The Web Planet

The Doctor, Vicki, Ian and Barbara arrive on the mysterious planet Vortis. Here they meet all manner of strange creatures – Menoptera, Optera, Zarbi, Larvi Guns and the Animus in one of the strangest adventures yet.

Barbara meets the Menoptra

Intelligent bug creatures are much more frequent in the Universe than most people might realise. I have met some nasties in my time – the Leeches spring to mind, big slugs always hell bent on sucking the life out of worlds, but all of these were new to me. In fact they were all pretty friendly in this tale, especially the Menoptera who were based on butterflies but definitely in design bore more than a passing resemblance to bees.

I think that ‘The Web Planet’ is an amazing vision. I think most of the design was wonderful, and Bill Strutton, the writer, was certainly brave to write a story where the Doctor and his companions were the only ‘humans’ in the story. It left quite the challenge for the design and costume team, and indeed the director Richard Martin.

For the most part they succeeded. The Vortis set works very well for such a limited space, and they even managed to make the Menoptra fly by hoisting them up on wires, no mean feat at all. They spent time at Eeling studios getting the shots, and it made me wonder why they didn’t just shoot the whole thing there! The smaller Riverside studios and the others that they used were clearly far too small for the show – just watch this story you will see a camera hit a part of the set on more than one occasion! No doubt it was all about money.

It's a Zzzzzarbi!

For the Doctor Who community, this story seems to divide opinions as far as I can tell. It was explained to me early on that Doctor Who was a children’s programme, and this story certainly feels like it. One could even say it was aimed at younger children than usual. I think as far as imagery goes, it’s outstanding. They achieved a lot on the tiniest of budgets. Unfortunately you could see where the budget couldn’t stretch any further – the Optera were added after the script felt a bit thin, and design-wise they drew the short straw. It’s almost as if someone hollowed out a stuff toy and threw an actor in the shell.

The Zarbi, I think, look very good. I know the actors legs are very obvious, but apart from that they are a different sort of creature compared to what has previously been seen in Doctor Who. Bill Strutton has created an amazing world with different types of insects, and the viewer feels like he understands the intricacies of the world he has created.

However, it really does feel like it’s totally aimed at children. There’s not a lot for the adult viewer. The other real negative is the pacing, it’s really very slow after episode one. There is a distinct lack of background music as well, and parts of the story would have been carried better if there was some background music, especially in the final episode.

Ian, Vicki and the Doctor inside the Carsanome.

Ian’s story line seems quite superfluous to the rest of the plot, but someone had to spend time with the Optera I guess. The story was running very short. The work done with the Menoptera by Roslyn de Winter was fantastic though, coming up with an alien way of speaking and moving. Very clever choreography and a great effort to make alien creatures actually seem alien.

In summary it’s hard to know what to make of this story as a piece. It’s too long, slowly paced and let down by the Optera costumes. However it’s a wonderfully created and very unique alien world. 

Barbara prepares the Menoptra to fight!

The imagination put into the creatures is fantastic, the opening episode is wonderful as are the Menoptera. The Animus voice is very good too, a lilting deep female voice – certainly not your average evil creature.

The heart of the Carsanome - the Animus

7/10

The Romans

I have to say, this is my favourite Doctor Who tale so far! I found ‘The Roman’s’ to be a highly entertaining four episodes with a fair deal of comedy thrown in for good measure. It’s interesting and a lot of fun – and the cast members seem to be having a fair bit of fun themselves.

The Doctor, Vicki, Barbara and Ian enjoy a relaxing, lighter moment.



William Hartnell and the gentle art of fisticuffs.

The first episode ‘The Slave Traders’ is a very strong start, and the cast member who really shines is William Hartnell. He is really on song in this episode and doesn’t miss a beat. The same can’t be said for the remaining episodes where he appears to be really struggling at times, but nevertheless the first episode is his highlight thus far. It’s great to have Maureen O’brien in as his sidekick too – she does a wonderful job, is bubbly and intensely interested and amused by what the goings on. Quite the opposite of Susan.

 

William Hartnell in the title role has a ball. He even gets into a fight with a mute, and kicks his pants! There's an awful lot of hitting people over the head with vases - Barbara even knocks Ian on the scone.



Ian rows for his life in a slace Galley Boat.

