Magic Moments

[Si Hunt]

Geoffrey Palmer is the only good thing in The Mutants.

Pity he's killed off in the first episode.

Haven't you just copied that "opinion" out a book? I quote from "The Discontinuity Guide": "The Mutants can be summed up by the fact that Geoffrey Palmer is the best thing in it and he dies before the end of episode 1"

Now I'll quote from Blackadder II: "Try to have a thought of your own, Baldrick, thinking is so important. What do you think?"

Indeed, if you actually watch "The Mutants" there is loads to enjoy. Such as:

- Some of the sets and CSO on Skybase now seem dated, but elsewhere in this story there's some truly groundbreaking effects: the Radiation Cave is quite spectacular, and then you have Ky changing from a Mutt into a crystalline flying creature as we watch. The costumes of the Mutt's are excellent - scaly and repulsive, and in fact the scene where everyone is flung out of Skybase into space when the wall is blown away is very bravely done and exciting, as you actually see the wall being blasted off (as oppose to doing it in reaction shots)
- The Marshall is brilliantly played, a truly loathsome character. He's a racist, pure and simple, and his brand of genocide is all too close to home, especially in the scene where he gloats that more of them will be wiped out - "The more the merrier!". In fact, one of the few bad things about the story is that he never truly gets his comeuppance- his demise is far too quick!
- This kind of ambition in a Doctor Who story shows the series really has guts - a space station in the far future, an entire species undergoing an evolutionary change while its atmosphere is transformed... and we see all of it on screen
- The characterisation and acting here are better than the story is given credit for; you really feel the desperation in this race who think they are turning into monsters; Ky is a political crusader of the Cliff Jones variety, Varan is a warrior who thinks his race are doomed. And at the heart of it is a brilliant idea - that the whole of this planets living history has been just one season, and they will evolve into something completely different with the planet. Only Rick James and George Pravda let the side down on the performance front, but there are more good actors than bad.

Geoffrey Palmer gives a bland bit-part performance for half an episode, and would not be hailed as "the best thing in it" if he hadn't since become a national TV icon

The "magic moment" though, comes when the Marshall is trying to persaude the Administrator that Solos should stay under his governorship. The Doctor tricks him into one of his rants and he blurts out "They're mutts! A disease! To be wiped from the face of this planet!". There is a a sudden silence and we cut to the smuggest expression on Pertwee's face! Suddenly the Marshall's unfounded racist hatred of these people has been proven - and all from his own lips.

Si.

[SiHart]

The Time Monster

I'm not a huge fan of this story, but I do love the scene in part 1 where the Doctor and Jo are out in Bessie and Jo's going on about it being a doomy old day and the Doctor is trying to be serious. I think Dudley Simpson's jolly music makes it something lovely.

Si xx

[Jason Thompson]

My favourite bit in The Time Monster is in the cliffhanger with the V1, and it's the moment where the Brigadier switches from calling out the callsign and says 'Mike, can you hear me?' It's a great moment where the brilliant military leader lets his more down-to-earth human concerns come to the fore. Sod professionalism, his friend might have just been blown up.

[Jason Thompson]

And by the way, Si, that was a brilliant defence of a much maligned story. Well played sir.

[shada pavlova]

Haven't you just copied that "opinion" out a book? I quote from "The Discontinuity Guide": "The Mutants can be summed up by the fact that Geoffrey Palmer is the best thing in it and he dies before the end of episode 1"

Honestly, that is a complete coincidence. I have never read that book.

As for the rest of the story, DRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAG!

[Si Hunt]

You should give it another try! I loved it on first viewing, then when I watched it again a few years later with someone, I suddenly saw it "through their eyes" and it seemed really dull. But a few weeks ago we gave it another go and I got the magic back! It's worth perserving with.

Si.

[Rob McCow]

If they clean The Mutants up properly for the DVD, or ever find a better quality print, it'd be a lot more enjoyable. The picture is really swampy, which makes the whole thing seem more dull and flat.

[Andrew Curnow]

I love The Mutants - I always enjoyed the book, slim though it is, and was so pleased to find that the TV version didn't disappoint. It moves from one thing to another, there's always seems to be something new being added into the mix to stop you getting bored. Mutants, the stranger in the cave, the radiation cave, the tablets, etc, etc, etc.

And just a quick for Jason's MM from The Time Monster. That's my favourite bit too, and I found it very moving first time I saw it.

[Pip Madeley]

I typed up a long reply to Si's summing up of 'The Mutants' and I lost the bastard So here's a quick summary of what I said:

Sets - terrible
CSO - terrible (Varan floating in space, anyone?)
Models - pretty poor for Who standards
Jo Grant's clothes - terrible
Pertwee - bored with the script
Marshal - shouty OTT panto villain
Ky - idiot who should've been killed off
Rick James' performance - unforgettable ("We'll all be done for!") and not in a good way
Music - worst Doctor Who ever had

[Martin Penny]

Rick James' performance - unforgettable ("We'll all be done for!") and not in a good way

"It beggars belief!"



