THE COST OF BETRAYAL!

Certainly one of the most memorably gruesome and adult scenes of Eighties era WHO- as villain turned hero Lytton (the always interesting and much-missed Maurice Colbourne) faces the wrath of the Cybermen, and a moment which certainly showed a tougher side to the new era of Colin Baker's incarnation.

I remember my bestie secondary school buddy and I watching the second episode of Attack of the Cybermen live on original transmission that January, Saturday in 1985, and feeling that the hand crushing was a particularly strong moment for a 6 pm time slot (and still feel that now with re-watching). That doesn't mean we didn't both think it was cool, though- that Who was continuing to feel more adult again since The Caves of Androzani, and especially when linked to the uncompromising and emotionless, brutal Cybermen.

It's great to see that the intriguing character of Lytton is returning for an all-new comic series, via his creator, Eric Saward:
http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2020/07/new-independent-comics-set-in-doctor.html

AN AMERICAN IN TARDIS!

Rescued from drowning in the waters of Lanzarote, and now in a strange new futuristic environment, plucky American student Peri Brown's mind is well and truly filled with awe and fear. So what will she make of the android Kamelion? Especially when it assumes the shape of the most despicable evil in the galaxy: The Master!

A CORNUCOPIA OF MONSTERS!

You can always judge a man by the quality of his enemies, as the saying goes, and Tom Baker's fourth incarnation certainly fought a formidable assortment, especially iconic ones, during his opening seasons, as shown with this great art from Chris Achilleos that was the cover to the Target Books second Doctor Who and the Monsters book, compiled and written by Terrence Dicks. This was a great book title which I always had close by to read when growing up in the mid-seventies.

http://chrisachilleos.co.uk/

MONSTER 'INFERNO'!

One of the stalwart background extras of Doctor Who, and always giving a believable performance either with or without dialogue, and as friend or foe, Pat Gorman certainly became a memorable 'Primord' monster too, as seen here in the truly excellent Jon Pertwee opening season gem, Inferno. A massive seven parter, the story holds its momentum well, thanks to the insertion of the intriguing and violent Parallel Earth plot linked to the heightened end of the world atmosphere overall brought to the story by writer Don Houghton with director Douglas Camfield (with Barry Letts), alongside a cast playing things to tremendous conviction.

Inferno lives up to its status as both an All Time Classic Who, and TV great, after fifty years...

THE FIRST 'DARTH VADER'!

Brought in to show a new side to the menacing Ice Warriors of Mars, Patrick Troughton's second battle with the hugely popular creatures in Brian Hayles' overlong but highly watchable The Seeds of Death, saw the debut of one of their calculating leader class, in the subtly menacing Commander Slaar, as played with distinction by Alan Bennion.

Visually, as has been often noted by fans, the Star Wars saga's icon heavy-breathhing villain Darth Vader, as played by Dave Prowse, does bear some visual similarities to Slaar. When in pre-production in 1974/75, did George  Lucas, in one of his many trips to London in getting his film off the ground, possibly have watched Who at that time on BBC 1, or even caught some of the Pertwee Ice Warriors tales on US TV via Lionheart in 1972/73, and been subconsciously influenced? It's not impossible...

Interestingly enough, the amiable Sonny Caldinez, who played many an Ice Warrior in the Classic Series, told me a few years back that he went to see George Lucas in London during late 1975 to be interviewed for the role of inhabiting the Vader costume, though Prowse eventually won out, having been recommended to the director by friend Stanley Kubrick.

CORNWALL-IAN CRIMEWAVE!

Fan colourised image for the lost serial.

They faced terrifying technological dangers in modern 'swinging' London of 1966, now the Doctor's newest companions Ben and Polly face more threats in the past, in Cornwall at a time of murder, betrayal and deceit amongst a variety of unscrupulous characters with The Smugglers, Brian Hayles' lively yet violent opener to the fourth season of the Classic Series, and the beginning of the end of William Hartnell's reign inside the TARDIS.

Terrance Dick's fast-paced novel adaptation of the eighties has now been successfully transferred to official BBC audio, read by the ever-lovely Anneke Wills, available from August 6th, 2020.

Splendid art by Alister Pearson.

Get it here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Smugglers-1st-Novelisation/dp/1529126274/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+smugglers+doctor+who&qid=1593698571&sr=8-1

THE REAL McCOY?

An inspired, if at first controversial casting choice for the role (oh, how the press loved his comedy Ferret routine of the past!), actor and 'Jack of All Trades' Sylvester McCoy looked a little uneasy, perhaps even overwhelmed, at his first London press call by the TARDIS in 1987, but he'd successfully overcome early problems within his era (an uneven in tone premiere year, the lingering doubts as to the show's future from imagination-less BBC snobs) to become one of the most popular Doctors of the Classic Series run.