governor to let the Master take him after he'd been sentenced to solitary confinement for a year. Come to think of it, the elder Peace Party member was also sentenced to a year of solitary confinement and that's how it was left! The Master then buggered off with the Doctor and Jo in his spaceship! Poor old bastard!
Ah, and the Master is being employed by someone like he's employing the Ogrons. Can't be the Draconians cuz they turned up at the end and took the Master prisoner. Daleks? Time Lords?
So, anyway, the Doctor used his razor wire to cut through their cell's lock, get a spacesuit and clamber round the outside of the spaceship to the control deck. Meanwhile, Jo prattled on to bore the Master who was listening in over the CCTV channel while he read 'The War Of The Worlds'.
Then it got a bit silly. The Master made a course change while the Doctor was fannying about on some very visible Kirby wires, and the Doctor was flung free of the ship... but managed to get back using his air supply like a jet pack. Now, if they were travelling through space, surely the Doctor would have been lost instantly? Instead, he remained hovering a few metres from the spaceship, seemingly travelling alongside it at the same speed! Anyhow, the Master twigged something was up when he checked on Jo and the Doctor, then chucked Jo in the airlock to jettison unless the Doctor surrendered. Then the Draconians turned up and took command of the ship as it was in Draconian space, locking all three up.
So next week we'll probably get to see Draconia, unless the Ogrons following the Master's beacon reach them first. Oh, and Jo seemed to, obliquely, refer to her friends outside UNIT while she was prattling, which was nice. And the Doctor re-jigged the events of 'The War Games' trial to make himself sound more heroic. So, comparatively underwhelming, but still pretty good!
Frontier In Space: Episode Five (24/03/13)
After four weeks of being held prisoner by varies parties, the Doctor and Jo were finally free this week to start drawing this plot to a conclusion. They were brought before the Draconian Emperor along with the Master (cue comedy sequences with the Master claiming a love of peace and lawfulness), but the Master's allies had followed them, raided the court and rescued him.
Luckily for the Doctor, one of the Ogrons got left behind so when the hypnotising noise had faded away there was evidence that what the Doctor had been claiming for four weeks was true. The Emperor sent his son, the Draconian Ambassador, off to Earth with the Doctor, Jo, a guard and the imprisoned Ogron, but the Master and his Ogron lackies ambushed them, rescued the Ogron and kidnapped Jo. They were scared off when an Earth patrol ship turned up and arrested the Doctor because they were in the Master's Earthforce ship which had been reported stolen.
The Doctor and the Draconian Prince were brought before the Earth President and General Williams again, this time with the Draconian supporting the Doctor. At first they didn't believe him, but eventually gave in when the Prince explained that General Williams had started the original war by opening fire on a weaponless military vessel damaged in an ion storm (or something). Really, you'd think this might've been discussed before now, perhaps after the war? I'm also wondering if J. Michael Straczynski saw this episode, as it sounds very similar to the reason behind the Earth/Minbari War from 'Babylon 5'. But I digress.
Meanwhile, on the Ogron planet the Master showed Jo the TARDIS and tried to hypnotise her but she fought him off with Nursery Rhymes, so he got his Hypnotising Fear Machine out!!! Odd cliffhanger, but a decent enough episode with lots of talking, but at least the Doctor isn't a prisoner any more, and General Williams is going to lead a party to arrest the Master on the Ogron planet! Hopefully, next week should be pretty good.
Frontier In Space: Episode Six (31/03/13)
Oooh! It's not over yet! The Master was working for the Daleks, so I was right thinking that, though I had forgotten he was working for someone by last week so it came as a bit of a surprise.
Jo fought off the effects of the Master's fear machine and he locked her up. However, he'd set it up so she could easily escape and send out a distress call that only someone within 200 miles could receive, knowing the Doctor would be on his way. Once the Doctor, Williams, the Draconian Prince and a couple of expendable Earthforce guards had arrived, the Ogrons were sent out to capture them. However, they were scared off by the alien creature they worship - a giant, orange scrotum... with googly eyes... er... Couldn't stop laughing at that one!
