POSED FOR EVIL-DOING!

The contest of wills between The Doctor and his court room nemesis in The Valeyard is tense enough, but things will soon explode with the ultimate revelation of the latter's true identity in a superb and unexpected twist from writer Robert Holmes that so much potential to be played on in WHO mythos had the Colin Baker era continued on TV, and with Michael Jayston also returning...

THE GOOD COMPANIONS!

They've got a newly regenerated Doctor to keep an eye on whilst cementing their new friendship in the process- it was great to see companions Tegan Jovanka and Nyssa get a fair share of things to do in Peter Davison's opening story, Castrovalva, especially working together amongst some lovely Tunbridge Wells location filming.

JASON WHO?

"The Quest is the Quest!", as the Fourth Doctor and faithful warrior companion Leela discover when they accompany the intriguing Minyan race on a desperate search for the P7E race banks, from Bob Baker and Dave Martin's production troubled Underworld. It has a decades-long reputation for being dull, but I personally think the story's first two episodes set on the actual Minyan R1C ship are very interesting and good high-concept sci-fi fun.

Despite Underworld's many behind the scenes filming problems and fan hatred, the story was most importantly a big success with 1978 viewers, where ratings went up week by week to eleven million by the story's final episode, and despite then very strong competition on the rival ITV channel on Saturday nights.

A MISSION TO SOLOS...

Acting in his position as undesired Ambassador for the Time Lords, The Doctor is sent on an important mission to the far future Earth colony of Solos, where he and the heroic native Ky (Garrick Hagon, perhaps best known to sci-fi fans as fighter pilot Biggs Darklighter in the original Star Wars) must enter the deepest cave regions of the pollutant fog shrouded planet, in this terrific atmospheric image filmed on location from The Mutants, an overlong but interesting colonial space epic from series regular writing duo Bob Baker and Dave Martin.

'TOMB' DWELLERS!

The near mythical honeycomb tombs of the Cybermen of the planet Telos have thawed, the power to their regenerative cycle now activated via a special trap designed to lure in potential convertees. One of the Classic Series genuinely all-time-memorable, creepily effective moments, looking even better shot on film, from the 'Monster Era' that Patrick Troughton's atmospheric B/W era definitely and deservedly owned the moniker to, especially linked to this story - The Tomb of the Cybermen!

I always remember looking at the photos from this 'lost' story in the pages of Doctor Who Monthly growing up in the early eighties, and was so impressed by the visual look of the story (which also boasted superb on-set colour photography, to boot- so rare for the Troughton era back then), whilst Gerry Davis novelisation of his tale, penned for TV alongside his friend Kit Pedler, proved equally full of great moments of menace and dread to savour from the silver giants. Tomb's ultimate return from Singapore to the BBC Archives a decade later - and its subsequently huge sales for BBC Video - proved a joyous moment for us all, giving us renewed hope that more missing episodes might return. Though the on-screen realized four-part story has its faults in certain production areas, it still mostly lives up to its deserved accolades with fans, especially with its chilling episode two finale.

BFI screening event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQe7s7VXgjw

IN TIMES OF PERIL...

Effectively capturing the escalating state of fear and building hatred/fanaticism between religious fractions within 14th Century France, John Lucarotti and Donald Tosh's book/scripted versions of The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Eve are heavy-duty dramatic stuff for any era of Doctor Who, featuring an intense and confident performance from Peter Purves as Steven, who comes into his own with this adventure, whilst William Hartnell gets to play a second 'role' that's far removed from his benevolent Doctor, as the conniving and bad-hearted Abbot of Amboise.

There's also that classic, subtly moving scene with Hartnell's lonely Doctor inside the TARDIS, as he sadly muses on the many companions he has travelled with and seen depart over time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wBJcfEBgrU

Fans can enjoy the surviving audio version of the drama on Demon label LP, debuting this August, 2020:

https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/doctor-who/the-massacre/lp-x2?channable=a18781.Mjc2NTMw&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6NDbyZb16QIVVu3tCh1c_AJMEAQYASABEgICT_D_BwE

https://merchandise.thedoctorwhosite.co.uk/rsd-2020-doctor-who-the-massacre-vinyl-lp/

TAKEN TO THE CLEANERS!

There's such a thing as taking dedication to one's job a tad too far, y'know, as the Seventh Doctor discovers to his peril when caught in the vice grip of a deadly efficient cleaning machine whose murderous servitude to the mysterious Great Architect is without question, in this memorable posed publicity shoot for the mostly well conceived early adventure for that era: Paradise Towers.

PART OF A COLOURFUL UNIVERSE!

A colourful hero for a colourful universe as Colin Baker's now more appreciated than ever Sixth Doctor era is celebrated in this great art by Andrew Skilleter.