Fourth: Planet of Evil

Writer: Louis Marks

Director: David Maloney

Producer: Phillip Hinchcliffe

Companion: Sarah Jane Smith

Series: 13, episode 2 (5-9)

Summary: The Doctor and Sarah Jane arrive on Zeta Minor, answering a distress call. They discover a murdered geologist and are immediately suspected as the killer. It is eventually discovered that a creature made of antimatter has been attracted to a geological expedition because of the antimatter power source.

Review: This is one of my favorite episodes from series 13. The backdrops of the jungles are well-staged, and I like how otherworldly everything looks. I thought it was interesting to see Frederick Jaeger as Sorenson, who would later return as Professor Markus in “The Invisible Enemy”.

The antimatter creature (inspired by the monster in Forbidden Planet, according to Wikipedia) is one of the best effects in Doctor Who. I like that it can be invisible and transparent.

I would definitely recommend this episode if you haven’t seen it already, or even if you have. It’s not essential viewing, but it’s one of the best.

Grade: A

Fourth: The Sun Makers

 

Writer: Robert Holmes

Director: Pennant Roberts

Producer: Graham Williams

Companions: Leela (Louise Jameson), John Lesson (K-9)

Series: 15, episode 4 (13-16)

Summary: The Doctor starts a revolution on the planet Pluto against an alien corporation that has heavily taxed the citizens.

Review: This is a classic example of Robert Holmes’s penchant for satire. He wrote the story because he’d become upset with the bureaucracy he had to go through to get out of paying taxes.

This story has some great moments from Leela, as she has difficulty with understanding the concept of bureaucracy.

I especially like the humor in the episode. I like the opening chess game, where K-9 almost defeats the Doctor. I also like the scene where The Doctor accidentally hypnotises Leela.

The two villains, The Collector and Gatherer Hade, are a great pair of villains, with stellar performances from Henry Wolf and Richard Leech.

I can find little wrong with thus story. It’s one of my favorites.

Grade: A

Fourth: The Horror of Fang Rock

Writer: Terrance Dicks

Director: Paddy Russell

Producer: Graham Williams

Companion: Leela

Series: 15, episode 1 (1-4)

Summary: The Doctor and Leela arrive at a lighthouse on early 20th Century, where they discover that a Rutan scout is killing the crew one by one. The Rutans are shaped shifting enemies of the Sontarans, and the scout wants to turn Earth into a base to counterattack their foes.

Review: It’s interesting that this is the only story in Doctor Who which features the Rutans, but several stories featuring the Sontarans. (I’m obviously not counting stories from the Expanded Universe). This story is very similar to the formula of the short story “Who Goes There?” by John A. Campbell (also known as “The Thing From Another World”, and its novella version Frozen Hill.) The story is the inspiration for the movie The Thing From Another World, which was remade into The Thing.

This is one of Leela’s best stories, as she gets a lot of moments to do some action. I like the suspense of the story. And the ending is a grim one, as the Doctor and Leela are the sole survivors.

This is an excellent story, and one of my favorite Tom Baker stories.

Grade: A

Fourth: Image of the Fendahl

Writer: Chris Boucher

Director: George Spenton-Foster

Companion: Leela (Louise Jameson)

Producer: Graham Williams

Series: 15, episode 3 (9-12)

Summary: An alien entity known as the Fendahl threatens to possess a scientist named Thea Ransome.

Review: Throughout the year on my FB page, I’ve been posting retrospectives about each Doctor. This was one of the stories I selected for the Fourth Doctor’s era. For a story that was supposedly after the “Gothic period” of Tom Baker’s run, it has some spooky elements.

Leela is a lot of fun in this story. She is good at the action stories. I was bit disappointed that K-9 was not involved in the story, but I know the machine wasn’t reliable. It’s still one of the best 4th Doctor stories.

Grade: A

Fourth: The Masque of Mandragora

Writer: Louis Marks

Director: Rodney Bennett

Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe

Companion: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen)

Series: 14, episode 1 (1-4)

Summary: The Doctor and Sarah Jane arrive in 15th century San Martino, and meet an astrologer trying to summon the Mandragora Helix.