Anyway, then the Daleks arrived and helped the Master capture the Doctor, Williams and the Draconian Prince (and exterminate the extras), locked them up with Jo at the Ogron base and fucked off back to prepare their armies to take over the universe once the Human and Draconian Empires had wiped each other out. The Master, obviously, wants to take sole control, but no doubt that's yet to come. Luckily for the Doctor, Jo had filched the Master;s Fear Machine when she last escaped and the Doctor used this to get the guard to see him as a Dalek and set them free. The Ogron pegged it, though, and warned the Master who lay in wait for the Doctor and Jo by the TARDIS (Williams and Prince D. having gone off to warn their respective Empires of the plot), and shot the Doctor!
However, the shot went stray and the Master escaped having only grazed the Doctor's skull. Jo helped him into the TARDIS where he sent a telepathic message to the Time Lords!
All very exciting (apart from the hilarious Scrotum of Doom) if a bit conveniently resolved is some respects. Odd to see two primary villains working together, too, but really, really cool. Hope we get to see the Master and the Dalek armies next week as no doubt the Doctor's going to go after them. Really cool and a great continuation of the Anniversary year!
Ooh! Space Opera! This one looks quite stylish already, and the Ogrons are back (properly, this time, not just a cameo) so could this be a Dalek story? (The Doctor doesn't think so - the Ogrons are mercenaries and will work for anyone).
So, the TARDIS materialised in yet another cargo hold, this time on a spaceship transporting bulk flour. Almost immediately, the ship was attacked by Ogrons who are using some form of transmitter to make their victims see Draconians. Now, Draconians are the other great power in the Universe at this point in History who are at peace with Earth following a nasty, intergalactic war (very B5) and the Ogrons seem to be trying to provoke another war as they appear to be attacking Draconian ships disguised as Humans, too. The Doctor reckons they're being employed by someone quite advanced as the technology they're using is too advanced for them alone (I'm hoping Cybermen, personally).
Jo hallucinated a Drashig and she and the Doctor got locked up a lot. The Draconians themselves are really rather good - nice masks and costumes. And Earth has a President who's a woman and they're using the device of news reports to get across a lot of background colour and information.
The Ogrons cut through the ship's airlock and stunned the Doctor and the two crew (who thought they were Draconians) then locked Jo up. When the Doctor came around, he freed Jo but by this point the ship's Mayday had been answered and a military rescue patrol was docking (the Ogrons having left with the flour and the TARDIS!). However, once revived, the crew had no idea who the Doctor and Jo were and said they were stowaways who were signalling to the Draconians, denouncing them as traitors!
It all looks very good and is very interesting and complicated. It's very Star Trek in parts, too, but in a good way. A very promising start!
Frontier In Space: Episode Two (03/03/13)
Hmmm. The Doctor and Jo spent most of this episode locked up in one place or another. And when they weren't, they were being interrogated and not listened to. First, they weren't listened to by the Earth patrol and locked up in the brig while the ship was escorted back to Earth. Then they weren't listened to by General Williams, the Earth President's vaguely insubordinate and very closed-minded right-hand-man. Next, they weren't listened to by the Earth President in front of the Draconian Ambassador, she choosing to believe General Williams' assertions that the Doctor and Jo were working for the Draconians, even when they and the Draconians repeatedly refuted it! Then, after being locked up again (and again) they were, or rather, the Doctor alone, was kidnapped by the Draconians who refused to listen to him, instead accusing him of working for General Williams (who apparently started the previous war between the two Empires - makes you wonder why he still holds an office that has him so close to the President! It's like having Bush hang around as Obama's International Relations Adviser *shudder*!).
The Doctor escaped from the Draconian Embassy and was immediately captured by the Earth military and locked up again with Jo (who, meanwhile, had again not been listened to by the President) when a group of Ogrons turned up and broke into their cell.
Anyway, very nice locations this week. Apparently, that awful concrete monstrosity, the Royal Festival Hall, on the South Bank of the Thames is now a high security prison (best use for it!). Lots of cool shots of the Doctor and Jo being escorted along its walkways and stairs. Also, great location and interior design for the Draconian Embassy - very Oriental in style! If the plot spent a week treading water, we at least got colour added to the two cultures and some nice comedy scenes for the Doctor and Jo. It did get a bit frustrating, though, hearing the same things over and over. Still, looks like they've been kidnapped now, so we can expect more cells but possibly a further advancement to the plot!
