The Doctor Who Real Time Marathon: Image Of The Fendahl
Image Of The Fendahl: Part One (29/10/17)
A huge improvement this week and appropriately very Horror in style only two days before Hallowe'en!
A group of archaeologists and scientists have unearthed a Human skull which appears to be 8 million years older than Mankind. Doctor Fendelman's experiments seem to be affecting it somehow, making it glow, and a hiker has already died of fright in the haunted woods surrounding the mansion up in near the village of Fetchborough. It's also had an affect on Chronologist Thea Ransome, but so far she seems okay.
Whatever it is they're doing has affected the TARDIS some way, too, and drawn it to Earth. K9 is suffering from corrosion and the Doctor has taken him to pieces - I get the impression they weren't originally intending to have him join the Doctor so he's not in this story. Leela also has a new, pale chamois leather dress (not as nice as her other one) and has put her hair up into a very unflattering bun.
It's a bit of an odd one, actually, because the Doctor and Leela haven't even got involved in the story yet! The TARDIS landed in a cow field, then they encountered a local Council worker who told them there were some scientists at the manor, but as it ended, Leela had just got there only to be (presumably) shot by someone with a rifle, and the Doctor had encountered whatever had killed the hiker! Otherwise, this episode has set up the four scientists and their work and cranked the creepy atmosphere up to 11!
It was a good, scary episode, well written by a gratefully returning Chris Boucher, but I hope the plot picks up next week. Nevertheless, it was still a huge improvement on the last four weeks. Let's hope the atmosphere and quality is sustained and not squandered like 'Planet Of Evil' and 'Pyramids Of Mars'. Looks like it should be a good one!
Image Of The Fendahl: Part Two (05/11/17)
Bonfire night, and everything is deeply creepy on Doctor Who!
Proper Sci Fi/Horror this week with talk of the ancient skull being an alien with a Pentagram as part of its makeup, Thea seemingly possessed by weird, snake-like, leech-things called Fandahleens, and Ted Moss the Council worker, Max Stael and Mrs Tyler being part of a Coven!
Leela was really good this week, beating up Ted Moss and holding him at gunpoint after he tried to shoot her, then overpowering (but not killing!) a security guard when she went to find the Doctor at the Priory. Meanwhile, the Doctor finally reached the Priory where the chief Security Guard had been killed by whatever killed the hiker, was quizzed by Colby and Fendelman, then locked up as they thought he was a spy. Somebody, possibly Stael, let him out, though (as Fendelman locked him up, Thea and Colby didn't know about his release and didn't seem to have the chance, and Stael did know he'd escaped and seems to want him out of the way), and he found his way to the room where they're keeping the skull, touched it, and seemed to be getting attacked by it as it glowed and whirred.
And Mrs Tyler saw something in the woods that reached for her mind and seemed to bode death for everything on the planet, which is what the Doctor predicted would happen if this is the Fendahl - which is something from his own mythology. Mrs Tyler, meanwhile, is being looked after by her country bumpkin grandson.
All really good, really well directed and shot, and a great story to show over Hallowe'en and Bonfire Night. Really looking forward to next week. Chris Boucher is serving the series well yet again!
Image Of The Fendahl: Part Three (12/11/17)
This is certainly one of the most heavily Horror-influenced stories the show has ever seen, whilst still maintaining a Sci Fi slant. Max, it turns out, is leader of the coven Ted Moss belongs to and has been since Mrs Tyler's visions have been coming true. Exactly what this says about him as a scientists I don't know, but he's certainly a loon!
Colby got some great, bitchily sarcastic lines after Max took him and Fendelman at gunpoint and tied them to pillars in the cellar ready for the Lamas Eve ceremony to, one assumes, conjure forth the Devil to give Max power over the world!
Thea was drugged, tied up and lain in the centre of a Pentagram on the cellar floor and Max has hooked the skull up to the scanner, and shot Fendelman in the head after he realised that he and the generations before him had just been pawns used to aide the Fendahl's resurrection.
Leela saved the Doctor, then they went and revived Mrs Tyler with incorrect fruitcake recipes. The Doctor sent Jack Tyler to watch the Priory (and the arrival of the coven) while he and Leela went on a wild goose chase in search of the Fifth Planet (of which there were no records) only to find the Time Lords had enclosed it in a Time Loop (presumably to contain the Fendahl, which feeds on life on every spectrum).
When the Doctor didn't return at sundown, Mrs Tyler and Jack went to the Priory to stop the coven themselves where they met up with the Doctor and Leela (when they finally arrived) and encountered a huge snake/worm creature which I assume is the Fendahl!
Martha Tyler is a great character - by far the best this series - and got some great lines, particularly during an argument with Jack about the power of belief; he reasoned people used to believe the Earth was flat but that didn't make it true, to which Mrs Tyler responded "Aye, but they behaved as if it were flat!". Despite the Doctor and Leela's lack of involvement, this has been the best episode so far and I'm looking forward to next week!
