Doctor Who: Apotheosis - An Analysis of Season 14 - Part Two

DOCTOR WHO: APOTHEOSIS

AN ANALYSIS OF SEASON 14

Part Two

THE FACE OF EVIL

The Doctor arrives on a jungle planet where he is shocked to find his face carved on a mountainside, and the local population denouncing him as 'The Evil One'

Once Elisabeth Sladen had announced her desire to move on from Doctor Who, Phillip Hinchcliffe and Robert Holmes began to think about the type of character they would like to pair the Doctor with. Hinchcliffe was determined to break the mould and go for something completely opposite to the Sarah Jane Smith character.  

The character of 'Leela' was created out of an idea which involved the Doctor educating his new companion in a Eliza Doolittle / Professor Henry Higgins style of relationship. Leela although she appeared as a savage and wore leathers wasn't as dim or uneducated as she maybe perceived to be. It was a bold move to change the dynamic of the Doctor and companion in such a dramatic way, just as much as it was a bold move for Hinchcliffe to put his trust into a new writer Chris Boucher to write the scripts for the story that would introduce Leela to the series and the viewers.

Chris Boucher developed the character from Hinchcliffe and Holmes initial ideas and with Holmes's guidance wrote the scripts for 'The Face of Evil'. Interesting to see the interest with people's body parts in the titles of stories - The Hand of Fear, now we have The Face of Evil. Judging by the title, ideally it was The Face of Evil was going to be the face of the Doctor. 

Leela's character was based of Emma Peel from The Avengers, amongst various other current heroes of the time. She was an intelligent primitive whose reasoning you could explain everything to because she knew nothing. It is just a question of a different sort of companion which at the time didn't quite go down so well with Tom Baker. At the time, Tom Baker was missing Elisabeth Sladen who he had a good chemistry with on screen and thought that his Doctor should ride solo. However, Baker was told by Hinchcliffe and Holmes that he had to have someone to talk to and explain things to, which is why the development of introducing a new character came about. 

In early development of The Face of Evil, Boucher was asked to include a character who would act as the companion for the duration of the four-episode story. At first, this was given to one of the male Sevateem warriors, but it was the character of Leela that Hinchcliffe liked the most. It was quickly decided that her character should stay until at least the end of that year's run of episodes - and Leela became a primitive Eliza Doolittle with a dangerous streak. 

Violent, aggressive, instinctive and good with a knife and crossbow, the innocent and child-like Leela is probably one of the most radical and successful departures for a Doctor Who companion. At the time, however, the character and her costume came much under fire from campaigner Mary Whitehouse and, in the beginning, lead actor Tom Baker did not care much for the character either. 

Although criticised, Leela's knife and Janis thorns would prove useful in later episodes against deadly robots on a sandminer and the terror awaiting her in Victorian London, and actress Louise Jameson definitely makes an impressive debut as the Doctor's new savage companion.

THE ROBOTS OF DEATH

The Doctor and new companion Leela must catch a killer on a vast Sandminer staffed by humans and robots...

After being impressed by Chris Boucher's work on The Face of Evil Hinchcliffe and Holmes suggested after Boucher submitted and completed his scripts to consider writing the following story and continue the development of Leela's character.

Hinchcliffe and Holmes knew that they needed to save money for a potentially expensive six-part season finale to close the season, so it was decided to set the fifth story of season 14 in an confined environment that could be realised entirely within the studio with minimal location filming. 

In conversation with Boucher they developed the notion of a whodunnit thriller within a mineral digger on an alien planet. Hinchcliffe was also keen to tell a story that focused on robotics and artificial intelligence - a subject that also interested Boucher.  

The writer decided to set The Storm-Mine Murders on a human colony far in Earth's future where human workers were being murdered one by one, a structural device borrowed from Agatha Christie's 'And Then There Were None'.  The title of the story started off as "The Planet of the Robots" during the storyline stage in June 1976, before settling on "The Robots Of Death" by September. As well as being heavily influenced by Dune, Boucher also borrowed other elements of Isaac Asimov's work, explicitly referencing the author's 'first law of robotics' established in 1941 that forbade robots from harming humans. 