Frontier In Space: Episode Three (10/03/13)
Really good this week. General Williams tried to use the mind probe on the Doctor (the Ogrons' kidnap attempt having failed) but the Doctor blew it up by telling the truth. Must say that the women working for Earth's Government have a very 'interesting' uniform - long, silky evening dresses with high collars and arm-length gloves!
Anyhow, the Doctor got sent to the penal colony on the Moon (wonder if it's the same building from 'The Moonbase') where he teamed up with a couple of members of the Peace Party - one of whom was an Indian guy with a very RP accent who was in there for bombing a rally or something! - who informed him the Moon is where all Political Prisoners are sent for life!
Meanwhile, on Earth, the Master turned up!!! He's the one hiring the Ogrons, not the Daleks, and is masquerading as a representative of Sirius 4 with false files on the Doctor and Jo, two Sirian (?) outlaws. He's come to fetch them after the Ogrons brought him the TARDIS, in order to stop them interfering, I imagine.
Anyway, on the Moon, the Doctor's new allies have organised an escape attempt (after spending most of the episode telling him there's no escape) with the aid of one of the Governor's bully-boys. After being told the events of episodes one and two, the elder of the Peace Party members has decided to take the Doctor with him and they made their way to an airlock where two spacesuits have been left for them. However, the Governor's bloke has betrayed them (obviously, I suppose. They apparently have 'thousands' of prisoners from the Peace Party on the Moon and I just can't see that being feasible unless they organise tragic accidents to keep the numbers at a manageable rate) and provided empty air tanks. Locking them in, he's started pumping out the air. End of episode.
Really good, and nice to see the Master back with a decent scheme - although I hope his reasons are believable. Nah, it's the Master. He could just be doing it for fun! Really enjoying this one!
Frontier In Space: Episode Four (17/03/13)
Hmm. A mixture of padding and silliness, this week. It seems that so far the Doctor and Jo have spent 80% of this story locked up and held prisoner! The Doctor and the old man were rescued from the airlock by the Master who'd come to take the Doctor back to Sirius 4. There was a good scene where the Master 'convinced' the corrupt Lunar Governor to let the Master take him after he'd been sentenced to solitary confinement for a year. Come to think of it, the elder Peace Party member was also sentenced to a year of solitary confinement and that's how it was left! The Master then buggered off with the Doctor and Jo in his spaceship! Poor old bastard!
Ah, and the Master is being employed by someone like he's employing the Ogrons. Can't be the Draconians cuz they turned up at the end and took the Master prisoner. Daleks? Time Lords?
So, anyway, the Doctor used his razor wire to cut through their cell's lock, get a spacesuit and clamber round the outside of the spaceship to the control deck. Meanwhile, Jo prattled on to bore the Master who was listening in over the CCTV channel while he read 'The War Of The Worlds'.
Then it got a bit silly. The Master made a course change while the Doctor was fannying about on some very visible Kirby wires, and the Doctor was flung free of the ship... but managed to get back using his air supply like a jet pack. Now, if they were travelling through space, surely the Doctor would have been lost instantly? Instead, he remained hovering a few metres from the spaceship, seemingly travelling alongside it at the same speed! Anyhow, the Master twigged something was up when he checked on Jo and the Doctor, then chucked Jo in the airlock to jettison unless the Doctor surrendered. Then the Draconians turned up and took command of the ship as it was in Draconian space, locking all three up.
So next week we'll probably get to see Draconia, unless the Ogrons following the Master's beacon reach them first. Oh, and Jo seemed to, obliquely, refer to her friends outside UNIT while she was prattling, which was nice. And the Doctor re-jigged the events of 'The War Games' trial to make himself sound more heroic. So, comparatively underwhelming, but still pretty good!
Frontier In Space: Episode Five (24/03/13)
After four weeks of being held prisoner by varies parties, the Doctor and Jo were finally free this week to start drawing this plot to a conclusion. They were brought before the Draconian Emperor along with the Master (cue comedy sequences with the Master claiming a love of peace and lawfulness), but the Master's allies had followed them, raided the court and rescued him.
Luckily for the Doctor, one of the Ogrons got left behind so when the hypnotising noise had faded away there was evidence that what the Doctor had been claiming for four weeks was true. The Emperor sent his son, the Draconian Ambassador, off to Earth with the Doctor, Jo, a guard and the imprisoned Ogron, but the Master and his Ogron lackies ambushed them, rescued the Ogron and kidnapped Jo. They were scared off when an Earth patrol ship turned up and arrested the Doctor because they were in the Master's Earthforce ship which had been reported stolen.
