59: The Dæmons - Undeserving Of Its "Cult" Reputation?

Written by: Guy Leopold (Robert Sloman & Barry Letts)

Companions: The Doctor, Jo Grant, Brigadier, Captain Yates, Sergeant Benton.

Monsters/Villains: The Master, Azal, Bok.

Brief Synopsis: The Master, posing as a rural vicar, summons a cloven-hoofed demon in a church basement.

Rating: 6/10.

So this one has quite a reputation. It's a 'fan favourite,' or least that's always been my understanding. But who actually cites The Dæmons as their dearest Doctor Who story and why? The story clearly relies quite heavily on referencing a sort of British Hammer Horror kind of genre and the story itself is rather unsubtly lifted from Quatermass and the Pit. The rather charming British Horror style certainly adds an atmosphere to the story but the stories are glaringly similar. Both utilise the idea that devils and demons may be a race memory of horned aliens who conducted a eugenics experiment on early humans. The village of Devil's End is essentially the same as Hobb's Lane, the fictitious London setting of the earlier story; Hob being an old name for the Devil. Even the use of iron to hold both Azal and Bok at bay is an old folk superstition that is also referred to in the Quatermass story.

It's clear to see why this story is perhaps wrongly held in such high regard. It's got all the elements that epitomizes this era of Doctor Who: the UNIT 'family,' the Master, a memorable location, a strong supporting cast and some good 'monsters' with the Dæmon Azal and the animated stone gargoyle Bok. The Dæmons is a well produced story as well and really looks great, with the possible exception of Azal, whose CSO growth falls down the wrong side of impressive, but the plot just isn't very good.

There are some odd holes in the story line. When Azal descends on Devil's End, why does he create the heat barrier as a kind of force field around the village? He's an incredibly powerful being, that can destroy with a look, the last of a race that has molded mankind for 100,00 years, he seems hardly the type who needs to hide away. Also the Dæmons' ability to shrink and enlarge objects, particularly shrinking their spaceships. Surely it would make more sense to save on resources, build small ships and then shrink themselves to fit.

The Master, rocking out in the cavern.

Roger Delgado is at the high of brilliance as the Master, excelling as both the Minister, Mr. Magister and in his true colours, leading the cult in his red robes. He achieves a popularity that might even be said to rival the Doctor; even being threatened in an end of episode cliffhanger. 

Damaris Hayman is perfect as Miss Hawthorne.

The theme of Science versus Magic, is a good touch, but perhaps comes down a little too firmly on the side of science, stating that something should never be assumed to be 'magic' just because the explanation for it is not immediately apparent. Damaris Hayman does an excellent turn as the self professed white witch, Miss. Hawthorne. The Doctor is rather unusually non-accepting of Hawthorne's magic beliefs. In a few scenes the Doctor is uncharacteristically presented as a bit of a patronising, know-it-all. This character nuance is probably intended to convey his irritation at being exiled on one planet, but it results in rendering him as rather unlikeable, in contrast to his usual charming and comforting self.

Azal, played by Stephen Thorne.

The back-story of the Dæmons from the planet Dæmos is impressively fleshed out. Azal is the last of his race. The Dæmons came to Earth 100,000 years ago to engineer mankind's genetic development. They helped Homo Sapiens kick out Neanderthal Man and inspired the Greek civilisation, the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution. Azal says "my race destroys its failures," even claiming the responsibility for the destruction of Atlantis; something which was explained in The Underwater Menace and would go on to be touched on yet again at the end of this very season in The Time Monster.

Two of 'The Headington Quarrymen" from Oxford
hold the Doctor prisoner.

The inclusion of evil demonic Morris Dancers and an ominous May Pole are strokes of genius. It's Doctor Who taking something ordinary and turning it against you. It's great and the morris dancers are a troupe based in Oxford, which is also where I hale from. For those of you who don't know, a May Pole is a mast with multiple thin strands of multicoloured material attached at the top. In a rather odd May day tradition (that I unfortunately had to take part in at school) a group of people each take up a strand and perform a sort of intricate dance, entwining the various strands, for some unknown reason that must be demonic in nature.

