 |
| Back for more Who: Patrick Troughton teams-up with Colin Baker in an on-set publicity shot for The Two Doctors. |
"When you travel around as much as I do, it's almost inevitable that you'll run into yourself at some point."
When the Doctor (Colin Baker) lands on a space station in the Third Zone, he suspects he's been there before and when he discovers his old assistant - Jamie - he's certain.
Accompanied by Jamie and his present assistant Peri, the Doctor follows himself (Patrick Troughton) to 20th Century Seville. There he discovers his old enemies, the Sontarans, about to dissect him in a genetic operation.
But just why are they operating on the Doctor? And how will their findings aid their enslavement of the Universe? Deadly questions to which the Doctors must find answers in order to escape their own excruciating death...
Original BBC Video sleeve notes - 1993
Six years on from his last contribution to the series in 1978/9, I never really truly appreciated the talents of Who's greatest writer, Robert Holmes, until I reached general maturity, and via the supreme masterpiece that is The Caves of Androzani. With that all-time classic, Holmes was back with a vengeance, at a time when the series really did need an extra boost with his returned imagination, fine grasp of creating memorable characters and wittily dark humour. By Season Twenty-Two, and Colin Baker's first ambitious season in the role, we all eagerly waited another legendary return too alongside the confirmed Holmes in the welcome form of Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor, who was amazingly announced for a special comeback beyond his excellent prior appearance in the Twentieth Anniversary year. And as fan anticipation built for it, the idea of the three-part adventure The Two Doctors looked set to be an another all-time classic in such rapid succession to Caves, especially with the further triple whammy news that Holmes' very own monster creations, the clone warrior Sontarans, would be back to threaten our hero in regenerations that had not previously encountered them...
On its one and only original transmission, however, the realisation of The Two Doctors, through no fault of Holmes, who'd delivered a fine script, ultimately suffered from a lack of atmosphere and directorial verve, of which even the show's heavy dose of Spanish location work failed to effectively add to the tale's quirky flavour. A story that was put into a well regarded 'safe' pair of experienced directorial hands with the always-amiable Peter Moffatt, who had worked well with four Doctors in 1983, that were not quite good enough to handle such an intriguing adventure, when it needed someone more in the caliber of Graham Harper or Peter Grimwade operating the show from both the studio floor and the gallery. I recall the general flatness of Part One's cliffhanger within the wrecked space station Camera's lower levels and the aforementioned blandness of the later location filming in its third episode. And who wasn't disappointed that the Sontarans' first appearance in Spain didn't see at least one of them take their helmet off/reveal their Humpty Dumpty faces in close-up, so as to scare the kiddies, like the Humpty-Dumpty-ish monsters did back in the Pertwee/early Baker days!
In counterbalance though, the main cast for the story would prove exceptionally well cast by Moffatt and producer John Nathan-Turner - even if the aforementioned Sontarans should never have been that tall in a major continuity cock-up - of which everyone made the most of Holmes' scripting talents, amidst a basic idea of the Doctor being kidnapped for his time travel symbiotic nuclei, previously considered by the writer for his aborted version of The Six Doctors, that was a good one. Tom Baker era producer Phillip Hinchcliffe had prior rejected Holmes other idea used in The Two Doctors, of a race of alien cannibals come to Earth, as being too dark and potentially tasteless (forgive the pun) for that era of the series, but later Colin Baker era script editor Eric Saward, had no such qualms, having always had a bit of a dark heart in his story choices, enjoying the macabre ideas and the even more macabre creating of the cannibal Androgum creatures, notably personified by John Stratton's loathsome but great fun to watch Shockeye the cook. At the time, I wasn't surprised there were viewer complaints against Shockeye by viewers - he wasn't for the feint of heart, but overall I thought the salivating chef was one of the best villains of Colin Baker's opening season and gave the story a big boost in the antagonist stakes. Beyond the acting, let's also not forget some great, if over-lit, set design work from Tony Burrough, plus another evocative and stylish score from Peter Howell at the Radiophonic Workshop- showcasing a great military theme for the Sontarans. With all these elements that did work, I was saddened that the ratings response was so weak for the story - the lack of any real publicity (strange for the John Nathan-Turner era) being highly noticeable-perhaps as Troughton didn't like too much publicity when playing the role, just as he had been back in his sixties era.