While Boucher was writing, Hinchcliffe asked Michael E.Briant to return to direct the four-parter. He had previously directed five Doctor Who stories, most recently 'Revenge of the Cybermen' for Season 12. But Briant was far from happy with the resulting scripts but reluctantly had to do the job as well as he could. 

Briant and designer Ken Sharp travelled to Cornwall to study mining techniques, and en route discussed ways to make the story visually striking. Eager to move away from the traditional stark futuristic sets and corridors, they decided that the Sandminder would be luxuriously decorated in an Art Deco style, with other visual motifs drawn from Art Nouveau and Egyptian history. 

The robots were designed by Sharp and costume designer Elizabeth Waller; Waller handled the clothing while Sharp modeled the distinctive masks which were cast in two sections of fibreglass and held together by Velcro strips. Various robots were constructed - six Vocs (coloured green), two Vocs (dark olive green), and one silver Super-Voc , along with dummy costumes for special effects sequences.

Over twenty different number plates were used on the chests so each costume could double for numerous different robots.   

THE TALONS OF WENG-CHIANG 

 

The Doctor and Leela arrive in Victorian London, where giant rats roam the sewers, and a murderous ventriloquist's dummy prowls the streets...

Impressed by his speedy work on The Seeds Of Doom, Hinchcliffe and Holmes initally invited writer Robert Banks Stewart to provide Season 14's closing six-parter. He developed a story called "The Foe From The Future", but after delivering the story outline, Stewart accepted a script-editing job with Thames Television and was unavailable to write the scripts.

Robert Holmes soon realised that he would have to write a replacement story himself, although retaining some Robert Bank Stewart's ideas, Holmes relocated the setting of the story to be Victorian London, a setting he had been keen on for some time. The story does paint a good picture of a fictitious Victorian period, with fog, gas lamps, hansom cabs, and music halls etc. 

The resulting scripts given a working title of "The Talons of Greel" were written quickly and in consultation with Hinchcliffe and director David Maloney, Holmes' favourite director. He was inspired by films including Hammer's 'The Phantom Of The Opera', Dead Of Night, The Face of Fu Manchu, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. 

Originally it had been mooted that Leela could be written out at the end of the series, partially to placate Tom Baker who still objected to the character. There was the option of replacing her with an Eliza Doolittle- type companion who could be developed for this story - but because of time pressures and the fact that Louise Jameson had been a hit with both viewers and the production team, this notion was abandoned. 

Like The Robots of Death, The Talons of Weng-Chaing stands up strong as one of the greatest Doctor Who stories of all time to this day. 

Season 14 definetley ended on a high and although Tom Baker and Louise Jameson would return next season, Season 14 was the last hurrah for Producer Phillip Hinchcliffe, Script Editor Robert Holmes, Directer David Maloney, and Designer Roger Murrey Leach and boy did they go out on a high.

Though Season 14 was deemed too horrific to watch by some people, it certainly stands up as being a terrific series of Doctor Who stories. Four of which stand up very well on their own as individuals.The Gothic Horror stories with a science fiction twist to add a nice creative intuitive and plays on the imagination of the viewer without being too frightening.  

In conclusion, Season 14 is a prime example of Doctor Who at its best and certainly watched and enjoyed by fans and audience members alike immensely. 

Doctor Who's Gothic Horror - An Analysis of Season 14: Part One

DOCTOR WHO's GOTHIC HORROR

AN ANALYSIS OF SEASON 14 

 Part One

In 1976, Doctor Who was riding on a creative high - the programme was hugely popular with British audiences and Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen were one of television's most recognizable and beloved partnerships. 

Behind the scenes, producer Phillip Hinchcliffe and script editor Robert Holmes had steered the programme away from the Earth-bound familiarity of the Jon Pertwee era and into tougher, more dangerous, more alien territory with gothic horror undertones to stories. Season 14 is their third season that would continue to build on this winning formula. 

The Masque of Mandragora launches Season 14 with great panache, in a tale of an alien force at work in Renaissance Italy. With beautiful location filming (Welsh spring doubling for Italian summertime), sumptuous design and a committed guest cast, it's one of only four Fourth Doctor 'historicals'. 

