Project: Torchwood: Alex Wylie

It’s been a struggle to put this month’s Issue together. I think the Lockdown is getting to everyone, more than they care to admit, and I for one, who has yet to experience this whole lockdown state, is finding it increasingly frustrating and when certain music, songs from VE Day play over the radio or are sung beautifully in the local supermarket by a group celebrating Victory in Europe Day, tug at my heart strings and make me want to find a small corner of the shop to break down and weep. It’s weird how certain songs can mean so much for the time we’re currently facing. In case you were wondering, it was Vera Lynn’s We’ll Meet Again song that broke me. A song about meeting someone again, not sure where, or when, and it made me think of my parents, who, although I do see when I deliver their shopping, and now on social media, it’s not the same as sitting in the room with them, sharing a coffee and a chat, and being in their company. It’s the things that you take for granted, are the things that hurt when you can no longer enjoy them!

But we will get through this. It will come to an end and we will step out into the sunlight again and pick up where we left off. Stay strong folks.

While we’re in Lockdown, we’ve been asking you guys for contributions for our Lockdown Special, and we really hope the fans of both Torchwood and Doctor Who join in with our next Issue, as with 17 article posts this month from some fans, including ourselves and my team, and that of some of the cast of both Torchwood and Doctor Who, I can’t wait to share all of those posts with you. And thank you to everyone who contributed to this.

We’re not really sure when the whole of Lockdown will end, so while we’re waiting – join in the fun. Post us your photos and your words in an email, or DM us on social media. We’d love to hear from you.

We have a brilliant interview with Dion Davies who played a Detective in the first ever episode of Torchwood – Everything Changes, and we have some brilliant as ever Who and Torchwood reviews from Tony, Matt and Alex.

We have new Fan Fiction for you and hope you will give Lady Mayhurst a follow over on Facebook and follow her stories over there. Fear not, if you don’t have a FB account, you will be able to read her stories here too.

Without further ado, welcome to Issue 80: Miracle Day: Rendition.

Djak

Who Reviews Vincent and the Doctor by Alex Wylie

If you grew up with Blackadder, but were less enamoured with say, an endless string of samey romantic comedies starring Hugh Grant as Hugh Grant, then you've be forgiven for being uncertain of a Richard Curtis penned Doctor Who episode. Vincent and the Doctor is his first and thus far only offering. And it is my favourite kind of New Who episode.

It may come with age that one finds oneself fancying the historicals more, and especially where there is a central historical figure, a message and a powerful emotional punch. Yes, a punch that runs the risk of Titanic's 'Iceberg Syndrome' – yes, most adults know Van Gogh suffered mental health issues and was a self-destructive alcoholic destined to take his own life, just as we knew that Mount Vesuvius would erupt and kill the people of Pompeii. But it is of course in the telling of the story, so let's revisit an episode which I have to admit, has been a personal favourite of mine since first airing and, though an early Moffatt/Smith era episode, I think the best Historical since Girl in the Fireplace. I will also admit that the 11^th Doctor era was, and still is, my favourite of all New Who, with this a particular gem.

The Doctor takes Amy to the Muse Dause in 20?? as a treat because he knows she has lost her fiancée, Rory (yes, yes, later, later) and the Doctor notices an alien life form in one of the paintings. The Doctor and Amy have to go back and investigate, and become part of the life of one of the greatest artists who ever lived...

Once you get over the writer feeling the need to explain Van Gogh's Scottish accent as the TARDIS translator being a bit haywire (when no one else in Provence sounds French anyway and I sense Moffat's hand in this!). Look, French peasants sound like working class people from the North of England and Dutch people sound Scottish in France, all right? So anyway, the moment the Doctor raises a painting and then lowers it to reveal the real scene of the Provence cafe brought to life just takes you right into the story. Tony Curran as Van Gogh is exceptional and the whole cast seem on full form this week.

The story builds to the fantasy of showing an unappreciated person what they really meant to the world, but they cannot save his life. Time cannot be rewritten this time. Now, the central metaphor is arguably clumsy: Vincent being the only person to see the Monster represents both his mental torment and his artistic genius, and yet the monster is gone from the vase painting at the end. That, and there's the use of music to enhance the emotional experience. But what the episode gets right it gets right enough. We can excuse them a few indulges.

