Dr. Who (The Early Years) - Part 72 "Silver Nemesis"

Doctor Who's 25th Anniversary Episode

It's Windsor, 1638. Lady Peinforte and her companion Richard Maynarde are in search of a Silver statue known as Nemesis. In an earlier untelevised adventure she met the seventh Doctor where she learned the secret of who he really is, his planet Gallifrey and the components of the Nemesis statue - Validium. Validium is a sentient metal created by Omega and Rassilon as a defence for Gallifrey. Somehow, some of this metal fell to Earth and was discovered by Lady Peinforte. She formed the metal into a statue of herself, and the statue told her of Gallifrey and some rudimentary secrets of time. Armed with those secrets and the Silver Arrow, she concocts a potion to transport her in time to 1988 to redezvous with the Statue.

 

In 1988, a group of neo-nazi's, led by De Flores,  are also searching for the Nemesis statue. Through uncertain contacts, they have found out an 'asteroid' containing the statue will be arriving on Earth in Windsor. Hoping to utilize the power, the Nazi's travel from South Africa to Windsor to acquire the statue. They have in their possession the Silver Bow, which given to the statue along with the Silver Arrow, will allow them to control the living metal. Whoever is in control of the Nemesis can then manipulate all of time and space.   

As the Doctor becomes involved, Ace strives to figure out what is really going on, but as per usual the Doctor is keeping his secrets. Right from the beginning they are under fire from an unknown force. They run into De Flores who immediately orders Ace's execution. But she's saved when a space craft flies overhead. Ace is thankful to whoever just "saved her life", but the Doctor tells her she'll likely live to regret it. The ship lands and Cybermen pour out of the ship, they too are looking for the Nemesis.

The Cybermen open fire, immediately decimating many of the Nazi troops. From the outskirts, Lady Peinforte fires upon the Cybermen with her arrows and is delighted to find they are effective, despite the Nazi bullets which seem to have no effect on the Cybermen. But her arrow-heads are crafted in gold, the one substance lethal to the Cybermen. With this revelation, she withdraws hoping the Nazi's and Cybermen fight each other to the death. During the course of the battle, the Doctor secretly steals the bow away from the Nazi's and the Cybermen take control of the Nemesis once it hits ground. Lady Peinforte still has the Silver Arrow.

Still believing they have the Silver Bow, De Flores forges an unsteady alliance with the Cybermen. De Flores' selling point is he and his men are immune to whatever is afflicting the Cybermen, he's unaware the gold tipped arrows are the problem. With the alliance cast, both go their separate way, though vowing to destroy the other side first chance they get. Meanwhile, Lady Peinforte is convinced she will shortly be in possession of the Silver Bow and the Nemesis. Drunk on the prospect of potential power, she begins to go mad.

Once finding the Nemesis, Lady Peinforte primes it by giving it the Silver Arrow. She believes she can easily acquire the Silver Bow and be in full control, but the Cybermen discover her and she is forced to flee. At this point, De Flores discovers he is no longer in possession of the Silver Bow, which had been stolen by the Doctor. The Cybermen dissolve the temporary alliance. De Flores claims they still need him because the Doctor will not just walk in and hand them the bow. No sooner said than done, the Doctor walks in and offers the Cybermen the Silver Bow. But it's a stalling tactic and the Doctor actually hands the Nemesis the bow, then departs as quickly as he came in, taking the Silver Bow with him.

Now that the Nemesis is fully primed, it will follow the Silver Bow. The Doctor makes his way towards an abandoned warehouse where the Cybermen have stored the "asteroid" or rocket the Nemesis fell to Earth in. Armed with some gold coins and a slingshot, Ace protects the Doctor, destroying all Cybermen that get in her way while the Doctor programmes the Nemesis to leave Earth and destroy a massive Cyber Invasion Fleet. With the Cybermen dispatched, De Flores tries to take control. But the Cyber Leader was not destroyed as Ace had hoped and kills De Flores and his last remaining man.