The following story The Hand of Fear, sees the departure of Sarah Jane Smith - arguably the most iconic of Doctor Who companions. Over three and a half seasons, the nation had fallen in love with Elisabeth Sladen  and for years this story packed a cruel sting in its tail with her abrupt departure. Now of course, we know it was only a temporary goodbye and it was not the last time we would see of Sarah Jane in Doctor Who. 

The operatic The Deadly Assassin is something of an experiment, with the Doctor flying solo for a full adventure for the first time ever in the shows history up until that point. It sees a darkly gothic take on the Doctor's home world of Gallifrey, and the reintroduction of his arch enemy the Master; far from Roger Delgado's villainous charm, the character is reinvented as a decimated, sadistic, ghoulish figure hellbent on revenge.

The Face of Evil serves as an introduction for the new companion Leela. Following in Elisabeth's Sladen's wake must have been a daunting prospect but Louise Jameson is an instant success in the role, creating a brand new iconic companion practically overnight. Smart, brave and empathetic, Leela is the perfect foil for the Doctor in this grittier, more muscular take on the programme, and there is an underlying tension in their relationship that only adds to the danger.

The Robots of Death is an Agatha Christie style whodunnit in space; and is regarded by many fans as an all-time classic adventure. With intriguing futuristic setting, gorgeous design work and the best looking robots in the history of television production, it's undoubtedly one of the jewels of Season 14.

The concluding adventure, Robert Holmes' epic The Talons of Weng-Chiang, is also regarded as one of the programme's finest stories, a hommage to The Phantom Of The Opera, The Man in the Iron Mask, Pygmalion, Victorianna and Hammer horror with a bit of Sherlock Holmes thrown into the mix as well; oh and a great big giant rat.

Season 14 would be producer Phillip Hinchcliffe's last, but his influence is still felt on the programme today. In partnership with Robert Holmes and Tom Baker, he crafted three hugely successful series that cemented Doctor Who's place in British television history. 

THE MASQUE OF MANDRAGORA  

An alien intelligence hitches a ride on board the TARDIS to 15th century Italy, where a deranged astrologer attempts to harness its power. 

Script editor Robert Holmes wasn't a particular fan of historical Doctor Who adventures, but producer Phillip Hinchcliffe was keen to tackle one as they started to develop ideas for the programme's fourteenth season. The historical period he had in mind was Renaissance Italy and the writer selected to develop this idea was Louis Marks, who wrote Planet of Evil the previous season. Marks was an ideal choice, he had worked as an an academic before transitioning into writing, with Renaissance Italy as his specialist subject. 

Hinchcliffe and Holmes were keen for the story to blend astrology and cultism, citing a 1964 feature film of Edgar Allan Poe's The Masque Of The Red Death as an ideal influence. 

Holmes and Hinchcliffe were happy with the resulting story line, Catacombs Of Death, and Marks was commissioned in early 1976 to write four scripts, the title changed numerous times during development; from Doom Of Destiny, to Secrets Of The Labyrinth, then The Curse Of Mandragora, before settling on The Masque of Mandragora. 

Meanwhile, Elisabeth Sladen had decided to depart from the role of Sarah Jane part way through the season; Sarah would be written out at the end of the second story, with a new companion to be developed for the latter adventures. On Tuesday 6th April 1976 before starting work on Mandragora's location work, Sladen and Tom Baker recorded a BBC Schools Radio programme "Exploration Earth", in character which would be broadcasted in the autumn season. During this time, Tom Baker was also involved in discussions for a Doctor Who feature film. Although the proposition would ultimately come to nothing, the ideas for the film would be incorporated into the novel 'Scratchman' released by BBC Books in 2019. 


THE HAND OF FEAR

The Doctor and Sarah encounter a renegade alien intent on regenerating its obliterated body and taking revenge on its people...

Hinchcliffe and Holmes had found great success turning to horror classics for story ideas, resulting in stories like Terror of the Zygons, Planet of Evil, Pryamids of Mars, The Brian of Morbius and The Seeds of Doom, Their next target was the 1960 feature film The Hands of Orlac.

