Farewell to the little hobo Doctor... In Epic Style

I admit a fondness for the epic qualities of the some of the stories of the 60s era Doctors. The creators of the day had the extra time allowed for the complete play-out of subplots and exploration of minor characters that isn't possible trying to squeeze epic into a 42-minute package... Heck back in the good ol' days that wasn't even two weeks of programming.

With that being said... Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, and Wendy Padbury received an epic sendoff in The War Games.

What Whovian could ask for anything more... crazy screechy bad guys, hypno-glasses, hypercubes, bad accents (I didn't know that the Grand Army of the Republic recruited Caribbean islanders to serve in the Civil War), Time Lords in their casual Friday outfits, and a proto-Master!

Time Lords: You've Got Mail!

The Troughton Era has obviously been an inspiration to the fanboys who make Doctor Who today. Bowties & Hypercubes included. Of course, I'm still waiting for the return of a companion who can rock a kilt, but given the current obsession with pretty young things... it would be a mini-kilt! Not what I had in mind.

Casual Friday Time Lords

 I love "Time Lord" stories, especially classic Time Lords - and new-Who without John Simm. The War Games is significant in that we meet the regular stay-at-home Time Lords who are called upon to help the human captives and end the War Lord's game. Unfortunately the choir robes are a poor replacement for the opulent robes which will be seen in future stories. The War Chief more than makes up for the lack of flash on the part of the Time Lords.

War Chief and Doctor

In the War Chief, I see the debonair flair and fashion sense of the Master. Watching this story after having been introduced to Doctor Who during the big-bad days of Roger Delgado, I am a bit concerned about the upbringing of Time Lords during the Rassilon Era.

So... we are left at the end of the story with the indecisive Doctor having his selection of appearance taken away by the Time Lords who exile him to Earth. A new Earth of vibrant colors!

Krotons and Ice Warriors and Pirates... Oh, my!

Oh, my dear Time Lords... season six, the second Doctor's final season, is a trying experience. I had such high hopes after the delightful story The Invasion, only to have them dashed twenty episodes later. But, I am optimistic, and have the 10 episode final story of the second Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe.

So, lets take a look at the stories...

The Krotons

Our intrepid trio decides that they need a vacation, but the TARDIS has other ideas, of course! So, they end up in a wasteland where the survivors are slowly feeding their best and brightest to an unseen enemy. Obviously the ultimate brain-drain, and that's probably why no one on the planet figured this out before the Doctor arrived.

The Doctor and Zoe, being the best and brightest of.... everything... make the Krotons head spin, and that was my favorite part!

The Seeds of Death

Admittedly, this is the best of the three. It is the rich creamy center of some nasty dried up cookie!

Meanwhile back on Earth... The Ice Warriors are transporting killer snowballs to Earth and stag a one-warrior invasion of an Earth based weather station. Luckily all you have to do is turn up the thermostat and the Ice Warriors pass out.

My favorite character is Gia Kelly, the commander of the T-Mat. She's a bit set in her ways, but steps up when needed and supports the Doctor. 

On the flip-side, I was left after watching the story trying to figure out how much longer Jamie was going to let the Doctor and Zoe treat him like a dolt. Then read the Frazer Hines tried to leave the series this season but was talked out of it by Patrick Troughton, so I guess he was sick of his character repeatedly being told to shut-up, too.

The Space Pirates

All I need to say, my dear Whovian peeps, is AMERICAN ACCENTS!

You immediately thought... Daleks in Manhattan, and we all know how bad that was!

Secondly... silver butt-heads! 

The combination makes this episode one of the funniest one I've seen so far, and not in a good way!