The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: Terror Of The Zygons
Terror Of The Zygons: Part One (30/08/15)
A new series already and it's brilliant! This must be the shortest break between series since when Patrick Troughton was the Doctor.
We're in Scotland and the Brigadier has called the Doctor et al. back to investigate the destruction of a number of oil rigs. It's beautifully shot and Robert Banks Stewart's script is brilliant; full of drama, tension, mystery and some fantastic characters. There's the surly Duke of Forgill; Huckle, the man in charge at the oil company; a landlord with second sight and the odd Sister Lamont. A huge sea monster seems to be responsible for the destruction of the rigs, though we've only seen its scaly side and a huge tooth mark in a fragment of concrete. And the whole thing is being watched by creepy, orange aliens who seem to enjoy manipulating the organic controls of their machine.
While Harry investigated the crushed bodies of the accident victims, Sarah interviewed the landlord and got told of mysterious happenings out on the moors over the last couple of centuries. Then, returning, Harry saw a survivor staggering out of the sea and went to help. However, a mysterious, butch Scot out on the dunes shot the survivor dead and shot Harry (grazing his skull)!
Sedated in the medical wing of the refinery, Harry woke and began muttering what the survivor had said, so Sarah went to ring the Doctor at the pub, leaving Harry with Sister Lamont, but something happened and Sarah was attacked by one of the aliens.
The script just sped along with lots happening and some snappy dialogue. All the regulars, including the Brigadier and Benton got plenty to do that was part of their skill set, and the Direction and camera work are superb. The location work is stunning, the design and sets are convincing and the Doctor's got a Tartan scarf and Tam-O-Shanter! A great start to the new series. Gritty, filmic, stylish and beautiful. And great music, too!
Terror Of The Zygons: Part Two (06/09/15)
Another gripping episode with lots happening, some utterly gorgeous location filming, and some amazing puppetry and stop motion work!
Given that the last series started with possibly the worst story the series has seen, this is turning out to be one of the best! The Doctor went over to the infirmary and located Sarah locked in a decompression room used for divers. Going to help her, the Zygon that attacked her locked them both inside and started to pump out the air. Luckily, the Doctor hypnotised Sarah and put himself into a trance until Benton came along and saved them.
Harry, however, has been kidnapped by the Zygons - who have been on Earth millennia and are attacking rigs with their dinosaur-like Skarasen (which they feed off by drinking its milk!) - and he's been duplicated; they can strap Humans into a machine and wear an image of their body so they can pass among Humanity unnoticed! They have Sister Lamont and the Caber (the guy who shot Harry) already.
Huckle found an organic transmitter used to lead the Skarasen to what the Zygons want destroyed and the Zygons sent one of their own disguised as Harry to fetch it. Sarah and some soldiers gave chase and Sarah caught up with 'Harry' in a barn - cue cool scene where he attacks her with a pitchfork before falling to his death.
But now UNIT and the Doctor know the Zygons can disguise themselves so, having learnt this through a bug in the pub, Broton (the Zygon leader) sent the Skarasen to destroy them all by activating the device. The Doctor grabbed it, realising what was happening when it started beeping, jumped in a jeep and drove off. The jeep broke down, so he ended up being chased across the moors and now the device is stuck to his hand and the Skarasen has caught up with him.
Utterly brilliant. Looks great, sounds great, lots going on and so wonderfully shot! I really hope this is indicative of the series to come.
Terror Of The Zygons: Part Three (13/09/15)
This story is failing to disappoint on any level! Harry attacked the Zygons causing the Skarasen to fail to kill the Doctor, but assume it had. He also knocked out the Zygons' visual relay so the couldn't verify the Doctor's destruction and so assumed it had happened.
Meanwhile, Angus the landlord found the Zygon bug in the deer head and was swiftly offed by Sister Lamont, but Benton and the soldiers gave chase and shot her in the arm. She escaped by KOing a UNIT soldier by a jeep and taking the vehicle.
The Brigadier and Sarah found the Doctor and they returned to the pub where the Doctor worked out that the Duke of Forgill may be involved as he gave Angus the deer head, so he, the Brigadier and Sarah paid him a visit. Hang on, no, they did this first then found out about the deer head after leaving Sarah at the castle to research the Loch Ness Monster in the Duke's library after they'd got a call saying Benton was chasing a Zygon. Sarah found a secret passage to the Zygon ship under the lake and then the Doctor twigged about the Duke.
Sarah found Harry and they escaped and met the Doctor and the Brigadier back in the Duke's library. However, going into the ship, the Zygons caught the Doctor and warned the others off, intent on escape with the Doctor hostage.
The Brig had Benton fire depth charges into the loch and the Zygon ship took off, displaying some fantastic model work!
Fast-paced, interesting, atmospheric and still very, very cool. Everyone's being well used and everything's holding the attention. Great acting, great direction, great music and a great story!
Terror Of The Zygons: Part Four (20/09/15)
What an absolutely bloody marvelous story! There was next to no recap of last week's episode at the start and the action just kept going.