Holmes enlisted Bob Baker and Dave Martin who had written for Doctor Who before and had written The Sontaran Experiment for Season 12, to write this serial. The writing team presented a breakdown for an adventure that would see the Doctor and Sarah arriving in the future, where they would meet their old friend Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart, now in his 70s and leading an organisation called EXIT (Extraterrestrial Xenological Intelligence Taskforce.) A radical decision was made to kill off the character at the end of the story, with the Brigadier sacrificing himself to save the world. The monsters of the story were a race of aliens called the Omegans, a silicon life form who were found of Earth in the form of a disembodied, fossilised hand that would later regenerate itself.

Hinchcliffe and Holmes were broadly happy with the writers ideas, and commissioned them for a six part story intended to close Season 13. However, upon recipt of the scripts, Hinchcliffe had major concerns and decided to shelve the idea pending further development work. Holmes quickly commissioned a last minute replacement which was Robert Banks Stewart's 'The Seeds of Doom'. While this was in production, Baker and Martin worked on a revised story line for inclusion in Season 14.

After that Elisabeth Sladen was leaving the programme during 1976, Hinchcliffe and Holmes had begun to discuss option for Sarah Jane's departure. Director Douglas Camfield had successfully pitched a story called 'The Lost Legion' that would have involved the death of Sarah Jane. Holmes felt that the scripts were unworkable. Instead, Bob Baker and Dave Martin were told they're story was to be cut down to four episodes, and incorporate Sarah Jane's departure.

The resulting scripts retooled the story much as it appears on screen, with the villainous Eldrad as the story's main antagonist, and the main setting as a nuclear power station with a nuclear reactor.

It's fair to say that Sarah Jane Smith went out on a high and her Hand of Fear wouldn't be the last time we'd see her. That's for sure.

THE DEADLY ASSASSIN

The Doctor is summoned to return to his home planet Gallifrey where his oldest and most deadly enemy is planning to destroy him. 

It was the idea of the producer Phillip Hinchcliffe to do The Deadly Assassin, it provided an experiment in trying something new that had never been tried before in Doctor Who; the doctor would be flying solo. After the departure of Sarah Jane Smith, Tom Baker was reluctant to have another companion, he thought his Doctor should travel alone; however, he was advised by Holmes and Hinchcliffe that wouldn't work long-term. The Doctor needed to have someone to talk to and explain things to, but with the idea presenting itself as a means of testing the idea on wheels The Deadly Assassin was born. 

Apart from The War Games (1969), we as the audience would see the Doctor's home planet in full for the first time and meet his people the Time Lords who he so often refers to and talks about, we also get to know a lot about time-lord mythology and laws within one story. To any child who had grew up being a fan of the programme watching it, this must have been very exciting. The audience watching it at the time didn't know too much about the Doctor's back story, although the character should remain an enigma, The Deadly Assassin is one of those stories which invites us into the background of the Doctor's character and allows us to explore more into his origins of who he is and where he comes from. 

As Hinchcliffe developed the story, at first titled 'The Dangerous Assassin', he settled on a Time Lord society that was corrupt and degenerate, who had exploited the Doctor for their own ends. 

Robert Holmes wrote The Deadly Assassin, and honoring in on the most popular rogue Time Lord, Holmes elected to reintroduce the character of the Master, the Doctor's nemesis, who he had brought to life in Terror of the Autons (1971). 

Hinchcliffe was uneasy about the character's reappearance but soon accepted that the Master fitted into the story in an elegant and surprising way. In bringing back the Master, Holmes rewrote an element of the Time Lord continuity - establishing that they had only twelve regenerations before they died. 

But he also established some key points of Time Lord mythology that stand to this day. Including the introduction of the Matrix as a repository of Time Lord knowledge, mention of Rassilon (the engineer who created the power source that gave rise to Time Lord technology), the TARDIS as a 'Type Forty' time capsule, and talk of 'Artron energy'. 

As far as productions go, The Deadly Assassin could not have come together more perfectly. But not everyone was happy, as later would became apparent when Mary Whitehouse wrote a letter of complaint to Phillip Hinchcliffe about Doctor Who, saying that the programme that he was producing was too scary for young children. Her key evidence of complaint was the scene that she refers to at the end of 'Part Three' where the Doctor is being drowned in a river and you pause to a freeze frame of the Doctor's head underwater. 