Barbara and Ian each have separate storylines after being sold as slaves which are quite interesting. As in ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’, Ian (William Russel) finds himself paired with another similarly aged man, Delos (Peter Diamond). Ian leads the way here too, and the pairing works well. Barbara has less funny being chased by Nero (played by Derek Francis, who is excellent) and seems to always be the character who has to endure unwanted sexual advances (such as in ‘The Keys of Marinus’).



Highlights of this story include the Doctor pretending to play the Lyre, doing a whole ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’ scene, and again William Hartnell in general showing glee in giving Nero the idea to burn Rome. Barbara and Ian have some wonderful moments in the first and last episodes in the villa they are ‘borrowing’.

Less impressive stuff? Well there’s a scene in episode two or three when two gladiators are practicing in a courtyard and they go at each other with the enthusiasm of a sleeping grandmother. Then we have the cut at the end of episode two where Ian looks out his cel window to see lions outside – clearly stock shots from a circus or zoo, or both! Not to forget when Ian and Delos are inside the galley, a well made set, they appear to have a bucket of water thrown over them from behind the camera instead of it coming from through the oar holes! Also, after episode one, despite a wonderful portrayal, William Hartnell does seem to really struggle on his lines for the remaining three parts. This was probably as bas as he's been thus far.

The limitations are a bit obvious, but despite them the story is effectively told. The sets belie the limited studio space, but also show what could be done. Simple, but very effective use of curtains and more curtains, balconies and columns equals authentic Nero-era Rome! J

The recycling of cast members is a little more puzzling. The rogue who is dealing in the slave trade suddenly appears as the captain of Nero’s guard! If so why did he need to sell Barbara to Nero via a third agent?

The models at the end when Rome is burning are rather well done. It’s hard to criticise the design when money and space were so scarce. It was interesting to learn that this story was in production around the time ‘Carry On Cleo’ was released in cinemas. Dennis Spooner, the writer, seems to have written a few gags and situations that wouldn’t have gone amiss in the Carry On series!  I enjoyed the comic turn however, and thankfully he didn’t set too much of this one in prison cells (unlike his previous entry, ‘The Reign of Terror’.)

I can honestly say I think this is the best story so far.

 

9/10

The Rescue



Ian and Barbara are faced with Koquillion

Next story along came this little two-parter – and now my blog has caught up with what I have been watching. I realise now that to finish all of Doctor Who by the end of the year I need to average a bit more than two episodes a day. I have watched four in the last five days so I am in a bit of trouble there!



Anyways onto the story which sees the Doctor replacing his grand-daughter Susan with the new Vicki (Maureen O’Brien). I have to say, Vicki is a decided improvement in my eyes. She is smiling and interested by most things, and generally bubbly and happier than Susan. This little story is well done. A very simple plot in David Whitaker’s functional script. Functioned to introduce Vicki and fill two episodes that is. Set on the planet Dido, Vicki and Bennet (Ray Barret) are waiting for a rescue ship to take them off the planet, where they crashed. They are monstered by the strange looking Koquillion, who has a magic spanner that can blast things. Turns out Bennet was responsible for the murder of the entire crew of the ship, and was disguising himself as Koquillion performing an amazing double act.

Ray Barret as Bennet.

The story is simple and easy to follow. The Production must have had a very small budget, but they did very well with the money they had. The space ship looks good and the model shots I think are far better than those in ‘The Dalek Invasion of Earth’. William Hartnell as the Doctor has a very good story, almost without a fluff. The finale is shot in the Hall of Judgement or some such place, and that set is simple but very well done. The only thing that doesn’t quite look right is the presence of a reel to reel tape recorder, which I doubt will be in use a couple of hundred years into the future. Your future that is, not mine. I’ve been there but I would be contravening one of the laws of time if I was to tell whether they were or were not in use definitively here on this 21^st century blog.

Wonderful combination shot using inlay. Very difficult for the time.

I must admit I thought that Barbara and the Doctor were a little callous towards Vicki after Barbara killed her pet ‘Sandy’. Vicki screamed out to Barbara not to kill Sandy, but she shot it with a flare anyway! Surely Barbara would have known by now that just because it looks like a monster, it’s not necessarily hostile? Then they try to pass it off (Barbara and the Doctor) as something that couldn’t be helped. Well, thanks a lot!