The Doctor tied to a May Pole.

Yates and Benton in their civvies flying a helicopter.

Yates and Benton get some good action sequences and more to do than usual and the Brigadier utters his perhaps most infamous order to despatch the Gargoyle statue creature Bok: "Chap with the wings there, Five Rounds Rapid"

Without a doubt the weakest part of the whole story is the ending. The Doctor has refused Azal's offer to give him his almighty power. Azal decides to imbue the Master instead, and is about to kill the Doctor when Jo steps in front of him, offering herself in his place, and Azal just goes mental. This act of self-sacrifice doesn't make sense to him and he just dies taking a model-shot of the village church out with him. So technically this one concludes with Jo committing the accidental genocide of the Dæmon race, who helped mankind progress and develop. Oops! Maybe that's why the world is on a decline?

Azal "blows a fuse."

The execution of this denouement is laughable. It feels so rushed and spoils all of the good stuff that has gone before. The Master is taken prisoner and we get a funny little coda, with the Doctor, Jo, Benton and Miss. Hawthorne May pole dancing. While Yates quips: "Fancy a dance Brigadier?" To which the Brig replies, "I'd rather have a pint."

The elements are all there and it's certainly well produced, but with the plot holes, "borrowed" story line, uncharacteristically in-compassionate Doctor and rushed ending it just doesn't quite do it for me. There is certainly a lot there to love about The Dæmons, but I'm still not convinced that it deserves it's  reputed cult status.

And so we've reached the end of Season Eight. The season in which we saw the introduction of the Doctor's arch-nemesis, the Master and the return of the Autons. We met an evil mind Parasite, suffered the not so impressive Axons, witnessed the struggle of the miners and the colonists and finally, met the Devil, of sorts. We lost a companion and gained one. My favourite story in this season has to be Colony In Space, but The Mind of Evil is a close runner-up. My least favourite is The Claws of Axos. Out of a possible 50 points I scored Season Eight 32/50. Giving it an average of 64/100. It was a fairly strong season let down by one or two weaker stories.

Join me next time for the start of Season Nine and a long awaited return in Day Of The Daleks.

58: Colony In Space - It's Not Quite Avatar But It's Underrated

Written by: Malcolm Hulke

Companions: The Doctor, Jo Grant, Brigadier.

Monsters/Villains: Uxarieans, Captain Dent, IMC, Time Lords, The Master.

Brief Synopsis: The Time Lords deploy the Doctor to the planet Uxarieus to avert disaster, and he becomes embroiled in a struggle between the planet's Colonists and a powerful Mining Corporation.

Rating: 8/10.

Colony In Space is a story that doesn't get a lot of mention. It boasts a great cast, some interesting ideas and comparisons and three more big firsts for the Programme: The first non-earth-story for Pertwee's Doctor, as the Time Lords send him on a mission. The first visit to another planet for Jo Grant giving her a kind of subsidiary introductory story. And indeed the first alien planet in colour. It seems ironic, however that the quarry that stands in for the planet Uxarieus is presented for the most part in stark, colourless greys, and browns. My favourite Doctor Who writer, Malcolm Hulke is back at the helm and he doesn't disappoint. 

IMC's first attempt to scare the colonists away failed. I wonder why?

Colony In Space is Hulke's comment on the struggle between European Settlers and Native Americans. The comparisons are clear to see, the colonists from Earth in the year 2472 have come to Uxarieus seeking pastures new. They have escaped Earth which has become vastly over populated, polluted, and is under the control of a repressive government. Sound familiar?

The Prize for silliest haircut in Doctor Who history goes to
Morris Perry as IMC Captain Dent. I mean what is that?

Barely reaching subsistance level with their crops, the Colonists are trying to live in harmony with the planet's indigenous peoples they call primitives when the Interplanetary Mining Corporation (IMC) shows up claiming the mineral rights to the planet, with a plan to devour it's resources for their own profit, regardless of the primitives or colonists, leaving nothing but a gutted and desolate planet. This story is very anti big-corporations. IMC claim to want the planet's source of Duralinium, to build more desperately needed living complexes on Earth, but the Doctor argues that what Earth really needs is new planet's like this one.