This was deemed 'a step too far' in the eyes of Mrs Whitehouse, and although some of her complaints were ignored by the BBC, this one certainly wasn't. As a result of Mrs Whitehouse's actions, Doctor Who was moved to a slightly later time on Saturday evenings rather than at 5:30pm - its usual tea time slot. 

So, what is clear is that Season 14 continues to improve Doctor Who audience figures and more and more people were sitting down on a Saturday afternoon to watch Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen battle against super intelligence's in Renaissance Italy, and aliens from another world threatening our present day. 

The tone and the mood of the season would remain, but go into a new direction when the Doctor's next companion would come into the mix, the next three stories would come to prove as fine examples of Doctor Who at its strongest.

This brings Part One of our analysis of Season 14 to a close, join me next time where I will conclude this analysis and discuss the second half of the season.

Doctor Who - The Audio Adventures : Series 4 - Coming September 2020

COMING SOON

DOCTOR WHO: THE AUDIO ADVENTURES - SERIES FOUR

SEPTEMBER 2020

I'm excited to announce the return of the Doctor Who Audio Adventures. 

Ten stories in total are lined up to make up the series, told over twelve weekly episodes from September 2020. 

Featuring enemies old and new such as: The Judoon, The Daleks, The Cybermen, The Ice Warriors and a few other surprises which I can't reveal just yet as I don't want to spoil the big reveal. 

This is the most ambiguous, bold, and adventurous series there has been, also weaving in a few story arcs which will come to light leading up to the series finale in September.

I have an episode guide which I'm happy to reveal. 

EPISODE GUIDE

EPISODE 1: VANDETTA IN LAS VEGAS

Written By Daniel Bury

Saturday 5th September 2020

The Doctor decides to forego a quiet trip to Cornwall and take Kara and Pip on a much-needed holiday to Las Vegas. Only Vegas is not the Vegas we know. Terradactils fly above the sky, aliens gamble in the casino, and hover cars wiz about all over the flashing light city. Vegas isn’t quite what the TARDIS team had imagined, what will they find when they start snooping around into places where they’re not supposed to, and what has happened to the manager? An old friend and nemesis of the Doctor is at large in Vegas. It soon becomes a race against time for the Doctor to find out what his adversary is up to and put an end to their plans before all of the planet Vegas is destroyed in the process.

EPISODE 2:  CALCATRAX

Written By Christopher Cribb & Stephen Hynes

Saturday 12th September 2020

A star falls to earth or something that looks like a star. Months later, strange power fluctuations frequently keep happening in the local area near Stratford. Arriving on the scene and noticing the problem, the TARDIS team offer to help. With the power fluctuations getting worse and people going missing, the mystery deepens when the Doctor comes to inspect the newton power complex. The alien Calcatrax is draining the town's energy, and if not handled carefully she will consume the whole city, and then the whole of London and then the world.

EPISODE 3: THE BELLS OF ST ALBANS

Written By Daniel Bury

Saturday 19th September 2020

The Bells of St Albans are ringing, 12 strikes at noon 12 strikes at midnight. 

There is a rumor going around of a ghostly monk who haunts the Abbey in the shadows.

Arriving at the Abbey by happenstance The Doctor, Pip, and Kara come to investigate the truths behind the stories of the history of St Albans and unlock the mysteries time has left behind, with help from Father Richard Lethbridge Stewart. The Doctor is not all surprised when he discovers what's behind the truth or more importantly. Whom...

EPISODE 4: THE MARK OF THE VALHEY

Written By Anne Welsh & Daniel Bury

Saturday 26th September 2020

Preparations are being made to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Shataran Empire. King Ash is dead and a new King reigns supreme and with a new king comes new policies and customs which alternate the development of the Shataran Empire, and a new Empire is born.

The Doctor, Pip and Kara arrive thirty years after the succession of the new-founded King to the throne. For most of his reign, there has been peace and prosperity. The Empire flourished. But five years ago, the dreaded war came. And nothing was ever the same again. Now the Shatarans are in the middle of a long and bloody war with the mysterious alien race known as the Valhey led by the evil dark warlord Emperor Zarda. As more and more on both sides perish in the war, events are rushing to a head.

