Articles Torchwood Father's Day 15th June 2014

As we covered with Mother's Day back in March we thought it would be only fitting to feature Father's Day for our Torchwood Dads.  But how many do you remember?

The Mothership Doctor Who Father's Day 15th June 2014

As with Mother's Day which we featured back in March this year, it seemed only right and fitting that we celebrate Father's Day also.  So here for you all, are the candidates for Father's Day.  See how many you remember.

Expo & Cons Motor City Comic Con 2014 by Jennifer Ings

The first time I ever met John Barrowman at a convention was at C2E2 2012 in Chicago. Now you might be wondering what this has to do with Motor City Comic Con two years later, but bear with me.  I knew John collected Captain Jack figures, so I had decided to surprise him with a miniature version. As anyone who's ever met John can tell you, he's a big kid at heart and a geek like everybody else. Not only did he start playing with it and showing it off to his helpers, he made me autograph it for him.

This was also the Con where our talks about "Scavengers in Space" started. During his panel (which was his first standalone panel in America), someone had asked what his favorite props from the show were. John began telling them about the book that had was on Jack's desk and how he'd always read it. And he "acquired it" and took it home after they blew up the Hub. I shouted out the title, John stopped and looked at me, then nodded and said "Scavengers in Space. That's the book. How'd you know that??? I love you!"

I saw him later that day when I went to get an autograph for a friend and he asked how I knew what book it was. I'd had a copy of it since I was a kid, since I'd loved reading old sci-fi books that I would find at flea markets, second hand book shops, etc. I showed him a photo on my iPad of my Doctor Who/Torchwood bookcase, where I also had my copy of "Scavengers in Space".  

John snatched it up and started looking at my photos and was having a blast looking at the various props I'd done and my Doctor who action figures. That was when he saw the Gwen miniature. John kept pointing at it and exclaiming that he needed a little Gwen. So I promised that the next time I saw him, I'd bring one for him and I'd also bring my copy of the book.

A few months later, we met up again at the Toronto Fan Expo.  As requested, I brought little Gwen and my copy of the book. John got so excited when he saw the book that he proceeded to tell everyone in the area and his handler all about the story behind the book and why he loved it so much. Then he laughed and said to his handler, "But you probably don't care about this at all, do you?" The guy actually said he didn't mind, but you could tell he had no idea what we were talking about.

John signed the book as himself and as Captain Jack for free and commented that he'd been trying to find another copy to read, so he wouldn't ruin the one he "acquired" from the set. I laughed and said I wished I had known, because I had a spare copy back home in Michigan. So another promise was made: The next time I saw him in person, I'd bring the copy of the book and he could have it. Little did we both know that it wouldn't be for 2 more years before he was at another event close enough to Michigan for me to attend.

Which brings us to the present and Motor City Comic Con. I gathered up the book and a few Brotherhood of Harkness goodies for John (as well as an added present from me) and headed out on Friday morning. The first thing we noticed was that John was positioned directly across from the big Star Wars display being presented by the 501st and the Rebel Legion. Since I had a press pass, I had the chance to hang out and talk to some of the staff working his area. We all joked that at some point, John was probably going to end up over there playing with the stuff (he behaved until Saturday, when he decided to ride on the Tauntaun).  Because of the large amount of visitors who wanted to meet John, the convention was issuing numbered tickets and admitting about 50 people at a time into the queue. We waited patiently, talked to several other visitors, and continued joking around with security.

When we finally were admitted to the queue and made it to the front, John lit up the moment he saw us. He said he remembered me and got excited because I was wearing my Brotherhood shirt (he'd received one at Christmas in Glasgow from one of our members and Tweeted a pic of himself wearing it). At that point, he declared he was going to lift up my shirt and then put his hand up my back. He was trying to explain that the backing material for the embroidery was itchy and he always wore a t-shirt beneath his (like I was). There was also a little butt grabbing and comments about how nice and tight it was. Typical John and completely harmless. But more than a few fans were wide eyed and wondering what was going on (and probably how to get him to do the same to them!).

Now it was present time. I gave him a replica Torchwood ID card and some ribbons from Gallifrey One (Brotherhood goodies). Then I set a comic book down in front of him and smiled. I told John that I knew he liked and collected comics. And since he's been promoted to a regular on Arrow, he really should have a copy of his first appearance. It took him a moment before he realized that the comic (Justice League #94) was Merlyn's first appearance in comic form and his eyes widened in shock. He was actually speechless for several minutes before thanking me.

