There’s been a lot of speculation about whether Disney is changing Doctor Who. The BBC sold the streaming rights for new Doctor Who to Disney, so while the BBC broadcasts the show in the UK, Disney is streaming it everywhere else.

From the outset, the main concern was that the House of Mouse would stick its venomous, corporate teeth into the program, take control away from the Beeb, enslave Russell T Davies in their basement, and force him to squeeze out Who scripts under the watchful eyes of the frozen, disembodied head of Walt Disney himself. 

Not quite.

You see, the Sony Corporation, who has a friendly relationship with Disney, owns Bad Wolf Studio, who has a friendly relationship with the BBC, and employs Russell. So this hook up was somewhat natural. An alliance that benefits everyone. 

RTD has total creative control of Doctor Who, but the show is owned by the BBC, so they’re allowed to have input. Russell works for Bad Wolf and thus Sony, so they, too, have input. Disney owns nothing but the streaming rights for the show, but since it’s streaming on their platform, they have the right to have input as well. Here’s where the worry and fear pops up. Constantly.

The fear that somehow, Disney controls everything, and strong arms everything to their liking. 

Not so. It’s very likely they have the same amount of input as Bad Wolf and the Beeb. Maybe a bit less since the Beeb owns the property.

So, if you’re worried about the Mouse making Who all “Disney-ish”, have no fear. Disney won’t be doing that.

If it happens, Russell will be the one who’s doing it.

In a recent interview in SFX magazine (and shared via Games Radar), executive producer Joel Collins refuted the “Disneyfication” claim, saying “that would only happen if it wasn’t being made by Russell. Or by somebody who wasn’t as big a fan as Russell.”

But an important point — Russell is a fan of a lot of the work Disney’s Pixar has produced and that might be part of what we’re seeing. Collins explains that RTD has been inspired by some of Disney’s output:

“Russell wanted to bring fun to it, he just wanted to bring joy into the show and challenge people in all the right ways that Russell does. But also make it fun at the right points, make it really fun, take you on a ride. So, I think that’s where the barrier to entry is removed, because adults and children alike enjoy that. And it’s not like, ‘Oh, it’s just for kids,’ or ‘It’s just for adults’ or any of this stuff.”

It might just be semantics, but even though Disney’s not injecting itself into the programme, Russell is bringing a Disney flavour to the show and shall probably continue to do so. The comments he’s made about adding more fantasy into the show going forward lends itself to this.

Another possible factor is Bigger Audience Syndrome. 

When preparing to accommodate an exponentially larger audience, it sometimes affects how the creator approaches the production of their series.

It’s at this point I have to cite a few entertainment examples from American late night television. 

Jay Leno was once the most popular and acclaimed stand up comic in the country, revered by all his peers. His act was edgy but he wasn’t foul mouthed or dirty, and mostly suitable for all audiences. But when he was controversially given The Tonight Show, he severely watered down his content to homogenize his jokes so grandmothers across the country would like and accept him. This dumbed down, bland approach worked and he received good ratings.

When David Letterman moved from the Late Night slot at NBC to the hour earlier Late Show on CBS, he felt he had to be a bit more responsible with his content, not just playing for the college crowd. So he toned down his material as well, just not anywhere nearly as bland as Leno.

The point is, the much larger audience might be factored in to these new approaches to the writing, the creative in general. Whether that’s a good or bad thing in Who’s situation remains to be seen.

The prevailing thought is that Doctor Who has now gone from just the UK to worldwide status thanks to Disney, so one can only wonder how much this bigger stage will affect how Davies moves forward with the show. 

Although, considering that over the past six decades, Who has been sold and distributed to dozens of countries, and the 50th anniversary special was simultaneously broadcast in 91 countries, there’s no question that the world is well aware of Doctor Who. Or should be anyway.

Yet somehow, it being streamed through Disney+ has it allegedly reaching an even bigger audience. 

By all accounts, going forward with “Season 1” (Series 1/Series 14/Season 40 – your choice), we are going to see this new direction incorporating more fantasy along with our science fiction, as it streams worldwide. 

And it is slated to be lighter and have “more fun and joy” thrown into it, and it might indeed feel more like Disney in some ways. But let’s be clear for the record — the main force behind that is not going be Disney.

That will be Russell T Davies.

When the new, 2005 era of Doctor Who arrived, ushered in by old/new showrunner Russell T Davies, I enjoyed Christopher Eccleston’s portrayal of a very damaged and vulnerable Time Lord. No. 9 was not your typical incarnation, but before we could even settle in, he was gone, replaced by some bloke with new teeth. 

Very quickly, I found I preferred this Tenth incarnation though, as David Tennant brought a different energy, goofiness, and a volcanic anger to the table, with a tiny bit of Tom Baker in the performance. Tennant had grown up on ‘70s and ‘80s Who, and it showed. Turns out, knowing the history of the show inside out added a different dimension to playing the part.

But Matt Smith upended the game board. By coming in so young, he’d known very little of the history. After landing the part, he did his homework — as you should –, fell in love with Patrick Troughton’s portrayal of the Second Doctor — as you do — and added a bit of him into his own performance. By approaching the role from a completely different angle, I found that, once again, I enjoyed this incarnation even more than the last. Surely, this better than the last, better than the last trend couldn’t last? And yet…

Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor came in bold, blunt, and unapologetic. He was 2,000 years old. He was once known as the Doctor of War, and he owned it. He wasn’t here to play games, and if something wasn’t important or interesting to him, he’d delete it from his brain. When formulating plans against enemies, he often kept his cards close to his vest, often ruffling the feathers of everyone around him, who wondered if he was either a monster or an idiot. Clara Oswald didn’t realise how easy she had it with the Eleventh Doctor. He put her up on a large pedestal. The Twelfth made her carry it around on her back.

Capaldi’s Doctor was critical and accountable. Everyone including him had to be held to a higher standard, and he was unafraid to throw anyone and everyone into the deep end. He didn’t suffer fools at all. Nor banter. He had no problem making the hard decisions, but if the safety of your planet was hanging in the balance and a decision had to be made, whether it dealt with your moon cracking open, or a leviathan in the Thames, he referred to you, boss.

His visual acuity or lack thereof was one of this Doctor’s more distinctive characteristics. Initially, he could see no real visual difference between Clara and Strax. He thought the very act of changing your coat disguises one completely. He didn’t necessarily see what’s on the outside of a person, just what’s on the inside, if he actually took the time to really look at you. So even if you couldn’t see him, he could see you. He could certainly see Clara and had great affection for her:

“Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?”

He got so excited when there was something he simply didn’t know! He wanted to revel in that moment of ignorance because it was so rare. After 2,000 years, he’d pretty much seen and done it all. But he tried to do better. He wondered if he was a “good man”, but was happy to realise he was neither good nor bad — just an idiot, who tried to keep doing his best.