Not until Rosa or Demons of the Punjab would a Doctor Who episode be this emotional or this meaningful.

Say what you like about Richard Curtis (seriously, do), when interviewed at the time he said he wanted to get people talking and thinking about mental health, and to try to understand sufferers of conditions like bi-polar. Whether the episode is successful in this, who can say? But it is certainly one of the most beautiful and powerful episodes that Doctor Who has ever produced.

Tuesday, 4 February 2020

Articles Welcome to Issue 77 WATNOW: COE: Day Four

Content Guide

About Us

Tiziana joins the Team

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/p/about-us.html

Articles

Where Are They Now Cast? Day 4

By DJ Forrest

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/articles-where-are-they-now-day-four.html

Big Finish Reviews+

Warzone/Conversion

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/big-finish-reviews-warzoneconversion-by.html

The Moons of Vulpana

by Matt Rabjohns

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/big-finish-reviews-moons-of-vulpana-by.html

Short Trips: The Best Laid Plans

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/big-finish-reviews-best-laid-plans-by.html

Peace in Our Time

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/big-finish-reviews-peace-in-our-time-by.html

Main Range:

Blood on Santa’s Claw

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/big-finish-reviews-blood-on-santas-claw.html

Fourth Doctor Series 9 Part 1

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/big-finish-reviews-fourth-doctor.html

The Robots Box Set 1

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/big-finish-reviews-robots-box-set-1-by.html

Lost Stories: Nightmare Country

By Tony J Fyler

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/big-finish-reviews-nightmare-country-by.html

Who Reviews

Dragonfire

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/who-reviews-dragonfire-by-matt-rabjohns.html

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/who-reviews-greatest-show-in-galaxy-by.html

The Happiness Patrol

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/who-reviews-happiness-patrol-by-matt.html

Spyfall 1 & 2

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/who-reviews-spyfall-1-2-by-matt-rabjohns.html

Orphan 55

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/who-reviews-orphan-55-by-matt-rabjohns.html

Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/who-reviews-nikola-teslas-night-of.html

Fugitive of the Judoon

By Matt Rabjohns

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/who-reviews-fugitive-of-judoon-by-matt.html

Doctor Who Movie

by Alex Wylie

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/who-reviews-doctor-who-1996-movie-by.html

End of the World

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/who-reviews-end-of-world-by-tony-j-fyler.html

The Unquiet Dead

By Tony J Fyler

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/who-reviews-unquiet-dead-by-tony-j-fyler.html

The Mothership

Jon Pertwee by Matt Rabjohns

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-mothership-life-and-career-of-jon.html

Fans Fiction

The New Adventures of Lady C – The Early Years by S. Florence

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/fans-fiction-new-adventures-of-lady-c.html

TW Reviews

Expectant

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/reviews-expectant-by-tony-j-fyler.html

Fortitude

By Tony J Fyler

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/reviews-fortitude-by-tony-j-fyler.html

The Whoniverse Round-Up

February 2020

Paul Kasey

Julie Barclay

Simon Fisher-Becker

Steven Savile

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-whoniverse-round-up-february-2020.html

Editor’s Note

It’s funny how with the best intentions in the world, you still manage to find yourself cramming everything in at the last minute. This month has been a bumper review time for us all. With the return of the Doctor on New Year’s Day, and a host of episodes following shortly after it, we’ve had fun watching and rewatching episodes, and some on a loop, especially Fugitive of the Judoon. I for one am ecstatic to see Captain Jack Harkness back on the telly, juuuust wish it was for a much longer scene.

There’s been a host of programmes to catch up and binge watch over on iPlayer, and some really great shows I’ve still as yet to catch up on.

Over Christmas period we set a competition for a lucky person to win a signed copy of Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s children’s novel ‘Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth’, and our lucky winner is @brinatello over on Twitter. Frank set the question and chose the winner at random. And we thank him from the bottom of our hearts.

As we said earlier, we have a host of Who reviews, a couple of TW reviews and our usual WATNOW cast catch ups. Also, this month is the start of another Lady Christina de Souza story, taking things back to the early years of her life, penned by S. Florence. Do please spare some time reading the Fans Fiction page.

We’ve been catching up with Paul Kasey and Julie Barclay this month for our Whoniverse Round-Up. Check out what they’ve been up to and what they will be up to later on this year.