Not much else to talk about here. Ray Barret, an Australian, did a very fine job as Bennet who was doubling as Koquillion, a stand out performance. All the regulars were good too, Ian had a slightly quieter role in this one. I liked it.

8/10

The Dalek Invasion of Earth

The Daleks have returned! Well I didn’t see that coming! And this time they invaded the Earth! The Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara must be wondering when they will land somewhere safe!

What to say about this story? It’s pretty good I guess, well done in parts and less so in others. The flying saucers were right out of Ed Wood for starters! The Slither wasn’t very good either. Some parts lacked sufficient background music. Never the less, on the flip side some great shots were achieved, and they got the show out of the TV studio.

‘World’s End’, the opening episode, is very well directed and paced. Another case of the Doctor and his band of merry women and one man exploring their surroundings and gradually becoming aware of where they are and what’s going on. Unfortunately Susan hurts her ankle in a piece of appallingly bad acting that is hard to ignore. She’s squealing again!

The Robomen. What can I say? I understand the need for them in Terry Nation’s story, but the polystyrene head-gear that they wear is a bit embarrassing from a design stand point. However, achieving the Dalek coming out of the Thames at the end of the first episode is something the production team should be very proud of. I have never seen an In grin come out of water. The stuff on film generally looks great.

The plotline is definitely, though, B-movie. I don’t know if B-movie is a step up or down for Doctor Who to be honest. The way the explanations are delivered is not so well written for example. It’s very plain and functionary. However, direction Richard Martin did a great job with cross fades and the like to spruce it up visually.

 

For this viewer, the saucers are the biggest point of embarrassment (for the production team), both in design and in being in the story in the first place, and the detonation device in the final two episodes that is supposed to break the Earth’s crust. The model shots may have a lot of detail, but sadly look like toys. Ian spends all this time phaffing around inside the device pulling out wires, and later he manages to stop it with a couple of thin logs. Meanwhile all that was needed to defeat the daleks was ordering the robomen to turn on them.

The scenes are rather good at the end though, with the humans destroying the Daleks. The shot with a Dalek lifted above their heads is particularly memorable.

The costume people did something interesting with the character Jenny, played by Ann Davies . Apparently her hair wasn’t prepared for the film shots, so she had to wear and extremely comical

balaclava for exterior shots (and some studio work too). Bernard Kay is rather good in this as Tyler – I wonder if he’s likely to reappear in another story? Probably not, they wouldn’t re-engage the same actor for different roles in this series I imagine.

Barbara (Jacqueline Hill) has a nice role to play in this story, her character is very strong and she seems to enjoy the role. She is split from the rest, and so is Ian who has his own story. Susan spends most of the story with the Doctor and David (Peter Fraser) – where she falls in love. She has her fair share of screaming and crying, but a very nice final scene. The Doctor leaves her on Earth to start a life with David.  The final scene is very moving indeed and well delivered from the two actors.

The story has a few ridiculous things in it, and at the same time it is rather harsh at times. We get to see more death at the hands of the Daleks than in the first instalment, a lot of it is quite brutal in as much as it was needless. Perhaps the most horrific scene is the one where the character       is strangled to death by his brother, now a roboman.

London is destroyed by firebombs, but we really don’t see any of the devastation. Only one bomb is diffused, and most of the city should be in ruins, yet Barbara and Jenny don’t even hear the bombs exploding and drive off through London in an ancient fire truck, a London showing no signs of the fire bombs. It’s a nice scene, but the Dalek’s appear to have the least effective bombs ever devised.

To summarise though, I think the production team were easily attempting the ‘biggest’ story they had ever done. They were raising the bar with props, locations, characters and the like. The story is well paced and well done on the whole, especially for what was possible at the time and keeping in mind the limited budget.

 

7/10

Planet of Giants

Would I be the only one who found the title misleading to this new Doctor Who adventure/Susan scream fest? I mean, the Doctor and his company are shrunk down to the size of an inch, whereas all the other characters are normal size. So there are no actual giants. To be honest, I was disappointed.

On the other hand, a tricky concept to pull off and I think the production mostly succeeded in this story. Very big props were made for the actors to cart about and the giant-sized sets were excellent, I don’t think anyone could disagree with that. It’s just a pity that the storyline was a bit naff.