Three Time Lords ruin the two surprising plot points!

The master makes an appearance in every story in season 8. In an attempt to make his presence more of a surprise, he doesn't turn up until the middle of this story, posing as an Earth Adjudicator send to solve the differences between the colonists and IMC. His true plan is to harness the power of a super weapon buried within the Uxariean City. However, this artifice is spoilt in the opening moments of the very first episode, when we see three Time Lords discussing the Master and a missing file on "The Doomsday Weapon." I really like this story a lot but it would have been distinctly improved if we had not known of the Master's involvement or why the Time Lords had sent the Doctor to Uxarieus. Then the Master's arrival and the reveal of his plans to utilize the Doomsday Weapon would have caught us more off guard.

The Master, with the Doomsday Weapon.

The Uxarieans represent the Native American's in this comparison. They created and tested the Doomsday Weapon, but never used it. It can cause any star in the universe to go supernova. Their culture began to decline, turning away from scientific achievement and entering into a kind of Dark Age. We even see a kind of cave-painting-like story of their decline around the walls in a room where the Doctor and Jo are kept prisoner. The story clearly argus the negative effect that too much technology or too much power can have on a civilisation.

I found myself wondering: what does this guy do the rest of
the time? Does he just sit behind his little wall waiting for
intergalactic aliens to trespass in his city, so he can scold them?

They evolved into three different species: the so-called Primitives, who had three fingers on each hand, striped green skin and carried long spears; the Priests, who had pale skin and large, ridged heads, and were nearly blind; and the small, pale Guardian who ruled over the underground city. As you can judge for yourself the design work on the Uxarieans isn't great, but the same designer had a chance to redeem himself when a few years later he worked on Death To The Daleks and created the appearance of the Exillons that were greatly superior.

An Uxariean Priest.

I want to take a moment to discuss the anomaly that is Jo Grant. I love her, but so far at least, she really doesn't get much to do. She doesn't do much for the role of the companion or women in her time, she merely acts as "someone to hold [the Doctor's] test tube and tell [him] how brilliant [he] is." And yet, I still warm to her. In this story she goes in to the TARDIS for the first time, she travel's in time and space and we learn that she hadn't ever believed the Doctor's stories. This is her fourth adventure with the Doctor, but it feels like her first, like she's undergone an overdue initiation or right of passage. Hopefully from here on in she'll have more to do. I've had the pleasure of meeting Katy Manning (Jo Grant) a few times and she is just such a loveable character. She may not have always had the best writing or character development, but she certainly did her very best with what she did have.

John Ringham as Ashe.

Colony In Space has a terrific cast, with John Ringham (who played Tlotoxl in The Aztecs and Josiah Blake in The Smugglers) making a return to the series as the colonist leader Ashe, the wonderfully evil  and hilariously haired Morris Perry as Captain Dent, an unusual on-screen appearance for Dalek Voice actor Roy Skelton as the IMC operative posing as a colonist Norton, an early job for Helen Worth of Coronation Street fame as Mary Ashe, and of course the return of the unrivalled Bernard Kay (Carl Tyler in Dalek Invasion of Earth, Saladin in The Crusade, and Inspector Crossland in The Faceless Ones) as the colonist sympathiser and IMC Mineralogist, Caldwell. Caldwell is certainly the closest likeness to John Smith of the Pocahontas story. Colony Is Space is not quite Avatar but it's underrated.

Bernard Kay as Caldwell.

It all ends for the best. Mostly. The Doomsday Weapon is destroyed by the Uxariean Guardian, The Master escapes, Ashe sacrifices himself to save the colonists who overpower Dent and his henchmen. With sufficient evidence of their illegal activity, they are confident the real Adjudicator will rule in their favour. The radiation from the Doomsday Weapon was the cause of their crop failures, and the Doctor assures the colonists that their future is now secure. The TARDIS returns the Doctor and Jo to UNIT seconds after they left. I love that we don't actually see everything totally resolved at the end. I definitely think that was a purposeful choice. The Colonists have beaten IMC, for now, and their crops should start to grow, hopefully the real Adjudicator will rule in their favour, but none of these are certainties. It isn't a lasting peace, because there's no such thing.