Image Of The Fendahl: Part Four (19/11/17)
This has been a pretty good story, all said, and very appropriate for transmission around Hallowe'en. Hot quite as brilliant as 'Horror Of Fang Rock', but better than the last story and continuing the vein of Gothic Horror that's been the series mainstay since 'The Deadly Assassin' (but not the Hammer Horror stylings of Season 13). The big snake-worms were Fendahleen, part of the Fendahl gestalt, and were easily killed by rock salt, which Ma Tyler had in her charms and was able to make Molotovs with using round-bottomed flasks and slat from the Priory kitchens. They had a hell of a lot of salt! Maybe they were stocking up for the Winter to use to de-ice the drive!
Anyway, the Doctor and Leela rescued Adam Colby but were too late to help Max and the coven who were being transformed into Fendahleen by Thea, who the skull had rewritten the mind of and transformed her into a striking, gold woman with rather silly-looking painted-on eyes; I think that was the worst effect of the story and its only major let-down. On request, the Doctor gave Max a gun from the altar so he could kill himself before the Fendahl changed him - quite disturbing when you think about it. The Doctor rigged the scanner to cause a massive implosion and sent Ma Tyler and Jack back to the cottage to safety, while Colby ran the scanner for two minutes (before joining them) so that the Doctor and Leela could get the skull to dispose of (in a Black Hole).
There was quite a lot of technobabble from the Doctor explaining the plot to Adam which I didn't really follow, but there were quite a few good bits that stood out, such as Ma Tyler saying that one day she'd be too old for doing this kind of thing, Adam’s gaydar-alerting non-reaction to Leela kissing him goodbye, Tom addressing the line "Time's running out" directly to camera, and Max's aforementioned assisted suicide.
As good as it was, though, there seemed to be something lacking. I reckon the explanations of what was going on were too complicated, even though they were broken down into layman's terms - seems the Time Lords destroyed the Fifth Planet after the Fendahl had escaped and it spent the next 12 million years influencing Mankind's evolution. But I enjoyed it - very Quatermass - and in the end it had the Doctor and Leela have a very silly conversation about K9, whilst Leela ended up back in her old dress with her hair down instead of that awful chamois leather number and the unflattering bun!
A huge improvement this week and appropriately very Horror in style only two days before Hallowe'en!
A group of archaeologists and scientists have unearthed a Human skull which appears to be 8 million years older than Mankind. Doctor Fendelman's experiments seem to be affecting it somehow, making it glow, and a hiker has already died of fright in the haunted woods surrounding the mansion up in near the village of Fetchborough. It's also had an affect on Chronologist Thea Ransome, but so far she seems okay.
Whatever it is they're doing has affected the TARDIS some way, too, and drawn it to Earth. K9 is suffering from corrosion and the Doctor has taken him to pieces - I get the impression they weren't originally intending to have him join the Doctor so he's not in this story. Leela also has a new, pale chamois leather dress (not as nice as her other one) and has put her hair up into a very unflattering bun.
It's a bit of an odd one, actually, because the Doctor and Leela haven't even got involved in the story yet! The TARDIS landed in a cow field, then they encountered a local Council worker who told them there were some scientists at the manor, but as it ended, Leela had just got there only to be (presumably) shot by someone with a rifle, and the Doctor had encountered whatever had killed the hiker! Otherwise, this episode has set up the four scientists and their work and cranked the creepy atmosphere up to 11!
It was a good, scary episode, well written by a gratefully returning Chris Boucher, but I hope the plot picks up next week. Nevertheless, it was still a huge improvement on the last four weeks. Let's hope the atmosphere and quality is sustained and not squandered like 'Planet Of Evil' and 'Pyramids Of Mars'. Looks like it should be a good one!
Image Of The Fendahl: Part Two (05/11/17)
Bonfire night, and everything is deeply creepy on Doctor Who!
Proper Sci Fi/Horror this week with talk of the ancient skull being an alien with a Pentagram as part of its makeup, Thea seemingly possessed by weird, snake-like, leech-things called Fandahleens, and Ted Moss the Council worker, Max Stael and Mrs Tyler being part of a Coven!
Leela was really good this week, beating up Ted Moss and holding him at gunpoint after he tried to shoot her, then overpowering (but not killing!) a security guard when she went to find the Doctor at the Priory. Meanwhile, the Doctor finally reached the Priory where the chief Security Guard had been killed by whatever killed the hiker, was quizzed by Colby and Fendelman, then locked up as they thought he was a spy. Somebody, possibly Stael, let him out, though (as Fendelman locked him up, Thea and Colby didn't know about his release and didn't seem to have the chance, and Stael did know he'd escaped and seems to want him out of the way), and he found his way to the room where they're keeping the skull, touched it, and seemed to be getting attacked by it as it glowed and whirred.
And Mrs Tyler saw something in the woods that reached for her mind and seemed to bode death for everything on the planet, which is what the Doctor predicted would happen if this is the Fendahl - which is something from his own mythology. Mrs Tyler, meanwhile, is being looked after by her country bumpkin grandson.
All really good, really well directed and shot, and a great story to show over Hallowe'en and Bonfire Night. Really looking forward to next week. Chris Boucher is serving the series well yet again!