Matt has been sharing his love of Who with a small biography of Jon Pertwee, an actor with whom I grew up watching from an early age from Who to Worzel, and those hilarious, tongue in cheek Carry On Films. There are some things I never knew about the actor, it might surprise even you.

We welcome into the team a new graphic artist for our front covers. Tiziana DF. You can find out more about her on our About Us link in Contents Guide. Her Redbubble site is a must see and I wouldn’t mind purchasing a few t-shirts of TW, if only to stop Ianto nicking mine.

Now without further ado. Welcome to Issue 77 WATNOW: COE: Day Four.

Djak

Monday, 3 February 2020

Who Reviews Doctor Who 1996 Movie by Alex Wylie

Director: Geoffrey Sax

Writer: Matthew Jacobs

Starring: Paul McGann, Daphne Ashbrook, Eric Roberts, Yee Jee Tso

“By midnight tonight this planet will be pulled inside out!”

It was in 1996 that my old favourite TV show was finally brought back. They say there were negotiations involving an American executive called Philip Segal as his list of demands and concessions was considered. And the shoot began. And then they made their most curious decisions: the Daleks would have a justice system, the Doctor would be half human, and the TARDIS would belong to the National Trust, only respond to humans and contain the Eye of Harmony for some reason. And I, a teenage Who fan, would take this VHS back from HMV to watch with my friends before the Yanks saw it and a pepperoni pizza was placed into the oven. But was this project a pitch that should ever have been greenlit?

Before I go further, I'll will say this: imagine if your brief is to write something that will please a) the British and Americans in general, b) die-hard Doctor Who fans of many years, and c) a mainstream global audience. And this is if one is charitable enough to pretend to ignore a still hostile BBC biting at your heels like an untrained baby pit bull. Of course, the 6 million dollar budget was something the show had barely dreamt of before and CGI had come on a bit by the mid-nineties, and while this film now watches like any number of TV movies of the era it did seem very exciting and dramatic at the time. The trailers were everywhere. Doctor Who wasn't just a cheap old show for sad weirdos anymore. Possibly. Doctor Who would at least be back in the British public consciousness for up to unto entire summer.

But anyway, the plot. Everyone has one of those days of course. You're contacted by some of your worst enemies to let you know that they just executed one of your other worst enemies, and apparently his last request was that you should be the one to return his remains home. You are very clearly aware that the latter has a means of cheating death, is evil, and wants to kill you but hey, whatever. So, you voluntary go to the home of the evil dudes who want to kill you in order to be kind to another evil dude who always wants to kill you and who never dies. Some people worry about wearing crocs or trainers. I only recently made the switch from Cornflakes to Muesli. Anyway, there's this twist, right, where everything goes horribly wrong for some reason.

After what became known as the Wilderness Years, it seemed apt at the time that Paul McGann's Doctor would emerge, resurrected from death and literally emerging from a morgue wearing a shroud. I was also studying R.S at the time and...oh yeah, the galvanisation of Frankenstein’s monster. “It's alive!”

But I have skipped on a bit here. A new (largely American) audience would have to see a middle-aged Scotsman while hearing a young Paul McGann, and then work out that the Indiana Jones/Back to the Future World was inside the whatever the that blue phone kiosk is meant to be as it spins wildly in space. They turned over to the infamously unbearable death throes of Roseanne instead, and cannot quite be judged for this decision.

Once the business of observing continuity is over with and we have the new Doctor, something like a plot emerges and we have a budding Doctor, a reluctant companion in Dr. Grace Holloway (Ashbrook) and a villain in the Roberts interpretation of the Master – Eric Roberts would go on to say he'd seen some seventies Doctor Who but seemed to have gotten camp Terminator as his inspiration. Eric Roberts as the Master at least carried on JNT's tradition of stunt casting – and Roberts does his best, poor thing.

The Master's motivation – and therefore pretty much the plot, seem to come from The Deadly Assassin and Trial of a Time Lord. So at least we know screenwriter Mathew Jacobs had seen at least two classic serials! Nobody in the editing suite had ever heard a Dalek voice of course, but then you can't expect too much.

Certain tropes you expect in an US Doctor Who – a car chase, a kiss/ love interest...well, not that bothersome and Russell T Davies would go on to keep those anyway.

