Doctor Who (TV Series) The Two Doctors: Part One (1985) User Reviews

"She's at mega-genius level now." Enjoyable Colin Baker story.

[poolandrews · 7/10 · 14 July 2007]

Doctor Who: The Two Doctors: Part 1 starts as the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) & his companion Jamie (Fraser Hines) are arrive at the Space Station Camera & talk to head scientist Dastari (Laurence Payne) about potentially dangerous experiments in time travel. Dastari has also been conducting genetic experiments on Androgums, he has created a super intelligent female named Chessene (Jacqueline Pearce) who has teamed up with a Sontaran named Stike of the Ninth Battle Group. A team of Sontaran's raid the space station killing almost everyone. Meanwhile the Doctor (Colin Baker) is feeling unwell so decides to visit Dastari but when he & Peri (Nicola Bryant) arrive they discover the massacre, he is determined to get to the bottom of it as Chessene & the Sontaran's have landed on Earth ready to put their plans into action...

Episode 7 from season 22 this Doctor Who adventure was originally aired here in UK during Februray 1985, directed by Peter Moffatt The Two Doctors was the fifth Colin Baker story but the fourth from his first full season & I have to say I rather liked it despite the level of stick it gets. The first of three 45 minute long parts the script by Robert Holmes is actually quite fun, I must admit I really like the uneasy banter between the Doctor & Peri here as it seems to have gone from annoying arguing when they first meet to amusing & sarcastic remarks, comments & innuendo. I found a lot of the dialogue between the Doctor & Peri pretty funny. The rest of the character's are decent as well with some strange chef who keeps going on about eating a human being, it gives his lines a slightly dark & cannibalistic edge which seems somewhat out of place here but I for one am not complaining. This being called The Two doctors there are obviously two Doctors in it but they haven't met so far & I don't know how the whole time-line & paradox thing is going to be explained & why doesn't the sixth Doctor remember what happened to himself when he was the second Doctor, to be honest it's been years since I last saw this you see & so far have only caught up with Part 1 so these might be explained in Part 2 or 3. The episode moves along at a nice pace, it doesn't bore, it's fairly amusing at times & we get to see the Doctor go fishing! What more do you want?

The Two Doctors see the return of the Sontaran's after their last appearance during the excellent Tom Baker story The Sontaran Experiment (1975) during season 12. Here they are much taller than previously & to be fair we only see one in this episode & it gets about a minute of screen time so we can't scrutinise the costume that much but the face mask looks pretty good. One problem with them is the way they are revealed via a long shot, it's an incredibly poor way to introduce a potentially scary monster & has zero impact unlike a shock entrance could have had. I have to mention Dastari's glasses here, they are embarrassing & I can't believe they didn't look dated even back in 1985 when this originally aired.

The Two Doctors: Part 1 is a good start to an enjoyable story, a story which is said by some to be the worst story in season 22 which I think is total nonsense but we are all entitle to an opinion no matter how wrong they are, right?

A strong episode elevated by Troughton and Hines.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 7 August 2018]

I've been fairly critical in the past about the episodes from the time of Doctor number six, but when they're good, they're very good.

There is no doubt that the appearance of Doctor number two and companion Jamie adds something special to this episode. As so many episodes from that era are miasing, it's great to get a glimpse into their on screen quality. None of the magic has gone, the humour is still there. Laughs galore.

The script is excellent, stronger then most from the time, an appearance from the Sontarans is always welcome, and the manner in which the Two Doctors cross over is cleverly done.

A special mention for Jacqueline Pearce, who brilliantly portrays Chessene, famous for playing Servalan in Blake's 7, she is excellent to watch, beautiful and charismatic. A role that had previously been intended for Elizabeth Springs, but I'm so glad Pearce did it, she'd get better and better as the story progresses.

Great music, which only adds to the pace and horror. The sets also look rather good. Baker and Bryant are a little overshadowed, but both would stand out more in subsequent parts.

Why is as Jamie living like a hamster?

Not Troughton's swansong

[zotwot · 6/10 · 22 June 2014]

This is in no way Robert Holmes' best work. He gets some of his great dialogue on but the plot is dreadful. Firstly this isn't a proper multi- Doctor story, by which I mean something which celebrates the show and past Doctors. It is a story which happens to have the Second Doctor in it. The Second Doctor gets a good start and Patrick Troughton is rather good as an Androgum but it is not the swansong he deserved.

This is not really a Sontaran story either as they barely appear and have little influence on the plot. The two Sontarans that appear here look pretty awful too. They should really have been the main villain as Chessene is frankly rather dull.

