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The 5th Doctor pt. 1

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The Fifth Doctor

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* Castrovalva (Adric, Nyssa & Tegan) (96' 21")
DVD Commentary: Peter Davison, Christopher H Bidmead & Fiona Cumming
The newly-regenerated fifth Doctor must rely on his friends to survive as the regeneration threatens to fail. But an old enemy is still lurking and has one trap after another to lure the TARDIS crew into...
 
* The Missing Adventures: Cold Fusion (Adric, Nyssa & Tegan)
Features the 7th Doctor, Chris & Roz
More than one TARDIS lands on a barren ice world. The fifth Doctor, Adric, Nyssa and Tegan find a once ordered society on the verge of collapse, as rebels wage a dirty war with Scientifica, the ruling elite. All that stands between order and anarchy is the massed presence of an Adjudicator peacekeeping force.  But is peace the only reason for the Adjudicator garrison? What exactly has been discovered deep beneath the planet's surface? Who are the mysterious Ferutu? And why is telling a ghost story a criminal offence?  The fifth Doctor sides with the cause of justice and fairness as always. But, as a threat to the universe unfolds, he finds himself in conflict with his past ... and his future.

My Review: An interesting take on a double Doctor story. Being a MA it's the 5th Doctor that's the primary focus of the story, with Chris and Roz only appearing in cameo roles for the first half of the book. The 7th is barely in the story at all, but he's skilfully behind it all.  The basic crux of the story is a parallel reality created by the inadvertent destruction of Gallifrey and it's inhabitants slowly appearing in our reality as theirs gains strength over ours. There's even a nice nod to City of Death as the alt reality is revealed. The first half of the book is all character building; we get to know who they are, what they believe in and whether they're innies or outies. The second half of the book is the coming together of the Doctor's plan, relying on everyone doing what they do best in such a way as to make it look like the Doctor has done nothing at all until the end with the final twist and the alt reality is consigned to oblivion. I'd like to have seen a bit more of the 7th Doctor, even though it was a 5th Doctor story it just felt like there were a few times when the 7th Doctor should had been there but had been edited out.

 

* Four to Doomsday (Adric, Nyssa & Tegan)
The TARDIS materialises aboard a massive Urbankan starship filled with representatives of ancient Earth ethnic groups: Mayans, Australian aborigines, Greeks, and Chinese. But what is the secret of their extraordinary longevity? And what is the real agenda of Monarch, master of the vessel?
 
* Kinda (Adric, Nyssa & Tegan)
An Earth expedition is observing the Kinda, an apparently-primitive tribe, but three team members have already vanished. The Doctor and his friends are also here, in need of a break, but Tegan should really be more careful where she dozes off...
 
* The Visitation (Adric, Nyssa & Tegan) (96' 44")
DVD Commentary: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, Matthew Waterhouse & Peter Moffatt
As plague sweeps the country, the Doctor discovers a more exotic threat at work - shipwrecked Terileptil convicts, intent on making the planet their own...
 
* BBC Novel: Divided Loyalties (Adric, Nyssa & Tegan)
Many years ago the Doctor, a student at the Academy on Gallifrey, lost a friend to the mysterious and malevolent force known as the Celestial Toymaker. Now, in his fifth incarnation, the Doctor receives a telepathic call from his long-lost classmate, begging for help.  As he sets out to rescue his friend and exact revenge, the Doctor's companions become increasingly involved. Adric, determined to justify his place aboard the TARDIS, opts to face the Toymaker's game challenges while Nyssa, angered by the Doctor's actions, finds herself excluded by the people she thought were her friends. And what is the connection between the Toymaker and the planet Dymok, whose comatose inhabitants find a new saviour in the shape of Tegan Jovanka?
 
* Black Orchid (Adric, Nyssa & Tegan)
Commentary: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton & Matthew Waterhouse
A case of mistaken identity leads to the TARDIS crew attending a cricket match and masked ball at stately Cranleigh Hall. But who is the deformed maniac in the attic?
 
