95 – The Armageddon Factor

I am well aware that the concluding story in the Key to Time arc is not highly regarded in Doctor Who fandom. But I unashamedly include The Armageddon Factor in my top 100 (albeit it at the bottom end) as a story I manage to get great enjoyment from. I grant you that as with The Ribos Operation and The Power of Kroll, it would probably be less enjoyable were it not for the overall story arc for Season 16. But the fact is, it is the concluding episode of the season long story-arc, and a very satisfying conclusion at that.

96 – Invasion of the Dinosaurs

We continue with Jon Pertwee’s final season with another 6 part story, Invasion of the Dinosaurs. And let us acknowledge the proverbial elephant (or should that be Tyrannosaurus) in the room – the dinosaurs are pretty naff. And unless you allow yourself to see past the dodgy special effects you won’t be able to appreciate the story in any way, shape or form. Do I wish they offered a version with upgraded effects when they released the DVD? Maybe just a little … but then we can’t have everything!

97 – The Monster of Peladon

I have enormous fondness for Jon Pertwee’s Doctor and thoroughly enjoy most stories he features in. Sadly, this adventure suffers not so much from inherent problems as paling in comparison to other great Pertwee classics, and being but a shadow of The Curse of Peladon that preceded this adventure some two seasons previous.

98 – An Unearthly Child

There is a certain charm and mystery about the very first story of Doctor Who. There was no indication of what the show would become in future years, or even that there would be future years. Indeed, when one watches the 50th anniversary tribute, An Adventure in Space and Time, one appreciates just how fragile Doctor Who was until the series achieved audience breakthrough with The Daleks. At this point viewers knew nothing of this mysterious person simply identified as ‘The Doctor.’ Indeed by the end of episode one, the viewers’ sympathies would be largely with his unwilling first companions, schoolteachers Ian and Barbara, and perhaps for his granddaughter Susan, who seems much more gentle than the old man, but also somewhat under his thumb.

99 – The Keys of Marinus

Following on from historical (and sadly supposedly missing) epic Marco Polo, this six part adventure was a firm indication that Sydney Newman’s “No bug-eyed monsters” policy had been torn up. From here on, the Doctor and his companions would alternate (approximately) between a historical adventure and a sci-fi adventure, until finally deciding to scrap historicals in Season 4. At this stage however, the producers seemed to have revelled in the prospect of creating as many outlandish scenarios as they could reasonably get away with.

100 – The Edge of Destruction

We resume the countdown with a two-part adventure from Season One. The Edge of Destruction was written to fill the block between The Daleks and Marco Polo while having to accommodate not having the budget for a major storyline. This apparent weakness actually led to a story that probably helped the show in the long run by giving two episodes only featuring the TARDIS crew, and focused entirely on their relationship with each other – and not least the relationship of Ian and Barbara to the still unpredictable character of the Doctor.

Underused Enemies 6 – Sutekh

I have made several pleas in this short series for Steven Moffat to bring back enemies to Nu Who. Steven – if by some miracle you are reading this, and you only take away one request, then please take away this one: Bring back Sutekh in Series 9

Sutekh, the last of a powerful race known as the Osirians (basically the gods of ancient Egypt) makes his one appearance in Pyramids of Mars – but what an appearance. Gabriel Woolf produces a masterclass in voice acting – when Sutekh speaks it chills the bone. You forget that he is bound to a chair, seemingly imprisoned forever and instead sense the aura of his power and malevolence. In a rare event for Doctor Who, the show purposefully shows what the future would look like if Sutekh wins, showing an utterly devastated earth. Right until the very end you hold your breath, fearful that somehow he may yet win, and wondering how the Doctor can hope to stop him.

Need I make more of a case? As I have said before, Doctor Who hires very creative writers to come up with very creative ways to demonstrate that a person/species/planet isn’t actually dead – so Sutekh’s seeming demise need be no barrier. A story featuring the malevolent awfulness of Sutekh, and the full threat of his evil power would be genuinely frightening and exciting concurrently – not least to imagine Peter Capaldi facing off against him. We very rarely see the Doctor face an enemy who possess the means to destroy all of creation (the Daleks really don’t count) and carry the clear understanding that if freed they will proceed directly to destruction. Sutekh is such an enemy, and he is long overdue a comeback.