What exactly does Zarda want? What is the secret of the Valhey's weapon, the terrifying 'Mark of the Valhey'? As the Doctor, Pip, and Kara race to save an Empire, they may not like the answers they find.

EPISODE 5: AMELIA EARHART'S FIGHT OR FLIGHT

Written By Daniel Bury & Jaime Harrison

Saturday 3rd October 2020

The TARDIS arrives in 1937 and who else does the Doctor bump into but Amelia Earhart. The story on how Amelia Earhart disappeared remains a mystery to all. However, there are some things which can't be kept secret for long.

EPISODE 6: DEEP FREEZE

Written By Daniel Bury 

Saturday 10th October 2020

When a snowstorm causes the TARDIS to crash land in the snowy mountains of Northern Canada, the Doctor, Pip and Kara find themselves stuck in the snow with no means of escape and are sure to freeze to death if they don't find help, fortunately, they are rescued by Captain Walton and his crew from the FLOSD (Frost line outer space defense) The Frost Line Outer Space Defense system is a network of missile complexes stretching three thousand miles across Nothern Canada.

They are dedicated to protecting the earth against extraterrestrial threats. What they didn't count on, however, were a small group of Viking like warriors buried underneath the ice, Ice Warriors. Who take control of the system with the intention of destroying major frost line bases. General Ward, the bad-tempered frost line commander is planning to aim missiles on Mars should the Ice Warriors attack Earth, can the Doctor resolve conflict before there is a blood bath?  

 

EPISODE 7: THE JUDOON CONTRACT

Written By Daniel Bury 

Saturday 17th October 2020

The Doctor is on trail. Again. Plucked out of time and space by an H20 scoop by the Judoon, he is charged with transgressing against the laws of time. He must defend himself against the prosecution and present his case in order to save himself and his two companions who are nowhere to be found. But all Judoon Contracts must be fulfilled.

EPISODE 8&9: STILL HUMAN

Written By Daniel Bury & Jaime Harrison

PART ONE: Saturday 24th October 2020

Whilst detecting some time distortion in a junk yard in 2020 present day London, some unkown stranger comes from out of the shadows and kidnaps Pip. The Doctor and Kara persue the masked stranger to get Pip back, only to find that the stranger was followed by an even more dangerous foe. Time can be re-written but at what cost? The chase is on to unlock the mystery and find the much needed answers before the world and history as we know it changes forever.

PART TWO: Saturday 31st October 2020

The Doctor, Pip, and Kara travel forward to a distant future across the time field to find themselves on Earth in the middle of a war which leaves destruction and casulaties in its wake. The Doctor resorts to one last final resort but in doing so he is left with a terrible choice to make. 

EPISODE 10: DOUBLE TROUBLE

Written By Daniel Bury & Jaime Harrison

Saturday 7th November 2020

One of Doctor's old foes The Vixen tries to steal a computer drive from one of the universes' top secret security establishments and ends up teaming up with another of the Doctor's old enemies The Rani. Who also wants the computer drive. They form an alliance to get back at the Doctor, and from the looks of things, he'd better watch out! 

EPISODE 11: INCURSION OF THE DALEKS

Written By Daniel Bury 

Saturday 14th November 2020

The Earth is under threat from invasion and there is no warning, as people on Earth are dying in their millions the people of Earth have no choice but to submit and the Doctor is powerless to stop the Daleks.

EPISODE 12: AT WORLDS END

Written By Daniel Bury 

Saturday 21st November 2020

As the rebels continue to make a long and futitle fight-back against the Daleks. The Doctor has it out with an old friend. But as the true, terrible nature of the Daleks' plan is beginning to emerge there is blood on many people's hands. To defeat the Daleks it can only be a struggle... at World's End. 

Coming Up on The Sunday Podcast - Food & Drinks Special!

COMING UP ON THE SUNDAY SHOWCASE PODCAST

Episode:  9/??

Broadcast Date: Sunday 31st May 2020

Time: After 12pm

Published: Friday 29th May 2020

The Sunday podcast continues in a food and drink special. 

We take a look back through the Radio Verulam archive and pick out two fantastic interviews from yesteryear with Noughts & Crosses Alex Frankl and food blogger Sammy Cooper! 