The soundtrack was very interesting I thought. Very much of the time. This was a rare case of the Doctor, Ian and Barbara possibly returning to their own time on Earth, but nothing is made of that at all despite Ian and Barbara desperately wanting to go home. Instead of the production team making something set in the far past or future, this story is very clearly ‘the early 60s’ in its design, its look and its feel. It felt very strange after watching the first eight stories, it was nothing like them.

 

And the Doctor etc etc don’t for a second really interact with the other characters, which makes two separate plots basically. There is the storyline concerning the nasty Alan Tilvern (Forester) who is happy to make money from an insecticide that will kill almost anything in its path. He shoots a man from the ministry and spends the three episodes trying to cover it up, with the aid of the scientist who invented the insecticide, and the storyline following the Doctor and his companions.

Once again, due to little more than curiosity, they find themselves separated from the TARDIS. Their only goal really is to get back there, alive. Barbara is infected by the insecticide when she handles a grain doused in the stuff, and for some reason tells no one about it for ages! A very odd thing to do really, there was no real motive behind it.

 

Credit where credit is due, the design, the sets, the props are all fantastic. A lot of work went into that aspect of the story. If it was going to interest or convince anyone, then they needed to be good and they were. I have learnt through my friend Andrew who seems to know a lot about this mysterious series that there was originally four episodes, and the squashed episodes three and four together because it didn’t sustain enough pace for four full episodes. I could see a case for making it only two to be honest! Nevertheless, it was far from all-bad. Well-directed, but the plot-line is simply too thin to sustain the story. Lack of interactions between the Doctor, his companions and the other characters limited dialogue, although it is an interesting way to do a story, with the other characters not even aware of the Doctor’s existence. The first time they’ve tried that.

For it to sustain three or four episodes, perhaps more characters are needed. You could still keep the split in the action, but the storyline external to the Doctor and co. needed a bit more intrigue.

An interesting study of what it’s like to affect an environment, a situation, without direct communication nor interaction with it.

 

4.5/10

The Reign of Terror

Well. What a place for the Doctor and his companions to land. Final story of the (transmitted, my friend Andrew put me straight) first Doctor Who season, and they arrive in the middle of the French Revolution. RIGHT in it. Sorry, was just dying to say that.

I avoid these periods of Earth’s history if I can. They are bleak and depressing, dangerous and all in black and white. I only had one black and white adventure – it was my first. Then I moved on from that! Colour suits me much better and I am surprised the Doctor hasn’t given colour a go to be perfectly honest.

Again, as appears to be the tradition, the first episode concentrates on the Doctor and his friends. They discover their surrounds, find a barn, a kid, and nearly get burned in the process. It’s a pretty good opening all told, but straight away we appear to be in for a bit of a grim tail. The sets, though limited, seem very authentic, and they found a good child actor there as well. Costumes look very good too, much more authentic than the Aztec ones.

People are already getting killed left right and centre, and Barbara, Susan and Ian are swept off to the Concergerie prison in Paris. The Doctor is saved by the kid. This is where the story goes a bit wonky. I understand that this was made in some very small studios, and the sets bear that out. The Paris streets are little more than alleyways, everything feels cramped throughout this story.

Also, the decision to set almost half of the six episodes inside a dirty old French prison may have saved a few pounds but does nothing to make the story exciting. I was expecting they would move on from there, but from episode two to episode six they keep landing themselves back in the prison. Susan is in fine whining, screaming and crying form, especially when confronted by rats that aren’t even there! It’s a mercy to the audience that she gets sick and barely features in the second half of the tale.

The writer, Dennis Spooner, must have been a fan of the Carry On films. He wrote a number of comedic characters into the story like the stupid-beyond-stupid jailer and the leader of the road gang who the Doctor smacks on the back of the head with a shovel in a surprisingly violent act. You wouldn’t catch THIS Time Lord being so brutal. Probably. Actually even my friend Andrew felt this was rather alarming and went a bit too far.

The Doctor though appears to enjoy the story enormously, changing into fancy dress and the like and impersonating a leader from one of the provinces. Dennis Spooner gave him plenty to do. Like Carry On – Don’t Lose Your Head, this story is very British. Again it refers to the Scarlett Pimpernel – or at least people doing what he was reputed to have done in helping French Aristocrats to escape from France. I was watching on one of the DVD things and there were pointers and explanations shown at the bottom of the screen and it seems it must be fiction because many things didn’t actually happen, or at that time.