Lady Peinforte re-enters the scene now, still completely drunk on her potential power. She orders the Doctor to give her the Bow. The Doctor refuses so she threatens to tell the Cybermen all about the Doctor, who he really is. Not persuaded, the Doctor ignores her demand and hands the Silver Bow to a surprised Cyber Leader. The Cyber Leader reveals he doesn't care about the Doctor's origin, he only wanted the Silver Nemesis and the ultimate power. He orders the Doctor to dismiss his last command to the Nemesis and have it rendezvous with the Cyber Fleet. The Doctor asks the Nemesis if it understood the order and it says it does. The Doctor then sends it on it's way. But driven insane knowing she is not to have the ultimate power, Lady Peinforte jumps into the rocket with the Nemesis and merges with it, leaving her faithful companion behind. The Cyberleader orders they watch as the Nemesis is delivered to the Cyber Fleet. But the Doctor has tricked the Cybermen. He only asked the Nemesis if it understood the order, which it did, he didn't order the Nemesis to follow the instructions. Meeting up with the Cyber Fleet, the Nemesis destroys it. Wishing to take revenge on the Doctor, the Cyber Leader attempts to eradicate him. Realizing he can save the Doctor, Richard grabs a gold tipped arrow which had previously been shot at the Tardis, and drives it into the Cyber Leader, destroying it. The Doctor agrees to take Richard home.

Bonus Photo!

The Doctor wearing a fez, because fez's are cool. And he's even got a mop. Hmmm, could this be where Matt Smith got this from?

Dr. Who (The Early Years) - Part 58 "The Five Doctors"

The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough are visiting the Eye of Orion, a tranquil place. As they are enjoying their down time, the Doctor begins to feel cosmic angst. He explains he's being diminished, whittled away, piece by piece. Urgently he rushes to set the co-ordinates of the Tardis, trying to be reunited with his other selves. As he sets the Tardis in motion, he passes out on the floor and begins to disappear. Tegan and Turlough are uncertain how to help the Doctor or what he's babbling about, so resort to arguing amongst themselves.

Meanwhile on Gallifrey, a sinister Timelord is using ancient and forbidden equipment to collect previous versions of the Doctor, his companions and a few of his enemies and depositing them in Gallifrey's 'Death Zone'; a place where in ancient days, the Timelords would kidnap aliens from all over the universe and have them fight against each other. Using the 'Time Scoop', he collects the first Doctor walking alone in a garden, his grand-daughter Susan, The Second Doctor as he's visiting the Brigadier at his retirement from Unit, the Third Doctor as he's driving Bessie and Sarah Jane Smith on her way to work. He tries to collect the Fourth Doctor and Romana but the equipment suddenly fails.

As the first Doctor is wandering in a corridor the Time Scoop placed him, he runs into his grand-daughter. Their reunion is short lived as they meet a Dalek which begins chasing them. The Doctor tricks the Dalek into shooting itself. The Dalek explodes, taking portions of the wall with it. Just outside, the Doctor and Susan see the Tomb of Rassilon and realize they are on Gallifrey. They make their way for the 'Dark Tower' when Susan spots the Tardis.

The Second Doctor and the Brigadier are walking along trying to figure out where they are when they have a brief encounter with a Cybermen. Suddenly the Doctor realizes they could be playing the game of Rassilon when he spots the Dark Tower. He explains to the Brigadier how at one point in Gallifrey's history, they used to kidnap others and bring them to fight in the games till other Timelords rebelled and forbade the use of the equipment. The Brigadier can tell by his tone, they are not expected to win.

Realizing what's going on, the High Council of Gallifrey (minus two who went into the Death Zone to investigate, neither returned) look for the Doctor to help figure out who's using the ancient equipment. When they can't find the Doctor they employ the Master to rescue the Doctor and help figure out who's using the equipment. President Borusa objects but is over ruled by the High Council. The Master also is reluctant, but agrees; finding humor in being sent to 'rescue' the Doctor. He is given a recall device which will return him back to the High Council chamber. He's also given the 'Seal of Rassilon' to help prove to the Doctor his good intentions.

The Third Doctor is driving Bessie when he hears a scream. Sarah, wandering around blindly in the fog has fallen down a hill. Using Bessie and a rope, he rescues her, but she's surprised because from her perspective, the Doctor has already regenerated. As they drive away he tells her about the Death Zone when they run into the Master. Being his greatest enemy, the Doctor refuses to believe the Master is there to help. The seal of Rassilon does little to impress the Doctor. He assumes it's either forged or stolen and takes it away from the Master. Suddenly a strange energy bolt is fired and the Doctor speeds away, abandoning the Master, assuming its a trap. What the Doctor doesn't realize is the Master is being fired upon also. Suddenly, Bessie is hit and the Doctor and Sarah must start walking towards the Tomb of Rassilon.

