Doctor Who The Auntie Matter

Tom Baker thrilled a generation of children during his time playing the Doctor in the 1970s and early 1980s, and for those of us of a certain age there will always be an affection for the eccentric bohemian fourth Doctor.

Like many working actors associated with a successful part, he was anxious not to become typecast, and somewhat understandably chose to distance himself from the very programme that had made him a household name.

Mary Tamm as Romana

After many years of gentle coaxing, the team from Big Finish Productions persuaded him to come back to the role in 2010. After a very successful first series of adventures alongside Louise Jameson reprising the part of Leela, a second series was recorded during the summer of 2011.

The Auntie Matter, penned by longstanding Big Finish contributor Jonathan Morris is the first of this second series to be released.

Listening to this adventure is a bittersweet experience, the joy of hearing my favourite classic series Doctor/companion pairing is offset by the sadness of knowing that the talented and beautiful Mary Tamm passed away the following year.

The Auntie Matter is set during the 1920s, the Doctor and Romana decide to take a holiday to recuperate after the events of The Key To Time. Sending K-9 off in the TARDIS to give the black guardian the runaround, they decide to move in to a London townhouse and live the life of a Lord and Lady.

In traditional classic series style, the pair are separated, and both affect the way the story unfolds without ever crossing each other's paths. The author is clearly a fan of P.G. Wodehouse, and the story is brimming with the humour and farcical fun synonymous with the creator of Jeeves and Wooster.

The Doctor has to outwit a psychotic robot gamekeeper and the eponymous Auntie, and Romana has to contend with the romantic overtures of a lovelorn bachelor!

There is a wonderful ensemble cast including Julia McKenzie as Florence and Alan Cox as Grenville (Wodehouse's middle name) the valet. But the star performances are from Tom and Mary, the chemistry between them is perfect, it feels like it's only been a week since the events of The Armageddon Factor.

This set includes bonus interviews which is usual with such releases plus a very moving tribute to Mary Tamm.

She will be sadly missed, but we are very fortunate to have a body of work, including her time on Who to remember her by.

Doctor Who: U.N.I.T. Files Box Set

This box set has a slightly less tenuous connection when compared to, say, the Earth Story box set from 2011.

The set consists of two classic series stories: Invasion Of The Dinosaurs from 1974 with Jon Pertwee and Lis Sladen, and The Android Invasion from 1975 with Tom Baker as the Doctor with Lis Sladen again.

Invasion Of The Dinosaurs is quite a fun story, the effects are a little bit wobbly in places, but the plot has some neat twists.

This is Elisabeth Sladen's second story, and she seems very assured in the role of Sarah Jane Smith.

It also features our first glimpse of the third Doctor's new car, the Whomobile. He has obviously decided that Bessie was a little incongruous while driving around the streets of London, and therefore decided to drive something a little more low key!

Mike Yates and Sergeant Benton get their opportunity to be a little more centre stage in this story compared to most U.N.I.T. episodes, this being Richard Franklin's almost swan song, before returning one last time in Jon Pertwee's final adventure Planet Of The Spiders.

This DVD release features a version of episode 1 with the option to view it with colour restoration, this however, isn't quite up to the very high standards set by the restoration team on Planet Of The Daleks, but if you really can't stand black and white programmes this option is for you.

In terms of extras, it's pretty well served: There is a commentary with Richard Franklin, Peter Miles, Richard Morris, Terrance Dicks and Paddy Russell, moderated by Toby Hadoke. And John Levene does a 10 minute mini commentary on his own.

There is a very entertaining making of documentary, an interview with Elisabeth Sladen, a clip from Billy Smart's Circus featuring Jon Pertwee and the Whomobile, deleted scenes, Now And Then revisiting the locations used during filming, Radio Times listings, info text, a photo gallery and an Easter egg.

Although I much prefer Tom Baker's take on the role of the Doctor, The Android Invasion is, in my opinion, the weaker of the two stories, that's not to say there is nothing to enjoy about it.

There are plenty of twists and turns in the plot to keep you guessing, for me what lets it down a little, are the Kraals, who I don't think were particularly well realised, coupled with one or two notable plot holes. But Tom and Lis are on good form which helps to bring the viewer back on side.

In terms of VAM (value added material) this DVD has a commentary featuring Milton Johns, Martin Friend, Marion McDougal and Philip Hinchcliffe, again moderated by the erstwhile Toby Hadoke.