Then the strangest thing happens. The Doctor, his companions and the entire cast not to mention the sets are somehow changed into cartoons. It is not explained, nor is the fact that they change back at the start of the final episode. Why would this happen? What celestial force has the power to do such a thing? I was very confused.

In fact I had an adventure where I was turned into a cartoon, in a place called ‘Cartoon Land’. It was very unpleasant and I don’t recommend it. However, at least my head stayed normal!

‘The Reign of Terror’ had a lot of potential in my eyes, but it fell a bit short in the end. The sets were well done but the lack of space in the studio really hurt this story, it limited what the writer could do and where he could take the characters, and gave a very cramped feel to the story. Yet they still put a horse in the studio! It’s a barmy world sometimes!

 

6/10

 

The Sensorites

So we did, after all, go to the future from the past. From ancient Mexico to an age when humankind has ploughed the depths of space, and a space ship is trapped orbiting the Sensphere. I hadn’t heard of these Sensorites before, but I was interested to find out about them. There are many telepathic races out in the Universe, I’ve met a few of them myself.

The first episode, entitled ‘Strangers in Space’, was an interesting affair. Very atmospheric I thought, the design of the space ship was excellent if limited. I gather this story was shot in a very small space. The futuristic episodes especially seem to have a pattern of the Doctor and his team arriving and spending most of the first episode exploring and finding out where they are, this was no exception.

Barbara and Susan meet Crazy John.

They didn’t have so much to explore this time, but we were introduced to slightly melodramatic Maitland (Lorne Cossette) who is the sometimes sleeping sometimes awake captain of the vessel. There is something claustrophobic and scary about most of the first episode. Some good acting from Stephen Dartnell are the unbalanced John adds to that feeling. It all builds nicely.

Then the head of a Sensorite pops up on the screen and that kinda killed it to a certain extent.

It’s not fast paced, and the Sensorites masks are rather abysmal to be brutally honest. It’s almost like a sock over the face with needless beards. No female Sensorites either, and they definitely come across as male rather than sexless. The actual costumes are plain and uninspired. The best of the serial comes from the psychological build up that really dissipates in episodes three and four when they are down on the planet.

Naughty Sensorites who wish the Doctor harm are written and played so predictably that it’s tedious before that strand of the storyline even begins! However, Peter R Newman, who wrote this possibly true tale for its video visual interface, adds a nice twist. The real villains of the peace are actually EARTHMEN who are poisoning the water supply and killing the poor Sensorites. That was a nice twist indeed, and probably very radical for 1964. If this was fiction that is. And I really am not sure. I just know my adventures most certainly did happen to me!

The Sensorite who is very xenophobic is the ‘city administrator’. What is very strange is that he takes of some rings and plonks on a sash and fools everyone into believing he is the first elder. Even in black and white with poor definition the Sensorites look slightly different to the casual viewer. Surely other Sensorites wouldn’t be fooled? And then his demise is not even shown. The First Elder says he suddenly admitted to everything. Very loose piece of plotting. Unless it really happened like that.

This is a good story for William Hartnell as the Doctor. He gets to do stuff. Sadly we miss Barbara for a couple of episodes as she is stuck on the ship. William Russel gets sick for a bit too so the Doctor and Susan carry a fair bit of the storyline. Perhaps too much is carried by the Sensorites themselves. I liked the idea of them but not the realisation. It makes it very difficult to comment on the general acting too.

Nevertheless, I didn’t hate this story, was interested by it at points and thought some of the mood created early was excellent. I’d challenge anyone though to honestly say it doesn’t drag!

 

6.5/10

The Aztecs

Well it seems this Doctor and his friends keep alternating from future to the past. This time they head back to the Aztec civilisation in Mexico and get up to all sorts of larks. Written by Mr John Lucarotti, who wrote 'Marco Polo'.
So I sat back and watched. Very quickly the Doctor and Barbara etc are separated from the TARDIS. In fact, they spend the whole story trying to get back to it. It seems to be the entire plotline of the adventure. Interesting idea - wait, wasn't that the idea behind 'Marco Polo' as well?