Upon entering the Tardis, the First Doctor and Susan are surprised to find three young people in his Tardis. Tegan explains it's the Fifth Doctors Tardis. Suddenly he regains consciousness and life is restored to him. Susan is pleased to meet another, younger version of her grand-father, but Tegan realizes the two Doctors should not be together at the same time. The Tardis has been locked by a tractor beam so they set the co-ordinates for the Dark Tower. The Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Susan head for the Dark Tower to determine what is going on, who might be behind it and to free the Tardis.

As the Fifth Doctor, Susan and Tegan are walking, the meet up with the Master. The Doctor advises Susan and Tegan to back away as he talks. The Master tries to convince the Doctor of his good intentions and explains he is armed and could easily kill him if he wanted to, but the Doctor knows that isn't the Masters style at all. Suddenly a troop of Cybermen show up. Susan and Tegan head for the Tardis while the Master and the Doctor run in the opposite direction, followed by the Cybermen. When the Master is grazed and the Cybermen catch up to the Doctor he finds the Masters recall device and activates it. From a safe distance, Tegan and Susan watch the Cybermen catch up to the Doctor, but see him suddenly disappear. They run back to the Tardis to inform the First Doctor, but Susan trips and sprains her ankle on the way.

Back on Gallifrey, the High Council are surprised to see the Doctor arrive. When they explain what has been going on, he realizes the Master was telling the truth. The Doctor finds the High Council are just as clueless as he is. However, suddenly the black scrolls of Rassilon are found in the Castellans room. He claims to have never seen them before and is adamant he is not the one running the Time Scoop. But when he's taken away for questioning, the Doctor hears laser fire and finds the Castellan dead. The guard explains he was armed and trying to escape.

The Third Doctor and Sarah are close to the Tomb of Rassilon when they run into a Raston Warrior Robot, the most perfect killing machine ever created. Sensors detect movement, any movement. They move like lightening and their armory is built in. The Raston begins to toy with them when it suddenly spots a more delicious target, a group of Cybermen. While the Raston Warrior decimates the troop, Sarah and the Doctor escape, stealing the robots extra weapons and rope.

After escaping the Raston Warrior and the Cybermen, the Third Doctor and Sarah have climbed to the top of a rock face opposite the Tomb of Rassilon. The Doctor uses the rope acquired from the Raston to lasso a pillar at the top of the Tomb. Using it, he and Sarah "Zip-Line" across seconds before a lone Cybermen catches up to them, but dies before firing a shot. Safely across, the two enter the Tomb and search for the main hall.

Back at the Tardis, Susan informs her grand-father what has transpired. Realizing it's now up to him, he heads for the Dark Tower. Tegan offers to accompany him while Turlough bravely opts to remain in the Tardis with the now injured Susan. As the Doctor and Tegan enter the Tower, they realize they have been followed by the Master. After the Fifth Doctor left him, he formed an 'alliance' with the Cybermen, though he still warns the Doctor to hide before they Cybermen arrive. As the Cybermen enter, the Master instructs them to march in and take control of the Tower. What the Cybermen don't know is the floor is booby-trapped and the Master succeeds in destroying the entire cyber troop. The Master flees, telling the Doctor they too can cross the board safely, "It's as easy as pi". Deducing what the Master meant, the Doctor uses a mathematical formula to safely cross the floor, Tegan follows.

As they arrive upon a cave, the Second Doctor begins reciting a nursery rhyme. He explains to the Brigadier the Gallifreyan nursery rhyme talks of three entrances into the Tomb of Rassilon. One above, one between, one below. The cave is the entrance to the 'below', but their troubles are far from over as they realize they are being followed. Finding a safe enclosure, they discover they are being tracked by a Yeti, left over from the former games. When the angered Yeti starts a rock slide, they believe they are trapped. But the Doctor discovers the cavern goes back further and they find a door leading into the Dark Tower.

