Doctor Who: The Big Review (Season 9)

 

Doctor Who: The Big Review

Season 9 (1972)

It's Pertwee's third season and there's a roller coaster of stories to come. We see the eagerly anticipated return of the Daleks, the arrival of the Sea Devils and The Master eventually returns to meddle with The Doctor. I'm quite excited for this season, it seems it has quite a lot to offer and we spread to other planets more too! Let's get going!

 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 a summary of 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 follows just below.

1. DAY OF THE DALEKS (four episodes)

Main Cast: Jon Pertwee (The Third Doctor), Katy Manning (Jo Grant), Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), Richard Franklin (Captain Mike Yates), John Levene (Sergeant Benton), Anna Barry (Anat), Aubrey Woods (Controller), Scott Fredericks (Boaz), Jimmy Winston (Shura), Wilfred Carter (Sir Reginald Styles). 

Broadcast: 1 January 1972 - 22 January 1972

Writer: Louis Marks

Director: Paul Bernard

Synopsis: The Doctor and UNIT investigate the attempted assassination of British Diplomat Sir Reginald Styles, who's attacker apparently disappeared into thin air. Oh, and the arch-nemesis of The Doctor return.

Verdict: This was an interesting story, and I liked getting some updated visuals to watch it with, even if they did seem a bit odd on occasion. I do wish the cliff-hangers were more varied, every one of them was the Daleks yelling exterminate. An opportunity wasted. Overall, it was okay, but I expected more from a Dalek story. It's a pity we didn't get the story that was originally written, but I liked it nonetheless and the updated effects really enhanced the final battle!

GRADE: B-

2. THE CURSE OF PELADON (four episodes)

Main Cast: Jon Pertwee (The Third Doctor), Katy Manning (Jo Grant), Geoffrey Toone (Hepesh), David Troughton (King Peladon), Gordon St. Clair (Grun), Alan Bennion (Izlyr), Ysanne Churchman (Voice of Alpha Centauri).

Broadcast: 29 January 1972 - 19 February 1972

Writer: Brian Hayles

Director: Lennie Mayne

Synopsis: On the mineral-rich Planet of Peladon, The Doctor and Jo discover the High Priest Hepesh to be conspiring to stop Peladon from joining the Galactic Federation to keep the old ways of the planet intact. 

Verdict: The Alpha Centauri are some of the most adorable creatures ever, first of all. This story is a nice spin on the murder mystery theme, but slightly lacking since I feel the perpetrators are obvious or at least Hepesh was. Having said that, the cliff-hanger to episode 3 was very intense and the story itself was thoroughly entertaining. Aggedor is a sweetheart also! Loved it!

GRADE: A-

3. THE SEA DEVILS (six episodes)

Main Cast: Jon Pertwee (The Third Doctor), Katy Manning (Jo Grant), Roger Delgado (The Master), Clive Morton (Trenchard), Edwin Richfield (Captain Hart), June Murphy (Jane Blythe). Donald Sumpter (Commander Ridgeway), Martin Boddey (Walker).

Broadcast: 26 February 1972 - 1 April 1972

Writer: Malcolm Hulke

Director: Michael E. Briant

Synopsis: The Doctor and Jo take a trip to an island in the English Channel to visit The Master when they come across the Sea Devils! The Master plans on joining forces to reconquer Earth.

Verdict: It wasn't too bad. Six episodes could've been very easily made into four meaning it did grow quite tedious at points. I'm also not entire sure what The Master's motives are, still? The score for this story was very intrusive, almost painful at times. Despite that, the Sea Devils were quite very well done and the direction was impressive from Briant. However, nothing about it really stood out to me, except the sheer volume of different modes of transport. 

GRADE: C

4. THE MUTANTS (six episodes)

Main Cast: Jon Pertwee (The Third Doctor), Katy Manning (Jo Grant), Paul Whitsun-Jones (The Marshall), Garrick Hagon (Ky), George Pravda (Jaeger), Rick James (Cotton), Christopher Coll (Stubbs), John Hollis (Sondergaard).

Broadcast: 8 April 1972 - 13 May 1972

Writer: Bob Baker & Dave Martin

Director: Christopher Barry

Synopsis: In the 30th Century, high above the Earth colony on Solos, a selfish plot is being developed. Humans intend on changing the atmosphere to make it more suitable to them, but therefore risking the natives. The Doctor is involved in some tricky business alongside. 

