I, Mavic Chen, will decide when the alliance is at an end!
It is probably best when kicking off the later portion of this story to just pretend Episode Seven didn't happen. That leaves a better narrative flow. Of course, jumping over Episodes Eight and Nine wouldn't hurt either.
Plot Summary
Episode Eight continues the journey of the TARDIS crew. They note a pursuing time ship and, after a few hops, land on a volcano in a far galaxy. There they are confronted by the Meddling Monk, last seen trapped in 1066 at the end of The Time Meddler. He sabotages the TARDIS lock but the Doctor manages to get it open and take off. The Doctor then lands in ancient Egypt to make repairs to the lock. The Monk follows along with a Dalek time ship. The Daleks confront the Monk but Mavic Chen convinces them to allow the Monk to steal the weapon core in exchange for his life. The Monk confronts the Doctor but the Doctor gets the drop on him. He is found by Steven and Sarah and together they look for the Doctor but are captured by the Daleks. Mavic Chen trades the hostages for the weapon core. The Doctor and his companions flee, having stolen the directional unit from the Monk's TARDIS. This allows the Doctor to fly back to planet Kembel while the Monk can only wander aimlessly.
Back on Kembel, the Doctor rushes into the jungle. Steven and Sarah pursue him but lose track of him. They enter the city but find it deserted except for the delegates who have been betrayed and locked up. Sarah releases them and they return to their respective galaxies to order their armies to turn on the Daleks, except Mavic Chen who fakes his own death. He captures Steven and Sarah and takes them to see the Daleks, demanding that the Daleks obey his commands. The Daleks stun him, carry him away from the Time Destructor weapon and exterminate him. While they are away, the Doctor enters and activates the Time Destructor. The Daleks cannot fire on him as they risk destroying the weapon and themselves. The Doctor orders Sarah and Steven back to the TARDIS while he follows. Steven makes it back but Sarah leaves Steven and doubles back to the Doctor. The Doctor is slowly aging as is the planet around him. Sarah follows the Doctor but the effects of the Time Destructor cause them both to collapse outside the TARDIS. Steven sees them on the scope and heads out to help them. He manages to reverse the flow of the Time Destructor, sending time backwards and reverting the Doctor back his regular age. Sarah had already turned to dust and was not revived. Steven drags the Doctor into the TARDIS while the Time Destructor regresses the Daleks to the point of non-life. Eventually the Time Destructor burns itself out and Steven and the Doctor leave Kembel.
Analysis
This is probably the point where Dalekmania started to wain. The first six episodes were a fairly well paced story. Episode Seven is a comedy detour but it's lack of involvement in the overall story allows it to be bypassed. Picking things back up in Episode Eight, one would expect things to dive back in to the previous pace. Instead we get very obvious padding. Not only is it padding, but it is light, comedic padding as well since Episode Eight coincided with New Year's and the powers that be felt that it also should be easy on the audience. Unlike The Feast of Steven though, Episode Eight actually continues the plot and can't be overlooked readily. It marks a very strong contrast with the first six episodes which moved well. I found myself starting to doze at a few points, especially in Episode Nine which has long portions of minimal dialogue. That might work if the episode existed, but sound effects only in a recon does not make for attention grabbing storytelling.
Episode Ten brought us back in to the realm of moving pictures and it is a welcome improvement. It also helps that the Monk stopped being an antagonist and more of a treacherous ally (like the Master in a few notable stories). The return of the Daleks and Mavic Chen especially as the focus villains improved things a good deal.
Things wrap up well, although it's obvious that William Hartnell goes on holiday for Episode Eleven. But, Sarah and Steven make it so that the Doctor's absence is less noticeable, despite mentioning him in every other sentence. It is a real shame that Episode Twelve does not exist as I would have been very interested to see how they handled the rapid aging of Sarah and the Doctor and then the rapid de-aging of the Daleks. I imagine it would have also landed a greater emotional impact.
In the comparison between Terry Nation and Dennis Spooner, I'd say Terry Nation comes up better in this one. Spooner had the dramatic resolution in Episode Twelve, but Episodes Eight through Eleven have moments that drag and it just feels less tense than the first half. Story fatigue may also play a factor, although I think if the villain focus had not shifted in the middle, it would have done better.
