The Fifth Doctor’s reign comes to an end in a story that is often, and quite rightly, described as his best. Caves of Androzani is dark, gritty, full of complex characters, and has the normally a bit naff and polite Fifth Doctor going through hell and being a true hero. If only his other stories were half this good! Let’s take a look then, shall we?
Logopolis heralds the end of arguably the most iconic and popular version of The Doctor, but as usual with these early regeneration stories, it also features a few other firsts, namely the first appearances of Tegan and Anthony Ainley’s incarnation of The Master. Obviously neither are as significant as the death of the Fourth Doctor, but still interesting to note… which is good because a lot of this story isn’t all that interesting! Let’s take a look!
Day three / Regeneration three in the Regeneration Marathon, and as you’d expect, it’s the Third Doctor’s time to go! (That actually won’t be as predictable later, sadly…) Planet of the Spiders is an odd story, a six-parter that’s equal parts weird Bond chase scenes, equal parts alien spider creatures enslaving an alien race… and that’s not even mentioning Tibetan Time Lords or a remorseful Mike Yates! Let’s take a look at Jon Pertwee’s send off, then, shall we?
The regeneration-athon continues with the Second Doctor’s send-off. Much like his predecessor’s leaving story, this story is significant beyond just having a regeneration as it’s the first story to name The Doctor’s people as “Time Lords” and indeed the first to show Gallifrey (though the planet isn’t named) and other Time Lords besides the Doctor (and Susan, I guess). It’s also 10 episodes long, so… if you’re planning to watch each of these one a night then I’d get started early! I split it into two lots of five, but I’m obviously posting one a day, so…Good luck if you’re watching these as I post them! Anyway, let’s have a look at “The War Games”…
The “Regeneration Marathon” begins with a story that not only has the first ever regeneration, but also has the first ever appearance of the Cybermen! That’s a hell of a double whammy when it comes to recurring features in Doctor Who! So, does the story do both justice? Well, given they didn’t know how significant either would be, it actually plays as a pretty standard base under siege, though with the attackers being rather pathetic… Let’s take a closer look, either way!
Starting next week, I’ll be doing a regeneration story a day leading into the Twelfth Doctor’s swan song at Christmas (though that review will be a few days after it airs, I’m sure…) Click more to see the schedule, and don’t forget this won’t be the only thing going up on my blog for those two weeks, trust me!:
Hogan Reviews 