* The Companion Chronicles: The Darkening Eye (Adric, Nyssa & Tegan)

While investigating a debris-littered battlefield in deep space, the TARDIS crew are salvaged by an ancient race of collectors known as Dar Traders.  Separated from the Doctor after an accident, Adric, Tegan and Nyssa find themselves at the mercy of the Traders’ curiosity. But the Traders have salvaged a cabinet from the battle that could be very dangerous indeed.  What does the suave assassin, Damasin Hyde, know of the cabinet? And why is everybody so interested in the missing Time Lord?  To find the Doctor, the TARDIS crew will have to enter a violent inter-planetary war. Where someone will die, and it will change everything.

 

* Earthshock (Adric, Nyssa & Tegan) (97' 45")
DVD Commentary: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton & Matthew Waterhouse
A palaentological expedition has been horrifically slaughtered by an unseen force and a squad of soldiers is investigating, just as the TARDIS lands in the area. But who is the true enemy? And can even the Doctor cheat history...?
 
* Time-Flight (Nyssa & Tegan) (98' 09")
DVD Commentary: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton & Eric Saward
A Concorde loaded with passengers vanishes into thin air on its approach to land. The still-grieving TARDIS crew arrive as the Doctor finally makes good his promise to Tegan, and the Doctor volunteers his services to solve the mystery...
 
* BBC Novel: Empire of Death (Nyssa)
In 1856, a boy discovers he can speak with the voices of the dead. He grows up to become one of England's most celebrated spiritualists.  In 1863 the British Empire is effectively without a leader. Queen Victoria is inconsolable with grief following the death of her beloved husband, Prince Albert. The monarch's last hope is a secret seance.  The Doctor and Nyssa are also coming to terms with loss, following the death of Adric and Tegan's sudden departure. Trying to visit the Great Exhibition of 1851, the time travellers are shocked when a ghost appears in the TARDIS, beckoning them to the Other Side.  What is hidden in a drowned valley guarded by the British Army? Is there life after death and can it be reached by those still alive? And why is the Doctor so terrified of facing his own ghosts?
 
* The Land of the Dead (Nyssa) (114' 34")
Landing in Alaska, the Doctor and Nyssa encounter a group of people in a most unusual house, cut off not only by the harsh climate but by their individual secrets and obsessions.  Millionnaire Shaun Brett is utilising chunks of the local area to construct a shrine to his dead father. But when deadly creatures start roaming outside, and a terrifying discovery is made inside the house, the Doctor realises that Brett has unleashed an unimaginably ancient force.
 
* Winter for the Adept (Nyssa) (84' 03")
When a teleportation experiment goes badly wrong, Nyssa finds herself stranded on the freezing slopes of the Swiss Alps in 1963. But is it mere coincidence that she finds shelter in a snowbound school haunted by a malevolent poltergeist?  When the Doctor arrives, Nyssa and the other inhabitants of the school soon discover that the ghost is merely part of a darker, deeper and more deadly game involving rogue psi talents and something else... Something not of this Earth.
 
* Dalek Empire: The Mutant Phase (Nyssa) (120' 47")
In the 22nd century, the Daleks have occupied planet Earth. By the 43rd century, only a handful of humans survive. Still further into the distant future, a Thal scientist must choose whether to betray his heritage, or see the universe destroyed.  When the Doctor and Nyssa find themselves trapped in this deadly chain of events, they must decide who their real enemies are. What is certain, however, is that no matter where the Doctor turns... his arch enemies, the Daleks, will be waiting for him.  What could possibly be worse than that? The Mutant Phase...
 
* Primeval (Nyssa) (101' 16")
Nyssa will die at dawn, and the Doctor doesn't even know why.  To save her life, he must make a desperate journey to the only place in the universe where a cure might exist.  When even that fails, the Doctor has a choice -- let Nyssa die, or make a deal with the devil.  After all, the road to hell is paved with good intentions...
 