Capaldi’s first series was a joy, because the Doctor was mostly the opposite. A refreshing grump, who had to battle quasi-living machines, a good Dalek, Robin Hood (with a spoon), and prove the existence of a theoretical species. He also initiated a Time Heist, went under deep cover as a janitor (different coat), discovered the moon is actually an egg, had to unravel a mummy murder mystery, battle one-dimensional aliens, and figure out what’s up with all the trees. All the while, Clara was right there with him, and, frankly, usually looking fantastic. 

But then there was the uncomfortability. Danny Pink. Clara demanding the Doctor solve the moon problem for her. Fighting. Anger. More Danny Pink. The sands shifting under the viewers’ feet, as we fell out of our comfort zone. Fans weren’t really used to the show taking those type of risks, but Moffat didn’t shy away. The squabbling between Danny and the Doctor, with Clara in the middle. The Doctor making no effort to hide his dislike for soldiers to a man like Danny, who’d been suffering from his own PTSD. Clara, whose lying and risk taking — her addiction — were an ever growing problem. 

And the season culminated in the return of the Master, albeit regenerated into female form, played by Michelle Gomez as Missy. Unlike the unhinged John Simm incarnation before her, or the Sasha Dhawan rabid dog version after, Gomez played an intense, erratic, eccentric, and funny version of the villainous Time Lady. And in Last Christmas, we saw a suspenseful, meticulously crafted tale involving Santa Claus and Dream Crabs. It’s fun, it’s horror, it’s Christmas, it’s Doctor Who. 

After a disappointing showing in Series 7B, Jenna Coleman was considering leaving the show after Series 8. But the chemistry with her new Doctor and story changed everything, urging her to stay on, and I’m ever so glad she did. 

Going into Series 9, when the Doctor received his Confession Dial (a last will and testament), he partied like it was 1099, but he knew something was coming. With Danny gone (hey, he stayed dead!), there was less and less to keep Clara grounded in the regular world, and she dove even deeper into her adventures with the Doctor — again, her addiction. She couldn’t help herself, but as we moved through the stories, she helped the Doctor with flash cards so as to brush up on better words and reactions in social situations dealing with a crisis.

Capaldi is an accomplished guitarist and has a lot of fun with the axe through Series 9. Of course, an older guy playing guitar — heaven forfend, some people couldn’t get behind something that crazy (!), but certain Doctors had various real life interests, like Jon Pertwee had gadgets and vehicles, or yes, Sylvester McCoy had the spoons. The guitar wasn’t that much of a stretch.

Speaking of crazy, some people couldn’t accept the idea of sonic sunglasses. I myself loved it, and they made just as much sense, if not more so than a sonic screwdriver. At least with the glasses, you had a visual component to work with, in addition to all the million other uses of the sonic. Fans in this day and age: stubborn and intolerant about a wearable tech upgrade? Oh, sometimes, I just shake my head. 

But taking on Davros, the Fisher King, Lady Me, Zygons, or even that nefarious sleep dust you might wake up with in the corner of your eyes… they all failed to match the insidious evil of the Time Lords themselves and their little Confession Dial/torture chamber. Although I wasn’t quite sold on the sudden urgency of the threat of the Hybrid, Heaven Sent was not only truly one of the best hours of the Capaldi era, but of all Doctor Who EVER. Face the Raven, and Heaven Sent/ Hell Bent were really an amazing three part experience. Keeping a secret to protect Clara for 4.5 billion years because…

“I had a duty of care.”

That was pretty much the ultimate. Even after decades as a Who fan, my love for the show had never been stronger. Clara and Me might still be out there somewhere. No, Clara couldn’t stay dead, but honestly, when the story is good, I don’t care what they do.

Now, it was my impression that at this point, Steven Moffat had done his time for five seasons over six years, and he was considering moving on. But right then, the Beeb was bereft of a replacement, so Moffat was going to be sticking around — we’d be getting a conclusion to River Song’s story, a gap year, then Moffat’s take on Superman. What came next was unexpected.

Steven Moffat basically rebooted the show as a perfect jumping on spot for new viewers, and once again delivered an all new and different season to what had gone before, yet still very Doctor Who. 

When we come back to the Doctor, we find out that he’d been teaching at university for half a century, keeping his best frenemy in a vault below, and had re-assembled his man-servant, Nardole. The Doctor then took an interest in young Bill Potts, who asked a lot of good questions. 

Much like when the Tenth Doctor took on Donna Noble as a companion, Bill represented real people, not an “Impossible Girl” or some glamorous supermodel. This new trio was quite lovely, with one of the more compelling sets of interpersonal dynamics.

Bill really kept the Doctor honest. From pointing out that the initials of TARDIS don’t really make sense, to angrily confronting him about just how much death he’s had a hand in during his 2,000 years, and how he could possibly calmly move on.

“I don’t have the luxury of outrage.”

Opposing more killer robots, god-like water creatures, unscrupulous millionaires, alien monks, future corporations, blindness, Ice Warriors, other-dimensional carnivores, Mondasian Cybermen, and Missy and the Master, the Doctor had his hands full as he neared his end. Finally, he had a one-on-one with his first incarnation, convincing each other the importance of continuing the fight. A brilliant season to end Capaldi’s run.

Of course, going in, there was some very mild outrage, with some thinking the show was getting all “woke”, and “forcing” it on the viewers. I, of course, disagree, as I think Moffat introduced topics and handled things pretty well. Could he have handled it better? Maybe. But in the end, when it came to bringing Doctor Who into the 21st Century, I think both Davies and Moffat at least did a good job, without constantly hitting us over the head with preachy messages. But then again, they’re two of the finest writers the show’s ever had, and even slightly addressing certain topics can be a powder keg where some are never satisfied. I myself, though, found Bill to be a triumph. Nardole too, for that matter.

(I also found it very interesting that at the end of The Doctor Falls, in the TARDIS, the Twelfth Doctor is on the edge of regeneration, and mentally sees not only past companions from his era, but all the new eras. Almost as if it were the end of Doctor Who itself, or at least the entire new era, from 2005 through 2017. Curious.)

I think the Capaldi era might even age better than any of the other new Doctor’s. He presented a flavour of the classic version mixed with the new. After all, he was 5 years old when he watched An Unearthly Child when it was first aired, back in 1963. He’d been there from the beginning, so he brought a unique perspective when playing the role. Arguably, no one was more in tune with the show, and his incarnation had quite the journey through three seasons and four specials.

For all these reasons and more, Peter Capaldi is my favorite new era Doctor.

Sometimes, I think certain Doctor Who showrunners feel they have to “one up” their predecessors. 

Bear with me — this leads somewhere. 

Russell T. Davies started the new era of Who, and oversaw two Doctors, four series, 52 regular episodes, and eight specials over five years. During this time, his two Doctors aged five years total.

Steven Moffat took over and introduced two new Doctors, added an extra “hidden” one, oversaw six series, 75 regular episodes, and nine specials, including the 50th anniversary over 8 years. During this time, the Eleventh Doctor aged over 1,100 years, and the Twelfth stuck around for 4 1/2 billion years. He was more or less repeating a tortuous exercise over and over, but still, 4.5 billion. In the words of Ron Burgundy, “That escalated quickly”. 

