Doctor Who: "The Two Doctors"

[Henry R. Kujawa]

From the blog...

 

 

Philip Sandifer:
"He fixed it by creating the Androgums - essentially the same concept only now they’re food-obsessed instead of war-obsessed - and having them be humanoid enough that nobody was ever going try to reuse them as generic monsters. And then, for good measure, have the story repeatedly and uncomfortably treat them like generic monsters even though they’re clearly interesting characters."

Fascinating. I've seen this quite a few times, and I never noticed that before.


"it’s almost tailor-made to piss continuity-obsessive fans off."

Holmes did that in both "GENESIS" and "DEADLY ASSASSIN".


"Troughton’s Doctor always inherited more of the “old man” characteristics from Hartnell than people give him credit for, and his portrayal here is far closer to what he actually did on the series than the defanged clown he played in the anniversary stories. There are moments that jar - snapping at Jamie about his mongrel tongue remains indefensible - but for the most part Holmes actually writes the character that appeared in the 1960s. This character is still magnetic and charming - especially in contrast with Hartnell, who was, after all, the only point of comparison when people formed their impressions of him."

Again, fascinating. My exposure to Troughton was naturally limited to "FIVE", "THREE" and what was left of Season 6, which made its debut in the US the same year as this story.

Oddly enough, I've read the "THE TWO DOCTORS" was originally conceived as bringing back Richard Hurndall as The 1st Doctor... but he passed away before they could do it. So, Troughton it was. What do you make of that?

I have no problem with the fan theory that this story takes place after "THE WAR GAMES". What gets a bit confusing is that remote-control device for the TARDIS, which appears both here and in "MARK OF THE RANI" ("THE TWO DOCTORS" was filmed first!), and the idea that Troughton should have it while Colin says, "I always wanted one of those." Seems like a diverging timeline intersecting with the current one, doesn't it?

My favorite line, of course, remains, "I think your Doctor's worse than mine!" I also like how Jamie snatches a kiss from Peri. Way to go! Oh, and Colin looked so much better without the jacket in the 2nd half, didn't he?

One of the many things JNT obsessively jetissoned when he took over was 6-parters. But some stories need to be longer. He finally did one here... except, of course, it was run as a 3-parter.

[The Baron]

Watched this last night, a few additional thoughts:

 

1)I never liked the bit about Victoria being off studying graphology - why not just let us assume this story took place between "Fury from the Deep" and "The Wheel in Space"? As noted above, Holmes did seem completely unconcerend with continuity - of course, it's also possible that in those days he hadn't imagined there'd be people like me watching them all endlessly and picking apart the details.

 

2)"What's the use of good quotation if you can't change it?"  I always liked that line.

 

3)"The gratification of pleasure is the sole motive of action."  Isn't that what the Epicureans believed?

 

4)"Perhaps you should see a Doctor."  "Are you trying to be funny?"

 

5)Not wild about Shockeye as a character - nothing against John Stratton, I think he actually plays a murderous creepy guy too well.

 

6)Also not wild about the Sontarans in this - nothing agianst the guys who plyed them here, but I longed for Kevin Lindsay or Derek Deadman here.

 

7)I did like James Saxon and Carmen Gomez as Oscar and Anita. Oscar's murder was a fairly brutal scene and Gomez did a good job conveying genuine grief at his death.

 

8)"What sort of conspiracy?" "A plot."

 

9)"I think your Doctor's worse than mine." No comment.

 

10)"You look better for your change of clothes and bath. You should try it more often."

 

11)"When did you go mad, Dastari?"

 

12)"Symbiotic nuclei" is Gallifreyan for "midichlorians."

 

13)"There cannot be a creature on the planet that humans do not kill and eat."

 

14)"The Black Knight Sontaran might is invincible!"

 

15)Wow, Troughton really makes a meal (pun intended) out of being an Androgum.

 

16)I find it amusing that Troughton and Hines "reach for for the sky" when they put their hands up, but Baker and Bryant only put their hands halfway up.

 

17)"Primitive creatures don't feel pain in the way that we would."  So, hit 'em harder!

 

18)The scene with Chessene licking up the Doctor's blood was sufficiently icky.

 

19)The scene with the Doctor deliberately poisoning Shockeye has come in for some criticism - I put ir down to dire necessity. It was a nice touch that it was done with Oscar's own cyanide.

 

20)Cliffhangers:

• Part One: The Doctor is gassed and Peri is attacked!
• Part Two: Shockeye wants to eat Peri!  Again, no comment.
• Part Three: Get it? Robert Holmes was a vegetarian!

 

Overall:

This was OK - not my favorite Holmes story, but watchable. One of those rare occasons where I agree with Eric Saward that the story might have been better off without the Sontarans in it. One tire dof hearing "I must get back to my unit" over and over again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I re-watched episode one of “The Two Doctors” to gauge how well it might fit between "Fury from the Deep" and "The Wheel in Space" (in Second Doctor continuity). The answer is: not well. The problem is more than Victoria “off studying graphology” rather than “staying with the Harrises”; it is the raison d’etre behind the Doctor and Jamie’s participation in the first place. In the opening scene, the two openly discuss being on a mission for the Timelords, which weren’t revealed to Jamie (let alone the audience) until the very last episode of “The War Games.” The Second Doctor and Jamie’s participation in “The Two Doctors” doesn’t make any sense unless it takes place after “The War Games,” yet how it could possibly fit between “The War Games” and “Spearhead from Space” is problematic. Also problematic is the question of why the script called for Victoria to be away and not Zoe. It’s not as if either Deborah Watling or Wendy Padbury were actually in the episode, plus it would simply make sense on so many levels for it to have been Zoe rather than Victoria.

[John Moret]

Jeff: I seem to recall reading somewhere that it was confusion on Holmes' behalf. He had worked in the series more from Pertwee onwards & was under the assumption that Troughton also did missions for the Time Lords (although he DID write War Games in part but that was 20 years prior so a spotty memory can be forgiven).

As far as the Sontarans, I enjoyed the characters BUT in this case they were just too damn tall. The lead Sontaran half way reminded me of Hogan's Heroes Colonel Klink to look at him. Of course that might be in part due to the use of tunnels in the story ;)

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Holmes' confusion begat fans' confusion.

Sontaran make-up too fake-looking this time out. (You's think it would get better, but no.)

[The Baron]

Jacqueline Pearce, who played Chessene in this story, but was far more famous for playing Servalan in Blake's 7, has passed away.

[PowerBook Pete, the Mad Mod]

This past Sunday, there was a "virtual watch party" of "The Two Doctors" on Twitter. At one point, I noted that Dastari reminded me of Jim Steranko. Sunday night, Jim Steranko tweeted back at me wondering where he could get his residual check.

[The Baron]

Too funny.

[Doctor Hmmm?]

HAH!!!