But I noticed he kept looking at my messenger back as we were talking. I took out the book, grinned, and handed it over. John squealed, jumped up and down a few times, then started showing it off and yelling "There's a story behind this!" He asked us to take a photo of him and to post it on Twitter so he could see it later. Then said, "I knew you had it in there! I've been waiting for it since I spotted you guys in line! Thank you so much! This and the comic are going in my special place at home where I keep all of my important things. This is awesome."

We chatted a little about his Merlyn costume (since I'm in the process of making one) and John answered a couple of questions for me about some details. He asked why I wasn't wearing my Jack cosplay, since he'd remembered it from the other cons. I told him I'd wear it Sunday for the panel and that I was bringing the Doctor's hand in the jar. John stared at me for a moment and asked, "You actually have the hand in the jar? Seriously???" I told him yes, I'd actually made one and had gotten a few pointers from Nick Robatto (the original prop maker). John said to make sure we came back to the booth on Sunday because he wanted to see it.

We came back on Sunday (along with Handy), and once again got a ticket to wait in line. His security guy ran over to us to take photos and said they'd been waiting all weekend to see the prop, ever since hearing about it on Friday. We talked for a bit about how the Con had been going so far, if he was enjoying working with John, and just a little about Doctor Who stuff. Kelsy (who works for Heroes For Hire), was thrilled when we walked up. She immediately called over to John, pointed to the prop, and started asking where I got it from. I explained that I made it and we made our way over to John. He immediately snatched it up and started playing with it, saying "Damn! It weighs just as much as the one we had on the show!" He did ask why there was no water, I explained that I would fill it up with later before the photo shoot because didn't want to carry it around while full. While empty, the prop weighs about 9 lbs. But when you fill it with the one gallon of water that it hold, it weighs about 17 lbs. John asked his security guy if he'd seen it yet, and was told "Yeah! I ran over there the minute I saw it and took a bunch of pictures of the jar and her costume!"

It was pretty funny because since he was so busy playing with it, he completely forgot about the line and started talking to me about my costume. John complimented me on my cosplay and said he loved how accurate it was, since I've got the exact model/brand of boots, belt, braces. etc. that were used on the show. I also have a leather vortex manipulator that I made.

John especially loved my coat, since it has all authentic WWII brass buttons, RAF rank braid, and a real RAF buckle. I joked that he could wear it later if he wanted and John said, "Sure! That'd be awesome!" he signed the top of the jar as both himself and (like my book) as Captain Jack Harkness.

We headed off to get a good seat at his panel, had a great time talking to other fans while waiting, and was asked to pose for a lot of photos with Handy. And John's panel was a blast. He's always full of energy, enthusiasm, and gives honest answers to his fans. The entire room was packed and it was standing room only.

Maybe next time Motor City Comic Con will listen to him when he says that he can fill the big room! Check it out on YouTube if you get a chance.

I capped off the day by heading over to my photoshoot. Kelsey was there helping out and the moment she saw me, she said, "Hi! John said he's wearing your coat for your photo!" John gave me a big hug when I walked in, put on the coat, and I asked if he wanted to play with my replica Webley or the jar. No surprise, he went for the Webley.  At first, we were just standing and waiting for the photo.

But then John suddenly turned around to strike a Captain Jack pose, so I did the same with the jar. The photographer went nuts and was loving every minute of it! He snapped the picture and made us wait so he could check that it came out and said it was his favorite shot of the weekend. John helped me back into my coat, I thanked him and wished him a safe flight home, then he hugged me again and said, "You're drafted... welcome to Torchwood."

All photos courtesy of Jennifer Ings

Interviews Dichen Lachman by DJ Forrest

Hi Dichen. Thank you so much for the interview.  When you were growing up, who inspired you, who was your role model or your idol?

Dichen: My mother and father were inspiring to me. They taught me how to work hard, and to believe in myself.

If you could ever meet your 12 year old self, what would you tell her?

Dichen: Don't be so hard on yourself. Read more books, you can never read enough.

Your role as Katya lasted for 14 months, I remember the episodes well, with Rachel and Zeke my two favourite youngsters.  You had some powerful storylines. Will Katya ever return to Neighbours?

Dichen: I don't see that happening. But if they wanted me to do something on the show, I would be very happy to make an appearance. That show taught me a lot. So did the people there and I'm very appreciative.

I read in an interview with Alan Dale a while ago that no matter what role he is in, people always refer to him as Jim Robinson, from Neighbours.  No matter how many years ago that had been, and for a character who really wasn’t in the series all that much.  The show itself has a huge following, and many of the cast who have gone on to bigger and better things will still be remembered for where they started.  Does it ever bother you that people will remember you from Neighbours before they recall you in a later series, such as Dollhouse or Torchwood or in Lust for Love?

