PS Creativity > Reviews > Into The Vortex > Season Six

We come to the end of the monochrome era of Who, and from what you lot have said, it finished with a bang!
Those pesky Krotons got a good press too... but nearly everyone hated those Space Pirates, officially the least-liked 60s story.

>> Season Six averages 6.87 out of 10 <<

Some comments from a few members...

The War Games

"Sheer brilliance. The entire concept is brilliant, and we get our first introduction to the mighty Time Lords. Sets up the Pertwee era brilliantly." -- Ant Williams (9/10)

"An astounding final two episodes (Episode 10 in particular being one of the best), however the first 8 getting us there feel far too much. The story flows well, but the padding is evident. Still, is it worth the wait for the revelations at the end?"
-- Phillip Culley (7/10)

"I love this one! It may be very long and a bit padded here and there but I never get bored of watching it. An especially good performance by Troughton, and Philip Madoc gets to make up for being in Th Krotons! And what can I say about the terrificly OTT James Breeeeeee?" -- Ant Cox (8/10)

"One of Who's greatest stories, it perfectly rounds off the sixties, by starting off as apparently a pure historical in the original tradition, before becoming something so much more. Its great length only adds to its epic feel, and the fact that with that much screen time it's still watchable really shows how good it is. The end to part nine, and the whole of episode ten, are some of the most powerful stuff we've seen, and if it had been the last ever story, it would have made a perfect one."
-- Andrew Curnow (10/10)

"When it drags, it draaaaaaaaaags, but there's so many fabulous parts in it that I just don't care. The power struggles between the aliens would have cost it a couple of points, if it weren't for James Bree's hilarious acting..." -- Ssarl (10/10)

"One of the greatest Doctor Who stories. Ever." -- The War Games (10/10)

"One of my favourite "what if's" is what if War Games had actually been the last episode of Doctor Who. Imagine it. The children seeing the last image of the Doctor spiralling towards Earth in exhile, no longer able to travel and we don't see his new face. We don't know what will happen to the Doctor on earth and we don't know what he looks like. To the kids, any stranger on the bus or a tramp on the street might be the Doctor." -- transvamp

The Invasion

"An excellent Cybermen story, and a good introduction to U.N.I.T. A little drawn out, perhaps, but still good fun. Kevin Stoney is excellent as Tobias Vaughn, and the supporting cast are just brilliant. Shame the Cybermen weren't really in it that much." -- Ant Williams (8/10)

"Now this one I really like. Its length is more than made up for by Kevin Stoney’s delicious portrayal of Tobias Vaughan, and keeping the Cybermen in the background is a very good move. However, it is a shame that the major events take place offscreen. Episode 6 has one of the best cliffhangers ever, fact." -- Jason Thompson (10/10)

"The best of the Troughton Cybermen stories (although they don't appear that much in it!), however Vaughn more than makes up for the lack of them. The story is possibly a few episodes too long, but that isn't that bad." -- Phillip Culley (9/10)

The Mind Robber

"An excellent story, fast-moving and exciting. I just LOVE the opening episode, and the Land of Fiction concept is just brilliant. But did it really happen...?" -- Ant Williams (10/10)

"Episode 1 is amazing, with one of the show's finest-ever cliffhangers; but the remaining 4 episodes are only so-so, with the novelty factor one of their major selling-points. And I'm still not sure it makes much sense - if the Master is already writing about the Doctor & co as fictional characters, why is it so dangerous for the Doctor to do so?" -- Andrew Curnow (6/10)

"Very different, and a rare foray into proper fantasy. Just a shame that there's far too much reliance on people unable to think things don't exist..." -- Phillip Culley (9/10)

The Seeds of Death

"Nostalgia beats at my door again, but I can just about overcome it. This one is a so-so run around, which is great fun but no classic." -- Andrew Curnow (6/10)

"Fun memories of seeing this for the first time on a late night UK Gold repeat - I ate a whole family size bag of Cheese and Onion Walkers crisps over the course of this one." -- Pip Madeley (7/10)

"Drags a bit at times, but again the nostalgia for the near 20 year old video wins out. And it has Ronald Leigh Hunt - so wooden! And foam!" -- Jonno Simmons (7/10)

The Krotons

"A bit disappointing for Robert Holmes' first story, however it's still very watch able." -- Phillip Culley (6/10)

"Nostalgia kicks in, but I genuinely do think it's a superb story, with only the rubber skirts of the Krotons a let-down."
-- Andrew Curnow (9/10)

"Rubbish!" -- Ant Cox (3/10)

"Oh so beautifully naff... but not quite naff enough to hold my attention, alas." -- Ssarl (6/10)

"I'm another who's fond of this story. While it may not be the most exciting story ever, but it's fun...and nostalgia plays a part in my score as well, as part of the Five Faces season, this was my first proper introduction to the second Doctor."
-- MacNimon (8/10)

The Dominators

"Dull as dishwater." -- Ant Williams (5/10)

"I'm one of the very few people who seem to like this story! It’s never going to win any awards for anything in particular, but I like the sense of fun throughout. Toba and Rago are enough of a reason to watch it by themselves!" -- Ant Cox (6/10)

"Even having lost an episode this is too long for the plot, but it’s not as bad as it is often made out to be. Ronald Allen is brilliant, and I love the fact that Jamie comes up with the plan to get the seed device. Still, there are a few too many scenes of old men in curtains either not deciding to do anything or deciding not to do anything." -- Jason Thompson (6/10)

The Space Pirates

"yawn." -- Ant Williams (2/10)

"Disregarding the disappointing second episode, and overlooking the fact the Doctor and his companions don't do that much, this one is quite good fun - the story certainly picks up in the late episodes - just a question of getting there first...."
-- Phillip Culley (8/10)

"Oh dear oh dear. This is just awful. The visuals of the spaceships are not too bad (and are actually more realistic than most TV and film space scenes in that there are no visible stars while looking at the brightly lit spacecraft), but the plot is abysmal and General Hermack is an idiot. Knowing that the pirates use Beta Darts, he thinks that an old space cowboy in a clapped out old rocket might be running them, he doesn’t find it at all suspicious that Ta is suddenly producing aragonite at just the time the pirates started up, and by the time he figures out that he could plot the course of beacon fragments forward to find out where they are heading they have been conveniently diverted. Terrible from start to finish. Even Jamie and Zoe seem like ungrateful, obnoxious gits." -- Jason Thompson (1/10)

"I bought this for my seventeenth birthday, during an ironic phase - I would seek out truly horrid pieces of entertainment and enjoy them through true DETERMINATION to like them, hailing them as a classic of our times for any excuse I could find. From its reputation, this seemed the perfect subject - so I was greatly surprised to find that I actually enjoyed it on its merits... it's bloody slow, yes, but I play it during eight-hour car trips, and this doesn't really stand out. It's brilliantly witty (climactic Scooby Doo laugh aside), and also tense in sections - Part Six is pretty much entirely Caven (the most evil villian ever) attempting murders that he's already framed someone for." -- Ssarl (10/10)

"Dire. Easily the worst of the 60s, and Top 5 of all time. I can't lower myself to give any Who 0/10 though!"
-- Jonno Simmons (1/10)

last updated 10th March 2007
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