Image Of The Fendahl: Part Three (12/11/17)
This is certainly one of the most heavily Horror-influenced stories the show has ever seen, whilst still maintaining a Sci Fi slant. Max, it turns out, is leader of the coven Ted Moss belongs to and has been since Mrs Tyler's visions have been coming true. Exactly what this says about him as a scientists I don't know, but he's certainly a loon!
Colby got some great, bitchily sarcastic lines after Max took him and Fendelman at gunpoint and tied them to pillars in the cellar ready for the Lamas Eve ceremony to, one assumes, conjure forth the Devil to give Max power over the world!
Thea was drugged, tied up and lain in the centre of a Pentagram on the cellar floor and Max has hooked the skull up to the scanner, and shot Fendelman in the head after he realised that he and the generations before him had just been pawns used to aide the Fendahl's resurrection.
Leela saved the Doctor, then they went and revived Mrs Tyler with incorrect fruitcake recipes. The Doctor sent Jack Tyler to watch the Priory (and the arrival of the coven) while he and Leela went on a wild goose chase in search of the Fifth Planet (of which there were no records) only to find the Time Lords had enclosed it in a Time Loop (presumably to contain the Fendahl, which feeds on life on every spectrum).
When the Doctor didn't return at sundown, Mrs Tyler and Jack went to the Priory to stop the coven themselves where they met up with the Doctor and Leela (when they finally arrived) and encountered a huge snake/worm creature which I assume is the Fendahl!
Martha Tyler is a great character - by far the best this series - and got some great lines, particularly during an argument with Jack about the power of belief; he reasoned people used to believe the Earth was flat but that didn't make it true, to which Mrs Tyler responded "Aye, but they behaved as if it were flat!". Despite the Doctor and Leela's lack of involvement, this has been the best episode so far and I'm looking forward to next week!
Image Of The Fendahl: Part Four (19/11/17)
This has been a pretty good story, all said, and very appropriate for transmission around Hallowe'en. Hot quite as brilliant as 'Horror Of Fang Rock', but better than the last story and continuing the vein of Gothic Horror that's been the series mainstay since 'The Deadly Assassin' (but not the Hammer Horror stylings of Season 13). The big snake-worms were Fendahleen, part of the Fendahl gestalt, and were easily killed by rock salt, which Ma Tyler had in her charms and was able to make Molotovs with using round-bottomed flasks and slat from the Priory kitchens. They had a hell of a lot of salt! Maybe they were stocking up for the Winter to use to de-ice the drive!
Anyway, the Doctor and Leela rescued Adam Colby but were too late to help Max and the coven who were being transformed into Fendahleen by Thea, who the skull had rewritten the mind of and transformed her into a striking, gold woman with rather silly-looking painted-on eyes; I think that was the worst effect of the story and its only major let-down. On request, the Doctor gave Max a gun from the altar so he could kill himself before the Fendahl changed him - quite disturbing when you think about it. The Doctor rigged the scanner to cause a massive implosion and sent Ma Tyler and Jack back to the cottage to safety, while Colby ran the scanner for two minutes (before joining them) so that the Doctor and Leela could get the skull to dispose of (in a Black Hole).
There was quite a lot of technobabble from the Doctor explaining the plot to Adam which I didn't really follow, but there were quite a few good bits that stood out, such as Ma Tyler saying that one day she'd be too old for doing this kind of thing, Adam’s gaydar-alerting non-reaction to Leela kissing him goodbye, Tom addressing the line "Time's running out" directly to camera, and Max's aforementioned assisted suicide.
As good as it was, though, there seemed to be something lacking. I reckon the explanations of what was going on were too complicated, even though they were broken down into layman's terms - seems the Time Lords destroyed the Fifth Planet after the Fendahl had escaped and it spent the next 12 million years influencing Mankind's evolution. But I enjoyed it - very Quatermass - and in the end it had the Doctor and Leela have a very silly conversation about K9, whilst Leela ended up back in her old dress with her hair down instead of that awful chamois leather number and the unflattering bun!
One last gasp of old-school glory before the new crew stamp their own mark on the series. I agree that it's not quite the classic that Face of Evil of Robots of Death are, and that it's notably darker than even the darkest Season Fourteen story (the Doctor enabling a man's suicide being a remarkable inclusion in the sense that it ever got past the powers-that-be). The first episode is the most atmospheric but also the most odd and uneven - why does it take them so long to get to the priory when it's only a mile up the road? - while the rest develop at their own pace. On the whole though it's enjoyable creepy, and has a good cast.
ReplyDeleteAnd surely Max has been bumming Adam for ages by the time this story starts ;)
I remember when I first saw this story that I was quite shocked at how arbitrarily Thea's possession and transformation were treated - nobody makes any attempt to save her. But I guess that's the whole point the script is making, that most of the characters here are trapped by fate and doomed from the start. It was strange to see the Doctor acting so indifferently, though. The Doctor usually tries to save everyone yet here the only character he seems concerned about is Martha Tyler (as opposed to Rose Jones, I suppose). It's a very dark and quite violent story. And yes, Max and Adam clearly have been at it (and given the tone of the story, probably quite aggressively) by the time we first meet them lol
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