Dichen: Not at all. It was a privilege to be on the show and it's lovely that people remember at all.

Where does Sierra in Dollhouse come from, what is her background and are you still involved with that series?

Dichen: Dollhouse was sadly cancelled. I loved working on that show. And again I met incredible people. Sierra was a lot of fun to play. Her background is a mystery but that's what was fun about it.

When you’ve played a regular character such as Katya or Sierra, or any characters you’re involved with currently, do you ever suggest how your character might react in a certain situation or her development in the series?. 

Dichen: Sometimes, but not often. It's tricky as the writers have so much planned that you don't know about. You just have to trust they have a plan ;)

The role as the CIA agent in Torchwood: Miracle Day also appeared to be self sufficient and able to handle herself in a crisis, apart from the final moments when Rex Matheson broke her neck.  I have to marvel at the way you were trying to walk – backward as if you were walking forwards, (neck broken), I’d imagine that was all prosthetics and CGI?

Dichen: It was prosthetics and CGI. It took hours to put on. It was a lot of fun to shoot, the cast are amazing. I really had a wonderful time. Billy directed the episode. Great director.

You’ve got a great figure, do you have a fitness regime, watch what you eat or are you one of these people who can eat a large meal and just not pile on the pounds?  If you do have a fitness regime, please share (I’m a typical Taurean)

Dichen: I don't really. I have a very active life, meaning I don't sit at a desk all day. Also I eat large meals, but I only eat when I'm hungry. That's a good way to keep trim. Also if you move around a lot during the day.

I’m still trying to locate Lust For Love, but have seen the trailer and really like the look of the film.  Can you tell us more about it and your role within the film?

Dichen: The film will be available soon in the UK. We raised some money on Kickstarter which was a huge help. The cast was mostly friends that I made on Dollhouse. It was written and directed by Anton King. It stars Fran Kranz who is amazing.  The film is about Astor’s (Fran Kranz) happy tenacity that spoils his one chance at love with his lifelong crush Mila (Beau Garrett). Convinced he needs more experience with women to win her back, he engages her ex-best friend Cali (Me) to teach him how to woo women. Together they dissect his failings, and Astor makes his awkward pick-up attempts. As Astor begins to juggle multiple opportunities, he discovers the source of the rift between Cali and Mila, and the trio are forced to confront their conceptions about love. It's a really lovely movie.

When you were growing up, what other things were you interested in, aside from acting?

Dichen: I wanted to be a painter... I loved science but leaned toward more abstract arts. I loved movies didn't really understand the process or the business. However, I have been editing from a very early age. My dad taught me how to use a camera and get tech savvy.

What music do you listen to when you’re relaxing, chilling?

Dichen:  Classical :)

Before you go to rehearse or go for a take, or perhaps before you start your day at work, do you have a ‘ritual’, like some have before they go on stage to ward off the nerves?

Dichen: Not really... Coffee!

What role would you really love to get your teeth into?

Dichen: Very hard question... So many... Something very different to me that's for sure.

Are you a super heroes fan and who is your favourite super hero, and if you had a special power, what would it be?

Dichen: Yes! I always wanted to be Supergirl when I was little. But there's just so many good ones.

As well as starring in the film ‘Lust for Love’ you’re also the producer.  What is the role of a producer, does that include promoting the film to prospective film companies?

Dichen: It means all of that and more. This is a really big question. I could write an essay on it. I will say for now, don't get into it if you're not committed to seeing it through, if you're not ready for serious ups and downs.

As many actors these days are involved in the ‘behind the scenes’ roles, such as writer, director, producer and film maker, do you see yourself being as involved in all aspects of film making in the future?

Dichen: I am currently writing. I would love to direct. Just sharpening my tools. I think it's really important to create your own content if you have something to say in this world.

For your character in Torchwood Miracle Day, did you watch any episodes of Torchwood prior to the role; were you already a fan of Torchwood?

Dichen: I was a fan of Doctor Who. I watched a few eps and loved it.

Do you have a website where the fans can follow your career?  Are you just on Twitter?

Dichen: I'm on face book. But working on a website. Twitter for now :)

What productions are you currently working on that you can tell us anything about?  And are you involved in both sides of the camera?

Dichen: I'm writing a pilot about people descending into 30. All the trials and tribulations of life.

Photos

Courtesy of Dichen Lachman (Thank you)

©BBCTorchwood 2006

Beyond the Hub Svengali Review by DJ Forrest

Written by Jonny Owen

Directed by John Hardwick

Broadcast 21^st March 2014

Dixie was a postie from a quiet Welsh mining town where the local taxi was a man with a pony.  He had dreams of being a manager of a successful band, and after discovering the band on Youtube he secured the position of their manager.  He and his girlfriend (Vicky McClure), with money and good wishes from his parents (Brian Hibbard and Sharon Morgan) set off for London, to make their fortune. 

