Doctor Who: The Big Review (Season 6)
Doctor Who: The Big Review
Season 6 (1968-69)
Season 6 brings us to the end of the Troughton era. Three seasons and he's given us a triumphant bank of stories. It brought my first A+ score and saw the introduction of the iconic Cybermen. This series was widely regarded as one of the strongest and I have high hopes. Along the way, the TARDIS team will meet fictional foes like Medusa herself, the Cybermen obviously, and beings like the Krotons. Unfortunately, there are missing episodes, but it doesn't affect us as much as it has in the past. What is missing is listed below, anything else that is missing has animated recreations or reconstructions.
As always, I will grade each story on an A+ to F scale, judging it fairly, and with respect to the era it aired. Judging an episode from the 1960's with the same expectation of a modern episode would not be fair. Below is my grading criteria:
For each serial, I will provide a list of the main cast (omitting a few who don't appear often), and a list of some key facts of the episodes, such as the writer and director. I will then offer a little synopsis and my overall verdict. My favourite serial will then be listed at the bottom, where I will offer a few further thoughts and opinions.
Below is a table which offers some short, concise figures and a more in-depth description just below.
1. THE DOMINATORS (five episodes)
Main Cast: Patrick Troughton (The Second Doctor), Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon), Wendy Padbury (Zoe Heriot), Ronald Allen (Rago), Kenneth Ives (Toba), Arthur Cox (Cully).
Broadcast: 10 August 1986 - 7 September 1968
Writer: Mervyn Haisman & Henry Lincoln
Director: Morris Barry
Synopsis: The Doctor and his companions work with the Dulcians of the planet Dulkis to prevent the alien Dominators from blowing up Dulkis and using its irradiated remains as spaceship fuel.
Verdict: Apart from the cool explosions, I don't really know what happened in this story. It all blurred into one. Jamie was actually really annoying in this story too. I see why they reduced this story into five episodes from its original six. Should've been reduced to two or three.
GRADE: D
Main Cast: Patrick Troughton (The Second Doctor), Frazer Hines/Hamish Wilson (Jamie McCrimmon), Wendy Padbury (Zoe Heriot), Emrys Jones (The Master).
Broadcast: 14 September 1968 - 12 October 1968
Writer: Peter Ling & Derrick Sherwin
Director: David Maloney
Synopsis: A fault with the TARDIS leads the crew out of time and space to a world of fiction. The Master of the realm aims to recruit The Doctor to replace him in this impossible place, or is it just under alien authority?
Verdict: What a fantastical concept! I rather enjoyed the more whimsical approach we got this episode. I did think some of it was rather silly, and the Medusa idea was severely underused, but it was quite good. Zoe was rather irritating here, weirdly, too. She seemed quite weak and pathetic which her character isn't. Other than that, I liked it.
GRADE: B
3. THE INVASION (eight episodes)
Main Cast: Patrick Troughton (The Second Doctor), Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon), Wendy Padbury (Zoe Heriot), Edward Burnham (Professor Watkins), Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), Sally Faulkner (Isobel Watkins), Kevin Stoney (Tobias Vaughn), Robert Sidaway (Captain Turner).
Broadcast: 2 November 1968 - 21 December 1968
Writer: Derrick Sherwin (from a story by Kit Pedler)
Director: Douglas Camfield
Synopsis: On Earth, a megalomaniac by the name of Tobias Vaughn, the head of a hugely successful electronics company knows as International Electromatics, forms an alliance with the Cybermen to take control of Earth.
Verdict: I see eight episodes and I weep a little, history has shown that more than four can sometimes be a hit and miss. For me, this one was a miss. People seem to love this story, but I didn't particularly enjoy the whole shtick. It took six episodes to get to an invasion. The cast were splendid, somewhat comical at times, but the story itself just wasn't as successful as I would've hoped.
GRADE: C+
4. THE KROTONS (four episodes)
Main Cast: Patrick Troughton (The Second Doctor), Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon), Wendy Padbury (Zoe Heriot), James Copeland (Selris), Philip Madoc (Eelek).
Broadcast: 28 December 1968 - 18 January 1969
Writer: Robert Holmes
Director: David Maloney
Synopsis: On an unnamed planet, a race called the Gonds are subject to the mysterious Krotons, unseen beings to whom they provide their brightest members as "companions."
Verdict: The cliff-hangers in this serial were quite something. Every last few seconds had me gasping. This is the content I want from the show. Although the Krotons were a bit silly, the actual story was rather effective. It was quite good.