Review: I think I’m beginning to see why Sarah Jane started to have her fill of travelling with the Doctor in this era. Here’s a story where she got hypnotized, which also happened to her in “Planet of the Spiders”.

I thought this story was good, but not great. It was kind of predictable, and not just because this was my third time I had watched it. The atmosphere was good and creepy, but not as creepy as was typical of the Hinchcliffe tenure of Tom Baker’s era. I still enjoyed it, though.

Grade: C

Fourth Doctor Audio: The Oseidon Adventure

Writer: Alan Barnes

Director: Ken Bentley

Producer: David Richardson

Companion: Leela (Louise Jameson)

Series: 1.06

Summary: (This story continues from “Trail of the White Worm”, so I’d suggest you listen to that story first). The Master manipulates the Kraals into helping him defeat the Doctor and Leela.

Review: I liked this part of the story better than the first part. It was faster paced, and didn’t feel like it was trying to “fool” me. However, I still don’t like that you need to listen to both stories to get the full experience. The parts where the Master fails to hypnotize Leela are fun. Overall, this story is average.

Grade: C

Fourth: The Seeds of Doom

Writer: Robert Banks Stewart

Director: Douglas Cam field

Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe

Companion: Elisabeth Sladen

Series: 13, ep. 6 (21-26)

Summary: The Doctor and Sarah investigate an alien pod found in Antarctica by an evil botanist.

Review: This story is excellent. The evil plants are a great monster. Dr. Keeler and Scorby are great villains, even if they’re a bit cheesy. For such a long story, it doesn’t seem slow at all. I think this is one of the better six-parters. It’s just strange that there are two stories with “The Seeds of”, and this one is the one that actually fits the title.

Grade: A

Fourth Doctor Audio: Trail of the White Worm

Writer: Alan Barnes

Director: Ken Bentley

Producer: Nicholas Briggs

Companion: Leela (Louise Jameson)

Series: 1.5

Summary: The Doctor and Leela vie against The Master while tracking down a monster. This story continues with The Oseidon Adventure.

Review: My main problem with this story is too much of it is set-up for the next story. I’ve listened to other Big Finish stories that are more than one part, but this is one of the ones that doesn’t really stand on its own. I couldn’t enjoy it much, so it’s getting a failing grade. Here’s hoping the conclusion is better.

Grade: D

Fourth: The Android Invasion

Writer: Terry Nation

Director: Barry Letts

Producer: Phillip Hinchcliffe

Companion: Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) (note: while Harry Sullivan, Sgt. Benton and the Brigadier do appear in the story, they do not directly assist the Doctor)

Series: 13, ep. 4 (13-16)

Summary: An alien race called the Kraals have taken over the planet Oseidon with androids, and are poised to do the same to Earth.

Review: This was a fun story. It had some great action in the middle of the story, and is well-paced.

I like the way the androids can take over. The scene where Sarah Jane is replaced by an android is one of the best cliffhangers.

I feel like this serial is underrated. While it’s not in my top 10, I still enjoy it.

Grade: A

Fourth: The Armageddon Factor

Writers: Bob Baker and Dave Martin

Director: Michael Hayes

Producer: Graham Williams

Companions: Romana I (Mary Tamm), K-9 (John Leeson)

Series: 16, ep. 6 (21-26)

Summary: The Doctor, Romana, and K-9 have nearly completed the Key to Time. But the Black Guardian has finally caught up to them with his own evil purposes. Meanwhile, two planets called Atrios and Zeos are on the verge of nuclear war. But the Doctor has discovered that the final.piece of the Key to Time is actually Princess Astra.

Review: There are some who feel that this story is underwhelming, as if the show had once again become too ambitious for its budget. I feel if this story is viewed on its own, without its connection to the overall arc, it can still be a good story.

Mary Tamm gives one of her best performances, as she is unaware of the Doctor’s plan to deceive the Black Guardian. This is a great example of how the Doctor is able to exploit his enemy’s plans in order to defeat them.

The Key to Time does have its charm. It’s a fun experiment, and it can show that the show was willing to try something new. This was the first time that stories were connected to each other in this way, similarly to the way story arcs are done today. While the connection is much looser than the arcs in today’s format, it still plants the seed for that approach.

Grade: B