The Village That Came To Life is a very interesting making of documentary presented by the voice of the Daleks from the new series, Nicholas Briggs. Life After Who is a look back at the career of producer Philip Hinchcliffe, featuring clips from many classic British television programmes.

There is a TV advert for Weetabix breakfast cereal, featuring collectable Doctor Who games, which I have vague childhood memories of. There are Radio Times listings, info text, a photo gallery and an Easter egg.

Both stories have their issues, but dedicated Doctor Who fans will be able to see past them and enjoy these two memorable tales from the U.N.I.T. Files.

Tom Baker's Big Start For Big Finish

As an occasional purchaser of Big Finish audio CDs I was very excited when it was announced that Tom Baker had, after many years of cajoling, agreed to reprise the role of the fourth Doctor in a new series of audio plays.

The first release is Destination Nerva penned by Nick Briggs, which sees The Doctor and Leela travel to Space Dock Nerva, later to become Nerva Beacon as seen in several stories from season 12 of the classic series on TV.

It's a fun, pacey affair with plenty of spooky moments too, which fits in with the way the show was made during the Phillip Hinchcliffe era.

Among the guest stars is Raquel Cassidy (best known to British viewers as Susan in Teachers alongside Andrew Lincoln from The Walking Dead) seen recently in The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People from series 6 of Nu Who.

As if that wasn't enough Big Finish have also released a Lost Stories box set, featuring two stories originally intended to be made during the original classic series, which for one reason or another never made it to our screens.

I haven't listened to The Valley Of Death yet, but a review wil appear here as soon as I have! The other story in the set is The Foe From The Future (eventually replaced on TV by Robert Holmes' classic story The Talons Of Weng Chiang) originally written by Robert Banks Stewart, and adapted by John Dorney. This is my favourite story so far, with plenty of Tom's trademark wit, and a plot that drives along nicely.

Tom and Louise effortlessly step back into their roles, and the chemistry is fantastic between them. If you have a nostalgic longing for this era of Doctor Who, and you've never checked out a Big Finish audio play this could well be the one to get you on board.

The Fourth Doctor Adventures are available to order from bigfinish.com

Doctor Who: Horror Of Fang Rock

This is one of my favourite classic series stories.

Producer Graham Williams, was brought in to take over from Philip Hinchcliffe in the face of growing concern from the likes of Mary Whitehouse that the programme was becoming too dark and violent for children.

It's somewhat ironic then that this story is thematically one of the darkest in the entire history of Doctor Who.

It's fair to say that this was a transitional period for the production team, so the (most welcome) darker tone owes a lot to the writing style that had gone before, this can also be explained by the circumstances at the time, when Terrance Dicks was asked submit a new story as a quick replacement for a planned vampire story, which would have clashed with the BBC's adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, due to air around the same time.

Filming was also affected when the studio scenes had to be moved from BBC television centre in London to Pebble Mill studios in Birmingham.

Tom Baker's working relationship with Louise Jameson took a turn for the better during the making of this serial, known for sometimes being a prickly personality, Tom was very close to Elisabeth Sladen who played previous companion Sarah Jane Smith. His attitude toward Louise Jameson was at best frosty to begin with.

In the commentary featured on the DVD Louise Jameson says that she feels that their relationship turned a corner when filming a scene in which Tom was meant to enter the shot on cue, he would deliberately walk in ahead of his cue and upstage her. She asked for the scene to be restaged three times in order to get it right, and subsequently earned Tom's respect.

I think Terrance Dicks' contribution to the programme is often overlooked, his stories may be more simplistic compared to some of his contemporaries, but they have a sound structure, which is one of the reasons I find this story to be one that I go back to again and again.

My pick of the guest cast would be Colin Douglas as Reuben, his demonic smile when he is playing the Rutan is chilling.

This story is also notable as one of the few classic Who serials directed by a woman, Paddy Russell, and what a sterling job she does too.

The extras on the DVD are up to the usual high standard including; a commentary by Louise Jameson, John Abbott and Terrance Dicks, a documentary about Paddy Russell, a documentary about collectable memorabilia, and my favourite of the collection, a documentary about Terrance Dicks.

If you have yet to see a story featuring Tom Baker as The Doctor then I would rate this as one of his best.

Doctor Who: The Ribos Operation

For the 16th series of Doctor Who, producer Graham Williams decided to create a linking narrative between the stories, rather like the story arcs used in present day Who (although not as successfully as messrs Davies and Moffat).

