This is my favourite of all Who stories. A mix of the actual story (which I love) and nostalgia.
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Started The Mind of Evil last night, gonna slow-roll it today and work on a long review, because apparently I am allergic to reviewing things in order.
So far, wildly mixed bag. Pertwee is great, all the scenes with him bollocking the scientists for the Keller Procedure is fantastic, he’s in proper “Time Lords as Angry Dad” mode. which I think Pertwee has always been sublime at in a way nobody else really manages until maybe Colin Baker (and even then far more at BF than on television.) The supporting cast are also putting in a good shift, managing to differentiate all the sort of white burly prison blokes with skill; the pompous doctor, the skeptical yet straightforward prison governor, it’s all there.
On the flip side, the whole Chinese sub-plot at the security conference is almost laughably dated; the way the Chinese captain is treated by the story and all the people in it is just dreadful, and although the missile doesn’t show up in Episode 1, the way it’s crammed in with such a lack of grace signals that this might end up being a tad overpacked, which considering it’s a six-parter, is a fairly tall order.
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Watching Invasion of Time with my dad
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I think it’s the lack of consistency across stories. Some do flesh the characters out but others just have them running around asking “why Doctor?” When you look at the characters as a whole, the development is there; but you also see the missed opportunities such as Mel’s intelligence, Turlough’s back story, Ryan’s dyspraxia.
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You’re quite right but, as you point out, characters post 2005 still occasionally show the same missed opportunities. I’d certainly not claim it was perfect back in the 20th century, but it was there for many companions. I do feel that classic companions are often caricatured as just there ‘for the dads’ for example (less so by fandom, but I still see it sometimes) whereas some production teams and script writers really did build in character development ‘back in the day’.
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Face the Raven is great! Most of the episode is really good set up and needless to say the last 10 minutes are amazing 
Some of the best acting in all of the show, and great writing all round.
It’d be even MORE impactful if Clara didn’t have multiple fake out exists before and her real exit two episodes later though…
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Interesting to read your account as I am also rewatching the same story at the moment. I’m more positive overall than you and address some of the issues surrounding Chin Lee above, but I certainly do see where you’re coming from.
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The Mind of Evil: Parts 3 and 4
it’s just such a good story to watch and soak in. I have more superlatives to come, so I might as well get my one niggle out of the way. We’ve had four cliffhangers so far, and three of them have involved the Doctor at the mercy of the Mind Parasite. A little repetitive and I confess that I would have liked a little more variation here. That said…
…the Mind Parasite in the Keller Machine has long been a creature that fascinates me. By the criteria I explore in my “What Maketh a Monster?” thread (please do check it out if you haven’t already), the Mind Parasite meets criteria 2 (portent of doom), 3 (punishment), 4 (intent to cause terror / to destroy) and 5 (unknown/unknowable thing). It is, thus, one of the most monstery of all monsters ever to have graced our screens. I love it to bits! It’s also so very weird, this teleporting ‘blob-in-a-box’, that it absolutely captures my imagination. The point is very clearly made by the Doctor that even he can’t stand against it (once again, some fantastic acting by Pertwee), a point denied by the Master who then discovers to his own peril that the Doctor speaks the truth. I simply adore the cross fade between the Doctor’s exhausted face and then the Master’s similarly weary face after his own encounter - highlighted by Mailer’s comments regarding how unwell the Master looks. This is a creature genuinely feared by BOTH Time Lords and, thus, something that feels properly nasty.
Kudos to the scene where the Master menaces the Doctor with a very real looking rifle whilst Mailer restrains him in the chair by the Keller Machine. It’s a particularly brutal moment that would feel more at home in a gangster movie at the start of a torture scene (which is basically what it is).
Mailer, once again, shows himself to be a very ‘real world’ kind of villain. He’s violent, aggressive and thinks nothing of threatening Jo. He pistol-whips the Doctor across the back of the neck and is generally not the sort of villain we’re used to in Doctor Who. He’s just so thuggish and grubby in his behaviour.