Look at the hair and beards on those Colonists.

Colony In Space feels like something that could actually happen one day. Hulke doesn't drive his point home as hard as he does in some of his other stories but this one certainly has a lot on offer and I maintain that, although it isn't the best story ever, it is one of the most underrated.

Join me next time for the British Hammer Horror inspired classic, The Dæmons.

57: The Claws Of Axos - Beware of Golden Aliens Bearing Gifts

Written by: Bob Baker & David Martin.

Companions: The Doctor, Jo Grant, Brigadier, Captain Yates, Sergeant Benton.

Monsters/Villains: Axos, The Master.

Brief Synopsis: A crippled alien ship lands on Earth bearing a miraculous substance called Axonite.

Rating: 4/10.

I have been putting off the write up of The Claws of Axos as I don't really have much to say on this one.  It's not that it doesn't have anything going for it, it's almost that it tries to do too much and therefore doesn't achieve anything. There are so many ideas jostling for attention and none of them get given the time they need to develop; many are good ideas but we seem to move on to the next one before we can even fathom where the previous was heading.

The humanoid Axons, bearing Axonite.

In a nut-shell this alien ship tries to land on earth, the Conservative MP defence minister Chinn decides to destroy it and when that doesn't work, he has a change of heart and along with UNIT and the Doctor decides to go aboard. Inside they meet the beautiful, golden humanoid aliens, the Axons, who's science has taken an organic path. They claim they are in desperate need of fuel and in return will offer their amazing, miracle element which can, grow, shrink and replicate any substance, which I guess could be pretty useful. Also the Masters there too. At some point before the episode starts he's got himself kidnapped by Axos, but he's got a deal to lead them to earth in exchange for the death of the Doctor and all life on earth. The Axons randomly copy a visiting american agent, Bill Filer and send him to stop the Doctor from learning what Axonite really is, but the Doctor learns that Axos is one gestalt entity planning on feasting on the earth's energy. Then the Axons reveal their true appearance, capture the Doctor and Jo and threaten to age Jo to death if the Doctor doesn't give them the secrets of time travel. Axos then plans to use a local reactor to cause a nuclear explosion. The Master helps UNIT and stops Axos in return for his freedom. The Doctor escapes and ends up tricking Axos, trapping them in a time-loop. The master escapes again, and reprograms the doctor's TARDIS to always return to earth.

The natural Axon form.

It just can't decide what it wants to be, where it's going, or what kind of story it wants to tell. The design is also incredibly inconsistent. The Axon costumes are so varying in quality. The Golden Axon masks are great but the jumpsuits are awful and you can so clearly see the zips at the back. The raw axon costumes are pretty good, but there's one that is so bad it looks like a sleeping bag, painted orange. The Axon ship is pretty terrible too, with it's tendrils and eyes. The music is quirky to the hilarious.

A Sleeping-bag Axon.

The saving graces of this somewhat messy story are, Roger Delgado's excellent performance and you have to love Pig Bin Josh, the random homeless man who, unfortunately for him, is the first man on the scene when the alien ship lands. 

Pig Bin Josh!

The argument I find the most interesting and indeed most currently relevant in this story is when the power-hungry Minister, Chinn says "I have a duty to my country-" and the Doctor replies, "Not the world?" 

Chinn.

Today in the U.K it's the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and I found myself in several conversations defending my lack of interest in the royal family and being called unpatriotic. By definition, patriotism is a devotion to one's country, and when harpooned with the usual arguments I agree with the Doctor. I am patriotic and therefore devoted to my world, not just my country. It's like Pablo Casals said, "The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?" Certainly the two are not mutually exclusive, and there are many things I love about my country, the royals are just not one of them. Many exemplify them as our national heritage, but surely in our modern age an elected official or a parliamentary system would be more effective and realistic than this outdated constitutional monarchy.

Jo does pretty much nothing in this one apart from scream and nearly get aged to death.