So, what do we have? A promising Doctor in McGann, and many would say an actor cheated of a better opportunity but at least a string of enjoyable audio dramas which, thanks to the minisode Night of the Doctor, we may nowadays call canonical. We got the Eighth Doctor essentially, even if the film itself is Nineties kitsch fun at best.

Friday, 5 July 2019

Articles Welcome to Issue 71 - WATNOW: From Out of the Rain

Contents Guide

Articles

About Us Updates

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/p/about-us.html

Where Are They Now Cast?

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/articles-watnow-from-out-of-rain-cast.html

Big Finish Reviews+

Paternoster Volume 1

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/big-finish-reviews-paternoster-gang.html

Tenth Doctor Adventures Vol 3

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/big-finish-reviews-tenth-doctor.html

UNIT Incursions

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/big-finish-reviews-unit-incursions-by.html

By Tony J Fyler

Beyond the TARDIS

The Worzel Book by Matthew Rabjohns

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/beyond-tardis-worzel-book-by-matt.html

Years & Years by DJ Forrest

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/beyond-tardis-years-and-years-by-dj.html

The Watcher Productions: Strange Tales Video reviews

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/beyond-tardis-strange-tales-video.html

SJA: The Last Sontaran by Andrew Allen

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/beyond-tardis-sja-last-sontaran-by.html

Connections

Years and Years

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/connections-years-and-years.html

Interviews

Taking Confessions with Jason Arnopp

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/interviews-taking-confession-with-jason_5.html

The Mothership

Rainbow Across Her Hearts Poem by Matt Rabjohns

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-mothership-rainbows-across-her.html

Ode of the Third Doctor by Matt Rabjohns

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-mothership-in-celebration-of-jon.html

Fans Fiction

The Strangest of Days by Jeff Goddard

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/fans-fiction-strangest-of-days-by-jeff.html

The Lady C Adventures: The Mystery of Mayhurst Manor

By Sarah Cambridge

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/fans-fiction-mystery-of-mayhurst-manor.html

TW Reviews

Sync by Tony J Fyler

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/reviews-sync-by-tony-j-fyler.html

Sargasso by Tony J Fyler

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/reviews-sargasso-by-tony-j-fyler.html

Who Reviews

Delta and the Bannermen by Alex Wylie

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/who-reviews-delta-and-bannermen-by-alex.html

Attack of the Cybermen by Alex Wylie

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/who-reviews-attack-of-cybermen-by-alex.html

Curse of the Fenric by Matt Rabjohns

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/who-reviews-curse-of-fenric-by-matt.html

The Monster of Peladon by Matt Rabjohns

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/who-reviews-monster-of-peladon-by-matt.html

Time and the Rani by Matt Rabjohns

https://projecttorchwood.blogspot.com/2019/07/who-reviews-time-and-rani-by-matt.html

Editor’s Note

This past month (June) saw me toying with what to do with the website. I’d been thinking for a while how to bring new life into it, and quite by chance, at the end of the month, I was rewarded with three new writers – Alex Wylie, Matt Rabjohns and Jeff Goddard. Jeff has written for us before in the Fans Fiction section and delivers us yet another Doctor Who story, which you are going to require hankies for. Check out their blurbs on the About Us page – links on the Contents above.

We bid a farewell today – to our wonderfully talented fictional writer, Christopher E. Fain who steps down from writing for us to work on his own projects, and we wish him all the very best for the future. Chris kept us entertained with his writing works ‘Heaven and Nature Sing’ and ‘Tango of the Exiles’, which encapsulated Torchwood with Sherlock and Doctor Who, all rolled into one, and every single story, I couldn’t put down. Lyn was one of my favourites. I hope one day that Chris is able to create more character stories and send one over to us to read and share.

We have so many new reviews to entertain you with. I was going to write one for Un Bore Mercher, but I think I shall wait until Keeping Faith returns this Summer, and post it then. Only fair, really.

It’s bloody good though – the series. Will there be a third, I wonder?

What were your thoughts on the Russell T Davies’ new drama series Years and Years? Check out our thoughts on the series, and feel free to add your own comments below the article. Also, pop on over to our Connections this month and find out just how many cast and crew names you recognise from Years and Years!

Tony has been once again busy with the Big Finish Reviews, and our new reviewers have plenty to say in Who Reviews.

Congratulations as ever to the winners of the recent Soap Awards – especially to our friend Nathan Sussex, who bagged the Soap Villain award for his role as Buster, in Hollyoaks. Will he reprise his role for a return visit?

So, with so much to read this month, I best not keep you.

Croeso i, Issue 71 – WATNOW: From Out of the Rain

Djak

Thursday, 4 July 2019

Who Reviews Delta and the Bannermen by Alex Wylie

I am going to defend this story. Not because it is a stand-out piece of Classic Who – it is by no means excellent – but because while Season 24 gets a bad press and is undoubtedly the weakest first season of any Doctor and widely seen as such for a number of perfectly valid reasons, Delta and the Bannermen is somehow memorable and engaging and features colourful characters and a 1950s holiday camp in Wales makes for a surprisingly appealing setting. And despite the seemingly light-hearted tone which runs through the season, as they'd essentially been told to tone it down after the controversially visceral Colin Baker years, this serial is in fact dark and shocking, even when compared with the theme of cannibalism of the previous (frankly rather silly) adventure.

The plot, which sees Delta (Belinda Mayne), both Queen of the Chimerons and also last of the Chimerons, flee her home world and end up in Disneyland, Florida – oh wait, no, oops, Shanghri-La, Wales – only still to be pursued by her persecutors; the eponymous Bannermen responsible for her people's genocide. The Bannermen are led by Gavrok, played by the magnificent Don Henderson, an underrated Doctor Who villain (oh and trigger warning for sensitive vegans!). Delta carries with her a mysterious spherical object...is she really Last of the Chimerons?

Writer Malcolm Kohl is thought to have been influenced by Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected episode Royal Jelly, and this serial does feature some similar transformation of sorts, although it is somewhat bothersome that neither male nor female Chimeron resemble bees nor insects of a Kind. That the behaviour of a Chimeron can deter Bannermen (presumably they are a somehow a natural predator but this is not explained, only that there has been a genocide) is a nice touch – but why did this not work before? The only explanation is that 1950s Earth tech aides this evolutionary defence...but Chimerons have spaceships that traverse galleries?

This is really quite a dark roller-coaster of a watch. Funster and jokester Ken Dodd, a popular comedian at the time and an example of Producer John Nathan Turner's famous (infamous?) stunt-casting, is introduced in the opening scene and swiftly killed. You can also even work for the Bannermen and they'd rather kill you than pay you when the job is done. A coach load of tourists are also wiped out and again, not really for any reason. The Bannermen are, in a sense, the worst of them all in this respect. And this in a 'toned down' season after a severe slap on the wrist for darkness and violence.

Other characters are a delight. The noble (and rather tasty) Billy (David Kinder); the friendzoned would-be companion Ray (Rachel Griffiths), who feels like a bit like a retro, proto-Ace; camp director Burton (Richard Davies); delightfully eccentric bee keeper Goronwy (delightful sitcom actor Hugh Lloyd), whose mixture of obtuseness and wisdom kinda sorta makes the episode, brief as his appearances actually are and last – but my no means least – Hawk (Morgan Deary) and Weismuller (Stubby Kaye), the two CIA agents chasing a lost satellite and also the comedic relief of the episode, and presumably also added for the US audience as it grew exponentially in the 80s and Stubby Kaye was a known comedy face in America dating back to Vaudville.

Where Ray is not exactly an to alternative Ace (she was reputedly set up as replacement for Mel (Bonnie Langford) is that she only learnt all about motorbikes to attract the attention of Billy, and while this story is set in the 1950s, this line just now feels a teensy bit cringe.

In summary while Delta and the Bannermen is often Dubbed 'too camp' or 'cheesy' its moments of dark drama are quite something. The cast, including guest stars, is excellent and the feel of the 1950s is pitch-perfect, down to Chris Clough's deliberately clichéd direction and also to the tone of the music contrasting beautifully with the action. While the climax feels somewhat underwhelming, one very underrated moment is the confrontation between the Doctor and Gavrok, which has to be one of the best Doctor-villain stand-offs in the show's history! Not the heights of later serial Battlefield, and maybe an odd choice off cliffhanger, but pretty strong all the same. McCoy's speeches are part of what makes him as a Doctor after all!