Life in London was not all paved in gold, and while Dixie tried to get people interested in the band, his girlfriend took work where she could to raise the rent and pay the bills as well as afford to eat.  The tin of money was to be their start towards their wedding and new life together; they were not to touch that until it was needed. 

Securing a record contract seemed the hardest possible thing in the world, and although Dixie had a Welsh friend who was now in the record business, he was not willing to give Dixie the break he needed.  Finding work and borrowing from a loan shark seemed the only way to meet the demands of an up and coming band. 

Jonny Owen’s portrayal of Dixie is brilliant.  Dixie really wants that record contract, he wants to play the manager of a big band, but in amongst all of these dreams is his girlfriend, who after following Dixie to London, has had to secure work in order to keep them both, has had to endure the band dossing in their flat, eating their food, not helping pay the rent, then discovers that their tin of dreams is empty.  You do wonder if they will ever patch things up or if Dixie will follow his dreams and become the manager he really wants to be...

The film doesn’t disappoint, it has humour, comedy, snappy wit and the music is fantastic.  The scenery, both in London and in Wales, it’s a pleasure to watch and also sharing a few surprises along the way.  It was definitely spot how many names you could identify in the film, from Torchwood to Sherlock to the Flying Pickets with names even from the music industry.  If you want a great British movie to watch then this is the film for you.  And Jonny Owen nails it with Svengali.  It’s worth every penny!

5/5

The Mothership Master Class - Pt 1: A Villain For All Seasons by Tony Fyler

“Who the heck are you? Well?”

“I am usually referred to as the Master.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Universally.”

Imagine the dilemma. You have a weekly science fiction show beloved of children all across the country, now going into its eighth season. You realise it’s something special, because it’s solved the fundamental problem of longevity – every now and again, you can completely change the lead actor. Added to that, it’s about a benevolent alien, with all of time and space as his playground.

Except…

Except now he hasn’t.  The hangover from the previous production team means your alien wanderer is now stuck on Earth, in the 1970s (or 80s, depending on your dating protocol). Surrounded by the kind of people he’s always fought against – the military. You’ve shot a lot of possible bolts trying to make the audience accept the set-up: changed the actor; gone to colour (for the handful of viewers in 1971 who could see it); given him an atypical companion, a scientist…which never quite worked. But now you’ve painted yourself into a corner.

If the Doctor, whose previous unique selling point was his ability to go anywhere in time and space, now simply can’t move from 1970s Earth, then you have a problem. Every story, essentially, is a refinement of the ‘base under siege’ idea, and you have to ship this week’s alien monstrosity in for him to do battle with, or accept that the stories you’re going to be able to tell will always be that little bit less fantastic than what has gone before. Either way, you’re looking at a ratings loser and a slow decline.

Unless…

What you need is a reason. A person, not a species, someone with whom the Doctor can match wits at every level – physically, technologically, and intellectually. You need someone with the Doctor’s inner steel – and his sense of whimsy – but allied to an entirely opposite worldview. Someone who can challenge the Doctor not only on an intellectual level but a philosophical one, who can say “Oh, you believe in justice and liberty and self-determination…how quaint…” and then go about the business of destroying the world with a smile. You need the Anti-Doctor.

If you have the Anti-Doctor, he can reach out into the universe of time and space for you (off-screen and without spending the budget), and give you a reason to have this or that invading species. And he can play the game himself, focusing the series into that clash of worldviews, and making the viewer wonder whether in fact the Doctor has it right after all. And suddenly, you’re not looking at a ratings slump at all. You’re looking at an idea that can run and run – the Anti-Doctor would have all the Doctor’s abilities, including the power of regeneration – creating a seminal villain for the show, who could stand by the likes of Daleks and Cybermen, and even stand above them, the antithesis of our hero personified.

                          Delgado Eyes

When Roger Delgado steps out of the horsebox, less than a minute into Season Eight opener, The Terror of the Autons, he is already practically perfect. His first scene takes barely a minute, but everything is there – a combination of Robert Holmes and Terrance Dicks at their most inventive sets up the family fun of a circus in the 70s for about 40 seconds and then – there’s a wheezing, groaning sound that we all know. It’s the Tardis! Has the Doctor got it working? Are we all about to go off on intergalactic adventures again?