Still in the Capitol, the Fifth Doctor does a bit more investigation work and realizes the Castellan was framed. Searching about, he discovers a hidden room containing the forbidden Death Zone equipment. The biggest shock however, is Borusa, the Lord President of Gallifrey is operating the equipment. His ambition is to remain the President of Gallifrey eternal. The Doctor vows to stop him, but Borusa has on the Coronet of Rassilon which emphasizes his will. He uses it to make the Doctor bow down and follow him.

According to legend, Rassilon can offer eternal life to whoever seeks it. This is the reason Borusa sent the Doctor into the zone, to eliminate all threats and prepare the way for him to arrive. When he does, the other Doctors concentrate and break Borusa's hold of the Fifth Doctor. But Borusa does not feel threatened, he plans to tell the High Council the Doctor is the traitor. Considering the Doctor is the notorious renegade, he assumes the Doctor will not be trusted.

His hold of the Doctor released, Borusa is still able to command all the companions to remain still, unmoving. Earlier the companions banded together to dispose of the Master who is now bound on the floor, so he's not a threat either. Things are certainly in Borusa's favor when suddenly the voice of Rassilon is heard. A holographic image of his head appears over his preserved body and offers immortality to whoever takes, and puts on the ring from his dead body. Gleefully, Borusa puts on the ring, only to realize too late his immortality comes at a price. He's turned into a living stone bust, adorning Rassilon's sarcophagus.

The First Doctor begins to laugh when he suddenly realizes what the old Gallifreyan quote, "To lose is to win, and he who wins shall lose" means. As losers, the Doctor has won, and as the winner of immortality, Borusa is actually the loser. As a result of temporal fission, the first three Doctors depart, accompanied by the Brigadier, Susan and Sarah Jane Smith. Rassilon also frees the Maser and the Fourth Doctor. He then congratulates the Doctor on choosing wisely. Rassilon fades away just as Chancellor Flavia (the last remaining High Council member) arrives with a few guards. The Doctor informs her of Borusa's failure. Proud of his accomplishments, the Chancellor informs the Doctor he is to become the next President of Gallifrey. The Doctor reluctantly agrees and quickly ushers Tegan and Turlough into the Tardis.

As he rushes into the Tardis, the Doctor informs the guards to escort her back to the Capitol as he follows in his Tardis. Inside, Tegan and Turlough are distraught. Tegan doesn't want to go and Turlough hopes his Timelord buddies can find a Tardis that works properly and get him home. Surprised, the Doctor tells them he has no plans to return to Gallifrey. Instead he plans to go on the run from his own people, in a rackety ol' Tardis; The way it all began.

Dr. Who (The Early Years) - Part 53 "Earth Shock"

As the Tardis is travelling the vortex, the Tardis crew are engaged in their own activities. Adric, in his room, alone but when the Doctor stops by he complains he's always being picked on by everyone and considered a joke. He suddenly informs the Doctor he wants to go back to his own people. The Doctor argues it's not possible as they would have to travel through the CVE and E-Space uses negative co-ordinates. Adric is adamant to try and plot a course, but the Doctor is stubborn and refuses. Not put off, Adric decides to do so anyway. Nyssa persuades the Doctor to at least give Adric the chance and see what he comes up with.

The Doctor finally agrees to allow Adric to see what he can come up with. While he's doing that, the Doctor has landed inside a cavern on Earth to go for a walk, Tegan and Nyssa follow him. But unknown to them, a team of palaeontologists were recently down there and killed. It's not long before the Tardis crew run into the security rescue team, who obviously believe the Doctor is responsible. But suddenly they are attacked by robots and the Doctor realizers they are guarding a metallic hatch the palaeontologists were close to when digging. With some persuasion, the Doctor makes the security team realize they are not responsible and offers the Tardis as sanctuary when he discovers the hatch was concealing a bomb.

Using the Tardis, the Doctor traces the source of the bomb to a small freighter on it's way to Earth with a cargo and a tight schedule. Arriving on the freighter, the Doctor asks the security team to stay behind while he and Adric go off to scout about. It's not long before they discover a body and are blamed for the murder. They are brought to meet the Captain of the ship and the Doctor does all he can to illustrate he's not responsible for the death. When things start affecting the ship, the Doctor offers to help. But things turn from bad to worse when the Doctor himself is being watched. Secretly on the ship, a patrol of Cybermen are plotting take control of the ship and have recognized the Tardis.

