A bit of housekeeping. I’m not liking how these are turning out so much. Instead of writing them after I’ve finished watching the serial, I’m going to write a bit after each part, but keep it in one blog post per serial. I do want to put screencaps back in, but how I’m watching has changed, and it’s not very good for that. I used to pop the DVD into my computer, watch in VLC and used the command key combination to take a screencap. Now I’ve digitized my DVDs and store them in Plex, so I’m watching through Plex Media Player on my computer or the app on my Apple TV. So there’s no quick and easy way to grab a screencap.
Now that that’s out of the way… Let’s begin lucky season 13. The Zygons are here! They were in the 50th Anniversary episode, which is what made me start this project, so this might be a romp. This is their debut in Doctor Who.
Part One
Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart calls the Doctor back to the UK. Oil rigs in Scotland are being destroyed with no survivors. The Doctor downplays Brig’s concerns, but agrees to investigate.
Harry finds a man on the beach who warns him, but is shot at by a sniper. Harry gets grazed by a bullet. Is this why Harry leaves? Does he get spooked by being shot at and decides not to continue travelling with the Doctor?
Oooh! Creepy nurse lady is taking care of Harry. She’s super-creepy. Since I know Zygons are shape-shifters, I’m going to guess that she’s a Zygon! The cliffhanger was great, a Zygon is attacking Sarah. What I love most about it is that the Zygon looks absolutely horrible.
Part Two
What of the Zygons? Terror? Terror indeed. Terror of the terrible makeup. Terror of the makeup artists who can’t even be bothered to glue the latex mask to the actor’s face. Terror of boredom? Terror indeed.
Part Three
That dinosaur is quality SFX. Doctor Who is shelling out the big bucks! That was sarcasm. I called it! The nurse was a Zygon! Her morph from nurse to Zygon was perhaps even better than the dinosaur, which we’ve now found out is Nessy, the Lochness Monster.
So, let me get this straight. The Zygon have been living in Lochness for hundreds of years. They occasionally send the cybernetic Nessy out for a stroll. Now with some oil drilling, they’re getting upset, so they’re using Nessy to attack the platforms and kill all the oil staff? That’s… ridiculous.
Sarah found a secret door in the Duke of Forgill’s library. I’m guessing it’s going to lead to the Zygon base. I’m right! I’m brilliant! “The girl1 must be found and destroyed.” Oh, she found Harry Sullivan. Wasn’t sure it was really him, but he called her an “old girl,” so it must be him.2 The Zygon’s captured The Doctor! The Brig is firing artillery at their underwater ship. The Zygons are taking off… doesn’t the Duke care, they’re going to flood his house!
Wait. Them leaving is the cliffhanger? That’s not a steep cliff.
Part Four
Oh, I guess the cliffhanger is that The Doctor is on the ship. Okay, this is the first time I’m thinking that Harry is an idiot. Sarah is clueing things together, and he just brushes it off and convinces her to leave their investigation. Why do all Doctor Who aliens whisper everything and talk very slowly?
Oh, so the Zygons are refugees and wish to terraform Earth to resemble Zygonia or whatever they call their planet.
Oh no! The Doctor is dead! I bet he’s not dead. Yup, he was just playing dead, oh silly Doctor.
So the Doctor frees the Human captives, and blows up the ship, but doesn’t care about them being refugees?