But no. It’s not our Tardis. It’s a trailer of some sort, materialising out of thin air. It must be another Time Lord! Fans begin to hyperventilate at that point, knowing from The War Games that the Time Lords can defeat and curtail even our incorrigible meddler. A tall, dark, saturnine man in immaculate black clothing jumps out, looks about, as if for lower life-forms to kick, and stands surveying his new planet. He is challenged by the circus owner, and describes himself as “the Master” – so very opposite to our fearless Doctor, such grandeur, such presumption to rule. He reveals he has knowledge that “Rossini” the circus owner has been hiding – his real name - and when challenged again…there they are. The Delgado eyes. Fans in 2014 make a big deal about incoming Doctor Peter Capaldi’s intense stare, but back in 1971, Delgado’s Master had eyes of ice and emptiness, and the camera showed the utter lack of fellow feeling in the hearts of this new Time Lord. Within moments, Rossini’s resistance is quelled, and with a snap of his black-gloved fingers, the Master has arrived and tamed his first human slave.

As a season opening scene, and as a way of instantly establishing the nature of the villain, Terror of the Autons has rarely, if ever, been bettered. Barely a minute, and the Master became a legend. The Doctor had a new “best enemy”.

From that very first story, too, the Delgado Master began fulfilling the storytelling promise of the idea – instigating invasions, weaving cunning plans, casually calling up to exchange pleasantries and then execute the Doctor by remote control telephone flex…as you do…

The influence of the original Master is keenly felt in the difference between the two Pertwee Auton stories. In Spearhead, the autons are creepily utilitarian, masked as everyday objects – shop window dummies - and then scare the bejeesus out of a generation of children (and undoubtedly some adults) by jerking to life and gunning people down. Delgado’s Master brings flair, deception and undeniable gall to the whole fantastic plastic concept – dressing them up in blazers and boaters with enormous comedy heads, and sending them on a PR tour, handing out deadly plastic daffodils (a comment on this very contained Master’s view of flower-children, maybe? Or a satire on the public love of anything for free, no matter how pointless or tatty? Either way, you get your metaphorical moneysworth). He also brings authoritarian malice, played out with more than a tough of grand guignol – devil dolls and suffocating chairs as a repayment for disobedience. And of course, there’s all the hypnotism and the mastery of disguise. By the end of the story, the audience is left in no doubt about two things – the Master is here to stay, and on any planet where he is, nothing can be guaranteed to be what it seems.

The Master as Emil Keller

Take famous scientists, for example. The very next story, The Mind of Evil, has the Master masquerading as a humanitarian scientist, in an attempt to rid the human mind of its criminal and aggressive impulses. If you’d done that story without the Master in it, either you’d have had to set up complex backstory for some deranged human scientist (and anyone who watched The Underwater Menace could tell you badly wrong that could go), or you’d have to make the alien mind parasite a far more interesting thing than it is here. But with the Master – with Delgado’s Master – at the core of the piece, you can skip it and simply be mesmerised by the ingenuity and gall of it all, while focusing on the real-world questions raised by the science fiction. When John Simm’s Master became Prime Minister and allied with killer aliens, there was a thrill in the audience because he was so overtly front and centre, so very very visible. But Delgado pioneered the act with his Professor Emil Keller – respected humanitarian scientist on the one hand, and pusher of the world towards political Armageddon on the other. What’s more, the key to the Delgado Master comes very much to the fore here – the plots may be absolutely barking mad, but the performance never is. The Delgado Master always made whatever he was doing look effortless and comfortable, and so he sold even the barmiest of plots and gave you a shiver. Behind all the alien shenanigans, you watch The Mind of Evil and you wonder – what if there really was someone like that? Someone devoid of pity and convinced their way was right? How much would we let them get away with? Manipulating our minds? Manipulating our politics? Delgado’s Master makes you believe, and he makes you think.

You do know there’s an Axon just behind us, don’t you?

In The Claws of Axos, the Master seems to be having  fun rather than being actively diabolical, watching the parable of greed play itself out as the “primitive” humans allow themselves to be sucked in by the beautiful gold-skinned salespeople of Axos, and get a serious case of “buyer beware” as a result. To some extent, while both the parable and the action are rather good fun and a compelling watch, Delgado’s Master is almost wasted in watching it, and escapes at the end almost as an afterthought. In just his third story – although his third consecutive story – we see the danger of having the Master there, especially in a story with other aliens. Holmes and Dicks had pitched the balance right in Terror of the Autons, and in The Mind of Evil, Don Houghton used him to excellent effect to explore the questions of the script for the viewer. In Axos, Martin and Baker appear not to know what to do with him, or indeed why he’s there at all, and the potential of Delgado’s Master goes largely to waste, in an unfortunate precursor of stories that have dogged the show ever since.