Verdict: With some questionable acting from some of the guest stars (Rick James' was unforgiveable) and some tedious storytelling, this is quite something.  I must applaud the set design and the costuming for the mutants though, it was all really quite brilliant. Overall, this was a slow watch, only really finding any level of interest in the last minute of each part; episode three saw it pick itself up, but not really enough to save the story completely. However, it was a lot more entertaining from episode 4 onwards.

GRADE: C+

5. THE TIME MONSTER (six episodes)

Main Cast: Jon Pertwee (The Third Doctor), Katy Manning (Jo Grant), Nicholas Courtney (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), Richard Franklin (Captain Mike Yates), John Levene (Sergeant Benton), Roger Delgado (The Master), Ian Collier (Stuart Hyde), Wanda Moore (Ruth Ingham), Donald Eccles (Krasis), George Cormack (King Dalios), Ingrid Pitt (Queen Galleia). 

Broadcast: 20 May 1972 - 24 June 1972

Writer: Robert Sloman & Barry Letts (uncredited)

Director: Paul Bernard

Synopsis: From Atlantis to just outside Cambridge, The Doctor must work with his UNIT team to prevent The Master from world domination as he seeks the support of Kronos, a being that exists outside of time and space.

Verdict: This started of quite strong, but I do feel some moments bordered on silly, and not the entertaining kind; there were just a few too many stupid moments. It was an eyebrow furrower, that's for sure. There were some rather shocking moments, like the V-1 bomb drop, and the set for Atlantis was quite beautiful! It had some really interesting moments, but also just seemed to do a slow uphill climb for a big chunk of the serial. 

GRADE: C+

My Conclusions

I feel I'm starting to feel the era more now. There're some different settings, some exciting creatures and some more riveting plots. I'm still not sure about the constant storyline of The Master wanting to destroy the Earth... I just don't fully understand it. Has it been explained as to why he's so crazy about ruling the planet? He tries often enough and hasn't yet succeeded, so why's he still trying? Anyway, moving on, I think this was a rather decent series. There were some lower points and some higher ones, but it all felt consistent enough and I still continue to look forward to what is coming. However, as always, I must have a favourite. My top story for Season 9 is...

Yes, it had to be The Curse of Peladon. I really loved this one. It was nice to see David Troughton in a bigger role, and I really feel like he performed well. The Ice Warriors being nice??? I think it worked quite well. It was somewhat lovely to see villains sit on both ends of the good/evil spectrum, and see the Doctor have to battle his own prejudices against them. Moving to the Alpha Centauri, they were fantastic! I really loved their aesthetic and the overall nature of the character. I enjoy a nice murder mystery-like story and this was a fun take on the subject. Fun! Very fun!

There were some slower moments, but that's a given with any story since they have at least 80 minutes of content to fill. It's a minor issue, but there isn't much else to say. Was it the best episode ever, no, but was it entertaining... Of course, it was! 

*

I've had an iffy relationship with the era so far, or at least the overarching themes and setting of the era, but this felt like it had some much-needed variation. Were the episodes as strong as I would've hoped, not always, but it can't be perfect all the time. I likely wouldn't rush to watch Season 9 again, but there's always a few stories that I genuinely do enjoy and would definitely introduce the era to people with (like 'The Curse of Peladon' and even 'Day of the Daleks'). Season 9 was just okay and a bit of a dip on season 8 which, despite the negatives I listed on my review of it, was actually one of the highest scoring seasons so far. 

I can't say there's anything dragging the season down because there really isn't... I just don't think anything is really screaming out to be something brilliant. I also want some more development for The Master, and perhaps some background development for Jo. Other than that, it's as I've already said, okay. That's fine by me. 

Season 9 got an average score of a B- which worked out at a 6.8/12 (since the grading adds up to 12). It makes it a tad better than Season 7, but down quite a bit on Season 8 which got an 8. It's respectable and a B- is a perfectly reasonable score. It's a healthy pass and my idea of an average story, so it's not too shabby. If it dropped to a C+ there may be cause for concern, but I'm still thoroughly enjoying Pertwee's era and am really pleased I have two more seasons to go! Bring it on, I say!