3.15: The Three Doctors

In which we realise that Doctor Who can’t count to ten.

Broadcast: December 1972-January 1973

Watched: April 2020

The Three Doctors, Episode One

Sooooo why *did* they decide to make the 10th anniversary special when the show had only been on for nine years? [Nothing more complicated than “it’s the start of the show’s tenth season, but come on.]

The po-faced tone of this one, juxtaposed with the utterly ridiculous monsters, once reminded me of Monty Python’s Tennis playing Blancmanges From Outer Space and now I can’t un-see it. But UNIT HQ being overwhelmed by monsters halfway through episode one does seem to raise the stakes. 

And Troughton’s first scene is *wonderful* – I genuinely laughed at the Beatles bit. (“Oh, how does it go?”) It is like seeing an old friend again. Although I do wonder what Bob and Dave had to draw on when writing him – would they have seen old episodes? [Much of the script is apparently not actually by Bob Baker and Dave Martin, but by script editor Terrance Dicks.]

Other thoughts. The “breaking the first law of time” bollocks in the Time Lord control room is an attempt to generate conflict from nowhere: these guys really are the spiritual ancestors of Chibnall. The balloon is not as sinister or alien as the programme makers seem to think. The Doctor stirring his tea with a silicon rod is lovely. The computerised antimatter effects are oddly cute.

Love Jo’s blue fur coat. Bentons’s first response to the TARDIS  (“it’s pretty obvious isn’t it?”) is great too. This is probably his best appearance isn’t it?

HARTNELL!

The Three Doctors, Episode Two

“As long as he does the job he can wear what face he likes.”

The Brig is not normally this stupid. Who exactly are the Time Lords protecting? And why does Jo always believe that she’s dead? [She did this in the last story, too.]

You can see that a lot of Benton’ s lines were written for Jamie. [He was meant to be back, too, but Frazer Hines was unavailable so Benton got his part instead.]

Troughton has jelly babies. Huh.

The anti matter realm is rubbish – a quarry and some plastic bubbles. Not a great production, this. Love that the cliffhanger is, “They’ve stolen UNIT HQ!”

The Three Doctors, Episode Three

Omega takes ages to show up. I like that Pertwee seems to genuinely consider working with him to piss off the Time Lords. Also that from some perspectives Omega’s grievance isn’t unreasonable.

“But you will fight the DARK side of my mind,” might be the campest thing yet. Not just in this story, but in the entire previous nine years.

First time I saw this I was so sad Harwell never joined the others. There’s a bit where it genuinely feels like he’s going to (“You are our last chance”), but he never does. Shame. [He was too ill: he died a couple of years later.]

I suppose one reason for doing this one at the start of the season is it sets up the restoration of the Doctor’s freedom and means and they can do three space ones in a row.

The Three Doctors, Episode Four

“Are you sure that you and he are of the same intelligence...?” Blimey, Omega gets a joke.

This is mostly an incredibly silly story but there is something genuinely mythic about Omega’s story – the way he’s been abandoned, the idea all that’s left is his will and he doesn’t even know. 

“Three of them! I didn’t know when I was well off.” Moffat recycled more lines from this 40 years later than I’d realised.

The walking through the smoke bit goes on forever. Space filling? So does the scene where everyone says goodbye. 

Funny how Hartnell is treated as the senior Doctor despite being the youngest. Also the Time Lords definitely describe him as the earliest. The Fugitive Doctor isn’t canon.

Ollis the gamekeeper ends the story looking unpleasantly like he’s going to beat the shit out of his wife.