By Colony In Space, we begin to wonder if this whole “Master” idea might not have been oversold in the first place, as he is rather relegated to the role of “Plot Device Number 2” in a story mostly concerned with corporate imperialism, with a dash of moral debate about Weapons of Mass Destruction thrown in at the end. That said, Delgado wrings some fine villainy from what he is given, and really pioneers a trick that he – and most future Masters – will use time and again: the moment of breathless excitement when he first appears on screen pretending to be someone else, in this case an Adjudicator from Earth. But just when you think Colony In Space is all a bit ho-hum with a stupid claw-handed robot, it delivers one of the landmark scenes between Delgado’s Master and Pertwee’s Doctor. The fundamental philosophical opposition in which the Doctor and the Master exist is given expression in the battle of words over what should happen to the Doomsday Weapon. While there has been verbal sparring between them before, it’s in Colony In Space that this philosophical difference is really set in stone, opening up a world of backstory and showing exactly why these two renegades from a race of watchers will always be at loggerheads. Indeed, the crux of the difference, expressed when the Master says: "One must rule or serve. That is the basic law of life. Why do you hesitate? Surely it's not loyalty to the Time Lords, who exiled you to one insignificant planet?" and the Doctor replies: "You'll never understand. I want to see the universe, not to rule it," is resurrected in the John Simm Master stories, when the Doctor begs him to simply see the universe, without having to own it or destroy it. Delgado and Pertwee play it dead straight, pitching the back-and-white opposition of their roles and showing a friendship that could have been magnificent, and why it turned to never-ending enmity.

The Master twinkling in The Daemons

And for those who found the Third Doctor’s only Season Eight off-world adventure rather bleak and remote, and even wondered whether the Master had been such a good idea after all, The Daemons ended the season on as strong and high a note as Terror of the Autons had struck to open it. Here is the Delgado Master in his element, pretending to be, of all things, a pillar of virtue and a power in the community, while using “the occult” to awaken ancient aliens. There’s plenty of the Master’s steel here – less suffocation by armchair, more hard stares and disintegration by gargoyle, but Delgado here plays the role for all it’s worth, revelling not only in the politics of parish councils and tight communities crumbling at a whisper of suspicion, but also in the emotional scope he adds to the Master – it’s a side of the character we’ve seen before, but the Master as a nimble liar, telling people either what they want to hear or what they don’t, whichever advances his plans, is a trait that’s never been better shown than by the Delgado incarnation, and arguably never better within that incarnation than here. It is of course particularly appropriate in a story about science versus faith (or at least superstition), which sees the most evil man in the universe posing as a quiet country vicar – while Azal may look like the Devil, it’s actually the Master who’s the serpent in this particular Eden, playing the locals for fools with just an occasional glint in his eyes, and aiming for ultimate power. The Master’s sense of humour here is seldom given a chance to come to the fore again – a line or two in The Five Doctors and Mark of the Rani – until the John Simm Master is born, and gives us an incarnation who is stark raving mad. Delgado plays the laughs up his insanely large sleeves here, and The Daemons is a strong fan favourite because of it.

The decision to feature the Master in every story of Season Eight was a brave gamble, but one thing it allowed was the creation of a rich character, at least as complex as the Doctor, and who had very definite skills – in disguise, in subterfuge, in psychology and in classic Time Lord Jiggery-Pokery. After five stories, Roger Delgado’s Master was a hit on playgrounds all across Britain, because apart from being easier on the vocal chords than the Daleks, he was infinitely adaptable. The Master could be behind anything: scientific experiments, political shenanigans, stealing the ultimate weapon or raising the Devil – he was a villain for all seasons.

Season Nine opened with a different take on the same dilemma. The Master had become a hit, had become the Doctor’s Moriarty he had been intended to be. Which meant the success of Season Eight couldn’t be replicated again, or it would be just more of the same. Besides, the strain of appearing in every episode of the season was huge and the production team wanted to wriggle increasingly free of the constraints of the Earthbound format.

In a neat little bit of symmetry, where Season Eight had opened with the Master joining forces with the first monsters of Season Seven, the Autons, when we catch up with him in Season Nine he has joined forces with the second monsters of Season Seven – almost.