They Cyber Leader realizes the Doctor is evidently on board and reviews previous incarnations of the Doctor. After realizing none of the men they know were seen, he realizes the Doctor has regenerated once more and it's not long before they figure out who the Doctor is. They can tell by his Timelord arrogance. Not needing to hide their presence any longer, the Cybermen make their move to take over the ship. But the ships security are no match for the Cybermen and are dropping like flies. With the Doctors help, the bridge is secure.

Not wanting to wait any longer, the security team in the Tardis moves out to try and help the Doctor, Tegan joins them. They have learned to concentrate their fire in order to overtake the Cybermen. Upset with the deaths inflicted by the Cybermen, Tegan runs in and grabs a Cyber-Gun and destroys a Cyberman. Meanwhile, the Cybermen have finally broken through the Doctors improved security and have taken control of the ship. They plan to use the ship as an enormous bomb to destroy a conference on Earth, who are plotting to rise against the Cybermen.

More Cybermen but the security are holding their own till Tegan is suddenly captures. She is brought before the Cyber-Leader who illustrates the power he has over the Doctor by threatening her life. He orders the Doctor to take him to the Tardis, leaving Adric on the bridge. With the Cyber-Leader gone, the security from Earth finally makes it to the bridge and helps liberate it form the two Cybermen remaining. The ship is locked on a collision with Earth but Adric sets about unlocking it. He's pressured to evacuate but stubbornly he knows he can solve the problem. Meanwhile on the Tardis, the Doctor uses Adrics gold plated badge against the Cyber-Leader, destroying him. Having solved two of the three locks, Adric succeeds in sending the ship backwards in time 65 million years (merely killing off the dinosaurs), but the Tardis crew watch in horror as it strikes the Earth with Adric still onboard, having been unable to solve the third and final lock when a dying Cyberman destroys the ships computer.

WHO: Adric

DEPARTURE LOCATION: Freighter crashing into Earth, 65 million years in the past.

REASON FOR DEPARTURE: Being unable to solve a final logic code on a doomed space freighter, Adric dies trying to protect the Earth, which he does but in doing so destroys the dinosaurs.

Dr. Who (The Early Years) - Part 21 "The Invasion"

The Invasive Cybermen
As discussed in an earlier article, some of the Doctor Who episodes were destroyed to make room in the BBC archives. Some of the stories survived intact while others are forever lost or have missing episodes. The Invasion is one where the majority survives, but a few parts missing. The good news is all of the missing episodes have off-air audio recordings available.

Because "The Invasion" was such a sought after story to be complete, two missing episodes were commissioned to have animated versions made. Several reasons are possible why this is a sought after episode. One reason is it's the first appearance of UNIT and Corporal Benton. When we first meet Benton, he's following the Doctor, and has yet to identify himself as a member of UNIT.

The Doctor has arrived just in time to help the Brigadier with a reoccurring menace, the Cybermen. During Patrick Troughton's tenure as the Doctor, the Cybermen were the focal menace instead of the Daleks. Strangely though, the Cybermen are working for Tobias Vaughn. Or are they? Like many humans, Tobias has the misconception he can control the Cybermen.

As the Doctor, Jamie and the rest of UNIT do more "hand-on" investigation into Tobias and the Cybermen, Zoe befriends Isobel Watkins. Her uncle has gone missing while working for Tobias. Tobias is using Watkins to build devices capable of controlling the Cybermen. Fortunately, Watkins is rescued by the Doctor but Tobias still confidently believes he can control the Cybermen.

Ultimately, the Cybermen reveal they have been using Tobias and have no plans to honour any contract with him; promises to humans are of no validity. The Doctor convinces Tobias to fight with him against the Cybermen and Tobias reluctantly agrees, and dies in the process. With the aid of UNIT, the Cybermen are defeated once more.


WHO: UNIT (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce)

PLANET OF ORIGIN: Earth, early 70's

REASON FOR JOINING: They don't, UNIT is an Earth based organization.





With major changes planned for Doctor Who, the producers introduce UNIT. More on these changes in the coming weeks.