If you liked The Terror Of The Autons you might like The Claws of Axos as it's basically exactly the same story. An alien invasion aided by the Master, who at the last minute has a change of heart and helps the Doctor defeat the menace before escaping again. There are certainly some good bits, but for the most part this feels over extended and doesn't really have much to say for itself.

Join me next time for what I consider to be possibly the most underrated Doctor story ever, The Colony In Space.

56: The Mind Of Evil - A Metaphor For Terrorism Ahead Of Its Time

Written by: Don Houghton.

Companions: The Doctor, Jo Grant, The Brigadier, Captain Mike Yates, Sergeant Benton.

Monsters/Villains: The Master, The Keller Machine/Mind Parasite.

Brief Synopsis: The Master uses prisoners to hijack a nerve-gas missile to blow up a world peace conference.

Rating: 8/10.

The Mind of Evil is the Pertwee story I always forget about. This is the one where the "United Nations" part of UNIT's acronym was accented as opposed to the "Intelligence Task-force" bit. This is one of the few stories not yet released on DVD so it was back to good old, lovely, fuzzy VHS. Unfortunately not a single frame of The Mind of Evil exists in colour to date. A monochrome print survives thanks to the fact that BBC Enterprise's overseas customers bought black and white transmission prints. This is probably the reason I have overlooked it in the past. A DVD release is planned for 2013, episodes 2-6 have been recoloured, but episode 1 lacks the necessary colour signal for restoration used on the rest of the story.

There are a number of notable things in this story: including the first return of the Master and the first and only use of subtitles in the original series until The Curse of Fenric in 1989. For me the most notable aspect is that of the inclusion and casting of several asian characters/actors. You may be surprised to learn that Pik-Sen Lim who played the Master's unwilling assassin Captain Chin-Lee was this story's writer: Don Houghton's wife. Houghton was clearly trying to increase the representation of actors from ethnic backgrounds on british television; which at this point was practically nonexistent. He tries to show Captain Chin-Lee and delegate Fu Peng as respectable and valid four-dimensional characters. And in Chin-Lee's case attractive, which is presumably why Captain Yates refers to her as, "a bit of a dolly." Chin-Lee appears to be behind espionage and murder of two peace conference delegates but has actually been hijacked and used by the Master. This is perhaps a metaphor for the stereotypes at that time people might have pigeonholed certain minorities into. Houghton doesn't fully achieve what he set out to do, and Lim doesn't give the strongest performance but both must be given kudos for their attempts.

Pik-Sen Lim as Captain Chin-Lee.

The story centres around the Keller Machine that is used to remove all the negative/evil impulses from the brains of imprisoned convicts, which could be used to kill people by turning their greatest fears against them. It turns out to be part of a plot by the Master, with the aid of some of the inmates from the prison to steal a gas-missile, destroy a world peace conference and start a war so the Master could take over. At one point the Doctor shows weakness and limitation when Jo asks "Why don't you just destroy it?[the keller machine]" and the Doctor replies, "Because those idiots in authority won't let me." This is something that just doesn't gell with my idea of the Doctor. He is not someone who does what "those idiots in authority" tell him to do. He does what is best or what is needed. This is certainly an example of where the idea comes from that Jon Pertwee's Doctor was too "establishment." It is a valid instance but there are many more that prove the opposite.

The Doctor fears fire.

Some would say that Children aren't interested in politics, especially these days, but in 1971 Don Houghton and the production team of Doctor Who made an effort to encourage an interest, and subtly indoctrinate the youth to invest in caring about their future. Through an adventure setting, children would learn the importance of politics.

A shocking image of children in a playground when Chin Lee burns documents, she claims have been stolen.

The story has clear influences from James Bond and A Clockwork Orange, but the most interesting element to this story is the story itself. Emil Keller A.K.A the Master, a terrorist (from a time before that phrase was in common usage) hatches a complex scheme to plunge the world into war by using a group of convicted criminals and a machine that turns people's fears against them to steal a missile  to launch at a world peace conference. It really couldn't be a clearer metaphor for terrorism, a machine that literally uses fear against people for political reasons.