The Sea Devils is essentially a re-tread of the Silurians, but with added Master. That means all the established hallmarks are there – the Master hypnotising hapless humans to do his bidding, the Master swanning about the place in uniform, pretending to be somebody else, the Master actually being in control of the situation while convincing everyone he’s a prisoner. There’s also a re-run of the kind of Yin-Yang debate between the Doctor and the Master that has by now become a hallmark of their encounters – from Axos, through Colony In Space, to The Daemons, their battle for the hearts and minds of the “monsters” here has become fairly standard, and in a nod to The Daemons, the Doctor wins the day but the Sea Devils are then despatched in a neat explosion – though here, the climax serves as a parable of the fear at the heart of the military mind, destroying the potential of a shared future with the Sea Devils by not being quite brave or quite brilliant enough – remind anyone of The Hungry Earth and Cold Blood?

Then there’s The Time Monster. Taken as a whole, it’s a somewhat confused affair, but as an example of the Delgado Master and his high ambitions and low methods, it serves rather well. In the first place, he’s busy pretending to be an Earth scientist again – Professor Thascales – and indeed, there are other similarities between The Time Monster and The Mind of Evil, the Master using a living alien 

consciousness for his nefarious purposes being the most obvious. But in other respects, this is as close as the Delgado Master gets to cackling pantomime villainy: how to stop an approaching UNIT force? Oh here, have a V1 bomb, conjured up out of nowhere! How to dispose of the tiresome Miss Grant? Oh, let’s send her spinning off into the time vortex, stranded alone on the Tardis (an idea briefly recycled in The Lodger). In among the cackling and a plot mad enough to confuse the monster that lives under Steven Moffatt’s bed, there are elements of the Master’s character that we’ve never seen deployed with quite such cruelty before. His seduction of Queen Galleia is an odd note in the largely asexual realm of 70s Who, and a particularly callous example of the Master lying without a care to those whose help he needs to get where he wants to go. Throughout the whole of the Delgado era, it’s only really here that the viewer loses sympathy with the character that we see beneath the suavity and the dark gentlemanly cad. This is the Master in thug mode, the Master we will recognise in the Pratt and Beevers incarnations – for just this moment, all the fun and the sparring fall away, and the true and barren nature of the man who kills people with armchairs and gargoyles stands revealed. Despite the fact that it’s not a thing on which we focus (after all, in The Time Monster, there’s barely time before the next insane thing), in the Master’s treatment of Galleia and her husband, we catch a glimpse of the mad-eyed monster he will become.

But not before Frontier In Space.

 Frontier In Space

There’s so much to love about Frontier In Space – Draconians looking amazing, Ogrons being gorgeously stupid, the gritty almost-soap of the human and Draconian politics - that the Master’s pitch perfect turn as the Commissioner from Sirius 4 (and his more honest approach to Jo) get a little lost in the mix – again, an example of writers having too many elements to handle effectively. It’s a shame, because it is the Master’s only on-screen appearance with the Daleks and in a less packed plot, the combination of Delgado’s tall, imperious Master and the shrieking pepperpots of doom could have been more than enough to fill six episodes. The fact that so much of what does fill those six episodes is good anyway is a consolation, but the Delgado Master’s final scene, having “brought the Doctor some friends” – a Dalek squad – and then skipping off to have adventures of his own – feels genuinely semi-comical, the same Master who phoned up to make pleasantries before killing his old friend and enemy. It feels like a joke between Time Lords.

It absolutely doesn’t feel like the end.

Real life is frequently unkind. While it’s true of course that Roger Delgado was planning to hand in his Tardis key in any case, his death in a car crash shortly after Frontier In Space was completed makes that flippant exit, that almost-“See you around” at the end, leading to Planet of the Daleks, all the more lurching to watch.

When a Dalek operator dies, we mourn, but the Daleks themselves go on. When a Cyber actor passes away, the point is that they are all interchangeable, and the silver boots can be refilled.

In creating a rounded character with unparalleled nuance, Roger Delgado ensured that the Master would live forever – or at least as long as there was a Doctor to battle. He himself was irreplaceable. When the Master returned to the universe some three years later, he would be a very different creature. The gentleman-tyrant, the contained egomaniac, the villain for all seasons would never be quite the same again.

©BBC Doctor Who 1963

Who Reviews The War Machines by Jeffrey Zyra

Written by Ian Stuart Black

Broadcast 25^th June – 16^th July 1966

Season 3

“DOCTOR….WHO…. Is …. REQUIRED”

It’s the swinging Sixties and London is a buzz.  The hottest club in town is The Inferno and that is where The Doctor meets two new friends.   The lovely and swinging girl of the 60’s scenes Polly and her soon to be boyfriend the grumpy sailor Ben soon to be travelers in the TARDIS.  Well soon and unexpected and quite soon as the pair gets entangled with The Doctor and WOTAN.