There's also tips for Monday, and Sunday Shoutouts. 

A vibrant mix of great guests and chat. From Radio Verulam. 

Keep a look out on the Radio Verulam website. 

Daniel Bury hosts. 

Coming Up on The Chase: Theatre Special

COMING UP ON THE CHASE

THE CHASE THEATRE SPECIAL

Episode: 5

Transmission: TBC

Week: 1st - 7th June 2020

Published: Thursday 23rd April 2020

*NEW SERIES*

Tonight, four of london's west end stars think they have what it takes to take on a chaser to win thousands of pounds for their chosen charities. 

Bradley Walsh presents.

Luke Brady, Sophie Isaacs, Carrie Hope Fletcher, and Michael Ball have to work together to build up as much money into the team prize fund without getting caught by the Chaser. 

The Chasers:

Anne Hegerty

Mark Labbett

Jenny Ryan

Paul Sinha

Shaun Wallace

New Toys! - Exciting Announcement Doctor Who B&M Sets due Summer 2020

An exciting new annoucement has been made that I saw on social media this week and that is the reveal of the brand new Doctor Who action figure B&M exclusives set to arrive in the summer of 2020.

I should say that these sets feel like even more of a treat than usual. Because of the crisis and lockdown, and all the unpleasentness that this year has brought so far recieving news of brand new Doctor Who toy sets just feels like a life raft has come in and keeps you going in these difficult times.

I must say I am very excited and impressed to see what new figures we are going to be getting and character options do not disapoint. Six new sets in total are lined up and those are - with prototype images:

Set One: The Second Doctor and his TARDIS from 'The War Games'

Set Two: 'Friends of the Fourth Doctor' which includes: Sarah Jane Smith from 'Revenge of the Cybermen', Romana 1 from "The Pirate Planet", and Romana 2 from "Destiny of the Daleks"

 

Set Three: 'The Claws of Axos UNIT' set including: The Brigadier, Captain Mike Yates, and Sergent Benton. (Amazing!) 

 

Set Four: "Friends & Foes of the Thirteenth Doctor" set which has: The Thirteenth Doctor's companions Yasmin Khan and Ryan Sinclair both from 'Arachnids in the UK' and a Judoon Trooper from 'Fugitive of the Judoon' with new blaster gun accessory. 

 

Set Five: 'The Daleks' Dalek Twin Pack - Two Daleks from the first Dalek story 'The Daleks' for those who missed out on the orginal figure that was released back in 2008. 

 

Set Six: 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth' Dalek Twin Pack - Two Daleks from The Dalek Invasion of Earth - The Dalek Supreme Controller and Dalek Trooper. For those who missed out on the orginal figures released from 2009 and 2013. 

Now that we know what sets are being released, I will very quickly express my thoughts on what I think of each of the sets and let you know which ones I will be looking to buy. 

I'll start off with the Second Doctor and TARDIS set. 

So first off, The set uses a standard Second Doctor figure that we've seen before with the same articulation, but with a few tweeks and repaint applications applied to the figure. 

Noticable differences are that the shirt has been repainted white, and the handkerchief is now a bright red, this second doctor has no recorder accessory from what I can see in this prototype image and with this figure being from The War Games, a tear in the Doctor's trousers has been added perhaps to replicate a tear from barbed wire in the 1917 zone. 

The TARDIS is the same sculpt as other TARDIS figures, this one reuses the 1970's model but with a darker navy blue and new light lamp on top to replicate the on screen accuracy of the actual prop. I have been after a model of a 60's TARDIS for some time. I can't seem to find the First Doctor one anywhere, this makes a nice welcome addition. 

So Yes, I think I would be interested in buying this set. 

The Second set - Friends of the Fourth Doctor

Even though the head scultps are definetly new, I'm sure that the bodies of all three companions in this set are all used from Primeval figures. With articulation at the arms, biseps, hands, and legs, no thigh articulation from what I can see.

