PS Creativity > Reviews > Into The Vortex > Season Sixteen

Sweet sixteen - the Doctor's hunt for the six segments of the Key to Time introduced Romana and the White and Black Guardians
into the series, but it only did a little better than the previous season. Very close call for first place, but the Taran Beast triumphs!

>> Season Sixteen averages 6.52 out of 10 <<

Some comments from a few members...

The Prisoner of Zenda (aka "The Androids of Tara").

"Fun! Androids of Tara is a classy beast with brilliant, bright and entertaining characters." -- Rob McCow (8/10)

"Pure pleasure, the Dr Who equivalent of staying in bed and eating a box of chocolates." -- Logo Polish (10/10)

"Lovely. A small scale story of love and castles and swords- it's funny, well made (who said the Williams years were drab) and again there's another superb cast playing at the height of their powers. Lovely." -- Si Hart (9/10)

"By far the strongest tale in the Tom Baker era. It takes its inspiration from a classic novel, but manages to weave it into a very entertaining story with so cracking twists and a great cast. If only the earlyer Tom years had been as clever with their use of classic fiction as inspiration. It shows the potential for adventure, thrills and clever comedy that the Tom era could have done with a lot more of." -- Raston (10/10)

"Good solid stuff, but does feel a little inconsequential. Plotting of marriages and kings and stuff just isn't all that interesting, especially since the budget doesn't really show that Grendel has much to want to rule on Tara! He already appears to have a better castle than anyone else, and there doesn't seem to be anyone on Tara apart from the main characters and some faceless guards. The only time we see any evidence of a larger population is during the coronation, but there's no sign of villages or dwellings beyond the castle and the house." -- Jason Thompson (7/10)

"A rather charming swashbuckling romp. The blending of technology and tradition make sfor a svery stylish production (the whole season has a certain flair I think). Peter Jeffrey is great as the villian and the 'capture' of Romana left me a little worrried back in 1978- she's not an android you fools! So there's suspense as well. Love the cliffhanger with Tom dropping unconcious and there's even some fencing!Good effort- even if they did get the credits the wrong way round! (The Taran beast is shite though!)" -- Carol Baynes (8/10)

"I have to admit a liking for The Prisoner Of Zenda, which is I think the reason why I like this. Peter Jeffrey puts in the performance of the season." -- Stuart Wallis (8/10)

The Stones of Blood (aka "Does Your Callieach Ride A Bicycle?")

"Oh! Just superb! One of the finest of the era - this is a stroy of two halves, but both of them are wonderful! Susan Engel and Beatrix Leahmann are simply superb as the guest stars, brilliantly cast and wonderfully iconic. I can't praise this story highly enough - even the Megara are cool! " -- Si Hart (9.5/10)

"Memories - the image of the paintings all lined up, the spaceship, the "100th story" announcement. Watching it now, it changes direction totally halfway through, but is still rather fun." -- Andrew Curnow (8/10)

"Possibly the archetypal Tom Baker story? The first two parts are gothic horror, while the the other two are lighter sci-fi fluff..." -- Phillip Culley (9/10)

"I like the way it changes focus halfway through from a spooky occult type story to the hyperspace sci-fi stuff. Possibly one of the best stories for K9 as a character, and one of the best ever supporting characters in Prof. Rumford. The two of them together are wonderful, especially when staving off the Ogri. The book was a favourite too - my Grandad bought it for me for my 11th birthday." -- Jonno Simmons (8/10)


"Starts off so well, then goes into hyperspace and gets to be just another second-rate pile of tosh. The stuff on Earth is classic material though. Professor Rumford reminds me strongly of a friend of my nan's!" -- Jason Thompson (6/10)

"The first two episodes aren't bad, remeniscent of the Hinchcliffe era, but the courtroom bits are drawn-out, and I wish Tom would've taken things a bit more seriously." -- Stuart Wallis (4/10)

"The kind of Dr. Who story I dream of. Sadly I haven't seen it in years, but it remains a favourite. It's like a Dr. Who story written by witches, and the idea of living megaliths who kill people is frankly quite captivating. K9 is great in this too, which goes to show he could appear in a truly atmospheric, scary Who story with the best of them." -- Carol Baynes (9/10)

"An interesting mix of horror and light space comedy, not a complete success but little to dislike." -- Logo Polish (7/10)

The Ribos Operation (aka "Jeff Rick could guarantee success!")

"Witty! Garron and Unstoffe are a brilliant double-act, Tamm is good and haughty, suddenly everyone knows how to write for K9 (who's quieter!) and Tom is well, just Tom! Brilliant. The opening scene is cracking!" -- Si Hart (8.5/10)

"Its quite witty, very fun and has a great cast. There are some lovely scenes especially with a certain heretic. I also think its nice that there is not really a villian as such, its just a run around and a lot of people trying to get one over on each other."
-- Raston (8/10)

"There's really nothing I like about this story except the Shrievenzales and the first scenes with the White Guardian and Romana. The story doesn't appeal in the slightest, and the acting, particularly that of Ian Cuthbertson, gets on my nerves."
-- Stuart Wallis (3/10)

"A very atmospheric setting and some wonderful interplay between the (partly) new TARDIS crew. Robert Holmes really brings the characters alive and the whole thing is so well realised. A very stylish production and looks more expensive than the rest of the season put together (ish)." -- Carol Baynes (8/10)