It was Chris Chibnall who then took over. During his era, he introduced two Doctors, but one was also an extra “hidden” one. He oversaw three series, 26 regular episodes, and five specials over five years. But during this time, even though his Doctor aged in real time, he made her untold billions of years old, older than Gallifrey even, declared the Doctor predates Gallifrey, didn’t even come from this universe, and can never die, she’ll just keep regenerating. 

Side note: In fact, the chief reason Chibnall concocted the Timeless Child story was when he was 5 years old, he watched The Brain of Morbius and when the production crew had a laugh by showing their faces during a montage of past Doctor faces, li’l Chibs took it literally, as if they were more old faces of the Doctor. Not to be undone, when recounting the story of the child Doctor billions of years ago, he showed a bunch of extra child faces as crazy scientist Tecteun kept killing child after child to make them regenerate. He showed more faces than those shown in The Brain of Morbius. That’ll show ’em, Chris!

Now, Russell is back in the big chair. But he doesn’t seem to want to top anyone… does he? Of course, you might ask how would that even be possible? 

Well, Russ: I’m here to help.

It’s simple, it’s big, and it’s all right there in front of you. Regeneration energy.

You know how the regeneration energy has really gotten crazy out of hand? With Eccleston, it was a huge fireworks display. With Tennant (the first time), he destroyed the inside of his own TARDIS. Smith took out an entire orbiting Dalek fleet! So it’s on record that regenerative energy is wildly unpredictable and the energy levels can fluctuate exponentially. Okay.

Since Russell has kindly backed up Chibs on the Timeless Child setting, we know that the Doctor has been around forever. Longer than Gallifrey and its inhabitants, and they’re some of the longest lived races in the history of the universe. 

So how old is the Doctor? We have no clue. Where did the Doctor come from? Dunno. 

Here we go.

The Doctor’s not from this universe… perhaps that’s because the Doctor created it.

Leaving that other universe… a child, adrift amongst the nothing. Terrified. Dying. A trauma intense enough to trigger the very first regeneration. But oh, it’s one to remember. 

A regenerative explosion the size we could scarcely dream of, with unimaginable power that not only regenerates the child to enable it to survive, but continues to do so in the vacuum of space, over and over, bigger and bigger until the energy cascades outward in a blaze of creation.

The Eleventh Doctor was responsible for the second Big Bang, but little did he know he created the first as well, just trying to survive.

So the Doctor didn’t just come to this universe; he kickstarted it!

Check… and mate. 

No charge, Russell, but I will consult in future for a fee. 

And let’s face it, fans — the leap from the Timeless Child to this is a hop, skip, and a jump, compared to what Chibnall pulled. So let’s go “all in” and stake the claim that this really is a “Whoniverse”.

Having finally obtained William Hartnell’s second season on Blu-ray — the first black and white season to get the royal treatment — I found myself once again swept up in “Overview mode”. Watching each story in fairly rapid succession, forming one larger overall story, as episodes had actions and consequences from one adventure overlapping onto the next.

For the better part of the first three seasons, the episodes had their own titles. It wasn’t until years later that they were grouped together and catalogued as larger stories. The now recognised six part story The Chase didn’t have Part One, Two, Three — no. They featured episodes with titles like The Executioners, Flight through Eternity, and The Death of Doctor Who. (That title must have rattled a few kids.)

But it was so enjoyable to experience the downtime and interpersonal relationships of the TARDIS crew. Quite the immersive experience. The little things, like at the beginning of The Web Planet, Barbara and Vicki chatting about the gold bracelet Barbara received from Nero in the previous romp, The Romans; or the toll Susan’s departure took on the Doctor as the events of The Dalek Invasion of Earth ended and The Rescue began.

It’s also worth noting that as always, the restoration team has added as much digital magic as is possible to bring us the best in sound and picture. Such wizardry gives us such good detail, you can often see the seams and wrinkles in some background “skies” and the like — and I relish it. In some productions, spotting an obvious background painting might take you out of the story, because suddenly, they’re no longer “fooling” you. Not so with 1960s Doctor Who. It’s all part of The Play. Many of these enhancements were made going into the individual DVDs, so I’m unsure how much more has or could be added here, considering the original sources’ limitations of the day.

As for the adventures themselves, the production teams of the day created without a doubt some of the most imaginative and ingenious work ever done on television. Especially considering the threadbare budget of the BBC. There were times where they clearly bit off more than they could chew, or you could say the production team’s eyes were bigger than their stomachs, but even then, you had to give your compliments to the chef for sheer determination and bravery, bringing forth a tantalising repast.

The incomparable Verity Lambert and co. brings us Doctor Who Season 2.

Planet of Giants

Written by Louis Marks, directed by Melvyn Pinfield and Douglas Camfield

Episode titles: “Planet of Giants”, “Dangerous Journey”, “Crisis”.

I’m not sure if this three parter gets its proper due when opinion polls look back on it. Not only is it economically paced, unlike some six parters I can think of (hello, The Sensorites, or insert any one of the more bloated, longer stories here…), but it’s simple, to the point, and at times, chilling. And the prop work! The detail and craft shown in creating the sink drain, the valise, the match, the INSECTS! These were amazing. Extra points on the story’s reasoning for why most of these bugs didn’t move, thus helping sell the authenticity—and then, they give us the fly, which does.

And it must be said that this is how you have the four person main cast interact. In each of these stories, no character is wasted, everyone is utilised, used to build and explore drama, emotion. The comfortable back and forth as seen through the first and second season especially is a testament to the superb writing as well as its lead actors. Here, Barbara hides the fact that she’s been poisoned by the insecticide, which builds the tension as the crew’s situation gets ever more desperate. You care about these travellers.

8 of 10.

The Dalek Invasion of Earth

Written by Terry Nation, directed by Richard Martin

Episode titles: “World’s End”, “Day of Reckoning”, “The Daleks”, “The End of Tomorrow”, “The Waking Ally”, “Flashpoint”.

This is a six-parter that earns its place in the ranks, as well as its length. The Daleks put Doctor Who on the map, but Lambert waited a year before bringing them back. Almost hard to believe it’s only the second Dalek story, but it’s a powerful one. We open on a poster warning against dumping bodies in the Thames. And we’re off.

Although the quality track record on six-part adventures can vary —excessive padding is the most persistent criticism— The Dalek Invasion of Earth makes the most of its airtime. It gives us a healthy dose of Daleks, an insane scheme on their part, a true feeling of hopelessness, then victory (and even romance). This was one of the rare examples of a companion relationship feeling honest and earned, even if you watch all six parts in one sitting, as opposed to over the course of six weeks as originally aired. Susan and David belonged together, and it felt right. Perhaps you can chalk up this rare, well developed relationship to having a female producer? Possibly.