The likness of all characters seems to have been done well. The Sarah Jane figure looks like Elisabeth Sladen, just as the Romana 2 looks like Lalla Ward. Romana 1 does resemble Mary Tamm is some way, but with the image being a protoype its hard to tell for sure. Having it in hand will make a difference. As far as the paint apps are concerned the Romana 2 looks gorgeous. I love the pink coat with the red outline and the white scarf to resemble her costume from Destiny of the Daleks. Romana 1's costume is from The Pirate Planet and although there isn't much accuaracy to the actual costume as it is seen on screen, character do good with what they have in trying to get it as close as possible. 

The Sarah Jane figure I struggle to think is the body is a new sculpt or not. It's defiently the first figure we've had of Sarah from the classic series and an interesting costume they've chosen. Worn in Revenge of the Cybermen, but also in Genesis of the Daleks. I personally would have gone for something more contemperate, perhaps her costume from The Seeds of Doom or The Hand of Fear. It's an interesting costume to choose so well done to character for being bold. The paint apps are done well on this with nice shades of greens, greys, and browns to replicate a military type feel. 

Sometimes I only like one or two figures in a set and have to out source them seperatly on eBay, but in this instance. I'd like to have all three. So this set is a thumbs up from me.

Set Number Three, probably my favourite set to see as it is a UNIT set! 

The Brigadier and his right hand men. Captain Mike Yates and Sergant Benton. All from The Claws of Axos. If I'm not mistaken the body on Yates and Benton are new sculpts. I suppose with Benton you just have to add a different head and reuse the body to make two seperate figures but WOW! Something I never thought we would ever be getting has actually happened. 

All figures have full articulation at the head, arms, biseps, elbows, hands, thighs and waist. 

There some slight changes to the Brigadier in terms of the paint apps, the gloves have been repainted, and the trousers are a different shade of green. 

The figures don't seem to come with any accesories. 

The Yates and Benton figures are brilliant. There is a likeness that captivates Richard Franklin and John Levene really well and it is very exciting to have the UNIT team very much complete as it were.

I can now have UNIT battling the Cybermen, or the Axons, or The Sea Devils.

It's really cool.

Big Yes from Me to this set!

Set Four, is the only new series set to be released in this line of B&M sets. 

Never the less, it's Ryan and Yaz and the anticipated Judoon Trooper we were expecting to go with the Captain that was released earlier this year. 

Ryan and Yaz's base figures are primeval characters so they have articulation at the head, arms, biseps, elbows, hands, waist, and thighs. Their costumes Yaz's is from 'Arachnids in the UK' and Ryan's is from 'Rosa' and if you compare it to various production images it's not a bad match. The likenesses look like Mandip Gill and Tosin Cole, the figures have been repainted to match the costumes seen on screen. 

The Judoon is a standard Judoon trooper from before, molded in a black plastic with one noticeable difference which is the gun accesory. It's a new gun from 'Fugitive of the Judoon'.There is no articulation in the head and the helmet is not removable. Articulation in the arms, biseps, elbows, hands, waist, and knees. 

I've already got Graham, so I would like to complete the 2019/20 TARDIS team with Ryan and Yaz and the Judoon trooper is an added bonus with the addition of the gun accessory. #

So I would be up for getting this set. 

Sets 5 and 6 - The Two Dalek sets complete this line of set releases.

 These are the figures I'm not going to rush to get, simply because the first Dalek set from The Daleks is an army builder set and I do have one of these Daleks already. The Dalek Invasion of Earth set, I don't need another Supreme Dalek and the Dalek trooper doesn't seem worth the extra addition. I know you can never have too many Daleks but I wouldn't necassarily be adding anything new to my collection with these sets as apposed to the other four.

Not that I'm saying these sets are bad, they're not. They're just not all that appealing to me.

Another thing to point out about these sets is that they're going to be released in the USA as well as the UK. 

Al Dewar, Character Options, Creative Director, said. “This will be the first time in almost a decade where there will be parallel launches of the same product in the UK and the USA. Hopefully this new wave of toys will contain a few surprises for everyone. As always, the Character team has tried very hard to bring something new to delight, and hopefully exceed the expectations of fans and collectors alike. This time we are bringing even more to the table with six new products!” 

The new figure sets are due to be released in the summer - around June time, and priced at the retail price of £19.99 each. 

Any other additional news as to when these sets will be released and ordering them will be released at a later date.