Overall, it's a good story, but the drag factor is hard to ignore. I think if all episodes were recovered I'd enjoy watching this again, but with nine of twelve episodes being recons and one of those being the complete oddball that is The Feast of Steven, I can't see myself picking this one up again anytime soon. I was leaning towards a 3.5 for the first half and if they had then jumped to the resolution in Episode Twelve, it probably would have stayed there as a solid seven-part story. But it is hard to overlook how the other five episodes drag it down.
Overall personal score: 2.5 out of 5
Showing posts with label Sarah Kingdom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sarah Kingdom. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Monday, December 21, 2015
The Dalek's Master Plan (The Feast of Steven)
This is a madhouse, it's all full of Arabs.
This episode is weird. I admit that there are aspects of British comedy that I don't get, but this seems bizarre even for me. It doesn't help that the story has a lot of visual action that simply cannot be expressed in the recon form.
Plot Summary
The story, as far as I can tell, is a double dose of meta. The Doctor, Steven, and Sarah land outside a police station in the 1960's. The police are confused and take the Doctor into the station when he emerges from the TARDIS. Inside, he explains that the box is his ship and the police naturally suspect that he has gone mad. Sarah sets about to repair the visual scanner while Steven steals a police jacket and walks into the station. He poses as an officer from another precinct who has been sent to collect the Doctor and take him back to his home.
The TARDIS dematerializes but then reappears in the midst of a 1920's movie studio. The team gets separated while attempting to aid a screaming woman, unaware that it is a movie scene. The story gets even odder and the breaks in between each scene are cut with silent movie cards noting the shift in action. There is a lot of running around but the Doctor and his companions gets back to the TARDIS and disappear.
Analysis
If this episode existed, it might make some sense but as a recon, it's a mad, jumbled mess. There is so much action taking place that is impossible to tell what is going on without a moving picture. There is also a lot of background noise, presumably from the chaos of the set, that makes it nearly impossible to hear the primary dialogue. If you could see the people and focus on them, you might be able to hone on their voices outside of the background, but it's very difficult when all you have audio.
The setting of the first half outside a police station is a level of meta within the context of the show itself. But the second half is another level of meta which culminates in the Doctor breaking the fourth wall to wish the viewers a Happy Christmas. I can understand what Terry Nation was going for in his writing, but I feel like there is a bit too much inside baseball going on in this one for me to appreciate. Or maybe it's my American nature the prevents me from appreciating the comedy of this one.
Overall personal score: 1 out of 5 (The Feast of Steven only)
This episode is weird. I admit that there are aspects of British comedy that I don't get, but this seems bizarre even for me. It doesn't help that the story has a lot of visual action that simply cannot be expressed in the recon form.
Plot Summary
The story, as far as I can tell, is a double dose of meta. The Doctor, Steven, and Sarah land outside a police station in the 1960's. The police are confused and take the Doctor into the station when he emerges from the TARDIS. Inside, he explains that the box is his ship and the police naturally suspect that he has gone mad. Sarah sets about to repair the visual scanner while Steven steals a police jacket and walks into the station. He poses as an officer from another precinct who has been sent to collect the Doctor and take him back to his home.
The TARDIS dematerializes but then reappears in the midst of a 1920's movie studio. The team gets separated while attempting to aid a screaming woman, unaware that it is a movie scene. The story gets even odder and the breaks in between each scene are cut with silent movie cards noting the shift in action. There is a lot of running around but the Doctor and his companions gets back to the TARDIS and disappear.
Analysis
If this episode existed, it might make some sense but as a recon, it's a mad, jumbled mess. There is so much action taking place that is impossible to tell what is going on without a moving picture. There is also a lot of background noise, presumably from the chaos of the set, that makes it nearly impossible to hear the primary dialogue. If you could see the people and focus on them, you might be able to hone on their voices outside of the background, but it's very difficult when all you have audio.
The setting of the first half outside a police station is a level of meta within the context of the show itself. But the second half is another level of meta which culminates in the Doctor breaking the fourth wall to wish the viewers a Happy Christmas. I can understand what Terry Nation was going for in his writing, but I feel like there is a bit too much inside baseball going on in this one for me to appreciate. Or maybe it's my American nature the prevents me from appreciating the comedy of this one.
