Rate and Discuss: The Two Doctors

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Troughton's back and so is Frazer to confront Servalan and the Sontarans. That's got to be good, hasn't it? Hasn't it?

What do you think of The Two Doctors?

The Two Doctors could have been great but unfortunately is only okay. For me, there are quite a lot of dull scenes. However, Patrick Troughton gives a great performance, it’s nice to see the Sontarans again and the Spanish scenery is lovely.

Pity Pat’s final appearance in the show wasn’t a better story. 5/10

I have to say I've never really understood most of the criticism of this one, other than the appalling handling of the Sontarans, who have never looked worse before or since, all the characters are marvelous grotesques, and Patrick Troughton is amazing - his scenes with Shockeye as he becomes an androgum are hilarious. A favourite! 9/10

Hmm, I want to give this one a seven but it's really only worth a six.

Almost everything about this story feels wrong. The Androgums look wrong. It's not clear that Chessene is from the same species, she couldn't look any more different to Shockeye. I know she's been 'augmented' but there should have been some visual connection, even if it was the style of clothing.

The Spanish location feels a bit wrong for the story. It doesn't fit with the space-station, I'd rather that they'd kept the two settings for two different stories!

The second Doctor's argument against the Androgums also feels wrong. He's saying that the Androgums are essentially evil and that they can't be changed, but to me that feels like surprisingly dodgy moral ground for the Doctor. Surely anyone should be given a chance to improve themselves? The surgery might be a more sensible objection.

It's the wrong sort of story to bring the second Doctor and Jamie back for as well. There's no Extra Special Threat or Super Villains that need defeating. In fact, the villains in this story are remarkably rubbish. Dastari isn't terribly imposing, the Sontarans aren't in the major league of villainy and the Androgums are both too comical to be nasty and too nasty to be comical. I can't laugh at them because I just feel uneasy at how horrible the idea of a humanoid character wanting to eat Jamie is.

There's some good elements floating about in there and it's entertaining enough to watch, but the crappiness conquers it all I'm afraid.

Peter Howell's spanish guitar flavoured score is a good one.

The opening scene attempting to evoke the spirit of the sixties by simply turning down the colour on the almost-present control room for 2 seconds, couldn't have exhibited less effort, and yet was still somehow thrilling at the time.

Si.

I really like the start, where it's done as a second Doctor story, in which the sixth Doctor then pops up - rather than the other way around, if you see what I mean.

Very exciting at the time, and the best of the series up to this point (probably). Episode three's 'Doctor & Shockeye go to Seville' bit is just dull padding for me, and I never liked it.

The rest of it is OK, although after two or three viewings it becomes sort of obvious that it doesn't really make any sense - having a machine that displays an image of the second Doctor being killed would never make people think he was dead, because you'd have to be there to see it, in which case surely you'd then (try to) get him out, and then twig it's not real... and if you're not there to see it, how would you know? So there's no sense to the Doctor thinking his past self dead, or anything at all. But, to be fair, that probably isn't that apparent first time round so maybe the scriptwriter & director's skills lie in keeping the story paced so that you don't realise it.

Also, I never quite got why is Dastari drugged when he's in on it in part one?

Of course it was great to see Pat & Frazer back, even though they're both looking a lot older, and it's a story which mostly looks fantastic, and with some great lines in it.

It still, though, has that "could have been better" vibe of season 22, grr!!

I know she's doing her Servalan performance really, but I love Jacqueline Pearce in this story, even with the frumpy wig and dress. She throws herself in with great gusto, darling, darling ahaaahaaa!

I always wonder what Elizabeth Spriggs would have made of Chessene. I think Pearce would have been better as Kara in "Revelation of the Daleks".

Okay, so I know it's easy to say with hindsight, but what COULD they have done with the opening 5 minutes of the Two Doctors?

Started off with the Second Doctor title sequence! Had an authentic second Doctor caption and then made some stock sixties roundels - they were only photo blow-ups after all. Used the same console, but kept it subtly on the edge of the shot, and used our photo roundels to make the console room smaller, perhaps used a sixties reference photo, Ian Levine would have loaned one. Finally applied that fake grainy effect they use to age up film to look old, and dyed Troughton's hair.

Then I'd be happy.

Si.

Quote:

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what COULD they have done with the opening 5 minutes

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It probably seemed like a novel idea at the time - but in the mid 80's, if you broadcast something in black and white there was the fear that the audiences would turn off in their millions.

Which actually turned out to be true in the end.

Anyway, if they'd have made it 'grainy' would some clever dick from the Restoration Team had to have cleaned it up years later to make it look 'Vid-Fired'?