* Spare Parts (Nyssa) (118' 18")
On a dark frozen planet where no planet should be, in a doomed city with a sky of stone, the last denizens of Earth's long-lost twin will pay any price to survive, even if the laser scalpels cost them their love and hate and humanity.  And in the mat-infested streets, round tea-time, the Doctor and Nyssa unearth a black market in second-hand body parts and run the gauntlet of augmented police and their augmented horses.  And just between the tramstop and the picturehouse, their worst suspicions are confirmed: the Cybermen have only just begun, and the Doctor will be, just as he always has been, their saviour...
 
* Creatures of Beauty (Nyssa) (109' 23")
A planetary ecological disaster! An incurable, disfiguring, genetic disease... Aliens, in breach of galactic law!  Nyssa, under arrest! The TARDIS, inoperable! The Doctor, facing interrogation!  Another situation of dire peril is unfolding for the Doctor and his companion. However, what if it is not clear who is right and who is wrong? Who is ugly and who is beautiful?  Where does the story begin, and where does it end? Sometimes, it is all a matter of perspective.
 
* The Game (Nyssa) (118' 13")
On the planet Cray, it's game time.  The Gora and the Lineen are set to face off in the grudge match to end all grudge matches. The players are limbering up, the commentators are preparing, the fans are daubing themselves in their team's colours. The arena is set, and the kick-off is approaching.  When the Doctor and Nyssa arrive, however, they find that Naxy is a sport that anyone can play - whether they want to or not. Cray's entire future depends on the match's outcome, but the time travellers soon realise that it is anything but just a game.
 
* Circular Time (Nyssa) (121' 00")
Summer to winter, the seasons turn.  In the springtime of a distant future, the Doctor and Nyssa become embroiled in Time Lord politics on an alien world. During the stifling heat of a summer past they suffer the vengeful wrath of Isaac Newton. In the recent past, Nyssa spends a romantic golden autumn in an English village while the Doctor plays cricket. And finally, many years after their travels together have ended, the two friends meet again in the strangest of circumstances.  Four seasons. Four stories.  Now close the door behind you, you're letting the cold in...
 
* Renaissance of the Daleks (Nyssa) (??' ??")
A random landing in London and a trip to the Savoy Hotel yield unexpected results for the Doctor. Tea, scones, an American general who knows far too much, and the threat of a Dalek invasion of Earth.  Meanwhile, the Doctor's companion Nyssa is in Rhodes during the time of the Crusades, where her position proves to be distinctly precarious.  It seems the Doctor's deadliest foes have woven a tangled web indeed. And in order to defeat them, he must cross the forbidden barriers of time and walk into the very centre of their latest, most outlandish scheme of conquest.
 
* The Haunting of Thomas Brewster (Nyssa & Thomas) (??' ??")
Thomas Brewster is haunted by his mother's ghost - and by a spectral blue box.
 
* The Boy That Time Forgot (Nyssa & Thomas) (??' ??")
In a weird jungle valley, the Victorian explorer Rupert Von Thal saves Bloomsbury novelist Beatrice Mapp from a ghastly death in the grip of a monstrous mantis. But this is no Lost World of the dinosaurs. According to their travelling companions, the Doctor and Nyssa, all four have been transported back to a primitive Earth that should never have existed!  Further down the valley is the vast city where the scorpions live. Walking, talking, intelligent scorpions, ruled over by their cruel and sinister master. The Doctor and Nyssa are being drawn ever tighter into the clutches of... the boy that time forgot.
 
* Time Reef (Nyssa & Thomas) (??' ??")
A curse on this damned reef - and curse the Doctor who brought us here!  Drawn by the siren call of a distress beacon, the TARDIS crash-lands on an uncharted time reef. However, the Doctor, Nyssa and Brewster are not the only mariners marooned on this barren rock. Commander Gammades and his crew of returning war heroes have been similarly shipwrecked, as has the beautiful but mysterious Lady Vuyoki.  But there's something else here, too. A thing of darkness which crawls blindly across the surface of the reef hunting for prey: the Ruhk.
 