WOTAN is a super computer who thinks humans are inferior and should be ruled by machines.  Thus WOTAN uses hypnotic influence to get humans to assemble The War Machine to use in taking over the world. What is funny about WOTAN is that he calls The Doctor Doctor Who.  One of his instructions is Doctor Who is required. For such an intelligent computer you would have thought it would know The Doctors name.

Not to be overlooked is the fact that The War Machines has one of the strangest companions leaving ever.  In fact you hardly see it. After The Doctor frees her from WOTAN’s control he sends her off to the country to recuperate.  The Doctor finds out later by a letter that Dodo has decided to stay on Earth and not continue traveling with The Doctor.  Indeed a very strange parting of the ways in Doctor Who’s history. Almost as strange as when she arrived by running into the TARDIS at the end of The Massacre.

The War Machines is one of the few Hartnell stories that take place during modern time in fact it is the only one besides a few moments of episode 1 on An Unearthly Child. It takes place in 1966 in London and it is a really different turn for The Doctor so far.  Mainly Hartnell’s Doctor visits alien planets or goes back into the past of earth’s history.  For them to be in contemporary London during 1966 is a risk that pays off. 

It is a pretty cool science fiction story that has a lot of really good moments.  One of those moments is the cliffhanger to episode 3 where The Doctor is facing down the oncoming war machine.  He is just standing there hands on lapels starring defiantly at the War machine.  The Doctor demonstrates such arrogance and no fear that it’s chilling at how much command he has and the confidence he exhumes that it sends chills up your spine.

The War Machines has a UNIT story feel to it.  With The War Machine terrorizing London the army is there trying to stop it with The Doctor putting together a contraption to stop the War Machine.  It was very like a Jon Pertwee story in that sense.  It just had that science fiction feel to it with the super computer trying to take over the world.  It just was cool to see the present be menaced for a change instead of watching a story in the future or the past. The War Machines was something different for a change.

The War Machines is one of my favorite William Hartnell Stories and it is also one of my favorite Doctor Who stories of all time also.  I think it has to do with it feeling like a Doctor Who story that we are familiar with.  You get the feeling something different is happening and the show is going in another direction.  Which it was since The War Machines ended season 3 and season 4 heralded some mighty big changes.  The War Machines is that rare gem that just happens to be a really great story with a strong science fiction feel to it.

Grade A

Who Reviews The Time Meddler by Jeffrey Zyra

Writer Dennis Spooner

Broadcast 3^rd – 24^th July 1965

Season 2

“That is the dematerializing control, and that over yonder is the horizontal hold, up there is the scanner, those are the doors, and that is a chair with a panda on it. Sheer poetry, dear boy. Now please stop bothering me.”

It’s 1066 and The Doctor and Vicki are trying to convince new companion Steven that they have indeed traveled back in time.  They even show him a Vikings helmet to prove their point but when they come up across a wristwatch from modern times they are starting to doubt they are in 1066.  The Doctor wanders off to the monastery where he finds tons of anachronistic stuff that should not be in 1066. But there is someone else lurking in the shadows. It’s The Meddling Monk who is someone with a sinister plan to change history and who the Doctor also knows from his own planet. 

The Time Meddler is one of those stories that fits into the get captured escape and do it all again.  Not that there is anything wrong with that but it did seem that happened a lot in 60’s Doctor Who.  But The Time Meddler is a good story in that it gives The Doctor an equal in a way.  The Monk as it turns out is from the Doctor’s home planet and therefore has a TARDIS of his own.  This is the first time we have met another Timelord and predates The Master by several years. The scenes of the bickering Timelords are pretty good and really well done as it is fun watching them trying to get the upper hand on each other.  Of course The Doctor does and what he does to The Monks TARDIS is, in itself, quite comical.

While the part of the story with The Doctor and the Monk was quite entertaining Steven and Vicki were just wandering around getting captured and escaping.  It felt like they were an afterthought in this story.  In fact the whole Viking raiders and villagers story was pretty weak but did set up the story of what the Monk wanted to do.  At times the story got dull. At one point The Doctor wasn’t even in the second episode.  William Hartnell probably had that week off and so we were treated to Steven and Vicki walking around and well pretty much doing nothing.

While The Time Meddler isn’t the greatest story of all time it isn’t the worst of the lot either.  In fact it is pretty entertaining in parts and plus it does have a big historical aspect to it as it’s the first time we meet another Timelord.  Plus you can tell that William Hartnell is really enjoying himself as The Doctor now.  He seems more at ease and he sure puts in a wonderful performance in The Time Meddler. The Time Meddler is yet another of those stories that has a historical nugget for Doctor Who and not a bad one to watch from time to time.

Grade C