However, there are plenty of good things too. Shockeye is a terrible character for most of it but the idea of him eating humans is quite disturbing. Jamie fits in remarkably well with the Sixth Doctor and Peri (I would happily have had him join them full-time, maybe post mind- wipe). The Spanish setting also works rather well, even if it has no relevance to the plot.

I enjoyed The Two Doctors but there is little doubt that there are a lot of problems with it. Nice to have an old Doctor back but the show needed to leave them be and do something new, rather than keep thinking about former glories

Mr Potato Head's Less Handsome Cousins

[JamesHitchcock · 4 February 2015]

Although Patrick Troughton's official reign as Doctor Who ended in 1969, he was to make three return appearances in "The Three Doctors", "The Five Doctors" and finally in "The Two Doctors" in 1985, two years before his death. The plot of "The Two Doctors" is a particularly complex one, taking place partly on a space station in a distant part of the Galaxy and partly in Spain, in the countryside just outside Seville, and I won't attempt to summarise it in any detail. Basically, it concerns the attempts of the Sontarans to gain control of the secrets of time travel. The Sontarans, the ones who look like Mr Potato Head's less handsome cousins, are one of a number of races, including the Daleks, the Cybermen and the Ice Warriors, who make regular appearances as the Doctor's enemies. All of these races have essentially the same personality traits, uppermost amongst them being complete and utter ruthlessness and a desire for domination of the Universe.

In this quest the Sontarans have an ally in the shape of the Androgum Chessene. The Androgums are a primitive, savage and brutal race whose main distinguishing feature is their enormous appetite, especially for meat, and their willingness to kill and eat any living creature, including humans, to satisfy that appetite. (Their name is an anagram of "gourmand", and the scriptwriter Robert Holmes appears to have invented them to make propaganda for his own vegetarian opinions. The serial ends with the Sixth Doctor telling Peri that from now on it will be a healthy vegetarian diet for both of them).

Most Androgums are ugly and stupid, but Chessene- her name is pronounced as three syllables- has been "augmented" by a process of genetic modification which has given her the appearance of a beautiful woman and an elevated level of intelligence. Opposing Chessene and the Sontarans are the Second and Sixth Doctors, together with their companions Jamie McCrimmon and Peri. (The laws of time and space do not, apparently, prevent two incarnations of a Time Lord from being present at the same time in the same place).

Another important character is the scientist Dastari. It would, perhaps, be wrong to describe him as a villain as, unlike Chessene and the Sontarans, he has no evil intentions. His function is a common one in "Doctor Who" serials, not so much a mad scientist as an irresponsible scientist who arrogantly turns a blind eye to the dangers and ethical implications of his work. (Professor Stahlman in "Inferno" is another example). It was Dastari who performed the "augmentation" on Chessene, something which both Doctors consider dangerous as they believe that Androgums are essentially violent and treacherous by nature. (They are to be proved right; even the Sontarans come to regret having trusted Chessene). Even worse, Dastari has been backing unauthorised time-travel experiments that the Time Lords fear could threaten the fabric of time itself.

Troughton and Colin Baker combine well to bring out the contrast in their characters' personalities. Paradoxically, although Troughton was a generation older than Baker, it is the now-elderly Second Doctor, mischievous with an impish sense of humour, who in some ways seems younger than the rather pompous, conceited Sixth. (We learn here that the Sixth Doctor is a keen fisherman, just as his predecessor was a cricket enthusiast). Nicola Bryant is as lovely as ever as Peri and Frazer Hines as Jamie looks hardly any older than he did sixteen years earlier.

Special mention needs to be made of some of those in supporting roles, especially Jacqueline Pearce (best remembered today for her role as the main villainess in another BBC sci-fi programme, Servalan in "Blake's Seven") as Chessene. The previous "Doctor Who" serial, "The Mark of the Rani", had also introduced another glamorous female villain, Kate O'Mara's Rani, who combines Chessene's malevolence with Dastari's scientific irresponsibility.

Several characters come to untimely ends, contributing to the complaints about excessive violence in the programme during this period of its history. This serial, however, also contains a good deal of humour, much of it centred upon two subsidiary characters. There is a gleefully brilliant comic performance from John Stratton as the cook Shockeye, an unaugmented Androgum who displays all the brutality and gluttony of his race and is forever in search of something or someone to eat. (Preferably either Jamie or Peri). The other is James Saxon's Oscar, a vain and conceited out-of-work actor who, while waiting to be offered his next great role, is forced to moonlight as a restaurant manager in Seville.