This then is the last of my enemy reviews, until later in my countdown I review my best loved recurring enemies. In my next post we continue the countdown with a William Hartnell adventure at number 100 …

Underused Enemies 5 – Skagra

Skagra is an underused enemy in more than one sense – because quite apart from not yet appearing in Nu Who, this evil mastermind was deprived of his sole appearance in the classic series when industrial action led to the cancellation of Shada. But what an appearance it would have been – I have no hesitation in saying that the glimpse we get of Christopher Neame as Skagra leaves the viewer in no doubt that he would have been a villain par-excellence, to round off a story I have huge appreciation for. He displays a cold arrogant ruthlessness that is often missing from Doctor Who villains, an appreciation you gain all the more when one reads Gareth Roberts’ novelisation of Shada.

Now, I will not spend time lamenting the absence of Shada – that will come when I review the serial! Instead let us consider what a triumphant return the character could have. I alluded in my post on the Yeti that there was another contender besides the Great Intelligence to be master of the Yeti. Given Skagra’s aim of a universal mind, using a sphere to attack his victims, there are obvious parallels to the control sphere for the Yeti – and we know from his alliance with the Krargs that Skagra is not averse to calling in the heavies to do his bidding. If Moffat and his team were minded, he could bring back two classic villains in one fell swoop.

Skagra of course also has the great advantage that when we leave him in Shada he is most definitely not dead – only imprisoned. It would not be difficult to bring him or the Yeti back if Christopher Neame was willing; nor difficult for a bright and creative writer to get around the apparent demise of Professor Chronotis, and with him, the key component of Skagra’s plan for universal domination. Moreover, to bridge the link between old and new, the viewers would of course need to understand who this Skagra bloke is. So if the BBC felt inclined to animate the missing parts of Shada to contribute to a Nu Who storyline featuring Skagra and the Yeti I would be utterly delighted.

One can, alas, only dream …

Underused Enemies 4 – The Jagaroth

I am ashamed to say that when I first came up with this list of underused enemies, the Jagaroth didn’t even make the cut! Perhaps it is for the best – City of Death is universally recognised as an utterly exceptional story, and Julian Glover is equally superb playing villain supreme, Scaroth, the last remaining Jagaroth.

So I guess it is a legitimate question. Would the Jagaroth cut the ice as baddies in their own right? The Fourth Doctor described them as “An awful warrior race that won’t be missed” – so I think it might be quite intriguing to see just how bad they were! Even if the sole purpose of the story was to discover that somehow Scaroth had survived his apparent demise at the end of City of Death (which, face it, given how many times the Master has come back from the grave, ought to be easy) it would be worth the watch.

So many avenues would be open – the episode showed that Scaroth was scattered across all of human history. Imagine Peter Capaldi facing Julian Glover, only set in a different historical era, and with a different plan, now that the original plan had failed? Imagine for example that his new plan had allowed just one more Jagaroth to escape into his timezone, and they were plotting to save the rest. And then imagine the attack eyebrows getting to work …

Underused Enemies 3 – The Rhutans

We haven’t yet got to my review of Horror of Fang Rock, but when we do I will enthuse, if not at length, then certainly with great enthusiasm about the villain of the piece – Reuben the Rhutan. Now perhaps it was the mischevious smirk on Terrance Dicks’ face when he explained in the DVD commentary that he hadn’t a clue what to call the alien he’d created for the story, and arbitrarily decided to make the enemy the oft-mentioned arch-enemy of the Sontaran empire – but since then I’ve been rather taken with the Rhutans, and saddened we’ve never had the chance to see them face off against the Sontarans properly!

Like the Zygons, the Rhutans are able to change their form, although from Horror of Fang Rock it appears that their capacity is rather different to Zygon technology, relying upon a thorough forensic examination of the person they plan to impersonate. I therefore think that a much more entertaining story would be a lone Rhutan looking to instigate a war between humanity and Sontar by impersonating a human agent – believable, a wonderful nod to the history of the programme, and giving us the opportunity to see what happens when humanity gets caught in the middle of an instellar war.

One story is too few (and I could even say the same for Terrance Dicks’ other once-used creation, the Raston Warrior Robot) – I think many classic series fans would enjoy a face-off between the Sontarans and the Rhutans!