The Zygons headed south and landed in a disused quarry. Everyone headed for UNIT HQ in London while the Doctor set off an alert to reveal where the Zygon ship was, which also in it looking like he'd been electrocuted.
The Skarasen was also heading for London and whilst Broton, disguised as the Duke, headed off to an international conference with a device to lure the Skarasen to the building (which it would destroy, killing all the world leaders within), the Doctor freed the real Duke, Caber and Sister Lamont, set the ship's self destruct and escaped.
UNIT turned up and they all went to find Broton. The Doctor and Sarah found him in the basement and the Doctor had a fight with him while Sarah fetched the Brigadier who turned up and shot the alien villain.
Locating the signal device, the Doctor went out onto a balcony over the Thames and cobbed it at the Skarasen who ate it and went off back to Loch Ness. The story finished with an utterly charming scene with the Doctor, Sarah, Harry, the Brigadier and the Duke returning to the TARDIS in the Highlands and saying goodbye.
But only Sarah went with the Doctor! Harry stayed behind! Hopefully we'll see both Harry and the Brigadier later in the series, but it did feel to have some finality to it. That said, they always bring UNIT back, so I'm sure there's no need to worry. Whilst I loved the Pertwee years, and the First Doctor was fantastic, this story was very much in contrast to previous series. It felt very grown up and self-assured, and didn't drag like some stories in the past. Definitely the best story for this Doctor so far, even surpassing The Sontaran Experiment! Although I know it's a bit much to ask, I'm hoping this is indicative of the continuing quality of this series. Fingers crossed.
A new series already and it's brilliant! This must be the shortest break between series since when Patrick Troughton was the Doctor.
We're in Scotland and the Brigadier has called the Doctor et al. back to investigate the destruction of a number of oil rigs. It's beautifully shot and Robert Banks Stewart's script is brilliant; full of drama, tension, mystery and some fantastic characters. There's the surly Duke of Forgill; Huckle, the man in charge at the oil company; a landlord with second sight and the odd Sister Lamont. A huge sea monster seems to be responsible for the destruction of the rigs, though we've only seen its scaly side and a huge tooth mark in a fragment of concrete. And the whole thing is being watched by creepy, orange aliens who seem to enjoy manipulating the organic controls of their machine.
While Harry investigated the crushed bodies of the accident victims, Sarah interviewed the landlord and got told of mysterious happenings out on the moors over the last couple of centuries. Then, returning, Harry saw a survivor staggering out of the sea and went to help. However, a mysterious, butch Scot out on the dunes shot the survivor dead and shot Harry (grazing his skull)!
Sedated in the medical wing of the refinery, Harry woke and began muttering what the survivor had said, so Sarah went to ring the Doctor at the pub, leaving Harry with Sister Lamont, but something happened and Sarah was attacked by one of the aliens.
The script just sped along with lots happening and some snappy dialogue. All the regulars, including the Brigadier and Benton got plenty to do that was part of their skill set, and the Direction and camera work are superb. The location work is stunning, the design and sets are convincing and the Doctor's got a Tartan scarf and Tam-O-Shanter! A great start to the new series. Gritty, filmic, stylish and beautiful. And great music, too!
Terror Of The Zygons: Part Two (06/09/15)
Another gripping episode with lots happening, some utterly gorgeous location filming, and some amazing puppetry and stop motion work!
Given that the last series started with possibly the worst story the series has seen, this is turning out to be one of the best! The Doctor went over to the infirmary and located Sarah locked in a decompression room used for divers. Going to help her, the Zygon that attacked her locked them both inside and started to pump out the air. Luckily, the Doctor hypnotised Sarah and put himself into a trance until Benton came along and saved them.
Harry, however, has been kidnapped by the Zygons - who have been on Earth millennia and are attacking rigs with their dinosaur-like Skarasen (which they feed off by drinking its milk!) - and he's been duplicated; they can strap Humans into a machine and wear an image of their body so they can pass among Humanity unnoticed! They have Sister Lamont and the Caber (the guy who shot Harry) already.
Huckle found an organic transmitter used to lead the Skarasen to what the Zygons want destroyed and the Zygons sent one of their own disguised as Harry to fetch it. Sarah and some soldiers gave chase and Sarah caught up with 'Harry' in a barn - cue cool scene where he attacks her with a pitchfork before falling to his death.
But now UNIT and the Doctor know the Zygons can disguise themselves so, having learnt this through a bug in the pub, Broton (the Zygon leader) sent the Skarasen to destroy them all by activating the device. The Doctor grabbed it, realising what was happening when it started beeping, jumped in a jeep and drove off. The jeep broke down, so he ended up being chased across the moors and now the device is stuck to his hand and the Skarasen has caught up with him.
Utterly brilliant. Looks great, sounds great, lots going on and so wonderfully shot! I really hope this is indicative of the series to come.