* A Perfect World (Nyssa & Thomas) (??' ??")
Who wouldn't want a perfect world? Thomas Brewster for one.
 
* Arc of Infinity (Nyssa & Tegan) (98' 35")
DVD Commentary: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton & Colin Baker
Strange forces are at work, and Tegan's cousin is caught up in them while on a backpacking holiday. Meanwhile the Time Lords of Gallifrey are disturbed by the possible return of an old enemy... and the only way to stop him is to execute the Doctor...
 
* Omega (140' 48")
A strange telepathic message prompts the Doctor to travel to the 'Sector of Forgotten Souls', a place where, thousands of years ago, Omega's ship vanished whilst detonating a star.  He's not the only one journeying towards it. 'Jolly Chronolidays' prides itself on giving its tourists an experience of galactic history that is far better than mere time travel.  Its motto is 'We don't go into history, we prefer to bring history to you'.  When Omega's ship suddenly materialises in front of their shuttle, and one of their employees goes insane and tries to destroy his hands…suddenly it's not just a motto anymore.  And Omega - and his madness - is closer than they think.
 
* BBC Novel: Fear of the Dark (Nyssa & Tegan)
On the very edge of the galaxy lies Akoshemon: a putrefied world of legendary evil.  In the year 2382 archaeologists land on Akoshemonís only moon, searching for evidence of the planet's infamous past. But when the Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa are drawn into the lunar caverns they find more than a team of academics - and help uncover much more than ancient history.  Something is lying in wait, deep inside the labyrinth of caves: something that remembers the spiral of war, pestilence and deprivation that ruined Akoshemon. Something that rejoiced in every kind of horror and destruction - and wishes to do so again.  An age-old terror is about to be reborn. But what is the hideous secret of the Bloodhunter? And why does Nyssa feel that her thoughts are no longer her own? Forced to confront his own worst fears, even the Doctor will be pushed to breaking point - and beyond.
 
* BBC Novel: Zeta Major (Nyssa & Tegan)
A glib remark from the Doctor to a desparate scientist has had far-reaching effects on the empire of Morestra. Eminent Morestran scientist Sorenson, attempting to find a new power source for his planet, risked a universal catastrophe by attempting to steal anti-matter crystals from the distant planet of Zeta Minor. The Doctor averted disaster, but has in effect sent all Morestra up a technological cul-de-sac.  Now in his fifth regeneration, the Doctor becomes involved once again in Morestra's future. The empire has become a theocracy, and the all-powerful Church, finally discovering that Sorenson's world-spanning energy tower will never work, is attempting to save face by covertly returning to Zeta Minor to steal the powerful minerals they need. This time, they believe they are prepared for all eventualities.  With his companions embroiled in the ever-shifting loyalties and intrigues of the Morestran court, only the Doctor accepts that the forces of the anti-matter universe can never interact with our own. Can he stop something he started two thousand years ago?
 
* The Missing Adventures: The Sands of Time (Nyssa & Tegan)
Arriving in Victorian London, the Doctor Nyssa and Tegan run straight into trouble: Nyssa is kidnapped in the British Museum by Egyptian religious fanatics; the Doctor and Tegan are greeted by a stranger who knows more about them than he should and invited to a very strange party.  Why are rooms already booked for the Doctor at the Savoy? How can Lord Kenilworth's butler Atkins be in Egypt and London at the same time? What is the history of the ancient mummy to be unwrapped at Kenilworth's house? And what has all this got to do with Nyssa?  The Doctor's quest for answers leads him across continents and time as an ancient Egyptian prophecy threatens 1990s England. While the Doctor attempts to unravel the plans of the mysterious Sadan Rassul, mummies stalk the night and an ancient terror stirs in its tomb.
 