Overall personal score: 1 out of 5 (The Feast of Steven only)
The Daleks' Master Plan (Episodes 1-6)
I, Mavic Chen, will be ruler of the Universe!
The Daleks' Master Plan is a big eleven part saga that is interrupted by a Christmas comedy in Episode Seven (The Feast of Steven). As such, I thought it best to break down my review into three parts: the six before the Christmas break, The Feast of Steven by itself, and then the final five episodes. It also works that the first five episodes and The Feast of Steven were written by Terry Nation while the other six episodes are written by Dennis Spooner so that also gives a reason for splitting the story into different views.
Plot Summary
Terry Nation takes a bit of flak (justified in many cases) for his recycling of the same story. But even then, he could twist the plot elements fairly well together to keep you entertained. Likewise, the first half of The Daleks' Master Plan is also entertaining. In this section of the story, the Doctor, Steven, and Katarina land on the planet Kembel where they encounter the lone survivor of an investigative mission (Bret) following up on the events of Mission to the Unknown. Working together, they learn that the Daleks have allied themselves with other races to conquer the universe, starting with the Earth solar system. To aid them, they have enlisted the aid of Mavic Chen, the ruler of the solar system, who has dreams of ruling the entire universe.
The Daleks have constructed a weapon to aid them that must be powered by a mineral only found on the planet Uranus. Mavic Chen is delivering fifty years worth of mining of this mineral to power the weapon. The Doctor disguises himself as one of the delegates and steals the core, escaping with his crew aboard Mavic Chen's ship. They are deviated by the Daleks to a prison planet where one of the prisoners sneaks aboard and takes Katarina hostage. Attempting to escape, she opens the outer door and both are ejected into space.
Upon landing on Earth, the Doctor, Steven, and Bret are pursued by Mavic Chen's forces. Bret is killed by the head of security, his sister Sarah Kingdom. She tracks the Doctor and Steven down but the three are caught in a transport beam experiment and sent to another planet near Kembel. The Daleks land and attempt to take the weapon core but the Doctor and his team escape, stealing the Dalek ship. They are forced to land on Kembel but trick the Daleks with a fake weapon core the Doctor constructed during the flight and escape back to the TARDIS.
Analysis
If a quick scene was added where the Daleks and Mavic Chen were blown up installing the fake weapon core, the story could have ended here and I think many people would have considered it one of Terry Nation's best stories. Unlike The Daleks or The Keys of Marinus, there are no real slow scenes. Even the scenes which are more dialogue heavy, such as those between delegates, feel like they are both building character and giving the audience enough information to go on with out being too clunky on the exposition. Once the chase begins at the end of Episode Two, it doesn't really stop, with Episode Four being particularly tense, ending with the death of Bret.
It is rather unfortunate that only Episodes Two and Five exist in this stretch. I would have been very curious to see how Katarina's death was done in Episode Four and Steven's escape from the Daleks in Episode Six. But, of what is available, it looks good and the acting is well done. Mavic Chen has his slightly over-the-top moments, but that is to be expected.
While on the subject of Mavic Chen, it is interesting to see Terry Nation dive back into his WWII experiences with Mavic Chen and his chief lieutenant Karlton. Mavic Chen gives off a Hitler rising to power vibe with his political persona for the public but the slightly deranged rantings in private. Karlton is a near perfect stand-in for Goebbels, both in his slimy, power behind the throne persona, but also in how he looks with the thin, sharp face and piercing eyes. Although Mavic Chen is the face, you almost get the impression that Karlton is actually the more dangerous man to be dealing with.
It is also nice to see the Daleks be a bit more restrained in their actions. The ego-manical nature is still there, but with the reliance on allies, the Daleks are adopting a more cunning mode that we see play out further in The Power of the Daleks and The Evil of the Daleks. So far at least it is also nice to see the Daleks take a bit of a secondary villain role. Although they are the overriding evil, the primary villain so far is Mavic Chen and his henchmen, including Sarah Kingdom although she is now allied with the Doctor on seeing Chen's treachery.
I'm going to reserve my final score for the Episode Eight through Twelve review, but again, if this were a six-parter, I could see giving it either a 3.5 or a 4. I'd probably lean more towards the 3.5 side just because of recons which deprive you of the action. But it is a good start to a story and does a pretty good job of keeping the viewer engaged.
