Bask in the awesomeness of the Whomobile!
PLOT
The Doctor and Sarah return to London to find it evacuated and UNIT in more trouble than ever before - dinosaurs have shown up all over the city. Shortly afterwards, Sarah disappears and the Doctor is being threatened by a trusted friend...
While I find it incredibly hard to believe that the technology to manipulate time to the extent as suggested here could've been possible in 1970s England(then again, we've seen time machines built in the Victorian era...), I must admit the plan of the bad guys is pretty impressive. Ludicrous, certainly, but very clever and well-thought out.
I only didn't understand why the ship couldn't simply have been sent back in time instead of rewinding the Earth.
CHARACTERS
The strong rapport of Pertwee and Sladen continues to be the season's highlight. They're very charming together and to be slightly childish for a second, Sarah is sooooooo cute when she pouts.
The Brigadier on the other hand is such a sad case. He's become completely irrelevant. I'm itching for a story where Benton gets his job. Benton's my hero now. My only regret is that he never got to punch the Master the way he punched Finch.
Mike Yates looks at least 10 years older than last we saw him. The new crooked look suits him much better than the affable dolly face he had before btw. His betrayal is a plot twist I particularly enjoyed and I'm very disappointed that it didn't really get much resolution. It was still a very solid piece of drama though and easily Franklin's finest hour in the role.
Of the other villains, I'd say the Minister was the most memorable, simply because he was so British. It's like having Jeeves be the bad guy. Peter Miles was Peter Miles like always, but he wasn't really given anything to do. Finch was a poor man's Roger Delgado, like I already implied. And Whittaker's assistant was just forgettable.
Watch out for Carmen Silvera(Edith!)!
NOTES
*I'm not too annoyed by the dinosaurs so I didn't make a fuss about them. Yes, they're horrible enough to warrant a CGI do-over(unlike the effects in the previous story), but they were tolerable.
*The Doctor's line about there being nobody walking around because it was Sunday immediately gave me an Ian flashback. The first episode was very Dalek Invasion Of Earth.
*My opinion on the Whomobile is mixed. On one side, it looks awesome, but on the other, it makes very little sense. Where did it come from? Why does the Doctor need it instead of Bessie? Why does the Doctor even use such a conspicuous vehicle? And why does he use it for this particular occasion anyway?
*The Doctor's moral message at the end was far too unsubtle. But at least it's a pretty decent and optimistic one.
*The Doctor and the Brigadier both spend at least an episode in the London Underground and not a single reference to The Web Of Fear.
*The guns look pathetic here. The actors just point and act like they're shooting unlike in the earlier stories, where they were at least loaded with something.
*Episode 4 is practically logic-free.
*In case any of you were wondering whether I watched the first episode in color or black-and-white, I picked the colored one. It was the way it was made, even if it looks better in monochrome.
BEST QUOTE
"And I presume you have a better theory?" Pertwee's growling delivery is magnificent.
CONCLUSION
I liked it a lot, but it also highlights how different the show has become since season 7, for better or for worse.
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