DOCTOR WHO: THE KEY TO TIME - THE COMPLETE ADVENTURE

By: Tony Whitt
Review Date: Wednesday, October 16, 2002

Those who have come to expect a lot of goodies on their DOCTOR WHO discs may be a tad disappointed with the KEY TO TIME boxed set, a series of six discs with the six stories from the series' sixteenth season. (Try saying that five times fast.) Having all six stories in one package somewhat makes up for the lack. (Pity the poor buggers who decide to buy the discs separately.) When compared to such extra-rich discs as DOCTOR WHO: THE CAVES OF ANDROZANI, however, it's a lack that still makes for a somewhat uneven viewing experience.

Of course, that unevenness may be a result of the stories themselves. Producer Graham Williams' idea to link all six stories in the 1978 - 1979 season with a quest on the Doctor's part to find the missing segments to the Key to Time is a brilliant and innovative one - in some ways, it works far better than the series' single other foray into the realm of the "story arc," Season 23's 13-part epic "Trial of a Time Lord." Sadly, the stories themselves range from utter brilliance to stultifying dullness, and only the presence of new companion Romana (played for only this season by Mary Tamm) and Tom Baker's ever-increasing jocularity as the Doctor makes some of them watchable.

Robert Holmes' "The Ribos Operation," for instance, has its moments, but it's hardly at the same level of some of Holmes' other scripts, such as the aforementioned "Caves of Androzani" or his earlier "Talons of Weng-Chiang."
It has all the hallmarks of a good Bob Holmes script: witty dialogue, for one thing, and a great pair of double acts in the form of intergalactic con artists Garron and Unstoffe (Iain Cuthbertson and Nigel Plaskett) and the fallen aristocrat the Graff Vynda K and his adjutant (Paul Seed and Robert Keegan). Timothy Bateson's performance as the heretic Binro provides some memorable moments, as well. But apart from the impressive introduction, in which the White Guardian (Cyril Luckham) explains the mission to the Doctor, and some marvelously catty early scenes between the Doctor and Romana, "The Ribos Operation" is awfully slow. Tom Baker and Mary Tamm have great fun doing the commentary for the disc, however - Tamm in particular gives the slightly insane Baker a run for his money in the quips department. Having a commentator as bright, fun, and interesting as Tamm almost makes up for the scantiness of the picture gallery and the lack of other extras - and the sad fact that these stories are the only ones we'll ever hear her commentate on.


In the case of Douglas Adams' "The Pirate Planet," though, a brilliant script is in sharp contrast with a fairly uninteresting commentary by director Pennant Roberts and guest actor Bruce Purchase and "extended scene footage" which is nothing more than some of the unedited location film shot for the story. While Purchase doesn't always have the most fascinating things to say about his performance as the Captain, that performance stands out as one of the most over-the-top portrayals the series has ever seen - love it or hate it, you simply can't ignore it. The first DOCTOR WHO script from the late writer of HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY also contains much of the same humor that invests (or infects, depending on how you feel about it) that famous book series. It's a production that has its inevitable faults - especially the poor marrying of film and video work for the grand finale - but there's no doubt that everyone involved is having great fun.

David Fisher's "Stones of Blood" is one of the two standout stories in the collection, and the disc boasts one of the better commentaries. Mary Tamm is joined by director Darrol Blake this time, a man whose voice one gradually gets used to, thank goodness. While "Stones" has its detractors, it would take someone with no sense of suspense at all to argue that it contains the most chilling moments in the entire season. The eerie stone circle setting alone is enough to establish the mood, but when those same stones come to life and kill humans for their blood (hence the title - clever, how that works), the story turns briefly to Hammer-style horror. The late introduction of a hyperspace ship and two somewhat disappointing justice machines (made up of nothing more than twinkling lights), while they might as well have been taken from a completely different story altogether, aren't enough to completely subvert that earlier mood. Blake's use of video rather than traditional film for the location work gives this story a significantly different look than the others, and if guest star Beatrix Lehman doesn't top your list of "companions that should have been" by the end, you should really get some help.

Another David Fisher script, "The Androids of Tara," also makes the transition to DVD rather well, this time with commentary by Baker, Tamm, and the delightful Michael Hayes, who also directs and commentates on the season's last story. As in "Stones of Blood," Fisher comes up with some incredibly witty dialogue and a surprisingly suspenseful plot - a surprise if only because so many will recognize it from THE PRISONER OF ZENDA, the novel (and later film) it pays homage to. As a kid, I never much cared for this one, but seeing it again after all these years, and hearing Hayes and Tamm (quite rightly) praise it as a production on which nothing went wrong, has made me reassess its importance in the season. I'd also like to put in my vote for the next Tom Baker DVD release: "City of Death," with commentary by Baker, Lalla Ward (if they can get her into the same room with her ex-husband Baker, that is), and Hayes. Hayes is every bit as fun and interesting as Baker, but without all the craziness we've come to associate with dear Tom all these years. Luckily, Hayes and Tamm also hold the old boy nicely in check.

Unfortunately, the box set starts a slow descent downhill with Robert Holmes' "The Power of Kroll," a surprisingly dull script from an otherwise gifted writer. Guest stars Philip Madoc and John Abineiri (the latter in green body paint) are criminally wasted here, and commentator John Leeson is too much a gentleman to wonder how he got roped into being in the story. (The answer's simple, of course: it's a swampy world, and K-9, normally voiced by Leeson, couldn't be used.) The only good features on this disc are the commentary, in which Baker, without Tamm around to keep him in check, launches full out into that aforementioned craziness; and the photo gallery, which is one of the few in the set to feature any "behind-the-scenes" shots. Pity it's also got the fewest pictures of the lot.

The season grinds to an agonizingly slow halt with Bob Baker and Dave Martin's "The Armageddon Factor," a six-part "epic" of the sort produced when the season is ending and the production office has run out of money. Commentators Tamm, Hayes, and actor John Woodvine start off gamely enough, but by episode four you can tell they're doing the same thing we're doing: watching the clock and sighing a lot. Even the usually unflappable Tamm makes a comment about how difficult this one is to commentate just before turning off her mike, and poor John Woodvine sounds like he's fallen asleep for all he says during those last two episodes. Granted, his character the Marshal, for which he gives a wonderful performance, doesn't appear for most of the last part of the story. There are some good elements here, of course, such as Barry Jackson's turn as Drax, Valentine Dyall's villainous Black Guardian, and the first appearance of Lalla Ward, who would next play Romana. And if you can ignore the necessary cheapness of the sets, there's actually a lovely gloomy quality to the whole thing, ruined only by Douglas Adams' occasional inserted jokes.

The set has other flaws - the production notes, for instance, go on forever about the original storyline for "Armageddon Factor" on that disc and miss a few gaffes and blunders on the "Kroll" disc. There's also a brief information screen before the beginning of "Ribos" that simply cannot be gotten around, no matter how you try to watch the first episode. Finally, there are mentions throughout the commentaries of various contemporary TV appearances Baker and Tamm made to promote the series, not to mention the infamous Christmas bloopers tape skit - none of it appears here, of course. For the most part, though, the production notes coupled with the commentaries make even the worst two stories worth watching. And when you consider the fact that this is the only full season of DOCTOR WHO available on disc so far (and the joy of getting something other than "The Five Doctors" before the Brits do), the KEY TO TIME boxed set doesn't seem like that bad an investment after all.

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