Terror Of The Zygons: Part Three (13/09/15)
This story is failing to disappoint on any level! Harry attacked the Zygons causing the Skarasen to fail to kill the Doctor, but assume it had. He also knocked out the Zygons' visual relay so the couldn't verify the Doctor's destruction and so assumed it had happened.
Meanwhile, Angus the landlord found the Zygon bug in the deer head and was swiftly offed by Sister Lamont, but Benton and the soldiers gave chase and shot her in the arm. She escaped by KOing a UNIT soldier by a jeep and taking the vehicle.
The Brigadier and Sarah found the Doctor and they returned to the pub where the Doctor worked out that the Duke of Forgill may be involved as he gave Angus the deer head, so he, the Brigadier and Sarah paid him a visit. Hang on, no, they did this first then found out about the deer head after leaving Sarah at the castle to research the Loch Ness Monster in the Duke's library after they'd got a call saying Benton was chasing a Zygon. Sarah found a secret passage to the Zygon ship under the lake and then the Doctor twigged about the Duke.
Sarah found Harry and they escaped and met the Doctor and the Brigadier back in the Duke's library. However, going into the ship, the Zygons caught the Doctor and warned the others off, intent on escape with the Doctor hostage.
The Brig had Benton fire depth charges into the loch and the Zygon ship took off, displaying some fantastic model work!
Fast-paced, interesting, atmospheric and still very, very cool. Everyone's being well used and everything's holding the attention. Great acting, great direction, great music and a great story!
Terror Of The Zygons: Part Four (20/09/15)
What an absolutely bloody marvelous story! There was next to no recap of last week's episode at the start and the action just kept going.
The Zygons headed south and landed in a disused quarry. Everyone headed for UNIT HQ in London while the Doctor set off an alert to reveal where the Zygon ship was, which also in it looking like he'd been electrocuted.
The Skarasen was also heading for London and whilst Broton, disguised as the Duke, headed off to an international conference with a device to lure the Skarasen to the building (which it would destroy, killing all the world leaders within), the Doctor freed the real Duke, Caber and Sister Lamont, set the ship's self destruct and escaped.
UNIT turned up and they all went to find Broton. The Doctor and Sarah found him in the basement and the Doctor had a fight with him while Sarah fetched the Brigadier who turned up and shot the alien villain.
Locating the signal device, the Doctor went out onto a balcony over the Thames and cobbed it at the Skarasen who ate it and went off back to Loch Ness. The story finished with an utterly charming scene with the Doctor, Sarah, Harry, the Brigadier and the Duke returning to the TARDIS in the Highlands and saying goodbye.
But only Sarah went with the Doctor! Harry stayed behind! Hopefully we'll see both Harry and the Brigadier later in the series, but it did feel to have some finality to it. That said, they always bring UNIT back, so I'm sure there's no need to worry. Whilst I loved the Pertwee years, and the First Doctor was fantastic, this story was very much in contrast to previous series. It felt very grown up and self-assured, and didn't drag like some stories in the past. Definitely the best story for this Doctor so far, even surpassing The Sontaran Experiment! Although I know it's a bit much to ask, I'm hoping this is indicative of the continuing quality of this series. Fingers crossed.
One of the series' true classics, even to this day, with absolutely everyone at the top of their game. As with virtually every classic though there's something that lets it down, and here I disagree with you - while the stop-motion Skarasen could have been a lot worse, it's still not great. Do I love them for the fact they tried though? Obviously <3 And it's streaks ahead of what we got in, say, Invasion of the Dinosaurs. But as with every true classic, it's far easier to overlook a visual shortcoming (cf. Talons' giant rat, Androzani's magma beast, et al.) when everything else works so perfectly, and here everything else really does. Robert Banks Stewart clearly got the memo about the 4th Doctor being more alien and aloof, and here it works a treat. Future-Oscar-winning James Acheson creates possibly the best ever aliens in the Zygons, too. And of course it's helmed by probably the greatest director the show's ever had, and there's that music, and the location work... There's no arguing against it, frankly. The quality speaks for itself.
ReplyDeleteOnly truly bad thing about the whole story: Harry staying behind :( I know why the production team felt he was redundant, but even Philip Hinchcliffe later admitted that given how well the three leads worked together as actors and characters it was a mistake to dump Harry after just the one season. Which is why they brought him back just three stories later, of course, which is a nice bonus. But still a pity.
More than any serial, Terror Of The Zygons has aged really well. Yes, the Skarasen isn't the best thing the show's ever seen, but it's good for 1975 and I think my appreciation of the puppetry was largely influenced by its mix with stop motion work which is much more forgiving than the static dinosaurs 18 months earlier, plus the realisation is far superior.
DeleteAnd I'm entirely with you about Harry. Ian Marter brought an aspect to the Fourth Doctor and Sarah's relationship which is noticeably absent in the following serials. That said, his decision to remain on Earth with UNIT is perfectly in keeping with the character. Watching the last 6 stories showed me how great a companion Harry is, and re-reading my journal for this blog has reminded me that this often ignored companion is one of the best and most underrated the show has had.