* Snakedance (Nyssa & Tegan)
Tegan steers the TARDIS here without consciously meaning to - but why? And is it a coincidence that the planet is about to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the expulsion of the insidious Mara?
 
* The Missing Adventures: Goth Opera (Nyssa & Tegan)
Manchester, 1993. The vampires of Great Britain have received a message: the long-awaited arrival of their evil messiah is imminent. It's time for a recruitment drive.  On holiday in Tasmania with Tegan and the Doctor, Nyssa is attacked by a demonic child. She escapes unharmed - except for two small wounds in her neck.  Why are the descendants of the Great Vampire so desperate to obtain the blood of a Time Lord? And what is their connection to a forbidden ancient Gallifreyan cult?
 
* Mawdryn Undead (Nyssa, Tegan & Turlough)
The Doctor discovers a starship trapped in a time warp over the planet. Meanwhile, public schoolboy - and secret alien emigre - Turlough crashes the vintage car of his maths teacher, Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart. In a resulting dream the Black Guardian makes him an offer - he can have that which he most desires, in return for the murder of the Doctor...
 
* Terminus (Tegan & Turlough)
Still following the Black Guardian's orders, Turlough sabotages the TARDIS, forcing an emergency fusion with an apparently deserted starship. But the ship is headed for the notorious plague colony, Terminus. Surrounded by plague victims and space pirates, is the Doctor too preoccupied to notice the greatest threat of all - a threat connected to Terminus' position at the exact centre of the universe?
 
* Enlightenment (Tegan & Turlough)
After receiving a warning from the White Guardian, the Doctor initially believes the TARDIS has landed aboard an Edwardian clipper ship - but all is not as it seems. While the time travellers are caught up in the omnipotent Eternals' race for the ultimate prize, the Black Guardian's scheme to destroy the Doctor enters the end-game - but which side is Turlough a pawn of?
 
* The King's Demons (Tegan & Turlough)
With the historic signing of the Magna Carta supposedly only days away, the Doctor is startled to find King John apparently intent on provoking civil war - and seemingly in two places at once...
 
* The Crystal Bucephalus (Tegan & Turlough)
The Crystal Bucephalus: a restaurant patronised by the highest echelons of society in the 10th millennium. The guests are projected back in time to sample the food and drink of a bygone age.  When the galaxy's most notorious crime boss is murdered in the Bucephalus, the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough are immediately arrested for the killing. To prove their innocence, they must track down the perpetrators of slaughter and sabotage, and uncover a conspiracy which has been 5,000 years in the making.
 
* The Five Doctors (Tegan & Turlough) (90' 26" + 100' 48")
DVD Commentary 1: Carole Ann Ford, Nicholas Courtney, Elisabeth Sladen & Mark Strikson
DVD Commentary 2: David Tennant, Phil Collinson & Helen Raynor
DVD Commentary 3: Peter Davison & Terrance Dicks
The Death Zone, where the ancient Gallifreyans once staged gladiatorial games between alien races from throughout the universe, has been reactivated. No less than three of the Doctor's former incarnations and several of his companions are brought here. But why? And who is the Player in the Game of Rassilon?
 
* The Sirens of Time (66' 04")
Gallifrey is in a state of crisis, facing destruction at the hands of an overwhelming enemy. And the Doctor is involved, in three different incarnations -- each caught up in a deadly adventure, scattered across time and space. The web of time is threatened, and someone wants the Doctor dead.  The 5th, 6th & 7th incarnations of the Doctor must join together to set time back on the right track -- but in doing so, will they unleash a still greater threat?
 

5th Doctor MA's

THE DOCTOR'S ENEMIES:

The Master

Monarch

The Mara

Terileptils

Cybermen

Daleks

Omega

Nepthys

The Black Guardian

Borusa

Yeti

 

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