The machine becomes/is revealed to actually be a mind parasite (a sort of brain in a jar) and as the creature's hunger for minds grows, it develops the ability to teleport itself around; as terrorism grows, it spreads like a disease.

The Mind Parasite.

Even more interesting, are the working titles for this episode, which were The Pandora Machine, The Pandora Box, The Pandora's Box. They demonstrate a strong understanding of then-current events and amazing foresight on Houghton's part to establish "terrorism" as a fast growing and troubling issue. The age of modern terrorism as we know it today might be said to have begun in 1968 when the Liberation of Palestine group PFLP hijacked an El Al airliner en route from Tel Aviv to Rome. Modern terrorism didn't hit it's peak until the events of 9/11 but Houghton clearly saw that terrorism was like pandora's box; a jar which contained all the evils of the world.

Pandora's Box.

Today, to open Pandora's box means to create evil that cannot be undone. Originally in Greek Mythology after Prometheus stole fire from heaven, Zeus took vengeance by presenting Prometheus' brother Epimetheus with Pandora and a container which she was not to open under any circumstance. Impelled by her curiosity given to her by the gods, Pandora opened it, and all evil contained therein escaped and spread over the earth. She hastened to close the container, but the whole contents had escaped, except for one thing that lay at the bottom, which was the angel of Hope named Astrea. Houghton was saying back in 1971 when modern terrorism was still in it's relative infancy that once that box had been opened there would be no closing it.

Barnham, an idiot or a saint.

Barnham, a prisoner who had all the evil/negative impulses removed from his brain, "leaving him either an idiot or a saint," is probably the closest comparison with Astrea. He literally neutralises the influence of the creature, which enables the Doctor to use it against the Master. Barnham actually tries to help save the Master when the Thunderbolt missile is about to detonate, and the Master repays him by running him over, killing him symbolising the death of hope.

The Master fears the Doctor laughing at him and his failure.

The Master "controls" the machine/creature/terrorism, but it turns against him, he loses control of it, and the Doctor, perhaps unwillingly, uses it against the Master. Too often the actual episodes' pacing and momentum lull and dissipate, and the ending seems quite weak. But what is missing in execution is made up for in intention. The Keller Machine/Mind Parasite is destroyed by the blast of the aborted Thunderbolt and the day is won, but the evil Master, like the evil from the box, escapes and with his recovered dematerialisation circuit in hand.

The story's execution often falters but there are some great moments and writer Don Houghton encapsulates his concern of the growing issue that we now call terrorism with a clever and clear metaphor. In short it's not the best story ever but the ideas are top notch. This is a story that will no longer go unremembered by me. It is just a shame that it goes largely overlooked because to date it is only available in black and white and VHS. This just moved to the top of my wish list for a DVD release.

Join me next time for The Claws of Axos.

55: Terror Of The Autons - Plastic Fantastic!

Written by: Robert Holmes.

Companions: The Doctor, Jo Grant, The Brigadier, Captain Mike Yates, Sergeant Benton.

Monsters/Villains: The Master, The Autons, The Nestene Consciousness.

Brief Synopsis: With new assistant Jo Grant, the Doctor must stop a second attempt invasion by the Nestene Consciousness and their plastic pals the Autons who are being aided by an old enemy, the Master.

Rating: 6/10.

As I write this I'm on a train on my way to Cardiff for a fun-filled Doctor Who day, culminating with a special screening of the recently rediscovered lost episodes Airlock from Galaxy 4 and episode 2 from The Underwater Menace with companions Steven Tyler (Peter Purves), Polly (Anneke Wills) and Jamie McCrimmon (Fraser Hines). I cannot sufficiently express my excitement. But back to Terror of the Autons.

The wonderful Richard Franklin as Captain Mike Yates.

Lots of big firsts are to be had in this one. The Doctor gets a new assistant in Jo Grant. UNIT gets a new resident Captain in Mike Yates. The Doctor also gets an arch-nemesis, in the Master, and he's got the plastic fantastic Autons of the Nestene Consciousness in tow. With so much going on you might think this story could become a little overburdened; especially with only four parts. These new characters however are cleverly underplayed and forced to put their back-stories and explanations on hold while everyone involved gets on with the Auton crisis.