This article is dedicated to the memory of Nicholas Courtney 1929-2011

NEXT: Shall We Play A Game?

Dr. Who (The Early Years) - Part 20 "The Wheel In Space"

Zoe Takes the Wheel
The Doctor & Jamie have said good-bye to Victoria when there's an emergency in the Tardis. The fluid link is faulty, this time for real, and explodes. Last time the fluid link was faulty the Doctor first ran into the Daleks. Leaving the Tardis they discover they have landed on a small unmanned craft, not far from a "Wheel In Space", a manned Earth space station.


As a result of an unexpected course change, the Doctor stumbles and bumps his head, knocking him out. (Patrick Troughton was on holiday during the filming of episode 2). Jamie is able to communicate with the Wheel and is rescued, but they consider the small ship a menace and attempt to blow it up. Knowing the Tardis is still there, Jamie sabotages the Wheels weapons.

A coming meteor storm means the Wheel is defenseless with the weapons damaged. The Doctor is able to convince the crew he is able to help, and not the enemy. He meets Zoe, an astrophysicist with a photographic memory. She has a high intelligence as a result of conditioning and considered to be smug and arrogant by most of the crew, as well as unemotional. But she is kind and caring.

The weapons are fixed and the asteroids destroyed but an even greater menace is discovered. The Cybermen have infiltrated the Wheel in Space and taken control of several key officers. In order to defeat the Cybermen the Doctor needs a device he left on the Tardis in the other ship. Jamie and Zoe are sent to retrieve it, narrowly missing being hit by additional asteroids.

It's discovered the Cybermen on the Wheel are only an advancement. A Cybership is looming. Their primary goal is to take full control of the Wheel. But with Jamie and Zoe having returned with the Doctors equipment, the Wheel is able to destroy the Cybership and blow all remaining Cybermen attempting to gain entry, back into space. The Doctor and Jamie depart, but someone tags along.

WHO: Zoe Herriot

PLANET OF ORIGIN: Earth, but met the Doctor on the Wheel In Space; 21st Century

REASON FOR JOINING: Sneaks aboard for a more adventurous life.





NEXT: The Invasive Cybermen

Dr. Who (The Early Years) - Part 12 "The Tenth Planet"

This Body is Wearing a Bit Thin
One of the next episodes has the Tardis land at the South Pole. Ben and Polly are hopeful they can catch a ride back to London, but soon discover they are in 1986, not 1966. Despite the cold weather outside, the Doctor encourages them to dress warmly so they can go out and explore. Shortly they run into a raised periscope from a base hidden beneath them.


Considering it's a South Pole base, it's not surprising the Tardis crew are immediately questioned. Things turn worse when a space capsule the base has been monitoring begins to lose power. The Doctor realizes what is happening but no one takes him seriously. A rogue sister planet of Earth, 'Mondas' is discovered and draining the energy of the space capsule and Earth itself.


The station is soon visited by creatures from Mondas. They call themselves Cybermen and were once human but have replaced all organic parts of themselves (except the brain) with plastic and steel. They have also stripped themselves of all emotions, such as love and empathy but claim to be logical. (It seems they've also lost all knowledge of fashion sense).



As much as he loved playing the Doctor, the strain finally caught up with William Hartnell. In fact, he became so ill before the filming of the third episode of his final story they had to carry on without him. Ben continued speaking for the Doctor and stressed how they didn't need to fight the Cybermen; if they were patient Mondas would draw too much energy from Earth and burn itself out.


The Doctors prediction comes true and Mondas burns itself out. The Cybermen also wither away, as if the enormous draw of energy was too much for them as well. Suddenly the Doctor realizes the stress has finally gotten to him and quickly retreats to the Tardis. With William Hartnell leaving, how do the producers decide to carry on? The answer comes as the Doctor collapses to the floor, suddenly his features begin to change. Ben and Polly are clueless as to what is happening, as are the viewers.


WHO: The Cybermen
PLANET OF ORIGIN: Mondas
GOALS: Self preservation through exploitation of other races.
WEAKNESSES: Their own weapons and home planet being destroyed. (More weakness to be discovered).






IN TWO WEEKS: The Power of the Regeneration

NEXT: The First Doctor in Review