I always felt sorry for George Pravda's character in 'The Mutants' - like all scientists forced into working with Pertwee, he ends up murdered in his own lab.

[Pip Madeley]

I wish he'd said "Good gravy!" at the end of episode five...

Watch Rick James at 2:59 onwards for the worst build up to a cliffhanger EVER!

I always felt sorry for George Pravda's character in 'The Mutants' - like all scientists forced into working with Pertwee, he ends up murdered in his own lab.

[Si Hunt]

I'd love to have read Pip's lost long reply, got to be better than just listing all the elements and putting "terrible" afterwards...

The one thing I don't quite understand about the story however, is why the Time Lords gave the Doctor such a cryptic message to decode about what was going on. Stone slabs is not a very Time Lord thing, let alone locked inside a box that only someone who may potentially be gunned down before he even arrives can open. Would a note with "The Solonians always turn into big Mutt things for Summer" scrawled on it not make everyone's life a bit easier?

Si.

[Logo Polish]

The slabs are supposed to be from Solos, I'd imagine, as they contain ancient writings of theirs. It's likely that the Time Lords have simply plucked them out from wherever they were on the planet, probably some old caves somewhere, and sent them to the Doctor for him to take to Ky. The fact that Ky doesn't know what they are when he's first shown them, or understand their significance, might be the reason why they use an intermediary rather than transport them straight to him. Although you'd think at least one of them might have at least explained to the Doctor what they were doing.

How about the theory that the first scene is a deliberate parody of the "It's!" man from Monty Python?

[Logo Polish]

Benton's nude scene is one of the highlights of Time Monster too. Although it's probably a mercy that he doesn't actually bare his bottom at the screen, which I thought he maybe did the first time I read about it.

[Stuart Wallis]

I wonder whether we'd just be referring to a recent DVD release as The Deadly Ass if he did...

I wonder if we're all still talking about The Mutants because we're putting off discussing

The Three Doctors

Perhaps I'm slightly biased by stating just about any scene with the first two Doctors in. I'm going to be specific and mention Doctors 2 and 3 cooperating for once and explaining to Jo who Omega is.

[Dirk Gently]

I love the scene where the first doc asks what they've done, they say that they've assessed the situation & he replies "just as I thought, nothing" then tells them about it being a bridge & orders them to cross it. Brilliant interaction.

[Si Hunt]

There's another hugely funny but understated bit in "The Three Doctors" that I love. The Doctor, very seriously, calls for a glass rod to be passed to him. Very sternly, thinkings its vital to the investigation of the light particles, the rod is passed down the line of people - the Professor, Jo, the Brigadier... until finally it reaches the Doctor and he uses it to stir his tea. Love that bit!

Si.

[Stephen Morgan]

I think the whole of The Three Doctors is a story full of magic moments, and it certainly contains some great dialogue.
"So, you're my replacements. A dandy and a clown!" The second and third Doctor's faces are a picture when presented with that line from the first Doctor.
The second Doctor's sense of wonder as they find the singularity chamber, and then Omega's rage at discovering them there, and later, on removing his mask, to find he no longer has solid form, all that is left of him is his will and desperate need to exact revenge on the timelords for abandoning him to his fate, not realising of course that he has always been regarded as a hero.
Jo's knickers too are a magic moment. Anybody got a screen grab?

[Wayne]

My favourite bits in The Three Doctors are actually all of Hartnell's bits.
Especially:
"And what's a bridge for eh?....... ....... So stop dilly dallying, and CROSS IT!"

[Stephen Morgan]

My favourite bits in The Three Doctors are actually all of Hartnell's bits.
Especially:
"And what's a bridge for eh?....... ....... So stop dilly dallying, and CROSS IT!"

Despite the short appearances of the first Doctor, Hartnell does get the odd good line, that Wayne, is one of them.

[Wayne]

I've never been able to adequately explain why, but when i first saw The Three Doctors at the age of 10, i really took to William Hartnell's Doctor in a way that i never took to Troughton's.

[Jason Thompson]

I love The Three Doctors. Loads of magic moments. Omega's cry of despair when he realises he has no physical form really gets to me every time. My favourite bit though is probably 'Who was that?' 'Me. ME!!'.

[Si Hunt]

I love it all too, except the stupid dream sequence bit. What IS that all about?

Si.

[Pip Madeley]

Do you mean at the start of The Time Monster?

[Si Hunt]

No, in "The Three Doctors" where the story grinds to a halt because they need a cliffhanger. So the Doctor somehow gets teleported into a black void and does some gentle gymnastic moves with an odd dome-headed creature said to be "the dark side" of Omega's mind. Once the cliffhanger's out the way, Omega wins, then decides to free the Doctor anyway, and the story goes about its jaunty way as if nothing's happened.

Si.