Thankfully, despite the way the story was used in March 1985 as vital cannon fodder by former BBC 1 Controller with an axe to grind, Michael Grade, and his cronies at the BBC, as part of the corporation's decision to 'rest' (formerly cancel!) the series (further citing poor ratings, story tiredness and low production values), over the years The Two Doctors has become better regarded with fans and audiences (with Holmes own novelisation proving superb, showing the true potential that should have been successful on screen). And I'll take anything that adds to the aura of Patrick Troughton 's magical Second Doctor, especially in compensating for the fact that so much of his past monochrome era has been so tragically lost to us. Cheers, Pat!
 |
| Great Target Books tribute art by Philip James Allison. |
On its one and only original transmission, however, the realisation of The Two Doctors, through no fault of Holmes, who'd delivered a fine script, ultimately suffered from a lack of atmosphere and directorial verve, of which even the show's heavy dose of Spanish location work failed to effectively add to the tale's quirky flavour. A story that was put into a well regarded 'safe' pair of experienced directorial hands with the always-amiable Peter Moffatt, who had worked well with four Doctors in 1983, that were not quite good enough to handle such an intriguing adventure, when it needed someone more in the caliber of Graham Harper or Peter Grimwade operating the show from both the studio floor and the gallery. I recall the general flatness of Part One's cliffhanger within the wrecked space station Camera's lower levels and the aforementioned blandness of the later location filming in its third episode. And who wasn't disappointed that the Sontarans' first appearance in Spain didn't see at least one of them take their helmet off/reveal their Humpty Dumpty faces in close-up, so as to scare the kiddies, like the Humpty-Dumpty-ish monsters did back in the Pertwee/early Baker days!
In counterbalance though, the main cast for the story would prove exceptionally well cast by Moffatt and producer John Nathan-Turner - even if the aforementioned Sontarans should never have been that tall in a major continuity cock-up - of which everyone made the most of Holmes' scripting talents, amidst a basic idea of the Doctor being kidnapped for his time travel symbiotic nuclei, previously considered by the writer for his aborted version of The Six Doctors, that was a good one. Tom Baker era producer Phillip Hinchcliffe had prior rejected Holmes other idea used in The Two Doctors, of a race of alien cannibals come to Earth, as being too dark and potentially tasteless (forgive the pun) for that era of the series, but later Colin Baker era script editor Eric Saward, had no such qualms, having always had a bit of a dark heart in his story choices, enjoying the macabre ideas and the even more macabre creating of the cannibal Androgum creatures, notably personified by John Stratton's loathsome but great fun to watch Shockeye the cook. At the time, I wasn't surprised there were viewer complaints against Shockeye by viewers - he wasn't for the feint of heart, but overall I thought the salivating chef was one of the best villains of Colin Baker's opening season and gave the story a big boost in the antagonist stakes. Beyond the acting, let's also not forget some great, if over-lit, set design work from Tony Burrough, plus another evocative and stylish score from Peter Howell at the Radiophonic Workshop- showcasing a great military theme for the Sontarans. With all these elements that did work, I was saddened that the ratings response was so weak for the story - the lack of any real publicity (strange for the John Nathan-Turner era) being highly noticeable-perhaps as Troughton didn't like too much publicity when playing the role, just as he had been back in his sixties era.
Thankfully, despite the way the story was used in March 1985 as vital cannon fodder by former BBC 1 Controller with an axe to grind, Michael Grade, and his cronies at the BBC, as part of the corporation's decision to 'rest' (formerly cancel!) the series (further citing poor ratings, story tiredness and low production values), over the years The Two Doctors has become better regarded with fans and audiences (with Holmes own novelisation proving superb, showing the true potential that should have been successful on screen). And I'll take anything that adds to the aura of Patrick Troughton 's magical Second Doctor, especially in compensating for the fact that so much of his past monochrome era has been so tragically lost to us. Cheers, Pat!
