Quick note on my Doctor Who marathon (took yesterday off) I have several of the reconstructions, some of which I have recently viewed. I’ve already commented on the Power of the Daleks, and it’s been a while since I watched the Highlanders. I vaguely recall it being a fairly good story, but it’s hampered by the lack of any existing episodes – so no score for now. The Underwater Menace is fun, in the same way that the Horns of Nimon is. Though it’s been a while sine I’ve watched it, so no score fo that one either.
Moonbase, on the other hand, I have watched recently. There is something about the quality of early cybermen stories that holds up over the years. This one is no exception. Man has conquered the weather, but the cybermen are trying to take over the control to wipe out the human race. 3.5/5
Macra Terror is another one I haven’t watched in a while, and the Faceless Ones I have complete on audio only – so no scores for those. I also watched the reconstruction of Evil of the Daleks recently, and agree for the most part with the generally held consensus of it status as a classic. It does fall down on it’s length, however. This seems to be a failure of the longer stories, in that they mostly have some padding that can be trimmed. 4/5 (due to the padding…)
Today I watched Tomb of the Cybermen. This is the earliest of one of my favorite Doctors stories that is available. It is a tight little story, not a lot of excess that could have easily been trimmed. We visit the Cybermen in their element, but they are only a menace and not the chief baddie – this time a human who wants to make a deal with the cybermen. The start of a season known primarily for it’s hit monster stories. 5/5
Unfortunately, only one episodes exists of the Abominable Snowmen – so no review here (I have it somewhere, but not here…) and I recently watched the release of the Ice Warriors. A good story of man’s battle against nature, and what happens when they find millennia old aliens buried in the ice… 4/5.
While I do have reconstructions for Enemy of the World and Web of Fear, I can not find them and therefore have no score for them (I recall enjoying them, but it has been a while…) Fury from the Deep and Wheel in Space are ones that I am missing (though I do have Wheel on audio…)
Which will bring me to the final series of Patrick Troughton – which will commence in the next day or so…