HAVOC clearly had a lot of fun staging the hijacking of the Thunderbolt and just as much fun with the various prison riot scenes - many prison officers brutally gunned down. It’s tonally such an odd story in season 8, much more in keeping with the grittier season 7 albeit featuring a masterclass (excuse me 
) from the Master. Because of that, it really works. This story feels distinctive and really mixes things up. It’s such a shame that this is Houghton’s final script for the series. Whilst I don’t think Doctor Who could have survived being like this every week (much as I adore season 7), the occasional story like this is really most invigorating!
Oh, and a final thought for today. Poor old Benton. Mentally beaten up by the Mind Parasite in episode 2, he’s physically the worse for wear here in episode 4. He’s really not having a good time of it, poor chap! Don’t worry Benton. Your time will come!
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My husband held the door for her (like the beautiful gentleman he is) when we went to see the hilarious Simply Barbara.
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Entertaining story, I just wish they’d had money for better spiders! 
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I think Leela was such a clever opposite to Sarah Jane. Whilst I fully understand both the character and ratings reasons for the outfit, I think it distracted from how clever Leela is and, especially but not only in some of the Big Finish stories, how emotionally intelligent and empathetic.
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Torchwood Season 2 Episode 1: Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang. Finally getting a proper introduction to Captain John Hart.
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So I just got done with Part Three and while I haven’t completely turned around on the story, I think it benefits and improves so much from centering The Master and letting Delgado loose with the performance. He’s a powerful figure in this, looming from scene to scene and seeming to be in total control. He even legitimizes the superfluous nuclear missile plot in some sense; of course there’s a ridiculous death missile, The Master needs one to covet at the center of his ridiculous plan.
That scene with Benton and the soldiers in front of the really bad CSO backdrop left me laughing out loud though, it was like a cutaway from The Muppet Show.
This serial has a really strong third episode that nicely tightens the story and gives it momentum I really hope can be sustained, plus some top-notch action sequences. I really get where you’re coming from in the Bond comparisons (I think you made the Bond comparison, someone definitely has.)
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He’s typically wonderful. I love the moment (think it’s episode 2) where he removes his mask and takes a moment to smooth down the hair on either side of his head. It’s a simple action but it shows him as slick, polished, making sure everything is in control, and a little vain to boot. He’s an utter delight.
It’s an awful moment that just looks so bad. It doesn’t really take away my enjoyment of the story, though, because it’s nothing to do with either the script or the performances. I can be quite forgiving in that regard.
Aside from moments like that, I think Timothy Coombe does a very good job of directing this. There’s real dynamism at times and he makes great use of the Dover Castle location. I love the shot from high above as the Doctor is dodging bullets in the courtyard. As with Houghton, it’s a real shame Tim Coombe never directed for DW again.
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The location work that stood out to me were all of the UNIT exterior shots they did at Cornwall Gardens, having frequented that part of London fairly often while I was working there. I love seeing glimpses into the past and recognizing places that I’ve been, decades apart from where I’ve been them. There’s also such a lovely tangible Seventies warmth to any of the sequences shot on film in this era - it’s why I maintain Spearhead is one of the most beautiful episodes of Doctor Who ever shot - that’s even more heightened by the recognizable locations. The drama being (mostly, let’s ignore the dragon) grounded just goes double.
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Yes! Yes, absolutely this! I love that 70s warmth. There’s a lovely sense of place and time to the Pertwee era. I can feel myself in many of the locations. It’s gloriously… tangible. And I agree about ‘Spearhead’. It looks fantastic and holds up well to this day.
The less said about the dragon, the better. I get the concept but the realisation as as ham fisted as the proverbial bun vendor! At least it’s brief.
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Sorry to say this Heaven Sent haters, but that story is a masterpiece! Absolutely adored this rewatch.
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Watching the Dominators right now, since Wendy Padbury will be at Time Lash and I want to know some more Zoe stories till then.
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How much do you love the Quarks?
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I had to stop watching after the first episode, since I had to continue working on uni stuff (nobody ask me what I am doing here then), but from the first cliffhanger I am already in love with them!
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