The Doctor's intended holiday is put on hold when he is summoned by the mysterious White Guardian, who asks him to locate the six missing segments of the key to time, which if made complete would be a weapon too dangerous for anyone to possess.

The White Guardian imposes a new companion on The Doctor in the (frankly gorgeous) shape of Romanadvortrelundar, or Romana for short played by the glamorous Mary Tamm.

The story, penned by long term Who script writer Robert Holmes is set on the planet Ribos, and centres around a pair of con men trying to sell the icy planet to the tyrant war monger the Graff Vynda-K.

Although the 16th series divides opinion, this story for me is one of the strongest of the 1978 run, and superior to Holmes' other effort that year The Power Of Kroll. Ian Cuthbertson and Nigel Plaskitt as dodgy duo Garron and Unstoffe are marvellous, Paul Seed, who plays the Graff (And would later go on to direct classic BBC drama House Of Cards) is somewhat shouty, but nonetheless entertaining.

The DVD is chock full of extras the stand out for me was 'A matter of time' an hour long documentary looking back on Graham Williams' time in charge of the programme, including interviews with Tom Baker, Mary Tamm, Lalla Ward and John Leeson, and archive interviews with the late Graham Williams and Douglas Adams.

The documentary, written by Nicholas Pegg, gives a very good insight into what the programme making process was like in the 1970's. The producer had to contend with ever diminishing budgets, a difficult to handle lead actor and problems caused by industrial action when the unions were at the peak of their powers. Graham's widow Jacqueline speaks very eloquently about how very tough it was for her husband, and how he cared very deeply for the ongoing success of the programme.

Other extras include a commentary with Tom Baker and Mary Tamm, 'The Ribos File' a making of documentary, continuities and a series 16 trailer.

While the Key To Time series is not perhaps the best in the programme's long history it is still very entertaining, and this DVD boxset is a real "must have" for fans in terms of the extensive extras.

Doctor Who: Image Of The Fendahl

At Fetch Priory, in the English countryside, Doctor Fendelman (Dennis Lill) and a group of fellow scientists are conducting experiments on a skull that was discovered in Kenya, which they believe is 12 million years old.

Fendelman is intent on making a picture of the person the skull belonged to, he uses a sonic time scan, which sets off a series of events.

Onboard the TARDIS, the Doctor and Leela are struggling to control the time machine, they trace back the source of the problem to Fendelman's sonic scan, and set the co-ordinates for Earth to try and shut it down.

Meanwhile back at the priory, the scan is causing the skull to glow and pulse, it locks on to Thea (Wanda Ventham), one of the scientists, and creates a psychic link with her. Outside the priory grounds, something otherworldly has manifested into being, and it attacks and kills a passing hiker.

Upon their arrival on Earth, the Doctor and Leela are soon separated. Leela ends up at the cottage of old Ma Tyler (Daphne Heard), an eccentric westcountry witch, while the Doctor has a near miss with the alien creature in the woods, which ends with one of Fendelman's hired security guards getting killed by the monster.

Ma Tyler comes across the monster, and manages to escape with her life, as a result of the shock of her experience she goes into a catatonic state, thankfully the Doctor arrives on the scene just in time and helps to bring her back from the brink.

When they get to the priory, the Doctor soon identifies a creature, known in Timelord mythology, as a Fendahleen, he finds the skull, and nearly gets taken over by it, but is saved by Leela.

Realising that the entire planet is at risk from the Fendahl, the Doctor and Leela set off in the TARDIS to find planet 5, the home world of the Fendahl, only to discover that it has been sealed off by the Timelords in a time loop.

Thea is being taken over by the Fendahl, add to this a spooky black magic coven, whose leader mistakenly believes that he can control the Fendahl, and you're in for a doozy of a story!

This could be considered the last of the stories from the gothic period in the late 1970s. Graham Williams had just taken over from Phillip Hinchcliffe as series producer, and this story was commissioned by outgoing script editor and Doctor Who luminary Robert Holmes, before the move initiated by the BBC hierarchy to give the programme a more light hearted style.

Tom and Louise are on good form, and, according to one of the interviews on the DVD they were getting along much better after a rather frosty start. The guest cast are very good, and the whole atmosphere of the story is really foreboding and spooky.

There is a cast commentary, a making of documentary, production subtitles, and an amusing easter egg.

And for a bit of added value, I can strongly suggest downloading "Pedantangle" episode #206 of Radio Free Skaro for a very entertaining fan commentary, you can download it here