I must admit that at the time Colin Baker was not my favourite Doctor, although I changed my opinion somewhat when I realised how much better he was than his successor Sylvester McCoy. Looking back, I think that I probably misjudged him; he certainly featured in some very enjoyable serials, of which this is one. It was while "The Two Doctors" was being broadcast that the news that the series would be put on hiatus for a year was announced. Baker was eventually to return in "The Trial of a Time Lord" some eighteen months later, but from this point onwards the writing seemed to be on the wall for the programme, largely because the programme-makers received little support from the BBC top brass, notably Michael Grade, the Controller of BBC One. And yet, with serials as good as this one, one wonders why.

A Half Baked Dish Of Messy Ideas

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 17 February 2014]

Refers To All Three Episodes . Suggestive Spoilers

Concerned about the time experiments of a maverick scientist called Dastari the Time Lords dispatch the second incarnation of The Doctor to warn Dastari to desist from his experiments . Arriving on board a space station where the scientist keeps his research facility the Doctor finds out first hand that Dastari is in league with the Sontarans

This was a fan's wet dream when it was announced to the fan press . A former Doctor returns along with a popular enemy . Alas however like so much else in Season 22 the programme is too busy looking backwards that no one bothers about the present , in which case the programme ended up having no future and in many ways it was appropriate that it was The Two Doctors that was being broadcast when the press revealed that the following season had been put on hiatus by Michael Grade

Did I use the word " appropriate " in the previous paragraph ? Watching it now some scenes seem very inappropriate . Script writer Robert Holmes caused many children to have nightmares with his contribution to the show as writer and script editor but here some things are misjudged . Shockeye the Androgum is one of the most colourful characters the show has seen but his obsession with wanting to consume human flesh is rather disturbing . To be honest it's crass more than anything else and scenes where he murders an old lady and chews on the carcass of a rat seem at odds with a blackly comical feel that Philip Martin brought to his tale set on Varos . Also The Two Doctors could easily be told in two parts and is full of padding such as the sixth Doctor and Peri being stuck aboard a space station for almost half the story . By the time the story reaches the climax you've forgotten all about the events that led up to it and the story lacks cohesive structure

Director Peter Moffat isn't as bad here as he was with the atrocity that was The Twin Dilemma but again it shows that he's not suited to the glossy space opera elements of the story . What is unforgivable is the way he introduces the Sontarans . We glimpse a Sontaran hand in the space station and the next appearance of a Sontaran is a long shot in the Spanish countryside . You don't need to be Martin Scorsese to realise this is a directorial blunder and what was needed between these two points was a Sontaran establishing shot featuring a close up on the face . Watching the Sontarans here reminded me very much of the parody they have become in the new show . On another point couldn't the second Doctor have worn a dark wig since his grey hairs are distracting

That said the highlight is seeing Patrick Troughton back in the role of the second Doctor and like his appearances in the 10th and 20th anniversary specials he steals every scene . . His co-star Frazer Hines as Jamie every bit as likable as he was back in the 1960s and it's nice to see him team up with the sixth Doctor and Peri . As for the other guest stars Jacquliene Pearce might have been a casting coup but she plays an absolute clone of her character Servelan from BLAKES 7 . James Saxon as Oscar is completely camp while Laurence Payne acts as if he's bored which is hardly surprising since Dastari is one of the most clichéd mad scientist types the show has ever seen . John Stratton is superb as Shockeye and plays up to the disturbingly comic scenes of his character

The Two Doctors is a wildly uneven story that sums up season 22 . It's the sort of story that fans will enjoy and contains some fine acting that remains on the right side of camp but the flaws are equally noticeable and it may alienate the casual viewer if they don't understand the black comedy used

Doctor Doctor

[A_Kind_Of_CineMagic · 7/10 · 28 July 2019]

Review of all 3 parts:

This 3 part story was written by the great Robert Holmes who had been the best script editor in the show's history presiding over the finest era (seasons 12 to mid season 15) as well as writing numerous fantastic stories over many many years. This is one of the weakest he was involved with but in fact his script is actually pretty good in a number of ways and is far better than the majority of scripts during the 6th Doctor's era. The dialogue is quite well written and the plot is has some decent aspects with interesting ideas. It features the 2nd Doctor and his companion Jamie as well as the 6th Doctor and Peri which in itself is an exciting opportunity. Unfortunately the 2nd Doctor is largely sidelined early on and hardly interacts with the 6th Doctor until the end. Whenever Patrick Troughton is on screen Holmes' dialogue comes to life and the story is appealing. Even when he is converted into a hunger driven 'Androgum' he is amusing and makes it work. Sadly, the characterisation of the 6th Doctor is an inherent weakness in this period of the show and Colin Baker is as grating as usual at times portraying the Doctor as an arrogant, pompous, rude egomaniac. Holmes script often brings out the best in him though and Peri even occasionally sounds OK with Holmes' dialogue. Sadly Nicola Bryant just was not good enough to deliver a strong performance and combined with Baker's irritating characterisation is a negative.