The circumstances under which the Doctor leaves his granddaughter behind creates one of the most poignant endings for a companion ever. Later companions under different producers didn’t fare nearly as well.

Of course, Carole Ann Ford leaving the show upset Hartnell almost as much as Susan leaving her grandfather did, but Ford felt there wasn’t the type of character development she hoped for with Susan, and she was right. There was far more hysterical screaming than there needed to be, especially for such an allegedly advanced and sophisticated teenager. One of the rare blemishes of the Lambert era.

Along with the established remastering, the updated effects first brought in for the DVD are also here. Superbly inserted into the proceedings, blending in and elevating the effects to just the right levels. Also, kudos to the superior menu design on the Blu-rays. When choosing the updated effects on the DVD, it was never made clear if the new effects were on or off. Very frustrating.

In the end, the only thing more chilling than seeing the Daleks on Skaro, was bringing them to Earth.

9 of 10.

The Rescue

Written by David Whitaker, directed by Christopher Barry

Episode titles: “The Powerful Enemy”. “Desperate Measures”.

In this noteworthy two-part adventure, the Doctor actually sleeps through the TARDIS materialising, and even after landing on the planet Dido, he wants nothing more than another nap. He is, simply, depressed. His granddaughter is gone. It’s the first time we’ve seen the Doctor lose someone, and it’s taken away some of his spirit. Ian and Barbara are rightfully concerned for him.

But they and we soon meet a ship-wrecked survivor named Vicki, who’s kept under the thumb of the menacing Bennett, and the even more menacing Koquillion, as the TARDIS crew tackle the mystery surrounding them. Maureen O’Brien’s Vicki is the perfect tonic for not only the Doctor, but the viewers as well. Vicki may be a young girl, similar to Susan’s age, but that’s where the resemblance ends. Vicki will often give as good as she gets, isn’t a screamer, and doesn’t seem to twist her ankle on a regular basis.

Of course, some of that’s the writing, but some of it’s also how O’Brien carried herself as Vicki, refusing to be a useless, screaming hostage, I salute her for that. Having established the new crew, they moved on…

7 of 10.

The Romans

Written by Dennis Spooner, directed by Christopher Barry

Episode titles: “The Slave Traders”, “All Roads lead to Rome”, “Conspiracy”, “Inferno”.

Dennis Spooner is a fantastic writer who knew how to blend comedy and drama. I don’t know if that ability has ever been more apparent than in The Romans.

Spooner treats us to relaxing moments with Ian and Barbara as they continue to enjoy peace and quiet outside Rome in a “borrowed” villa, where the TARDIS crew has been for a month! They tease and joke with each other, further showing us the bond they have. Contrast that with facing the realities of being kidnapped and sold into slavery within the same episode! This was a real rollercoaster, this one.

While Ian and Barbara face an uncertain future, the Doctor and Vicki visit Rome, and find themselves in intrigue up to their necks. The Doctor even makes quick work of an assassin trying to do him in. Don’t know if we’d ever seen him so spry. I can’t help but think about that Power Nap he took at the beginning of The Rescue…

The Doctor even takes advantage of a case of mistaken identity and parlays it into an audience with Caesar Nero himself. Spooner masterfully weaves the independent storylines together, showing just how lovely, amusing, and terrifying visiting the past can be.

8 of 10.

The Web Planet

Written by Bill Strutton, directed by Richard Martin

Episode titles: “The Web Planet”, “The Zarbi”, “Escape to Danger”, “The Crater of Needles”, “Invasion”, “The Centre“.

Okay, a lot to unpack here. Intention, ambition, visual choices, costuming choices, budget: you name it. Maybe get a cup of coffee, make a sandwich, or grab a cocktail, depending on the time of day you’re reading this.

Verity Lambert was capable of virtually anything. What she’d accomplished with this alleged “children’s show” was nothing short of miraculous, and to do it in the face of the opposition of the times was even more impressive.

That being said, The Web Planet fell a bit short. If that had been the second ever serial of Doctor Who instead of The Dead Planet, I think it’s fair to say the Beeb might not have let them go beyond 13 episodes.

But… has there ever been a more ambitious undertaking in the history of the show? I’d be hard pressed to think of one. Here’s an episode guide note regarding the genesis of the story idea and behind scenes planning:

“When crafting an idea for the serial, Strutton recalled a memory as a child of watching two bull ants fighting, which he linked with his two sons fighting each other. Story editor Dennis Spooner found the narrative to be multilayered, with the Menoptra representing free enterprise and the Zarbi communism. Martin hired a mime artist to develop choreography for the serial, and forwent a traditional score in favour of prerecorded stock music. The Web Planet premiered with 13.5 million viewers, the highest in the series to date; it maintained high viewership across the six weeks.”

But reviews were mixed, citing a confusing story, but appreciative of the monumental attempt. Everybody went out of their way on this one. I have to imagine this story ate up a fair amount of the season’s budget, even amortizing it across six episodes.

I’ll admit, the parallels of free enterprise and communism were totally lost on me, and I’m sure the same could be said of the small children watching it live, back in the day. At the same time, I would think the kids ate this one up. Butterfly people, giant ants, and… whatever the Optera were. Grubs? All I know is, the lead Optera sounded — and I’m not joking — exactly like Razor in World Enough and Time. I’ll admit, the voice of this grub character… I pictured the Master once again staying in some bizarre disguise for years, for… some reason.

The poor costume designers. At least with The Romans, there was a fair chance they could have borrowed some togas from other BBC productions. But here… at first, I’m sure they were excited — getting to design an alien, humanoid, butterfly species! Stripes, and fur and large wings that spread out, because of course they have to fly as well. Quite the mission statement already.

But then, there was a need for a second, totally different species that look like giant ants, massive, with hard shells which would require actors and stuntmen to be bent over at awkward, back-breaking angles for hours at a time.

AND then, a third alien species, looking like grubs, were necessary. While they successfully approximated the look and feel of furry butterflies, with gossamer wings for the Menoptera, and even the menacing, hard shelled ant appearance of the Zarbi, the end result for the Optera was more like a school play, with lots and lots of felt, but I sympathise. I mean… grubs.

The set designers needed to create the Animus character, a disembodied alien underground presence, and of course the massive planet Vortis, with the painted night sky filled with stars and moons.

I’m not sure how much of this production was an exciting challenge, and how much of it was a headache, but I can only imagine the logistics of prepping a scene where several Menoptera all swoop down across an alien landscape — laid out in several levels — to engage in battle with the Zarbi.

ZAARRRRRBEEEEEEEEEEE!

Martin hiring a mime to coordinate the different species’ movements, adding a filter to the camera lens to give Vortis’ atmosphere a different, slightly blurred, alien look… So much detail. Thankfully, the visuals here are much much better and sharper than the first time I watched the serial years ago. There’s no doubt, those improved visuals help the experience quite a bit, but yes, as far as pacing goes, if this were a four-parter, the whole story would have been a bit less of a slog.

Credit where credit is due on this ambitious venture, but it was about 50 years ahead if its time.

Side note: Still also better than the puppets in Invasion of the Dinosaurs. Just saying.

6 of 10.

The Crusade

Written by David Whitaker, directed by Douglas Camfield.

Episode titles: “The Lion”, “The Knight of Jaffa” (missing), “Wheel of Fortune”, “The Warlords” (missing).

The options regarding the presentation of missing episodes 2 and 4 here surprised me in a good way. The big point of contention here is that with all of season two naturally intact except for only two episodes, The Knight of Jaffa and The Warlords, you’d think the BBC would have gone to the trouble of animating those two eps. They did not, but they had their reasons.

However, they do give options on experiencing the missing episodes. One option is to watch episodes 2 and 4 through telesnaps matched with the original soundtrack, which I’ve done in the past. This time, though, I opted for William Russell, as Ian Chesterton telling us about the events of the two missing episodes while in his study, and I must say, it was lovely to see Russell back in character, reminiscing about his time with the Doctor.

In a way, it’s almost the best of both worlds. We get to see episodes 1 and 3 with stunning performances by Bernard Kay (Saladin), Julian Glover (King Richard), and Jean Marsh (Princess Joanna), and the rest of the time, we spend with Ian. I believe Russell must have filmed his connecting scenes some time ago, because he appeared some 15 to 20 years younger than he is now. Seriously, I have no complaints; I enjoyed that they did this.

Would something like that work to “patch over” the entirety of Marco Polo? Doubtful, although I don’t know if Russell happened to do anything like that for that story back in the day.

But here and now, in this instance, it worked for The Crusade.

As for the story itself — oh, how I wish those episodes would be recovered. Once again, Doctor Who meets masterpiece theater. Intense drama, and plenty of action. The Doctor battles brigands with his sword, right alongside Ian. That Power Nap again!

One final note — David Whitaker was the absolute best at writing historical adventures.

8 of 10.

The Space Museum

Written by Glyn Jones, directed by Melvyn Pinfield

Episode titles: “The Space Museum”, “The Dimensions of Time”, “The Search”, “The Final Phase”.

Not one of the more popular stories, but very high concept and something we’ve seen before and also copied quite a bit over the decades in other sci-fi shows. A very Twilight Zone feel to it, with the crew trying to change their own future to prevent becoming exhibits in the titular location. A well done story with a couple interesting side notes such as a young Jeremy Bulloch a decade before his turn as an archer in The Time Warrior and as Boba Fett in Star Wars.

Also, after being abducted, the Doctor plays opossum before getting the drop on one of his attackers, leaving him hogtied for his compatriots to find. The youth, with some crazy alien eyebrows described being attacked by the old man like getting hit by a whirlwind. Power Nap!

6.5 of 10.

The Chase

Written by Terry Nation, directed by Richard Martin

Episode titles: “The Executioners”, “The Death of Time”, “Flight Through Eternity”, “Journey into Terror”, “The Death of Doctor Who”, “The Planet of Decision”.

Lots of fun gimmicks in this six-parter, but most importantly, the Daleks have built themselves a time machine, and that’s bad news for everybody. I have to wonder if Nation were running out of gas at this point regarding what to do with the Daleks. The entire story comes across as a bit of a mish-mash, but then again, it is a chase across space and time.

From the rather blobby mire beasts on Arridia, to the not quite convincing American accents at the Empire State Building, to rather silly and OTT monsters at the haunted house, and the rather unconvincing Doctor duplicate, this felt a bit like a Dalek cash-in. The nicest part of the proceedings was Ian and Barbara finally going home. Although, with all the goings on, I can’t really say this six-parter felt padded; just maybe a bit underwhelming. I’m glad that Dennis Spooner would step in and do most of the heavy lifting the next time the Daleks showed up.

6 of 10.

The Time Meddler

Written by Dennis Spooner, directed by Douglas Camfield

Episode titles: “The Watcher”, “The Meddling Monk”, “A Battle of Wits”, “Checkmate”.

This was a wonderfully written and produced quasi-historical, that was both fun and frightening at points, but I expect nothing less from Spooner. The Doctor’s separated from Steven and Vicki for most of this one, but that may have been to spotlight the two companions as they get to know each other. Steven’s a bit abrasive here as the sceptic, but then again, he’s got every right to be. He keeps getting conflicting info about what century he’s really in. It’s the battle of wits between the Doctor and the Monk, though, that’s most entertaining.

On the dark side, you’ve got the viking raiding party that assaults and traumatises a woman in the village. Spooner always gives you light moments, but is careful to balance them out with harsh reality. You’ve got to admire the honesty there.

The Monk would only appear one more time, during The Daleks’ Master Plan. I’d have to guess that if Hartnell kept on going for a full fourth season, they might have brought in the Monk again, as they made for good rivals. At the same time, I can see why they wouldn’t keep it going when Patrick Troughton came along. The Monk was a bit too similar to the Second Doctor, what with the impish attitude and mop of hair.

This was a very good story to end the season on though. New TARDIS crew, and a new rival for the Doctor, who just happened to be one of his own people!

8 of 10.

Overall, I’d say Season 2 is easily as solid as the first, possibly even a tiny bit better. I heartily recommend getting this box set and enjoying it episode by episode even more so than story by story. Enjoy the “Overview”. It really does present the show, the narrative, the regulars in a different light. Something we lost — to an extent — by the end of the Hartnell era.

I’m very curious as to which of the back and white seasons they’ll release next. Since they’ve been filling the holes in Season 4 with animation, that’s a possibility, but Seasons 1, 5, and 6 are only missing one story each. Since the BBC have now demonstrated that they have no problem releasing an incomplete season on Blu-ray, anything goes.

It seems as though as long as the missing episode count isn’t too high, they’ll take the risk. Maybe they’re also watching how sales are for this one, monitoring feedback on exactly how much the incomplete aspect hurts them. We’ll see.

And what of you, dear reader? Which ‘60s season are you rooting for to come out next?

The long journey of Marco Polo has been beset with sabotage, and many of the party’s lives threatened. At last, Marco Polo finds out that his right hand man is working for another, and against Polo’s best interests. When his sinister agenda is revealed, there is a fight to the death. 

In honour of Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, and inspired by the seven part, pure historical drama, we continue the Marco Polo collection with Final Battle, the last in the collection; available at Redbubble, this high resolution image can be obtained in any number of forms and sizes, on prints, posters, cards, and other merchandise. And with all prints, there is a choice of the standard image, or the enhanced version (as below) with the title and border included.

The treachery of Warlord Tegana is finally uncovered and Marco ends his betrayal once and for all. So ends the very first story of Doctor Who that is sadly missing from the archives. We can, however, enjoy it on disk and vinyl, as the soundtrack still exists. Perhaps one day, it might be animated and done proper justice.

Also available in “The Marco Polo Collection” at Redbubble:

• Mongols at the Pass
• Warlord in the Desert
• The Cave
• The Caravan
• Attack on the Camp
• The Khan’s Palace

Note: the images above are of low resolution for the purposes of this article only, as the actual image is high resolution, perfect for the prints available. This concludes the Marco Polo collection, made to celebrate Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary.

It’s been my honor to celebrate a magnificent story in Doctor Who’s 60th year.

I complain that Chris Chibnall screwed up the Timeless Child idea, so I’m putting my money where my mouth is, and giving my thoughts on how another approach might have worked a bit better.

For the record, it’s not that the very concept of the Timeless Child is totally unthinkable or impossible. After all, Philip Hinchcliffe, Robert Holmes, and those gang of pranksters loaded up The Brain of Morbius with an in-joke of putting mysterious extra faces on a screen in addition to Hartnell, Troughton, Pertwee, and Baker.

Is it really a shock that some 5 year old watching it was mesmerized by it? That he’d imprint on it?

At the same time, totally ignore the obvious possibility that those extra faces were Morbius’? The fact that he’d eventually be a future showrunner who’d blow it all up exponentially was admittedly a curve though.

I’ve long held the belief that you can do any story — as long as it’s done well. Execution is all. That being said, let’s take a little trip over to a different time track. Imagine if the different elements of the Timeless Child were presented a bit differently, with a different showrunner. This would be taking a different direction at the fork in the road when writing the script.

It all begins and ends with Fugitive of the Judoon. I’ve said before that this is my favourite of the entire Chibnall/Jodie Whittaker era. The fact the Vinay Patel was the co-credited writer probably has a lot to do with it. Another bonus: this episode is basically the Jo Martin era all in one go, and she’s a very good Doctor, outshining Jodie throughout. 

For this alternate path, the episode would play out exactly the same, until we hit the grave site scene, where we diverge. 

The Doctor’s sonic is picking up incredible readings inside the grave. She digs until she unearths the edge of a generic, cylindrical TARDIS. Hearing a voice behind her, she spins around to face “Ruth” in full costume, looking calm, confident, and holding a large weapon. She begins to introduce herself, “Hello, I’m…”  We cut away to an aerial shot, with thunder rumbling, and when we return, the Doctor says that that was a Gallfreyan name — checks to confirm Ruth’s biology with the sonic, only to find out that not only is Ruth a Time Lord, they are the same Time Lord. The Doctor’s stunned, but Ruth’s settled and determined.

They teleport into Martin’s TARDIS, and from there, things run along similar paths as in the episode — we see the confrontation with Gant run its course. After departing, instead of Martin being severely annoyed and ditching Jodie at the next stop, they have an actual heart to heart conversation, where Jodie shows a bit of compassion with her curiosity, while Martin softens a bit. After all, she remembers losing Lee, as well as going on the run in the first place, her human life, and she still wants nothing to do with Division anymore.

She slumps down a bit over the TARDIS console. She feels so old. Ancient. Older than the stars. And she’s tired of the violence. The Doctor tries to comfort her, telling her there is another way. Having resigned herself that Ruth is in the Doctor’s past. The Doctor realises that because of the time differential, Martin won’t remember this meeting at all. Probably not, says Martin. But Martin hits a few controls and the Doctor, in proximity to the psychic circuits on the console, rocks back a bit, stunned. The Doctor’s dropped off, not realising Martin hit her with a remote mind-wipe, and later is found sleeping on a park bench by “the fam”. Her memory of almost everything having to do with Ruth has faded. The TARDIS crew move along to maybe very different stories filling out the rest of Series 12.

Back in Martin’s TARDIS, she knows she can’t go on like this. She needs a fresh start. Not as a human though. She’ll never do that again. The blonde was annoying, but she wasn’t wrong about changing her ways. She decides to go back to the one place Division won’t look. Gallifrey. As her memory of the strange blonde in braces begins to fade, she decides to bring out the chameleon arch again, but this time, to make a different change. A new name, a new Gallifreyan life, a new start. 

Immortality became a curse millions of years ago. A strain… A burden she no longer wanted any part of, so she’ll become someone else. Someone hopeful. Someone who can care again. Someone who’ll walk a different path. At least whoever she becomes will have a chance. 

Sometime later, a small child is found outside the walls of Arcadia and taken in. 

It’s many, many years later when the grown man chooses his path with a name. A name to help and heal. Never cruel, never cowardly. He decides he’ll be not a warrior, but a Doctor. This is where his life truly begins.

Many years later still, he and his granddaughter steal a TARDIS and escape.

Now that’s a rough outline, but I feel it would have been more acceptable to the audience at large. Possibly still divisive, but maybe not as much. In essence, yes, the Doctor had this existence before the Hartnell incarnation for billions of years, doing God knows what, and possibly some unspeakable things, but the headline here would be that this Time Lord remade themselves and only when they decided to change, only then, would they begin again with the Hartnell incarnation and truly become the Doctor. 

You could easily rationalise this path, see how it could work with a “Timeless Child” scenario, because here, Hartnell truly would be the first Doctor. A lot cleaner, I feel. The Thirteenth Doctor finds a TARDIS in the grave, not hers and Ruth may be her but with a different name, not the Doctor. 

The separation there, I think, is important. If the character reinvents themself, effectively starting fresh with a self-imposed type of “witness relocation protection” program that even they don’t know about, it gives the actual Doctor his own beginning, separate from everything that had gone before: a clean break, instead of the confusing, irreconcilable bramble of questions originally presented.

Now, dear reader, instead of what we actually got, would this scenario have been more acceptable?  

We’re currently awaiting confirmations and announcements regarding “The Whoniverse”. This is Russell T Davies’ master plan to create a new collection of TV shows — and beyond — emanating from the world of Doctor Who. This is not a new concept. Building and expanding fictional universes in television and film has been a thing for nearly 100 years. 

To get a better idea what Russell’s up against, let’s take a look at shared universes in the visual media. 

Over here in the states, spin-offs of TV shows are certainly nothing new. Back in the 1970s, we were insane with spin-offs. All in the Family begat The Jeffersons and Maude, which begat Good Times. Mary Tyler Moore begat Rhoda, Phyllis, and Lou Grant. These are just a few examples out of hundreds. It happened a lot — such was the strength of the primary shows and the strength of the side characters who got their own spin-offs. The stronger the character and creative team behind them, the better the results. And while we remember the successful spin-offs, like Frasier coming off Cheers, many others, like Joey after Friends… not so much. Far more misses than hits.

In cinema, it’s been a strikingly different situation. To successfully create one successful film is almost an anomaly, because so many things have to go just right. You need the right actors, script, director, director of photography, musical score, and producers that help, not hinder. Oh, and MONEY. It is extremely difficult to make a hit film. To create an interconnected cinematic universe is a Herculean feat, and for it to be successful? The nearly impossible task becomes exponentially more difficult. 

Universal films had the only successful cinematic universe for a generation during the ‘30s, ‘40s, and into the ‘50s, and that was thanks to the Universal Monsters. Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, the Werewolf, the Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and all the various brides, sons, and Abbot & Costello collected together where cinematic crossovers and spin-offs were king. Larger than life characters all inhabiting their own films in one, interconnected universe. 

Sadly, Universal couldn’t follow it up successfully 70 years later, when trying to do it again. They had Tom Cruise in The Mummy, introducing Russell Crowe as Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, but it under performed, and that was it for the “Dark Universe”.

The Godzilla franchise started out strong in the ‘50s, and although things got silly at points during the ’60s and ‘70s, it was another popular franchise, again monster-driven, and interconnected, if not always critically acclaimed. Legendary films has recently re-ignited the kaiju craze with a new interconnected universe featuring Godzilla and King Kong, which has gone over well with the viewing public.

Star Wars, having embarked on their third trilogy, decided to expand their universe with a flashback film called Rogue One, with more projects in the works as well. You could ask: why did the powers that be suddenly start thinking bigger and wider when it comes to the Force? Or why did Universal try to jump start their half century old interconnected universe again? Or why did the Godzilla franchise once again open up shop with Kong? Well yes, Hollywood has shown us that no franchise can ever be allowed to die, or completely fade away. And of course, money is a thing. Even Freddy and Jason had a crossover, and Predator and Aliens have crossed over, and they were variously successful stunts… but… 

Kevin Fiege showed everyone how to construct a quality, interconnected cinematic universe, how to do it well, and how to do it BIG. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the most successful franchise in movie history by a country mile. Starting with Iron Man in 2008, the MCU has produced around 30 films, bringing the characters from their comics alive on the screen. It has been the monumental achievement in cinema. And here’s the kicker. When they started the thing, they didn’t even have any of their most popular characters to work with. 

No, the X-Men, Spider-Man, and the Fantastic Four’s rights were tied up with other studios. So Fiege and Marvel rolled the dice, started their own studio, took a bunch of their second- and third-tier characters, and made it happen. One big advantage Fiege had was that Marvel comics was one big shared, interconnected universe starting all the way back in the ‘60s (or arguably from Marvel Comics #1 in 1939) when Stan Lee set the stories all in New York City, where all the heroes interacted with each other in all the books. 

So the suits involved with Universal, Godzilla, Star Wars, all took note and dove in — to various degrees of success and failure. Sony, who still has the rights to Spider-Man, eventually played it smart after their Spider-Man efforts continued to sink, and partnered with Marvel to share Peter Parker et al., bringing him into the MCU. More on them later.

And then streaming happened. And Disney happened. Having purchased Marvel and Star Wars, they created the online Disney + streaming service. Suddenly, cinema and TV meshed together in streaming, and the franchises gathered together. Disney wisely let the franchises do their own thing, again, to varying degrees of success. Marvel has its films and streaming series; Star Wars has its streaming series and will venture back into the theatre in future. 

And here, now, is where Doctor Who enters the big picture on Disney +, under the stewardship and creative control of Russell T Davies. 

Now, Marvel has the streaming series, which spun out of the films, which spun out of their comics. Star Wars has their streaming series, various animated series, and comics which spun from the films. Doctor Who has comics and audios that spun from their television series — which will soon also be a streaming series.

So we’re dealing with three different franchises, all coming from different media, to land in the same place. 

At this point, we have to look at the potential for stories, characters, possibilities. How strong are the rosters for each franchise, that they can build more sub franchises and spin-offs? Marvel. Star Wars. Doctor Who.  

Hands down, Marvel wins this competition with about 1,000 characters in their pockets, and creative direction that’s taken even bottom of the barrel, fourth tier characters like the Guardians of the Galaxy and turned them into superstars. The sub franchises are lining up around the block. Even though they’ve taken a couple critical blows in Phase 4, they’re still sitting pretty, as long as they can keep bringing in new, quality creatives for these projects, as they’ve got tons of raw material to work with.

In fact, Marvel’s comic universes boasts some 70,000 characters.

Their big competition, DC, has mostly been an uncoordinated mess with their cinematic universe, but they’re poised to turn things around moving forward with James Gunn, with their less populated but still formidable roster of characters to work with. 

Star Wars has plenty of popular characters, but the majority of them are generations old, as are the actors who portrayed them. They’d have to bring in more new characters to breathe more life into the universe. The Mandalorian had a good start in that direction, while Andor has been critically acclaimed, but it may not be enough. The most recent films and several of the streaming series have taken a lot of critical blows, and yet they also have plenty to work with to right the ship.

To contrast all those crowded universes, Doctor Who has… well, the Doctor. And all of time and space. It’s simultaneously very little, yet everything. 

The American counterpoint to Who would be Star Trek. Another TV series that was very popular in the 1960s, went away, had some wilderness years, came back, transformed itself, travelled across centuries, and gave us some incredible performances, by several different ensembles, with numerous ships, captains and crews, over six decades. The big difference would be the 13 feature films, but in the end, they also ended up streaming new series, to varying degrees of success. But they’ve got more stories to tell, if, like Star Wars, they can bring in more, better talent to maintain their universe and bring it forward in the years to come.

Which brings us back to Doctor Who. Aside from the Peter Cushing films, which aren’t even canon, we’ve got a few anniversary events, two or three old spin-offs, a TV movie, and that’s about it. Marvel can lean on its library of hundreds of thousands of comics and characters. Star Wars can mine every last character from their films and even their animated series. Who has to rely on the main TV show, and the characters that have come to life through it over the past 60 years. 

The big question is, does Doctor Who have the necessary raw material aside from the Doctor to successfully populate a Whoniverse?

With Who, more than any other franchise, everything depends on the creatives. Whereas Marvel’s strengths lie in their comics’ human characters with feet of clay, and Star Wars survived on eye popping effects in their films, both parlaying their empires into juggernauts, Doctor Who had humbler beginnings. No SFX, no budget, not even in colour for the first six years… yet winning the hearts of their fans with a handful of amazing actors working in conjunction with brilliant stories, and an incredible array of monsters and villains. 

After a while, people get jaded and tired of SFX, and not all comic characters are going to charm and excite people. But Doctor Who comes from a different place. Many of us fell in love with it when it had no money, just a wonderful personality. It’s our best friend, as well as our love. This counts for something. So when we assess what will come with this new “Whoniverse”, that will be one advantage. Another would be Russell. 

Another comparison. Sony has the film rights to Spider-Man, and the entire Spider-Man comic world. While the MCU has made the Tom Holland films wildly popular, Sony has had to make their own movies with other, lesser-known Spider-Man properties. Venom. Morbius. Kraven the Hunter. Madame Webb. Rocket Racer. Venom was a big hit at the box office; Morbius was not. No idea how the rest will fare. Sony is basically rolling the dice here, doing films featuring Spider-Man’s villains, trying to turn them into anti-heroes, and it’s a very dicey plan. 

But it’s all they’ve got. They do have the Spider-Verse and Miles Morales in animated form, but on the whole, Sony’s very limited as to what they’ve got to work with as far as bankable franchises. This is no doubt partially the reason they bought Bad Wolf. Sony’s wonderful working relationship with Marvel/Disney has been a win/win for them, and their respective shareholders. Now, Sony has a piece of another legendary franchise in Doctor Who. 

The difference between the limited amount of raw materials on hand for Sony in regards to Spider-Man’s rogue’s gallery, and what’s available in the world of Who is down to who’s in charge of creative. Sony doesn’t really have a dedicated Kevin Fiege or a set up like the MCU for their Spidey division. But for Who, they do have RTD with Bad Wolf. This makes all the difference in the world, and it gives us hope. 

So over the next several months, we’re going to hear a lot about the coming Whoniverse. Some of the ideas may seem exciting, or daft, or rubbish, but it doesn’t really matter as long as the plan is strong. As long as the writing and the creative vision are strong. Yes, our love has got some more money now, but that won’t matter, as long as that personality is still going strong. 

I suppose that we can see the potential for the wider world of Who, spin-offs, and RTD’s approach by looking back to the Doctor-lite stories, such as Blink and Turn Left, where we look into the world beyond the Doctor. There are clearly stories that can be told outside of the Doctor.

In Russell we trust. He has quite a bit of work to do.

All hail Kublai Khan! You will kneel in his august presence! At the end of his great trek, Marco Polo and his party — including the Doctor, Ian, Barbara, and Susan— arrive at the mighty Khan’s palace. Although afflicted with ailments, the Khan’s mind is still sharp and he greets his guests, subjects and followers. Most of all, he seeks out Marco Polo to find out what surprises and gifts the Venetian brings with him. 

In honor of Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, and inspired by the seven part, pure historical drama, we continue the Marco Polo collection with “The Khan’s Palace”; available at Redbubble, this high resolution image can be obtained in any number of forms and sizes, on prints, posters, cards, shirts, and other merchandise.

And with all prints, there is a choice of the standard image, or the enhanced version with the title and border included.

The Doctor has been trying to get his TARDIS back this entire adventure, but now, he’s got to figure out a way to wrest it from its new owner, Kublai Khan. It all hinges on a game of backgammon.

Also available in “The Marco Polo Collection” at Redbubble:

• Mongols at the Pass
• Warlord in the Desert
• The Cave
• The Caravan
• Attack on the Camp

Note: the images above are of low resolution for the purposes of this article only, as the actual image is high resolution, perfect for the prints available.

The Marco Polo Collection will continue next time with “Final Battle”…

A too quiet night in the bamboo forest. With danger at every pass, it’s no surprise when enemy mongol forces attack Marco Polo’s camp. Sudden slaughter and savagery in the dead of night.

In honor of Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, and inspired by the seven part, pure historical drama, we continue The Marco Polo Collection with “Attack on the Camp”, available only at Redbubble. This high resolution image can be obtained in any number of forms and sizes, on prints, posters, cards, and other merchandise. And with all prints, there is a choice of the standard image, or the enhanced version with the title and border included.

And until 7th March, you can get 20% off everything on RedBubble!

All the danger, conflict and treachery in the story begins and ends with the scheming Tegana, and his nefarious plans. While others don’t necessarily trust the mysterious warlord, Marco Polo believes Tegana to be loyal to him and his cause in the name of his mission for the exalted Kublai Khan. Whether it’s sabotaging Marco’s water supply for the caravan, or orchestrating this attack, Polo finds out too late who the viper is in their midst.

Also available in “The Marco Polo Collection” at Redbubble:

• Mongols at the Pass
• Warlord in the Desert
• The Cave
• The Caravan

Note: The images above are of low resolution for the purposes of this article only, as the actual image is high resolution, perfect for the prints available.

The Marco Polo Collection will continue next time with “The Khan’s Palace”…

Just this morning, I finally received the Regeneration Set from Character Options in the mail. As I have each incarnation represented (some, several times over…), I certainly had to get the Fourteenth Doctor played by David Tennant. You’ve probably heard of him — he was the lead in Casanova. He also played the gloomy, unshaven grump in Broadchurch, but I will not hold that against him. I’m sure he’ll do fine in this new role.

Anyway, doubtless you’ve seen the intro video by Al Dewar, showing off the window box and lid containing the finest Doctor Who logo in the show’s history. It’s delightful packaging. But what of the figures themselves?

In this day and age of advanced technology, computer body scanning, etc., there’s no reason for any figure’s likeness to be less than perfect, and this duo doesn’t disappoint as far as the sculpts go. Great marks, as they even add that interesting texture to Tennant’s coat. There’s a wonderful amount of detail on both of these.

As for the paint job, well, I’ve got to say, this is maybe the best version of Jodie they’ve ever put out. I have two others, and although they were okay, some bits, as far as details like her hair, lacked subtlety in the painting. This version is truly lovely. The fact that she’s dressed in an amalgamation of classic Doctor’s clothes is merely a bonus. The details of her hair and face are really quite beautiful. I’m actually stunned that they were able to get these fine details so perfectly and delicately rendered. 10 of 10.

As for Tennant, although the sculpt was spot on, getting the older Tennant’s features right, it’s the paint job which slightly puts off the likeness. Don’t get me wrong — it’s not bad, but I don’t think they took as much care with him as they did with her. I think the main issue was the very slight cross-eyed look he’s got, which is all down to the painting. Again, we’re talking about the smallest of micro-measurements, but when you’re dealing with the eye-line, it’s crucial to get it right. I actually went in with an ultra-fine-point Sharpie and gave the merest whisper of a tiny dot to his outer right eye (on the left as we look at him) and that made a difference. But all in all, a good job. 

I have noticed that Tennant’s never smiling in any of his 5.5 inch scale figures. I kind of wish he were.

It might have helped the sculpting detail. Peter Capaldi had two versions of his head sculpted. The first was for The Time of the Doctor regeneration set. In it, he had a smirk/smile, and it was a great sculpt, with a great paint job. So great, that I ended up buying four or five of those sets, because…

For every subsequent Capaldi figure with his various shirts and outfits, they used a different head sculpt where he was not smiling. The sculpt wasn’t bad at all, but without that smirk adding slight variations in the plateaus of his face, the paint jobs were horrible, and it didn’t even look like him. That’s why I had to get the extra The Time of the Doctor sets; for the heads. Ah well.

I’d say Tennant should maybe try smiling for a sculpt in future, but I highly suspect this is the last Doctor Who action figure mold he’ll be participating in, much like Capaldi.

Bottom line, this is a very well done set, and for those who like C.O.’s Doctor Who figures, I’d say this is a must get.

For my own collection, I’ve got a couple line ups of all the incarnations, so I might have to hope they bring this Fourteenth Doctor one back for the inevitable next regeneration set with Tennant and Ncuti Gatwa. I’m thinking that will be the last time we get such a figure, but at least I’ll have my second Fourteenth. 

Well done again, Character Options!

You can get the Regeneration Set from Character Options right now.