GRADE: B+
5. THE SEEDS OF DEATH (six episodes)
Main Cast: Patrick Troughton (The Second Doctor), Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon), Wendy Padbury (Zoe Heriot), Terry Scully (Fewsham), Louise Pajo (Gia Kelly), Philip Ray (Professor Eldred), Ronald Leigh-Hunt (Commander Radnor).
Broadcast: 25 January 1969 - 1 March 1969
Writer: Brian Hayles & Terrance Dicks (uncredited)
Director: Michael Ferguson
Synopsis: Arriving on the moon in the 21st century, The Doctor and his friends, along with a couple of superb humans must attempt to stop The Ice Warriors' plot to make Earth inhospitable for human life, ready for an Ice Warrior invasion.
Verdict: This story was much improved on the last Ice Warrior serial. It was tense throughout and although a little unrealistic, getting a rocket working in what seemed like five minutes, it was still a solid story. The constant laboured breathing was starting to drive me insane, however.
GRADE: B+
6. THE SPACE PIRATES (six episodes)
Main Cast: Patrick Troughton (The Second Doctor), Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon), Wendy Padbury (Zoe Heriot), Donald Gee (Major Warne), Jack May (General Hermack), Gordon Gostelow (Milo Clancey), Dudley Foster (Caven).
Broadcast: 8 March 1969 - 12 April 1969
Writer: Robert Holmes
Director: Michael Hart
Synopsis: The TARDIS materialises in Earth's future on a space beacon just before it is attacked by pirates, led by Caven. The beacon is soon blown apart and the team bare witness to a fight between the pirates and Interstellar Space Corps.
Verdict: N/A
7. THE WAR GAMES (ten episodes)
Main Cast: Patrick Troughton (The Second Doctor), Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon), Wendy Padbury (Zoe Heriot), Philip Madoc (War Lord), Edward Brayshaw (War Chief), Noel Coleman (General Smythe), David Savile (Lt Carstairs), Jane Sherwin (Lady Jennifer Buckingham).
Broadcast: 19 April 1969 - 21 June 1969
Writer: Terrance Dicks & Malcolm Hulke
Director: David Maloney
Synopsis: The War Lord leads an unnamed race who kidnap and brainwash soldiers from wars in Earth's history as a ploy for domination of the galaxy. It is up to The Doctor and his friends to revolt and return the stolen soldiers back to their rightful times. However, not is all that it seems.
Verdict: That intro is very intense, wow, thought my head would explode. Moving on, the first few parts were really quite brilliant, I was loving it, A+ standards for sure! However, towards the latter end, it did seem to drag with a lot of padded stories. Having said that, it was a great serial and I shed a few too many tears than I care to admit at Zoe and Jamie's departure.
GRADE: A
My Conclusions
Season 6 was quite special to me. I don't think it particularly stood out as a firm favourite as a whole, but the cast were really what made it for me. Zoe and Jamie were such a phenomenal pair and their time with The Second Doctor I could keep watching for season after season. That means my top story was quite an easy one.
Now, I've just watched this, so the emotions are still running high. I'm going to type as the thoughts run through my head, so I apologise if it doesn't make sense. Usually, I don't enjoy serials that go beyond six parts, the majority do tend to drag and not enough can be done to redeem them. This one, although it suffered between episode 6 and 8, had so much to offer that I simply couldn't refuse it a high grade. The first few stories were action-packed, well-paced and beautifully done. I thoroughly enjoyed every second. The cliff-hangers too, this was up there similar to The Krotons. They really knew how to keep a viewer excited for the next episode! I loved the introduction of the Time Lords and I loved that The Doctor got a chance to really shine as he pleaded his case. The three main cast members will be sorely missed. I truly adored watching them. They are definitely my favourite TARDIS team so far! If I could thank Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury myself for those glorious stories, I would. I cried a lot, and I didn't think that would happen in Classic Who, not this early anyway. Well done, Doctor Who and well done to the writers of such a fantastic story!
*
Overall, Season 6 was quite a good one. I don't think the stories were especially brilliant, apart from the odd few, but the TARDIS team and such were just phenomenal. The Season got an overall B grade which seems to be the clear average. I don't know if any season will break free of this grade, but I also don't think it's a bad place to be. If a couple episodes were taken out, this season would easily be B+ territory. However, it's quite clear to see that this season was definitely one of my favourites so far. I'm sad to see Troughton go now it's over, but of course, onwards with the show and onwards with colour television! I'll catch you all later for my Troughton Review and Season 7, the first of Jon Pertwee!
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