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And even then, the matter of taking technology for granted isn't a concept that would likely have been explored.

Yeah, but a new series TV episode would be even better. Ghost Light was a fantastic story.

The Web of Fear

Doctor Who has always been a show keen to explore mythological ideas, from the Trojan War in The Myth Makers to the minotaur in The God Complex. It's unsurprising, therefore, that Doctor Who has tackled the Yeti. The Yeti and the Great Intelligence were first introduced in 1967's The Abominable Snowmen and made a swift return three stories later in The Web of Fear. Whilst The Abominable Snowmen is still missing, only episode three of The Web of Fear is missing.

The plot is one of the most iconic of the classic series of Doctor Who. The Web of Fear concerns a Yeti invasion in the London Underground. The Doctor (Patrick Troughton, Victoria (Deborah Watling) and Jamie (Frazer Hines) are reunited with Professor Travers (who accidentally reactivated a Yeti, played by Jack Watling) and his daughter Anne (Tina Packer), whilst also making a new ally in Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney). This serial was such an effective story for the show that it was referenced by Jon Pertwee when he took over the role of Doctor in 1970 and subsequently talked about the show's new direction to the media ("There's nothing more frightening than a Yeti on your loo in Tooting Bec").

It's hard not to see why it has had such an impact. The London Underground makes for an extremely effective setting for a base-under-seige story. There's something sinister and claustrophobic about seeing an isolated London Underground with no trains covered in webs and invaded by the Yeti behind them (they are able to create the webs with a gun). The set designer David Myerscough-Jones did such a good job at creating the look of the Underground that it looks like they actually filmed the serial at an Underground Station: except they didn't, as stated in the Complete History.

It is such a shame that episode three of this serial is missing, considering it introduced arguably the show's most iconic recurring character in Lethbridge-Stewart. Whilst the reconstruction gives you a vague idea what the third episode was like, it's really nothing more than a glorified picture slideshow and so it's hard to judge what the second Doctor and Lethbridge-Stewart's first meeting was like than if the episode had been found or animated. Nicholas Courtney is brilliant in the surviving episodes he is in however and it's not hard to see why this character went on to become one of the show's most popular. He has so much charisma onscreen and nearly overshadows Patrick Troughton's Doctor. It's interesting to note that he is a colonel at this point; when he next returns he is the Brigadier in 1968's The Invasion and in charge of UNIT.

Sadly the potential with Jack Watling's character was never fully realised. Jack Watling is great here as Professor Travers (his second appearance as the character in the show) and was set to appear in The Invasion alongside Nicholas Courtney but unfortunately he was too busy. He is a character who really deserved a third appearance and could perhaps have become nearly as iconic as Lethbridge-Stewart had he been given the chance. Jack Watling is one of the standouts of this story and has incredible chemistry with his onscreen daughter Tina Packer. It's interesting to note that in real life he was the father of Deborah Watling; it must have been weird for them playing friends rather than family.

The one element that solidifies the story's iconic status is, however, the wonderful Yeti. The Yeti are fantastic Doctor Who monsters and contain possibly the greatest quality of any iconic Doctor Who antagonist: they are scary. The Yeti play with our fears of the unknown; we have no idea what the mytholigical Yetis are like or if they even exist so when they turn up, they are absolutely terrifying. And that goes back to Jon Pertwee's quote: there's nothing more frightening than a Yeti on your loo in Tooting Bec. Truer words have never been spoken.

The greatest mystery with the Yeti is why they haven't returned in the new series. The most likely reason is rights issues; during the classic series of the show, the rights to the monsters laid with the writers rather than the BBC themselves. Mervyn Haisman's estate therefore own the rights to the characters, so it is possible that there is conflict between them and the BBC. It would certainly explain why they have used new characters such as the Snowmen, Spoonheads and Whispermen when the Great Intelligence has returned.