The Doctor and the Draconian Prince were brought before the Earth President and General Williams again, this time with the Draconian supporting the Doctor. At first they didn't believe him, but eventually gave in when the Prince explained that General Williams had started the original war by opening fire on a weaponless military vessel damaged in an ion storm (or something). Really, you'd think this might've been discussed before now, perhaps after the war? I'm also wondering if J. Michael Straczynski saw this episode, as it sounds very similar to the reason behind the Earth/Minbari War from 'Babylon 5'. But I digress.
Meanwhile, on the Ogron planet the Master showed Jo the TARDIS and tried to hypnotise her but she fought him off with Nursery Rhymes, so he got his Hypnotising Fear Machine out!!! Odd cliffhanger, but a decent enough episode with lots of talking, but at least the Doctor isn't a prisoner any more, and General Williams is going to lead a party to arrest the Master on the Ogron planet! Hopefully, next week should be pretty good.
Frontier In Space: Episode Six (31/03/13)
Oooh! It's not over yet! The Master was working for the Daleks, so I was right thinking that, though I had forgotten he was working for someone by last week so it came as a bit of a surprise.
Jo fought off the effects of the Master's fear machine and he locked her up. However, he'd set it up so she could easily escape and send out a distress call that only someone within 200 miles could receive, knowing the Doctor would be on his way. Once the Doctor, Williams, the Draconian Prince and a couple of expendable Earthforce guards had arrived, the Ogrons were sent out to capture them. However, they were scared off by the alien creature they worship - a giant, orange scrotum... with googly eyes... er... Couldn't stop laughing at that one!
Anyway, then the Daleks arrived and helped the Master capture the Doctor, Williams and the Draconian Prince (and exterminate the extras), locked them up with Jo at the Ogron base and fucked off back to prepare their armies to take over the universe once the Human and Draconian Empires had wiped each other out. The Master, obviously, wants to take sole control, but no doubt that's yet to come. Luckily for the Doctor, Jo had filched the Master;s Fear Machine when she last escaped and the Doctor used this to get the guard to see him as a Dalek and set them free. The Ogron pegged it, though, and warned the Master who lay in wait for the Doctor and Jo by the TARDIS (Williams and Prince D. having gone off to warn their respective Empires of the plot), and shot the Doctor!
However, the shot went stray and the Master escaped having only grazed the Doctor's skull. Jo helped him into the TARDIS where he sent a telepathic message to the Time Lords!
All very exciting (apart from the hilarious Scrotum of Doom) if a bit conveniently resolved is some respects. Odd to see two primary villains working together, too, but really, really cool. Hope we get to see the Master and the Dalek armies next week as no doubt the Doctor's going to go after them. Really cool and a great continuation of the Anniversary year!
Your review perfectly captures the stop-start nature of this story, with only about half of it having any point and the rest being padding. It would have been stretched at four episodes but probably would have gotten away with it; at six, especially all in one go (but even, as here, when you watch one at a time), the material's just too thin to sustain itself. The ending is awful too, although that's not the fault of the script. On the plus side, it does give us the Draconians, who are well realised in every sense, and as ever Malcolm Hulke manages to paint a believable universe in a few deceptively easy brush strokes. But it's not his finest hour overall by any means.
ReplyDeleteIf, like with The Daleks' Master Plan, there had been a more collaborative effort between Nation and (this time) Hulke it may have panned out better, but this just seems to be five and a half episodes of build up to the Big Anniversary Dalek story (capitals there for a reason) which itself might as well have nothing to do with Frontier In Space at all. There's no cross over between the two (which is basically shit) and, had there been at least a crossover of characters or themes Hulke might not have had to spend so much time seemingly treading water. Nonetheless he does this in a great way, providing us with a fantastic alien culture (and Pertwee's favourite) and some very interesting glimpses of quite an unnerving and pretty grim future when you take all the pieces and put them together. I'd say it was a story of style over substance, but that undersells the key ideas behind the world Hulke creates here. It's just a shame that he didn't get to explore this future universe more and settled for a capture/escape narrative until the Daleks turned up.
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