Anyways, onto the story. Once I'd got past Susan and her emotions, she was shifted away and hardly appeared in episodes two and three. What a mercy. Interesting character thread for her and Barbara in this one. She defiantly says she won't marry the 'perfect sacrifice'. This is akin to her outrage at Ping Cho's betrothal in 'Marco Polo'. I find it interesting as the Doctor at this time is accepting of other culture's practices and the like, but he clearly has not instilled that in Susan.
Surely she would know this sort of defiance gets her nowhere?
Oh well.

The evil Tloxocl and Barbara.

Barbara on the other hand takes the lead in the story pretending to be Ytaxca. Jaqueline Hill is a tower of strength in this, a wonderful performance. She is pitted against Tlotoxcl who is very evilly played by John Ringham. She wants to change the course of history. The Doctor tells her she can't rewrite history, 'not one line'. He's right there, tried it myself and failed too often I must say.
To balance Tlotoxcl, we have Autloc, played by Keith Pyott. I enjoyed this performance, a wonderful, humble character well portrayed indeed. And as Cameca, Margaret Van Der Burgh, another wonderfully honest performance. I think the acting is to be highly commended all round.

Cameca is the Doctor's love interest in this story, but it's not to be. I'm sure though that most stories the Doctor will have a dalience or two. I had one once, two in fact. Twice this ol Professor here has fallen in love, both times it ended in tragedy and death :( At least Cameca was spared that fate.

Ian is busy with his own personal feud with Ixta, a might warrior played by Ian Cullen. This is a secondary struggle to Barbara and Tlotoxcl, but interesting and rather testosterone pumped! I think all the main characters had a lot to do in this one, and all had personal journies to fulfill. This made it quite an interesting story to watch. Even if the costumes were not accurate at all. I know, I visited Mexico at a similar time myself but managed to stay more in cognito than these guys!
All round for the four regulars - well done!

I expect next I will be taken to a story set in the future or at least on an alien planet. I wonder if it will be anywhere I know....

7.5/10

The Keys of Marinus

My journey into the worlds of this strange Time Lord who isn't me but has a similar name continued with this six part story called 'The Keys of Marinus'. Six seemed a nicer number than seven = not so long!
The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and screaming Susan arrive on the world of Marinus, escape a lot of deep-sea divers who seem to be hostile for some reason and and very quickly sent on a quest to find keys to this machine by some old guy who's contract didn't seem to stretch past the first episode.

It was a funny story, credited to this 'Terry Nation' chap who wrote that encounter with the Daleks, and I started to wonder if the TV series was actually nothing more than fiction. Interestingly enough this story hopped from place to place, rarely spending much more than an episode anywhere.
I could tell it really was a TV series because the sets seemed to lack a certain something.... money, I think that was what was lacking!

Brains in cases, no walls to be seen. = Money saver!
 

Soon they pick up a couple of others looking for the keys when they land in a world ruled by talking brains in glass casings. That set lacked... walls. An interesting twist on reality when they have their minds effected and everything seems perfect when in fact it's the opposite. My favourite episode of the pipece I think was this episode two, although it lacked background music. And walls at times.

Then we are in the screaming jungle. The Doctor disappears for two episodes, and we have an episode entirely set around a lot of vines and another overacting old fella. This is left to Ian and Barbara to solve, meaning Susan gets to shriek a bit but then moves on for half the episode which is nice. But it's rather dull and nothing much happens.

Episode four puts us into a land of snow, ice and general freezingness. And a yucky man - not so old but not so young - who takes a fancy to Barbara in a scene I felt very uncomfortable watching. I heard somewhere this was supposed to be a kids show. Who are they kidding? (boom boom!)

Ice and snow are very hard to do convincingly on a budget, but hell they did them anyways. Badly. And then Ian is suddenly accused of murder!

Episode Five and they are all reunited with the Doctor, who has the job of defending Ian for killing a guard and stealing the final key of Marinus in the city of Mellenius or something. This episode and the last feature judges in wonderful hats, and poses the question - how would justive work if people were presumed guilty before being proved innocent? Something in that for everyone I thinks!
Interesting telephones and a jealous and evil wife are not enough to stop the Doctor and co, and episode six sees them return to where they started.

However, now the diving instructors, called Voords, have control of the machine. Ian is a smart cookie and switches a fake key for the real last key though. The Doctor and Co. escape just as the machine blows up, killing the Voords. And I ask, Ian is the hero? So what do they need a Time Lord for?

It's an okay story with good and bad points. Can't wait to see what they get up to next!
The Professor, signing off with a 5/10.