One disappointment is that the novelization describes the Doctor 'peeing over a shelf' (presumably cut from TV for time since it didn't really go anywhere and added little to the story). Oh, and seek out the bloopers – which have to be among the best you could watch.

Who Reviews Attack of the Cybermen by Alex Wylie

Attack of the Cybermen is a Rollercoaster of Blood

Colin Baker's tenure as the Doctor had got off to an infamously shaky start (by shaky I mean awful; The Twin Dilemma is universally regarded as the worst introductory story of any Doctor) and then fans had another season to ...look ...forward ...to. Attack of the Cybermen at least boasted the return of an iconic monster. The then newly-regenerated Sixth Doctor was still unstable but now somewhat softened, but when people complained about the level of violence in this era of Who, this is undoubtedly one of the serials they mean. Looking back does Attack of the Cybermen redeem the Sixth Doctor after the monstrosity that was The Twin Dilemma and does it stand up as a Cyberman adventure?

Receiving a mysterious distress call, the Doctor and Peri (Nicola Bryant) land in Totters Lane, London, 1985. Nearby, Lytton (Maurice Colbourne), first seen in Resurrection of the Daleks, appears to planning a diamond heist. Meanwhile sewer workers are being picked off by an unseen force...

Something you notice when looking back at eighties who is that the Cybermen seemed to have individual personalities and were capable of differing opinions. This sort of adds something, but at the same time doesn't ring true. The RTD resurrection of the show took them back to being blank and emotionless as they were in the 1960s. For heaven's sake, in Tomb of the Cybermen only the Controller speaks! Here you have a Cyber lieutenant who thinks he knows better than the Cyber Leader! Oh but speaking of Tomb, Attack sees Michael Kilgarrif resume his role as Cyber Controller, in case you didn't know.

Bates and Stratton, two Cyber-rejects from Telos, add a great deal to this adventure. There is something about each's delivery, as well as the chemistry between Jonathon David and Michael Attwell. Their story is brutal in a way rare for classic Doctor Who, at least in its presentation. You are outside of your comfort zone here.

Equally so with Flast (Faith Brown), former leader of the Cryons, imprisoned for years and tortured by solitude. One might be out off by the Cryons' appearance, voice and mannerisms, but seeing the character and feeling her journey and her pain adds a great deal here.

This two-parter is moody, violent and uncompromising, and Malcolm Clarke's score compliments this perfectly, as it also does the still unstable temperament of the newly regenerated Doctor. The

diamond robbery story feels very rough and real, with Brian Glover and Terry Molloy (better known to fans as Davros) playing accomplice to Lytton. But then we get to Telos, and meet the Cryons, who were overly feminised to contrast with the macho, Darth Vader Cybermen of the 1980s. TV presenter Sarah Green playing Varne is an example of producer John Nathan Turner's famous tendency for stunt casting, but not recognisable anyway. The Cryons are far from an iconic Doctor Who race but there are still many scenes in episode two which are powerful and effective.

Above all Attack has a great second half, filled with action, and the ending packs a great emotional punch. Overall a tad busy and crowded with characters, but they are all very rounded and not one weak actor. Like a lot of Colin's era it isn't really child friendly and one can see why the Beeb had concerns, but it is however great for adults. And while not up to Caves of Androzani standards (what is?) it is certainly a considerable marked improvement on Dilemma. Actually, that's too faint a praise, it is leaps and bounds ahead! If you've had a downer on the Sixth Doctor's era, or have never got into it, Attack of the Cybermen is certainly one to try!

Attack of the Cybermen was written by Paula Jones and directed by Matthew Robinson.

Pages

Saturday, 9 May 2020

Articles Welcome to Issue 80 WATNOW: MD: Rendition

Who Reviews Vincent and the Doctor by Alex Wylie

Tuesday, 4 February 2020

Articles Welcome to Issue 77 WATNOW: COE: Day Four

Monday, 3 February 2020

Who Reviews Doctor Who 1996 Movie by Alex Wylie

Friday, 5 July 2019

Articles Welcome to Issue 71 - WATNOW: From Out of the Rain

Thursday, 4 July 2019

Who Reviews Delta and the Bannermen by Alex Wylie

Who Reviews Attack of the Cybermen by Alex Wylie

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