The Autons get a redesign, but like Patrick Troughton says, "I don''t like it."

Terror of the Autons is another great example of Doctor Who doing what it does so well, in both being current (for it's time) and making the everyday terrifying. Plastic had been around for quite some time before this, but it was the sixties and early seventies when plastic seemed to be everywhere, almost invading the whole world, replacing other materials for production of numerous everyday items. For a people that had rather suddenly found themselves living in a plastic nation, what could be more scary than an invasion of beings that can possess anything made of the versatile substance?

My only real bugbear with Terror of the Autons is that it's all a bit too obvious. As an audience we know what's going on but have to stand idly by while the Doctor and UNIT puzzle it out. What this story really does achieve is an impressive parade of imaginative plastic-related deaths, including:

Death by plastic chair. 

Death by animated novelty troll doll. 

Attempted murder of the Doctor by exceedingly long telephone flex.

And of course death by a substance shot from a plastic daffodil.

Jo Grant is the Doctor's new assistant. As I said in my last post Inferno, Liz Shaw unfortunately never got a farewell story, the Brigadier just mentions that she has returned to Cambridge. We are introduced to Jo as she ruins the Doctor's steady-state-micro-welding work on the TARDIS dematerialisation circuit with a fire extinguisher prodding the Doctor to call her and I quote, a "ham-fisted bun-vendor." The Doctor initially refuses her saying he needs a scientist, to which the Brigadier replies, "All you really need is someone to pass you your test tubes and tell you how brilliant you are." A relatively  young agent of UNIT, with experience in cryptology, safe breaking, explosives, and an "a-level in general science," Jo only got the job because she has relatives in high places. The Doctor wants to get rid of her but she only stays because he doesn't have the heart to chuck her; sounds like a lot of relationships my friends have had. Well the Doctor and Jo didn't do too badly so maybe there's hope for those couples yet.

Katy Manning as Jo Grant.

And of course this is the Master's first appearance in Doctor Who. When he arrives in his horse-box disguised TARDIS (with a working chameleon circuit) at the Circus ground we learn that he somehow knows Rossini's real name, he's physically very strong, and can hypnotise people. He likes to kill people by shrinking them down to doll size.

The Master's incredibly cruel tissue-compressor.

He's a member of the Doctor's race, a time lord and a master of disguise with a penchant for anagrammatic pseudonyms. I found myself wondering why the Master asks the aid of the Circus owner Rossini in particular. Does he arrive there specifically because he wants a cool Evil-Circus-Gang or is Rossini just the first person he came across? Roger Delgado gives an excellent performance and from this point on becomes a popular if perhaps slightly over-used series regular.

Roger Delgado as The Master.

From even before their first on-screen meeting, we really get the feeling that even thought the Doctor and the Master are enemies, they have camaraderie. The Time Lord that arrives to warn the Doctor of the Master's arrival on earth we learn that they were at school together, with the Master's degree in cosmic science was of a higher class than the Doctor's. They know each other from their home and like the Doctor's previous meetings with his people, The Meddling Monk and The War Chief there is a oddly friendly relationship. I love how they are categorised by their weaknesses. The Master's is Vanity and the Doctor's is Curiosity.

This Time Lord has come 29 thousand light years to warn the Doctor.

There's a moment when Jo is hypnotised and tries to destroy UNIT with a bomb in a box, somehow the Doctor seems to sense that it's a bomb. I have no idea how. Also the substance that shoots from the plastic Daffodils is apparently dissolved by carbon dioxide. I might be wrong but surely if that was the case it would dissolve when one breathed out on it. Hmm?

The resolution of this one is a little weak too, as the Master realises that the Nestene's wouldn't work for him so he helps the Doctor avert their arrival. The Doctor removed the Master's dematerialisation circuit with hopes to use it for his TARDIS. It doesn't work but it means that like the Doctor, the Master is also now stranded on earth and I certainly must agree with the Doctor's sentiment, "I'm rather looking forward to it!"

Join me next time for The Mind of Evil.