WHAT LIES BENEATH...

The legend of the earth being hungry proves true for planet Frontios' human survivor Norna (Lesley Dunlop) and the Fifth Doctor, when they encounter the creepy Tractator creatures for the first time. A memorable cliff-hanger within Christopher H. Bidmead's effective Season Twenty-One space-age adventure, Frontios.

CYBER CHECK A-OK!

The Cybermen's iconic invasion of London via St.Paul's is on hold for a little bit as one of their kind gets a costuming check, in this great behind the scenes shot from the early morning 1968 filming of The Invasion.

More on the story's missing episodes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w3wpLrxRP0

THE ARMY AWAKENS!

Though I have the vaguest of TV watching memories of the Spiridon Iceano bursting through at the end of the story, I never got to fully experience the classic Planet of the Daleks, one of my all-time fave Dalek tales, until the late eighties - thank you, Australasian TV! Up to then, and that magical discovery of classic Pertwee, there were some terrific still images from the tale/sequence that I loved looking at in magazines and sci-fi books for many years, like this atmospheric shot of the frozen Daleks starting to reactivate.

OF 'EDEN' AND 'KRIKKITMEN'!

He'll soon find his arms, his legs, his everythings for that matter, under attack by the hideous green-eyed Mandrels in the captured Eden segment of Professor Tryst's abhorrent CET machine. Until then, there's a chance for a little bit of exploration for the Doctor and Romana on that mysterious world, in this great image from the rather cheap-looking but ideas-packed adventure of unique drug shipments and ship collisions from Season Seventeen, Nightmare of Eden.

And 'ideas-packed' was certainly the mantra from that 1979/80 season's witty and in-demand story editor, and creator of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: Douglas Adams, who'd also contribute the busy and enigmatically-aborted Shada by year's end. Of 2019, one of Adams' unmade but must-read WHO adventures for the Doctor and Romana becomes available in UK paperback, Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen, a tale of xenophobic aliens out for revenge on the galaxy, linked to the most important cricket bowl in history. It's all adapted with evocative and appropriate joie de vivre by James Goss for BBC BOOKS.

Check out the original hardback review:
https://kooltvblog.blogspot.com/2018/01/kool-tv-review-doctor-who-and.html?q=douglas+adams

Get the paperback here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Krikkitmen-Douglas-Adams/dp/1785941062/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1552913714&sr=8-1&keywords=doctor+who+and+the+krikkitmen+paperback

STACKING THE DECK!

A story that's likely best overall represented visually than via audio (its weakest episode, four, sadly singular in existence), the mysterious adventure set within the realms of The Celestial Toymaker has over the years become one fans either love or really hate from the First Doctor's final season. But no one could complain about the performance of the Toymaker himself, from the ever excellent character actor Michael Gough, who'd bring playful humour and subtle cruelty to the role, and in the malevolent alien's interactions with the Time Lord (not for the first time as it's revealed in the story) and his separated companions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X0QSZhZ_No

POOL SNACK!

She's dreamed of dipping her feet into the cool clear waters of the renowned Paradise Towers complex, but Mel soon finds them being attacked by a deadly mechanical pool cleaner in this fun posed image of Sylvester McCoy and Bonnie Langford which is an outtake to a publicity image used by Radio Times magazine, back in 1987 promoting the well written if slightly imbalanced Paradise Towers, an intriguing variation on the classic J.G. Ballard sci-fi disturbia High Rise.

MIND OVER MATTER!

What should have been a simple bit of investigating into crooked weapons selling on Thoros Alpha soon turns into a dark and brutal nightmare for the Doctor and Peri. thrust into the world of mind transference, they're reunited with the repulsive space slug business-alien Sil, during Philip Martin's effective second section of The Trial of a Time Lord, also known as Mindwarp, where the antagonistic drama against our hero heats up, concluding its court play with a genuinely chilling finale performance from series departing Nicola Bryant that has stayed in the mind since.

It's great to see the excellent actor Nabil Shaban back playing Sil to devious perfection for an all-new drama from his creator: Sil and the Devil Seeds of Andor:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SIL-Devil-Seeds-Arodor-Blu-ray/dp/B07NBD1R12/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1548868173&sr=1-2&linkCode=sl1&tag=dw-single-21&linkId=1a43dc2abc17d29097c4286373b5ab21&language=en_GB

HORRIBLE HISTORIES!

It had been quite a while since WHO had done a historical adventure with a science fiction twist, so the start of The Visitation, during Peter Davison's launch season of 1982, was another great example of the show feeling fresh and exciting again for audiences. And a great debut from writer soon script editor Eric Saward too, with all the elements of a classic tale, including a colourful android and the fishy reptilian menace of the Terileptils. The final episode themed Great Fire of London plot revelation was something I really enjoyed as a twelve-year old, having then just recently covered the landmark tragedy in my school history lessons.

Terrific art by Pete Wallbank for the classic VHS tape release of the story, combined with Black Orchid, another under-appreciated little gem of 1982, and the first fully historical tale since the Troughton era, laced with style and subtle tragedy.

THE DARK POWERS OF SUTEKH!

Our Time Lord hero is one of the most powerful forces for good in the universe, but the imprisoned Osiran war monger Sutekh is even more so for the side of evil, subjugating the Doctor for his bidding in this chilling scene from the final episode of Pyramids of Mars.

BEWARE GREEKS...

'Axos calling Earth.'

Bringing gifts to humanity, seemingly beneficial and crafted from their unique biological power source - Axonite - come the Axons: space-age golden gods. The 'beautiful people' they may look at first glance, but these 'Vampires from Space' are soon not what they seem...

Making full use of colour filming, with superb set design and experimentally very effective CSO, The Claws of Axos is a great little tale from the Pertwee era. and equally a great debut for writing duo Bob Baker and Dave Martin. I always remember the tendril-packed Axon monster (later Krynoid) on display for a year or so in the Forbidden Planet 2 film/TV store of London's St. Giles High Street, back in the mid-eighties.