"This one bored me to tears when I first saw it, but maturity has made me appreciate it much more. It's a cracking story with some cracking characters, and Tom is on top form. The 'Binro was right' scene is a great moment, and it looks really good (apart from the rather limp shivenzale). A firm start to the season." -- Jason Thompson (8/10)

The Pirate Planet (aka "The Bruce Purchase Show ")

"I've tried, but Tom's brilliant angry moment aside, i just can't get on with this one. The captain is terrible. He really on my tits." -- Wayne Jefferies (3/10)

"Just to prove that nostalgia doesn't always bump up scores, this is one of my least fave Toms. Even as a 10 year old watching his first Who for an unprecedented 18 months or so, I could tell that this was far removed from the Who I'd been used to. With no monsters and too much humour, this isn't really my thing." -- Jonno Simmons (4/10)

"Great fun! I'm a Douglas Adams kind of person and so this really appeals. I love the cliffhanger "Doctor we have come for you" because it sounds rude and I like the plank one even more, especially Tom's gleeful laugh when he returns. Great!"
-- Si Hart (8.5/10)

"Mistahhhh Fibuli! Some great design, some great jokes, some nonsense with Mentiads and it all boils together to make a brilliant story." -- Rob McCow (9/10)

"Memories - the part 3 cliffhanger, not understanding the resolution to the part 3 cliffhanger, the phrase "Mr Fibuli!!!!!". Watching it now, it's absolutely stuffed with ideas, and only suffers with part 4, which is absolutely stuffed with explanations, and babble." -- Andrew Curnow (9/10)

"The Key to Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime is Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiine!" -- The Shadow

The Armageddon Factor (aka "Men are out there, dying for it!")

"Not completely awful, in fact there's a lot about it that's brilliant, but it's rather drab." -- Rob McCow (5/10)

"Its very dark, almost like a Greek tragedy in places. Some great performances and chilling moments, a very good way to wrap up a themed season. Hurrah to all. Only shame is that it was the last we saw of Tamm in who at least-she was fantastic and if only she had stuck around longer would easily have overshow Lady Ward." -- Raston (9/10)

"Oh dear oh dear. Long, boring and downright silly in places. What a terrible cimax. The Shadow is the worst kind of overplayed comic book villain, Drax is possibly the worst supporting character ever, Merak is the wettest male character in Who ever, and Tom finally goes utterly loopy in the last scene, which some think is great but I find just cringeworthy. Very bad. Unwatchable on its own, and not worth watching to wrap up the season." -- Jason Thompson (2/10)

"Offers a fair bit, but doesn't quite come up with the goods. Lalla's reasonable; some good ideas, but drawn out over too many episodes. Don't know about anyone else,but Drax gets on my nerves a bit. And he's the second alien Cock-er-nee wide boy of the season, did Graham Williams or Anthony Read not notice that? The Shadow I found rather unnerving when i was young though." -- Stuart Wallis (4/10)

"My second fave of the season, and I've never understood why it gets berated so much. The story totally engages me, and written by his creators as it is, it's got some great red-hot K9 action! What probably annoys most people is its admittedly rushed and disappointing conclusion, but that doesn't stop me enjoying the story as a whole." -- Jonno Simmons (7/10)

"I always preferred the Atrios/Zeon story more than the Black Guardian/Shadow guff - maybe they should have made a 4-part story with the recovery of the 6th key, and a 2-part story to finish the Key to Time...." -- Phil Culley (7/10)

"Silly, and not always in a good way, but its choc full of ideas and I find the Shadow's mask really creepy. Doesn't quite end the season the way it deserves, but there's still lots ot enjoy if you take it a bit at a time." -- Si Hart (7/10)

The Power of Kroll (aka "John Leeson's Time To Shine!")

"This is dire. The production is awful, the 'racisism' theme is like some horrible politically correct story for 4 year olds. The script is boring and unimagionative. Thankfully he reused the plot and corrected the mistakes later with 'Androzani' which shows how this story could have been good, but alas its awful." -- Raston (1/10)

"When this was first released on VHS, the DWM review said the best reason to get this story was the it completed the picture on the spines of the cassette cases. I think that's rather unfair. Kroll is not a bad monster (too much it seems the criticism is directed at the incorrect use of split-screen to realise the monster rising from the swamp, and people fail to realise that the monster is actually pretty good!), the location filming looks great, even if the budget was obviously offset by making the refinery interiors very cheap and drab, and does anyone miss K9?" -- Jason Thompson (7/10)

"Kroll! Memorable for some of the wrong reasons." -- Rob McCow (4/10)

"It does benefit from location filming and Kroll looks fine to me. But Madoc is miscast (he should have been the villain), I do miss K9 (Leeson in the skin is no substitute!). However, I find the story dull overall." -- Jason Thompson (5/10)

"The location and Thawn are alright, but that's about it. A stock claimjumping story with unconvincing natives, a rubbery monster and (whisper it!) even Philip Madoc not seemingly putting his all into it." -- Stuart Wallis (3/10)

"A bit dull, but Kroll is realised fairly well (and certainly better than it's given credit for) but the story is run of the mill, and the acting isn't quite up to the standard of the rest of the season. There's still lots ot enjoy, even if Tamm has given up by now."
-- Si Hart (6/10)

"Memories - the part 1 cliffhanger... and having to miss part 4!!! And Dad filling me and bruv in on the details of part 4 in the car on the way home. Watching it now, it's OK, but possibly Robert Holmes gave his all with the season opener, and was too drained to be up to the challenge here." -- Andrew Curnow (6/10)

last updated 6th April 2007
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