Another problem is the disappointing production values of this time. Costumes, sets, effects and action sequences continue to be poor. The Sontarans look rubbish, the garish costumes look silly and the sets look dodgy. The direction is not good enough. There is also an unimpressive fishing scene in a quarry. On the plus side we get nice location filming in Spain which makes it look more pleasant visually and the music is very good and appropriate. In fact the first 2 parts are pretty decent thanks to Troughton and Hines brief but lovely appearances, Jacqueline Pearce's guest performance, the music, the Spanish locations and Holmes' script which is over complicated but has some ambition and intelligence. They are only held back by the 6th Doctor and Peri's unpleasant bickering, the weak sets & costumes and a needless unpleasant scene involving a rat being killed and eaten (not a real one, an unrealistic dummy one). These first 2 episodes are not great but are of an acceptable standard overall.

Sadly the third and final episode in the story goes wrong. The cannibalism aspect was teetering on the edge of being inappropriate for family viewing but in part 3 things go too far with the unpleasant, gratuitously violent murder of Oscar and the Doctor being injured in a knife fight before killing his assailant with cyanide. This is all made worse by being mixed together with silly farcical humour and the Doctor making Bond-like one liners after acts of violence. I like the show to have darkness, horror and even violence when done well but this is all totally mishandled. The silly humour is not funny and the direction, particularly of action scenes is weak. The plot gets muddied by all the farcical shenanigans and the episode is a poor one in many ways.

Some say that this story supports the 'season 6b' theory that the 2nd Doctor and Jamie have adventures guided by the Timelords between the majority of The War Games and the regeneration. I find this odd as the Doctor mentions dropping off Victoria and also it seems at odds with the Timelords punishing him and exiling him. In fact I find this story raises a number of questions continuity wise but that is not a major complaint.

It is a pity that certain aspects, mainly the third part let down this story.

My ratings: Part 1 - 7/10, Part 2 - 7.5/10, Part 3 - 3.5/10, Overall - 6/10.

Two Doctors Too Many

[eurothozza · 3/10 · 20 August 2021]

The first point to make to a viewer contemplating diving in to watch "The Two Doctors" hoping to relive some of the whimsy of the black and white Patrick Troughton years of Doctor Who... is to say that this is not a family story.

Almost none of the essence of Troughton's Doctor is permitted to shine through the dirge and nastiness that afflicted the program through too much of the 1980s.

Momentary glimpses of Troughton and companion Jamie's true worth do peek through between dark themes of cannibalism, knife fights, and Colin Baker's bullying and erratic performance of The Sixth Doctor.

Inexplicably, the Sontarans also appear. Don't ask me why. Their connection to the story is tenuous at best. As is the setting in Spain.

In place of witty repartee, Troughton's Doctor (tied down for much of the story) engages in a series of shouting matches with one-dimensional villains.

And the only moral of this story? Apparently we should all be vegetarians.

For the un-initiated, it should be explained that all these things were not what the Classic Series had been built on through its long heyday in the 60s and 70s (and brief renaissance in the late 1980s with Sylvester McCoy's first stories).

After putting the plane together whilst flying it through the First Doctor's wobbly-setted reign, the strength of witty scripts, good stories, and strong character-acting always overwhelmed the weakness of wobbly sets, outlandish costumes, and frequently implausible plots for most of its first two decades. Within the implausible plots, the characters behaved - for the most part - plausibly.

But by the Colin Baker era, the show was overly-lit in set design, and overly-dark in story theme. The costumes were garish, the violence too graphic for children, and the central casting pretty woeful. And in this story from 1985, we have Patrick Troughton and Jamie McCrimmon - two of the great characters of the program's Heroic Age - returning for a mostly unworthy swansong.

Ah well. What can a fan do except... watch.

As for the rest of you... I doubt any of it will make much sense.

Not good

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 24 August 2021]

Another misfire from the Colin Baker era, one that never really gels despite some fine ingredients; it's a far cry from THE FIVE DOCTORS, there's no denying that. This one's chiefly of interest for seeing Patrick Troughton and Frazer Hines coming back for one last time as the Second Doctor and Jamie respectively, and while there's fun in that premise, they don't get to do much. Poor old Troughton suffers in particular from spending his screen time strapped to a couch and then donning ridiculous ginger eyebrows in the last episode. The story is pure satire and has random cannibalism elements which don't work in a kid's show and Jacqueline Pearce gets wasted too as a stock villain. Peri is more sexualised than ever in her costume and Baker just comes across as brash. Not good!