Yes, the Great Intelligence has proven to be a successful classic series villain. The character has so much potential as a sentient being not only able to control inanimate objects like the Yeti really are (because they're not really Yeti, basically machines that need a 'control sphere') but also with its ability to possess others' bodies to fulfil its goals. The moment near the end of the serial where the Great Intelligence tries to control the Doctor's body via a conversion headset is one of the show's finest climaxes; it's also creepy when the Great Intelligence reanimates a dead corpse in Sergeant Arnold (Jack Woolgar).

Overall, The Web of Fear is one of the show's scariest serials. The Yeti and Great Intelligence make for a terrifying threat and the London Underground is a brilliant piece of design work by David Myerscough-Jones. Nicholas Courtney is great as Lethbridge-Stewart in the surviving episodes and almost overshadows Patrick Troughton as the Doctor (no mean feat, especially when Patrick Troughton gives one of his finest performances in this serial). Deborah Watling and Frazer Hines as Victoria and Jamie are good too but Jack Watling is more often than not a scene stealer as Professor Travers and it's a shame he never got the chance to become an iconic recurring character. I would like to see the Yeti return to the show at some point but sadly because of rights issues I believe it is probably unlikely. Still, hopefully we can expect more from the Great Intelligence at some point.

I liked the Minotaur in The Mind Robber because, very unusually I think, he has a blatantly half human face! When do you ever see that in representations of the minotaur on screen? As far as I know it's always been a bull's head on a man's body.

What was weird was that Jon Pertwee's first press call was with a Yeti, and I think the idea was to use them in the story that became Spearhead from Space (the parallels are obvious when you think about it). I don't know why they weren't used, unless it was because the writers were unavailable.

And didn't London Underground complain about them filming there, thinking it was real? The same may also have happened with the sewers in The Invasion.

Yeah but surely they own the Great Intelligence. It's a good shout though, because they've not appeared on audio or in anything else apart from Downtime.

I hope to see these episodes at some point in the future because it does look like a belter. I've heard the soundtrack but obviously this would have been a very action-filled story.

That's a good point. The Mind Robber is a very good story for black and white era special effects.

There was some dispute between the BBC and the writers after The Web of Fear.


That's true. I don't blame them - it looks extremely realistic.


Maybe they're not as protective over the Great Intelligence?

I really want Power of the Daleks to turn up. I'd give anything to watch that one.

Independence Day

With Independence Day: Resurgence coming out here in the UK today and those who voted to leave hailing this day as our National Independence Day, I thought it would be apt to take a look back at the first movie: simply called 'Independence Day'. It is a somewhat strange title to give to a major Hollywood blockbuster given that Independence Day is only really of significance to Americans but there's no denying that it has strong connotations attached to it: connotations of power, freedom and...apparently alien invasions. The film came out in 1996 and was a surprise blockbuster success. It's little surprise it got a sequel, even if it took twenty years for one to be released.

The film sees satellite technician David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), President Thomas J. Whitmore (Bill Pullman) and army pilot Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith) team up to stop an alien threat when an extraterrestrial mothership appears in Earth's orbit and sends thirty six smaller spacecraft to hover around the world's major cities and military bases. An all-out war ensues between humanity and the aliens; of course humanity wins and the aliens are defeated.

And that sums up my problem with the film. It's all very cliche. The aliens don't come in peace, we fight them, humanity wins etc... Oh, and of course the aliens are defeated on America's Independence Day. Bet you didn't see that coming. I'm not sure why this film is often considered a classic; there's nothing particularly original about it. Whilst I am a fan of science fiction, this film is very generic and straightforward in its plot and there's nothing to set it apart from other movies of the genre. I feel like I've seen it all before and there's no real unique angle to it.

The only moment that truly made me go 'wow' compared to other films of the sci-fi genre was when the alien ship destroyed the White House - and that was shown in the trailers anyway. Still, it was a very impactful shot masterfully constructed by digital effects producer Tricia Henry Ashford. It is incredible how the spaceship takes up the entire top half of the frame and the blue light striking the building puts some of today's effects to shame.



Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying Independence Day is a bad movie, it's just not a film that stands out as much as people claim. It is entertaining to watch and I imagine it would have made a good popcorn blockbuster at the cinema but it doesn't offer much substance. The characters are blandly sketched (of course, as Bill Pullman plays the president he has to give a cheesy 'big uplifting speech') and there's nothing to particularly make you care for them. Even Jeff Goldblum, as brilliant as he is in the film, can't save his character from appearing rather lifeless.

The only true highlight among the film's cast is Will Smith as Captain Steven Hiller. Captain Steven Hiller is a very fun and engaging character to watch; he has a number of brilliant wisecracks such as 'just a little anxious to get up there and whoop E.T.'s ass'. This is the kind of role Will Smith is brilliant at playing and it's not hard to see why Independence Day was one of the films that helped launch his career. He has so much likeability onscreen and is the one character in the movie you truly invest in.

Overall Independence Day isn't a bad movie, it's just overly hyped and full of a number of predictable cliches. The plot is very generic and there is nothing about the film that particularly stands out over the other science-fiction movies out there. Every character other than Captain Steven Hiller is bland and lifeless, which is one of the reasons why I doubt I'll ever watch the sequel. I'm not sure how a second Independence Day could be anything other than tedious without Will Smith to add much needed charisma to it. The best moment of the film is the alien ship destroying the White House and that was shown in the trailers anyway.

It sounds incredible as well. I love the way Patrick Troughton plays the Doctor in it; very different to how we think of him generally. Victory of the Daleks drew heavily on both that and Dalek too.

Victory of the Daleks doesn't get enough praise. Too many hate it purely because it saw the introduction of the Paradigm Daleks but other than those dreadful knew Dalek designs, it's actually a really good story.

The Paradigm Dalek design was fine as far as I was concerned, apart from the height and the silly bright colours (aimed at kids I assume – Colin Baker's loving the fact that his action figure is the most popular).

They just never seemed superior to the RTD Daleks to me at all. Says a lot when they later brought the RTD Daleks back.

The 2005 Daleks bugged me for the same reasons – they looked like toys. Not only that, the decision to cover them in nuts and bolts made them look like they'd be assembled in someone's garage rather than on another planet, which I'm convinced is the reason why Ray Cusick called them an "earthly interpretation" of his original design. I'm pretty sure the Paradigm versions dispensed with this feature.

What really worked about the 2005 Daleks was the development of the Daleks' onscreen capabilities. The way the upper body could turn for example, visually presenting them like functioning mobile weapons. They've never been better than in Dalek and it's just a shame that the budget couldn't stretch to seeing them the same ever since.

The Iron Legion

Doctor Who Magazine first debuted as Doctor Who Weekly in 1979; right from the start, it included my favourite magazine feature to date: the comic strip. Back in the 70s, the comic strip was weekly and technically within the Marvel Comics canon (this was before Panini bought Marvel UK, who originally owned the publication). Yep, the Doctor was in the same universe as Iron Man and Captain America. The first Doctor Who Weekly story was The Iron Legion and is considered to be a Doctor Who comic strip classic.

As someone who didn't start reading Doctor Who Magazine until 2011, it is strange to see the words 'Stan Lee Presents' above some of The Iron Legion comic strips. To think that the famous comics genius behind the likes of the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man once contributed to Doctor Who comic strips is incredible and you can see clear Marvel influence throughout. In The Iron Legion, the fourth Doctor arrives in a parallel universe where the Roman Empire never fell and instead conquered the galaxy with their army of robots commanded by General Ironicus. The Doctor teams up with old robot Vesuvius and ex-gladiator Morris to overthrow the empire and Emperor Adolphus's 'mother' Magog (revealed to be a member of an alien race called the Malevilus, who helped the Romans in providing the technology for the robots).

The most obvious Marvel Comics influence is the design of the Iron Legion robots of the title. They bare a striking resemblance to the Sentinels (robots who hunt mutants):





And then there's also the way it is written, with character monologues and the way the description boxes effortlessly set the scene:



That's one of my favourite things about Marvel compared to DC: they are much stronger at providing the context and establishing early on the narrative of the piece. It helps considerably to immerse you into the action. Before I go any further, I must stress that the comic strip is in black and white and the above picture is from a colourised version that was released in the U.S.

The narrative itself is one big, epic saga; it utilises the comic strip medium to the advantage by using a story that will likely never be able to be achieved onscreen. It would take a considerable budget to realise the Doctor's gladitorial fight with the Ectoslime or the robot flying squad.I doubt even the new series would be able to afford to realise those scenes. Doctor Who comic strips on the other hand don't have to worry about budgeting; this story is therefore exactly the kind Doctor Who comic strips should be exploring.

General Ironicus and the robots feel like a very credible threat for the Doctor too and at many times during the narrative you wonder how he is going to win. The odds seem firmly stacked against him (especially considering he has just come from his universe's Earth the robots managed to invade) and that's a quality that can be found in some of the best Doctor Who stories. Sometimes the Doctor is at his best when he is the underdog as opposed to an all-conquering God-like figure. When he fights Magog during the story's conclusion, it actually looks like he's going to lose. Magog appears to be in the most power as the Doctor explains the TARDIS controls, which makes the conclusion all the more appealing when his trickery concerning a certain button he is hiding is revealed.

It's a shame that they didn't decide to keep Vesuvius on as a comic strip companion as he is a fantastic character and I have a feeling he could have gone to be as popular as the shape-shifting penguin Frobisher. Vesuvius is endearing as a cranky old robot and has one of the best comic strip catchphrases in 'these days'. Like Frobisher, his eccentric quality suits the Doctor Who comic strip perfectly and whilst on TV he would probably come across as annoying in the comics format he offers a fun dynamic with the Doctor. For this Doctor in particular he feels like a well-suited supporting character; let's not forget this is the Doctor who asked for a talking cabbage as his companion.

If there's one thing that doesn't quite work for this story, it's the black and white aesthetic. Due to the cost of colour during the 1970s, all Doctor Who Weekly comics were published in black and white and to this story it feels detrimental. There's so much going on in the panels that sometimes it can be hard to follow without colour as a visual guide. My copy of The Iron Legion is a part of the Collected Comics offered to premium subscribers as part of the Doctor Who Complete History partwork collection; unfortunately they opted for the Panini Doctor Who Magazine reprints rather than the Dave Gibbons Collection colourisation. In colour I imagine the story would work much better.

Overall, The Iron Legion is a fantastic use of the comic strip medium to tell a narrative that the TV series would not be able to do with their allocated budget. The story feels suitably epic with strong opposition for the Doctor and a brilliant supporting character in Vesuvius who really should have been made a comics companion. My only negative point is that the black and white aesthetic can make the story hard to follow; however there is a colourisation version available as part of The Dave Gibbons Collection if the black and white styling puts you off.

Flushed Away

I am a big fan of Aardman Animations; I think they're films have a wonderful sense of charm and it's clear they spend a lot of time on offering a quality movie experience. Aardman's first computer-animated movie was therefore of interest to me; I was intrigued to see how the same charm would come across in a CGI-animated film compared to their plasticine efforts.

Flushed Away was a continuation of Aardman's collaboration with Dreamworks Animation at the time. The story follows Rodney (Hugh Jackman), an upper class mouse who accidentally ends up flushed down the toilet by Sid (Shane Richie), a mouse of the working class. Rodney must team up with entrepreneur mouse Rita Malone (Kate Winslet) in order to stop the evil Toad's (Ian McKellan) plan to flood the rat's underground city in the sewage.

It's not a bad animated film (there's certainly a lot worse out there) but equally it's not quite to Aardman's best. The story seems to have more influence from Dreamworks Animation than Aardman themselves; it's a bit silly and clearly aimed more at kids than families unlike Aardman's other films. That said, there is a surprisingly adult exploration of racism through the Toad's hatred of rodents. I'm not sure how I feel about the working class being treated like idiots through the character of Sid though. Is it right that to say that because we're not rich enough to be of a higher class we're mindless and stupid?

The film loses the Aardman charm somewhat too by opting for CGI animation as opposed to stop-motion. The models do accurately represent Aardman-style characters but they look too clean and computer animated to keep the raw magic of plasticine figures intereacting with each other. It's like if Wallace & Gromit was computer animated: it wouldn't quite feel like a Wallace & Gromit movie, even though you know it's a Wallace & Gromit film. I can see why they later moved back to animation; it's good that these companies experiment but this one didn't quite hit the mark.

Still, the voice-acting is good. Hugh Jackman is effortlessly lovable as Rodney; he feels like a perfect choice for the character. Ian McKellan is of cause amazing as Toad too; he is great at voicing the villainous characters in animated movies as his voice has the natural booming quality to make them appear threatening whilst maintaining that essential cartoon-like quality. The voice cast just feel wasted on this film; I would rather have seen them lend their voices to a Wallace & Gromit film than a movie that was always going to be decisive due to the way it deviates from Aardman's natural animation style.

For a film company's first CGI animation, it is surprisingly impressive. Aardman would no doubt have been helped by the animation team at Dreamworks but the resulting piece is strong considering they are more used to stop-motion and whilst it's not the best CGI animation out there, the wacky cartoon style suits the narrative well. It feels like a cross between Danger Mouse and Looney Tunes; very animated with cartoony backgrounds but with a certain sophistication at play too. I still prefer the animation and environments of stop-motion films by Aardman but you've got to admire how good their first attempt at a CGI animated movie looks visually.

Overall, Flushed Away isn't a terrible animated movie by any means but it's not quite up to Aardman's usual standards. The narrative is a bit silly compared to the broader more family-orientated stories of Wallace & Gromit however compared to other animated films it's passable. It's great that these companies experiment with things that don't fit their in-house style and whilst this experiment doesn't quite work, the animation is impressive for a company doing it for the first time. It's nice that they still kept the same character designs they use for the plasticine figures and the voice acting is good (especially Hugh Jackman as Rodney); it's just a shame that by going for the CGI animated movie option the film loses its signature Aardman charm. I'm glad that they opted not to return to CGI animation and focus on stop-motion films instead as for Aardman Animations, stop-motion films are definitely the way to go.

Doctor Who: Evacuation Earth

Doctor Who hasn't had much look with videogames. Despite being a hugely popular show both worldwide and in the UK, often its games are heavily criticised for their graphics and gameplay. When Asylum Entertainment were given the license in 2010, there wasn't much hope in the Whovian fanbase for a decent game. Indeed, one of their games - Return To Earth - was slammed by the critics. The other - the one I'm reviewing today - got more of a lukewarm response.

Regardless of what you say about either game, they both have strong narratives that feel like they could come from an episode of the show. Evacuation Earth sees the Doctor (Matt Smith) and Amy (Karen Gillan) arrive at the Lake District, as humanity is about to flee the Earth as the planet has become inhabitable due to solar flares. Suddenly the TARDIS is brought aboard the SS Lucy Gray, forcing the Doctor and Amy to board. They end up helping the humans onboard with problems with their ship and encounter Silurians and Daleks along the way. The neat thing about these games is they both tie into each other. Evacuation Earth sees the SS Lucy Gray take off, whilst Return To Earth is the ship's return to...you guessed it, Earth.

The idea to make a Doctor Who game puzzle-orientated is brilliant too. The Professor Layton style works brilliantly for Doctor Who, given that the Doctor often resorts to puzzle solving rather than violent measures. It fits the Doctor's character as a pacifist perfectly. The only problem is some of the puzzles are a bit too easy and would only really be hard to primary school children. This is understandable with early games such as piecing the Sonic Screwdriver back together because they have to take it slowly to ease you into game but when the later puzzles are easy too the lack of challenge could make the game potentially drag for some players.

The game is also a little short; there are only four chapters and ninety eight puzzles. That may seem like a lot to those who don't play a lot of puzzle games but for comparison, Professor Layton and the Curious Village has one hundred and thirty five puzzles and nine chapters. Doctor Who: Evacuation Earth can be completed in about three hours; Professor Layton on the other hand about eleven hours. I am sure they could have expanded the story more for Doctor Who: Evacuation Earth so it could have eleven chapters, especially when the game was full price upon release.

Fortunately unlike some of the other Doctor Who videogame efforts the graphics are strong. The game has captured Matt Smith and Karen Gillan's likenesses perfectly and the TARDIS interior looks stunning.



It feels almost as though Nintendo themselves have made the graphics in this game. They are stunning and put many other licensed videogame graphics to shame.

I am glad they managed to get Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Nicholas Briggs to voice the Doctor, Amy and the Daleks too. It helps the game to feel authentic, almost as though playing through an episode of the show. Matt Smith and Karen Gillan both naturally bounce off each other, especially during the opening scene when Amy Pond mishears the Lake District as the 'Larkhead Streaked'. Thankfully Matt Smith loses none of his oomph when he delivers his speech to the humans and Silurians about working together; it feels just as epic and awesome as it would during one of his epic speeches in the show. The Silurians sound laughably macho though, like they got Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson to voice them as an alien race of buff bodyguards. If only they'd got Neve McIntosh to provide their voices instead...

Overall, Doctor Who: Evacuation Earth is one of the better Doctor Who videogames. The narrative feels like a Doctor Who episode and the gameplay is perfect for the show's message of peaceful solutions over guns and brawn. The graphics are incredible. Unfortunately, the puzzles offer little challenge and the game is too short, with only four chapters meaning you can finish the game in a day. It's great that they managed to get Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Nicholas Briggs onboard though.

Les Miserables

Given that it is one of my favourite movies, it is a surprise that I haven't yet reviewed the 2012 film adaptation of the musical Les Miserables. Whilst there had been an adaptation of the book before, this version was based entirely on the more well-known West End production; a production that I am a huge fan of after seeing it on a Secondary school trip to London in 2012.

Les Miserables tells the story of prison convict Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), who is released on parole by Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe). Jean is unable to find work or accommodation due to his criminal status but is offered a place to stay by the kindly Bishop (Colm Wilkinson). When he is discovered stealing silvers from the Bishop's church, he is captured by the constables; fortunately, the Bishop claims he gave them to him as a gift and tells Jean to become an 'honest man'. Jean begins a new life as mayor of Montreuil and upon finding factory worker Fantine (Anne Hathaway) close to death following work as a prostitute in order to raise money to care for her child Cosette (who grows up to become Amanda Seyfried). When she sadly passes away, he agrees to look after her child and in order to do so must avoid being sent back to prison by Javert, who has been hunting him down since he broke parole.

I never thought the West End version could ever be topped but this film comes remarkably close. The movie version of Les Miserables loses none of the emotional trauma of the West End version and is thankfully just as depressing a watch; you deeply care for the characters and the hell they are going through. I mean, if you don't cry at the young boy then you must be inhuman. This isn't a film for the emotionally unstable and neither is the play but given the subject matter of the French Revolution and poverty of the time it needs to be a traumatic experience. And this film certainly is traumatic. It's weird just how immersive the story is; you really feel like you know these characters - it's almost like they're your relatives and you're seeing close family die onscreen.

One thing I'm really glad with about the film adaptation of the musical is how they opted for a stagey feel. The film is frequently told through close-ups of the characters' faces and in my opinion helps to establish an intimate and personal relationship between the viewer and onscreen events. It is perhaps the element that most helps to add that strong connection between viewer and character. By using close-ups, it feels like the characters are singing directly to us especially during scenes where the characters are singing to themselves (such as Marius (Eddie Redmayne) singing Empty Chairs At Empty Tables).

As for the singing, it was a genius idea by director Danny Boyle to have the singing done live rather than recorded in a studio. This is the first time a musical has been filmed with live singing and it helps with an emotional film like Les Miserables to allow the singing to feel raw rather than manufactured. The emotions feel real; nothing about the way they sing seems forced. It all just flows and I don't feel this would have been achieved as well had the songs been recorded beforehand.

Many complain about Russell Crowe's singing but I actually think he sounds pretty good. He is nowhere near as bad as some try to claim and is certainly a lot better when compared to Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia. Hugh Jackman has an amazing singing ability, especially during his versions of Who Am I and Epilogue. The standouts are by far Amanda Seyfried and Anne Hathaway however: Amanda Seyfried has an absolutely beautiful singing voice and her version of A Heart Full Of Love is brilliant, whilst Anne Hathaway offers arguably the best version of I Dreamed A Dream (an Oscar winning performance for the hugely talented actor).

The one CGI effect at the beginning of the huge ship being pulled into dock by the prison convicts is so believable that you don't even realise it's a special effect until you look it up. The CGI was done by Jarrod Avalos from Lola VFX and it has to be one of the most convincing the movie industry has ever seen. The actual sequence was filmed in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and is barely recognisable as the setting from the film:





Overall, Les Miserables is a movie masterpiece and deserves to be recognised as one of the best musical adaptations of all time. The film accurately portrays the emotional rollercoaster of the West End musical and uses a brilliant stagey feel with the camera work; Director of Photography Danny Cohen has done an outstanding job of capturing the feel of watching the West End Musical, offering both an immersive and personal experience. When the characters die, it feels like saying goodbye to a close family member. The decision by Danny Boyle for all the singing to be done live was a clever one that helps maintain the raw emotion of the incredible singing by the likes of Hugh Jackman, Amanda Seyfried...and yes, Russell Crowe. Kudos to Jarrod Avalos of Lola VFX too for the stunning CGI at the beginning of the film.

Planet of the Spiders

There's one thing I find strange about Planet of the Spiders. The 1974 Doctor Who serial was the regeneration story of the much beloved third Doctor (played by Jon Pertwee), yet for some reason it is very rarely discussed among the Whovian fandom. It almost seems to have been abandoned by the fanbase; even Invasion of the Dinosaurs is talked about more than this serial. In my opinion, this serial definitely doesn't deserve to be forgotten.

Planet of the Spiders is arguably Doctor Who's first example of a series finale. It sees a number of elements from Jon Pertwee's time on the show resolved including the Metebilis 3 crystal and Mike Yates' (Richard Franklyn) betrayal, so not only is the story frequently ignored but it has arguably had a major influence over the new series and the way everything is resolved in a finale.

In Planet of the Spiders, the mutated giant spiders known as the 'Eight Legs' are seeking the Doctor's Metebilis 3 crystal in order to achieve universal domination. The Doctor is the only one who can stop them; he must confront the Eight Legs' leader The Great One and face the possible death of his current incarnation in order to save the day.

One of the things that made Jon Pertwee's era so brilliant was the concept of threats close to home as the villains. It is therefore genius that for his last adventure, the villains are something we recognise from our own planet that many find frightening: I am of course talking about spiders. This serial is wise in its decision to follow in the steps of The Green Death (featuring giant maggots) and The Mutants (giant insects), both highly regarded among Whovians. It wouldn't feel right for Jon Pertwee's last serial if the story's antagonists weren't similar earth-like creatures, although it is a shame that Roger Degaldo's Master couldn't have featured in his last story as originally planned- sadly Roger Degaldo died in a car crash in 1973. The Eight Legs may not be the most convincing Doctor Who prop but the classic series isn't about the special effects anyway, it's about the narrative and having an adventure with the Doctor. And there was never a more exciting adventure during Jon Pertwee's era than when he tackled monsters close to home.

The decision to include a chase sequence with the Whomobile and Bessie is also to be applauded. These two vehicles are synonymous with the third Doctor era of the show and it is nice that they got the send-off they deserved along with this incarnation of the Doctor. Bessie in particular is a car you can't imagine with any other incarnation and a big part of this era. The chase sequence represents everything people like about Jon Pertwee's Doctor; he is essentially Doctor Bond during an era of television where there were a lot of spy dramas and undercover cop shows. It helps that the scene is wonderfully executed by director Barry Letts; it's one of those scenes in the classic series where arguably you cannot tell the show was working on a shoestring budget.

It's nice to see Mike Yates redeemed by alerting the Doctor and Sarah (Elisabeth Sladen) to the strange goings-on at the Buddhist meditation centre. It feels natural and in-character for Mike Yates to want to redeem himself and it's nice to see a signature UNIT personnel who was a big part of this incarnation's time on Earth become firmly on the side of good again after betraying UNIT in Invasion of the Dinosaurs. Mike feels as much like a Doctor Who companion as Liz, Jo or Sarah and perhaps one day Adam Mitchell will get a similar redemption story (although I would love to see Adam as an antagonist at some point akin to the role he plays in the comic series Prisoners of Time).

Despite the serial's forgotten nature, its ending is arguably one of the most iconic regeneration sequences in the show's history. It deserves to be. The third Doctor's regeneration is bittersweet and heart-wrenching without the need for Murray Gold music or a sobbing David Tennant. The emotion is dealt with in a subtle way and whilst I personally love the tenth Doctor's regeneration scene, I can also appreciate how this sequence is not quite so 'in your face' about how you're supposed to feel. All this sequence needs is four simple words - 'A tear, Sarah Jane?' - and it immediately sells the emotional weight of the scene. A lot of it is down to Jon Pertwee's stunning delivery but it wouldn't have worked without Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith, who if you didn't know Sarah Jane was a character you'd think genuinely believed in real life that Jon Pertwee was going to die. Of course, he doesn't die - he regenerates into Tom Baker - but Sarah doesn't know that and Elisabeth Sladen plays it brilliantly.

Overall, Planet of the Spiders is a brilliant and sadly often-overlooked Jon Pertwee serial, especially for Jon Pertwee's regeneration story. The story encompasses everything that made the Pertwee era of the show special, from the Earth-like appearance of the monsters (an approach later taken to the new series by Russell T Davies) to the vehicles that quickly became synonymous with Jon Pertwee's portrayal: namely Bessie and the Whomobile. The decision to have Mike Yates redeemed in the story is a good one and the story contains one of the show's best regeneration scenes that shows you can provide raw emotion without Vale Decem and David Tennant crying on cue.

Yeah, I think that's true – it is very rarely discussed.

Yeah, I suppose it is the first proper series finale. The War Games was a bit of a cobbled together rush job and it's the various ongoing things like the crystal and Mike Yates' story that make it a consciously designed final story.

I know that Delgado wanted to leave as he felt 'typed' and of course wasn't in the series as a full regular in the way he had been. As I understand it the idea was to bring the Master back and have him die saving the Doctor's life. They would have also possibly revealed that the Doctor and the Master were brothers (we know they used to be friends).

I don't know whether it was the intention to have this as the last story, as they probably didn't know Pertwee would be going when the season was being thought about.

I still find it really odd that Letts and Dicks never considered regenerating the Master – almost as if they'd forgotten they could do it. I once did a poll to find out which actor everyone thought would have got the job if they'd simply recast the Master (rather than going the cadaverous Master route) and Ian McDiarmid won (amusingly a very similar actor to Geoffrey Beevers).

Yeah, it's a good moment. Very subtle.

You know what I think about Earth-like monsters – good in moderation. There were also plenty of really good Space-aliens to be had during this era and that's how it should be.

My guess is they probably felt it was too soon to recast. After all, they were good friends with Roger Degaldo.

That's true. I find the monsters of the Pertwee-era closer to home the most memorable though.

Ah, but they knew he wanted to leave before the accident. It's that they could have changed the actor but it was as if it didn't occur to them. Or maybe they felt that Delgado was so indelibly the Master that it was preferable and more dramatic to kill him off in the way they planned?

He was probably the only one they could imagine in the role at the time. And who can blame them? He is still the Master to many.