Invasion of the Dinosaurs is the last Third Doctor story I hadn’t seen before. I’d owned it for a long time, but the impression I’d gained was of a highly naff production, even accounting for Doctor Who’s usual low budget standards. INVASION I love that Episode One is simply titled ‘Invasion’ and I’m sure that …
Ooh new titles… When I originally watched The Time Warrior, I hadn’t seen any of Sarah Jane Smith’s 1970s’ stories. I’d first seen her in The Five Doctors, and I came away without much impression of her really. There are so many faces there that few of the companions get to shine much besides filling …
I first saw The Green Death on BBC Four in April 2006. BBC Four has never regularly repeated Doctor Who and I can’t recall seeing any other stories there around that time – I’d definitely have checked the TV guide after stumbling across this one. I’d later assumed that this broadcast was part of some …
Frontier in Space may not have had the cliffhanger I thought I remembered, but it did have a cliffhanger. I’d waited 15 years to find out how Planet of the Daleks continued the story, after UK Gold had been unable to screen it. The VHS was deleted by then and eBay copies were too expensive …
When I watched Frontier in Space the first time around, I was absolutely livid that UK Gold did not then show Planet of the Daleks afterwards. And for years that was my main memory of it – being angry and feeling cheated of the story’s conclusion. I never managed to get around to seeing Planet …
I’ve been doing my Very Slow Doctor Who Marathon for well over a decade – the pilgrimage, the quest, whatever fans want to call it. One thing that pushed me back towards it was the release of The Collection blu-ray sets. I’ve written about some stories in recent years, starting in the Pertwee era. Having …
Written by: James Mitchell Directed by: Guy Verney Caroline Fielding (Ann Bell) is the wife of a diplomat with good connections to the US President. She’s being blackmailed by Lord Lindale (Donald Hewlett), a gambler who is threatening to sell compromising photos of her husband to the Russians. Former Section operative Miller (Gerald Flood) has …
In the missing episode But He’s a Lord, Mr Callan, Callan hands over a portion of gambling winnings to his ex-colleague, who says there should be more. Callan tells him, “Fifty quid expenses. I’ve got to look smart when I stay with a lord, haven’t I?” Later, Lonely comes to collect Callan’s things for their …
Bauer (Robert Lang) is to help the Section plant an agent in East Germany. He comes to Hunter with a proposal to tip the East Germans off and send in a decoy – if they find a decoy first they won’t be looking for the real agent. Bauer had a previous run-in with Callan and …
The Death of Robert E Lee is Callan’s second missing episode and provides further insight into the early dynamics in the series. Callan remains ‘free’ of the Section but he can’t escape the world of espionage, even when it isn’t Hunter blackmailing him. The CIA request Hunter’s help to get hold of Li Pa Chao …