The Two Doctors ★★ | Radio Times
 |
| From monochrome to colour, the Second Doctor and Jamie return, on a mission for the Time Lords. |
 |
| Newly arrived at the Third Zone spacial region, Doctor Two and Jamie, acting as agents for the Time Lords, meet top scientist Dastari (Lawrence Payne) and try to persuade him to stop ongoing work by two of his scientists into dangerous time travel experiments. |
 |
| The brutal Androgum chef that is Shockeye (John Stratton) proves to be one of Robert Holmes best and macabre creations, as he poisons the crew of Space Station Camera for Chessene before the arrival of the Sontarans. |
 |
| Augmented to super genius level, the Androgum Chessene (Jacqueline Pearce) confers with Shockeye on their villainous plans ahead... |
 |
| Meanwhile, Doctor Six and a very busty Peri (Nicola Bryant) are enjoying a spot of Gumblejack fishing on an unknown asteroid. Soon enough though, the Doctor has a psychic attack of one of his other selves being potentially put to death. |
 |
| Doctor Six goes to Dastari, ready to ask for 'medical help' after experiencing a strange disturbance linked to his past, but soon discovering the scientist gone from his wrecked space station, and no sign of his other self, either. |
 |
| The Doctor goes through Dastari's office looking for clues. The homicidal space station computer, now on automatic, blames the Time Lords for the space station attack and perceives Doctor Six and Peri as a threat to be neutralised. |
 |
| The Doctor and Peri escape the computer and head into the station's unique interior. |
 |
| A sequence that should have been more atmospheric and suspenseful than it actually turned out to be onscreen. |
 |
| Peri gets an unwelcome surprise from a mystery foe. |
 |
| They find the leftover shape of Jamie (Frazer Hines) who, once recovered, tells Doctor Six of the Sontarans' attack and their kidnapping of Doctor Two for so-far unknown reasons. |
 |
| The Doctor discovers a glitch in the computer holographic system, left from the clumsy Sontarans, indicating that Doctor Two is very much still alive. |
 |
| Now arived at a hacienda outside Seville, Spain, the Androgums and Sontarans will prepare the Doctor for unique surgery. |
 |
| Now arrived on Earth, in Seville, Spain, the Sontarans Varl (Tim Raynham) and Styke (Clinton Greyn) plot with the two cannibalistic Androgum aliens, and Dastari, to discover the symbiotic secrets inside Doctor Two. |
 |
| Proud of his super-intelligent, augmented Androgum, Dastari goes along with Chessene's plans to double-cross and destroy the Sontarans. |
 |
| Following the Sontarans trail, Doctors Six and Two meet, and it won't be pleasant. |
 |
| The greedy Androgum cook Shockeye (John Strattion) couldn't get a better choice of human tasting than Peri! |
 |
| The Part Two cliffhanger. "Pretty, pretty!" |
 |
| Dastari, with the ambitious Chessene's support, lure the Sontarans into an acid-blasting trap at their Spanish hacienda base. |
 |
| Stike (Clinton Greyn) in the cellar. |
 |
| Varl with his weapon before the duo are ambushed and left for dead. |
 |
| Chessene has Dastari inject Shockeye's Androgum inheritance into Doctor Two, so as to make him her Time Lord servant. |
 |
| A great behind the scenes of Patrick Troughton being made up as an Androgum hybrid. |
 |
| Doctor Six and the Androgum influenced Doctor Two. |
 |
| Looking for some great eateries in downtown Seville, Shockeye and Doctor Two make quite the pair! |
 |
| Having survived the prior attack, Stike has the misfortune of using Dastari's imperfect time travel device... |
 |
| ... and is soon killed when the device blows up at the hacienda. |
 |
| Doctor Six, Jamie and Peri begin their search for Doctor Two and Shockeye. |
 |
| As does Dastari, who is now shocked by Chessene's recent actions. |
 |
| Our heroes are captured by Chessene and Dastari. |
 |
| The Androgums are finally defeated, Shockeye by the Doctor and Chessene killed via the unstable Kartz and Reimer Time Module. The Two Doctors depart, as Number Six and Peri decided to go on to become vegetarians! |
 |
| The cast and crew enjoy the hot weather on location filming. |
 |
| At Acton rehearsals for the story, with Patrick Troughton near the TARDIS console prop. |
 |
| Classic Doctor Who Magazine cover - Issue 161 June 1990. |
 |
| The cover of Doctor Who Magazine 195 in January 1993. |
 |
| Another cover for Issue 198, April 1993. |
 |
| The striking frontage for In-Vision magazine's coverage of the story. |
 |
| Colin Howard's memorable art for the UK VHS release from 1993. |
 |
| UK VHS release sleeve. |
 |
| Front and back sleeve art for the UK DVD release. Cover composition by Clayton Hickman. |
 |
| UK DVD release advert promotion. |
 |
| The US DVD release cover. |
 |
| The UK DVD Files cover. |
 |
| Original Target Books cover art by Andrew Skilleter. |
Get the BBC Audio adaptation, read by Colin Baker, here:
