I don't understand the hate towards this story. It does start a bit slow but really picks up once you arrive at the space hospital. The whole walking around in someone's brain is a really creative idea and the nucleus is cool! When the nucleus leaves the brain however it does look a bit ropey but doesn't all of season 15?? I think if you look past the limitations of the budget this is a great story imo!
6 Reviews
Contact has been made!
tonygarraway200924 November 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Overall I quite like this story. However I will start this review with some of it's negative points:
The story has a low budget feel and feels a bit rushed in places. One of the effects sequences involving a cracked wall in episode three has gone down in Doctor Who history for being a bit shoddy. This is a fair point I suppose. Also, the story does have a B-movie feel at times and some people may argue that the series has dropped in quality after the highs of the Philip Hinchcliffe era. Of course, this was the start of Graham Williams' time as producer. Perhaps a change in style/tone was inevitable.
However I must admit that I do find the story generally entertaining. Tom Baker is on fine form and we are introduced to K9. The model sequences in this story look pretty good and the incidental music from Dudley Simpson compliments the story well. The basis of the story uses elements from the 1966 sci-fi movie 'Fantastic Voyage'. Obviously Doctor Who's budget was a limiting factor but I feel the story is done reasonbly well.
S15: The Invisible Enemy: Maybe there is a good idea in there, but it is hidden behind the bad ones and fairly laughable designs
bob the moo18 September 2016
An odd start to season 15. The Horror of Fang Rock had its weaknesses, but in many ways it felt like an old style serial (Doctor #2) crossed with the slightly Gothic horror content that the last few seasons occasionally produced. This serial starts interestingly enough, with the Doctor seized by some sort of force which appears to also be seizing humans to make them prepare for a wider outbreak. However from the very start the design and the detail kept me from getting into it. The most obvious example is the 'possessed' effects, which are just hairy hands and the type of eyebrows that men my age tend to get whether we are preparing for a nucleus or not. These look cheap and are endlessly silly.
On top of this the detail of the story is weak. It is a bit of a 'base under siege' affair in some ways but mostly it doesn't really work in the first half. In the second half it just gets daft. The Doctor's clone enters his own head – and not in a theoretical way which one could go with, but in a real 'Innerspace / Fantastic Voyage' way. This element is daft in the concept, and really doesn't work at all in the execution. The design standards don't help but it doesn't do much interesting in there – or at least not interesting enough to cover for the weaknesses. The nucleus itself is a sight to see – a mix of a prawn, a rat, and one of those inflatable dancing men you see outside North American car showrooms. It is hard to take serious, particularly as it is forcibly wheeled around the place. Speaking of which, K9 makes an appearance here, and as much nostalgic charm as he/it brings, it is hard not to notice the limitations of the character even in the first outing. I do look forward to seeing how they manage to find a use for him moving forward.
The cast are mixed. Baker and Jameson aren't as good as the last serial, which is mostly down to the weaker material. The supporting cast are a bit wooden and do not bring much to the table in their characters. The special effects have some okay model work in there, although some of it is pretty rough (the spaceship moving up and down to avoid asteroids for example). The general design is poor though – some ambition perhaps, but not able to pull it off. Thinking back to the design work on Planet of Evil just a season or so ago, it is disappointing – but then on the other hand, this is the late 70's so maybe I expect too much.
All told, a mostly flat serial. There are some nice ideas but none really come together, and instead it is the weak design and silliness that sticks in the mind.
On top of this the detail of the story is weak. It is a bit of a 'base under siege' affair in some ways but mostly it doesn't really work in the first half. In the second half it just gets daft. The Doctor's clone enters his own head – and not in a theoretical way which one could go with, but in a real 'Innerspace / Fantastic Voyage' way. This element is daft in the concept, and really doesn't work at all in the execution. The design standards don't help but it doesn't do much interesting in there – or at least not interesting enough to cover for the weaknesses. The nucleus itself is a sight to see – a mix of a prawn, a rat, and one of those inflatable dancing men you see outside North American car showrooms. It is hard to take serious, particularly as it is forcibly wheeled around the place. Speaking of which, K9 makes an appearance here, and as much nostalgic charm as he/it brings, it is hard not to notice the limitations of the character even in the first outing. I do look forward to seeing how they manage to find a use for him moving forward.
The cast are mixed. Baker and Jameson aren't as good as the last serial, which is mostly down to the weaker material. The supporting cast are a bit wooden and do not bring much to the table in their characters. The special effects have some okay model work in there, although some of it is pretty rough (the spaceship moving up and down to avoid asteroids for example). The general design is poor though – some ambition perhaps, but not able to pull it off. Thinking back to the design work on Planet of Evil just a season or so ago, it is disappointing – but then on the other hand, this is the late 70's so maybe I expect too much.
All told, a mostly flat serial. There are some nice ideas but none really come together, and instead it is the weak design and silliness that sticks in the mind.
What is visible is the increased aim for comedy and the drop from the top quality of Seasons 12 to 14.
A_Kind_Of_CineMagic12 January 2015
Review of all 4 episodes:
This story is not awful at all but is clearly a change in general direction for the series and not a good one. The first 2 parts are not bad at all but show clearly the start of the more humour based, lightweight story writing that was forced upon the series by bosses. Parts 1 and 2 fall into what I would term as the category 'quite fun and enjoyable with plenty of good aspects but not at all outstanding by Doctor Who's very high standards': 7.5/10. Part 3 then falls quite a lot further down into the category of rather silly and disappointing by Doctor Who standards: 4/10 and Part 4 is rather too jokey and flimsy, not too bad but below the expected level for the show: 6/10.
The story is a space adventure in which the TARDIS is infiltrated by 'the swarm', an alien intelligence that wishes to spread itself across the universe. The arrival of K-9, the robot dog who becomes The Doctor's companion is notable and K-9 is enjoyable in his debut. The line saying "I hope he is TARDIS trained" and a few other moments regarding him are examples of the sillier humour creeping in though. The idea of cloning and shrinking the Doctor and Leela then wandering about inside the Doctor's body to fight the virus is overly ambitious with limitations of effects and is not convincing (an idea re-used to rather better standards in 'Into the Dalek' in 2014). This journey inside the body and the rather embarrassing giant shrimp-like swarm nucleus are the low points.
Frederick Jaeger as Professor Marius is very good as is Michael Sheard as Lowe. Tom Baker and Louise Jameson are more comedic than they had been up to now but carry it off brilliantly.
The script and production is not bad but following more than three years of such amazing high quality it stands out as less high standard. There are some decent effects such as the spaceship coming in to land in Part 1 but also some really bad effects, some funny lines and some cringe-making ones, some good ideas and some problematic ones, some good sets and costume ideas and some unimpressive costumes/make-up, some nice touches and some clumsy bits. Overall a below par adventure but not really poor.
My ratings: Parts 1 & 2 - 7.5/10, Part 3 - 4/10, Part 4 - 6/10.
This story is not awful at all but is clearly a change in general direction for the series and not a good one. The first 2 parts are not bad at all but show clearly the start of the more humour based, lightweight story writing that was forced upon the series by bosses. Parts 1 and 2 fall into what I would term as the category 'quite fun and enjoyable with plenty of good aspects but not at all outstanding by Doctor Who's very high standards': 7.5/10. Part 3 then falls quite a lot further down into the category of rather silly and disappointing by Doctor Who standards: 4/10 and Part 4 is rather too jokey and flimsy, not too bad but below the expected level for the show: 6/10.
The story is a space adventure in which the TARDIS is infiltrated by 'the swarm', an alien intelligence that wishes to spread itself across the universe. The arrival of K-9, the robot dog who becomes The Doctor's companion is notable and K-9 is enjoyable in his debut. The line saying "I hope he is TARDIS trained" and a few other moments regarding him are examples of the sillier humour creeping in though. The idea of cloning and shrinking the Doctor and Leela then wandering about inside the Doctor's body to fight the virus is overly ambitious with limitations of effects and is not convincing (an idea re-used to rather better standards in 'Into the Dalek' in 2014). This journey inside the body and the rather embarrassing giant shrimp-like swarm nucleus are the low points.
Frederick Jaeger as Professor Marius is very good as is Michael Sheard as Lowe. Tom Baker and Louise Jameson are more comedic than they had been up to now but carry it off brilliantly.
The script and production is not bad but following more than three years of such amazing high quality it stands out as less high standard. There are some decent effects such as the spaceship coming in to land in Part 1 but also some really bad effects, some funny lines and some cringe-making ones, some good ideas and some problematic ones, some good sets and costume ideas and some unimpressive costumes/make-up, some nice touches and some clumsy bits. Overall a below par adventure but not really poor.
My ratings: Parts 1 & 2 - 7.5/10, Part 3 - 4/10, Part 4 - 6/10.
Fingerbobs on Acid...
Xstal4 July 2022
It's not great, is it.
Sleepin_Dragon14 January 2019
The downward spiral is complete, what started off as a very decent story, has turned into a bit of a mess. It's just so hard to get past the fact that it's a giant prawn barking orders, no pun intended. There are some positives, it's quite a good Leela story, she has some funny lines, and behaves in character. The hatchlings look pretty grim, and there's a great scene where The Doctor accidentally forgets Leela. Overall though it has a really cheap and nasty feel, the designer of the prawn got it so badly wrong, so bad that it was literally laughable.
At least it gave us K9, I only hope he's TARDIS trained.
At least it gave us K9, I only hope he's TARDIS trained.
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