The Daleks' Master Plan is a big eleven part saga that is interrupted by a Christmas comedy in Episode Seven (The Feast of Steven). As such, I thought it best to break down my review into three parts: the six before the Christmas break, The Feast of Steven by itself, and then the final five episodes. It also works that the first five episodes and The Feast of Steven were written by Terry Nation while the other six episodes are written by Dennis Spooner so that also gives a reason for splitting the story into different views.
Plot Summary
Terry Nation takes a bit of flak (justified in many cases) for his recycling of the same story. But even then, he could twist the plot elements fairly well together to keep you entertained. Likewise, the first half of The Daleks' Master Plan is also entertaining. In this section of the story, the Doctor, Steven, and Katarina land on the planet Kembel where they encounter the lone survivor of an investigative mission (Bret) following up on the events of Mission to the Unknown. Working together, they learn that the Daleks have allied themselves with other races to conquer the universe, starting with the Earth solar system. To aid them, they have enlisted the aid of Mavic Chen, the ruler of the solar system, who has dreams of ruling the entire universe.
The Daleks have constructed a weapon to aid them that must be powered by a mineral only found on the planet Uranus. Mavic Chen is delivering fifty years worth of mining of this mineral to power the weapon. The Doctor disguises himself as one of the delegates and steals the core, escaping with his crew aboard Mavic Chen's ship. They are deviated by the Daleks to a prison planet where one of the prisoners sneaks aboard and takes Katarina hostage. Attempting to escape, she opens the outer door and both are ejected into space.
Upon landing on Earth, the Doctor, Steven, and Bret are pursued by Mavic Chen's forces. Bret is killed by the head of security, his sister Sarah Kingdom. She tracks the Doctor and Steven down but the three are caught in a transport beam experiment and sent to another planet near Kembel. The Daleks land and attempt to take the weapon core but the Doctor and his team escape, stealing the Dalek ship. They are forced to land on Kembel but trick the Daleks with a fake weapon core the Doctor constructed during the flight and escape back to the TARDIS.
Analysis
If a quick scene was added where the Daleks and Mavic Chen were blown up installing the fake weapon core, the story could have ended here and I think many people would have considered it one of Terry Nation's best stories. Unlike The Daleks or The Keys of Marinus, there are no real slow scenes. Even the scenes which are more dialogue heavy, such as those between delegates, feel like they are both building character and giving the audience enough information to go on with out being too clunky on the exposition. Once the chase begins at the end of Episode Two, it doesn't really stop, with Episode Four being particularly tense, ending with the death of Bret.
It is rather unfortunate that only Episodes Two and Five exist in this stretch. I would have been very curious to see how Katarina's death was done in Episode Four and Steven's escape from the Daleks in Episode Six. But, of what is available, it looks good and the acting is well done. Mavic Chen has his slightly over-the-top moments, but that is to be expected.
While on the subject of Mavic Chen, it is interesting to see Terry Nation dive back into his WWII experiences with Mavic Chen and his chief lieutenant Karlton. Mavic Chen gives off a Hitler rising to power vibe with his political persona for the public but the slightly deranged rantings in private. Karlton is a near perfect stand-in for Goebbels, both in his slimy, power behind the throne persona, but also in how he looks with the thin, sharp face and piercing eyes. Although Mavic Chen is the face, you almost get the impression that Karlton is actually the more dangerous man to be dealing with.
It is also nice to see the Daleks be a bit more restrained in their actions. The ego-manical nature is still there, but with the reliance on allies, the Daleks are adopting a more cunning mode that we see play out further in The Power of the Daleks and The Evil of the Daleks. So far at least it is also nice to see the Daleks take a bit of a secondary villain role. Although they are the overriding evil, the primary villain so far is Mavic Chen and his henchmen, including Sarah Kingdom although she is now allied with the Doctor on seeing Chen's treachery.
I'm going to reserve my final score for the Episode Eight through Twelve review, but again, if this were a six-parter, I could see giving it either a 3.5 or a 4. I'd probably lean more towards the 3.5 side just because of recons which deprive you of the action. But it is a good start to a story and does a pretty good job of keeping the viewer engaged.
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